Top 50 singles of 2023
Top 50 singles of 2023
A Padamic, a Zaranaissance, Barbiebops, Fly Girls, newcomers, legends... and the occasional man
HAPPY LISTMAS!!! I’ve loved running the Electric Angels Songs of the Year poll for the last four years, but I’ve been writing my own year-end Top 50s for over a decade-and-a-half (Christ) and I just can’t see it growing old!!
Musically speaking, what a great year 2023 was! I have sooo many ‘honourable mentions’ and, as ever, prioritised the songs that I just personally ✨connected✨ with - even if that meant jettisoning some quote-unquote “better”(???) stuff. But after much deliberation (some may say too much) here is what I eventually settled on for a Top 50 of 2023. A Spotify playlist is here. Albums to follow before the year is fully out!
(You can judge my previous terrible choices, such as when I put not one but two Pixie Lott songs above Dancing On My Own in 2010, here: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.)
50. Take Me Home - VINCINT
I can’t remember if I first came to VINCINT via Taste So Good (The Cann Song) or Steps’ cover of Hard 2 Forget, but whichever way it happened, PRAISE BE: Take Me Home is a powerful angstbop that makes me very excited for whatever he’s got planned for 2024. Watch video
49. I Wrote A Song - Mae Muller
Say what you will about this, but with a propulsive rhythm, sharp lyrics and one hell of a ‘na-na-na-na-na-naiii’ hook, I think it’s easily the UK’s best pure-pop Eurovision effort for many a year. On record, at least. Watch video
48. When The Rain Comes - Sugababes
Having these three together again on new (unleaked!) material is just bloody stunning. When The Rain Comes may not be as head-turning as the greatest moments of the ‘Babes initial tenure, but honestly, it doesn’t need to be: it’s just a gorgeous look-how-far-we’ve-come moment that perfectly underlines their magnificent resurgence. Watch video
47. Heaven - Niall Horan
Have I listened to this as much as, if not more than, anything on Harry’s House? No comment! Watch video
46. Pretty Girls - Renée Rapp
Effectively the female equivalent of Troye Sivan’s One Of Your Girls, this smart, layered, queer song explores the complexities of being with girls who have boyfriends. Given all the Snow Angel hype and the fact she’s the new on-screen Regina George, Renée’s world domination feels both inevitable and deserved. Watch video
45. Back To Your Heart - Delta Goodrem
I didn’t have an excellent new Delta single on my bingo card for this summer, but why not? She’s been delivering for 20 years, and given the sheer feel-good rush of this banger, long may she continue! Watch video
44. Call On Me - Bebe Rexha
I’m obsessed with this 2020s trend of the gays getting one Call On Me per year from an under-rated pop gal. We’ve had Raye, Tove Lo, Bebe Rexha… whomstever will it be in 2024?! Stream song
43. favorite kind of high - Kelly Clarkson
This was talked about as the feel-good belter of Kelly’s so-called ‘divorce album’, but it kind of isn’t. Like, sure, the lyrics are all heart-eyes and butterflies, and Jesse Shatkin’s production is sure to put hands in the air; but Kelly’s vocal - from the perspective of someone looking back when those butterflies are all long dead - adds a layer of almost bittersweet melancholy. It’s happy and uplifting, but also… heart-breaking?
42. Houdini - Dua Lipa
It may not spark quite the same delirium as Physical or Hallucinate but despite all the (completely ridiculous!) talk about whether or not it’s a flop, Houdini is still a pretty bloody epic exercise in blockbuster pop; especially in its final minute. Watch video
41. Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault) - Taylor Swift
I saw the 1989 From The Vault tracks described on X as ‘Midnights pre-cum’, and I really have nothing to add. Stream song
40. Been Thinking - Tyla
We’re all in agreement that Tyla is our next big megastar, right? Water gave her the big breakthrough she deserves, but its predecessor Been Thinking is what first got me excited. Try and sit still while playing it! Go on! Try! You just can’t!
