The music of 2023: Our critics’ verdicts on the best albums and acts of the year

You don’t have to look too far down the lists our critics have voted on to decide Ticket’s favourite music of 2023 to see two runaway winners. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find something less worthy of celebration, perhaps. More of that later.

First, though, congratulations to Lankum and CMAT, two Irish music acts that, on the face of it, couldn’t be more different. Lankum top four of our lists – we’d call them awards, but these prizes are purely honorary – and Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson isn’t too far behind. Each has been around for longer than some might think – Lankum with a different name, and CMAT in various low-profile groups – but 2023 has been the year each has risen to prominence.

With mainstream US media coverage and album-of-the-year wins in magazines and newspapers around the world, Lankum went international in 2023. And CMAT? Her progression over the past year as a writer of earworms has her edging towards becoming a national treasure. And to think she’s only two albums into her solo career.

What’s also clear from the way our critics’ votes landed is the success of reinvigorated, reshaped traditional music. Nationwide radio play remains a problem for Irish musicians, but Lankum and their equally experimental comrades-in-arms Øxn, Lisa O’Neill and John Francis Flynn are gaining ground here and elsewhere for their live performances. And let’s not forget the unruly Mary Wallopers, who feature in lots of this year’s categories. The Dundalk band might not put the “rad” in traditional the way some of their peers do, but their rise in popularity over the past two years, especially abroad, has been impressive.

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Hozier has solid votes, with placings in three categories. Last year’s board-sweepers, Fontaines DC, may be way down in the 2023 lists, but their lead singer, Grian Chatten, scores with his solo debut. The Murder Capital continue their steady rise with nods in two lists. There is also the reassuring presence of non-rock acts such as Kojaque. Other Irish acts that hit the sweet spot include David Holmes, Ailbhe Reddy, The Scratch, Sorcha Richardson, Kneecap, Jazzy, Róisín Murphy, Nealo, Rachael Lavelle, Soda Blonde, The Bonk, BellX1 and, yes, The Wolfe Tones.

The international categories? All hail Boygenius, who reach pole position in two categories and second spot in another. Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift also top a category each. Elsewhere, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles battle it out for best comeback. Who would have thought they’d still be rivals after all these years?

Let’s dig deeper, though, and focus on the Irish contingent. It’s harder and harder for Irish musicians to remain financially afloat. Apart from Hozier, every one of them I’ve spoken to this year needs a supplementary income. Most gigs barely cover the costs of putting them on. Some musicians keep their heads above water by occasionally partnering with brands; others teach guitar or piano, earn top-ups from voiceover work, walk dogs, work in admin or libraries, wait tables, direct/edit/photograph/design/produce, and so on. With the exception of legacy artists and arena acts such as U2, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Taylor Swift and Pink, the vast majority of acts are hanging on by fingernails bitten to the quick.

Almost everyone who experienced U2’s gigs at the Sphere in Las Vegas this year said the venue would alter live entertainment. That’s no doubt true for audiences that can afford to get there and for music acts that will perform in it, but you don’t hear much of that game-changing language in Ireland (or elsewhere, no doubt). As streaming platforms such as Spotify continue to devalue creativity, musicians are leaving the country or giving up the ghost. Virtually everyone in the business worries about ticket sales – music lovers remain financially cautious even though the pandemic is firmly in the rear-view mirror – and the rising costs of touring are leading to cutbacks in crew and production. That’s without mentioning digital marketing, the omnichannel strategies of which – from sharper ecommerce websites to greater social-media presence and fan base mailing lists – are becoming more and more integral to getting yourself noticed, and more and more of a burden for already stretched performers.

The good news is that the music community in Ireland is breaking ever more creative boundaries. The successes of Lankum and CMAT, the rising profiles of Kneecap, Sorcha Richardson and Jazzy, the established quality of Soda Blonde and Bell X1, the irreverence of The Scratch and The Mary Wallopers, Hozier’s US takeover and – yes, even if they don’t appear anywhere on our lists – the ability of U2 to once again engage with the industry’s technological developments all mean it will take more than these challenges to make anyone stop.

“This is what I do,” Faye O’Rourke of Soda Blonde told this paper a few months ago, “and I’m confident that I’ll be doing it for as long as I can.” Her words circle around the minds of every creative person.

Best Irish album

1. False Lankum by Lankum
2. Crazymad, for Me by CMAT
3. Unreal Unearth by Hozier
4. All of This Is Chance by Lisa O’Neill
5. Chaos for the Fly by Grian Chatten
6. Blind on a Galloping Horse by David Holmes
7. Crym by Øxn
8. Gigi’s Recovery by The Murder Capitol
9. Irish Rock N Roll by The Mary Wallopers
10. Phantom of the Afters by Kojaque

Best Irish song

1. Go Dig My Grave by Lankum
2. Stay for Something by CMAT
3. The Idler by The Mary Wallopers
4. Rent by CMAT
5. Francesca by Hozier
6. Shitshow by Ailbhe Reddy
7. Cheeky Bastard by The Scratch
8. Giving Me by Jazzy
9. Map of Manhattan by Sorcha Richardson
10. Better Way to Live by Kneecap

Best Irish solo act

1. CMAT
2. Hozier
3. John Francis Flynn
4. Kojaque
5. Ailbhe Reddy
6. Róisín Murphy
7. Lisa O’Neill
8. Sorcha Richardson
9. Nealo
10. Rachael Lavelle

Best Irish group

1. Lankum
2. The Mary Wallopers
3. Fontaines DC
4. Øxn
5. The Scratch
6. Kneecap
7. The Murder Capital
8. Soda Blonde
9. The Bonk
10. BellX1

Best international album

1. The Record by Boygenius
2. That! Feels Good! by Jessie Ware
3. First Two Pages of Frankenstein by The National
4. The Ballad of Darren by Blur
5. Cousin by Wilco

Best international song

1. What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish
2. Not Strong Enough by Boygenius
3. The Narcissist by Blur
4. Nothing Left to Lose by Everything But the Girl
5. Wall of Eyes by The Smile

Best international solo act

1. Taylor Swift
2. Caroline Polachek
3. Beyoncé
4. Jessie Ware
5. Natalie Merchant

Best international group

1. Boygenius
2. Blur
3. The National
4. Arctic Monkeys
5. Foo Fighters

Best gig

1. Lankum at Vicar Street
2. PJ Harvey at 3Olympia
3. Boygenius at Royal Hospital Kilmainham
4. Blur at Malahide Castle
5. Kojaque at Vicar Street
6. The Wolfe Tones at Electric Picnic
7. Lorde at All Together Now
8. Lana Del Ray at 3Arena
9. Elton John at 3Arena
10. Lisa O’Neill at Pavilion Theatre

Best festival

1. All Together Now, Waterford
2. Haunted Dancehall, Dublin (NCH)
3. Beyond the Pale, Wicklow
4. Electric Picnic, Laois
5. Another Love Story, Meath
6. Body and Soul, Westmeath
7. Other Voices, Kerry
8. Guinness Cork Jazz Festival
9. Forest Festival, Laois
10. Open Ear, Sherkin Island

Best music books

1. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
2. Bee Gees: Children of the World by Bob Stanley
3. Party Lines: Dance Music and the Making of Modern Britain by Ed Gillett
4. Bob Dylan: Mixing up the Medicine by Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel
5. The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
6. Madonna by Mary Gabriel
7. Bowie Odyssey by Simon Godard
8. Dance Your Way Home: A Journey Through the Dancefloor by Emma Warren
9. My Name Is Barbra by Barbra Streisand
10. The Life (and Afterlife) of The Velvet Underground by Dylan Jones

