Artist of the Year: S Club

 

Unsurprisingly, the most awarded artist of 2023 also clinches the big one. There's no real competition, either. Typically, I'd select an artist who's at least released an album or an EP, a particular project that's helped define the year. With S Club, it's a little different. You could see the Good Times Tour, completed by the release of These Are the Days, as an era itself even if a body of work wasn't accompanying the tour. Nevertheless, their music defined 2023. From the moment the rumours of a comeback surfaced, I was back onto their music like I was five years old again. From January to February (the month of the announcement), my S Club plays went up almost 800%! They remained remarkably strong all year too, with 2,382 scrobbles across the year, 506 of those belonging to These Are the Days. That's still a huge amount left for the back catalogue, though, which saw further boosts when Paul sadly passed as I turned to their music for comfort, all through the summer when These Are the Days was at its peak, and of course, in October when the Good Times Tour hit the UK. There's no other artist like them, whose music I never fail to get bored of, and can barely find a song that I don't adore and know off by heart. Hopefully 2024 will bring some more new music, but 2023 was about reliving the good times, and S Club sure enough managed that.

 

 

 

Artist of the Year: S Club

North American Pop Soloist: Sarcastic Sounds

British Pop Soloist: Michael Aldag

European Pop Soloist: Isac Elliot

Australian Pop Soloist: The Kid LAROI

British Group: S Club

European Group: Marcus & Martinus

Australian Group: Cub Sport

Hip-Hop / R&B Artist: The Kid LAROI

Alternative Artist: glaive

Live Artist of the Year: S Club

Breakthrough Artist: Fred Roberts

Best Era: Ruel - 4TH WALL

Special Recognition: Paul Cattermole

Best Music Video: Harry Styles - Satellite

Comeback of the Year: S Club

 

NEXT: the music countdowns begin, with my top 15 EPs of the year!

EPs: Top 15

 

 

1 Benson Boone - PULSE | 1-1-2-3-5-6-5-6-7-7-8-7-7-9-9-10-7-4-4-6-7-10-8-10-9-12-13-12-13-14-15-15-15-...

2 Knox - I'm So Good At Being Alone? | 1-4-6-9-9-9-9-11-12-12-12-…

3 Knox - How to Lose a Girl in 7 Songs | 1-2-4-4-5-6-7-9-10-11-x

4 Daniel Seavey - Dancing in the Dark | 1-3-5-2-3-4-6-9-10-12-12-15-x

5 Caity Baser - Thanks for Nothing, See You Never | 3-1-2-7-3-6-10-15-14-x

6 Addison Rae - AR | 1-2-3-5-8-10-15-x

7 Eddie Benjamin - Weatherman | 7-x-1-2-4-5-10-14-x

8 Powfu - tell me your feelings and i won't tell you mine pt. 2 | 1-6-7-7-11-12-11-12-12-15-x

9 Will Linley - Magic | 4-5-9-11-…

10 Thomas Headon - six songs that thomas headon likes and thinks you would like too | 4-11-x

11 Powfu, Ouse & Snøw - Flooding the Gates | 2-5-11-14-x

12 Lancelot - Medborgare av ingenstans | 4-11-15-x

13 Reagan Beem - then | 4-13-x

14 Chris Lanzon - Dark Side | 8-x

15 Tori Kelly - tori | 7-x

 

For the second year in a row, Benson Boone comes up top on the EP list. PULSE featured a less strong run of singles compared to previous release Walk Me Home..., but Benson branched out sonically on this release to create a strong five-track body of work. Sugar Sweet was a Slow Hands-esque bop, while Coffee Cake has a soaring chorus ready for live shows. The dramatics of What Was were the highlight of the release, and the touching Little Runaway, a message for Benson's sister, wasn't far off. It's evident Benson is becoming a more confident artist with each body of work, and I'm hoping a full-length album is around the corner at this stage!

 

Two artists feature twice in this list. Knox has #2 and #3 sealed up, with the more recent EP triumphing over his debut. How to Lose a Girl in 7 Songs was preceded by an impeccable run of singles, but the newer tracks burned out on me a little faster (Hate My Guts aside). I'm So Good At Being Alone? was a more diverse release, and though none of its singles reached the highs of Sneakers or Dumpster Fire, it works a lot better as an overall project. Powfu also features twice, with the sequel to his 2021 EP tell me your feelings and i won't tell you mine (which is my favourite short project of his, this doesn't quite match that as much as I really enjoy the beauty of keep our love alive and the more jovial life in a locker), as well as collaborative EP Flooding the Gates, with Ouse and Snøw.

