The 20 best pop albums of 2023 radiate with unstoppable playlist power, much-needed sweet escapism, self-reflection, self-criticism, and killer melodies.
Pugwash mastermind Thomas Walsh excels at Beatlesque power pop, sounding like a cross between ELO and baroque-era Trash Can Sinatras.
The Shins’ Chutes Too Narrow remains one of the essential indie rock records, especially if one wants to understand the moment the genre had in the 2000s.
Brooklyn alternative pop artist Katie von Schleicher discusses her brilliant new, dreamy album, and why she allows the freedom to be herself.
Miracle Sweepstakes’ Last Licks is full of sweet psychedelic pop. The guitar effects and whimsical orchestrations throughout are reminiscent of the late 1960s.
Indie pop could use more queer icons, and Caleb Nichols has what it takes to become one of them as he shows on Let’s Look Back.
The Shins’ Chutes Too Narrow is one of the defining albums of the indie rock era when the genre grew alongside independent, online publications and hipsterism.
Prompted by the passing of a friend, John P. Strohm returns after 16 years with an album of mid-life reflections and the pop savvy he is known for.
Mare Berger’s Dreaming Blue is a richly melodic ode to love, grief and nature, and it wears its Joni Mitchell and Joanna Newsom influences well.
Vanishing Twin’s Afternoon X is a worthwhile musical journey through a wealth of different ambient, psychedelic, and groove-based sounds.
Animal Collective’s Isn’t It Now? suggests both urgency and passivity, displaying some of their best attributes but also their self-circumscribed limits.
Coming together in 2009 before naming themselves San Cisco, these three Aussie indie-poppers know what the heart wants and show it in this video premiere.
