The Best Songs of 2023 So Far

In U.K. singer-songwriter Raye’s words, the phrase “ice cream man” takes on a strikingly different caste than similarly named Nineties classics by Raekwon and Master P. “Comin’ like an ice cream man/Till I felt his ice-cold hands,” she sings as she describes being sexually assaulted by an unnamed producer. Co-produced by Raye, Sabath, and BloodPop, the track is hauntingly forthright, and serves as a place for Raye to find resolve despite lingering trauma: “I’ll be damned if I let a man ruin/How I walk, how I talk, how I do it.” —M.R.

Country troubadour Ashley McBryde followed up her high-concept 2022 album, Lindeville, with this gorgeous tribute to the women who helped shape her, which sprinkles aphorisms and advice about topics as varied as romance and the benefits of late-night pancakes. Its luminous guitars and McBryde’s tender delivery aren’t just a fine tribute to her ancestors; they’re also a comfortable crash pad for anyone who might take solace in its messages of support. —M.J.

Country singer-songwriter Ballerini’s messy divorce was tabloid fodder, to be sure, but she also channeled her sadness and frustration over the breakup into some excellent new recordings. “Penthouse,” from her surprise Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP, describes two people moving in together amid compromises and growing resentments, drifting further apart until there’s hardly anything recognizable from the start of the romance. “I guess wrong can look all right/When you’re playing home in a penthouse, baby,” she sings. Just brutal. —J.F.

This is only the second Number One country hit written by a Black woman. In 2023, no one this side of Ron DeSantis would be dickheaded enough to rewrite “Fast Car” from the perspective of a Southern white guy, but with that in mind, Combs’ version is uniquely empathetic, powerfully honoring one of the greatest songs ever about marginalized Americans clinging to dreams that are rigged to fail. —J.D. 

“I’m not a psycho/I’m just trying to get laid.” This gem is one of the best album openers of the year (or, for the kids who don’t listen to albums, we’ll just call it an instant classic). Lewis released it the same day she announced Joy’All, and it’s a perfect introduction to her new laid-back country sound. But don’t worry, she’s still a badass: Check out the song’s video, where she turns in her truck for a motorcycle and goes full Easy Rider. —A.M.

Williamson is a native Texan who splits her time between Marfa and Los Angeles, and you can hear this duality in her music, particularly this twangy kiss-off to an ex that reins in hints of spirituality: “I was pulling cards/While you jumped the cattle guard/They say lovin’s hard.” Amen to that. —A.M.

 “Look what you did/You’ll make a killer of a Jewish girl,” sings Sabrina Teitelbaum, the indie songwriter who records as Blondshell. She’s right. This song is killer in two senses: It’s a white-knuckled revenge fantasy, as well as a churning, visceral guitar banger — a little like PJ Harvey’s “Rid of Me” via the Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl.” Plus, there’s a heart-healthy twist. Teitelbaum offs him by poisoning his salad. —J.D. 

Any of the new Bonny Doon singles from their upcoming album Let There Be Music are eligible for this list (except for the breezy highlight “San Francisco,” a song we regret to inform you was released last fall). But the winner is “Naturally,” an acoustic wonderland where sunny melodies and simple lyrics live rent-free in your head. “Naturally” encapsulates what these Detroit guys are so damn good at: good vibes, all the time. —A.M.

Blossoming out of a moody bass line and glittery piano flourishes, the latest single from London trio Girl Ray is an effervescent indie-disco-pop track topped by Poppy Hankin’s stream-of-consciousness coolly zeroing in on her romantic target. Channeling dance-floor revivalists like Kylie Minogue and Jessie Ware, New Wave alchemists like Duran Duran, and heart-on-sleeve indie-pop heroes like Talulah Gosh and Tiger Trap, “Everybody’s Saying That” is tailor-made for people whose preferred clubwear includes cardigans. —M.J.      

The best Oasis hits were all ascent, a slow or not-so-slow build to choruses full of fireworks, and for one of the first times in his solo work, Noel Gallagher nails that approach on “Easy Now.” Its melancholic verses serve as a reminder of just how much inspiration Chris Martin took from Gallagher’s songwriting, while the chorus has  “Champagne Supernova”-worthy fizz — it’s the best Oasis song and the best Coldplay song in years. —B.H.

On the self-titled track to her recent EP, Annie Blackman proves she’s one of indie’s most thrilling newcomers within the first verse: “I’m not your girlfriend/But I’m a lot of little things/Like the bug inside the bathtub/With wet wings.” It’s this combination of deadpan wit and melodic longing that makes you listen over and over, wondering what kind of full-length album this songwriter has up her sleeve. —A.M.

The Brooklyn band’s debut is called Yarn the Hours Away, an evocative phrase that perfectly describes the conversational drift of its music — guitars pinging through the air, drums ambling at odd angles, voices building off each other in a lovely, ensnaring chatter. The appropriately named “Gorgeous” is almost like post-punk doo-wop, the sound of a slow, happily stoned stroll through the coolest part of town on the first night of summer. —J.D.

