As 2023 comes to a close American Songwriter is looking back at the music that the year brought us—from country and rock to Americana and pop. With an array of albums across the board, it was not an easy task to pick the top albums of this past year. However, after much deliberation on a plethora of albums released, American Songwriter shares our Top 17 best albums of 2023. Read below to see our favorites (in no particular order) of 2023.
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The Returner, Allison Russell
Allison Russell has been working as a professional songwriter and performer for decades now, but it was her debut solo album released a few years ago, Outside Child, that really put her on the map. Some fans may have wondered if she could follow that release up with another standout. But Russell put any doubts aside with the release of The Returner. The album is thick with beauty and is expertly produced. It’s a triumphant, truth-telling LP that is as educational as it is aesthetically pleasing. – Jake Uitti
Chronicles of a Diamond, Black Pumas
The Austin, Texas-born rock band knows how to hit the heart. Frontman Eric Burton boasts one of the best singing voices in all of popular music today and his touch on this album is unparalleled. Bolstered by his partner in song, epic guitar player Adrian Quesada, the duo’s 2023 album is rich with songwriting talent and performance chops that make them one of the most exciting groups in music today. – Jake Uitti
The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, Mitski
Despite the somewhat hostile title, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We sees Mitski lead with a positive outlook on the troubles that plague our relationships and the world around us. Mitski has always had a knack for cutting deep with her songwriting, but she expounds on that skill tenfold on this record. Mitski’s “inhospitable world” is anything but. It’s rife with love and an inviting spirit. She keeps her reputation for experimenting very much intact, but she pulls back for moments of straightforward songwriting. Mitski flies past her own mark in this record, creating something more multifaceted than ever before. – Alex Hopper
GUTS, Olivia Rodrigo
“My life is different now,” Olivia Rodrigo said of her state of mind while writing her 2023 release, GUTS. That change is readily apparent when listening to this punked-up, hard-edged record. Rodrigo muddles the line between her popstar and, arguably, rockstar statuses with this release. Everything is ratcheted up from her debut album, Sour. The lyrics cut deeper and the instrumentation hits harder. It’s a welcomed evolution to Rodrigo’s career–one that we hope to see continue into the future. – Alex Hopper
Who We Used to Be, James Blunt
While most know James Blunt for his emotionally charged ballads, “You’re Beautiful” and “Goodbye My Lover,” Blunt proved in 2023 that he is so much more than that. He experienced a resurgence when American Idol winner Iam Tongi used Blunt’s gut-wrenching “Monsters” as his audition song. In addition to demonstrating the power of Blunt’s songwriting (While you’re sleeping I’ll try to make you proud / So, daddy, won’t you just close your eyes? / Don’t be afraid / It’s my turn to chase the monsters away are among the tear-inducing lyrics), he also sang it with Tongi on the AI finale. Blunt built upon this moment by demonstrating his emotive songwriting on his 2023 album, Who We Used to Be. Songs like “All the Love That I Ever Needed” and “Dark Thought” are standouts, the latter inspired by his friendship with the late Carrie Fisher. Who We Used to Be capped off an impressive year for the British singer who proves to be a compelling songwriter. – Cillea Houghton
Lover’s Game, The War and Treaty
The War and Treaty are an act you need to know. The husband-and-wife duo of Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter will blow you away with their powerhouse voices, as demonstrated on their 2023 album, Lover’s Game. A beautiful blend of gospel, country, and R&B, Lover’s Game demonstrates what The War and Treaty do best. They prove their vocal stamina and songwriting prowess with their major label debut album that’s packed with a whole lot of heart. Before the year is over, Lover’s Game is certainly worth a listen. – Cillea Houghton
The Third Mind/2, The Third Mind
No one stayed up late titling this ad-hoc group’s second foray into all things ’60s psychedelic, nor did the band bother rehearsing these six tunes before rolling tape, but that didn’t stop them from creating one of the finest under-the-radar collections this year. Dave Alvin’s brainchild tackles songs from such diverse sources as The Electric Flag, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Fred Neil, and others. Singer Jesse Sykes gets under the skin of the lyrics with her unusually soulful folkie voice as the band weaves and extrapolates lava light jams. Three clock in at over eight minutes, and a rousing near eleven-minute guitar freak-out of “Sally Go Round the Roses” builds from a sparse, swampy beginning to a blues-rocking climax that will have your head spinning…in a good way. –Hal Horowitz
