2023×12: My Favourite New Songs This Year
Once more, the end of the year approaches, and the internet comes alive with “Top X Of The Year” lists. I will join the avalanche once more with my annual look at what I’ve been listening to. Yes, it’s 2023×12 time.
I’ll add a song to this post daily until all twelve songs are here. Are they the biggest songs of the year? Nope. Were they all released over the last twelve months? Mostly… Yet they’ve all been stuck in my head during the year so much that I keep coming back to them over and over again.
Here’s my YouTube playlist for 2023×12, and I’ll keep it up to date as I reveal my twelve songs…
‘Queen of Kings’, by Alessandra.
There are some songs that I latch onto before I finish the first listen. ‘Queen of Kings’ is one of those songs. One of the 21 entries to Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix it stood out straight away, ticking all my boxes.
I think it was the subtle pirate sea shanty hiding in the bass line that grabbed me on that first listen. Above that were lyrics that demanded to be shouted out—even if I have a habit of replacing the vocal slam into the chorus with her “Her name is Ed” because is there anything more pirate-y than ‘Our Flag Means Death‘ in 2023? Wrap that up with shifting verse and chorus structure, and a vocal-powered bridge, and you have a gem of a song that has kept me smiling through the year.
Norway is getting to be a dab hand in getting these highly structured pop songs to the Eurovision Song Contest. They might not pick up as much critical acclaim as others, but you can never go wrong with Disco Pirates.
‘Panic Attack’, by Judas Priest.
This is how you stay fresh and relevant. The Judas Priest sound is very much present, but it’s not locked in some weak tribute to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. It starts in the eighties as the introduction layers more texture and modern flavour until you realise it’s an introduction to the introduction. Then, the one thing that can never change turns up.
The Rob Halford scream.
It does feel a bit prog, which is fine by me. As the lead single from next year’s ‘Invincible Shield’ album, I do wonder where this path is going; the framing of classic Judas Priest and evolving that sound in the first track makes me think that “a bit prog” might be an understatement.
That’s for next year. Right now ‘Panic Attack’ offers a beautiful collection of guitar licks, twisting rhythms, punchy vocals, and an aggressive balance of classic sounds without doing a greatest hits arrangement.
‘Tell Me More’, by TuralTuranX.
This one keeps taking me by surprise. When Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai announced this would be its entry to the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, the track picked up more coverage for sounding like Sixpence None The Richer’s ‘Kiss Me’ than its chances at the Song Contest. It failed to qualify for Saturday night.
Yet… that almost spoken-word line running into the chorus lingered in my head. It kept popping up without being asked. Even after Eurovision ended, ‘Tell Me More’ remained intoxicating. I wasn’t even making some curious connection back to the 90s music scene—I was pretty much all metal and a dash of the Bee Gees in that decade.
Sometimes, you don’t need an explanation. From the story-setting answering machine that opens the track, through the move to a Cavern Club sequel guitar moment, to the drop back for an acoustic coda, ‘Tell Me More’ appeals to me. Why, I don’t know, but music has the power to surprise,
‘No More Me And You’, by Annsofi and Alexander Rybak.
Released in February, Annsofi delivers the perfect definition of a torch song, which could easily be considered a nod towards the Great American Songbook style. Annsofi hits every moment needed throughout the story, from the quiet, introverted moments to the full-throated cries of despair, yet she always stays in control of the power.
This would not be out of place closing the first half of a musical in the West End.
The song billing reads like a duet, but Alexander Rybak’s voice never appears. It’s just the violin haunting Annsofi’s voice throughout, complementing the lyrics and bringing even more emotion to the listener. Nothing says “torch song” like a violin.
…Trust us, always bring the violin.
‘Lasciami’, by Moda.
It’s not quite the smell of leather bomber jackets and crackling amplifiers, but Italy’s Sanremo always finds space for an old-school rock band. This year, it was Modà’s turn to perform on the Ariston Theatre stage with an 80s-tinged Italian-flavoured power ballad.
I’m a sucker for Italian music. Delivering honest yet overpowering emotions in Italian feels far easier, and there’s an ability to fill a room with more sound than you can imagine. It’s the perfect environment for your 80s-tinged power ballad. If that’s the case, Modà is the perfect choice and ‘Lasciami’ is the result.
Does it break new ground? Does it redefine the genre? Does it crash the genre into a 21st-century sound to create a new flavour? Not at all. Moda read the brief, got to work, and delivered exactly what was requested.
‘Honestly’, by Ulrikke.
Ulrikke sets the scene with a quiet piano supporting her; three minutes later, as the song reaches its crescendo, she’s joined by a legion of backing singers, a full band, and a dash of orchestral notes. ‘Honestly’ is a classic example of telling a story in a song, not just in the rising intensity of words but with the emotions and the music.
It’s one of my favourite musical shapes to listen to.
The power of ‘Honestly’ stands on its own, yet the backstory is an intensely personal one from Ulrikke, touching on loss and friendship, the impact of the pandemic lockdowns, and finding a place in the new world. It’s a personal song shared with the world, and it gets me every time.
