KCRW's 23 Best Albums of 2023 and Favorite Songs of 2023 are live! In the spirit of the season, for the next two weeks of this roundup we'll be sharing highlights from our Favorite Songs list. Up first, KCRW's Executive Producer and Today's Top Tune curator Ariana Morgenstern waxes rhapsodic about Romy's effervescent "Loveher."
Romy – "Loveher”
Singer, songwriter, and DJ Romy — one-third of UK outfit The xx — recorded three lauded albums with her band, but in 2023 was finally ready to share her own 11-song debut solo album, Mid Air. A gorgeous recording about celebration, sanctuary, and salvation on the dance floor that doubles as a postcard to the queer clubs that provided comfort and connection, the album’s standout is "Loveher": Right from the start, we catch the soft-spoken Romy politely requesting to "turn it up more," as she launches in. You can feel the scope of her love for her new partner as they cut loose on the dance floor, yet are still a little reserved, wanting to hold hands under the table for a private moment of bliss. While Romy came out long ago, it's rare to find an artist who is so candid about her own life and shares her unique perspective. This was an exceptional track released in 2023. — Ariana Morgenstern (Executive Producer, KCRW Music/Today’s Top Tune Curator)
More: Romy: KCRW Guest DJ set
Everything But The Girl – “Run A Red Light”
The world hardly deserved the return of Everything But The Girl this year. But Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn’s surprise new album Fuse was a balm for the soul in 2023. The album’s first two singles foregrounded the more club-ready aspects of their musical personality. But Fuse’s third single, “Run A Red Light,” burrowed deep into the melancholic heart of their best work. Watt and Thorn have always been first-rate balladeers, with a particular flair for chronicling the highs and lows of urban nightlife. “Run A Red Light” is a masterclass of the form: a portrait of reckless, drug-fueled arrogance given a hauntingly beautiful turn by Thorn’s velvet-textured voice. Like later-period Billie Holiday or Joni Mitchell, her vocal tone has acquired a gorgeous, lived-in quality that suits the dissolute disposition of the song’s protagonist. And Watt’s production has never felt more sympathetic, knowing precisely when to hover and when to bump. A perfect soundtrack for the 3AM of the soul, literal and otherwise. — Myke Dodge Weiskopf (Senior Producer)
More: Everything But The Girl Live on MBE (1994)
Sextile – “Crash (Feat. Izzy Glaudini)”
LA post-punks Sextile really outdid themselves with the entirety of their 2023 LP Push, a nasty, synth-laden thrill ride ideally suited for cruising the 110 during the wee hours. But “Crash,” with its transcendent guest verses from Automatic’s Izzy Glaudini, is on another level. Aloof-yet-poignant, scuzzy, and sultry, it’s ‘90s Madchester for an indie sleaze world. If this doesn’t usher us into “the third Summer of Love,” what will? — Marion Hodges (Digital Producer, Music & Culture)
More: Automatic: KCRW Live from Apogee Studio
Tony Allen & Adrian Younge – “Don’t Believe The Dancers”
Legendary musician Tony Allen, the greatest drummer to have walked the planet, teamed up with Adrian Younge for a recording session before his untimely death in 2020.The result is Tony Allen JID018, a compilation released via the Jazz is Dead record label highlighting Allen’s versatility and mastery. Released this summer, it’s a brilliant effort from top to finish, with “Don’t Believe the Dancers” shining as its premier gem.
Tony Allen was many things: improvisatory, a self-taught risk taker, a musical shaman effortlessly breathing life into complex rhythms. These truths are evident on “Don’t Believe the Dancers”, where Allen’s percussion feels as joyous as it does urgent. His genius serves as the song’s spine, allowing the strings and horns to stand tall. Simply put, it is a masterpiece and a testament to Allen being at the top of his game, even during the twilight of his life. — Francesca Harding (KCRW DJ)
Yussef Dayes – “Black Classical Music (feat. Venna and Charlie Stacy)”
It's the way the hi-hats hats sizzle... with sharpness refined by a young prodigy streaming through the cosmos on the backs of giants: Enter UK drummer and composer Yussef Dayes. With the rhythm of a thousand stories told in ancestral cadence over lifetimes, Dayes embeds his place in the old growth forest of jazz, spine straight like the trunks of those who shade all below.
On the lead single and title track to his debut solo album, Dayes wastes no time in getting to the heart of it, plumbing the depths and soaring the heights of soul and mastery. The interplay between the personnel in the cockpit of this song is dynamic and layered, with playful, striated thematic veins sprawling throughout. Venna and Charlie Stacey raise the fury to a boil on saxophone and keys, respectively, and respectfully. The whole composition plays out like a synchronized flock of birds taking to the sky for their migration, and this time they're bringing us with them. — Jeremy Sole (KCRW DJ)
