Three Tracks: 2023

These were a few of my favourite tunes.

Indigo De Souza: Younger & Dumber

Once in a while, a track like this comes along that feels devastatingly new and familiar and somehow personal.

“Sometimes, I just don’t wanna be alone / And it’s not ’cause I’m lonely / It’s just ’cause I get so tired of filling / The space all around me”

Apple Music · Spotify

Venjent: R U Gonna Move

Drum and bass revival that really moves — and is just a great tune. It rocks, which is pretty rare these days. And the video is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

“If you say so / It’s irrelevant”

Apple Music · Spotify

Adrienne Lenker: Ruined

Big Thief in Vancouver this year was one of my favourite shows ever. This late-in-the-year release by the lead singer is another bullseye. The piano late in the track is simple and effective in a way that reminded me rhythmically of Radiohead’s “Videotape” and emotionally of the haunting chord at 1:59 of Bruce Springsteen’s “Reason to Believe“. One of the most consistently excellent musicians (both Lenker herself and the full band) of the current era.

Apple Music · Spotify

See also 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.