‘He’s A Man’, by Bob Vylan.
Bob Vylan’s Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan are a duo to be reckoned with. The white-hot anger of 2020’s ‘We Live Here’ continues reverberating through their discography. I’ll have to wait until April 2024 for the next album, but the lead track is already here, and it’s gorgeous.
The guitar licks and heavy drums slam into you first. Then, the lyrics overtake you as your head twists around their delicate avalanche. Finally, you rush back to the music, the infectious hook of the political message, and the realisation that Bob Vylan has nailed it once more.
‘He’s A Man’ is political punk and grime at its finest.
‘La Vie En Rose’, by Con O’Neill.
It’s a song with countless cover versions that are just as well known as Édith Piaf’s original, so why does this recording figure in my countdown?
The simple answer is Con O’Neill’s voice. He captures the fleeting moments of joy and the hurt wrapped around them, a singing voice fragile and forceful in the same breath.
The longer answer involves a deep dive into ‘Our Flag Means Death’, where the song comes from. La Vie is a song that’s about finding love in difficult circumstances. In the show, O’Neill’s character is in a dark place, pushing away his found family and feelings. As he breaks through and accepts the love around and in himself, he sings ‘La Vie En Rose,’ in drag, to his family.
In that moment, everything is perfect.
‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’, by Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band.
To be clear, not the version found on the epic ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ album from Bruce Springsteen in 1978, but the version of ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ Bruce and The E Street played live in Edinburgh earlier this year.
For over a decade, I had said that the next time Springsteen came to Edinburgh, I’d be there… somehow. When the Murrayfield date was announced, I knew it was time. I will be eternally grateful to those who helped me find a pair of tickets.
They’re all getting older, which meant that, for once, the setlist for the tour had many more ‘fixed’ songs than previous Springsteen gigs. I glanced at the early dates of the tour, and ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’—the one that means the most to me—wasn’t on their list. There were a few gaps for whatever the band felt like playing on the night. So I just hoped.
It’s an hour into the three-hour show. Nobody has stopped for a breath between any song yet. Everyone is wrapped in the moments of rock and soul…
And they play it. They play Darkness. And I cried.
‘It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way’, by Sparks.
Frankly, it could have been any track from their new album, ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte.’ After the titular track was released as a single, I decided that “the United Kingdom should send Sparks to Eurovision’ only half in jest.
Their 25th album is a tour de force of everything you would expect from Sparks. It’s inventive pop with storytelling and songwriting mixed in equal measures and a dash of wry humour. The whole album is well worth your time, and there are moments of realisation on some topics that make the second listen more exciting.
Why is ‘It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way’ the track chosen for 2023×12? Part of it is the haunting and simple opening of the guitar, but mostly it’s down to the message that sits inside the song: of everyone telling you what to do, yet here’s Ron and Russell saying it’s okay to do your own thing, to do what you want, and never to feel locked into something you’ve fallen out of love with.
‘Top Brass’, by Matt Berry.
Put aside the Matt Berry you’ve seen on TV, all brash arrogance and stilted falsetto; his real creativity can be found in his music.
Top Brass is Berry’s nod towards library music, the vast treasure troves of music that could be licenced and used by pretty much anybody for incidental or main music in TV or film. Not only has Berry captured the essence of seventies television, but he has also composed and performed an entire library in his ‘Simplicity’ album. Everything is published by arguably one of the greatest names in the scene, KPM Music.
That’s living the dream.
‘Top Brass’ is the lead track; there’s so much to love here. The tiny rhythm sets the scene, the layers of introduction before the bass arrives, the mic drop moments where everything physically freezes before snapping back to the beat. I can’t decide if it’s the opening theme to a Luxemburg City detective drama, a revived Sportsnight, or a sitcom set in the Royal Albert Hall’s orchestra pit… that’s what the delightful mix of library music, the listener’s imagination, and the composer’s inventiveness can offer.
Top Brass is a niche song on a niche record label for a niche subject. And it’s fabulous.
‘Happier Than Ever’, by Kelly Clarkson.
Tension. ‘Happer Than Ever’ is all about the tension.
The opening half of the song ratchets up the emotional pressure. You know something is going to give, and when you’re ready for the song to deliver that moment, it deftly dodges that and applies more tension. The bridge pushes even more onto Clarkson.
And then she lights up the room as the anger, the hate, the disappointment, and the fury explodes everywhere. You can draw a direct line from this right back to the stunning debut of ‘Since U Been Gone’. It’s no longer a teenage breakup; it’s an adult relationship with much more pain and baggage on show. Clarkson absolutely nails every single moment in a tour de force.
Technically, it’s a 2022 release, but I heard this first in 2023; it’s been on my daily playlist since then, and more than any other song, this was the one that made the year for me.
And that’s the twelve. I hope you found something new you enjoyed.
(Why 2023×12? Because it’s one song, per month, per year, and that looks and sounds a bit like?20×2).
