Dec 18, 2023

My top 30 songs of 2023

Phil Shaw

1 California – CMAT

A soaring voice, funny lyric and great tune from the excellent album Crazymad, For Me – all the work of Dubliner Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – coalesce into an irresistible twist on Celtic country-soul.

2 Come Around And Love Me – Jalen Ngonda

American-born but an honorary Scouser for the past decade, Ngonda’s extraordinary range and the production evokes Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece What’s Goin’ On and other vintage Motown tracks.

3 Will Anybody Ever Love Me? – Sufjan Stevens

For all the romantic despair of this gem from the US singer-songwriter, the gorgeous melody and the way it builds from a solitary start to an epic fusion of voices and instruments is strangely uplifting.

4 Travelling Hard – Steve Mason

In a just world, such catchy, left-field, political songs would make the former singer with Scottish indie stalwarts The Beta Band a household name like less interesting contemporaries from the 1990s.

5 Moonless – Julie Byrne

The best of the delicate songs of love and loss, desire and grief that made The Greater Wings a fine album, the lo-fi vocal and small-ensemble backing reminiscent of Nick Drake… or Sufjan Stevens.

6 Hunter – Jess Williamson

The Texas singer-songwriter was once part of alt country duo Plains with Katie Crutchfield, aka Waxahatchee, but here she demonstrates how her craft has propelled her beyond the limitations of the genre.

7 Eliza I See – Darlingside

Lush, intimate harmonies from the Boston Baroque folk-pop quartet – a song, like Fleet Foxes’ White Winter Hymnal, whose elegance and unity will surely see it being sung by choirs in rounds.

8 Place Called Love – Ron Sexsmith

The Canadian troubadour’s output is as consistent as it is prolific, and in these bruising, divisive times the gentle warmth of this brass-and-piano-kissed paean to community hits a sweet spot.

9 The Narcissist – Blur

Not, alas, a verdict on Boris Johnson but a song which found Damon Albarn reflecting on what he saw in the mirror – one to rank with the band’s best, even if it reached only No81 in the UK chart.

10 Done – Josienne Clarke

With its beautiful echoes of Sandy Denny, both in the clarity of the voice and the phrasing, this sumptuous track has elevated Clarke from the folk scene to the realm of top-notch chanteuse.

11 Leikara – Susanne Sundfor

12 Aapki Khushi – Jasdeep Singh Degun (featuring Ashnaa)

13 Let The Games Begin – Lucius

14 Vampire Empire – Big Thief

15 The Alcott – The National (featuring Taylor Swift)

16 Throne Of Amber – Harp

17 Last Rotation Of Earth – BC Camplight

18 This Mess Is My Masterpiece – The Nadas

19 Tramp Like You – Oracle Sisters

20 Dickhead Blues – Kara Jackson