2023 has been a massive year for music, with September and October having some of the biggest releases of this year crammed into two months. And with so much music releasing all at once, it’d be fair to miss some absolutely phenomenal releases – that’s where we come in.
Welcome to PEDESTRIAN.TV’s first PTV Playlist, where we’ll be slinging you some of our favourite albums we’ve listened to each month that we think you should give a go. From big pop stars, to underground basement noise shows, we’re the people in the corner who listen to everything, and I mean it when I say everything.
We’ve compiled a list of some of our favourite albums for you to check out. And if you like what you listen to, consider supporting the artist by grabbing a physical copy of their music.
Olvia Rodrigo – Guts
It’s easy to put Olivia Rodrigo in the same boat as her pop music contemporaries, but there’s no question she’s bringing something new to the scene. Along with co-writer and producer Dan Nigro, Guts is a journey through 90s alt-rock, pop anthems and even a little bit of screamo.
Whether you’re someone who’s sworn off pop music for good or can’t get enough of the stuff, you’re bound to find something that floats your boat in Guts.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music
Buy the album here: Amazon
Soccer Mommy – Karaoke Night
Soccer Mommy (moniker of American singer-songwriter Sophia Allison) brings us a record full of hit songs from over the years – and approaches it with her signature indie rock vibe, and manages to truly make them her own. This record comes after the worldwide success of her 2022 album Sometimes Forever, which hit the top 40 in the Aussie charts.
Karaoke Night includes R.E.M’s “Losing My Religion” and Slowdive’s “Dagger””, among many more.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Tesseract – War of Being
Tesseract have always been trailblazers within the progressive metal community since their debut album One released in 2011. Since then, they’ve become pioneers within the scene and have consistently been one of the most recognised bands among die-hards and causal listeners interested in what the genre has to offer.
Known for their groovy riffs, soaring vocal melodies and rhythms that’ll have your face shifting in ways you didn’t think it could, Tesseract knocks it out of the park again with War of Being, which may be their heaviest album yet.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Buy the album here: Amazon
Troye Sivan – Something To Give Each Other
If you only caught the singles, you might expect a very dance-heavy record, however, this is Troye Sivan at his most introspective. To say this is Troye’s Melodrama wouldn’t be a wrong observation. It’s a celebration of love and heartbreak, with songs equally exploring Troye’s self-doubt, but also self-love and confidence in spite of heartbreak.
The stand-out track for me is the album’s emotional climax “Honey”, which sounds like the final scene in a movie that ends in a club where the two love interests fall for each other. It’s jubilant, emotional and sweet.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music
Buy the album here: Amazon
The National – Laugh Track
The National fans are eating good this year, with the band giving us a second album in 2023. The last album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein was released to mixed reviews from casual listeners and even the most die-hard fans. The album was littered with slow-burn piano-heavy tracks, and the usually charismatic Matt Berninger felt restrained, and unusually embarrassed with himself. It was clear the band was working through something, and the result was an album that was scattered and divisive.
Laugh Track is a welcome return to form, featuring everything you’d want from The National, with plenty of great surprises. From the manic muttering from Berninger at the end of “Space Invaders”, to the return of Bryan Devendorf‘s iconic drumming on “Turn off the House”, the album feels like The National are finally back and more sure of themselves than ever.
The album is covered with some of their best rock anthems since Trouble Will Find Me, their most creatively interesting since Sleep Well Beast, and featuring their dreamiest ballads since Boxer.
If The First Two Pages of Frankenstein made you doubt the band, Laugh Track will pull you right back in.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Yeule – softscars
yeule might be one of the most interesting indie-pop artists in the scene right now. A high-concept futurist, yeule is a character who’s crafted a digital world for themselves to live in, and now they’re confronting what it means to be human and heal their inner child. In Pitchfork’s review, they compared the character of ‘yeule’ to David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, but for Gen-Z kids in how they dismantle gender normativity, despite heightened violence and prejudice.
Taking influence from artists like Avril Lavigne, Grimes and My Chemical Romance, to The Smashing Pumpkins and Pixies, softscars is a concept album about what connection means when we’re all growing further apart through technology, scored to tracks that scratch that early 2000s alt-rock itch, with updated digital sounds.
Despite exploring dark themes, ‘softscars’ is still a blast to listen to. Filled with infectious melodies and banging riffs, these earworms will have you turning up the volume to rock out all throughout. A stand-out track for me is “cyber meat”, which is the most “emo”-charged song on the album, singing with such a bratty inflection that it makes you grin.
yeule is a phenomenal talent showing off how the internet era is shaping and influencing future artists, and is a great blueprint on what to expect this decade in music.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Buy the album here: Amazon
Sprain – The Lamb as Effigy
One of the most dissonant records released this year, Sprain’s second album The Lamb as Effigy is an album that challenges and shakes you to the very core. ‘Noise Rock’ is a difficult genre to recommend, as the music is oppressive, and can trigger your fight or flight like nothing else. But when it works, it works so well.
This album is one of the highlights of the year so far. With Crushing horn sections, hypnotic crescendos, transcendent ambient sections, and mind-crushing breakdowns, the instrumentals on this album sound monolithic. Frontman Alex Kent is also one of the most unique vocalists I’ve heard in some time, oozing this intense and fierce charisma, but I was left hanging on his every word.
If you’re a fan of bands like Swans, Black Country, New Road and Chat Pile, this album will be right up your alley.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Buy the album here: Amazon
Steven Wilson – Harmony Codex
After a foray into art rock with his previous two albums, the prince of progressive rock is donning his crown once again, releasing his best and most experimental release since Grace For Drowning. ‘The Harmony Codex’ feels like a culmination of Wilson’s career as an artist, featuring 10-minute jam-heavy epics, Pink Floyd-inspired ballads, a powerful duet with previous collaborator Ninet Tayeb and some of the best synth work you’ll hear this year.
