1. Danny Michel – “Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself”
When the world is collapsing it’s hard sometimes to feel like you’re not. I haven’t had a bad year, but there’ve been some challenges, and ceaseless self-criticism doesn’t help. Ebullient, hopeful pop-rock like this anthem does a real service for people like me: it’s one of the few things that can reliably make you feel better, even if only for the duration of hearing the song. (As Pete Townshend once said, rock ‘n’ roll won’t solve all your problems, but it will let you dance all over them from time to time.) Propelled by a simple-but-perfect, energetic, three-chord guitar pattern (that reminds me a little bit of Tom Petty’s “Jammin’ Me”), augmented by a tight and punchy R&B horn section (arranged by the redoubtable Rob Carli), with a shout-along chorus tagline, it’s a little injection of joy straight to the heart, inoculating against a poisoned world, or mind. In 1949, lyricist Herb Magidson wrote, “Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.” In 1972, Jesse Winchester wrote, “If we’re treading on thin ice, then we might as well dance.” In 1977, Trooper wrote, “We’re here for a good time, not a long time.” In 2022 (I got to the song a year late), Danny Michel wrote: “Don’t be so hard on yourself… You only get one chance / Like it’s your last dance / Then the last call / And we all fall / So make it a joyride / I’ll take you worldwide / And it’s all right, it’s your life.” Thanks for the reminder, Danny.
2. The 1975 – “I’m in Love with You”
For about a month this year, I was obsessed. I listened to (and watched) this performance of this song from a live appearance on SNL at least once a day, sometimes more. Joni Mitchell once wrote and sang that she looked at love as “the dizzy, dancing way you feel.” Steely Dan once wrote and sang that “all my empty words of love can never screen the flash I feel.” This particular performance of this particular song is that dizzy, dancing feeling; it is that flash. If you’ve ever fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with someone, you might recognize the essence of that feeling as it’s so perfectly captured here. (Though nobody I know has agreed with me on that yet.) Since The 1975 singer Matty Healy was briefly dating Taylor Swift (he was the last one before Travis Kelce) when this was taped live on SNL, I’ve always suspected that his occasional, uncharacteristic, beaming smile was aimed at her, hiding in the shadows, watching in support—and I love that if it’s true.
https://www.tiktok.com/@tolecover/video/7209529458909285674
3. TOBi – “Someone I Knew”
To paraphrase my Polaris Music Prize large-jury colleague, Yasmine Shemesh, TOBi boasts top-notch beat selection, thoughtful flow, catchy melodies, poetic wordplay, and the message at the heart of it all: transforming personal pain into power. And, I’d add, into pungent social comment. “Someone I Knew” samples an unreleased chorus from 1971 by obscure L.A. soul act The UPC All-Stars, as they sing, “A young man died today / What do we have to show?” Then, along with a newly-added choir, they sing the chorus hook: “It was someone I knew / But he died for me and you / How much longer till we’re through?” In the first verse, measuring time in memories, TOBi recounts his personal experiences of deadly things—where he was when the twin towers fell, when he first held a gun, when Michael Jackson died—before railing in the second at the lies and trickery foisted against his community, as he works to be the light that he knows doesn’t exist for them at the end of the tunnel. How much longer till they’re through with being murdered without cause? Through with cruel mistreatment? Through to a better world? Through the gauntlet to a more successful life? “Someone I Knew” is an urgent cry for some answers.
4. Donovan Woods – “I’m Around”
Said it before, I’ll say it again: there’s not a better living songwriter in Canada than Donovan Woods, and he’s among the best in the world. A few years ago, in the song “Empty Rooms,” he concisely, devastatingly defined the breakup of a couple, as they moved out of a shared living space, in four words: “Two carefully negotiated piles.” In “I’m Around” (co-written with David Hodges), the romantic relationship has ended for long enough that he can look back at its harshest moments—unable to forgive the worst of his partner’s side, nor to forget his own part in the ugliness. The only other songs I can think of that cover the same sort of post-relationship territory as impactfully are the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” and the Spinners’ “I’ll be Around.” But where those songs don’t look at the dark side, and leave room for a possible reunion, “I’m Around” offers sober acceptance that the split is final, yet still proffers an unwavering hand of support. Only someone who’s lived this can write so accurately about it, and in doing so, provide comfort to those who’ve been there. As always, concise and devastating.
