We've come to the end of another semester and another amazing year of music. Here is our attempt at putting together a 50 best singles of 2023!
50. "Blood and Butter" - Caroline Polachek
As the fourth single to her mythological sophomore album, Caroline Polachek illustrates grounds for a personal religion dedicated to oneself. Through the airy production, acoustic and electronic layering, and iconographic writing, she gives coverage to some of the hidden and healthy manifestations of self-worship. And, I mean, is there anything better to hear on a modern pop song than with a bagpipe solo?
49. "Death Machine" - AJJ
Folk-punk pioneers Andrew Jackson Jihad (AJJ) returned this year to try and help us learn from our mistakes and do more than just recognise how absolutely fucked we all are in 2023. In their fun, tongue-in-cheek way, the band slams on the accelerator of a “literally and symbolic” motor-run and hate-fuelled death machine in one of the brief singles of their album Disposable Everything. Their analogical take on society being made up of drivers and those who are involuntarily pulled along for the ride gives its punchy instrumental backing that bit more impact.
48. "The Narcissist" - Blur
Eight years since their unexpected Magic Whip reformation, brit-pop icons Blur returned once again in equally unexpected fashion this year to muse on the aging and legacy of the band. “The Narcissist” calmly tackles addiction not just within the rock lifestyle, but of the rock lifestyle itself. Albarn and company seem conscious of their dipping into the past both sonically and spiritually; they’re nowhere near ready to put forward a swan song just yet. And they played what is probably the best gig of 2023 worldwide in Wembley, so I don’t expect anything to stop Blur returning and re-rocking the world again in the near or distant future.
47. "Meringue Doll" - Ichiko Aoba
Try and find a track more gorgeous that came out in 2023 than this, we’ll wait. (And it was debuted in Edinburgh’s Queen Hall too, with its softly string-led, singer-songwriter pacing making for one of the most captivating live performances the city had this year!)
46. "Moonlight" - Kali Uchis
Since her remarkable debut Isolation, Colombian pop artist Kali Uchis has been focussed on distilling summertime into musical form. The cuts on her latest album Red Moon in Venus provides convincing examples of her success in this. As a paradigm example in its lazily thick bassline, dazzling splashes of chimes, and enchantress-like performance of Uchis, “Moonlight” is enabled to embody an intimate nighttime siesta of passion and heat.
45. "I Inside the Old I Dying" - PJ Harvey
Last year, PJ Harvey released her first collection of poetry Orlam. This year, she delved into its pages with the approach of a nuanced auld English folk sound. Carrying both texts together, Harvey attempts to weave nature’s underlying power into the modern contexts it founds. It is an acoustic ballad that shows this beloved artist to have turned from kick-ass punk to forest mumma. As you do.
44. "Bug Like An Angel" - Mitski
In much the same way as our previous entry, Mitski’s The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We seems to see the artist appealing to nature to overcome the bleak societal backing that overshadowed music this year. “Bug” unravels a unique narrative of finding a bug you’ve trapped in the bottom of a glass. The occasion spells out the inception of much bigger for the New York artist, who sequences soulful, collective booms of backing vocals and harmonies between isolatedly potent acoustic reflection.
43. "My Room" - Ty Segall
California garage rock weirdo Ty Segall returns next year with his fifteenth solo album Three Bells. And the third single of its rollout showcases an artist who has lost absolutely none of the original character that has made him so successful in the scene. Piercing notes of electric and flutters of acoustic guitar provide the only sense for Segall in “[His] Room.” The talent of multi-instrumental packaging these recent singles have had can only mean Segall will be back with a kick next year.
42. "Goon" - Osees
In addition to Segall, another weirdo group from the Bay returned to unleash their chaotic rock in the form of Osees. The band’s nosedive into synth-punk is epitomised in the form of “Goon”. If you’re not taken in by a double-drum-driven, guitar slamming, synthesizer frenetic track centring on Dwyer shouting about the haircut- and baseball bat-based everyday worries of your typical goon, then music might not be for you.
41. "Seaforth" - King Krule
“Seaforth” is a relatively strange case: it’s an Archy Marshall song that isn’t soul-crushingly depressing. No, its quintessentially indie sound blossoms with Marshall building a curious optimism throughout: “despite the brick walls, the ceiling, up here I’m freer than the birds.” It’s actually quite sweet, really.
