This year was a phenomenal year for music. Not only did we get new albums from Caroline Polachek and Dorian Electra but Rebecca Black debuted her new album Let Her Burn, which is definitely a contender for our pick of album of the year. There were so many top songs of 2023 that we eventually settled on 23 of them. We have created this incredible playlist for your enjoyment and we’ve made it convenient for you to listen to the songs on Spotify. The whole playlist is at the end of this article and it really shines when you play them in order. You can shuffle or skip, if you like. You do you.
The genre of music that we make is informed by the music we love. As we’re a multi genre musical act, the songs we absolutely loved this year are in no particular order. And we included a bonus track that you might enjoy, especially if you like or love any of the songs we’ve chosen as the best of the year. They are in no particulur order. All of them slap.
I Been Young – George Glanton
Wow! George Clanton is one of my new favorite artists because of this one. I heard a lot of his music before when I was getting into the Vaporwave genre, but this track is so different from his other stuff that I’ve heard. He takes his ability to make delicious, spacey soundscapes and pairs it with unabashed pop structure and vocals and it works so damn well! Every time I hear this song the hooks gets stuck in my head for days. It makes me feel like I’m in some kind of tropical ocean resort, getting lost in the clouds in a state of pure bliss. Thanks for this one, George.
Tension – Kylie Minogue
Tension: This track slaps from the moments it starts to its conclusion. The piano is crisp and mellow yet energizes the whole beat, especially leading into the chorus when it gets spacey and drippy. Kylie’s vocal performance and lyrical content is peak in this song also. It is a bop from heaven, and will guarantee to put a smile one your face if you let go and move your body to it. This has been one of my main cold shower songs this year for a good reason.
Puppet – Dorian Electra
Dorian is so good at writing these bumpy kind of hooks, and ‘Puppet’ is no different. Dirty and erotic, Dorian evokes a disturbed sex doll vibe in this track (in a good way). I love the subs and minimal instrumentation. The Fur Elise sample snuck into the original melody is classy and evocative. Try bumping this on your car speakers while not bobbing your head – I guarantee it’s an impossible task. The music video is insane too, and that’s par for the course for Dorian. Put it up me like puppet. Check out Dorian’s website, too.
Good Time – The Dare
I don’t do drugs or go to raves anymore, but that doesn’t matter when you’re listening to The Dare’s ‘The Sex EP.’ He’s such a talented songwriter because the instrumental itself goes hard. And once you get the gated vocals in there it’s a club DJ’s dream. The liberal use of Tom drums in the latter parts of the song shouldn’t work, but damn, they do! The Dare has inspired me a lot in my own music production journey with this track and the EP as a whole. It’s an obvious party track, but more than that it is also a piece of art for your ears.
Skinny Ape – Gorillaz
One of the lower key tracks of ‘Cracker Island’ but that’s why it’s one of our favorites. Damon Albarn has been informing my musical proclivities since I first heard ‘DARE’ playing on the radio as a wee boy. I love the synthy melody in this track and the dreamy, insightful sound of the vocals. It kind of starts like a country song too which I frickin love! The finale reminds me of the trance-like nature induced by ‘Star Guitar’ from the Chemical brothers. This is the kind of track that plays in your head when you’re hang gliding in space.
Mother Nature – MGMT
Has MGMT ever put out a bad record? Everything they do is challenging on several different levels. Lyrically mysterious where you think you might know what the song’s about but the music is just so clever in “Mother Nature” and the impenetrable lyrics are more than just throwaway lines. There’s a darkness there. And I love it.
We both fell in love with this track as soon as we heard it. To be fair, the imagery in the music video probably helped with that, because it was so sweet, yet also so weird, which is a vibe we indelibly fuck with. MGMT are true artists, and getting a new track from them this year has been a treat. Watch and listen to their music video for this one. It changes things in a big way, I swear.
Misery Loves Company – Rebecca Black
Rebecca Black stole our hearts with her 2023 album ‘Let Her Burn.’ It was a challenge to pick our favorite track off this album, and we finally settled on ‘Misery Loves Company.’ For me, it’s all about the way the pre-chorus leads into the main chorus on this one. That high fifth harmony, almost sounds detuned which gives my skin a chill, then bam, the drums kick in and it’s a quickly sung melodic dream, and infinitely catchy. Seriously, this transition gets me every time. The vocal mixing in this whole track is just superb and a treat for your ears.