I had this album on repeat for a whole week and kept discovering new things to appreciate constantly, and would recommend it to anyone looking for something atmospheric to listen to.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music
Buy the album here: Amazon
Sufjan Steven – Javelin
If you opened a dictionary and looked for the definition of ‘heartache’, you would just see a picture of Sufjan Steven’s ‘Javelin’.
Just before the album’s release, Sufjan released a post dedicating the album to the passing of his long-term partner, Evans Richardson. Sufjan later announced on Instagram that he had been struggling with Gullian-Barre syndrome, which had left him wheelchair-bound and unable to play instruments.
Despite Sufjan’s many struggles, it would be justified for this album to be his darkest record yet. But in usual Sufjan fashion, it is still brimming with love, life and jubilance, finding a reason to keep going and to find reason in living. If you’ve been waiting for an album like Carrie and Lowie to break you, Javelin might be it. It’s Sufjan’s most bittersweet album, and one that will be hailed as one of his best alongside Carrie and Lowie and Come On, Feel The Illionois.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Buy the album here: Amazon
Jane Remover – Census Designated
Starting her career recording albums from her bedroom without her parents knowing, and becoming a favourite within the online music scene, Jane Remover breaks out of their digital sound on Census Designated, and instead opts for a shoegaze sound.
I’d describe the album as a comfy dream about a safe and nostalgic memory, that gets interrupted by traumas and anxiety’s knocking against the walls of your house. The soundscapes are lush and beautiful, and the vocal effects on Jane’s voice lull you into a trance, although they’re often building towards these violent vocal shrieks and howling instrumentals, piercing through the safe atmosphere.
There’s always a calm after every outburst, however, which feels like she’s apologising for the anger and insecurity those moments represent. Jane lays out all of her anxieties with love and being a nervous wreck, struggling with identity, her fear of growing up and being exploited for her youth, and her desire to be loved and chased after.
It’s an incredible emotional experience that is going to feel familiar and cathartic for listeners experiencing something similar.
If you loved Ethel Cain‘s Preacher’s Daughter, you’re sure to get what Jane Remover is going for here and fall just as in love with her art.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Underscores – Wallsocket
This is probably hyperbolic, but I believe Underscores is the future of emo-pop. Led by April Harper Grey, ‘Wallsocket’ is a blend of hyperpop, indietronica and bedroom indie. But hyperpop might be a bit of an outdated label, as April also says, the term might as well be dead. Hyperpop was about pushing the genre of pop to its limits, but with so many mainstream acts borrowing from the genre, at what point does hyperpop become just “pop”? I think ‘Wallsocket’ shows the future of the movement, showcasing seamless genre mixing with some of the best hooks this year.
My favourite track from this album has to be “Uncanny long arms” featuring Jane Remover, which might be one of the most emotional and anthemic tracks released this year. It features a powerful chorus, a dreamy ambient transition and an excellent call back to one of her previous tracks towards the end that makes this album come full circle.
Needless to say, Underscores is a project everyone should be keeping an eye on, as it’s only a matter of time before she releases one of the most defining albums of the decade.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Buy the album here: Amazon
Slowdive – everything is alive
An absolutely ethereal and haunting listen. Slowdive’s latest sounds like it’s scoring your lonely walk home through Silent Hill. After a stunning 25-year-long career, Slowdive tackles what it means to age and produce their finest album yet. There is still a tenderness throughout the album, piercing through the dense distortion.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Buy the album here: Amazon
betcover!! – 馬 (Uma)
betcover!! Are an incredible eclectic and prolific jazz-rock band that broke out with their 2021 album 時間 (Jikan), landing them on the front page of Rate Your Music. Their latest record continues to be an absolute joy, with the most interesting bass playing I’ve heard on a record this year. Their compositions are fun, energetic and full of spectacle. If you need a pick-me-up, this record is bound to brighten your day and convert even the most staunch jazz hater into an appreciator.
Listen here: Spotify | Apple Music
Some other great albums we really loved these past few months were:
- Armand Hammer – We Buy Diabetic Test Strips | Experimental Hip/Hop
- Bombay Bicycle Club – My Big Day | Indie-Pop
- Reba McEntire – Not That Fancy | Country
- Holly Humberstone – Paint My Bedroom Black | Synth-Pop
- Teenage Joans – The Rot That Grows Inside My Chest | Pop Punk
- Ruby Haunt – Between Heavens | Dream Pop
- Jeff Rosenstock – HELLMODE | Punk Rock
- Laufey – Bewitched | Chamber Pop / Jazz
- The Armed – Perfect Saviours | Harcore / Alternative Rock
- Boygenius – the rest | Indie Rock
- Slauson Malone 1 – EXCELSIOR | Art Pop
- Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit | Death Metal
- James Blake – Playing Robots Into Heaving | Electronic
- Zach Bryan – Self-titled | Country
- Hannah Diamond – Perfect Picture | Electropop
- Wilco – Cousin | Indie Rock / Americana
- Animal Collective – Isn’t it Now? | Indietronica
- Oneohtrix Point Never – Again | Progressive Electronic
- Tinashe – BB/ANG3L | Hip/Hop
- Explosion In The Sky – End | Post-Rock / Instrumental
- Doja Cat – Scarlet | Hip/Hop
- Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We | Indie Rock
Keen to check these artists out and more? We’ve made a curated playlist for you with our picks from this month.
Click here to follow us and listen along.
Image Credit: Geffen / 4AD / Asthmatic Kitty