40. "Rice" - Young Fathers
Once a Mercury Prize-winning hip-hop outfit, up-the-road’s Young Fathers engage with much stronger applications of traditional West African music on their new project Heavy Heavy. The opening song of the album “Rice” sets a fantastic precedent for the group’s direction of genre movement. Under psychedelic production and the sight of God, time has to be bided and patient everyday routine has to take precedence while waiting in anticipation for salvation or damnation. And eating more rice is part of that process.
39. "Summa" - Heavy Moss
Heavy Moss is a newfound Australian indie project consisting of Lucas Harwood, Sam Ingles, Kyle Tickell, and Bec Goring. Their second single “Summa” might have gone under the radar for many, but encapsulates a beautifully free-flowing study of summertime loneliness under the light of glowing psychedelic production. The indie supergroup gets the best out of each member as they swap between steady drums, cool vocals, kaleidoscopic guitar effects, and a spinal bassline being placed at the forefront of the track. We’re excited for everything they have yet to come in 2024.
38. "우리는 밤이 되면 빛난다 (We Shine at Night) - Parannoul
“We Shine at Night” might be Korean artist Parannoul’s most impactful blending of shoegaze and emo he has put out to date. The instrumental passage dreamily lapses between strings, heavy drums, rich ambient drone elements, and star-like glints of guitar, all with Parannoul at its centre providing an impassioned and vulnerable vocal performance to add. There was no better otherworldly rock piece released this year.
37. "De Selby (Part 2)" - Hozier
Irish singer-songwriter Hozier has arguably never been as powerful as he does on “De Selby (Part 2)”. In the roll out to his third album Unreal Unearth, a project rooted conceptually in Dante’s circles of hell, the artist benefits so much from such conceptual motivation that it would be wrong to not recognise the profound developments the artist has musically made this year. Through the single’s lyrical bitterness and instrumental freshness, we are dragged kicking and screaming away from the notion that we might in fact be the centre of everything happening around us. It’s a precursor to entering hell and provides the kind of strength necessary for confronting its torture.
36. "Spit" - Poppy
Poppy had an interesting year. Although her album Zig might have been one of the most disappointing releases of the year, one of its precursors “Spit,” which did not end up on the album, is a convulsion of nu metal that potently rips through its runtime. Poppy’s lyrical frustration – “Why do I get shit all the time from you men?; You are swine; You think dick is the answer; But it's not – is even more intense and consuming as “Spit”’s fierce, generative hardcore backing. This goes unbelievably hard.
35. "No Reason" - The Chemical Brothers
Although the Manchester electronic duo The Chemical Brothers have been all kinds of inconsistent over the past decade, they sure do still know how to put out an absolute banger. Through a percussion fuelled intro, funk-heavy bass, and infectious loops of what should be obnoxious “Woo!”s, the Brothers tie together a slick acid house cut that makes you wonder how they make it look so easy.
34. "Beloved! Paradise! Jazz?!" - McKinley Dixon
McKinley Dixon might well have made the perfect jazz rap record this year. And its title track showcases how resonant, personal, and candid “Beloved! Paradise! Jazz?!” can be. From the enchanting backing calls of the song’s title to Dixon’s complex verses, accounting the recurrences of colour’s significances in life and how we can all make more sense of its symbolism, we eventually reach a glorious harmony of children’s voices amongst the tremendous mixture of jazz instrumentation.
33. "Vampire Empire" - Big Thief
Having released both our single and album of the year last year, anything Big Thief could release this year was bound to be amazing. And, of course, they delivered on that. The folk rock the band currently (near perfectly) pioneer is arranged to neatly surround a stellar performance from Lenker, who is at this point cemented as one of the very best songwriters on the planet right now. We can only recommend you take the time to quickly re-listen to “Vampire Empire” right now.
32. "Jenn's Terrific Vacation" - Danny Brown
DANNY BROWN IS BACK. To the yelpy tune of a healthy post-rehab Brown, one of the two singles that preceded his long awaited Quaranta is a humorous and darkly paranoid look at gentrification (say “Jenn’s Terrific Vacation” three times quite quickly). Returning to his childhood home, Brown vividly recounts eyes peering through his windows, the neighbourhood changing around him (crack house to organic garden-type moves), and the heart attack instance of receiving inevitable eviction notices. To add, this track would be nothing without Kassa Overall’s exceptionally suffocating drumming throughout.
