Over 200 songs have been featured at Negative White in the past twelve months, from our Weekly5 curations to album reviews and exclusive premieres. The artistic talent displayed in all of them is great.
However, some of the artists and their work stood out more than others. Nevertheless, ranking the songs posed a great challenge. While best lists are always highly subjective, we made an effort to include diverse genres and origins, but highlighting musical excellence remained the main focus point.
Today, we present our top 20 songs of 2023.
J Mahon – Deadstar
1. Place
The Australian-born Jarred Mahon spent two years composing 230 songs. Amongst them is undoubtedly one of the best rock songs published in recent years. In Deadstar, the artist formerly known as Emerson Snowe tackles the toxic lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll and musician's romanticising self-destructive behaviour.
The composition boasts enough gritty roughness to qualify as rock music with a certain DIY quality yet also displays a captivating melody, contrasting the genre's raw nature. However, Deadstar's highlight certainly remains the complete breakdown into a timid passage, beautifully crafted canon singing and strings building up urge and pressure, followed by a volcanic eruption into the final climax.
Beharie – We Never Knew
2. Place
Norwegian artist Beharie isn't just a rising star of the country's indie soul scene but also delivered a compelling debut album, Are You There, Boy?, telling stories of complex characters and reflection on being a queer person. The previously released single We Never Knew may have the most popular appeal of the album but also demonstrates Beharie's songwriting talent.
In We Never Knew, the lively beat dances with a melancholic choir, providing a stunning backdrop for his staccato lyrics. A sense of naïvety, maybe even regret, lives in the song as it looks back to when the future seemed brighter. The composition perfectly balances warmth and tenderness with its groovy coolness and playful instruments.
Soft Loft – Is It Me
3. Place
It is almost unbelievable that Is It Me stands there as the debut single of Soft Loft, the project of Swiss artist Jorina Stamm. The subtle composition creates a dreamy yet driven canvas on which Stamm casts a vocal painting of vulnerability, uncertainty, pain, and heartbreak, delivered with haunting urgency and almost despairing emphasis.
With Is It Me, Soft Loft didn't just create a tiny splash but crashed like an asteroid into Switzerland's indie music landscape—following up with similarly great tracks like Safe Space or Rose Colored. However, no other captures the trajectory that the band is taking better: unstoppable forward-facing.
Bayonne – Words
4. Place
Within the Weekly5 playlist, the song Words by Texan Roger Sellers, aka Bayonne, is almost a hidden gem. Known for his experimental compositions, it takes a while until Words unfolds its full beauty—hidden behind layers of complex rhythms and a wide variety of sounds. However, Bayonne exceptionally ties it all together with his dreamy vocals, arriving at a song that sounds as fantastic as organic.
Kwengface – Freedom - A COLORS SHOW
5. Place
There are multiple versions of Kwengface's Freedom out there: the original and the brilliant collaboration with Overmono's Joy Orbison. However, I'd argue the best remains the session done for A COLORS SHOW, where the London-based drill artist revealed his face for the first time. His fiery delivery over the garage-inspired beat creates a unique vibe, a drive that casually wipes away any comparison or competition.
TOMPAUL – Porto
6. Place
Grown from a trio to a quartet, Switzerland's electro-pop outfit TOMPAUL doubled down on their brass-infused sound that seamlessly fuses together rave and a darker, mysterious, even melancholic ambience. Porto launches anticipating brass waves, carrying Tom Paul Fischer's longing voice, and switches gears in its instrumental parts with an excellent synth hook that winds ever downwards.
IAMTHELIVING – Make It Home Alive (feat. Jake Isaac)
7. Place
Vancouver-based Rian Peters, aka IAMTHELIVING, has created a stunning song together with South London's neo-soul hope Jake Isaac. Make It Home Alive is an emotional display of complimenting vocal performances, supported by a laid-back but striving rhythm. A composition sweet as honey, Make It Home Alive draws from the golden times of soul and feels timeless as a result.
Angie McMahon – Saturn Returning
8. Place
Saturn Returning, the opener of Melbourne-based Angie McMahon's excellent sophomore album, interlaces recordings of flowing water with piano, mighty organs, and thunderous guitars—all flowing into a mighty ocean of sound. Intimate and intimidating but always captivating, Saturn Returning defies pop song structure and creates more of a journey than a repetitive structure.
True Faith – In Vain
9. Place
With In Vain, Boston's band True Faith amalgamates a classic coldwave and post-punk sound with surprising instrumental elements: the melancholic piano melody accompanies the driven foundation and juxtaposes Travis Benson’s brash vocals. However, In Vain exceeds even more as it progresses, and the saxophone starts to dance—lifting the song to new heights of ecstasy.
