The 10 Best Songs of January / February 2023
All the tunes you should have on loop.
There are two, 100-per-cent certified hot takes I have about music:
- It’s good!
- There’s a lotttttt of it.
So it’s only natural that I’d want to emphasise the first one and help solve the second by creating this monthly music series, highlighting the best songs of the past month.
Technically two for this one, but let’s not dwell on that.
You can check out all the songs I chat about today, as well as some additional picks in my expanded Spotify playlist here. I’ll be updating it every week so give it a spin (or whatever the streaming equivalent we’ve agreed on is)!
10Counting Sheep (feat. Injury Reserve)
Flume
Say what you want about including a five year old reworked demo in what should be a contemporary list but please — at least check it out before you do.
At this point, pairing Flume with a hip-hop act is pretty much a cheat code. His career — all the back to his 2013 collabs with Freddie Gibbs and up to his 2019 mixtape — is indicative of this and while he’s had success venturing out of this zone, Counting Sheep shows that this is still the case in 2023.
Parker Corey does have a production credit so it’s hard to say exactly who did what. Still, there’s no denying the irregular, incredible Injury Reserve magic is evident here, as is Flume’s knack for crafting an earworm.
Of course, the Injury Reserve credit on this deserves some special attention too. While just a solo performance, Ritchie With A T displays a grand amount of versatility, jumping all over the emotional spectrum while reading from the “fuck around, find out” manifesto.
Best Bit: Got to be Ritchie’s delivery on the third verse, one of his most erratic performances to date.
09Echolaila
Yves Tumor
When it comes to Yves Tumor and new release cycles, there are some factors that are set in stone. One of those is that the upcoming album will have an amazing title. Another is that whatever is shown off prior is going to latch onto you and have you counting down the days till the next release.
And both of these assumptions prove to be true once again in the build-up to Yves Tumor’s 6th full-length LP: Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds). For such a bulky title, there’s a certain subtleness to Echolaila that is unlike what we heard on previous album’s lead singles (Noid, Gospel For A New Century).
Taking its name from the involuntary action of repeating words and sounds, Echolalia touches on the well-worn theme of romance that Yves has consistently put a refreshing spin on. There’s a pungent aroma of infatuation that permeates this song, something that is satisfyingly hammered home with a bassline that lingers long past those “meaningless” mumbles of “uh, uh, uh”.
On second thought, considering how besotten Yves sounds on here, I’d be willing to bet those mumbles say a lot more than they do written down…
Best Bit: That twinkly intermittent riff — beautiful stuff.
08Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2
PinkPantheress & Ice Spice
We do love an internet redemption arc.
Well, that would imply Ice Spice had anything to seek redemption for. As far as I can make out, a good chunk of Twitter found her “cringe” merely for having a goofy Spongebob beat on her song Bikini Bottom. For the record — good song, good beat, anyone that disagrees is a coward.
That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2 helps to put her in favour with these people who weren’t acting out of bad faith. Collaborating with TikTok darling PinkPantheress will definitely help and despite having very little in common sound wise, they pair up really well on here.
Part of that comes down to both artists working from the same emotional palette, ebbing and flowing between brief phases of self-love to vulnerable, heartbroken admissions. Exploring that on a tasty Jersey club beat shouldn’t make sense but, like many good things, it does.
Also, props to chillax for this incredible Weird Fishes mash-up — Thom Yorke ate!
Best Bit: I can’t shuffle but the post-chorus of “good enough” makes me wish I could.
07Blood and Butter
Caroline Polachek
While it has been four years since she released her all-around satisfying debut Pang, Caroline Polachek has adopted a “slow and steady wins the race” mentality.
She’s been sprinkling singles for sophomore LP Desire I Want To Turn Into You since 2021, each one being bittersweet in a sense: “this is so good, can we get the rest”. As of Valentine’s Day, this wait is now finally over and Caroline was kind enough to release the final single Blood and Butter a few weeks beforehand.
Leaning heavily on imagery of nature, it only makes sense that the way it blossoms is just as natural. Much like her spread out nature of singles this album cycle, the stand-out moments are cast far and wide.
Each visit to this island reveals a new vista; that lovely post-chorus passage that gives off wonderful Precursor Legacy vibes; Caroline’s kaleidoscopic vocal delivery; and a bagpipe solo that is unexpected but no less appreciated.
It’s too early on to say whether Desire I Want To Turn Into You is insurmountable but thanks to tracks like Blood and Butter, it’s a conversation that is possible to have.
Best Bit: Come on — how was it not going to be that bagpipe solo?
06 Chosen To Deserve
Wednesday
Chosen To Deserve sees Wednesday singer and guitarist Karly Hartzman lay out every adolescent fuck-up in a bid to see which one will make their other half flinch. Whether it’s lamenting about entanglements in the back of an SUV or skiving school, this track plays out like a one-man game of chicken in the best possible way.
A rambly, country rumination, Karly’s delivery is simply lovely with a gratifying texture; the kind that can make singing about public urination sound like a poem excerpt.
And it helps that the song as a whole is quite emotionally textured. While it is presented in a venting sesh style, that lackadaisical feel on the verses gives it a level headed feel. Part rose tinted, part regretful, there’s a real pull to this track that has brought me back time and time again.