 

Breaking out of the confines of his contract with the problematic management of Why Don't We, Daniel Seavey surprise-dropped his debut EP after a series of delays from when he began the rollout. Runaway, which hit #2 in my chart, remained the highlight but it had a really strong tracklist. Addison Rae's EP also came as something of a surprise, with its tracklist consisting of songs that had been floating around for years but hadn't received an official release. It's pop perfection, and far better than I expected it to be! Caity Baser's debut EP was suitably fun and a great introduction to her around the time I was loving Pretty Boys, and Eddie Benjamin's first project was an impressive and versatile display of his talents.

 

Elsewhere, Will Linley's latest EP was full of great pop moments, and Thomas Headon's ridiculously titled release came with some solid indie pop. Lower down, I've focused less on those EPs but wanted to give them recognition in my EOY regardless. Lancelot in particular outdid this project with a full album release later in the year!

 

NEXT: the albums countdown begins!

Hi Joseph! Nice to see caity and Addison in the eps top 15! Looking forward to your countdown!

Hi Joseph! Nice to see caity and Addison in the eps top 15! Looking forward to your countdown!

Thanks so much Conor! :wub:

Albums: Top 50

 

 

41 Zak Abel - Love Over Fear | 5-x

42 Freya Ridings - Blood Orange | 5-11-x

43 Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time | 5-13-x

44 RHODES - Friends Like These | 5-x

45 Ed Sheeran - - | 4-9-14-x

46 Gabrielle Aplin - Phosphorescent | 3-13-x

47 Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation | 3-15-x

48 44phantom - all my bad feelings | 6-15-x

49 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - HANA | 6-x

50 Lewis Capaldi - Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent | 7-x

 

Kicking off the top 50, Lewis Capaldi's sophomore album felt a bit like more of the same. That's not to say it was bad by any means, but there wasn't really anything on his second release that he didn't do better the first time around, and certainly nothing on the scale of Someone You Loved. RHODES' second album wasn't as good as his first either, not to say I didn't find it a pleasant listen-through, much like Zak Abel (who took a similarly long time to RHODES to follow up his brilliant debut), and as much as I loved Weekends, the rest of Freya Ridings' Blood Orange didn't quite capture my attention in a big enough way to keep me going back to the album.

 

I've never been the biggest Miley Cyrus fan, she's more of a singles artist for me with some I really enjoy and some I don't like that much. Lead single from Endless Summer Vacation, the megahit Flowers, is a song I like, albeit grew very tired of. The album mostly doesn't live up to that track, and is a step-down from Plastic Hearts. Ed Sheeran's had diminishing returns since ÷ too, though I liked what he was going for on - more than = even if it didn't have the same highs. I didn't actually check Autumn Variations out, oops. Carly Rae Jepsen's The Loveliest Time got glowing reviews online but I found it to be less good than its parent release from last year.

 

Also in this section, 44phantom's album felt more faceless than his 2023 singles had promised, Sophie Ellis-Bextor delivered a pretty solid album but I can't say I've really thought about it since, and Gabrielle Aplin kicked 2023 off with a superior album to her last couple, though again I haven't gone back to it since.

 

 

31 Kamal. - so here you are, drowning | 2-4-6-x

32 Tate McRae - THINK LATER | 5-7-…

33 GUNNAR - Best Mistake | 3-10-13-x

34 RAYE - My 21st Century Blues | 4-9-x

35 Mimi Webb - Amelia | 3-5-7-12-15-x

36 SZA - SOS | 8-x-5-13-15-x

37 Thomas Day - Love Me for Another Day | 5-8-13-15-x

38 Mae Muller - Sorry I'm Late | 5-11-x

39 Claire Richards - Euphoria | 4-11-x

40 Tom Grennan - What Ifs & Maybes | 5-15-x

 

This section sees quite a few debut albums popping up. Mae Muller impressed me with Eurovision anthem I Wrote a Song, and it turned out to be the best song on her debut album, but there's a lot of fun to be had when listening to it. Thomas Day left his best song off the album (justice for The New Me), but a lesser Benson Boone still makes for a good album. RAYE finally dropped her debut album to much acclaim, and it's easy to see why, though I can't say I've found my way back to it that much. Still, the sophistication and artistry was clear. Mimi Webb's first full album was a pretty good listen (especially when she's yet to have that major breakout hit in my chart), and Kamal.'s first mixtape showed his potential off brilliantly.