31. "Undergrowth" - Squid
In the wake of the oddball success of their debut Bright Green Field, Brighton-formed post-punk outfit Squid decided to go full art punk on their sophomore project. In its outrun, “Undergrowth” emphasises the scale of this band’s bottomless creativity. In six minutes, we are walked through a wilderness of anxious guitar, synth pad taps, eerily structured breaks, triumphant bell notes, and cryptic writing. This is just one example of what makes Squid one of the most exciting British bands currently on the scene.
30. “Lotus Light” – Tim Hecker
“Lotus Light” sees Canadian electronic musician Tim Hecker gradually assembling a more and more palpable anxiety over its eight-minute runtime. From its light and spacious ambient inception, the track begins to spin with greater momentum while incorporating deeper sonic elements, eventually calming itself to an unstill serenity. In its relatably disquieting ambience, it whirls, and you end up whirling with it, taken through the city-smothering soundscape Hecker creates and left there.
29. “Dickhead Blues” – Kara Jackson
“I’m not as worthless as I once thought, I’m pretty top notch” is some of the healthily youthful reflection US laureate Kara Jackson is able to reveal to herself on “Dickhead Blues.” Instrumentally, we are given little glints of xylophone, wrestling bell hits, breaths of cello, shuddering drums parts, and the trusty acoustic strums Jackson that is able to contemplate over. Lyrically, the song stands as a call to stand on your own two powerful legs. Legs that belong to someone who is much more powerful than you give yourself credit for. It’s advice for you, for me, and for Jackson. And the heartening confidence she is able to provide for everyone from these “Dickhead Blues” is well worth paying attention to.
28. “Trauma Mic” – Armand Hammer
*cymbal crash*. *cymbal crash*. *cymbal crash*. *Pink Siifu asking for attention*. *DJ Haram really kicks in*. *ELUCID is able to come in with the industrial hip-hop edge he grew up on in the New York scene*. “White Jesus got jokes”. *woods arrives on breaking shreads of guitar*. “…It’s the other way around if you actually read it…”. *a cappella*. *silence*.
27. “Spirit 2.0” – Sampha
The only reason you’d fear falling is from the fear that nothing will catch you. We all fall, so Sampha, in his six-year return to solo music, embarks on reminding us of the plethora of sources that will catch us when we fall. All on the most smoothly produced R&B backings that Sampha has ever been at the forefront of. The unimpaired voice provides unimpaired insight into worry, transcending epically over it.
26. “DOUBT” – Jeff Rosenstock
There’s little use looking for a half-arsed life coach when you can just listen to Jeff Rosenstock. The U.S. pop-punk powerhouse of positivity always seems to return to the scene just when we need him. And on the single “DOUBT”, Rosenstock would be a bit disappointed in you if you don’t say ‘enough is enough’ and fucking decimate or “chill out with the” the doubt that is eating away with you. To, sic., scrape off the dog shit that is stuck to the heart of the world. It’s bursts of intensity and otherwise focused solidity makes it a notably powerful track of 2023.
25. “I Been Young” – George Clanton
100% Electronia’s George Clanton calls to the youthful admittance of failure and being aware of our shortcomings on “I Been Young”. The hypnagogic pop its echoing piano, street soul beats, and feather-light synths are able to produce reaches an even more mesmerising point of chillwave than Clanton has previously be able to access. Its light composition and weighty emotional baggage provide increasing evidence that Clanton and the members of his label really can’t miss.
24. “The Teacher” – Foo Fighters
No more tragic circumstances can impact on a band than the unexpected death of a member. Under the extremely sad event of the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, Seattle’s Foo Fighters had to make sense of the impossible. So, they decided to channel this musically. The most striking single for the album that made sense of the band’s situation – But Here We Are – is “The Teacher”. It’s ten minute run time already challenges the radio song expectations of Foo Fighters and sees to Grohl and company founding a fantastic rock progression to funnel the astonishingly touching lyrical substance to the track. It might be disturbing to some to have such a mainstream rock song make our list, but “The Teacher” is not just the most charged rock cuts of the year, but one of the greatest songs Grohl has put out accompanied by Foo Fighters.
