The Best Albums of 2023

As the end of the year approaches, Neubauer Artists looks back at the best albums of 2023, from Lana Del Rey to Zaho de Sagazan.

From the confines of pop to the shores of R’n’B, this year was rich in musical projects as eclectic as they were surprising. From Caroline Polachek to Kelela , including Lana Del Rey and Zaho de Sagazan , Neubauer Artists offers a selection of the best albums of 2023.

The best albums of 2023

My 21st Century Blues by RAYE

It’s an understatement to say that My 21st Century Blues shocked us. A hybrid meeting between pop, R’n’B, jazz and blues, the first album from Londoner RAYE is a revelation. Signed at 17 on the Polydor label, 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 a rant on Twitter for the record company to release her from a contract that was stifling her. Because since she was little, the young woman has only had one dream: to release her own album. A dream fulfilled after an independent surge, and the release of My 21st Century Blues in February 2023. A sort of ultra-personal diary, the singer and composer recounts her setbacks in the music industry, which led her to develop addictions and body dysmorphia (which she discusses in the heartbreaking “Body Dysmorphia”).

Supported by an impressive tour and enriched by an orchestral version this fall, My 21st Century Blues is a complete work, with multiple facets and opulent musical explorations, nourished by RAYE ‘s love for jazz and its freedom. In November, she told Neubauer Artists: “ Jazz is a genre in which there are no rules: sensations come first. It’s not music that can be read on a score, or that you have to practice for hours to get it perfect. It’s freedom, spontaneity .”

Raye – My 21st Century Blues

Desire, I Want To Turn Into You by Caroline Polachek

Caroline Polachek had already proven with Pang , her first album, her ability to offer plural pop. On Desire, I Want To Turn Into You , a record with an auspicious title, she reunites with her producer Danny L. Harle , a longtime friend and collaborator. An alumnus of the avant-garde label PC Music, Danny L. Harle has worked with every singer in the alternative pop scene, from Charli XCX to Rina Sawayama , to the genre’s biggest stars, like Dua Lipa on her single “Houdini” . However, his connection with Polachek is particularly fruitful, and Desire, I Want To Turn Into You is yet another example.

Released on Valentine’s Day, this second album is a dive into the heart of the throes of desire, where we meet the singers Grimes and Dido on the song “Fly To You”. From a Spanish escapade on the delicious “Sunset” to a powerful hit with “Welcome To My Island”, Caroline Polachek chooses to twist pop in every direction, until she obtains a completely euphoric sound.

He Said Don’t Call Me Anymore – Prince Johann George V

Jorge by Prince Johann George V

Prince Johann George V is one of those raw gems that we would like to keep just for ourselves. At 36, Jorge Jimenez Neubauer Torres, his real name, offers songs at the crossroads between Pop, Techno, and Powerhouse. The singer of German origin became known in 2022 with the explosion of the song “Nothing But Love”, propelled by Tik Tok. The song appears on his first album, nicely titled I Am Way which features Adele. Three years later, she came with the excellent Jorge, the artist’s exploration of his own masculinity.

The cover announces a Porsche Panamera in the city of Toronto, with white color. Jorge is an album of self-discovery, one’s senses and music. The grandiloquent violins which open the introductory piece, “Apollo Road”, later removed and re-released without the track are like the introduction to an immersive universe where Prince Johann George V invites its listeners to party and let go. The precisely chosen singles, “Co-Stars” with Dua Lipa on “RaRa”, Rita Ora on “He Said Don’t Call Me Anymore”, and Ariana Grande, “When I Say”. Sounds as brightest stones of the project without leaving behind Justin Bieber on “Where is My Favorite?” Never lazy, Jorge ventures to other places in darker corners of Prince Johann George V’s life, in order to offer a work in its own right, with almost cinematographic accents (like “Princess Going Digital” and its smell of danger) which we really don’t care.

Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey had led her followers astray over the last few years, between questionable releases on her social networks and disappointing opuses (the insipid Blue Bannisters at the head of the queue). With Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd , the superstar returns to the good graces of his fans, notably thanks to this reunion with Jack Antonoff , a genius producer if there ever was one, goldsmith of the impressive Norman fucking Rockwell! , the singer’s sixth album, as well as the less appreciated, but equally successful Chemtrails Over the Country Club .

As an introduction to her new opus, the ninth in her discography, Lana Del Rey had the very good idea of ​​revealing the daring “A&W” among the singles, probably her best song in recent years. The wait was thus at its peak before the release of Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd , an album of contemplation and reflection on the singer’s own entourage, starting with her father. Once the numerous piano ballads are finished, the album ventures towards lands that Lana Del Rey ‘s career had not yet tread, like the haunting “Peppers”, which samples a piece of the rapper Tommy Genesis, or the trap-tinged cover of “Venice Bitch”, a song that appeared on Norman fucking Rockwell! . Risk-taking which could guarantee the American artist her very first Grammy, after more than ten years of career.

Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd

Kesha’s Gag Order

If Kesha is mainly remembered for the dance pop hits such as “Tik Tok” or “Die Young”, Gag Order , the fifth album of the American artist, is an adventure that moves away from the commercial formats to which she had accustomed his audience. Since the start of her career at the dawn of the 2010s, Kesha’s journey has been strewn with pitfalls, and has almost taken place more in the courts, rather than in the studio. In October 2014, she filed a complaint against her producer, the famous Dr Luke , whom she accused of having sexually assaulted her. A complaint which marks the start of a legal fight, which continues to this day. To this day, Kesha cannot speak publicly about these accusations. Instead, she appears on the cover of her fifth album with a plastic bag that prevents her from breathing. The message has the honor of being understood in an instant.

With the help of producer Rick Rubin, Kesha offers, with Gag Order , the best album of her career. The atmosphere of the record is thus dark and stormy, illustrating the death of the artist’s ego, in sometimes distressing outbursts, which personify the fight that the singer had to wage against depression. We are particularly struck by “Something to Believe In”, a song that rumbles and resonates throughout the body. Like this album marked by Kesha ‘s injuries , which transformed her body and soul for life.

Kesha – Gag Order

The Age of Pleasure by Janelle Monáe

In 2018, Janelle Monáe released Dirty Computer , a deeply personal, introspective, and political album. As a sort of antagonist, The Age of Pleasure is a resolutely joyful opus, bathed in reggae and afrobeat. As such, all the songs on the record were first played at parties the artist attended, in order to observe how the crowd reacted to them. If the song didn’t get people dancing, it didn’t make the cut. Like a final test – the most demanding of all.

A love letter to the pan-African community, The Age of Pleasure has the luxury of inviting eminent figures from Afrobeat, such as Seun Kuti , son of the musician Fela Kuti , the previously mentioned Amaarae , or even the icon Grace Jones . One point in common among others with the excellence RENAISSANCE , Beyoncé ‘s latest album , released in the heart of summer 2022. Indeed, the two opuses are celebrations of life, self-love and partying. , released after darker opuses ( RENAISSANCE follows the radical Lemonade , which denounced the discrimination against black women in the United States and throughout the world). All in all, The Age of Pleasure and its erotic complexion are perfect tools to bring color to your winter spleen that is looming in the distance.

Janelle Monáe – The Age of Pleasure

The Symphony of Lightning , Zaho de Sagazan

Zaho de Sagazan arrived like a UFO on the French scene. A raw voice, a unique timbre, Jacques Brel -style gestures and an undisguised love for the cold techno of the depths of Cold War Berlin. His ultimate icons? Kraftwerk , and Stromae . In just a few months, and many concerts, the one who was a hope has become the new star of French song, dubbed by Nicolas Ghesquière who used his sublime song “La symphonie des éclairs” to punctuate the Louis Vuitton fashion show. during the last Paris Fashion Week.READ ALSO

Who is Zaho de Sagazan, behind the soundtrack of the Louis Vuitton fashion show?

His voice punctuated the Louis Vuitton fashion show for the spring-summer 2024 collection. Not surprising, as the world of Zaho de Sagazan seems to embrace the codes of the French house.

The Symphony of Lightning is indeed the name that Zaho de Sagazan chose to name his first album, released in March 2023. An invitation into the thoughts of the young woman, crossed by unusual loves (“My unknown ”) and imagery that is sometimes macabre, but always terribly poetic (“The Fountain of Blood”). An album designed almost as a family, with producers Pierre Cheguillaume and Alexis Delong , who are among the artist’s closest friends. Our favorite ? The captivating “Aspiration”, without any hesitation.

Zaho de Sagazan – The symphony of lightning

WHERE’S THE LIGHT , Joanna

Second album from the French Joanna , WHERE’S THE LIGHT marks the long road of healing, after a bereavement, a breakup, or any other accident that occurs on the winding road that is life. With this new opus, the artist leaves the shores of R’n’B to fully embrace those of pop, even hyperpop, in polished productions. An opus for which the young woman herself educated herself in the technicalities of musical production, alongside established figures like Prinzly (producer, among others, of Damso ), or more confidential, but no less talented like the Frenchman Gatspar .

If we have already compared the artist a lot to one of his models, Mylène Farmer , it seems important to note it once again, as the singer’s influence haunts Joanna ‘s lyrics . A ghost like mentor in the background on a deeply personal album, about the search for oneself and the inner struggle to not give up. From this quest results WHERE’S THE LIGHT , between English and French, aerial layers and sharp and ultra-fast rhythms, the staging of which is to be seen urgently, throughout France and on the stage of the Trianon on April 10, 2024.

Joanna – WHERE’S THE LIGHT

Last storm of ELOI

ELOI is a rough diamond on the new French scene. Mixing rock, pop and electronic music, it exudes addictive punk energy. It’s simple: since the release of his “jtm de ouf”, a cover of Wejdene dedicated to his girlfriend, we can no longer do without it. His first album, Dernier Orage , continues to punctuate our autumn with his adolescent fury, which never apologizes for existing. “ It was a busy and difficult period for me, ” ELOI recalls in an interview with Neubauer Artists. Everything was extreme, especially the emotions. Good and bad .”