ISSUE #35: OUR FAVORITE SONGS & ALBUMS OF 2023
ISSUE #35: OUR FAVORITE SONGS & ALBUMS OF 2023
It's that time, y'all.
I know, I know - another end of year roundup (delivered two weeks short of the end of the year, we realize. We need a break!). But bear with us: end of year lists give us all a reason to reflect on the wealth of musical riches from the past twelve months, and to think about what really moved us, lived with us, made us laugh or cry. Even more importantly, it helps us discover songs and records we may have missed, because it’s never too late to stumble upon a good song.
This year, we partnered with Stereogum for our favorite albums list (thank you Stereogum!) - we’ll get to those, and a few others, a little later in the post. But first: the songs. We both picked tracks that didn’t appear on any of the albums we selected in our Stereogum post, so we can honor the widest swath of music possible. These are unranked, FYI.
Subscribers: tomorrow we will be opening up the forum to you to discuss your favorite songs and albums of the year with each other, and with us. So stay tuned for that! It’s a great time to become an annual subscriber for 20% off — plus, you get our very first merch: koozies and stickers! Ring in the new year fully equipped with DRTI gear, or take care of the country fan on your holiday gift list!
Now, on to the picks…
Natalie’s Top Country(ish) Songs of 2023
"Please Call Me Darling," Mya Byrne
"I Honky Tonked Too Hard Last Night," Ramona and the Holy Smokes
"Ain't Through Honky Tonkin Yet," Brennan Leigh
Excellent new-old school honky tonk tunes — I couldn't choose just one (aren't we all suckers for a heavy dose of pedal steel?). I just love how these songs prove that traditional-sounding country songs can still feel sharp, modern and timely.
"Waltz Across Texas," Amanda Shires and Bobbie Nelson: I love, love, love the Nelson's jangling roadhouse piano on this — a beautiful, nostalgic recording that captures these two great musicians at their loosest and most joyful. What a gift that Shires fought for this duo record, which now is one of the last documents we have of Nelson's woefully underrated work.
"Believe," Joshua Ray Walker: Again, the whole album here is stellar — but a two-step ready cover of Cher is the thing we all never knew we needed! I'm also so partial to "Halo"...was very hard for me to choose. Just fun and unexpected and perfectly executed.
"Shoebox Money," RVSHVD: '90s country goodness — danceable, smart, fun. Who do we have to pay to get this man on the GD radio? (Don’t answer that…)
"idk shit about cars," Evan Honer: A Gen Z country song that makes me think the kids might be alright — a healthy dose of emo influence here but tempered with a bit of whimsy and self-deprecation.
"FU-150," Tanner Adell: The blend of country and hip-hop here works so well — the chorus is all soaring radio-ready power ballad pathos (and who can resist FU-150), while the verses are contemporary R&B. Two sides of the same emotional coin!
"First Day It's Warm," Nathan Mongol Wells: Full disclosure - Nathan is a good friend. This song makes me so happy, though — a perfectly specific and well-observed vignette that I think almost anyone can relate to (maybe not those of you in southern California and Florida, but almost everybody else…).
“Nobody Has To Know Your Mind,” John R. Miller: “Nobody has to know your mind, or how you waste your time” is probably the refrain of the year for me. If you haven’t read Jenny Odell’s Saving Time and How To Do Nothing, this is basically her books in song form (basically as high of praise as I can imagine).
"Cowboy Don't," Breland: I screamed when I first heard this song. Brooks and Dunn but with smarter innuendo, playing with convention in a way that should be huge on the radio but (of course) is ignored in our dumb self-serious country era.
"I'm Getting By," Jason Hawk Harris: If a song makes me happy and makes me cry at once, that's a W. I have a low tolerance for the somber; a song about loss that's more about moving through grief towards the light at the end of the tunnel is exactly my speed. It sounds great too!
Marissa’s Top Country(ish) Songs of 2023
“King of Oklahoma,” Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit: I knew the first time I heard this song that, if I’m lucky enough to stick around/the planet remains intact, I’ll be hearing the grandkids sing this chorus around the house. It is so firmly rooted in the moment, in its story of government neglect, in the epidemic of addition, in the undeniable truth of how pain permeates so much further than just the person taking the pills, while also tapping into an evergreen story of love and loss. Plus it boasts an absolute monster chorus.
“Change of Heart,” Margo Price: Two songs in to my list and we’re pretty much just talking about rock songs not country songs, if you really feel the need to get into it (personally, I do not! Who cares!). And this is one of the best of both. One thing I love about Margo’s songs is she has her own completely unique corner of psychedelic country rock, but the lyrics themselves are so meticulously written – the music might send you to the sky, but the words get in your head. “I never loved you and I always will,” is one I’m still thinking about to this day.
“In Your Love,” Tyler Childers: Speaking of songs that will be passed on to generations, I don’t think there was a bigger offering this year than “In Your Love.” Tyler’s record, Rustin’ in the Rain, was inspired loosely by Elvis Presley. And as I have sat with this song, and listened to it and cried to it and watched the video (so beautifully written by Silas House with a story idea by Silas and Jason Kyle Howard), it reinforced even more that he’d accomplished exactly what he set out to do: write a timeless love song for the ages.
“Dear Insecurity,” Brandy Clark featuring Brandi Carlile: A lyrical masterpiece from one of our greatest, arranged and produced to perfection – from the strings that usher in the opening, to the solemn transition to keys, to the gorgeous, layered build at the chorus. This isn’t just a song about working through our own interior critics and deepest demons, it’s realizing that to truly love another we have to also love ourselves: “Insecurity, this time feels like love/she’s really sure of me. So please don’t fuck this up/If you cut in on this dance, I may never get a second chance.”