Best Bit: That closing refrain of “Thank God that I was chosen to deserve you / ’Cause I’m the girl that you were chosen to deserve”
05 Rice
Young Fathers
As much as I’d love to try and do a better job of describing a song better than one of the minds behind it, I’ll exercise some common sense and quote them instead:
“What we’re great at doing is attaching ourselves to what the feeling of the track is and then building from that, so the lyrics start to come from that point of view. [On ‘Rice’] that feeling of it being joyous was what we were connecting to. It was the feeling of fresh morning air. You’re on a journey, you’re moving towards something, it feels like you’re coming home to find it again. For me, it was finding that feeling of, ‘OK, I love music again,’”
— Alloysious Massaquoi (via Apple Music)
There’s a difference between intent and execution but in the instance of Rice, they’re joined at the hip.
An undeniable feeling of euphoria bursts out of this track, the kind of song than I can attest to being a total rejuvinator. I was in a bit of a slump at the start of 2023 when it came to music but trust Young Fathers, one of the best acts of the last decade, to make me feel reconnected to this art form.
A song that you don’t listen to — you let it radiate through you.
Best Bit: How could it not be that refrain of “these hands can heal”.
04 Is U
Overmono
I would love to say that I discovered this scorching garage bop by keeping my finger on the pulse of the UK electronic scene.
The truth is that I only gave this a go based on Overmono’s love of using dogs throughout the cycle of their debut LP Good Lies — at the end of the day, I’m only human.
Speaking of human, despite all its bleeps, bloops and other electronic onomatopoeias, Is U’s optimal descriptor would be that — ‘human’. Tirzah’s sampled declarations of love aren’t the wordiest — the same three or four sentences being chopped up throughout — but her delivery along with the arrangement is really palpable. A universal sentiment delivered with a vocab of 20 odd words.
Look, I can tell you how great the build-up is, each element building on top of the next with a satisfying click. Or how the whole emotional spectrum feels explored, epic highs and sulky lows, often within seconds of one another.
However, there’s no better way to buy into this song of longing and love than to queue it up and have it course through you.
Best Bit: That drop at 2:26, the synthetic pulse becoming even more prominent.
03 Rivers of Another Town
jonatan leandoer96
Yung Lean having a side project isn’t exactly a well kept secret: under the jonathan leandoer96 moniker, he’s released a number of albums since 2016 with Sugar World being his fourth and strongest to date.
The lines have blurred a lot for Lean, with his stab at singing making its way into his main catalogue, but Rivers of Another Town is a wholly new path for the trailblazer. Donning a glam rock aesthetic with a not so polished cadence, the vibe on Sugar World isn’t going to be for everyone’s taste.
If you’re anything like myself though and can find the appeal in something being a bit rough around the edges then there’s plenty to be found on Sugar World’s stand-out track. Despite making an earnest attempt to hit those high notes, there’s a certain punk rock flavour to what Lean is trying on here. It’s a cool, charming track because of those little voice cracks and miscalculate belting, not in spite of.
With lines like “Held a gun to my head / I know I should have shut my eyes” appearing against the backdrop of a joyous piano and swelling strings, there’s an ironic contrast that I really dig about this song. The kind of art that makes you want to give an artist a pat on the back and the offer of a shoulder to cry on.
Best Bit: That outro — can’t help but lalala along with it!
02 Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight
Tennis
If there’s one thing that you can always count on Tennis for, it’s selling the fantasy of a passionate, whirlwind romance — maybe not always of the positive variety (see: Need Your Love) but emotionally charged all the same.
Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight joins that entourage as one of the finest synth-pop goodies I’ve heard in quite some time. On the production front it’s nothing but praise but it’s the lyrics on this that really sell it.
When an artist can describe something as simple as the wheels of their getaway vehicle being “set in their arc like gods”, you know you’re on to something special.
And on the topic of special, the entire climax to this song is something to behold. Even the coldest of hearts would struggle not to melt as Alaina Moore points out the delightful sights and feelings around her as if she’s taking part in the most euphoric mindfulness practice.
Best Bit: Easily the bridge — best one I’ve heard this year so far.
01 Dorothee Thines
Asian Glow
I’m unsure of where I stand on releasing a song on the first day of the year. Is it daft to release it on January 1st when folk are more likely to rush to the bathroom than check their Bandcamp? It must take some gall to decide *YOU* should be one of the first new songs someone hears, surely?
Or maybe — just maybe — it’s because of all those factors that it actually plays off as quite cool.
Of course, it helps when said song is a shoegaze-emo banger with a Mario 64-inspired pan flute showstopper. And yes, I’m aware that sounds like the result of leaving a group of millennials unsupervised in a studio with a crate of white claw. If we lived in a world where they chose to do that over starting a podcast, we’d be in a much better place — just saying.
While intense, the moments of clarity help to punctuate some beautiful, grandiose passages. If anything could have the endurance to stay in mind for critic lists come the end of the year, it’s this.
Best Bit: That aforementioned pan flute solo, followed by a gorgeous, glitchy breakdown.