Markus Nikolaus – Never Let You Go
10. Place
After an intro that compares to The Rolling Stones' I Got The Blues or Wild Horses, Markus Nikolaus creates a stripped-down but beautifully honest hymn to love, mainly driven by his voice and the acoustic guitar in the foreground. It almost conceals the refined composition underneath, which ultimately adds depth to the sound that isn't necessarily heard but definitely felt.
Yet No Yokai – Aufzug / Liebe Liebe
11. Place
2023 finally marked the release of Wir Sind Da, the astounding debut album of Switzerland's Yet No Yokai. In this blast of explorative, expansive Krautrock psychedelia, the closing Aufzug / Liebe Liebe stands out with its heavy start that ends up, led by mesmerising rhythmic guitar and ancient drumming, explosively in infinity and beyond.
Sensu – Fuse
12. Place
Swiss electronic producer Sensu followed up with the EP AM___PM this year, containing the exceptional track Fuse. Dialling back the UX garage sound present in her previous EP Numéro LDN, Fuse unleashes a constant rush of fast-paced beats, foggy synthesisers, and an alarming melody—spreading excitement without being overly cheerful.
Hak Baker – DOOLALLY
13. Place
Somewhere between funk, Britpop, roots reggae, and post-punk vibes, Hak Baker's Doolally explores the messy haze of East London's nightlife with an eclectic track where Baker embarks on a frantic, breathless storytelling, mixing cockney dialect with Jamaican Patois, accompanied by an escalating composition of groovy funk guitars, howling brass, and nervous drums.
Dennis Kiss – Norddeich Mole
14. Place
Norddeich Mole is not only the closing track of Dennis Kiss' namesake debut album but also undoubtedly the best track—like the final bouquet of a firework display. It's a driven push towards infinity—merging indie rock's earthy roots, the coming-of-age vibe and melodic excellence to an almost 8-minute-long epos where you lose the sense of space and time.
Tusks – Artificial Flame
15. Place
Emily Underhill, aka Tusks, returned to the spotlight after two well-received albums with her single Artificial Flame—a composition that juggles a fragile piano, an R&B-like ambience, and cathedral-sized synthesizer constructions. But somehow, the song manages to feel reduced yet overwhelming.
Jon Hood – Ocean
16. Place
With Ocean, the Swiss band Jon Hood came back in a fascinating manner after their 2017 album Body Semantics. The warm, whispering vocals—often deviating into spoken word—from singer Joan Seiler stand out. At the same time, the composition slowly but constantly develops with a beauty that lies within the subtle nuances.
Pano – Hang In
17. Place
Berlin-based newcomer Pano's Hang In is powered by a steady groove, providing a foundation for the artist's full vocal palette. Sombre yet clear in the verses, the Hang In switches in its chorus, whispering light as a feather—and it's the addictive melody making the song about «hopelessly not losing hope» genuinely exceptional and memorable.
Audio Dope – Flowers (feat. Rome Fortune)
18. Place
As a collaboration with Atlanta-based rapper Rome Fortune, Flowers demonstrates the Swiss electro producer's vast range. Maintaining Audio Dope's unique sonic sense of wonder and dream, Rome Fortune tells a sad story over the piano-heavy beat. Flowers is both hauntingly beautiful and goosebump-provoking.
Jamee Cornelia – Same Difference (feat. Sonko, Sahtyre)
19. Place
From their third album, Art School Dropout, comes Jamee Cornelia's Same Difference, a collaborative effort with Sonko and Sahtyre. The Atlanta-based rapper delivers a dangerous-sounding track, dominated by its wonky hook but simultaneously drawing the listener in with its irresistible flow.
King Tuff – Pebbles In A Stream
20. Place
With Pebbles In A Steam, released on the album Smalltown Stardust, Kyle Thomas, aka King Tuff, delivers a beautiful example of brilliant American songwriting artistry—representing the record perfectly. The song features a layered composition of jangly guitars and nostalgia-evoking strings, highlighted with a piano.
Honorable Mentions
Ten more great songs that didn't make the cut but are definitely amongst our favourites of 2023:
Willow Parlo – Can't Get Enough
Birdmask – Way Out
Blanco White – Una Noche Mas
Hannah Jadagu – Lose
Dolphin Love – i see you
Marissa Burwell – Either Way
Theo Bleak – Raining All The Time
Bo Milli – Making Friends
Jamila – 17
Am Tae – SWIM (feat. MAROO)
Save The Playlists
You can find our best of 2023 also as playlists on:
