2023: My Year In Music

As the years go by, I sometimes worry that music can't surprise me anymore, but it always proves me wrong in the end. It's often these moments of unexpected delight that lift an album into contention for my annual list, and this year is no exception.

Whether it's finding intelligent songwriting in unlikely places, or hearing an artist breathing life into an outmoded genre, this year's list is full of albums that dropped my jaw when I least expected it. I hope you'll give them a try, and that they give you the same joyful surprises they've given me.

It's All True (2023) by MALINDA

The biggest surprise of the lot, I stumbled upon this stunning debut album completely by accident. As an online creator famous for her Google Translate parodies of existing songs, I admit that I didn't expect too much when an unsolicited YouTube short from Malinda Kathleen Reese led me to her newly-released record. I listened to the title track open-mouthed, pausing only to eat my words.

From the scintillating 5/4 groove of 'Brooklyn' to the layered harmonies of 'Like It's the End', this gem of an album is bursting with musical intelligence. It's a folk album at heart, filled with gorgeous flowing melodies and flute and violin arrangements that Wildwood Kin would be proud of. Yet many of the tracks would be equally at home on a Broadway stage. Reese's voice - which matches the album's scope and ambition - is in full pomp here, especially on the dark and sultry 'Good Intentions'.

This transcendent clash of folk and musical theatre is present in the lyrics too. 'Between Us and Them' is a beautiful story about those left behind in times of war, whose verses span the whole 20th Century. It's a startlingly affecting folk tale with the subtle cadences of of an emotional West End solo. I've come back to this album many times over 2023, and it keeps on giving.

My highlights: It's All True, Good Intentions, Between Us and Them, Collage

Hold the Girl (2022) by Rina Sawayama (2022)

It's a testament to Rina Sawayama's songwriting that an album exploring such sober and complex subjects is so compelling and entertaining throughout. Guiding us through themes of racial anxiety ('Minor Feelings'), generational trauma ('Send my Love to John') and even her experience of being groomed as a teenager ('Your Age'), Sawayama's powerhouse voice and ingenious melodic choices turn these raw expressions of emotion into the most sincere, intelligent pop music I've heard.

Hold the Girl's pop influences are many and varied. We hear echoes of Lady Gaga and Marina on the more bombastic tracks like 'This Hell', but my favourite moments on this record are when she reaches even further for inspiration. From the sparkling synth leads on 'Holy (Til You Let Me Go)' to the key-change-chorus of 'Catch Me in the Air', Sawayama gives these classic pop tropes her own twist, owing as much to the music of India and Japan as to the heavily-produced pop of the 2000s.

The result is a timeless pop album with an arena-worthy sound. The fine brush of the record's production allows even the most intimate songs room to breathe, crafting them into cathartic anthems promoting forgiveness and self-belief. "They'll tell you to sit up, and shut up, and grow up," Sawayama sings on the title track. "What the hell do they know?"

My highlights: Minor Feelings, Catch Me in the Air, Frankenstein, Phantom

Stick Season (2022) by Noah Kahan

Penned largely during periods of COVID lockdown in 2020 and 2021, Stick Season expertly captures the world of contradictions that we find ourselves in since the pandemic. The New England winter for which the record is named is overwhelming despite its desolation, and each track is a struggle between the stifling comfort of a lonely home and the longing for deeper connection.

This latter sentiment shines through the musical decisions on this album. Kahan has stripped back the heavy rhythms and guitar effects of his previous work in favour of a simpler folk sound that brings his voice to the fore - especially on the plaintive 'Come Over' and 'Strawberry Wine'. But he wears it well, and has lost none of his quiet fierceness - with more upbeat tracks such as 'Northern Attitude' and 'All My Love' recalling Mumford & Sons at their peak.

Stick Season is a fount of well-considered lyrics. 'Homesick', for example, is a wry parody of a love letter to Kahan's hometown. Here he notes the irony that one of its notable natives is an Olympic runner: 'This place is such great motivation / for anyone tryna move the f*** away from hibernation.' But despite its bleak, elegiac tendencies, this is an album of reflection and perseverance - where nostalgia wins out over regret, and Spring will follow Winter in the end.

My highlights: Stick Season, All My Love, Strawberry Wine, Growing Sideways

My 21st Century Blues (2023) by Raye

The last few years have been a whirlwind for Raye, beginning with the fight to part with Polydor for withholding this album's release and culminating in her nomination for prestigious prizes as an independent artist. My pick from this year's Mercury Prize playlist, I can't understand why anyone would delay My 21st Century Blues - but boy was it worth the wait.

Like many albums on this list, Blues deals with some heavy subjects - addiction, anxiety and sexual harrasment to name just a few. But fittingly for the record's backstory, Raye's main target here is hypocrisy - from manipulative partners in 'Oscar Winning Tears' and 'Flip A Switch' to ignorant executives in 'Body Dysmorphia' and 'Environmental Anxiety'. For each of these topics Raye has a confident, silver-tongued response, truly marking her debut as a blues record.

It couldn't be clearer that Raye is a born songwriter. Lyrics, beat and melody feel less like well-combined elements than a single natural flow of infectious R&B. Inspirations mingle effortlessly into something new and irresistible: neither the smooth neo-soul of 'The Thrill Is Gone' nor the languid 'Mary Jane' would feel out of place on a Frank Ocean or Lauryn Hill record. Personal, theatrical and viciously original, I cannot recommend this album enough.

My highlights: Incredibly for a 15-track album, there are no skips. Just listen to the whole thing.

Unreal Unearth (2023) by Hozier

An album inspired by Dante's Inferno is the perfect project for Hozier, whose lyrics so often touch on mythology, politics and the disconnect between Christian doctrine and modern life. The album is a contemporary journey through the circles of Dante's hell: we see the gluttony of rich nations profiting from warfare in the punchy, tongue-twisting single 'Eat Your Young'; and humanity's violence against our own world in 'To Someone from a Warmer Climate (Uiscefhuarithe)'.

Yet despite this lofty, thorny subject matter, Unreal Unearth never feels preachy. Hozier's poetic skill, fully on display here, is in blending the personal with the universal. On the macro level, 'Damage Gets Done' explores how young people are often vilified by older generations for causing problems in society; but that doesn't stop it being a lilting duet about two lovers travelling the world together.

More than anything, this record showcases Hozier's mastery of modern rock music. It combines the grungy folk of his debut that some felt was missing on Wasteland Baby, with the polish and flair of that second album. The headbanging 'Francesca' is perhaps his purest rock song so far, while the soaring 'Who We Are' and 'Abstract (Psychopomp)' cement him in my mind as the finest balladeer of his generation. It's a true masterwork, and my only worry is that he may never top it.

My highlights: Francesca, Eat Your Young, Damage Gets Done, Abstract (Psychopomp)

Honourable mentions:

• The Crowned (2023) by Che Aimee Dorval - Symphonic rock and soul are strange bedfellows, but this album combines them with ease, and to great effect - Dorval's vibrant and powerful voice is a highlight throughout. Start with 'Lionize'
  
  
• Confidence (2023) by The Hoosiers - The closest this duo has come to recreating the whimsical ingenuity of their acclaimed debut album, their latest effort makes for a highly entertaining 35 minutes. Start with 'Hello Sunshine'
  
  
• five seconds flat (2022) by Lizzie McAlpine - Flush with frenetic rhythms, rich melodies and well-crafted metaphors, this immersive, assured sophomore album was very unlucky not to make the top 5. Start at the beginning
  

Every Episode of Cabin Pressure, Ranked

In 1989, Victoria Wood produced a series of six half-hour TV plays, featuring all her classic collaborators - Anne Reid, Celia Imrie and of course Julie Walters to name a few. My dad - the biggest VW fan I know - introduced me to them, and they really are brilliant (here's a link to watch the first one). But almost as impressive is my dad's almost word-for-word recollection every line in every episode.

My equivalent of this is Cabin Pressure, a radio sitcom following the adventures of a tiny charter airline - one jet, two pilots, the CEO and her flight attendant son. For all of his sketch comedy prowess, it's in this show that John Finnemore (also a huge Victoria Wood fan) shows the real subtlety of his craft. I can quote most of the lines before they come, and its delightful familiarity has earned it the status of 'noise that I put on in the background as I fall asleep.'

Before you ask, yes I did just turn 27, and that means it's time to focus on the important things in life. Like putting every episode of my favourite Radio 4 sitcom in order of preference. For reference, each one is named for the destination the characters are flying to in that episode, and alphabetical order roughly matches chronological order.

If you've never listened to Cabin Pressure before, this is my fervent recommendation. (Series 2 is well worth an audible credit, at least.) If you do heed my advice, let me know what you think! And if you're familiar with the show, I'd love to hear what you think of my ranking.

