10. Slowdive – Alife: A mix of singing between Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, “Alife” was the last single released from Slowdive’s album, everything is alive. The ocean of guitar with buried vocals is a pop song from another dimension, one with a constant refrain of “two hard lives are hard lives with you”. Love is in the air.
9. Lana Del Rey – A&W: One of the most unique tracks in popular music in 2023 was “A&W” from Lana Del Rey. Instead of hamburgers, the song instead refers to an “American Whore”. A song of two halves, the track is an unusual mix of folk and trap music, two styles that have figured in her music throughout Del Rey’s career.
8. Belle and Sebastian – When We Were Very Young: Belle and Sebastian released another great record early in the year. Containing the classic Stuart Murdoch line, “I wish I could be content with the football scores”, “When We Were Very Young” is another B&S track for all the outsiders.
7. Emma Anderson – Clusters: From an album bathed in light and twinkling stars, last track “Clusters” from Emma Anderson is one of the best. Her voice floats above the air with lines like, “all the pretty boys/all the pretty girls”, then when she sings “dodododo”, it’s impossible not to sing along.
6. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Save the World: Jason Isbell released one of the most powerful songs of living in America with “Save the World” about a school shooting. Grappling with senseless violence is something virtually all of us deal with every week whether a personal story or one read in the paper. Isbell’s track shows you’re not alone in trying to figure this out.
5. Yo La Tengo – Apology Letter: Not released as a single, one of the most memorable songs on the latest from Yo La Tengo is the song, “Apology Letter”. Ira Kaplan sings the funny/sad line, “And then I got mad because you got mad/another one of my delightful quirks/what a jerk”.
4. Robert Forster – Tender Years: One of the highlights of the latest album from Robert Forster was his tribute to his wife, “Tender Years”. The touching song is an easy going track lead by a strumming guitar and features the line, “I’m in a story with her/No, I can’t live without her”. Love is definitely in the air here. (Video released in November 2022)
3. The Beatles – Now and Then: One of the most haunting sounds of 2023 was hearing John Lennon signing the first words “I know it’s true…” in the “Now and Then” song released as an official single by The Beatles. A much better track than what the band released in the 1990s, the song was not without its detractors… but the rest of us loved it.
2. blur – The Narcissist: Like other “nostalgia acts” releasing new music in 2023, blur released a track sure to be one of their finest with “The Narcissist”. One that will be sung loudly at future concerts, the line “I’ll be shining light in your eyes/you’ll probably shine it back on me” is spine tingling.
1. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Easy Now: One of Noel Gallagher’s best tracks of his solo career, “Easy Now” was released in early 2023 with a memorable video featuring Milly Alcock from House of the Dragon. One of Noel’s best vocals that he uses to great effect. The skyscraper chorus rivals his most lighters up in the air tracks with his former band, Oasis.
Back in 2014 the shoegaze band Slowdive reunited for live dates and continued on to record their fourth album, the self-titled Slowdive. Since hearing a b-side on a random blog years ago, Slowdive for me have been on the longlist of bands to check out after missing them the first time around. So, I started backwards with the latest release, one that sound tracked many late summer walks, with an eye on collecting their older albums.
The Light Appears 