We’re mere hours away now from 2024 – which, as it happens, is the year that Belwood will be celebrating its 10th anniversary! But before we set our sights on celebrations to come, it’s time to bid one last fond farewell to 2023. It has been a truly outstanding twelve months for new music, and it’s been a joy and a privilege to share it with you. Here’s one last look back at some of our highlights of 2023!

Album of the Year: HMLTD – The Worm

A fantastical concept album telling a tale of battling a great pink beast across medieval England, interwoven with more grounded themes of environmentalism, capitalist greed and mental health. Wild jazz freakouts, absurd theatricality, socially conscious gospel, opulent art rock and more can all be found on this unique and remarkable record. (Full Album List)

EP of the Year: Exploring Birdsong – Dancing In The Face Of Danger

One of the most polished, cohesive, self-assured and lovingly crafted EPs I’ve ever heard. Its elegant and melodic piano driven progressive pop strikes a perfect balance between ambition and accessibility. This spellbinding trio really captured lightning in a bottle here, and it’s a release I’m sure I’ll be a frequent visitor to in the foreseeable future. (Full EP List)

Song of the Year: Boygenius – Not Strong Enough

You know when you overplay a song you love and end up getting sick of it? I apparently don’t. I dread to think how many hours I’ve listened to this track on repeat this year, but given that my love for it has only deepened I’ll happily call that time well spent. The perfect paragon of what this stunning supergroup is capable of. (Full Song List)

Video of the Year: Steven Wilson – Beautiful Scarecrow

I’ve never known animation quite like it. I’ve never seen 3D modelling capture the look and feel of stop motion before. The attention to detail in the textures is astonishing. Hell, it feels more real and tangible than some actual stop motion. It took me a few watches to pick my jaw up off the flaw before I could properly appreciate the moving story being told. (Full Video List)

Best Male Solo Artist: Noah Kahan

I’ve never known an artist garner such a boost in prestige and attention in a year when they didn’t technically release an album, nor have I known a few bonus tracks breathe such new life into a record after the fact. I heard the barest hints of talk about Noah Kahan in the wake of Stick Season last year, but after the expanded version of the album, We’ll All Be Here Forever, dropped this summer, he’s been the name of everyone’s lips. It may have taken a while for the spark to catch, but there’s no denying this has been Noah’s breakthrough year, and it couldn’t have happened to anyone more deserving.

Best Female Solo Artist: Holly Humberstone

Hype can be a heavy burden to bear, but Holly Humberstone carried it with remarkable grace and self confidence on her assured debut album Paint My Bedroom Black. 2023 saw her build her visual identity, develop her stagecraft in front of ever larger audiences, expanding upon and polishing her sound, all without ever losing any of the rawness, tenderness and relatability of her artistry. 

Band of the Year: Boygenius

I mean, for one I think this is the first time an act has made an appearance in every single one of our end of year lists in a given year, so points for consistency. In all seriousness though, while Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker have all made waves in the indie scene throughout their careers, their debut album together as Boygenius managed to explode into the mainstream in a way that felt greater than the sum combined. Here’s hoping that success heralds this captivating collaboration becoming a regular fixture, as these three really bring out the best in each other.

The Spotlight! Award for Best New Band: The Last Dinner Party

I’m far from being the first or the loudest when it comes to showering the band with praise, but I’m joining the chorus regardless. Given that they’ve supported the likes of Florence + the Machine and Hozier on tour, snagged themselves a BRIT Award etc, all within mere months of dropping their debut single, this nod feels like a drop in an ocean of acclaim. But if you’re reading this, and one of the most buzzworthy British bands in years has somehow passed you by up to this point, consider this a call to hop aboard the band’s well earned hype train.

The White Feather Award for Disappointment of the Year: The Gaslight Anthem – History Books

Normally this “award” is a moment where we lament a bad album that could have been good. I think it says a lot about how strong 2023 was across the board that instead this year’s White Feather goes to a good album that could have been great. History Books has its highlights and is a welcome addition to the band’s catalogue, but at its core the record is the sound of a band still shaking off the dust after a long hiatus rather than a fully fledged return to form.

The Forgotten Gem Award: Lonely The Brave – What We Do To Feel

The alt rocker’s third album The Hope List was a stunningly resilient return to form after changing lead singers, that proved to be one of the best releases of 2021. Yet somehow the follow up, released this November, managed to slip past my radar! While I didn’t get the opportunity to give it the time and attention it deserves for a proper review, what I’ve heard suggests that the band have maintained the same high high standard they set for themselves.

Soundtrack of the Year: Alan Wake 2

At this point it isn’t a proper Remedy game unless it features an unforgettable, electrifying and inventive set-piece, featuring a song from Poets of the Fall as their video game alter egos The Old Gods of Asgard. Both the band and Remedy themselves have really outdone themselves this time with Alan Wake 2. ‘Herald of Darkness’ has such a stranglehold on my brain that I find myself performing the dance routine when I’m sure no one is watching. 

Discovery of the Year: Bleachers

Knowing Jack Antonoff best as a pop producer, I went in blind to Bleachers headline set at Barn on the Farm expecting bittersweet and highly polished synthpop. Instead their set roared into life sounding more like a hyperactive E Street band playing one last show before the end of the world. It was wild, euphoric, messy, real, uplifting, entirely unexpected, one of the best live sets I’ve ever seen, and an experience that left me wholeheartedly craving for more!