If you know much about me, you know that I love music. According to Spotify Wrapped, I listened to 1,268 different artists across 80 different genres this year.

But this year was a little different than most years. This year I had a hard time finding a lot of new music / artists that I really liked. As with most years, there was music I really loved — it’s just that there wasn’t as much of it. In some years, I’ve had to exclude some really good music just to whittle down my list of best albums to a top ten. This year, outside of these five records, not much grabbed me and held my attention. That probably says as much about me as it does the quality of music released this year. At my age, I have some fairly entrenched favorites, so something has to really grab me in order to break into my heavy rotation. I also spent a lot of time this year listening to some of my older favorites. (Oasis, for example.)

But that doesn’t mean 2023 wasn’t a banner year for new music. Some of my favorite artists released new records which soundtracked these past twelve months for me. Some of the associations I have with this music will stick with me the rest of my life: songs I was listening to when the twins graduated from high school, when we took them off to college, when Sunny and Jackson and I learned how to be a family of three, etc.

So here is my annual post of the best music (in my opinion) from the last year.

Best Albums of 2023:

1. Weathervanes by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.
2. Laugh Track by the National.
3. First Two Pages of Frankenstein by the National.
4. Higher by Chris Stapleton.
5. One Thing at a Time by Morgan Wallen.

2023 Album of the Year: Weathervanes by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

This album has been on constant repeat for me since it was released in June. I’ve been a part of Isbell’s fan club for the past decade. His landmark 2013 album Southeastern still looms as my favorite album ever thanks to songs like Cover Me Up, Live Oak, Elephant, and Traveling Alone. But Weathervanes is another career highlight, marked in particular by the brilliant playing of Isbell’s longtime band, the 400 Unit. With an Americana / rock sound that has been honed by years of live shows together, the band has never sounded better than they do on Weathervanes. And as the album’s producer, Isbell gives these songs plenty of space to grow, particularly the longer tracks on the back half of the record like This Ain’t It and Miles.

Isbell’s songwriting is also exemplary — although it may be more appropriately called “story-writing.” It sometimes takes a hundred pages to reach pathos in a novel; for Isbell, it’s more like four minutes (give or take). For example, Cast Iron Skillet is a perfect distillation of the kind of well-worn and hard-won wisdom you often heard growing up in the South. But there’s also an ugly cultural flipside to this kind of upbringing, one that many of us would just as soon not talk about. Yet Isbell unflinchingly shines the light on this world of biases and prejudices with a tone of mournful lament — personalized by the tale of Jamie and her boyfriend. I think Isbell has an uncommon knack for prompting legitimate reflection on things that matter — and in the case of Cast Iron Skillet, he does this in a little under three and a half minutes. And this is just one of many such songs on the record. The foreboding and paranoia are palpable on another standout track, Save the World: a somber reflection on anxiety in an age of school shootings. Middle of the Morning perfectly captures the mental fatigue of having too much time on our hands — something most of us experienced during the pandemic. Strawberry Woman has my favorite romantic-yet-not-romantic line: “You were thick cut bacon on Texas toast.” But he follows up with one that lands a little closer to the mark: “I’d sell the farm to see you smile / But it might just happen if we wait a while.”

But the song I’ve played more than any other from this album is King of Oklahoma. When I think back on the music of 2023, this is the song that will come to mind most readily. In his live shows, Isbell likes to talk about the fact that he doesn’t really write happy songs, only sad ones. And this one is definitely an all-timer. (Poor Molly.) It’s another classic “story song” with a down-and-out protagonist and blistering guitar riffs — and the highlight of the album.

The only thing better than listening to this record is hearing these great songs live, something I’ve done a couple of times already this fall. Just a great record by my favorite artist.

The National, Chris Stapleton, and Morgan Wallen

Here are some other stray thoughts about music from 2023:

• The National put out two fantastic albums this year, April’s First Two Pages of Frankenstein and the surprise release of Laugh Track this fall. And I feel like each of these two records capture something essential about the band: on Frankenstein, Aaron Dessner’s meticulously beautiful songcraft and production; and on Laugh Track, the looser feel of the band performing live. I kind of wish that they had just combined these recording sessions into one really killer album. At the bottom of this post, I might just post my alternative reality single LP of the best cuts from these two albums. But as it is, National fans surely enjoyed the generous helpings in 2023.
• Chris Stapleton just churns out some really good stuff. While I haven’t fallen in love with this new album as a whole, there are definitely some standout songs on Higher. My favorites include What Am I Gonna Do and It Takes a Woman.
• Morgan Wallen dominated the year with his triple-album One Thing at a Time. Of course, 36 songs is excessive and indulgent. But it seemed to work for Zach Bryan, I guess. So why not? Now that I think of it, if Wallen had pared this material down to the best 12-15 songs, he’d have an incredible album. But as it is, there’s still plenty of filler on One Thing at a Time. But it’s a fun mental exercise to imagine these songs as part of an all-time great country record.

The National, First Two Pages of Laugh Track setlist

1. Once Upon a Poolside (feat. Sufjan Stevens)
2. Eucalyptus
3. Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces)
4. Weird Goodbyes (feat. Bon Iver)
5. Tropic Morning News
6. Turn Off the House
7. New Order T-Shirt
8. Tour Manager
9. This Isn’t Helping (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
10. Crumble (feat. Roseanne Cash)
11. Laugh Track (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
12. The Alcott (feat. Taylor Swift)
13. Space Invader
14. Grease in Your Hair
15. Your Mind Is Not Your Friend (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)

Tell me that’s not one great album.

Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time (edit)

1. Don’t Think Jesus
2. Last Night
3. Everything I Love
4. Devil Don’t Know
5. One Thing at a Time
6. I Wrote the Book
7. Tennessee Numbers
8. Thought You Should Know
9. Me + All Your Reasons
10. Tennessee Fan
11. Money on Me
12. Days That End in Why
13. Outlook

I know I’m leaving off You Proof, which is probably the biggest song on the album. But there are so many better songs here. This would also be a fantastic record.

My favorite local artist, Jackson Bybee, released some new music this year under the moniker “The Band Hiraeth.” He and his good friend, Pat McRight, have been recording music under this name and I’m excited to see how some of their future projects come together. On the playlist below, you’ll find two of their songs, “The Meadow” and “Videlicet.”