The Top 10 Pop Albums of 2023

Pop does not have to be a bad word. Sadly the music industry takes it down a deeper hole of vapid capitalism, by pumping out products rather than music with anything to say.  Unlike their more mainstream counterparts, these albums were not rolled from the same assembly line and did not need the teams of songwriters and producers to create for them, they generally did this themselves.  Here are albums that stand shoulder to shoulder with other genres, proving pop does not have to be trash, despite being that more often than not these days.  After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2023. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Pop albums of 2023.

10-Hot Milk - "A Call to the Void" 

Closer to rock than Chvrches with the aggressive punchy nature of what they do, they are not better musicians than Chvrches as they tend to lean into pretty simple Tik Tok pop punk. Blending a few different styles the Paramore style of pop influenced by punk seems to be the core of who they are. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/hot-milk-call-to-void.html

 

9-KANGA- "Under Glass" 

She is back with another synth-driven stab at aggressive pop, sung from the shadows in a sultry alto. This time however the sound is underlit with neon. The melodies are more graceful this time around. She has some strong moments for this celebration of forward-thinking pop that still owes a debt to the industry that spawned it. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/kanga-under-glass.html

8-Kylie Minogue - "Tension" 

Kylie's 16th album. 15 songwriters and 9 Producers are more than legit rock bands, but these days pretty par for the course when it comes to pop music, and more respectable than artists like Doja Cat and Lizzo who have over 25 of each.  Minogue's brand of dance music is more complex than what either of those artists are doing. She also has more of a European fan base, with more progressive tastes. The most remarkable thing might also be due in part to her producers, but Minogue does not sound like she is 55. Her voice is light and high almost like her barely 20-something pop counterparts in the States.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/kylie-minogue-tension.html

7-the National -"The First Two Pages of Frankenstein" 

The vocals are more memorable and melodies weave complex webs of melancholy around everything. Granted this album has nothing really to do with Frankenstein as the title suggests. Instead, they have written some thoughtful, introspective songs, but still go somewhere. Matt's sullen baritone remains understated but with impeccable phrasing as the lyrics bounce off the music around him. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-national-first-two-pages-of.html

  6-Lana Del Rey -"Did you know that there is a tunnel..." 

Lana is ditching the spoken word of "Chemtrails" and her last album seemed to be more of the same ole same ole from her, as she languished on the seaside of California. To some extent that is who she is, but she needed to switch it up a bit. Slightly experimental, but well-produced rainy-day fun. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/03/lana-del-rey-did-you-know-that-there-is.html

 

5-Poppy -"Zig" 

Her fifth album finds her stepping more solidly into pop. Is it more quirky and darker than most mainstream pop? Yes. Though it conforms more to the mainstream pop formula than you might expect. but that is still more than enough to set her apart from the TikTok pandering artists your kids are listening to.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/poppy-zig.html

 

 4-Boygenius - "the record" 

Well, Taylor Swift said these girls are her favorite new band, and  It also helps that at the center of this trio is  Phoebe Bridgers, who I am already a fan of. At times their brand of dreamy pop flirts with folk along with indie rock. Sure there is a hazy ambiance to what they do, which is supplemented by smart lyrics and hooky melodies. .

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/boygenius-record.html

3-Miley Cyrus _ "Endless Summer Vacation" 

Miley straddles the Nashville Songwriting machine she grew up with and the pop machine she went to after reinventing herself to shed Hannah Montana. Unlike most pop stars she still holds a very active hand in the songwriting process. This can most be felt in the lyrics and the melodies which retain similar themes as those we have heard in the past from her. Perhaps the pop hooks are not twerking in your face as they drip with sex sugar, but the more mature effort provides a more serious look into who Miley is at this stage in the game  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/03/miley-cyrus-endless-summer-vacation.html

2-the Beaches -" Blame My Ex" 

Yeah, I am just as surprised as you that they beat Miley as this band came out of nowhere and killed it with this album. Taking the number two spot here is a testament to the fact that I listened to this album more than the other eight albums, The vocals on this album are really well produced, and this is done so without an entire team of producers. They just have really fucking clever songs. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-beaches-blame-my-ex.html