Sweeping Promises play relentlessly catchy, gloriously low-fi punk. Their 2021 album, Hunger for a Way Out, is deeply worth your time. “Eraser” is so good you could imagine hearing it on a Kill Rock Stars compilation back in the early Nineties, next to Heavens to Betsy and Unwound. “Eraser” begins with just the duo’s voices, in an almost dreamlike rapture, before they take off with a caustic, surfy rumble that sets up singer Lira Mondal’s heroic, defiant vocals. —J.D.

Irish punk band Mhaol give us a top-shelf dispatch on male uselessness as they punish their instruments in an inspiring act of primitivist violence. “We’ve been talking about the patriarchy for all these years/And we’ve been dealing with thosе late-night fears,” Róisín Nic Ghearailt offers, talking her lyrics rather than shouting, so that the listener has time to dwell on her message before she turns the phrase “I’m so bored” into a cathartic mantra. —J.D.

Leeds, England’s post-punkers Drahla get meta on the anti-pop broadside “Lip Sync,” in which vocalist-guitarist Luciel Brown casts about for “an angle in which I can align … some sentiment in which I can resign” amid skronking saxophones and scraped guitar strings. The blast of noise resolves nothing, but the journey to that void is much more exhilarating than the mindless small talk and meaningless chatter at which “Lip Sync” takes aim. —M.J.

Hemlocke Springs channels a kinda-weird energy all her own on “Sever the Blight.” Produced by Burns, the song has left-field-pop elements that can bring to mind Marina and the Diamonds during her Family Jewels era. There’s a driving drumbeat, and Springs’ hyper-specific lyricism — “I heave a sighing breath/My cavity expands” — shines through, making this track a great follow-up to her TikTok hit “Girlfriend.” —T.M.

Cameroon-born, Brooklyn-based artist Vagabon elides genres with the careful grace of someone finding her own voice on her own schedule. “Carpenter” is a study in light-touch beauty that also feels like a flex. Backed by a subtly danceable track created in collaboration with indie superproducer Rostam, she sings about the feeling of confronting your own limitations, but the tender gravitas of her delivery and the song’s sweet flow suggest that musically, she isn’t hemmed in by much. —J.D.  

The cotton-candy melody, invitingly serene groove, and singer Mica Tenenbaum’s cute delivery might suggest shallow compliance, but there’s coldhearted toughness to “Top Dog.” “I’m always happy because/I only do what I want,” she sings, comparing herself to the badassery of Laura Dern in Wild At Heart and Jurassic Park. It’s another standout moment for this satiric L.A. pop duo, who excel at delivering slick pop with a sardonic wink. —J.D.

It takes a special confidence to woo someone with “Tell me when to pick you up … I might be a little late,” but Devon Gilfillian sings those words on “All I Really Wanna Do” surprisingly appealingly. The tune pays tribute to classic soul artists like Curtis Mayfield and Smokey Robinson, but with a rock twist, as Gilfillian promises his intended not just the Earth but also the entire universe. “All I really wanna do is take a little trip with you,” he sings, “And drive around the sun and take you up over the stars.” All you need is patience. —K.G.

The opening notes of “3 Boys,” reminiscent of Lana Del Rey’s “Blue Jeans,” automatically evoke a sense of classicism before Omar Apollo’s emotion and vocals pierce through as he sings heartbreaking lyrics about a boy he loves who craves polyamory. “Three boys would work if I wasn’t so tethered to you,” he sings over an R&B, oldies-inspired melody. As on his breakout album Ivory, he’s unapologetic about queer love. —T.M.

The soft sounds of waves hitting the beach open Daniel Seavey’s introspective “I Tried.” The guitar-backed ballad offers a look at his inner thoughts as he imagines a could’ve-been future where he’s still with his ex-girlfriend and his former band, Why Don’t We. Seavey reflects on his decision to let go to put himself first, before the heartstring-tugging closing line: “Gave up everything for my hopes and dreams/Now I wish I would’ve stayed.” —T.M.

Forget 2023: The title track to Sternberg’s upcoming album is timeless, an acoustic stunner with genius lines only they could come up with. The lyrics are heart-wrenching, of course, but like any Sternberg song, that devastation balances out with a blissful melody. “Why is it so hard to be kind and gentle to myself?” they sing. “Take the box of self-deprecation/Lock it and put it on the shelf.” —A.M.

No one can make heartbreak sound as good as Taylor Swift does. In “Hits Different,” she chronicles a once-in-a-lifetime loss against an addictively jubilant production, reminiscent of early-2000s pop. The song, initially a bonus track from the Target-exclusive Midnights: Lavender Edition physical CD, made its rounds on TikTok for months before the singer finally blessed streaming services with it. With a Swiftian bridge for the ages, the track truly hits different. —M.G.