23. “Go Dig My Grave” – Lankum
Composed from ‘floating verses’ of the 17th and 18th centuries, Dublin folk quartet Lankum started the roll out for their masterpiece False Lankum with the extremely sinister unravelment of “Go Dig My Grave”. From Peat’s vivid vocal delivery and accompanying folk instrumentation, a dull but gradually piercing electronic note swallows the track. Its dark narrative becomes entirely sound-based and completely, spell-bindingly brilliant.
22. “Loading” – James Blake
Returning to his indie electronic roots, James Blake takes another ambitious step into the future of music. The notion of having to wait for your wings – as an angel and in death – to technologically load is disquietingly dystopian. Yet under the rays of Blake’s vocal effects, glitchy pop production, and string arrangements, it sounds superbly beautiful. The adept ambition has always made Blake stick out as an artist, and it’s examples like this that further justify the praise he receives.
21. “Rush” – Troy Sivan
If you haven’t heard this banger this year, you’ve obviously not been listening to music. So, there’s little need to justify the placement of Sivan’s on-poppers-esque club marvel.
20. “Kandy” – Fever Ray
Anything Karin Dreijer puts their finger on ends up being absolutely entrancing. “Kandy” achieves this in a much sweeter and convincing way than any of the love/lust-full pieces that ended up on their previous album Plunge. The single layers jangles of kizomba, fleets of synthesiser, and Olof Dreijer’s ever distinctive percussion over one of the most calming and stripped back vocal performances under the Fever Ray name. Given the longing of its writing, that fact is quite understandable. “Kandy” is deeply, openly sensual and Dreijer’s radical musical genius hushed to a gently intimate degree.
19. “Scaring the Hoes” – JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown
If it was anyone else than JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown, you wouldn’t be ever so slightly sceptical about what is making the slapping clapping sound that provides the basis of the title track of the duo collaboration “Scaring the Hoes”. But you have to worry whether it’s the sound of hands. With nosebleed saxophone and colossal bass notes, Brown and Peggy dedicate the track to act as a commentary on experimental hip-hop’s alienating effect on those who are only used to the mainstream. The takeaway is not to play this on aux, potentially beneficial advice from BROWNMAFIA.
18. “You Are Burning Me Up Like This” – death’s dynamic shroud
The magnitude of one of last year’s best albums Darklife, which has grown even greater in appreciable quality over 2023, was so big that experimental electronic trio death’s dynamic shroud were able to form an entire album of Darklife demos and cut tracks. “You Are Burning Me Up Like This” was supposed to appear on the album and given it’s other-worldly quality of production, fantasy world soundscape, and “swooning” listener impact it provokes , you wouldn’t be blamed for being slightly annoyed that the trio’s opus couldn’t have been extended by just one absolutely spectacular cut.
17. “Begin Again” – Jessie Ware
The Queen of Disco can’t put a foot wrong this decade. On “Begin Again,” Ware captures the essence of Latin disco and injects her vibrant sound palate and immaculate vocal arrangements to produce something that enough to get anyone dancing. The resurgence that Ware is at the forefront of couldn’t sound any grander and more impressive if it tried. This! Sounds good!
16. “Locals (Girls Like Us)” – Underscores
Machinery, catharsis, technology, Underscores, rag-tag, transcendent, provide, slapstick. Try-hard, one, high-strung, neurotic, of, blue-crossed, golden arches, the, pearly gates. Supermarket, interstate, best, picket fence, domestic, electropop, citizen's arrest. Vestibule, two-story, gas station, songs, phantom pain, art therapist, of, eggshell white, office park. Parking garage, the, small detail, micropolitan, turnpike, 2020s, private property, killing point, so, agenda. Arms, body, far, legs, flesh, skin, bone, sinew good luck.
15. “Dusk” – Chelsea Wolfe
We’ve had the Queen of Disco, and now it’s time for the Queen of Goth. Having been relatively quiet for a number of years, Wolfe returns next year with new album She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She. And the singles that are currently leading up to it are certainly something to be excited about for its release. “Dusk” provokes a more alt. rock approach for Wolfe, who is able to disorientate and frighten the listener in a refreshing, subtle way. Crafted gorgeously, there’s a real darkness here.