 

Claire Richards dropped a covers album for her second release, with every original version being by a female artist. Some of the tracks border on karaoke, but Claire's voice is unmatched so I could listen to her sing pretty much anything. Tom Grennan's third album was better than his first two I thought, and GUNNAR's first project under his mononymous stage name clicked a lot more than his previous more poppy project which lacked an identity. I actually preferred Tate McRae's first album to her second, though the highs of greedy and exes are very high and there were bops to be found. Finally, it took a couple of listens but I ended up really liking a lot of SZA's SOS album, even if it's a bit overly long for me to sit through in full.

THINK LATER is my fave from your albums so far. I think I still prefer her debut too at the moment but it's catching up for me.

 

Your list has helped me remember that I did listen to that Carly album when it was released. I had completely forgotten about it :kink:

 

I'm excited to see what else is to come :D

THINK LATER is my fave from your albums so far. I think I still prefer her debut too at the moment but it's catching up for me.

 

Your list has helped me remember that I did listen to that Carly album when it was released. I had completely forgotten about it :kink:

 

I'm excited to see what else is to come :D

Thanks so much Lewis! :wub:

Catch-up time (for I haven't stopped nor quit following x):

 

The 'Satellite' video is adorable <3 it was my instant favourite album track from Harry's House so was pleased it got a push ^_^

 

Your passion for all things S Club is a delight to read about! The passing of Paul was such a shock, I seem to remember it happening the day before our meet-up at Bal's and was totally blind-sided by the BBC News notification. It's lovely to read about how the rest of the band have been paying tribute.

 

From the albums you've posted so far I've heard Miley, RAYE and Tate's! My favourite album track from each is 'Handstand', 'Environmental Anxiety.' and 'guilty conscience' ^_^

Catch-up time (for I haven't stopped nor quit following x):

 

The 'Satellite' video is adorable <3 it was my instant favourite album track from Harry's House so was pleased it got a push ^_^

 

Your passion for all things S Club is a delight to read about! The passing of Paul was such a shock, I seem to remember it happening the day before our meet-up at Bal's and was totally blind-sided by the BBC News notification. It's lovely to read about how the rest of the band have been paying tribute.

 

From the albums you've posted so far I've heard Miley, RAYE and Tate's! My favourite album track from each is 'Handstand', 'Environmental Anxiety.' and 'guilty conscience' ^_^

Thanks so much for the reply Jade! :heart: :heart:

 

Yes I remember so clearly that our meet-up happened the day after the news broke! It was very much on my mind that weekend, glad we squeezed a couple of S Club tracks in :heart:

Albums: Top 50

 

 

21 Lancelot - Konsten att fly | 3-6-8-12-x

22 Niall Horan - The Show | 2-6-11-12-15-x

23 Noah Kahan - Stick Season | 2-6-5-…

24 P!nk - TRUSTFALL | 2-4-6-9-12-14-x

25 Kesha - Gag Order | 3-6-10-x

26 Hozier - Unreal Unearth | 4-12-x

27 Michael Schulte - Remember Me | 4-7-11-13-x

28 Hunter Hayes - Red Sky | 4-13-x

29 Ellie Goulding - Higher Than Heaven | 3-5-8-15-x

30 Maisie Peters - The Good Witch | 2-9-12-x

 

The quality drastically increases as we make our way up, with us now being into the territory of albums I spent a bit more time with. Maisie Peters' debut album didn't do loads from me away from the brilliant Psycho, and while nothing on the new album captured me the way that song did, the overall quality was much stronger! P!nk's TRUSTFALL felt like a step up from Hurts 2B Human too, largely thanks to its amazing title track. I didn't actually hear Hozier's second album (one day I will!) but I liked Unreal Unearth more than his self-titled debut album, not that I've heard it in many years now.

 

On the other side of things, Higher Than Heaven is the Ellie Goulding album I've paid the least attention to for sure. I think it's more to my taste than the main edition of Brightest Blue, but for some reason whilst I liked it all, I didn't end up loving it the way I usually do with Ellie's music. Similarly, Hunter Hayes' Red Sky was a less impactful release than his albums usually are, not really helped by a drawn out campaign where half the album was available in advance, but it was a better album than I thought based on some of those songs! Kesha's Gag Order ended up one place higher than her previous album High Road managed in my chart, but it hasn't captured my imagination in the way earlier albums did. That's not to say I didn't really like the album, though. The statements made throughout are very strong and it doesn't always make for easy listening, so it's a pretty difficult album to rank.

 

Elsewhere, former Eurovision star Michael Schulte keeps up his consistent run of solid albums with bops to be found (including two R3HAB collaborations, watch out for them both in my songs countdown). Niall Horan lost out on a second solo #1 album to his own bandmate (that's what happens when he releases as Love on Tour hits London!!), but I didn't like The Show any less than Heartbreak Weather really, the consistency is there. I listened to my first Noah Kahan album recently off the back of the title track as well as Northern Attitude and I really liked it, so it puts in a strong last minute showing, while Lancelot's debut solo album only just misses the top 20.