 

1-Pierce the Veil - "The Jaws of Life" 

Here is an album that had no business being as good as it is. I only knew this band from the Punk Goes Pop series of tribute albums. Much like that series, they strike me as being more on the pop side of the equation. Now five albums later the band has continued to shine their songwriting formula to create something catchier than other pop that dropped this year, while still carrying the torch for the Myspace era,. Singer Vic Fuentes'   tenor sounds like he is in high school. It is impressive that he has kept this youth vigor now that he is almost forty.  If Justin Beiber made metal the results might be similar. Which is better than it sounds on paper. In fact it is so good I listened to this album as much or more than any other album this year. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/pierce-veil-jaws-of-life.html

KANGA : "Under Glass"

 

She is back with another synth-driven stab at aggressive pop, sung from the shadows in a sultry alto. This time however the sound is underlit with neon. The melodies are perhaps more graceful this time around. The chorus to the title track reminds me of Sarah Mclaughlin The verses are not so much. The song itself is not as fine-tuned in the melody department as the opening track. "Bad Girl" works more over a groove, the lyrics are not the most thoughtful and this album feels like a more deliberate step in a commercial pop direction. Not that she is going for Taylor Swift-style hooks, but it is closer to it than her last album.  

"Rehab" is not an Amy Winehouse it pumps off a steamy 90s-flavored beat. The adolescent carefree nature of the attitude lurking under this album's performance works best on this song. "Romance" is marginally darker than the previous song, with things moving more like future pop, than say darkwave, and far from industrial which I have seen this album referenced as in some corners of the internet. "Magnolia" was one of the lead singles from this album, and it makes sense as it has a great deal of mainstream appeal. The first real ballad is "Dark Lullaby" which works well enough though is not one of the best songs on this album. 

Most of her vocal charm lies in how the sugary melodies are layered. Often double-tracked, though without the aid of auto-tune, making her more capable of singing than most pop stars today. Instruments are being played on this album, many of the bass lines sound like they are played on an actual bass. There might even be organic drums played on "Midnight Horses" which is a rarity on pop albums not made by Taylor Swift. The rock elements that were hinted at in the previous song are again flirted with. This helps the song to come together with a higher level of dynamics. "Last Drive' feels like it is drifting into the more ethereal zip code that Grimes normally writes in.  "Water" takes on a more electronic feel to close out the album. I will give this album a 9, it works really well and she has some strong moments for this celebration of forward-thinking pop that still owes a debt to the industry that spawned it. 

Gothtober- Kanga : "Eternal Daughter"

 

Artofact Records reissued this with three new tracks so it's practically a new album in my book. She talking her way through the first song with a steamy pur. Musically it's color by numbers dark wave that beenfits from the hook of the song. "Daughter" is more sing songy, it did not feel as hooky to me despit the more sing song appraoch to the vocals . The first song that really grabs my ears and gives them the kind of love I want is " Run". This song sets the bar for the standard I am going to hold her to. She doesn't have the best voice I heard, is no Kate Bush or Elizabeth Fraser. She does use what she has well, on the lvel of say a Shirley Manson at best. 

Tried listening to this album through head phones and the only thing that changed was how the bass hit. "Cocaine" has more drive, as cocaine should. It seems to indluge this drug rather than demonize as it calls her name, but there seems to be the most longing sexy song about addiction. Guess that is the difference between cocaine and heroin. Less throbbing and depressing. As a person she is pretty hot so it makes sense that this sexiness exudes in her music. I am not sure I know any ugly female singers who come across hot, like men are able to channel this kind of sonic decption. She continues to use a more drive accompaniment with "Control' though it is more dancey this time around and swirls with more sonics. No unlike something Grimes might do. 

The vocals on "Light" are less focused. We are into that place where there is more of a sound than a song. Not really sure what they point of an instrumental on this album that is centered around vocals is. It comes across as an interlude. Things end on a softer no with "Tranquility". It's likea ballad from an anime soundtrack. I will round this album up to a 9, as I think is works well even if it fizzles out at the end, not bad songs just not the energy I feel works best, aside from that at the top of the heap when it comes to the future of darkwave.