This is the space where I offer my requisite hedges before presenting my personal tally of the ten best albums of the year just passed. Much as I long to be decisive and authoritative when the calendar crows its deadline for this exercise in culling twelve months of listening down to set of favored ten, I’m more often left with an abundance of affection, a dearth of slots, and wavering feelings about which titles belong where. As opposed to those years when I’m at least dead certain about what belongs on top, I’m building this list as much by feel as anything. Another day, this ten might be very different indeed. For today, this is what I’m prepared to present.

1. MJ Lenderman, Manning Fireworks — The latest solo effort from native Ashevillan MJ Lenderman is a dandy rock record packed with songwriting that is humorous without being jokey. The wry commentary in the lyrics gets at some of the plodding melancholy of enduring our modern age of existential uncertainty. Lenderman’s outlook is defined by clear eyes and a fogged-in soul. As a bonus, he’s becomes an aces guitar player with work that’s admirably unshowy, even when spread to epic-length. At times, Manning Fireworks recalls Neil Young in his iconoclastic prime.

2. St. Vincent, All Born Screaming — Annie Clark takes full command, producing a St. Vincent album without a partner for the first time and handling a large amount of the instrumentation on her own, too. All Born Screaming is insistent and insinuating, a cosmic-heart howl of fiercely off-kilter pop. If the mid-eighties versions Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart were combined into a single person and time-ported to today, this might be the album they’d make.

3. Porridge Radio, Cloud in the Sky They Will Always Be There for Me — With an emotional sweep matched by the elegant vastness of its sound, the latest from Brighton’s Porridge Radio is a rich, vibrant powerhouse. Frontwoman and primary creative force Dana Margolin spins her own dismay and disappointment into tracks that practically reverberate with clarity of purpose. Cloud in the Sky They Will Always Be There for Me is a resounding statement.

4. La Luz, News of the Universe — Built amidst the tumult of a shifting band lineup and upending life changes, News of the Universe runs wild through indie-rock and indie-pop styles. Band mainstay, frontwoman, and main songwriter Shana Cleveland reflects real-world unpredictability with songs of romp and ruckus. It’s a boisterous affair peppered with bright sonic surprises.

5. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft — In an era of pop blockbuster sprawl, Billie Eilish asserts the value of an album that’s cohesive and determinative, scornful of tortured extensions and deluxe enhancements. Hit Me Hard and Soft comes across as an honest depiction of who she is right now, as an artist and a person. While engaging in sly reinvention, it’s recognizable a work that’s true to her established voice.

6. Iron & Wine, Light Verse — Twenty-plus years in, Sam Beam is still delivering albums filled with precise, poignant songwriting. Light Verse has a freewheeling, everyone-is-invited quality, exemplified by Fiona Apple’s showstopper drop-in on the exemplary single “All in Good Time.” May the jamboree never end.

7. English Teacher, This Could Be Texas — This riveting debut album pulsates with the blithe freedom of musicians who ignore boundaries simply because it never occurred to them that they exist. Post-punk, twee pop, and everything in between get swirled into the batter of the songs, and This Could Be Texas bakes up as a cacophonous concoction.

8. Kim Deal, Nobody Loves You More — It took a lifetime for college rock legend Kim Deal to get around to a full-length solo effort, and those decades of experience course through Nobody Loves You More like iron-rich blood. It’s bold and tender at the same time. Deal’s album is a sculpture of delicate steel.

9. Nilüfer Yanya, My Method Actor — An exquisite ripely restless pop record. Nilüfer Yanya’s third outing is a gleaming thriller that earns comparisons to the some of the most compelling craftspeople of the past, the likes of Portishead and Sade. My Method Actor is made with gemlike precision.

10. Jack White, No Name — It’s safe to say that the armies of all seven nations have been bested by now. There’s no holding Jack White back.

Previously…

—Top Ten Albums of 2011
—Top Ten Albums of 2012
—Top Ten Albums of 2013
—Top Ten Albums of 2014
—Top Ten Albums of 2015
—Top Ten Albums of 2016
—Top Ten Albums of 2017
—Top Ten Albums of 2018
—Top Ten Albums of 2019
—Top Ten Albums of 2020
—Top Ten Albums of 2021
—Top Ten Albums of 2022
—Top Ten Albums of 2023