2023: Intro & Singles
- kevpalowe8
- Mar 23
- 7 min read
Originally posted April 2025
INTRO:
When I started this project I’d only just missed out on 2023. There was a change to the chart at the beginning of the year - video streaming became included in the general chart. I cant imagine that had the impact that introducing streaming and downloading did. The video streaming chart in isolation, is actually filled with kid's stuff such as “The Wheels On The Bus” and the unstoppable “Baby Shark”. These don’t really feature in the other isolated charts (audio streaming, downloads, and sales).
Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” was the most successful track of 2023. And by quite a long shot. Its a decent track. So fair play.
For the eagle eyed – I’m doing my best to keep things strictly with the correct year of ‘release’ rather than ‘peak’ going forward (well.... actually going backwards). However, things will inevitably slip through the net. There are at least a couple of tracks I mention here that, while big in 2023, were actually released before the year’s commencement.
SOME TRACKS OF INTEREST:
Switch Disco & Ella Henderson “REACT”
....... because it features the track “Children” by Robert Miles – a massive instrumental euro/trance/house/dance track from 1996 (originally released 1995) which sounds even better to me now than it did back then. So although I’m not particularly bothered by this track it filled me with nostalgia.
Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage “Creepin’”. #
What interested me is this is a fairly straight cover of the track “I Don’t Wanna Know” by Mario Winans & P. Diddy (2004) which samples Enya’s “Boadicea Boadicea” (1987)......... except that its really sampling the sample of that Enya track used in Fugees’ “Ready Or Not” (1996). So, I always theorised that the 2004 track was really sampling the 1996 track rather than the 1987 one. And the 2023 track is a cover of the 2004 track rather that a nod to either the 1996 or the 1987 tracks. Furthermore, I always speculated that Fugees probably only came across the 1987 because it was featured as a b-side to some of the formats of Enya’s 1995 hit single “Anywhere Is”. I think its just an interesting journey of a simple hummed melody by an artist..... and a journey that the original artists has absolutely no involvement in at all............. apart from raking in some decent money from all of it, I imagine.
ANYTHING I DON’T LIKE?
Miguel “Sure Thing”. I just don't get it. There may be external factors I am not considering like the success of the artist in general or if they are especially pleasing to people’s eyes or something. But, the track itself, aside from 1 recurring interesting vocal figure, really is a whole load of nothing.
Fifty Fifty “Cupid” is fairly dull.
THE ‘M’EH’ LIST:
Calvin Harris & Ellie Golding “Miracle”
Rudimental “Dancing Is Healing”
Kenya Grace “Strangers”
Hannah Laing & RoRo “Good Love”
Peggy Gou “(It Goes Like) Nanana”
When I hear this – I can’t get past that the idea that sound of the guitar-y figure is sort of conceptually plagiarised from “9 PM (Till I Come)”.
GOOD (BUT NOT CONTENDERS FOR TOP TEN):
Chase and Status & Becky Hill “Disconnect”
I like the track – but it makes me wonder if C & S have anything to offer beyond a quite specific compositional formula.
Gunna “fukumean”
Yea, I like it. Its that ‘ee-yup’ the links all the phrases. Haha.
PinkPantheress “Boy's A Liar”
It’s good
Lizzy McAlpine “ceilings”
This one is pretty good – it just doesn’t especially stand out for me compared to artists that do similar things.
Jazzy “Giving Me”
I can imagine it would be a great ‘floor-filler’...... if anyone was going to clubs anymore. I’d get up and have a dance. Its got a 90s dance-anthem vibe to it too. So there’s probably some nostalgia at play for me here.
Central Cee “Let Go”
I actually quite like CC on the whole.
Post Malone “Chemical”
I was struggling with Post Malone in 2024 – the singles released weren’t doing a lot for me. The album was a strange mix of everything from awful to incredible. So, I didn’t quite ‘get’ it. But as I’m moving backwards I’m starting to see where the appeal lies. This one's a decent tune.
Coi Leray “Players”
Good fun.
CONTENDERS FOR TOP 10:
RAYE “Escapism”
This kicked off my 2023 listening. And I was impressed. Firstly, she’s been described as a ‘vocal shape-shifter’ and I totally get that. She displays quite a vocal range as well as different styles of both singing and rapping – I particularly love her rapid-fire monotonic passages (that remind me of Bare Naked Ladies (although that comparison ends there)).
