Somewhat unbelievably we are half way through another year. Where, indeed, does the time go? With six of the twelve months officially spent it's time to trim that unruly NAKED 2023 playlist down to something slightly more manageable for summer listening.
Once again the year has seen new and established artists releasing brilliant music. Wise old bards such as Depeche Mode, Hayden, dEUS and The National have all delivered head-turning new albums. Ex-Go-between Robert Forster and The Clientele came back even stronger than ever whilst Blur's 'The Ballad of Darren' is sure to be another winner when it arrives in late July.
Newer artists also feature heavily on our 'Ear to the Ground' Spotify playlist (link at the bottom of this blog post). Soccer Mommy & Bully turned in an irrestible co-write in the shape of 'Lose You', whilst the supergrouping of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus as 'Boygenius' made an affecting and assured record known as, eerrr, 'The Record'. Some names which were unknown to us before 2023 (yes I know, keep up NAKED) also make an appearance here. Take a bow Water From Your Eyes, Feeble Little Horse and Wednesday. Special mention must go to Riders of the Canyon, Carline Rose and Eyelids for writing some of the most infectious songs of the year.
But as we all know it's a game of two halves and there's still a lot of time for more great records to be released in 2023. But judging from the quality of this playlist I suspect a lot of the tracks included here will feature heavily in that final NAKED end of year round-up. Eagle-eyed readers will note that I nearly managed to get through this blog without making a reference to that long delayed and still M.I.A. Cure album, but in the end I just couldn't help myself.
Maybe it's on it's way...but in the meantime enjoy this playlist and have a great summer!