Best artist comeback

1. The Beatles
2. Madonna
3. The Rolling Stones
4. Everything But the Girl
5. Britney Spears

Best music film or documentary

1. Little Richard: I Am Everything
2. Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All
3. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
4. Wham!
5. Jason Isbell: Running with Our Eyes Closed

Best music in a TV show or series

1. The Bear
2. Daisy Jones & the Six
3. Other Voices
4. Sex Education
5. Fleishman Is in Trouble

Critics’ choices

Top five roots albums

1. Seven Psalms by Paul Simon
2. Workin’ on a World by Iris DeMent
3. Weathervanes by Jason Isbell
4. Higher by Chris Stapleton
5. Bluegrass by Willie Nelson

The world seemed shrouded in misery in 2023, but it was a joy to welcome Lucinda Williams, Iris DeMent and Natalie Merchant to Ireland for memorable gigs. All three also released notable albums after long absences. Ditto for Buddy and Julie Miller (In the Throes) and Rhiannon Giddens (You’re the One). Paul Simon looked to the heavens for inspiration for the remarkable Seven Psalms, while Jason Isbell had more earthly concerns with Weathervanes. Fellow Alabama singer-songwriter Drayton Farley was equally persuasive with Twenty on High, as was Margo Price with Strays. Both showed the influence of southern rock that has helped propel Chris Stapleton ever higher in the Nashville firmament. He still has some way to go, however, to catch up with Willie Nelson, who celebrated his 90th birthday with the wonderful Bluegrass. Marvel at his voice and timing on the classic tear-jerker You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago. They don’t make them like that any more. Joe Breen

Top five traditional albums

1. False Lankum by Lankum
2. Double You by Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain
3. Peggy’s Dream by Martin Hayes and the Common Ground Ensemble
4. Aonaracht by Una Monaghan
5. Cyrm by Øxn

The radical industrial soundscape that is Lankum is, ironically, a joy to behold, particularly in their live performances, but their fourth album, False Lankum, saw Radie Peat’s uncompromising vocals riveted to a raft of fine songs alongside Ian Lynch yet with plenty of latitude to accommodate Cormac MacDiarmada’s delicate vocals on Lord Arbore and Mary Flynn, a Little Musgrave for the 21st century. They’d loathe the label of traditional, but there’s no denying (some of) their roots. An entirely different world is inhabited by the extraordinarily talented Welsh-harp-and-Irish-fiddle duo of Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain. Experimentalism reigns supreme on both Una Monaghan’s expansive Aonaracht and Peat’s newest adventure, Øxn. And in the midst of all that is the ever-exploring Martin Hayes, who refuses to be boxed in, relishing yet another collaboration, this time with The Common Ground Ensemble. A sense of adventure pervades the tradition at every hand’s turn. Siobhán Long

Top five Irish jazz albums

1. Out on His Own by Louis Stewart
2. Bog Bodies by Bog Bodies
3. Returning Weather by Christine Tobin
4. Clouded Lines by Scott Flanigan
5. Some Other Blues by Louis Stewart and Noel Kelehan

Ireland’s current generation of “jazz” musicians continued to challenge definitions of the dreaded J-word in 2023. Scott Flanigan’s excellent second record was probably closest to what a civilian might mean by jazz, with the Belfast pianist’s clever writing front and centre; the internationally acclaimed vocalist and composer Christine Tobin announced her return to her homeland with a wonderfully evocative set of new songs; and the drummer Sean Carpio’s beyond-genre trio Bog Bodies released the sort of ear-opening record that makes you wonder what it’s all about. But they all have to take a seat this year to the re-release (via Livia Records) of the guitarist Louis Stewart’s solo masterpiece, Out on His Own, nearly 50 years after it was recorded. The revived Livia Records label followed that with another gem from its vaults, a never-heard-before meeting between Stewart and the influential pianist Noel Kelehan, proof that the current generation didn’t exactly lick it off the stones. Cormac Larkin