2023 Songs of the Year
Another Populist Pop List
The past week or so is one of my favorites in the entire year, with a broad slice of the online commentariat offering takes on the past year’s events and culture, distilling the weeks past into a digestible review. Though this newsletter has been quite quiet this year, I’ve been filling my ears with all kinds of sounds, and I’m happy to share a playlist of 14 songs with you all, my dear subscribers!
As for how these songs were selected, I did my best to represent a broad range of the population. As I mentioned in my introductory post, I have a framework where I’ve split the world into 80 regions of roughly equivalent population based on late 2022 population distribution. These regions have ~100 million members, and thus I refer to them as 亿gions with a nod to the Chinese character 亿 which both visually and phonetically (yì) resembles “re”, creating a multi-sensory wordplay. I group the regions into Billionishes, and I’ve selected two songs for each Billionish!
A few final notes on selection criteria:
All songs on this list were released in 2023, either as a single or on an album.
Songs are sequenced in two sets based on population figures. (First using stats going into 2023, and then using stats heading out of 2023.)
No 亿gion is duplicated.
No language is duplicated.
Let’s get into the music!
(You can listen to the playlist on Spotify here!)
新世界的光 (“Sīn sì-kè e kōng” / Light of the New World)
Fire EX., DJ Mykal a.k.a. 林哲儀
Let’s open with a song that optimistically takes on the challenges of change. If you know Mandarin Chinese, you might be surprised that the title hasn’t been transliterated as “xīn shìjiè de guāng”, which is because this song is in fact in Hokkien! I tend to listen to more of this Kaohsiung group’s more punk-sounding tracks, but this is an uplifting and motivating song that encourages adversity be addressed with brightness and strength. The reference to a “new world” also makes me think of a seemingly nascent “new world order” -- which is food for thought as few self-governed territories are more at risk of that order than Taiwan, where Fire EX is based.
Garbo (Pride)
Narendra Modi, Tanishk Bagchi, Dhvani Bhanushali
It was a big year for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- his country became the largest in the world, he hosted world leaders at the G20 summit, and… he wrote the lyrics to this banger of a hit. I do find it a bit peculiar that in a country with such rich harmonic traditions, this song is set over a common and simple chord progression, the one that Tom Hanks plays on the foot piano in Big. But I like the lyrics which, in Gujarati, focus on how local animals are the pride of the region, a celebration of agrarian life that may increase his popularity in the country the year before an election. Personally, I’ll always support a songwriter-minister over a philosopher-king.
Ubu Ndashima (Now I Appreciate It)
Aline Gahongayire
I was taking an Uber in Houston when I was introduced to this song, which my Burundian driver was playing off of a playlist. I generally try to avoid ridesharing when alone, requiring myself to track and justify such choices in a spreadsheet, but in this case I was rewarded with a fun track! The lyrics are in Kinyarwanda and are religious in nature; perhaps that contributes to its aesthetic. Maybe I should take Ubers more often.
Enloqueciendo (Going Crazy)
Armenia, Esteban Sterling
Armenia is a band from Colombia that I’ve been listening to for a couple years that fits a fun trend of bands naming themselves after faraway places. (Another favorite of mine: The band Montreal who are based in Hamburg.) I haven’t been able to find a lyrics transcription, but I like how the title captures the idea of “going crazy” in a single word, which is something we can’t really do well in English in a single word -- sort of like “encrazification”? The song itself doesn’t seem particularly crazy; if anything, the beat and melody make it rather grounding.
ما خریداریم (“Ma Kharidarim” / We'd Buy What You Have)
بمرانی (“Bomrani”)
When we follow world affairs through press coverage, we tend to view countries primarily through the lens of geopolitics and business -- learning about political representatives and business leaders. This may be especially true for parts of the world like Iran, which had been in the news when their government reportedly resourced Houthis in Yemen to have them disrupt shipping in the Red Sea. I find following musicians and bands to provide a much more humanistic worldview, where individuals are harder to classify into taxonomies. This song is haunting, frequently repeating “ma kharidarim”, a phrase that supposedly is played through megaphones on trucks that drive through parts of Iran as mobile pawn shops, giving residents a chance to exchange their things for cash. Here, though, the singer suggests that what is being bought are “passed lives, bygone days, [...] broken hearts”. A reminder that economic sanctions -- though theoretically bloodless -- leave innocent civilians in metaphorical crossfire.
