The year 2023 brought some great music to the world, from Taylor Swift rereleasing two albums, country reemerging, hip hop blowing up with collaborations, and metal brought back into the mainstream with Stranger Things and genre-blending artists. In a year like this, it’s been difficult to narrow down one album per genre to declare as one of the best of the year, but we at the Sound have worked to deliver a list of the best for you.
Rock: Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token
Sleep Token was one of those bands that no one knew about, and then everyone knew about them. They stole the front page of papers with their spectacular theatrics, an air of mystery, and a perfect mix of heavy and melodic tones, intertwined to create beautiful ballads sprinkled throughout this album, Take Me Back To Eden. There is a reason that Sleep Token is called the Imagine Dragons of rock, which is that they provide quite a poppy feel to the masses while also making waves in the genre of music they’re in. My favorite song would have to be “‘Chokehold”’, as it gives you a solid idea of the album and mixes many influences to make the iconic Sleep Token sound. The song layers almost operatic British-toned vocals with a sweeping, bendy, heavy breakdown accompanied by perfectly minimalist drums to accent a choir in the background. I’d recommend this album to almost anyone, but most definitely fans of the bands Bad Omens, Bring Me The Horizon, and Ghost. I’ll give Take Me Back To Eden an 8.7/10, with taken off due to some of the songs feeling out of place and strange mixing on some songs, with beautiful instrumentals throughout.
Pop: GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo came back strong from SOUR with GUTS, and it is clear that the time between albums was worth the wait. The former Disney star has a beautiful singing voice and mixed with some great grunge influence for the instruments, it provides a sound she briefly explored in SOUR but expanded on with this album. Composed of 12 songs and produced by Dan Nigro, some classic hits on here are sure to age well, most notably ‘“bad idea right?’” and “‘vampire’”. I’m going to have to give the title of my favorite song on here to “‘bad idea right?’” not for the lyrics, which I’m frankly not a fan of, but for how well it’s produced, mixed, mastered, and the feeling behind it. The layering is masterful, and the simplicity of the drums and guitar draws attention to the singer-songwriter’s voice without taking away from the musicality of the song. In general, this is an excellent album, and even better for a girl’s night out or something where you can play some music to sing along to and not think much of. I’d recommend this album to mainly its target audience of teenage girls, still, I think there are some hidden gems that people who aren’t fans of the artist might enjoy. I’ll give GUTS an 8.5/10, with points docked for inconsistent mixing/mastery and lyrical limpness, but made up for with well-put-together instruments and a very dedicated fan base.
Metal: Dereliction by Larcenia Roe
One of the best indie metal bands right now, Larcenia Roe released their debut album Dereliction this year and has made waves. With the release of the album on the 27th of October, it came with five tracks, including the previously released ‘“Unhinged”’ and ‘“NOSE TORK”’, released as singles, as well as the new tracks ‘“Precursor”’, ‘“SMILE feat. Dan Tucker”’ and ‘“ALIENATION feat. CJ McCreery’”. I have to say that the best track in my book is ‘“ALIENATION”’, and while the whole album is incredibly well produced, this track shines above the rest, with static, samples, ending fakeouts, transitions, and more. The vocal feature of CJ McCreery was a special treat as he’s making news in the genre again with many new releases. The song has a groove to it, as you can almost dance to it, unlike a lot of other metal, and has a wide range of vocal techniques to give it a unique feel. With perfect precision, fakeouts, bleeding fast guitar and drums, brutal vocals, and some of the best mixing I’ve ever heard in any genre, I’d recommend this album to anyone who enjoys extreme metal or wants to study mixing and mastering, even I learned about that from this album. I’ll give Dereliction a 9.6/10, with the only points removed for the almost excessive amount of fakeouts in ““ALIENATION”” and how ““Unhinged”” should’ve probably stayed as a single.
Electronic: Lahai by Sampha
If there was music playing in someone’s ears as they floated to heaven when they passed, I imagine this album would be playing in their ears. Sampha delivered his sophomore album on October 20th of this year to much anticipation. Centered on themes of loss and optimism, Sampha has managed to infuse his music with a sense of dense, deep melancholy while keeping an airy tone to the whole album. The album is very well produced, and it’s clear that the artist knew precisely what he wanted and conveyed that perfectly, resulting in music full of emotion. My favorite track has to be ‘“Suspended’” which leads in with softer instruments and fast vocals, before bridging into a bass-heavy, lightly distorted hi-hat beat that retains the upbeat sound that the album consistently maintains. This album makes even more sense when you learn that it’s a memorial album to Sampha’s grandfather, and adds to the feelings observed. This vocal-saturated remembrance of a passed loved one is emotional, beautiful, incredibly well-produced, and memorable. I’d recommend this album to anyone, as I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t enjoy this album. I’ll give Lahai a 9.5/10, with the only points taken away for a little too excessive layering of voices.
Punk: Errors by Capra
Capra, a hardcore punk outfit from Louisiana, released their second album Errors on October 6th of this year, and they, by all definitions, slam. This band is one of the few that I’m certain could make it past the oversaturated genre to be regarded among industry legends like Knocked Loose, Fugazi, and more. Errors genuinely surprised me, with guitar and drums that seem to merge thrash metalcore and vocals that I can only attribute to feminist punk legends like Bikini Kill and P*ssy Riot, this is one of those albums that you can’t put down once you start listening. My favorite track has to be ““Human Commodity””, which features Candace Puopolo of Walls of Jericho, and these vocalists’ screams layer perfectly on such a powerful track. The drums, guitar, and bass aren’t too original but that doesn’t stop it from delivering a ridiculous amount of power to the music, something I haven’t seen with a lot of other punk this past year. With ten tracks, each unique and in your face, Capra is one of those bands that you should definitely keep an eye on, this band will be huge I’m sure. I’d recommend Errors to anyone who enjoys hardcore punk and punk in general, as well as any metalheads interested in a break from nonstop blast beats and gutturals. I think Errors deserves a solid 9/10, with some points docked due to recycled riffage and structure seen elsewhere in the genre, and I also wish we could have seen more tracks on this album.
Hip Hop/Rap: Utopia by Travis Scott
The favorite of many throughout the summer, Utopia was released in late July by Travis Scott, with quite a bit of hype around it. From leaked sound bytes and a release show planned to be on the Great Pyramids, Scott knew precisely how to market this album, which was his first since 2019, so the anticipation was very present. Throughout the year, we’ve seen some great collaborations on hip hop albums, and this one doesn’t shy away from that theme at all. With features like Drake, Carti, 21 Savage, The Weeknd, Dave Chappelle, SZA, and Bad Bunny, this 19 track album is a work of art. Produced by so many people, each track has it’s own sound while still retaining an overall vibe. My favorite song has to ““FE!N””, but ““TELEKINESIS”” is a close second, with my only critique being that it runs a bit long but has some solid features. ““FE!N”” has a beautiful synth intro, the vocals are mixed to perfections, the chorus is simple but not annoying, and a great feature from Playboi Carti. The flow accents the bass flawlessly and simple synth throughout verses while having major pentatonic synth sweeps for the bridge, all while being perfectly mixed and mastered. I’d recommend this album to anyone who’s a fan of the genre and most other people interested in something different. I’ll have to give Utopia a 9.5/10, with the only points being docked for the frankly awful track ““K-POP”” which is pure mumble rap and a random feature from The Weeknd.
This year has been great for music, from shows to production value, and so I am very much so looking forward to the next year of music and the new innovations bound to come with it.