Leave the Light On, Terry Klein
Terry Klein’s fourth album—and second with producer Thomm Jutz at the helm—Leave the Light On, is a thoughtful set of songs and seemingly his most personal and vulnerable work yet. As always there’s a specific attention to detail and nuance. The fact that it arrives less than two years following his last effort not only testifies to his due diligence but also to the inspiration he felt so early on. -Lee Zimmerman
Bits & Pieces, Malcolm Holcombe
Granted, Malcolm Holcombe is a bit of a curmudgeon. His music is unapologetically rough around the edges and his songs make no attempt to share any softer sentiments. Nevertheless, Holcombe has never been afraid to speak his mind, a habit he’s shared throughout more than a dozen albums. He’s a modern journeyman, similar in style and stance to a traditional folk troubadour, armed with little more than a battered guitar and a meaningful message to get his point across. Bits & Pieces pulls all the essential elements to maintain that mantra. -Lee Zimmerman
Edge of Forever, Jessi Colter
One of the queens of country music, Jessi Colter boasts a more than 50-year recording career, but with her latest offering, Edge of Forever, she proves she is, in fact, a forever artist. Released mere months after her 80th birthday, it could be considered a comeback of sorts, and with Margo Price in the producer’s chair, which, in turn, combines contemporary credence with a reverence for her rootsy regimen. Moving forward into the future, Colter’s Edge of Forever is her best effort yet.— Lee Zimmerman
History Books, The Gaslight Anthem
The Gaslight Anthem made their triumphant return in 2023 with History Books. Following a hiatus in 2015, The Gaslight Anthem’s 10-track project highlights the outfit’s punk-rock roots with introspective songwriting. The album’s storyline details love, loss, mental illness, and mortality with frontman Brian Fallon’s emotive and gritty vocals leaving a lasting mark on the listener. Songs like the dark “Michigan, 1975,” inspired by Jeffrey Eugenides’ 1993 novel The Virgin Suicides, strike a chord while the rollicking title track, featuring Bruce Springsteen, showcases the band at its finest: plenty of electric guitars and a pulsating beat alongside an anthemic chorus. – Annie Reuter
Brandy Clark, Brandy Clark
Brandy Clark exemplifies why she’s so revered in songwriter circles on her self-titled fourth studio album. The 11-track Brandi Carlile-produced project kicks off with the harrowing murder ballad “Ain’t Enough Rocks,” penned with Jimmy Robbins and 2024 Grammy Songwriter of the Year nominee Jessie Jo Dillon. It also features vivid story songs (“Northwest,” “She Smoked in the House”) and striking self-reflections, as can be heard on Grammy-nominated “Dear Insecurity” and “Buried.” Nominated for Best Americana Album at the Grammy Awards, Brandy Clark proves that there is still a place for story songs and quality songwriting in today’s ever-changing music landscape. – Annie Reuter
Unreal Unearth, Hozier
With his third studio album, Unreal Unearth, Irish singer/songwriter Hozier offers listeners one of the most captivating releases of 2023. The project, which includes select tracks from his March EP, Eat Your Young, was inspired by the classic poem Dante’s Inferno. Through 16 tracks, Hozier crafts a dark and mystical realm flooded with a tidal wave of human emotions. From the shadowy depths of heartbreak to the light optimism for days ahead, Hozier offers a voice to often undefinable feelings. A sonic and lyrical triumph, Unreal Unearth is not only one of the best albums of the year but of Hozier’s already impressive career. — Lorie Liebig
Brothers Osborne, Brothers Osborne
Since first breaking into mainstream country music a decade ago, Brothers Osborne have carved out their own space within the genre. With their self-titled fourth studio album, the sibling duo delivers their best collection of songs to date. TJ and John Osborne approached this project with a new sense of personal and creative freedom, resulting in an environment tailor-made for experimentation. Fittingly, the 11-track LP features the group’s most diverse mix of tracks, from intimate ballads to their trademark guitar solo-driven anthems. Thanks to the pair’s thoughtful and intuitive vision, this creative expansion still sounds consistent and unmistakably their own. In a genre where the term “authenticity” is often debated, Brothers Osborne’s latest record serves as its very definition. — Lorie Liebig
Man’s a Wolf to Man, Andy Taylor
Marking Taylor’s third solo album, and first in 33 years, Man’s a Wolf to Man is ultimately grander in scope. Always pushing his musical measures, on Man’s A Wolf To Man, Taylor rides several genres. Leaning on the country-rock ballad “Try To Get Even,” featuring Tina Arena, Taylor shifts into the glammed-up “Influential Blondes,” and the harder “Gettin’ It Home,” along with the more Power Station slanted “Reachin’ Out To You” and nostalgically mod “This Will Be Ours.”
