From the confines of pop to the shores of R’n’B, this year was rich with musical projects as eclectic as they were surprising. From Caroline Polachek have KelelaPass by Lana Del Rey AND Zaho de SagazanVogue offers a selection of the best albums of 2023.
The best albums of 2023
My 21st century blues from RAYA
To put it mildly My 21st century blues he shocked us. A hybrid meeting of pop, R’n’B, jazz and blues, the Londoner’s first album STRIPED is a revelation. At the age of 17, she signed a contract with the publishing house Polydor, the young woman spent years putting her voice on dance pop productions in which she did not recognize herself. We had to wait until 2021 and the noise on Twitter for the record company to release her from the contract that was suffocating her. Because from a young age, the young woman has only one dream: to release her own album. A dream come true after independent flight and release My 21st century blues in February 2023. A kind of ultra-personal diary, the singer-songwriter recounts her failures in the music industry, which led her to develop addiction and body dysmorphia (which she evokes in the heartbreaking “Body Dysmorphia”).
Backed by an impressive tour and enriched by an orchestral version this fall, My 21st century blues is a complete work, with multiple aspects and sumptuous musical research, nourished by love for STRIPED for jazz and its freedom. In November, she confided in Vogue: “Jazz is a genre in which there are no rules: sensations come first. It’s not music that can be read on a sheet music, or that you have to practice for hours to get it perfect. It is freedom, spontaneity“.
Desire, I want to turn into you by Caroline Polachek
Caroline Polachek already proved with Pang, his first album, his ability to offer plural pop. On Desire, I want to turn into youthe aptly titled record finds its producer Danny L. Harle, a longtime friend and collaborator. A former member of the avant-garde label PC Music, Danny L. Harle has worked with all the singers in the alternative pop scene, from Charlie have Rina Sawayamato the biggest stars of the genre, such as Dua Lipa on his single “Houdini”. However, its association with Polachek it is especially fruitful, and Desire, I want to turn into you is another example.
Released on Valentine’s Day, this second album is a dive into the heart of desire, where we meet the singers Grimes AND Mischief to the song “Fly To You”. From the Spanish escape on the delicious “Sunset” to the powerful hit “Welcome To My Island”, Caroline Polachek they decided to spin pop in all directions, up to a completely euphoric sound.
Fontana Baby from Amaara
Amaara is one of those raw gems we’d like to keep to ourselves. At 29 years old, Ama Serwah Genfi, her real name, offers songs at the crossroads between pop, R’n’B and Afrobeat. The singer originally from Ghana rose to fame in 2020 with the explosion of the song “Sad Girlz Luv Money”, which was launched by Tik Tok. The song is on his debut album, with a beautiful title An angel you don’t know (in French “the angel you don’t know”). Three years later he comes up with an excellent one Fontana Babythe artist’s exploration of his own sensuality.
The wet wrapper announces the color. Fontana Baby is an album of self-discovery, of one’s senses and one’s own body. The majestic violins that open the opening piece, “All My Love,” are like an introduction to an immersive universe where Amaara invites his listeners to celebrate and indulge. The precisely selected singles “Co-Star” and “Reckless & Sweet” are the brightest gems of the project. Never lazy, Fountain Baby goes elsewhere into the darker corners of Amaarae’s life, to offer a work of her own, with almost cinematic touches (such as “Princess Going Digital” and its scent of danger). Besides being inspired Madonna, Janet Jackson or Missy Elliottthe album offers itself the luxury of ownership Pharrell Williams in production, at the top “Krivotvorin”.
Did you know there is a tunnel under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey he led his followers in the wrong path in recent years, between dubious releases on social networks and disappointing works (delicious Blue flags at the head of the line). WITH Did you know there is a tunnel under Ocean Blvdsuperstar is back at the mercy of his fans, especially thanks to the reunion with Jack Antonoffa producer of genius if there ever was one, a jeweler of the impressive Norman fucking Rockwell!the singer’s sixth album, equally less appreciated, but equally successful Chemtrails over the Country Club.