The real reason I probably responded well to this is because it is quite dark. Its got that descending bass line that I always love – I believe it usually sounds like ‘impending doom’. The lyric does seem like the subject is attempting to deal with some sort of loss and turning to all the worst things possible. I really like the tag on the end..... a sort of ‘epilogue’. It seems the song has ended but a very slightly different beat and sound kicks back in and it concludes with a short gentle rap. Its basically the experience of the ‘morning after’. All the effort to block the bad thoughts and feel a bit better has resulted in the opposite. Pretty brilliant.
SZA “Kill Bill”
This gave me an intro to SZA that set the bar high and meant I was subsequently disappointed with anything I heard afterwards. I do love this track. The melody is above average for a modern track. It contrasts between relying on the contours of natural speech in the verses because of the high number of syllables in each line - to the more shapely melodic composition of the choruses. The lyric is psychotic – which is always going to earn you extra points with me – and I like the way it gradually moves from its opening ‘I might kill my ex’ to its closing ‘I just killed my ex’. This one was a contender for the top 3 but just missed out.
Libianca “People”
This one was a ‘grower’ – I was quite underwhelmed with it at first. However, its interesting light background, sparse percussion, great vocal harmonic arrangement, and the construction of the lyric meant it wormed its way into my head and became addictive. That lyric construction is a simple reverse-solo-call-and-response composition where a statement (in this case usually a negative/tragic declaration) is announced followed by a question (in this case lonely/sad) – ‘did you check on me?’ ‘did you notice me?’ Quite simple but very well done.
TIësto & Tate McRae “10:35”
I’ve been liking anything with Tate McRae (although those of you who’ve followed this from the beginning will know it was a shaky start, interestingly). This one has a fairly strong melody.
Stephen Sanchez “Until I Found You”
This one sounds like it’s straight out the late 1950s / early 1960s with is country/rockabilly/blue-eyed soul feel. Its basically an essay in songs of that style from that time. Like those songs it focuses on a strong melody with a lyric telling a story of discovering love.
JVKE “golden hour”
This one just misses out on my top 3. I love the juxtaposition between the rapid monotonic singing of the verses against the soaring slow melody of the choruses. This is performed over a separate juxtaposition of a minimalist rhythmic Philip Glass style piano drive vs a grand orchestral-like backdrop........ whatever the heck I mean by all that.
Chase & Status “Baddadan”
I’ve been really enjoying Chase & Status although, as I’ve stated above, I’m a bit worried that the more I hear them the more their limits are being exposed. I’ve not got to that point yet and this is my favourite of the handful I know so far. Its also worth noting I've listed them as one of my top ten contenders for both 2024 and 2023..... plus another positive mention in 2023 (above) which makes them one of the top acts of my Gwim Project! The vocal in this one is kick-ass.
Loreen “Tattoo”
Despite its use of the melody very regularly plagiarised from ABBA’s “The Winner Takes All It All” (and they may very well have stole it themselves) – it’s a good melody over a solid electro-Euro-pop format.
Mimi Webb “Red Flags”
Very strong pop track with attitude (heavy bass and drum track).
Top 3:
3. Olivia Rodrigo “vampire”
Excellent tune. I like the way it’s a thrice repeated strophic structure where the 1st rendition is ballad-like, the 2nd more pop, and the final more rock. The melody pretty decent. It builds to a crescendo with a slow rising chromatic line that eventually reaches its peak note – at which point the music drops out for an a cappella conclusion. The lyric matches the way this melody is constructed superbly with the description of what happening getting more are more intense until it’s peak point. There, the subject seemingly accepts their fate letting out the words ‘bloodsucker. Fame fucker’ with the melody sliding right down the octave like huge sighs before calmly settling with ‘bleeding me dry like a god damn vampire’. 👏👏
2. Doja Cat “Paint The Town Red”
If you’re surprised I’d place this so high....... so am I. Sometimes a track just grabs hold of you and it’s difficult to know exactly why. But I’m not going to pretend I don’t love it when I do. I wasn’t sure what to make of the sample used to begin. It’s just a snippet of the classic “Walk On By” – just that line and the trumpet figure that follows repeated relentlessly throughout. However, it drew me in – and following that the sense of attitude and fun with the ‘fuck the haters’ lyrical subject. Also, you’ve got to get the earbuds in, because its all the little details that I really love. Such as the beat dropping out momentarily for the heavily reverbed ‘u'gh’ ’s and the soft spoken background vocals with their upward and downward inflections on ‘said what I said’ and ‘famous instead’.
1. David Kushner “Daylight”
This was a definite ‘wow’ one for me. First there’s the wonderful deep voice (although he can belt out in the higher register with conviction too). Also, the difficult subject of the lyrics (struggling with life) is delivered with soulfulness and poignancy. Beautiful.
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