5. Terra Lightfoot – “Someone Else’s Feelings”
Ever since her first single “No Hurry,” about a decade ago, Terra Lightfoot has consistently deployed her sharp songwriting, trenchant electric guitar playing, and robust singing to craft great, winsome rock ‘n’ roll songs. “Someone Else’s Feelings” is as good as any of them, as Lightfoot’s thick, powerful voice rides one of her typically engaging chord-change riffs. The verses navigate a vague sense of dislocation, the chorus finds her waiting on someone (perhaps a saviour of sorts), then the bridge explodes the pent-up dramatic tension, as her voice rises to cry out the heart of the song: “When was the last time I felt free? / I said, ‘Oh, I can’t remember.’” Simple words, defining complex emotions, set to classic riff-rock—perfect.
6. King Cruff, Stonebwoy feat. Jag.Huligin – “Shedoeneed”
The gentle lilt, sing-song melody, stuttering beat, and sweet trilogy of individual singers make this reggae single a soothing, compelling gem. The first verse sounds like one of those “she’s amazing” songs that gives thanks and praises to the singer’s latest flame. Then the chorus emphatically four-time-repeats the line, “She don’t need no one!” So the praise is for her alone, not as a figure of current romance, or to be pursued for future romantic—please excuse the term—conquest. The second verse further compliments her personal and financial independence, and the third flat-out says “she don’t need a man.” Good thing to hear in a sexist world, and an often sexist culture.
7. LU KALA – “Hotter Now”
Like her previous self-empowerment anthem “Pretty Girl Era,” LU KALA’s “Hotter Now” is an irresistible force meeting the highly movable objects of body and soul. This is the relentlessly ambitious singer-songwriter’s latest in a series of sassy, fierce, disco-pop bangers, and I can’t think of anybody doing this kind of thing better in 2023. With the chorus tagline of “What doesn’t kill you makes you hotter now” (I love that she didn’t go with the cliché of “stronger”), it’s in the same lyrical ballpark as the determined pride of “I Will Survive.” But way more fun, with lines like “You miss this booty since you see it bounce” (nice double meaning in “bounce”), and “now l’m spicy and savoury.” “Hotter Now” has the kind of catchy tune, singalong lyrics, and slick production that filled dancefloors back in 1975—and deserves to do the same now.
8. Bruce Cockburn – “To Keep the World We Know”
On his 2023 album O Sun O Moon, an ailing Bruce Cockburn stares down the barrel of his own mortality; “To Keep the World We Know” similarly faces the looming extinction of human life on the planet, as we continue burning it to the ground ever faster, everywhere, every day. To a steady groove, a catchy strum (not sure if it’s a dulcimer or mandolin), and the sweet backing vocals of Susan Aglukark, the expert songwriter states his simple case. The root of the evil? “Willful ignorance and greed prevail while wisdom sleeps.” The solution? “Gotta think past your bank account to keep the world we know.” An urgent reminder that it’s long past time to move all our retirement investments into green funds.
9. Joni Mitchell – “Help Me (Demo)”
When the original version of “Help Me” from Court and Spark came out in summer 1974, it was a unique, mesmerizing, gorgeously produced, melodically sophisticated song that maximized the possibility of confluence between Pure Art and Top 40 AM radio. It’s a song that perfectly encapsulates the tension between romance and skepticism (or vulnerability and self-protection) that Mitchell so often articulated in her work to that point; arguably, it’s her finest hour. So, to hear the unadorned, acoustic-guitar-and-voice demo is a revelation. Aside from the lovely open tuning, her exquisite vocals, and the slightly different word choices here and there, it really makes me want to have been a fly on the wall during the recording sessions where they magically alchemized this into its final form.
10. Rolling Stones – “Bite My Head Off”
I haven’t really given a shit about any of their albums since 1978, but every once in awhile they put out a really good single (e.g., “Undercover of the Night,” “Doom & Gloom”). “Bite My Head Off” lives up to the title, so ferocious that if it was recorded by a band of young unknowns, I’d be searching for more. The fact that it was made by a band of near-80-year-olds makes it doubly impressive. I’m not getting any younger, so it gives me optimism for my own future, too—I hope when (and if) I reach 80 I have half this much energy and drive. The Beatles’ “Now and Then” was an undeniably great cultural moment in 2023, but I like this song better—and Paul McCartney even plays bass on it.
See the 2021 and 2022 editions of Howard’s year-end Top 10.
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