39. One Of Your Girls - Troye Sivan
Lusty but a little dark around the edges, One Of Your Girls is hazy, horny and - in the best possible way - a tiny bit desperate. It’s the sound of someone who might hate themselves when the sun rises, but here at 3am, he’s putting everything on the line. And looking gorge! Watch video
38. The Hard Way - Pnau and Khalid
There’s just something about Khalid’s vocals on this chorus - backed against such sparkly, glistening production - that does something to me. Why on Earth was it not an almighty hit? Watch video
37. Boy’s a liar Pt. 2 - Pinkpantheress feat. Ice Spice
Lo-fi but bubblegum, cool but frenetic; this song - in both its original and Ice Spice-ified forms - is the perfect breakout moment for an artist who has, for a couple of years now, been Britain’s most exciting new talent. And clocking in at a hefty 2:11, it’s basically her All Too Well (10-Minute Version). Watch video
36. Weightless - Arlo Parks
With co-writing from Paul Thee Epworth, Weightless takes Arlo’s intimate, poetic songwriting and makes commercial (if very much ‘grown-up’) pop out of it. It’s the kind of track that’d be in a major-studio British rom-com, or on a TV ad in which someone takes a slow-mo walk through a park in the rain. It’s lovely! Watch video
35. Hold On To Now - Kylie Minogue
Uplifting semi-balladry so joyful it’s almost emotional, Hold On To Now is the perfect chaser for the more straight-faced force of Tension and Padam Padam. Pure pop euphoria from one of the best to ever do it. Watch video
34. vampire - Olivia Rodrigo
Don’t let the fuss over who this song might be about distract from the fact that it’s a masterclass in How To Launch A Second Era After A Ridiculously Big Debut. Olivia’s angsty, honest, smart songwriting is on fine display; and the intensifying production builds the whole thing brilliantly from hurt to anger to defiance. A deserved No1! Watch video
33. Begin Again - Jessie Ware
Inspired by dreams of Brazilian holiday romances, this slinky little song has sublime vocal arrangements, dream-like horns and - at its centre - a piano track that elevates it way beyond most of the similar material we’ve been hearing from other artists. She’s basically the gays’ cool big sister at this point, and long may this elite phase continue.
32. Home To Another One - Madison Beer
Previously best known to me from Secret Celebrity Drag Race, Madison released her most head-turning music yet in 2023 - and this, the high point from her Silence Between Songs album, is brilliant in its dream-like but almost dead-pan execution. Watch video
31. Heartbreak In The Making - Dagny
As a huge fan of everything related to the Strangers/Lovers era, I dare say I was a little wary of this song at first: gone are the shimmering synths, in are the… guitars?! But Heartbreak In The Making is still expert pop: beautifully sung, helplessly yearning, and all building towards a stellar bridge and finale. Gimme more!! Watch video
30. greedy - Tate McRae
Tate’s been on the rise for a few years but I didn’t really sit up and take notice until I got hooked on this total earworm. With an addictive chorus, assured delivery and production with endless replay value, it also comes with a video that’s giving main-character BUDGET. And it still feels like she’s warming up! Watch video
29. Lost The Breakup - Maisie Peters
You should all know that if this - or any of Maisie’s latest album, for that matter - came out while I was a teenager, numerous lyrics would have been ALL OVER my MSN statuses. Watch video
28. Smoke - Caroline Polachek
If there’s been a better song this year about looking up at a deadly erupting volcano and saying ‘no biggie’, I haven’t heard it!!
27. TRUSTFALL - P!nk
I didn’t think I’d hear a collaboration between P!nk, a member of Snow Patrol and Fred Again at any point ever, but what a collaboration it is. Hopeful, unifying and a joy to shout-a-long to in the car, it’s probably her best since Try. Watch video
26. Miracle - Calvin Harris with Ellie Goulding
Sometimes straight-coded bangers are a force for good!! Watch video
25. Stay For Something - CMAT
I’ve been very late to the CMAT train but Stay For Something is a great entry point; a passionate, emotionally rich track that lands somewhere at the intersection of country, adult-contemporary and just very classy pop. I sense my standom is only just getting started! Watch video
24. Cheat - Mahalia feat. JoJo
It almost feels rude to Mahalia to spotlight the one song on her latest album that she didn’t co-write, but a collaboration between her and JoJo just feels too historic to snub. An anthem!
23. The Hype - Sigrid
As high as the highs were on last year’s How To Let Go, The Hype feels more like the Sigrid we all fell in love with - and much like Don’t Kill My Vibe, it masks hurt and anger behind glorious sing-a-long moments (“DID I LIVE UP TO THE HYPE?!?!!”), a confident vocal and slick instrumentation with no more bells and whistles than it really needs. And she co-produced this one herself! Watch video
22. What Was I Made For? - Billie Eilish
It’s just… really sad, isn’t it?! Watch video
21. Enjoy Your Life - Romy
Inspired by a trip with Robyn(!) to see Beverly Glenn-Copeland in concert, this track - which samples Glenn-Copeland - is brilliantly simple; an uplifting call-to-arms built around three little words that all of us could stand to hear every once in a while. Watch video
20. Borderline - Tove Lo
Tove’s 2022 album Dirt Femme was triumphant enough as it was - and now it’s had the ‘extended cut’ treatment with songs like this (a Dua Lipa co-write!) it’s gone up a whole other level. Borderline is, like many of her best tracks, dramatic, dark and hopelessly catchy. She never misses! Watch video
19. My Love - Leigh-Anne feat. Ayra Starr
She’s giving CHOREO, she’s giving VOCALS, she’s giving PARTY - she, along with guest star Ayra Star, deserves the whole entire world!
18. One That Got Away - MUNA
A Janet Jackson-inspired MUNA song was always going to be right up my alley, and sure enough, One That Got Away is confident, playful and - like everything by the Greatest Band in the World - incredibly smart. New album when?? Watch video
17. Same Again (For Love) - Dagny
‘I’ve been giving - now I give it up’ is one of 2023’s best opening lines; Dagny still one of its most dependable popstars. When I say I’m ready for a new album… Lord! Stream song
16. mine - Kelly Clarkson
OK, I’ll admit it, it was (initially!) a bit of a disappointment that the first taste of Kelly’s tenth studio album wasn’t a scorched-earth flaming-hell ball of rage like her Happier Than Ever cover (though a song like that was waiting in the wings: hello Skip This Part). That said, Mine - the superior half of the double-A side that launched the era - soon reveals itself to be a powerful take on raw, deep-rooted heartbreak; from the lyrics (“For a dreamer, I just close my eyes and it’s all blank / I have you to thank”) to the gang vocals on the chorus to the way the tempo completely changes in the bridge. Kelly may be in her daytime telly era, but her artistry’s on top form, too. Watch video
15. Erotic Electronic - Slayyyter
Dark, dirty and delicious, Erotic Electronic is Slayyyter at her most alluring. The whole STARFUCKER era was a fantastic play on Hollywood hedonism and this song is that whole ~vibe at its most sweaty, dead-eyed and convincingly-set-in-a-sleazy-basement-in-the-middle-of-the-night.
14. Tension - Kylie Minogue
There was a rumour floating round early in the summer that Padam Padam was a misrepresentation of what Kylie’s 16th album had in store; and that it would, in fact, be mostly shit. This - said album’s title track and second single - immediately proved that rumour wrong. Watch video
13. Ice Cream Man. - RAYE
Beautiful, brave, gut-wrenching. What a woman; what an artist. Watch video
12. Angel - Pinkpantheress
The most under-rated - and, in my view, best! - track from the whole Barbie experience. I mean it’s got a goddamn FIDDLE BREAK!!! Stream song
11. Waffle House - Jonas Brothers
Between Sucker, What A Man Gotta Do and now this, the Jonas Brothers’ post-2019 comeback era has far, far outdone their initial heyday. With its escalating synths, ‘na-na-na-na’s and Nick Jonas ad-libs, the last 30-odd seconds in particular of Waffle House are pure pop bliss. Watch video
10. Rush - Troye Sivan
If the likes of Bloom and My My My! were Troye giving a subtle wink and a flirty smile, Rush is him fully stripping off, douching and assuming the position on all fours. Musically, aesthetically and sweatily, it’s filth! And I love it!