Longtime
Youv Dee
I spend a lot of time contemplating if a global pop punk renaissance is truly upon us, and this song is one that drives me to ponder just that. Specifically, did Brexit increase indigenous language preference in continental European pop? I used to struggle to find French-language pop punk, but now I’m finding lots of great stuff from the likes of groups like Marvette, Skip the Use and TheFrenchKris. Perhaps that’s a data journalism exploration for the new year. As for this particular track, Youv Dee is from just north of Paris, and though his previous work would probably be classified as hiphop or rap, this track hybridizes in a heaping dose of pop punk. It’s bright and excited and optimistic, and I need songs like this in my life.
Dopamine
7UPPERCUTS
“Does exactly what it says on the tin”, as they say. That is, when I listen to it, I feel good -- and that is so much of what I look to music for these days. It’s upbeat and cheery, creating an aesthetic that really matches the subject matter. I also enjoy how 7UPPERCUTS breaks out of Vietnamese to use the English term “dopamine” (named by chemists in London, England back in 1910) much in the same way an Anglo wellbeing expert might throw around “chakra” or “fengshui”. The words that transcend translation are such special words.
Chiremerera (Dignity)
Jah Prayzah
I was introduced to Jah Prayzah this year at a university alumni event from a friend who recommended him as entry point to Shona, a wife that this friend’s wife speaks, and I was pleased to see a new release come out this year. The rhythms and vibes of this track help drive me through my day, and I hope they’ll help you too.
O Maahi (Oh My Beloved)
Pritam, Arijit Singh, Irshad Kamil
I had been enjoying this song along with others on the Dunki soundtrack, but what tipped this track over the edge was visiting a friend’s parents yesterday and hearing them serendipitously play a playlist of songs from the film. It’s a delightful ballad with a driving rhythm, the sort I enjoy a great deal! While I haven’t seen the film this track is from, it deals with extrajudicial migration techniques, and it is on my list to see early in 2024.
重庆 (Chongqing)
鹿先森乐队 (“Lù xiān sēn yuèduì” / Sir Deer)
If you don’t follow China closely, Chongqing may be the largest city you haven’t heard of. It’s official population is listed at 30M, when considering city limits that stretch across a territory the size of Austria -- but a more apples-to-apples 16M-person urban population makes it still larger than any city in the Western Hemisphere. You may have seen it in the title of Wong Kar-Wai’s cinema classic Chungking Express, using an archaic romanization that split the difference between the now preferred Mandarin pronunciation and the Cantonese “Jung Hing”. I haven’t been to Chongqing, but photos of futuristic architecture developments there played alongside this anthem make it seem like a dream.
2000ealgumacoisa - DELX (2000andsomething)
Thiago Jamelão
Transitioning from a song about a place to a song about a time. The title suggests the song is attempting to capture an era, and with the 2020s off to a challenging start, I welcome this track lulling me back into a romanticized, relaxed contemplation of our millennium’s first decade. I’ve been seeking out more Brazilian pop music this year, having much more familiar with the countries earlier heavy influence on jazz more broadly. This one is one of my favorites.
паника (“Panika” / Panic)
ПОЛМАТЕРИ (“POLMATERI”)
The energy returns here, with this song’s verses sort of a panic attack in song form -- uniform rhythms at an incessant tempo with lyrics that loop like vicious spiraling thoughts. But this Kazakh pop song is actually quite sweet in the chorus, singing about going on a leisurely walk in the park with a guitar.
Lass es kreisen (Let it circulate)
AnnenMayKantereit
I was first recommended to listen to AnnenMayKantereit in 2022 during a plane delay in the Kuala Lumpur airport, given the context that the vocalist has a particularly unique voice. This song makes excellent use of that unique voice. The repetitive hook “Lass es raus, lass es kreisen” (“let it out, let it circulate”) plays on my post-pandemic anxieties to create something deeply unsettling -- but I can’t stop listening.
หาก (“Hak” / What if)
HENS
I’m a sucker for parallel construction, and HENS makes great use of it here. The song explores a separation (of friends?) and various “if” questions. It’s a great jam, and the open-ended nature of “if” questions also makes it a nice mixtape closing track, if you ask me. What does the future hold? I suppose we’ll find out.
2023 had many stories: people starting new jobs, falling in and out of love, throwing parties, feeling alone. I like to think that seeing a year through its songs gives a broader perspective than other approaches.
And a closing note of optimism: All 14 of these songs weren’t available a year ago, but now with the year ending I can listen to them whenever I want as long as I’m around. Makes me excited for what new favorites of mine will come into being in 2024.
Happy Old Year, Friends.