Initially delayed by the pandemic, Taylor reworked the 11 tracks of Man’s A Wolf To Man, while learning that his cancer, which he had been battling since 2018, had become terminal and prevented him from attending his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 with Duran Duran.
“‘Man’s A Wolf To Man’ is about how man is his own worst enemy and will behave like a pack of wolves towards his other human enemy,” said Taylor. “What we saw bubbling when I started writing, it was all about getting even. Why do you get so mad trying to get even? Why do people get angry? Why don’t they just do better themselves? I was getting back to making records that are human, about something that mattered or matters, that are in the moment.” —Tina Benitez-Eves
Autumn’s Children, Ashton Nyte
“Life, art, death, and magic, and the endless blurred cycle of it all.” These elements float throughout Ashton Nyte’s ninth solo album, Autumn’s Children. Along its 11 tracks, the South African-born, U.S.-based singer and songwriter surfaces at his most bare since his previous solo release, Waiting For a Voice, in 2020, from an ode to hope with “Cinnamon” and a more noir rendering, “Into The Dream,” to the freedom of choosing a different path—Let me take a breath and brush away / The things I think you’ve seen / As I bow and turn to leave the stage—on the hypnotic “Horses.” Originally written in 2010, “Something Beautiful” went through several guises before Autumn’s Children, but always remained a transfixing tale around the beauty of love and something lighter.
Visually, there’s more than meets the eye within Nyte’s work as he captures the theatrical side of his work through self-directed videos and opens up on the complexities of being an artist, loss and love, and impactful moments in childhood, revealed on one of the more poignant stops on Autumn’s Children, “Trapped Inside The World.”
Autumn’s Children is a collection of dreams and realities, songs bled from Nyte’s past and present, and a future he hopes to behold. The past is never obsolete. Some of its original drafts have just been rewritten over time. In the accompanying book of the same name are a series of Nyte’s recurring dreams, resurrected themes—including some firsts, from a kiss to his live performance and when he heard one of his songs on the radio—along with returning to previous solo material, his 25-plus year history with The Awakening, and back around. —Tina Benitez-Eves
Mother Road, Grace Potter
Continuing on her musical life since The Nocturnals, Grace Potter’s fourth solo album, Mother Road, opens on the bluesy song of the same name, a 47-second interlude, “Truck Stop Angels,” filled with the sounds from a highway truck stop, juxtaposed by the sweeter harmony of Potter’s vocals echoing on the radio like a 1940s girl group, singing an ode Mother Road. More funk and soul slip into Mother Road with “Ready Set Go” and “Good Time,” the cinematic, spaghetti western vibes of “Lady Vagabond,” and the reflective country rock of “Rose Colored Rearview.”
Co-written with Hilary Lindsay, Margaret McRee, and Cary Barlowe, “All My Ghosts” finds Potter circling back to old spirits still haunting her. Set to a bluesier Janis Joplin delivery, Potter grapples with more unruly times—All my ghosts are on Adderall /Ripping sinks from my bathroom walls—before the rockier glam-rock pulse of “Futureland” and a piano clanging “Masterpiece,” contemplating her 7th-grade self.
Produced by her husband Eric Valentine, and recorded at the famed RCA Studio A in Nashville, Tennessee, and Topangadise in Topanga, California, Mother Road is as much about losing oneself as it is Potter’s guidebook for healing. —Tina Benitez-Eves
