Luke Nuttall (Editor / Writer)
5
VV – Loveletting
There’s a certain magic to Ville Valo in his element that honestly just can’t be beaten. It was true with much of HIM, just as with his debut album under the VV moniker, with no better source to pull from than Loveletting. It can almost feel like cheating sometimes, in the marriage of gossamer romance and icy, hanging gothiness across the board, working in such perfect harmony and spilling across a frankly immaculate mix. It’s one of the most self-evidently effective songs of the year, to be sure, but Valo has the wealth of charisma to push it even further, right into total excellence.
4
Holding Absence – False Dawn
The best Holding Absence songs are the ones where Lucas Woodland ruptures a lung in the name of absolute emotional eruption. False Dawn, then, follows in the footsteps of Afterlife as a canonised anthem for the ages, scraping the heights of post-hardcore in ways that so many others claim to, but never pulled off. Not like this anyway, where the rafters quake and buckle through roaring waves of guitars, and a vocal performance coloured by bone-deep honesty matches up spectacularly. It’s the kind of song a truly special band wheels out the reinforces their specialness, while also being the most natural extension in the world of everything that’s come before. For Holding Absence, stratospheric heights have never seemed so comfortable.
3
Creeper – Cry To Heaven
As regularly as the sun will rise and fall each day, Creeper kick off a new album cycle with a celebration of their own flagrance that utterly flattens anything in its wake. In principle, Cry To Heaven isn’t new, but as the perfect encapsulation of the Sanguivore era, you could never ask for more. It’s Creeper in Billy Idol mode, after all, leather-clad and snarling in a form that’s both viciously horny and hornily vicious, against a glam-metal roar that’s supercharged at all angles. Add in just how much the individual gems in the crown add up—the chug of the riff; the completely ludicrous key-change—and it’s perhaps Creeper’s most overt display of forcing themselves into excellence that they’ve ever put down. It’s also one of the best, naturally.
2
Hundred Reasons – Glorious Sunset
The return of Hundred Reasons has never meant more than it did this year. They’ve been floating around in a half-active state for a while, but in biting the bullet and asserting how the kings of 2000s post-hardcore have still got it in spades, the magic is real. So here’s Glorious Sunset, a song almost inescapably deep in Hundred Reasons’ wheelhouse, but taking advantage of that fact to indescribable effect. They can still soar and churn and run with unparalleled freedom, on a song about losing a loved one that cashes in its dutiful solemnity and earnestness for a celebration of life that fittingly cracks the heavens every time that chorus hits. A straight-down-the-middle rock song is never this good, but if there’s anyone who can sneak in that tiny window crack and plant their flag proudly, it’s Hundred Reasons. In 2023, they might have just lived up to their best.
1
Spanish Love Songs – Haunted
From the moment it starts, Haunted is something of a revelation. The band who grabbed everyone by the shoulders and chipped them down into nothingness just a few years prior are back, all new but just as tremendous. Because with the dancing synths and heartland-rock tempo more akin to The Killers than anything close to alt-punk, the reinvention of Spanish Love Songs accomplishes some mind-blowing feats. Haunted is the pinnacle though, a song sung from the jaws of existential ennui that might have claimed Dylan Slocum, but not those close to him; not if he has anything to do about it. Life is hard for everyone, but the tenacity to find glimmers of hope in togetherness and solidarity and love make it worthwhile in the end. It’s beautifully written, just like every Spanish Love Songs’ song, and running on night-driving indie-rock beauty in the pacing and composition that’s, without exaggeration, flawless. The concept of the magnum opus is clearly Spanish Love Songs’ to decant and distribute as they see fit, as Haunted singlehandedly redefines and reinforces everything that’s made this band into such a phenomenon.
Georgia Jackson (Deputy Editor / Writer)
5
The Aces – I’ve Loved You For So Long
The Aces delved into their experiences with discrimination and their deeply religious upbringing in Utah on third album I’ve Loved You For So Long, but the album-opening title track is a gorgeous dreamy love song which acts as the calm before the storm on the tracklist. Carefree, airy and assured, this is The Aces at their absolute best.
4
Foo Fighters – Under You
Foo Fighters’ first record without Taylor Hawkins was always going to be a noteworthy one, but it being their best material in over a decade was a welcome surprise. Album highlight Under You discusses grief head-on, detailing the journey of shock, denial and eventually a form of acceptance. The lyrics are poignant but matter of fact, the song itself melodic and rousing, inviting listeners who’ve gone through anything similar to join Dave Grohl and the band in singing along and sitting in their emotions rather than dwell alone.
3
Renée Rapp – Pretty Girls
Reneé Rapp’s Snow Angel is full of songs that take their time and revel in emotional delivery, but Pretty Girls is the true pop star moment, the release of tension amongst all the dramatics. A tale of straight girls experimenting with their sexualities and the LGBTQ+ feelings they tread on in their wake, this song is a textbook showcase of Rapp’s prowess with dynamics, gliding from roomy finger picked guitar verses to its propulsive synth-helmed chorus eventually to the sensational outro which takes the song to a whole new level.
2
Boygenius – Not Strong Enough
Who would’ve expected that Boygenius could write a rousing stadium anthem? Not Strong Enough is the soaring highlight of The Record, a total earworm even though its lyrics change with every chorus. Boygenius never compromise their penchant for poetic introspection despite the considerable uptick in energy on this track, and with each member getting their own verse, it feels like the best showcase of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus’ individual talents (alongside their collective ones) we’ve gotten so far.
1
Balance & Composure – Savior Mode
2014 Tumblr emos everywhere rejoiced when defunct Philadelphia outfit Balance & Composure dropped Too Quick To Forgive on streaming services this April. Last To Know was a six-minute slow burn in the style of the latter half of their discography, but Savior Mode was the real star of the show. It’s classic Balance & Composure through and through, equal parts anthemic and complex, hard-hitting with a soft centre. Its discussion of grief and trauma feel incredibly mature, and it’s such an exciting precursor to any new material on the horizon.