14. “Defeat” – Animal Collective
I’m just going to put it out there, “Defeat” must be the best thing Animal Collective have released since Merriweather Post Pavilion. We didn’t need a new album when its colossal first single does more in its twenty-two-minute run time than double the entirety of Is It Now?’s tracks could do. Or even three times. The psychedelia that the band classically has grows like a flower. There’s a nine-minute drone opening, with Tare and Panda Bear dizzily flying around setting the roots in place. Then, it grows a bit more and soon the stabilisers are able to come off. It’s so instrumentally rich and weird that it’s difficult not to invest yourself into its journey. It’s thoughtful and says a lot about where Animal Collective is right now as a band.
13. “XENA” – Skrillex
Skrillex, you know. Nai Barghouti, you might not. The former dubstep producer collabs with a Palestinian vocalist noted for her distinctive NaiStrumentation vocal approach – that her vocals possess a multi-purpose function as an extra instrument. The combination of the two artists is a cultural explosion of trap and dabke, synthesised so seamlessly well that you’d think this level of artist crossover was normal in the current EDM scene. The switch ups and ferocious production make this a very special 2023 offering.
12. “Maybae Baeby” – Xiu Xiu
Concerning the story of a girl in conversation with a pet tarantula while hiding under her bed from an abusive parent, “Maybae Baeby” is a death industrial offering from experimental Gods Xiu Xiu. With Angela Seo providing her first lead vocal performance for the duo, and her whispered vocals shackled far back in the mixing’s nightmarish layering, the scrunches of leather, trembling and booming percussion, and electronic slashes make up the single most horrifying songs of the year.
11. “I Can’t Stand It!” – Algiers
Teaming up with Boy Harsher’s Jae Matthews and Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring, Algiers channel the crippling anxiety of 2023 into an immense fusion of soul, trap, and hip-hop. James Fisher’s performance is so powerful in its political helplessness and bitter frustration that it starts to resoundingly speak for all of us. “I Can’t Stand It!”’s features are used as an old sample might be, stretched and measured amongst the constantly changing emphases of the hip-hoppy production. It’s not in the nature of a song like this to sit still and watch the world collapse around it without doing something about it.
10. “The Trench Coat Museum” – Yard Act
Holy shit, this song is good. Leeds band Yard Act truly step up from an impressive debut to a one off dance-something mad one before what is looking like a very special sophomore next year. “The Trench Coat Museum” is a class history told through the life and history of the trench coat, maybe. “Can you ban a coat? No.” There are bold flavours of new wave, prog electronic, and dance, all hyperactivated by some special ingredient I suppose only Yard Act must know about. It’s smart, it’s infectious, it’s nobly original, and it’s definitely a top ten track for this year!
9. “bad idea right?” – Olivia Rodrigo
I don’t know exactly what Olivia Rodrigo’s advice would be when it comes to debating whether or not to sleep with your ex. Her “whoops!” philosophy is both fed up and ever invested in the repeating cycle of making these bad ideas come true. There’s a power pop kick to it and appropriately bold post-punky instrumental backing, allowing the blah blah blah backing snippets, careless (in the best way possible) deliveries to pack “bad idea right?” with an incredible amount of fun. And while there is a Wet Leg edge to it, this truly sounds like Rodrigo finding her own amiably eccentric personality in the music she makes.
8. “Sliver of Ice” – ANOHNI and the Johnsons
Well, I suppose we needed a depressingly moving musical offering sooner or later, and in ANOHNI and her reformed band the Johnsons’ delivery of one of the most poignant songs of the year in “Sliver of Ice,” it certainly takes that title. Describing her experience of living through the analogy of a piece of ice melting on a tongue, in spite of the initially striking sensual experience it provides, she helplessly moves towards reaching the oblivion of disintegration. This is a small reminder of ANOHNI’s position as one of the greatest living British artists. Full stop.
7. “Dragon” – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
It has taken King Gizzard thirteen years to write a song about a dragon. I can hardly believe it. What I can believe is that their venture into thrash-metal-meets-ecological-apocalypse puts out as great an exercising of instrumental prowess and conceptual detail and creativity as the band did on Infest the Rats’ Nest in 2019. “Dragon” is a perfect example of this. Having tied threads surrounding drinking petrol, witches, and pet Gila monsters, the nine minutes of the track account the transformation and ensuing destruction of an aggravated climate-symbolic dragon that we as a planet have collectively created. From the seven-unit break-neck instrumental pallet to the standout metal vocals of Walker’s guttural verses – sung entirely in Latin – we are able to feel things collapsing around us under the most fantastical of circumstances. King Gizzard can do anything and do it well, but when they really do something, it’s absolutely phenomenal.