 

 

11 Anne-Marie - UNHEALTHY | 1-2-3-5-8-9-9-10-11-14-14-15-15-x-5-x

12 Troye Sivan - Something to Give Each Other | 3-2-4-4-6-7-9-9-11-10-…

13 Anson Seabra - A Heart Is a Terrible Thing to Break | 1-3-4-6-6-7-8-…

14 Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday 2 | 3-1-…

15 Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS | 1-3-4-8-9-13-14-x

16 Ava Max - Diamonds & Dancefloors | 1-2-2-5-5-5-6-6-7-9-14-9-15-x

17 Powfu - Gathered By the Lantern | 1-2-5-7-10-10-10-11-13-x

18 Arden Jones - age tape 0 | 1-2-6-8-11-13-14-x

19 Ryan Beatty - Calico | 3-6-5-8-9-12-x-13-x

20 Bebe Rexha - Bebe | 2-5-6-9-10-14-x

 

At the bottom of this section are two albums that came out in the same week. Bebe Rexha charted higher initially, and it's not too surprising when her album is a lot more in-your-face, though less good than her previous one. Ryan Beatty's Calico is much more subtle and has revealed itself in repeat listens, its beauty so gentle, tender and vulnerable in a way unlike any other album in this list. It's the first album of his I've heard, though I did enjoy and chart his very first EP over a decade ago. Arden Jones was a new name to me in the last couple of years, and after his "age tape" series in 2022 with three new songs every month, Arden completed the set with a selection of his favourites and a couple of new tracks to make the album age tape 0. I really like the full collection, and it includes most of my favourite tracks out of those I know from the preceding series (which he's rebooting for 2024!).

 

Ava Max kicked the year off with a really fun album, albeit one I didn't enjoy *quite* as much as her debut (though they're not far off each other). Sometimes, fun pop with no strings attached is all that's needed! Nicki Minaj understands that too, as Pink Friday 2 is another varied offering that shows the iconic rapper at her most confident and her most vulnerable across the same tracklist. My favourites are some of the more outlandish pop tracks, like the Cyndi Lauper-sampling Pink Friday Girls that just hit #1 in my weekly chart, or the absolute chaos that is Everybody. A huge step up from the mediocre Queen! Anson Seabra also delivered his best project to date, with A Heart Is a Terrible Thing to Break yielding three top 10 hits in my chart and seeing Anson explore different tempos and vibes for his songs, which pays off in a great way among his superb piano ballads.

 

Among the aforementioned two EPs, Powfu also dropped an album, which wasn't quite as good as surrounded by hounds and serpents from 2022, but I still really enjoyed it. Being able to buy the CD at his tour before the album was out on digital platforms felt really exciting! Olivia Rodrigo's GUTS felt like a more confident, elevated version of her debut album, and though I'd say it didn't quite hit the same highs, it's still a really great album and I love that she's carved a sound for herself already. Released in the busiest week of the year, with S Club's tour effect and a highly awaited Sarcastic Sounds album, Troye Sivan released his first album to miss my top spot (he leapfrogged S Club a week later but remained behind Sarcastic Sounds, and has been behind their entire runs so far). It's less good than his first two, but that's a high bar and this one still hits some great marks (singles aside, Honey is sublime). Similarly, Anne-Marie's third album wasn't as good as her first two with a couple of duds in the tracklist, but when it works, it really works, and the sample of I'd Do Anything on OBSESSED is so infectious!

Hi Joseph! Love seeing Tate, RAYE, Maisie, Olivia and Ava in your top albums!

Hi Joseph! Love seeing Tate, RAYE, Maisie, Olivia and Ava in your top albums!

Hey Conor, glad you're enjoying a few of the albums!! :wub:

Albums: Top 50

 

 

10 Rita Ora - You & I | 1-2-3-3-5-7-9-10-10-11-12-13-12-14-11-13-14-14-14-x

 

Rita Ora's Phoenix is one of my favourite pop albums. Nearly every song on it is absolute brilliance, and it has a run of singles that is pretty much unmatched by anyone else. The bar was set really high with that release, so whatever came next was probably not going to live up to it, and I made peace with that ages ago. When Rita finally began her third album era earlier this year, I was just ready for some bops, as Rita's pretty reliable on that front. She certainly didn't disappoint, either. You Only Love Me, while basic, was a great comeback track (and got unlucky to be released alongside two bigger tracks from The Kid LAROI and Ruel, relegating it to #3 in my chart), and her remake of Fatboy Slim's Praise You was an unexpected smash for me considering I don't really like the original much. In fact, Praising You almost hit #1, blocked only by Benson Boone after I saw him live! Don't Think Twice did give Rita that awaited #1 hit of the era though, and the album hit my #1 spot too ahead of glaive's album, though that's still to come in my EOY. You & I ticks the bops box with ease, with great tracks like Unfeel It and That Girl joining the singles, but I like that Rita shows off her vulnerable side on tracks like Look At Me Now and the album's title track. It's a little on the basic side compared to Phoenix, but it's a strong follow-up as far as I'm concerned.

