Melisma Magazine’s 2023 Songs of the Year
Choosing just one song of the year is no easy feat, but we did it anyways. Here are some of our staff writers’ picks for the song of 2023.
Kiss of Life - Sugarcoat (NATTY SOLO)
By Andrés López
Nailing the smooth sound of late 90’s and early 2000’s R&B, Natty of KISS OF LIFE breathes new life into a style that few attempt to truly do justice to today. Although the four-member girl group just debuted this year, Natty already had a breadth of experience in the K-pop industry under her belt, and it certainly shows on “Sugarcoat.”
Effortlessly gliding over the slickest of instrumentals with mesmerizing vocal runs and sleek verses, the Thai songstress switches up her flow multiple times throughout the track, culminating in the exceptionally sticky chorus. The attention to detail when recreating this classic R&B sound is impeccable as well, with stellar sound selection, tasteful usage of turntable scratching, and effects on the ad-libs that make you want to scream them as loud as possible. I have to give the producers Chloe Martini and MNEK their flowers as well, as they provide a heavenly soundscape that aids Natty in entrancing the listener.
While Natty’s charming vocals are like honey for the ears, she makes it clear in the lyrics that it won’t be so sweet for anyone who wants to hold her back. Bursting through any doubts and hindrances, Natty confidently discovers how to be true to herself and dismiss any sugarcoated comments. All of these elements come together perfectly to form a polished, mature track with replay value for years to come.
Kelela - Contact
By River Smith
It’s a special day when someone can drop a song that makes a homebody like me want to head to the club. But Kelela has a knack for doing just that, and in the months since she’s released “Contact” as the third single from her latest album Raven, it has been a go-to for the rare occasions that I venture further than the kitchen at night. Let’s face it: Kelela’s always about a good time. She’s the girl in videos playfully smacking Solange on the ass while she twerks in the car to Ariana Grande. She’s the one telling her lover it ain’t that deep either way. But everything she's released up until this year has been heavy and laden with bass. Not to say this is a bad thing (she does make dance music after all), but rarely has her music felt as weightless as it does on “Contact”: breakbeats and slow-rolling pads washing over her party-hopping instead of weighing it down. Everything condenses into singularity as the other person’s hands land on her body, halfway through the second verse. “The feeling is so right,” Kelela sighs, and suddenly the mood has changed, the room is a lot smaller now. “I’d go all the way.” She sings. A slight quirk of the lips, then: “If it’s up to me.” Time speeds up again and we’re back in the thick of it, the current moment charged with intentions and invitations. It’s the kind of word painting that takes me there, just off the dancefloor, tangled up in someone you just met and hoping for more. It makes me want to ditch the comfort of my bed in favor of a mass of dancing, sweat-slicked bodies.
So Kelela’s playful, yes, but let’s not forget how intentional she is with her craft. If her last two albums are any indication, she’s 100% locked in at this point. In other words, don’t play with her.
Yaeji - Easy Breezy
By Fin Jones
Yaeji’s most recent single was a victory lap after her powerful 2023 debut With A Hammer. The self-produced track is the epitome of Yaeji’s music; it’s a gem displaying all the best facets of her discography.
As someone who has listened to Yaeji for years, I’ve been able to observe her music evolve over time. Especially noticeable on her debut LP, retrospection and self-growth have become more prominent themes in her songwriting. In an email to her fans, Yaeji discussed how “easy breezy” builds off of her past work by entwining aspects of her prior releases. She wrote, “‘easy beezy’ feels like a sequel that weaves a thread through my past releases (and my past selves).” Additionally, she stated that the song was inspired by the Japanese and Korean pop music she listened to growing up. If you were wanting to get into Yaeji’s music, this is the song to start off with.
Lyrically, “easy breezy” tackles the hardships of growing up; it underscores newfound maturity, difficult transformations in self-perception, and the relationships that develop through it all. For me, 2023 was a stressful year of change. I experienced the end of high school, AP and IB exams, unanswered college applications, strenuous friendships, the start of college… the list goes on. Everything was new and challenging. “easy breezy” makes the struggles seem relatable, like something you can grow from and look back on with a smile. It affirms that it’s okay to mess up, take a break, and grow from an experience.
In addition to being a motivational self-help tape, “easy breezy” is an insanely catchy pop tune. Like, it’s a literal bop. The track is a bouncy blend of electronica, bossa nova, and drum and bass. Yaeji’s relaxed voice and bright production work in tandem to fix any bad mood; I can’t be in a bad mood when listening to this song.
Underscores - Cops and Robbers
By Ally Wolfe
“Cops and Robbers,” the opening track on Underscores’s latest album Wallsocket, is a thrilling, catchy pop tune that introduces the album’s concept and story. The title “Cops and Robbers” is literal: it depicts a fictional character in the Wallsocket universe robbing a bank. Underscores, also known as April Gray, published lore for a fictional town and series of characters online so hardcore fans could explore the alternate reality game uploaded alongside the album. They cracked the code behind Wallsocket’s story, which depicts the lives of several people in a small Michigan town.
However, you don’t need to know anything about fictional bank robber Joshua Domingo to enjoy “Cops and Robbers.” It’s a fun song that captures the thrill of a heist, and I regret that I was at college when it came out because I couldn’t drive around playing it with my windows down. Her production is unconventional—100 gecs and Skrillex are noted influences, yet there’s parts of it that feel like math rock or post-punk. I recommend this track for a good time, but it will likely suck you in to listen to the whole album.
Sufjan Stevens - Goodbye, Evergreen
By Anna Zhang
On his latest album Javelin, singer songwriter Sufjan Stevens wrote, produced, and recorded everything by himself, similar to his 2015 release Carrie & Lowell. Just like that heartfelt album dedicated to the complicated and difficult relationships he had with his mother and stepfather, whom the album is named after, Javelin once again sees Stevens dive back into the tender love and care and subsequent loss that comes with it all. On the opening track “Goodbye Evergreen,” Stevens begins singing towards his now passed partner Evans Richardson IV, whom he called “the light of his life,” and to whom the album is dedicated towards.
Beginning with the title of the song, and followed by an immediate affirming “You know I love you,” the song starts out gentle like a dimly lit candle swaying in the wind, accompanied by Stevens’ signature narrative vocal. Then the emotions and touching pain of loss of a “rare and beautiful” being that Stevens came to love spills into a sea of fear, perhaps caused by the new awareness of a world different and worse than the one before: “I’m frightened of the end / I’m drowning in my self defense.” Before the delivery of the ascending chorus, Stevens seems to bring us into the “drain” mentioned prior in the song, and begs for a release from the pain he felt: “I grow like a cancer /… / Deliver me from the poisoned pain.” But this pool of self doubt and hopelessness is soon lifted by the intensified percussion and repeated phrases of adoration and farewell, as Stevens sings “Goodbye Evergreen, you know I love you” to his partner in life and death. Released alongside this cuttingly raw record was Stevens’ statement on the passing and dedication of his partner on social media, in which Stevens candidly peels open his heart and shares it with his listeners in hopes of encouraging more love and care in a world which desperately needs it: “[i]f you happen to find that kind of love, hold it close, hold it tight, savor it, tend to it, and give it everything you’ve got.”
Jam City - Magnetic
by Jack Brownlee
In the decade and change since his aggressively innovative debut Classical Curves, British musician Jam City has mellowed out a bit. He has logged production and writing credits for a seriously impressive array of musicians, including Kelela, Lil Yachty, Injury Reserve, and perhaps most notably, Olivia Rodrigo. His discography is now four albums long; from the sludgy, chillwave-inspired Dream a Garden to the abrasive psychedelia of Pillowland, each record is drastically different from the last. His most recent effort, titled Jam City Presents: EFM, came out this summer, and it’s yet another left turn for the producer, albeit one that veers towards familiarity.
EFM is my least favorite of Jam City’s records. It plays a dangerous game, tiptoeing right atop the line between “perfect weightless dance-pop” and “H&M fitting room music.” The highlights are incredible, but the rest can be left behind.
Nevertheless, the final track of EFM, titled “Magnetic,” makes the entire record worth it, clunky tracks and all. It’s a breezy, garage-tinged song that hides a quiet complexity behind a carefree ambiance. The pitched-up vocal loop that it’s built around almost entirely overshadows the jittery percussion sequencing. For lack of a better term, it covers its most fascinating elements in a thin layer of “vibe,” creating a glossy sheen around the entire track that may repel less absorbed listeners.
