TL;DR The Spotify playlist can be found here.
I used to be a lot more romantic about being an indie music fan. In my teens and early 20s, I would push away all mainstream music as I saw it as a clash with the pseudo-hipster identity I was trying to project. To keep the purity of this identity, it meant that only music that was at least a bit alternative or unknown was acceptable. Luckily, I am no longer this person.
In 2023, my music taste stuck to things that are easy to listen to. There is a lot of Pop music including K-pop, indie-pop, jazz-pop, Taiwanese-pop, etc. Some bands from my indie-loving past remain, including the likes of Sufjan Stevens and the National. As with the last few years, my continual embrace of Asian cultures means that there are a lot of Asian artists on this list. Now more than ever, music has transformed from being a rigid part of my identity to being an expansive tool for the exploration of culture.
Top 20 Songs of 2023
| 20 | Umami | Sirup, The Crane, & whoosh |
| 19 | I Do | (G)I-DLE |
| 18 | Cupid | Fifty Fifty |
| 17 | Tropic Morning News | The National |
| 16 | Frenemy | 9m88 |
| 15 | Perfect Night | Le Sserafim |
| 14 | Tip Toe | Hybs |
| 13 | Either Way | IVE |
| 12 | idundomuchtalkingnow | Luna Is A Bep & Jonwi |
| 11 | Glue Song | beabadoobee |
10. water comes out my eyes – moon tang & cehryl
Two of the best indie musicians from Hong Kong create a melancholic masterpiece.
9. Left Right – XG
Trilingual Japanese K-Pop group is a bit hit or miss for me but the hook of this one will get stuck in your head. Perfect mix of rap and singing.
8. Envy – Keaton Henson
The reclusive Keaton Henson still makes some of the best acoustic songs with his soft almost frail vocals. Envy is more upbeat than his other works but as bittersweet as ever.
7. Bewitched – Laufey
Perhaps best known for making Jazz cool again for Gen-Z, Laufey creates a charming Disney-like world on Bewitched.
6. Black Horse – Sarah Kinsley
The first time I heard Sarah Kinsley, I couldn’t believe that she was of Asian descent. The type of Alt-Pop she creates is one that I listened to a lot growing up but artists making this music were usually from WASP backgrounds. Black Horse is the best version of Sarah Kinsley, showing off her incredible control over her vocals as she sings about breaking free from the chains of society.
5. Sorority – Elio
With her impressive list of collaborators to even better indie-pop music, I keep expecting Elio to be the next breakout star. On Sorority, the Canadian-Welsh musician creates an easy-listening pop song about the complications of female relationships and jealousy.
4. love you twice – Huh Yunjin
The Korean-American K-Pop star keeps creating amazing music that projects a very different side of her from her day job as one-fifth of Le Sserafim. Whereas Le Sserafim is about strength and independence, Huh Yunjin’s solo work showcases a softer, more vulnerable side. On love you twice, she of a more confident version of herself that she aspires to be.
3. A Running Start – Sufjan Stevens
It’s hard to listen to Sufjan Stevens’ Javelin album without thinking of the context that it was written in the wake of a lover passing away. For a musician who has so often turned grief into some of his greatest work, this album is no different. A Running Start reminds me of The Predatory Wasps of Palisades Are Out to Get Us from his Illinois album. The composition and background vocals provide an innocent quality to the song that makes it feel like love in its purest form. It’s just simply beautiful.
2. Psychedelic Switch – Carly Rae Jepsen
Carly Rae Jepsen has been my not-so-secret guilty pleasure for years. Whereas her best songs usually vary between high-tempo pop masterpiece to slow 80s-inspired jams, Psychedelic Switch provides something a little different. It’s been compared to Discovery-era Daft Punk and I think it’s a good starting point. A pulsing beat, bass-heavy breakdown, and disco-like flourishes make me think of sweaty nights out dancing where you lose track of time.
1. Ditto – NewJeans
Ditto makes me so excited about where K-Pop could be headed. It reminds me of much of the early 2000s R&B and the alternative R&B of the 2010s that I used to listen to. It’s not just another hyper-pop song with hook after hook but it takes inspiration from Baltimore club dance music and builds over a captivating beat. Somehow this makes it even more catchy. Remarkably, sounds more like Kelela than the music other K-Pop groups make. Combined with the music video concepts and the lore creation around a fictional student at a school, Ditto is a masterclass of creativity.