Tier 3

26. Helsinki
25. Rotterdam
24. Abu Dhabi
23. Boston
22. Fitton
21. Johannesburg

At this point, it’s worth saying that there isn’t a single episode of Cabin Pressure that I don’t like. These bottom six episodes are the ones that I don’t instinctively come back to when I want to listen to one episode on its own. Mostly this is because their plots are slightly weaker and less inventive than average, though there are exceptions.

Helsinki, for instance, takes bottom spot because I can’t stand listening to Carolyn’s great nephew Kieran - despite a compelling B plot concerning Douglas’ small-time smuggling business. And while Cabin Pressure’s bottle episodes all showcase Finnemore’s pleasing knack for one-act plays, Fitton is the weakest among them.

Most of series 1 ends up here, but that’s largely because later seasons are an improvement. I'd still urge the keen radio 4 listener to start at the beginning, because early episodes like Abu Dhabi and Boston do an excellent job setting up the main cast and their relationships. It's always a pleasure to hear how the characters grow from colleagues who don’t really like each other to true friends over the course of the series.

Tier 2

20. Edinburgh (Birling Day #1)
19. Wokingham
18. Timbuktu (Birling Day #3)
17. Molokai (Christmas Special)
16. Uskerty
15. Paris (Birling Day #2)
14. Douz
13. Cremona
12. Yverdon-Les-Bains
11. Ottery St Mary

The middle group is made up of episodes that aren’t my favourite, but that I’m always in the mood to listen to. All of the Birling Day episodes are here - a series-long tradition similar to Brooklyn Nine Nine’s Halloween heists -  along with the stand-out episodes from season one.

Excellent guest performances from Helen Baxendale (Cremona) and John Sessions (Douz) keep their respective episodes close to the top of this group, while the revolting posh boy Mr Birling is another larger-than-life jewel in the crown of Geoffrey Whitehead’s BBC comedy roles.

Wokingham, though an excellent episode, loses points for me because I’m not hugely fond of Martin’s relationships with his siblings - though his mum Wendy, played to wholesome perfection by Prunella Scales, is one of my favourite single-episode characters.

By the same token, Yverdon-les-Bains and Ottery St Mary earn the top spots in this group partly because Anthony Head’s recurring character Herc (short for Hercules - after the aircraft, not the hero) is always a welcome addition to the cast.

This middle group represents the real essence of Cabin Pressure. The world’s smallest airline bites off more than it can chew, hijinks ensue, and everything’s wrapped up in time for tea (with the exception of Yverdon-les-Bains, the cliffhanger at the end of series 4). The comedy is bright and original, and even the most fleeting of characters have a depth and warmth that Finnemore always brings to his writing. Each one is sure to brighten any commute, or send this veteran listener to sleep with a smile on his face.

Tier 1

10. Xinzhou
9. Vaduz 8. Zurich (Two-part Finale Special) 7. Newcastle 6. Qikiqtarjuaq 5. St Petersburg 4. Kuala Lumpur 3. Limerick 2. Gdansk 1. Ipswich

And finally, we have the top ten. Episodes that are, in my humble opinion, among the best half hours of comedy Radio 4 has ever seen (or heard, I suppose). This group is mostly made up of episodes from the second and third series, which I think represents the show’s peak - though it was only once I’d put season 2 episodes in each of the top four spaces that I realised which is my favourite. There’s a strong showing from the final series as well, though. Vaduz introduces us to the delightful Theresa, who disappoints only by turning up so late into the show’s run. Xinzhou is a charmingly silly bottle episode, fitting for the final stand-alone instalment before Yverdon-les-Bains and Zurich tie up all the loose ends. And then there’s the finale itself, a heartfelt ending that is far more than a victory lap, and which truly is worthy of all that came before it. Found among these episodes are the show’s most memorable moments. Comedic ones, like Arthur’s struggles to improve his stewarding skills in Kuala Lumpur; and more solemn, character-driven moments, especially between pilots Arthur and Douglas. Newcastle deserves a special mention here, not only for its excellent guest appearances by Mark Williams and Anna Crilly, but also for that of Tom Goodman-Hill, an emergency understudy for Martin who steps into the role with fidelity and aplomb. There is so much more I could mention about this show. I haven’t even mentioned its stunning, star-studded central cast, which includes a very non-Sherlock-sounding Benedict Cumberbatch. But to say any more would only ruin your enjoyment. So please go find it for yourself, and I sincerely hope that you - like myself and Arthur - think it’s brilliant.