6. “Bending Hectic” – The Smile
Ah yes, you might be thinking: Jonny Greenwood tuning his guitar has made the sixth place on our list. Too fucking right, it has. The post-Radiohead trio gave an early teaser for their second album Wall of Eyes in the form of the emotive, expansive, and gradually unnerving “Bending Hectic”. Yorke, as ever, was born to sing. The drum provision from Skinner is well-hidden but anchors the song’s progression. Then there’s the wall of strings that crescendo into harder, less kempt, and wonderfully contrasting art rock. The Smile pick up where Radiohead left off, with a finger on the new generational pulse. And this is exactly what we expect and need them to be producing.
5. “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” – Sufjan Stevens
The story behind the new Sufjan Stevens career anthology is almost too tragic to retell. Outside of its disaster and uncertainty, there are very basic bases for Stevens to touch on, and in the wake of his long-term partner Evans Richardson’s death, “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” is strikingly one of the most moving. The stellar songwriting of Stevens offers himself up as a martyr and sacrifice to find its answer. In his quest, the Seven Swans-esque folk compass proves reliable, blossoming amongst elegant backing vocals. Whether this song and its writer finds and answer, its melancholic honesty is absolutely remarkable.
4. “Till the Sun Comes Down” – Aho Ssan
And here comes the fully deserved leftfield pick for the list. Aho Ssan is a French producer who this year embarked on his debut solo effort. With help provided by his close collaborator Resina and industrial hip-hop trio clipping., “Till the Sun Comes Down” is a post-industrial collage for the ages. The production is exemplary – rich undertones of trap are abrasively and glitchily cut between vast ambient sections, twisted string pieces, and a plethora of other unnameable shadowey elements. The track’s genres are broken down and fully deconstructed; this can’t feel like house or hip-hop or noise. It doesn’t even feel necessary for Diggs to rap over it – it just adds another enigma to what you’re listening to. Ssan’s underground work is epitomised here and should be acknowledged as near groundbreaking.
3. “What Was I Made For?” – Billie Eilish
Did you watch the Barbie movie this year? Of course, you did: it’s the single biggest product of the entertainment industry of 2023. You’ll know, then, what a special and hugely important film it is, and how great the magnitude of its ending had to be. To make an accompanying song seems like a task for few artists. With few others who could approach it as bravely, Billie Eilish proved not only to be undaunted by its prospect but took the opportunity to create a marvel of gender-relative singer-songwriter reflection. It treats the emotional nature of women as something that is manufactured and closely dependent on external guidance. Mostly because this is patriarchal capital ‘f’ Fact. “What Was I Made For?” is able to stand on its own as a wonderful track, but in the first-listen context of Barbie, it ended up having an unshakable impact on many long after leaving the cinema.
2. “FaceTime” – Billy Woods & Kenny Segal
The second collaboration between elusive NY rapper billy woods and L.A. producer Kenny Segal in May. Okay. They announced it with the first single “FaceTime”. Wow. Segal sees to creating a dream. Blushes of xylophone and a superb jazz-drum basis. Over this, woods provides some of the most convincing bars of his career so far. In his restless non-stop travelling he questions morality, time, human connection in the digital age, music’s influence, and isolation in a clouded room amongst other topics. And he’s so analytically lived through every word he says. woods is a veteran of the underground and has had his rise to acclaim coming for twenty odd years. The praise he has received from this track onwards this year cannot be expressed in how fully it is deserved.
1. “A&W” – Lana Del Rey
It might not come as a surprise that Ms. Elizabeth Grant has ended up with the best single of 2023. As Lana Del Rey, Grant analyses the commercialisation and packaging of the Woman as something akin to “A&W” – in the easy to digest “H&M” or “B&Q” retailing of the American Whore. The song is split in half: the introspective hatred and internalised misogyny Grant expounds (I think everyone’s jaw drops with reality of, “If I told you that I was raped; Do you think that anybody would think; I didn’t ask for it? I didn’t ask for it; I won’t testify, I already fucked up my story”) and then the fantastically produced (thanks, Antonoff) male fantasy of Jimmy, who Del Rey teases and dances over in a free, redemptive state of reality. This point of criticism couldn’t have been made any more creatively and powerfully in 2023, and fully deserves being labelled as this year’s best single.
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