The 10 best albums of 2023 so far, ranked

Metacritic score: 85

What the critics have said: "Truly emphasizing how far they've come since emo's heyday, these songs have as much (or more) in common with alt.pop icons like HAIM, Alanis Morissette or Fiona Apple as even they do with even Paramore's poppiest 'rock' contemporaries like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco." — Kerrang

Metacritic score: 85

What the critics have said: "'This Stupid World' is just a particularly timely chapter in the modest saga of indie rock's most unassuming institution. Its songs capture not only the darkness so many of us feel with each waking day but also the impulse to keep waking, to keep going." — Pitchfork

Metacritic score: 85

What the critics have said: "At their best, which is often on 'Gigi's Recovery,' the Murder Capital combine muscular drama and skeletal grace with a confidence that Radiohead would be proud of." — The Guardian

Metacritic score: 86

What the critics have said: "Forster all too humbly paints himself as a modest talent next to his late foil's melodic genius, yet this eighth solo outing is packed as ever with minimal, carefully chiseled, acoustic-thrumming arrangements, topped by extraordinary lyric writing." — The Telegraph

Metacritic score: 86

What the critics have said: "Yorkston has couched his thoughtful, insightful songs in many musical forms, all of them quite successful. His teamwork with the Second Hand Orchestra, and especially with Persson, results in some of the most beautiful and moving music he's made, which is high praise indeed." — All Music

Metacritic score: 86

What the critics have said: "Kelela's second album is a transformative work of art that merges house and ambient, soul and dance, and resides within interzones – like the titular animal, a mediator between the material world and the realm of the spirits. It's a vast canvas of cultural expressions, emotional tones, erotic exploration and musical brilliance." — Beats Per Minute

Metacritic score: 86

What the critics have said: "This is a thoughtful, and thought-provoking, set of songs from a writer whose responses to the world around him illustrate an ever-deepening maturity, which is intriguing to chart across his four solo releases to date." — Record Collector

Metacritic score: 86

What the critics have said: "'Heavy Heavy' is a passionate, soulful and often mesmerising work that will stick around long past the first listen. Succinct and underpinned by a catchy melodic structure, it continues Young Fathers' peerless run of singular albums and further cements them as one of the more unique acts to exist today." — NME

Metacritic score: 89

What the critics have said: "Sakamoto has made a workaday logbook into something transcendent, partly because of its intimacy. Whether it's one of his major works is a question for future historians, but coming amidst an ongoing struggle with cancer, its bravery is defiant and splendid, the sound of an artist's soul laid bare." — Resident Advisor

Metacritic score: 93

What the critics have said: "It's in her own vocal and musical versatility that Polachek can create a new map to discover, and the results are nothing short of thrilling." — Consequence