Here’s a list of my top songs for this year, in an order that might be surprisingly mixable. These are not necessarily from 2023; I just happened to have heard them in the last twelve months.
- The Grants, by Lana Del Rey on Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
- Right Hook, by Corvair on Bound to Be
- The Loneliest, by Måneskin on Rush!
- vampire, by Olivia Rodrigo on GUTS
- Million Dollar Baby, by Ava Max on Diamonds & Dancefloors
- Dream to Me, by Dario G on In Full Colour
- Devastatingly Mediocre, by Deanna Petcoff on To Hell with You, I Love You
- Truth About You (Live), by The Particles on 1980s Bubblegum
- While Without, by Annie Hart on The Weight of a Wave
- Give Me Your Love, by Girl Ray on Prestige
- Mine, by Kelly Clarkson on Chemistry
- Juliet, by Passion Polka on Musik Music Musique 3.0
- Finding Paradise, by Petite Noir on MotherFather
- Yesterday, When I Was Mad (Jam & Spoon Mix), by Pet Shop Boys on SMASH The Singles 1985-2020
- Blame Brett, by The Beaches on Blame My Ex
- Sour, by Echosmith on Echosmith
- Arm’s Length Away, by Tanlines on The Big Mess
- Nothing Left to Lose, by Everything but the Girl on Fuse
- Burn Away, by Patrick James on All About to Change
So many good songs here, but the one that most surprised me was Give Me Your Love by Girl Ray. It clocks in at almost eight minutes, and usually I find four-minute songs to test my patience. And yet this one is full of so many gentle twists of the melody and style that I felt like I could listen to another eight minutes. It’s also just very mellow. I’d never heard of this band before, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
The poppiest song of the year has to go to Olivia Rodrigo’s vampire. It’s hard to believe she was able to top her debut album, but she did.