2023 has offered some of the most groundbreaking albums the pop landscape has seen in years. Groups such as boygenius and Paramore have astounded critics and audiences alike, coasting on pointed lyrics and their established stardom. Likewise, Lana Del Rey released what is arguably her best record to date, painted with shades of folk, trap and psychedelic pop; the song “A&W” was a thesis to her pop persona. Smaller acts like Caroline Polachek, Jessie Ware and Kelela similarly emphasized their rightful places alongside larger headliners. It goes without saying, too, that Taylor Swift will go down in history as one of the most successful celebrities ever — period.
However, do not discredit the frays of this year’s musical catalog. Up until this point, the albums that have left the largest impression on me were self-released or attached to indie labels, unbound by contracts, promotion or touring. These artists engage in expansive genre fusions that fall lightyears away from two-minute chart-toppers. However, like most of Generation Z, I still bop to “Boy’s a Liar” with Pinkpantheress and Ice Spice — two fantastic artists in their own regard. Do not get it twisted!
Perhaps the most immediately captivating of these releases is “I Killed Your Dog” by Brooklyn-based collective L’Rain, spearheaded by Taja Cheek. The group — or rather, the artist — is situated between the individual and group, employing a liminal ethos that flavors all their work. Take 2021’s “Fatigue,” for example: a cyclical and spacey venture that pushed the boundaries of neo-soul, grappling with family trauma and dissociation in the same breath.
However, “I Killed Your Dog,” released on Oct. 13, 2023, occupies a clearer headspace. While still concerned with repetition, the sound of the project sprawls in technicolor: side-chained acoustic guitars, gospel piano progressions, ambiguous dance beats pounding from the other room. The lead single “New Year’s UnResolution,” the longest track, vaults me into the stratosphere above its layers of reverb. The other teaser for this project, “Pet Rock,” serves as a scuzzy rock banger that could easily find a place on an album by The Strokes.
Though it bends between genres, “I Killed Your Dog” at its core displays the sheer power of Cheek’s stellar vocals. Even though the production may change underneath her, she consistently casts spells with her hymn-like chants that jitter across many octaves; the title track of the project displays this handily. On tracks where one melody takes dominance, such as the formal opener “Our Funeral,” the idiosyncratic songwriting takes precedence: “Taboo / end of days / are you ready?”
Thematically, Cheek taps into the kitsch, tongue-in-cheek aspects of healing, unafraid to over-commit. As you have likely seen in these included song titles, the topics appear visceral, but ultimately, they document a nonlinear process of recovery. The interlude “What’s That Song?” captures this best, an utterly campy jazz tune without a key center or underbelly. You can tell she is having a blast here while shaking off some serious shit.
Another experimental R&B musician who released this year was Tirzah. I have followed her work dearly for many years; “Make It Up” is one of my most listened to songs of all time. To paint her work in broad strokes, she tools imperfections to craft an immediately personal sound: white noise on the vocals, audio clipping on the keys, overdubbing on the drum machines. She looped these dancing motifs and meditated on love, intimacy and motherhood with her previous works “Devotion” and “Colourgrade.”
“trip9love…???,” released Sept. 5, 2023, marked her highly anticipated return. And yes — the music matches how strange this title is. Many of the tracks feature the exact same sonic palette of spacey keys and breathy vocals. Only the beat stays consistent: only a handful of tracks feature unique percussion, if any at all. Whereas her previous work took the opportunity to venture to the bounds of R&B as a genre, here, she reels back in and crafts an utterly singular project.
However, I find this kind of move to be exactly what Tirzah excels at: subverting to reinvent. On repeated listens, “trip9love…???” blossoms distinctly in its stasis, revealing her vitality as an artist. There’s a drone-like aspect across the album’s 33-minute runtime; imperfections such as the white noise and overdubbing offer some breathing room against the claustrophobic club she vividly casts here. It holds a candle up to her equally definitive back catalog, albeit, in a much more esoteric sense. If anything, listen to the overblown “Stars” and wistful “their Love,” two highlights on the track list.
Also offering heaps of ambience, the last indie album I’d like to discuss is Hana Stretton’s “Soon,” released on Jan. 24, 2023. Her Spotify bio perfectly forecasts her music: “outside music made & produced in quiet places.” Living on a farm in rural Australia, the sounds of nature often leak into her acoustic tunes: a dog’s bark, the bird’s fluttering, some rain’s putter. Her lo-fi recording style lends to a rustic agency aligned with the changing and falling leaves.
However, while explicitly natural, all the instrumental layers in her field recordings are buried under these sounds. The lyrics are sung from a distant horizon line, as if Stretton’s compositions were merely echos in a canyon, happening to land on the listener’s ears. Even when she introduces brass into the mix on several of her tracks, they play softly alongside the guitar. In that way, “Soon” can be compared to some of ambient pioneer Grouper’s folk-adjacent releases; the tenderness and intimacy certainly align.
What truly makes this album breathtaking, however, is its moments of tangibility. “Come Home” ignites the record’s expedition into the countryside with choral vocal lines diminishing as the listener enters the preceding tracks. “Changing Weather” emerges from the verdure with heart-wrenching lyrics: “Oh I’ve gotta behave / I’ve gotta be home.” Closer “Bid’s Animals” ends with rushes of hummed vocals, finding peace in the unspoken. Whether you want to spend the last of these autumn nights duking it out at parties or hiking alongside the river, one of these albums will certainly do the trick.