Rolling Stone just published their list of the best 2023 releases so far, and it spans from superstar musicians to those just making their debuts.
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While not a ranking, editors at Rolling Stone compiled a list of their favorite 2023 album releases, and it’s worth a look! Naturally, there’s a lot of star power. In the pop world, Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation burst into the scene with her number-one hit “Flowers.” The editorial reports that the album is full of, “hits with purgative power ballads and candy-coated odes to America,” which ultimately, “feels like a recap of her career’s 15-plus years, with Cyrus breezing through genres with the ease of a well-seasoned tourist.”
Ellie Goulding’s Higher than Heaven made the list for its “fun, escapist pop” sound, which is exactly what the singer-songwriter was going for. “We forget that the purpose of pop is to escape,” she told NME back in April. It’s also worth mentioning the countless milestones that Higher than Heaven helped Goulding reach. With this album going number one, Goulding is now tied with Adele for British female artist with the most number one albums.
Kesha’s return to pop music with her rebellious album Gag Order also made the list, saying she, “unspools as much of her feelings as she can across 13 scorched-earth tracks.” With a similar vulnerability, Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd clearly influenced the music critics. One writes, “Through stories of her family, a failed relationship, her conflicting desire of being both seen and hidden, Del Rey exposes more than just who she is, but why she is who she is.” The album opened at number one in the UK and number three in the US, making it her biggest opening week since 2015.
There were a lot of fan favorites that made the list too, such as Daniel Caesar, boygenius, Foo Fighters, and Niall Horan. Caesar’s hiatus of six years after his award-winning Freudian debut may have been worth the wait, as the album Never Enough was, “consumed with wanderlust” by combining folk and R&B influences. Singer-songwriting supergroup boygenius released The Record this year, as did Niall Horan with his third album The Show. Both wowed fans and critics alike, due to their honest and creative songwriting.
But Here We Are by the Foo Fighters was a standout album, acting both as a personal and career comeback from the band’s hardships and losses this year. Singles, “Rescued” and “Under You” immediately launch the listener into the rest of the album as the band grapples with their own grief and emotional processing. “It possesses a vitality,” an RS editor explains, “that in a sense is expected given the events that transpired before its release, but [refuses] to take the easy route around grief.”
And you can’t forget the best debuts of the year so far! In Good Riddance , Rolling Stone reports that Gracie Abrams shows off her unique sound that’s, “full of soft-spoken, simple melodies that are steeped in sadness but still pack a punch.” Ice Spice made the list as well, with her album Like..? Though she went viral for her single “Munch (Feeling U)” and featured on “Boy’s a liar, Pt. 2”, her debut album holds its own. Her raps and lyrics about modern-day relationships serve, “as a testament to the politics of attraction” while her, “smooth, deep voice” effortlessly moves on top of her beats. And longtime songwriter for the stars GALE has also made a noteworthy debut this year. Her album Lo Que No Te Dije is being raved about for its heartbreak themes, with RS stating that it’s “so candid and vulnerable that it almost feels as if no one had written about such turmoils before.”
So, did your favorites make the list? If they weren’t mentioned here, don’t fret -- check out the full Rolling Stone article and podcast above, which features a total of 85 albums.
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