Top Dog – Magdalena Bay
First of all, I love the fact that Mag Bay knows David Lynch’s film ‘Wild at Heart’ and that this song is paying homage to the amazing talent, Laura Dern (she’s in my top 3 favorite female actors of all time). I love Micah’s smooth vocals in all their tracks, but ‘Top Dog’ especially captures my heart. That smooth slappy sounding bass they use pairs so well with her voice and it makes the whole track so catchy and boppy. If you’re not singing to yourself “I’m top dog like the best that you had” after hearing this even once, I wouldn’t believe you.
Welcome To My Island – Caroline Polachek
While technically the single released in 2022, were counting this on our 2023 list because the whole album did come out in 2023 – so don’t fault us for that, lol. Also, how could we not include this track!? ‘Desire, I Want To Turn Into You’ proves that Caroline is destined to blow-up. I remember last year her monthly listeners on Spotify were in the 750 k range because we were like “how is she not more popular?” But, as of writing this she has 2.2 Million Spotify listeners. That’s over 200% growth in one year. That says all you need to know in my book (I still think she should be more popular though). Caroline is an amazingly talented lyricist and singer and definitely high on my list of musicians I’d want to collab with. Everything about this song is amazing.
Drugs – Mura Masa
I always liked Mura Masa, and the vocals of semi-newcomer, Daniela Lalita, are super catchy on this track. I love the robotic mixing of the vocals. I also love any pop music that was arranged like a House song. It will win me over any time. The bassline on this one though is what fully pulls it over into my favorites. It reminds me of a song that would play in the captain’s cabin on the SSV Normandy (yes, nerdy Mass Effect reference but relevant). Its futuristic yet low key and minimalist sound plays in your head for hours after hearing.
Alone – Kim Petras (with Nicki Minaj)
This is one of our most mainstream picks for 2023, but why not pick this track? It samples the classic hit (man, is Alice DeeJay really “classic” now?) and turns it from the original sad girl break-up song message in ‘Better Off Alone’ into a hyped up, sexiful, almost propaganda-like song about two bouncy women aggressively pursuing sexual intercourse with the individual in question. I fuckin love it. Nicki Minaj is always a pleasure to hear rap. I haven’t necessarily loved all of Kim’s newer music, but have always kept my ears out for her stuff ever since her 2018 banger ‘Heart to Break.’ She’s got a special place in my heart because of that one. ‘Alone’ is so popular for a reason. It’s an instant classic pop hit. It doesn’t really have a deep message but it doesn’t need all that. I always sing along with the hook when this one comes up on our shuffle, regardless of what mood I’m in.
Karma – Taylor Swift (feat. Ice Spice)
“Karma is that girl like…” like what? I don’t know, you tell me, Ice Spice. I love this song. The dreamy instrumental, the rolling pianos, Taylor’s girly, ever-present vocals. It’s a pretty package. This song was deep in my head when it first came out this year. It’s just such a great pop song. I love the message too. Cute but also legit af. The lyric “I keep my side of the street clean” pops in my mind whenever I think of this song. Has someone been working a 10th step?
Go Your Own Way – Prizm
Of course, I love the original, but PRIZM’s cover is a fantastic reimagining while still paying homage to Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 banger. The fluttering synth arpeggios, the tripped out guitar and brass melodies, the Synthwave styled drum beats – all these things together make this cover easily one of our top tracks of 2023. We loved PRIZM ever since discovering some of their earlier hits when playing the VR game “Synthriders.” These girls are definitely going places.
Borderline – Tove Lo
Tove Lo just keeps getting better and better. This song has one of the catchiest hooks of all music I’ve ever heard. She has a knack for making these futuristic sounding pop songs that somehow also remind me of the era of pop from of the mid-90’s to mid 2000’s. It hits this nostalgia vein in a weird way while also injecting an ethereal, other-dimensional sound, almost like – wait a minute… did I jump timelines again!?
Neverending Song – Conan Gray
Have you heard of the 80’s? Have you heard of modern music production? Well, meet ‘Never Ending Song’ by Conan Gray. This track features Classic polysynths and what to me sounds like an 808 straight from the production studio of a band like The Human League, and introduces multi-layered vocals and all the mixing magic we have in a world of the Digital Audio Workstation (and more!?). This song seems like something that would have been made on Earth in the 80’s in a timeline where music technology was more advanced. Conan, sir, are you from the past or the future?
Montagem Game 196 e Nem Comecou o Filme – Dj Blakes (feat. MC Morena de SP)
Oh yeah the title of this song is a mouthful but listen to it. Just listen to it! It’s probably the best Phonk song in the whole Phonk genre. And if you don’t know what Phonk is, we didn’t either until this song came across as recommended to us via some algorithm somewhere.