 

In Joseph's Hit 40...

01 Don't Think Twice

02 Praising You (feat. Fatboy Slim)

03 You Only Love Me

 

 

 

9 Isac Elliot - Kävi Miten Kävi | 1-3-3-3-5-4-5-6-8-10-12-13-15-15-15-x

 

Isac Elliot's been one of the most prolific artists since I started compiling my chart, with a new top 10 hit every year since his debut single New Way Home peaked at #3 in 2013. In 2022, he finally committed to releasing music in his mother tongue, Finnish. As far as I know, only one Finnish language song had made my top 10 before this era started, and that was Robin Packalen's debut single Frontside Ollie. 20min kicked the era off with a cooler, slicker sound, featuring two Finnish rappers, which started a theme that most singles followed this era (of the six singles, only Riidellään didn't feature a rapper, but still had a guest verse from SANNI). It was a huge hit in Finland, peaking at #1, as did the follow-up single Makso Mitä Makso, which took the title of highest charting Finnish-language song in my chart's history when it debuted and peaked at #4 in 2022. Across 2023, the consistent hits continued, with his first body of work since 2017 arriving too. It was a big success for me, peaking at #1 (only the third foreign language album to peak at #1, following Ulrik Munther's Allt jag ville säga and CNCO's self-titled album, in Swedish and Spanish respectively). Isac's gained credibility and consistent success with this release, and it's easy to see why as it's on trend and current. The hits keep coming, too, with two further singles having been released since this came out!

 

In Joseph's Hit 40...

04 Makso Mitä Makso (feat. Sexmane)

05 Lowkey (feat. 1.Cuz)

07 Kaks (feat. ibe)

07 Riidellään (feat. SANNI)

09 20min (feat. william & Cledos)

09 Kompastun (feat. Costi)

14 Hentoo

 

Albums: Top 50

 

 

8 Jutes - Ladybug | 1-2-4-9-8-10-11-10-13-12-13-15-x

 

In the last 18 months, Jutes has gained prominence for being Demi Lovato's partner (and now fiancé). It's lovely to see how happy they are with each other, and it's a pairing I certainly didn't expect! For me, though, Jutes remains on my radar for his music. As one of the most prolific releasers of the last few years, Jutes has released a series of projects since I started following him, from a pop/hip-hop leaning EP in 2020, to a run of 20 diverse weekly releases in 2021 culminating in a 10-track mixtape of some of those tracks, and a pop-rock EP last year. 2023 saw the arrival of a studio album, and Jutes remained committed to the pop-rock sound he started to explore on 2022's Hot Trash. Ladybug is a much stronger project though, and the result was his first #1 album in my chart. A consistent run of singles was matched by a varied but consistent album, from dramatic opener Send My Love to his take on classic track Wicked Game.

 

In Joseph's Hit 40...

03 Quitter

04 Fingers

05 Ladybug

08 Punkstar (feat. Royal & the Serpent)

39 Send My Love

 

 

 

7 Kylie Minogue - Tension | 1-2-3-6-5-8-7-8-8-10-11-13-13-…

 

Nobody could have predicted the stranglehold Kylie Minogue would have on the world of music when she announced the release of comeback single Padam Padam. Before that, a UK top 40 peak felt like the dream, but when the song arrived and worked its way into the heads of the nation, it felt inevitable that it would become one of the defining songs of the summer. Padam Padam only just missed out on #1 in my chart, as did its follow-up single Tension, but the album succeeded where its singles had failed. Tension became Kylie's first #1 album since the Step Back in Time hits album (DISCO unluckily only made #3), and I'd say it's my favourite Kylie album in quite a while. It's obvious that Kylie had immense fun making it, and the result is a classic Kylie album with huge anthems like Vegas High, to the wistful Hold On to Now, and the exceptionally fun Love Train.

 

In Joseph's Hit 40...

