The Five Best Albums of 2023: Our Picks

We’ve seen albums capture all manner of moods, spanning genres, from magnificent comebacks to fantastic collaborations. So, who makes our top five?

18:00 27 December 2023

Yes, we’re at that time of the year again where we need to start picking our favourites, and when it comes to albums there’s been an awful lot to choose from.

We’ve seen albums capture all manner of moods, spanning genres, from magnificent comebacks to fantastic collaborations. So, who makes our top five?

5. Corinne Bailey-Rae: Black Rainbows

Leeds-born Corinne Bailey-Rae shocked everyone with her latest album Black Rainbows. Previously known as an easy-breeze pop-soul singer, her latest release is one that offers a little more rock ‘n’ roll and psychedelia. It’s a far cry from the Put Your Records On of 2006, with “Peach Velvet Sky” and “Earthlings” offering some music with real substance.

That substance is found in true stories on the album in which she used the arvices of Black history at Chicago’s Stony Island Arts Bank, creating a really sophisticated album of work that’s by far her best to date.

4. Lana Del Rey: Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd

Lana Del Rey has also come back with a bang. Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd earned rave reviews from critics and is a disarmingly truthful look at her life.

Lana’s struggles have long been documented, whether it be relationship issues, or her time suffering from addiction and seeking out residential rehab treatment, but this is her at the top of her game, with her performance at Glastonbury a real highlight of the year for many music lovers. 

3. The National: Laugh Track

Speaking of struggles, The National have released two albums this year, with both reflective of lead singer and songwriter Matt Berninger’s battle with depression. Laugh Track makes the cut in our top five, with it lyrically quite phenomenal. 

You’ve got the heavy rock within tracks like Space Invader and Smoke Detector, and such delicacy in Laugh Track, featuring Phoebe Bridgers, and Crumble. The latter features Rosanne Cash, who helped Berninger through his more difficult times.

2. Lanterns on the Lake: Versions of Us

British band Lanterns on the Lake almost scrapped Versions of Us, rerecording it last minute with Radiohead’s Philip Selway joining on drums. It’s an incredibly moving piece of work that picks apart relationships and puts them back together.

An intense listen at points, a bit of groove at others, particularly in the form of Vatican, Versions of Us is essentially a continuation of Spook the Herd, with the band sounding bigger and better than ever before.

1. Boygenius: The Record

The indie supergroup of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker really showed how it could be done with 12 songs of female solidarity, messy friendships and a look at the world from their own perspective.

It’s a great album that switches from acoustic to electric and back, with huge nods to the lo-fi sounds of the late-90s and early noughties. These types of record are difficult to produce, but there’s just such a connection between the three that it comfortably makes our album of the year.