“Fine County Line,” Lauren Watkins: Definitely one of my favorite newcomers of the year, I absolutely love how it transitions from a Robert Palmer vibe to full on nineties county chorus with her distinctly modern spin. Excited for what’s to come from Lauren.
“Guilty,” O.N.E The Duo: I should probably talk with my therapist about how much I love a country murder ballad (don’t read into it!!) but thank god for O.N.E The Duo, who absolutely gets how to best nail this tradition. This is a country murder ballad banger of the highest order, loaded with my other favorite: tight as hell family harmonies.
“He Says Y’all,” Lola Kirke: Something I believe with every fiber of my being is that country music can, should, and always have been funny. And Lola Kirke is funny – smart, funny, good at writing honkytonk bangers, and, like me, also a Jew from New York City who loves this genre with everything she’s got. This is the song I listened to most this year when I just needed to pick my ass up.
“ICU,” Adeem the Artist: To be honest, my family and I have been listening to “Middle of the Heart” even more this year than last, and if I were compiling a best country songs of the decade, it would be on it. “ICU” is equally potent: I really do agreen with Brandi Carlile, who called Adeem one of the best writers in roots music that I’ve ever heard.” Just the dang truth.
“Small Town Boy,” Roberta Lea: A classic “should have been on country radio” kind of pick. You think you’re getting a stereotypical ode to the small town boy from the title, to his trucks and tailgates and tight little jeans, but you’re really getting a kiss off from a woman who wants to see the world and will take none of his shit!
“One Heartbeat,” Kip Moore featuring Ashley McBryde: We are not wont for country duets this year, or even for very good country duets. This cut from Kip’s excellent record Damn Love is actually my favorite one of all, and not just because it happens to include two of my favorite country people. Kip and Ashley’s voices sound great together, and I love the restless, chugging sheen. I also must shout out the closing track to this record, “Mickey’s Bar,” because no one is really better than Kip right now at capturing that restless sort of spirit, holed up at the bar looking for love or just a good time, if love ain’t coming around, who also understands that every fleeting good time has a darker tomorrow.
“Leave Me Again,” Kelsea Ballerini: Finally, finally, finally (!!!) Kelsea is getting the dues she deserves as a songwriter. This one is just exquisite, from the lyrics to the downright stunning vocal delivery. The production is so stark and bare, you kind of have to stop what you are doing to listen - the kid of song that just holds you captive for the entire duration.
Natalie’s Top Country Albums of 2023
Croy And The Boys - What Good's The Medicine?
Your and my favorite antifascist Austinites returned this year with another collection of candid, plain-spoken, good-timing tracks, and there are none better when it comes to capturing what it feels like to be a person in 2023. Rebuking nostalgia on “Did It Happen That Way,” singing party songs about being poor on “I Get By” and “I Know About No Money,” singing sad songs about being poor on “Damn The Working Man” and “What I Had To Do” — Croy covers them all, with unvarnished feeling and a well-honed honky-tonk swing. “Throw ‘Em Out” indeed!
Reyna Roberts - Bad Girl Bible, Vol. 1
Commercial country radio is in its arena-rock era, which makes it even more frustrating that Roberts’ swaggering singles aren’t getting any traction in that still deeply homogenous format. Her pop-country anthems are bright and fun, and rarely lapse into cliché: Take, for example, a murder ballad called “Miranda” that riffs on both Lambert and Miranda rights(?!). Rock and hip-hop notes embellish Roberts’ twangy country core; “Louisiana” wears its “Daddy Lessons” influences on its sleeve, while “Country Club” is a flawless tune for twerking in a honky-tonk (you know it happens). “Dollars stack higher in low places” — yes, a thousand times yes.
Read the rest of Natalie’s recs on Stereogum!
Marissa’s Top Country Albums of 2023
“Ethereal country-pop” is the best way to describe the debut album from Jordyn Shellhart, who writes with vulnerability and potent detail on Primrose. “Who Are You Mad At” is like a three minute version of three years of therapy: “Am I a trigger? Am I a fuse?” she asks, checking a partner for their tendency to deflect. And “On A Piano Bench Getting Wasted” is a gorgeous ballad about that killer combination of loneliness and nostalgia for experiences we’re not even sure we had. She’s funny and frank too (“You had a thing for laundromats, and skinny girls with bangs,” on “Steal A Man”). A perfect album for those who dreamt of an acoustic, twangier version of Midnights.
Margo Cilker - Valley of Heart’s Delight
“What do I do with the middle/ Between the coffee and the wine?” asks Oregon’s Margo Cilker on “With The Middle,” a standout track on her sophomore album. Cilker ponders distance here – the distance we put between ourselves and our homes, between us and the ones we love (or loved), between the morning and the night, when we’ve got to face who we’ve become head-on. There’s humor (“Crazy Or Died”), classic wandering odes (“Lowland Trail”), and a fishing song that is not just a fishing song (“Steelhead Trout”), all rooted in Cilker’s perfectly off-kilter voice and lush but rustic instrumentals. It transports you everywhere you want to go, and everywhere you’ve been.
Loved the recs, thanks, I was obsessed with one track so much so it came out as my top track of the year, probably helped it was released back in January on the Country Covers Albulm by Josiah and the Bonnevilles, it's Jersey Giant.