02 Padam Padam

02 Tension

09 Vegas High

24 10 Out of 10 (Oliver Heldens feat. Kylie Minogue)

31 Hold On to Now

 

Albums: Top 50

 

 

6 Sarcastic Sounds - Haunt You Forever | 2-1-3-3-5-5-7-7-8-6-…

 

Sarcastic Sounds' 2022 EP I'm a Disappointment was a mixed bag of a project, not in terms of quality (it was all great!) but in terms of how it sounded. Half the tracklist contained pre-released singles where he acted mostly as a producer, with featured artists taking on the bulk of the singing with Sarcastic Sounds (the stage name of Canadian singer, producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Fedryk) mostly pitching his own vocals up or down. The other half featured four tracks with Jeremy himself front and centre, with a ukulele at the forefront of the instrumental and his own, unfiltered vocals taking centre stage. At the end of 2022, he promised a full album, and with each single that came (five preceded this album!), it grew more obvious that Jeremy was moving further into being the front page story of his own music. His vocals aren't perfect, but that's what I love across this album. Across an often jovial instrumental, Jeremy's vocals match the vibe of each song perfectly, whether it's the joy of Someday Soon, the melancholy of Better Half, or the anthemic cover of Family of the Year's Hero that closes the album. A nod to his older song features in the form of the lush don't wait for me, but by that point in the tracklist, it blends perfectly with some of the slower and more reflective songs. Lyrically, Jeremy doesn't hide anything away, and I love that his debut studio album is him unfiltered on every front.

 

In Joseph's Hit 40...

01 Better Half

01 Hero

01 Jaycee

01 Stumbling

02 Someday Soon

05 Haunt You Forever

 

 

 

5 Cub Sport - Jesus at the Gay Bar | 2-1-2-1-2-2-4-4-7-10-7-8-8-8-10-10-11-7-10-11-14-14-14-15-15-x-10-x

 

One night in April, I remember listening through a few recent Cub Sport songs on Spotify. It was the pre-released tracks from their forthcoming album Jesus at the Gay Bar, due out a day or two later. I really liked what I heard, having known absolutely nothing about the Australian band beforehand. In just that time alone, I was really hyped to hear the intriguingly titled Jesus at the Gay Bar (if you missed my earlier commentary during the awards, it's taken from a poem), and it blew me away from first play. It's anthemic, glistening and heartbreaking, blended together with the sensual vocals of the band's lead vocalist Tim Nelson. Dance pop vibes are strong through the album, and as a project, it's pretty immaculate. There's not a weak song on the album, and even the more experimental tracks like Beg U act as breathers between the intense emotion and/or high energy. Every song has top notch production, and each listen never fails to transport me away for 35 minutes. For me, this album provided the perfect escapism - it was released on the day we heard Paul Cattermole passed, so when I was feeling a little too sad for S Club music, it was Cub Sport who took me somewhere else.

 

In Joseph's Hit 40...

04 Hold

10 Songs About It

31 Magic in U

 

Lovely words about S Club / Paul, I have never been greatly invested in them myself but the news did hit pretty hard especially with it being so close to our meetup and knowing it would affect you badly, happy that you still managed to enjoy the tour in the end despite the unfortunate circumstances!

 

I have really enjoyed the couple of songs from Fred Roberts that I've heard after you forced me at gunpoint to listen to them! Would love to see him get some mainstream recognition some day but in the mean time I'm sure you'll keep me up to date with his releases

 

RAYE's album robbed x

Lovely words about S Club / Paul, I have never been greatly invested in them myself but the news did hit pretty hard especially with it being so close to our meetup and knowing it would affect you badly, happy that you still managed to enjoy the tour in the end despite the unfortunate circumstances!

 

I have really enjoyed the couple of songs from Fred Roberts that I've heard after you forced me at gunpoint to listen to them! Would love to see him get some mainstream recognition some day but in the mean time I'm sure you'll keep me up to date with his releases

 

RAYE's album robbed x

Thanks for the comment Bra *.* it was a very weird weekend emotionally for sure, glad we made time to hear a couple of S Club songs!

 

That reminds me - peep Disguise lol!

Albums: Top 50

 

 

4 glaive - i care so much that i dont care at all | 2-1-2-1-2-2-1-1-2-2-2-3-4-7-4-7-6-4-6-8-8-10-9-...