9. Kill Bill - SZA
The storytelling! The passion! The MELODRAMA! There’s a sort of ‘unhinged lullaby’ energy to this that makes it so engaging; Sza tapping into universal feelings of jealousy, abandonment and heartache and turning them into a gory revenge fantasy. And this wasn’t even one of my favourites when I first heard the SOS album!
8. Red Wine Supernova - Chappell Roan
“I heard you like magic? I got a wand and a rabbit!” Keats who?!
7. bad idea right? - Olivia Rodrigo
Much like with the Sour era, it’s the second single that really brings the fun - and as with Good 4 U, Bad Idea Right makes youthful angst sound way more fun than it is. Stop the “next Avril Lavigne” comparisons - at this point, Olivia is a distinctive talent in her own right.
6. missin u - Tori Kelly
“Tori Kelly’s new single is coming!”, proclaimed a headline back in March. “…k?”, I reacted. But the joke’s on me: missin u is a wonderful slice of pop/R’n’B; giving sweet nostalgia (the Craig David sample!) whilst also sounding totally box-fresh. It’s a total gem, and all the live performances are also stunning.
5. Tattoo - Loreen
You know I really wasn’t sure about this at first. With so many people reacting so positively to it, I was very much that moment in Friends (stay with me) when Rachel looks at her baby’s ultrasound and goes “…I don’t see it!!!” But obviously it’s a triumph. I mean of course it is! It’s a masterclass in Eurovision, in slow-building production, in yearning vocals... and eleven years after Loreen first came to widespread international attention, it’s another well-deserved international smash.
4. Body Do - Chlöe
That we never got a choreo-heavy video for this remains a serious criminal offense, but the one that exists in my head is fucking excellent. Chlöe, whose solo career had already got off to a great start with Treat Me and Have Mercy, really hits her stride with this one; a strut-friendly capital-t Tune about being unable to deny how good your untrustworthy fuckboy is in bed.
3. Fly Girl - FLO feat. Missy Elliott
Cardboard Box, Not My Job and Losing You were great tasters of what Flo could deliver, and - sure enough - Fly Girl was them ascending towards their full potential. An exciting, slick, irresistible song with a feature from none other than Missy Elliott, it’s got tight harmonies, a hooky chorus and stunning behind-the-scenes work from the likes of Kamille and MNEK. As far as ‘Best British girlband song of the 2020s’ goes, this gives Sweet Melody a serious run for its money.
2. Can’t Tame Her - Zara Larsson
The Zaranaissance may not have seen her returning to the UK Top 10 where she belongs, but after its release in deepest darkest January, Can’t Tame Her still became her biggest hit since Ruin My Life, and TOO RIGHT! Every second is perfection, from the barn-storming, strobe-friendly, crowd-baiting intro right through to that massive fuck-off chorus. Zara’s at the height of her powers vocally, and that tight synth-pop instrumentation is what the Repeat One function was made for. Bring on the album.
1. Padam Padam - Kylie Minogue
Sometimes the hype around a song ruins it; sometimes it elevates it to a whole new level. The latter was definitely true for Padam Padam.
Would it still have been a 2023 highlight if someone else sang it? Would it still have been a 2023 highlight if it was Kylie’s but never really caught fire? Would it still have been a 2023 highlight if it was just an album track? To an extent, yes, yes and yes: it’s hooky, it’s smart, it’s sexy, it’s addictive, and its whole conceit is just the right amount of silly.
But much like Lil Nas X’s Montero two years ago (my No1 in 2021), the fact it became such a phenomenon is what made it all the more exciting. Pop stans agree on very little, and sure, there’s a customary handful who think this one’s a bit overhyped - but on the whole? Padam was a unifier; a lifestyle; a state of being; a full-on cult. It’s disingenuous to say it put Kylie on the map again (as if her last few albums didn’t all hit No1) but it was undeniably her biggest cross-demo blockbuster hit for a long time - and how fucking exciting to see someone at the top of their game having this kind of ~moment after so long, with a song many younger artists would sell their relatives for.
…Padam?
That playlist again is here!
See you presently for the albums…