As fun as it is looking back on the past twelve months, reminiscing about all the music that captivated us, our EP list only has one foot in the past, while the other is firmly pointed towards the future. For while this part of out Listmas festivities always finds room to celebrate work from old favourites, EPs are the vehicle through which so much up and coming talent makes its presence known, and so this list is one of our favourite ways of shining a light on promising new acts poised to make waves in the year ahead. Join us then as we delve into the EPs that left the biggest impression on us in 2023.

10. Boygenius – The Rest

If you listen to this expecting the same energy and detail as their debut album or their eponymous EP, you won’t find it. These are demos more than bonus tracks; rough sketches with sparse arrangements and fleeting runtimes. But that’s not to say these songs lack their own merits and identity. I love the rawness and intimacy on display, the peek behind the curtain being offered, and how the trio’s brilliance is able to shine through even on these bare bones affairs. I especially love Lucy’s sparkling lyricism on ‘Afraid of Heights’ and Phoebe at her most delicate and ethereal on ‘Voyager’. 

9. Hannah Grace – Devoted

With her soulful honeyed voice, Belwood favourite Hannah Grace could sing the phone book and make it sound beautiful. Armed instead with the kind of warm tender balladry found on Devoted, her talent and artistry is truly able to shine. Soft piano and subtle strings provide the backdrop for affecting reflections on love lost and found, growing older, and finding self-confidence and self-acceptance somewhere along the way. Basking in the golden glow of these songs feels like a soothing act of growth and spiritual healing in itself.

8. Bear’s Den – White Magnolias

While this much beloved indie folk outfit released two charming EPs this year, First Loves and White Magnolias, it’s the latter that resonated most with me. The blend of electronics and orchestration on the title track, the bright piano and warm brass of ‘Loneliness’, the expressive percussion found all across ‘Honest Mistake’, and the delicate balladry of ‘Imitation’. Another release to add to the ever-growing mountain of evidence that Bear’s Den simply don’t miss.

7. Rosie H Sullivan – In My Nature

Often the best records are collections of songs that feel like they belong together. They all exist in the same space, all chapters of the same story. Albums that do this well are a rare treat – EPs that manage to pull off the same trick are rarer still. In My Nature is a self-contained story. One of homesickness and feeling adrift while surrounded by the unfamiliar. About new discovery and learning to carry home with you in your heart. Rosie’s love letter to her home in the Outer Hebrides is as stunning as the landscape itself.

6. Manchester Orchestra – The Valley of Vision

While The Valley of Vision often sees Manchester Orchestra exploring more sombre and meditative territory, you can tell it was still cut from the same rich creative vein that fuelled their last two albums, The Million Masks of God and A Black Mile to the Surface. The brooding and atmospheric electronica offers an intriguing expanse to explore and absorb. This particular EP acts as a delightful little taster to tide us over until the band’s next hotly anticipated record.

5. Nieve Ella – Lifetime of Wanting

Nieve has been one of my favourite new discoveries from this year’s festival season. Much as she made her presence known on stage, Lifetime of Wanting is brimming with with well earned confidence. Assured yet angsty indie rockers like the energetic ‘Big House’, the Wolf Alice-esque ‘His Sofa’, and the breezy bop ‘Your Room’, are home to some of the strongest hooks I’ve heard all year. Pair those with the wistful slow burning splendour of the title track, and all told you get an EP that really packs a punch. 

4. Ber – Halfway

One of my favourite festival discoveries of 2022, and last year’s Spotlight! Award winner, keeping the creative momentum going into 2023. Adding layers of raucous alt rock and a joyous sense of reckless abandon, atop the already charming folktronica found all across her last EP, Ber has really upped her game with Halfway, and yet somehow this latest release still feels like just the start of what she’s capable of. One of the best collections of bops to be found anywhere in the past twelve months.

3. Hayden Calnin – A Turning of the Tide

Forgoing an album release in favour of releasing the songs as two companion EPs instead is certainly unconventional, especially when the two halves combined would have been strong album of the year contender. But it seems even a piece of the divine is still itself divine. The lush opulent baroque pop of A Turning of the Tide recalls the likes of Matt Corby, The National and early Bon Iver, with the B side especially capturing the spark of its influences with remarkable grace. An absolutely stunning release that I fear may have slipped under the radar for many.

2. Lily Agnes – Lucid Dreams

From its captivatingly contemplative lyricism, the dark aura of its smoky soulful arrangements, to the utterly intoxicating vocals, the moody jazz infused pop of Lily Agnes’ bewitching debut EP Lucid Dreams has been one of the year’s most exquisitely crafted displays of artistry, EP or otherwise. The haunting melancholy of ‘The 52’ recalling Jeff Buckley, the hazy folk of tracks like ‘Nightmare Movie’ and ‘Kansas City’ that almost seems to hang in the air like wisps of smoke, the sinfully gorgeous vocal runs on ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ and ‘Messy as my Mind’ – an absolute must listen! 

1. Exploring Birdsong – Dancing in the Face of Danger

Ever since discovering this progressive pop outfit in a live setting, and being impressed and enamoured by the scope and elegance of their sound, I’d been looking forward to hearing how the trio would expand their ambitions even further with a bit of studio wizardry. Dancing in the Face of Danger deftly walks a line between intricate grand designs and almost unfaltering accessibility. The group have such a strong and engaging command of melody, shaped in a way that already gives them such a clearly defined identity. Lynsey Ward’s astonishing vocals act as the soaring central pillar around which all the technical twists and turns can orbit. If EPs were afforded the same attention and prestige as albums, then this would be talked about as an all-timer.