 

glaive's first full length studio album opens with his suicide note. From track 1, it means business in a way that's incomparable to any album I've ever heard. The track, titled oh are you bipolar one or two?, features totally raw vocals over a crashing backing track that uses light and shade expertly. It's a true gut punch of a track. The album's an exploration of mental health, adult life, and facing your demons. To cut a long story short, the album's title track, a vocoder-heavy interlude, says "thank God I didn't do it 'cause it's all okay" - he gets out of the place we hear him in during the opener, and that's why this album is so brilliant. It's a journey through glaive's deepest emotions, and though sonically he's pretty far away from the hyperpop that made him famous, the indie pop and even rock vibes at times allow for the most intense emotions to be conveyed perfectly. It's a masterful piece of work and one that reveals itself with repeated listens too, and it ends with a telephone conversation between glaive and his mother, who is referenced in the suicide note at the start, except this time she's telling a ridiculous story involving a dog. Though the closing song is about insecurity, the album ends in a much happier place than it starts with the inclusion of that conversation, and it culminates an intense but important listen.

 

In Joseph's Hit 40...

01 all i do is try my best

01 as if

05 the car

06 im nothing thats all i am

10 oh are you bipolar one or two?

20 17250

 

 

 

3 Sugababes - The Lost Tapes | 1-1-1-1-2-3-5-6-6-6-7-8-8-8-10-12-13-13-14-14-13-15-13-x-12-14-x-5-8-x

 

I was gobsmacked on Christmas Eve 2022 when Sugababes, one of my favourite groups growing up, dropped their long-awaited comeback album The Lost Tapes with no prior announcement. Originally written and recorded between 2011 and 2014, the album was intended for release almost a decade prior, but label shenanigans meant it was left in the vaults until Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan finally dropped it independently. I hadn't heard any of the leaked songs, so only knew the album's lead single Flatline from its 2023 release (and I wasn't that into it at the time, but have grown on it loads!). I was seriously impressed from my very first listen. I'm not super familiar with One Touch though I do like it, so it was amazing to hear the original trio together on new material because their voices are magic together. From the anthems Victory and Summer of '99 to the gorgeous I Lay Down and the reflective Back in the Day, every track hits the spot it's meant to, and the girls sound better than ever. Dare I say, it could be my favourite Sugababes album to date? Every song from the album's standard tracklist hit my top 40, undoubtedly helped by it coming out during the quietest period for new music, but it's still a testament for an album to have this level of impact. With new single When the Rain Comes already out, I can't wait for the next album from Sugababes if this is the quality we can expect from MKS!

 

In Joseph's Hit 40...

01 Victory

04 Summer of '99

06 I Lay Down

07 Drum

10 Love Me Hard

13 Back in the Day

14 I'm Alright

17 Today

19 Boys

24 No Regrets

30 Flatline

34 Metal Heart

36 Beat Is Gone

 

Albums: Top 50

 

 

2 Ruel - 4TH WALL | 1-1-1-2-3-4-4-5-6-7-4-6-5-8-11-9-9-10-9-9-9-9-11-11-12-13-8-7-9-9-6-6-9-8-11-12-11-12-12-14-14-14-...

 

My top 2 albums both have a few things in common. The artists in question are both Australian, the album titles are both in all caps, and both albums took a LONG time to arrive. Ruel's 4TH WALL actually takes the prize for longest build-up, though. With a career in music that began in 2017, with EPs arriving in each of the three years that followed (despite an album being promised after the second one!). It felt like a false start happened in 2021 too, with GROWING UP IS _____ launching the era and then supposedly not making the album, but finally, 4TH WALL came in March 2023 (with its lead single in tact). Every EP had seen Ruel build up his sound, allowing his voice to mature alongside his artistry, and the result is a brilliant album with Ruel's exceptional voice at the forefront. He's always been great at down and mid-tempo tracks, with particular highlights being single MUST BE NICE and album tracks LIE and IF AND/OR WHEN, but more so than ever, the bops are on point too, with the introspective YOU AGAINST YOURSELF and the savage duo of I DON'T WANNA BE LIKE YOU ("go f*ck yourself and all of your friends" is a highlight of the album) and SET YOURSELF ON FIRE. Despite the differing tempos across the tracklist, it's so well put together, from starting with GO ON WITHOUT ME to ending with END SCENE, every song flows into the next, and it's clear Ruel wanted his debut album to be perfect (no wonder when he had hundreds of songs to choose from for the final tracklist!). Let's just hope the next one doesn't take so long!

 

In Joseph's Hit 40...