Listened to in conjunction with the rest of his discography (and his ridiculous list of writing credits), I take “Magnetic” as further proof that Jam City has a masterful grasp on the workings of pop music. Again, it’s an interesting, intricate song, but it doesn’t try too hard to be obscure or difficult. It’s dance music that balances thoughtfulness, intentionality, and pure fun. After a decade of constant innovation and reinvention, “Magnetic” sounds like Jam City is now happily doing what he loves to do: making great dance tunes.
As is the case every year, 2023 saw the release of tons of amazing music. It took me a long time to whittle down what song I wanted to call my one song of the year for the sake of this article, but I’m choosing “Magnetic” because I found myself having to justify my love for this song to myself and those around me for nearly six months now. While on one hand, I understand my friend’s claim that it sounds like background music for a sped-up Instagram reel of a cake being decorated, I urge anyone listening to “Magnetic” to first zero in on the kick drums, hi-hats, and claps—after that, feel free to get lost in the atmosphere of it all.
Ken Carson - Fighting My Demons
By Daniel Cece
Ken Carson asks three essential questions within the first few seconds of “Fighting My Demons.” “Where the fuck my blunt? Where the fuck my cup? Where the fuck my reefer?” These questions stay rhetorical throughout the track, but Carson proposes them with such urgency that it forces the listener to devote their full attention to the music at hand. At first glance, the track may seem like a hedonistic trap anthem no different from any other, but upon deeper analysis, it becomes clear that Ken Carson offers much more than that. “Fighting My Demons” delves into the core themes and theories of life itself, drawing on complicated ideas from history and offering a radical new perspective.
One idea Carson meddles with throughout the track is the construct of time as a whole. The track itself is two minutes and 30 seconds long, but so much is accomplished within such a small amount of time. In 150 seconds, Carson manages to change his flow three times and incorporate a complicated build up to a massive beat switch. When Carson asks the aforementioned questions at the beginning of the track, he does so in just three seconds’ time, enrapturing the listener immediately and letting no time go to waste. What Carson does here is call our attention to the present. The brevity of the track does not take away from its effect–rather, it enhances our understanding and ability to recognize the moment at hand, reminding us to enjoy the track while it lasts.
As stated previously, the track shifts around two-thirds of the way through, building up to the monumental beat switch that continues until the end. Carson ceases rapping for almost 40 seconds, allowing blaring horns and synths to guide the listener to the unforgettable drop. Once it takes place, Carson re-emerges by uttering five words: “I’ve been fighting my demons.” The lyrics now beg another question: how will Carson win this battle with his demons? One would think he defeats his demons by spending large sums of money on Rick Owens or Balenciaga clothing, or maybe by chatting with a woman who, as he puts it, came “straight outta Yale.” These seem like natural resolutions Carson may have to offer, but in the next few lines, he gives us the exact opposite. Rather than revealing how he conquers his demons, he simply repeats the line over and over again. In fact, he repeats it 15 times, and then the track concludes.
There is no resolution, no how-to booklet explaining how to defeat these “demons” Carson keeps referring to. This is the brilliance of Ken Carson–rather than providing a far-fetched, hedonistic resolution to his struggles, he instead tells his audience that he is still in fact fighting his demons. He reveals that behind his vamp lifestyle and opium persona, he is merely a human trying his best to battle his day to day struggles, just like every one of us. Carson calls upon the idea of a shared human experience to tie the track together, exposing his reality as a tortured artist and becoming a relatable figure to his audience.
What becomes clear in the late stages of the song, however, is that Carson does inadvertently reveal one of his methods for fighting demons–by channeling them into art itself. Carson offers music as a form of escapism and pleasure, as a way to take his struggles and convert them into media that others can enjoy and relate to. Like a modern-day Holden Caulfield, Carson is the author of his own story, soliciting comfort from his writing and putting it into the world to share his unique insight. It is this genius thinking that makes Ken Carson one of the key players of the modern music scene, and that makes “Fighting My Demons” an obvious choice for the song of the year.