We’re halfway through this year’s Listmas, which means it’s time to give our eyes a rest from all the visual splendour and instead provide a feast for the ears as we finally dive into the best music of the past twelve months. The melodies that played on repeat in our heads, the words we kept absentmindedly singing along to each day, the tracks that most engaged, excited and enraptured us. From old favourites to sensational new discoveries, here our our favourite songs of 2023.

10. Nothing But Thieves – Welcome to the DCC

I loved NBT’s debut way back when, but I’ll admit I’ve been rather slacking when it comes to all the records that followed. ‘Welcome to the DCC’ feels like the perfect re-entry point. A brilliant reminder of Conor Mason’s stunning vocal versatility, and the dark groove and infectious chorus of this track has made it one of the biggest earworms of the year.

9. Holly Humberstone – Kissing In Swimming Pools

What a year it’s been for Holly Humberstone, and this song from her superb debut album feels like the jewel in her crown. A heavenly melting pot of elegant strings, dazzling dream pop and stark confessional folk. Yet no matter how far this stunning slow burner climbs, it never loses its rawness and intimacy, and Holly always remains firmly in the spotlight where she belongs.

8. Sam Ryder – Mountain

A worthy successor to ‘Space Man’, and my unexpected song of the summer after hearing it live. A truly uplifting track to be in the crowd for, especially with such a lovable and charismatic character leading the charge. At a festival full of memorable performances this was the song I heard everyone singing all weekend long. It made me smile each time I overheard it, and that memory returns whenever I hear it now. 

7. Maisie Peters – Lost The Breakup

At this point can it even be considered a best songs of the year list unless it contains Maisie Peters? She’s become part of the furniture here; hardly surprising when she keeps delivering addictive and effervescent bops like this. The world would be a better place if we just let her soundtrack every rom-com ever from here on out. ‘Lost The Breakup’ is one of her best tracks to date, and the fact that’s this far down this list hopefully says a lot about what an incredible year of music 2023 has been.

6. Crown Lands – Starlifter: Fearless Pt.II 

Trying to sum up a sprawling 18 minute prog masterclass in a single paragraph is an exercise in futility. The skill, scope and ambition of this piece, the many shifting labyrinthine turns it leads you down, the fact that everything you’re hearing was made by just two guys; it all has to be heard to be believed. No one is doing it like this anymore. I can’t remember the last time I heard a prog epic this… well, epic. 

5. The Last Dinner Party – Nothing Matters

Grand, elegant, playful, theatrical; what a truly dazzling debut single. Exquisitely crafted, oozing effortless charisma, you can’t help but be drawn in by its magnetism. A perfect storm captured in a bottle. Of all the songs on this list, ‘Nothing Matters’ feels like the most important. It feels like the start of something special, the kind of song you’ll look back on and think “I remember when I heard it for the first time…” 

4. Tommy Lefroy – Worst Case Kid

This delightful indie duo have been on my radar for a while now, but ‘Worst Case Kid’ is the song that made me a fan. So much brilliance packed into less than three minutes. It has that kind of feral yet melodic aura that reminds me of Maggie Rogers at her best. That opening drum fill, the squalling guitar, the gorgeous harmonies, all those subtle little glitchy touches, screaming along with the line “the witch is dead” – love it!  

3. Noah Kahan – Dial Drunk

I’ve never known a deluxe edition breathe so much new life into an album. I heard mere whispers about Noah Kahan when he released Stick Season in 2022, but with this year’s We’ll All Be Here Forever edition he’s become one of the most talked about artists around. Imagine writing a song as phenomenal as the anthemic stomp-and-holler of ‘Dial Drunk’ only to put it to one side as a bonus track. So glad this song has exploded in the way it has, I adore every second of it.

2. The National – Space Invader

Even if you offered up just the first half of this track, it would still be a shining example of The National at their best. The wistful melancholic arrangement, Bryan Devendorf’s expressive drum work, and home to quite possibly the most beautifully devastating chorus the band have ever written. But then that cathartic climax roars into life; towering and apocalyptic. The sound of a quiet haunting regret you’ve harboured too long being allowed to erupt into anguish in order to finally find closure. 

1. Boygenius – Not Strong Enough

Song of the year is the part of list season where I listen most to my heart. What I think doesn’t matter here, it’s all about what I feel, and no song has made me feel more than ‘Not Strong Enough’. Phoebe, Julien and Lucy all work together to create something greater than the three of them combined. The breezy sun-drenched arrangement, the calls of “always an angel, never a god” building towards a triumphant finale. I’ve been addicted since the first listen. Not just my favourite song of the year, but one of my favourite songs full stop.