World Class Sinner / I’m A Freak – Lily-Rose Depp
Ok so the HBO show The Idol was kindof trashy but brilliantly ludicrous. It harkened back to the days of loosely narrative rock star movies that never really made much sense. Like Prince’s Under The Cherry Moon or Spice World from the Spice Girls. The threadbare plot serves as a vehicle for the music. And this song from the show is almost a parody but it really serves as a sharp satire of the manufactured female pop star. But the song slaps and it is an undeniable earworm.
If you didn’t watch the HBO show, ‘The Idol,’ you really should. It is a very dope show and I think anyone who considers themselves an artist of any caliber needs to get eyes on. The main track of the show, ‘World Class Sinner’ is a banger in its own right. It’s just a damn good pop song. Catchy as hell. In the show, Lily Rose-Depp plays as the faded pop-star, Jocelyn, working to make a comeback in the music industry. It reminds me a lot of Britney’s comeback when she started saying “it’s Britney, bitch” at the beginning of all her songs. ‘World Class Sinner’ is simply a nice, catchy, sexually charged tune and it’s definitely been stuck in my head on many occasions.
No One Knows – Froogle
Froggle is fun. We saw this guy on Instagram gram where he encourages artists to make cool art. This guy is very talented and has great style and branding, and we definitely see him going places. ‘No One Knows’ is such an easy-breezy track and is perfect for chilling on the patio in the summer. I love his vocal chops on this one and that distortion mixing he uses on his vocals later in the track. The lyrics are thought provoking while appearing simple and clean on the surface, which is the best combo for a chill pop track like Froogle delivered this year. Thank you, Froogle!
Seeing Stars – Neggy Gemmy (feat. Frost Children)
I love both the artists that worked on this track together. ‘Seeing Stars’ is a magical, space hippy pop track that they would literally play on a spaceship in an Anime dream I once had. What, you don’t dream in Anime ever? Anyways, I love everything about this song. It’s warm, gentle, and caresses my soul. The instrumentation is also excellent. I love the variance and the finale that incorporates this almost Nine Inch Nails sounding, machine-like synth, while still keeping that dreamy atmosphere that kicks the track off.
One Of Your Girls – Troye Sivan
This song is beautiful and also kind of sad if you think about it. Poor Troy fell in love with one of those impossibly handsome and charming straight boys. The video is great, and Troy makes a very pretty woman. He is such a talented singer and showcases his vocals in this very emotional, yet laid-back pop hit. The instrumental on this is so fire too. It pushes me to keep working at my own production game and to get better and better. I love the building synths. They’re subtle but compliment the vocals so perfectly. This song shoul
Side Effects – Becky Hill
I already said how I love pop songs that are arranged like House music, right? Because I really do. ‘Side Effects’ is a straight bop. It’s short and sweet. I feel like I should be dancing to this in a cage high above a dancefloor. That would be fitting, I think. It’s short and sweet and a good mix. This is definitely a nice song.
Motor Bike – Poppy
I do miss the old Poppy, I’m not gonna lie. But she’s been finding this groove lately that’s getting irresistible to my eardrums, and honestly I’m proud of her. ‘Motorbike’ is the perfect example of this. I like the new direction she went on her 2023 album ‘Zig.’ This track is fun and snappy, with a very cool beat and an instrumental that helps build the tension. Don’t get mad, Poppy, but this track reminds me a lot of Grimes’ work in a really good way. I feel like there was some definite inspiration here, with Poppy’s own unique visions as the base for the track, and it leads to a song I keep coming back to.
Echolallia – Yves Tumor
This is a super smooth alternative rock track. But it’s also not even alternative rock really. I don’t even know which genre it sits in to be honest. It is like something from a golden fever dream. The deep, rolling bass guitar(s) and those twinkling chimes bring me into this song every time. Yves’ vocal performance is super fun and light, but still exceptionally present. Yves is a cool dude, and this is a very cool song. I also love the speech he samples in the middle of the song. I feel like I’m on a bike ride on a cool fall day and someone waved me down to tell me something really important and life-changing, then I went back to enjoying my bike ride even more profoundly. Really great!
Multiverse (Hardcore Manifesto Mix) – The Concrete Shamans
From our first album Cruisin’ Thru The Multiverse, “Multiverse” was our first proper single with vocals and all that. This remix was based on our desire to make music with a harder edge. This IS one of our favorite songs of the year and we think you will love it, too.
Spotify Playlist
Enjoy the entire playlist on Spotify. Try shuffling the tracks for new combinations.