01 GROWING UP IS _____

01 YOU AGAINST YOURSELF

02 I DON'T WANNA BE LIKE YOU

02 MUST BE NICE

02 SOMEONE ELSE'S PROBLEM

04 LET THE GRASS GROW

20 SET YOURSELF ON FIRE

24 LIE

30 END SCENE

34 IF AND/OR WHEN

 

 

 

1 The Kid LAROI - THE FIRST TIME | 1-1-1-1-2-2-…

 

This is probably one of the least surprising outcomes ever, but the domination of this album in such a short period of time is a true testament to just how impactful The Kid LAROI has been for me over the last few years. I don't need to explain in detail about how huge the F*CK LOVE era was, I've gone into detail over it in my previous EOYs, but F*CK LOVE topped my 2020 and 2021 album EOYs, with the 2021 re-issue adding 13 new songs feeling like a fair reason to let it qualify again. F*CK LOVE, despite its 35 tracks, is actually seen as a mixtape by Laroi, so here we have his first actual proper studio album.

 

Of course, that begs the question of what makes this worthy of being a studio album and not F*CK LOVE. With the latter's constant re-issues, adding to the narrative and continuing the theme in different ways, it felt like a work-in-progress as Laroi found his footing and his label helped him to build his audience base. THE FIRST TIME arrives with a firm footing as a result of that project and the singles that preceded it, with big name collaborators from the start (including Future and Jung Kook). However, the real difference is the theme. F*CK LOVE, the original edition, was a pretty tight project, but when Laroi added to it, it became a story. A trilogy in the works. The break-up, the revenge, and the moving on. THE FIRST TIME feels different. This time, its theme is more self-contained. It's an album about the concept of a first time, and different first times that we face in our lives. First heartbreaks, first loves, first time moving house, etc. It's a theme that's embedded into the concept of the album, surrounded by Laroi's journey, and enhanced by the music from start to finish.

 

With a delayed rollout and radio silence after a seemingly promising start in 2023, THE FIRST TIME finally came in November. It was preceded by singles LOVE AGAIN and TOO MUCH, which peaked at #16 and #10 in the UK respectively, but both topped my singles chart. Three other songs managed that from the album too, all consecutively following TOO MUCH. WHAT JUST HAPPENED, BLEED and WHAT'S THE MOVE? completed an unprecedented run of an artist scoring four back-to-back #1 hits, and culminated in Laroi breaking the record for most #1 hits, with a total of 17 in my chart. It's safe to say my hype for the album was sky high! It didn't disappoint, either. While I don't think it has quite as many individual highlights as F*CK LOVE, each song (interludes excepted) made my top 40, and nine of the 17 songs have a top 10 peak.

 

Despite Laroi's big breakout hits both being pop tracks, particularly STAY, there's not much in the way of your typical pop music on THE FIRST TIME. Laroi keeps to his hip-hop roots with a lot of the album, notably in WHAT'S THE MOVE?, WHAT WENT WRONG??? and WHERE DO YOU SLEEP?, all of which see rap Laroi at the forefront, as well as the autobiographical KIDS ARE GROWING UP, which sees Laroi rapping first about his upbringing, and then about his mum in a heartfelt second verse that wasn't released pre-album (it came out as "Kids Are Growing Up (Part 1)" earlier in the year with only the first verse and chorus). Pop fans aren't let down entirely though, with the catchy I THOUGHT THAT I NEEDED YOU early in the album, and the pop-rock bop WHAT JUST HAPPENED featuring lower down, a track that had been performed on Laroi's tour 18 months earlier and was teased to come out earlier in 2023! Laroi also bares his soul on the beautiful WHERE DOES YOUR SPIRIT GO?, a touching tribute to the people he's lost, notably his friend and mentor Juice WRLD.

 

When the album dropped, I was spending the weekend going to and from London Comic Con Winter, so it made for the perfect travelling companion and it made instant fond memories, as I met Doctor Who legends Karen Gillan and Camille Coduri that weekend! Laroi has promised a deluxe (though I suspect this is continuing the theme instead of furthering the story), as well as plenty of new music for 2024, and he's even teased a new album already! I'm so excited by what will come next, even if the commercial success of STAY hasn't quite translated into what's come since. The quality of the music is what matters, and with Laroi's dedication to his craft, I know it'll be there in spades.

 

In Joseph's Hit 40...

01 BLEED

01 LOVE AGAIN

01 TOO MUCH (The Kid LAROI, Jung Kook & Central Cee)

01 WHAT JUST HAPPENED

01 WHAT'S THE MOVE? (The Kid LAROI, Future & BabyDrill)

03 KIDS ARE GROWING UP

04 WHERE DOES YOUR SPIRIT GO?

05 I THOUGHT THAT I NEEDED YOU

10 NIGHTS LIKE THIS

11 TEAR ME APART

12 WHAT WENT WRONG???

24 THE LINE (The Kid LAROI & d4vd)

26 YOU

27 CALL ME INSTEAD (feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again & Robert Glasper)

32 DESERVE YOU

34 SORRY

36 WHERE DO YOU SLEEP?