The Soundtrack of 2023: Coda
The wet season rages on...
Almost six months ago, I wrote about the music calming the storms that occasionally rage in my head. After going back to read that essay, I was struck by my description of that moment as a “wet season.” That’s one of my favorite aspects of keeping a record of my writing; sometimes, I find a past version of myself articulating something my current self feels a visceral connection to.
I still find myself in a wet season. Some days, as I navigate my boat through them, the waters surrounding me suddenly become choppy. I look up to the skies and see the ominous gray clouds of the monsoon rolling in. Then comes the rain. Sometimes for a few minutes, other times for a few hours, and, on a rare occasion, lasting for days or even weeks. Most of the time, that rain prevents me from doing much of anything. I find myself avoiding even those activities I love most. I don’t write, I don’t read, I even struggle to reach out to those I love, not wanting them to understand the depths of my inaction. I conjure up this idea that, somehow, if I lay very still, I can outsmart the rain. If I can just lay still, the drops will not see me and I can wait for the storm to pass. When the storm comes, I find a sense of security in holding still.
However, inevitably, I begin to question how much safety there really is in my stillness. As I begin to answer my own questions, I get increasingly upset with myself for sitting still. For not being able to roll immediately with life’s punches. I’m disappointed by the fact that I cannot, simply, keep writing, keep reading, keep reaching out in the face of adversity. No matter how debilitating that adversity might be, I, for some reason, expect myself to keep going on like nothing is happening. It’s like I’m standing in a direct downpour of rain and getting upset at myself for not being able to remain dry. I know it’s illogical, but I also don’t quite know how to negotiate all of it.
While the storms continue to rage, they are intermittently interrupted by some of the most breathtakingly gorgeous days I have ever seen. Days of new experiences from sunrise to sunset and even deep into the night. Days full of friends, and family, and good food, and great books, and thought-provoking art. Days that remind you why it’s worth it to live on the island in spite of its wet seasons.
Music has continued to aid me when I’m in the storm. Sometimes, I use jolting rhythms and euphoric lyrics to make a complete escape to those bright, sunny days for which all of us live on the island. Other times, I listen to lyrics as a way to contextualize my time in the storm. Either way, I lean on music a lot.
Earlier this month, Spotify went live with their annual Spotify Wrapped. For those living under the big beautiful rocks littered about my island, Spotify Wrapped gives users insights into their listening habits, and, like every other Spotify user, I look forward to it every year. I’m always excited to know how many minutes I listened, and, in years past, I have even tried to predict both my top five artists and my top five songs.
Late last year, though, I decided I wanted to track my own listening habits. This mostly revolved around the fact that when Spotify publishes the playlist of a user’s most streamed songs, there are only 100. Not only that, but I found that my year-end playlist tends to favor the songs I listen to passively on my various other playlists. Therefore, I wanted to work on a compilation of those songs that, throughout the months, I was actively listening to. In true Quinn Murphy fashion, my method for adding songs to my monthly playlists was not too scientific. If I noticed I kept coming back to a song, meaning I had repeatedly typed it into my search bar and hit play, then I added it. Now, I have “2023 (Quinn’s Version)” as well as a new tradition on my hands. The following is an abridged peek into the second-half of the Soundtrack of 2023, a year full of intense storms and endless beauty.
Albums
In the End It Always Does - The Japanese House
It feels like a full circle (pun intended) moment to start this piece by discussing an album I wrote about in the first part. When I wrote that piece, I was not ready to include The Japanese House’s sophomore record because, at that point, I didn’t know if it would have a similar staying power to that of, say, Preacher's Daughter or La Emperatriz. However, as the months have gone on, I still find myself coming back to In the End It Always Does. I first fell in love with the record on a sonic level; the soft melancholia of the production was always pleasing to my ears. However, I began to find the lyrics compelling as well. Despite having some more explicitly breakup-inspired songs, like “Over There” or the MUNA-supported “Morning Pages,” ITEIAD diverges from your typical breakup album. With this record, I got the sense that Bain (The Japanese House’s government surname, if you will), instead of focusing on a specific one, takes an opportunity to reflect on a much larger range of relationships in her life. More than that, this album shows Bain taking a look into her past, particularly on “Boyhood,” and her present, “Sunshine Baby,” in order to more fully understand her role in those relationships. Almost six months ago, I wrote that this record, “had a certain understanding of me; like it wanted to meet me where I was,” and I still very much feel that way.
Something to Give Each Other - Troye Sivan
Just because I wrote a pseudo-screed on a music video supporting this album’s lead single doesn’t mean I can’t like the album, right? Despite the space I had to get myself in to criticize “Rush,” I find Sivan’s third studio album to be a triumph. I say this because Sivan managed to make this album provocative all the way through its promotion cycle. Following “Rush,” Sivan released “Got Me Started,” which also sparked a good amount of discourse, and an SNL spoof, with its sample of the Bag Raiders’ “Shooting Stars.” However, a fever pitch was reached when Sivan released the video for “One of Your Girls,” which found Sivan in full drag trying to get the attention of an appropriately-shirtless Ross Lynch. However, unlike other pop provocateurs, Sivan distinguishes himself by backing up the sensational imagery with genuinely good music. He smoothly brings listeners from the party of “Honey,” to the depths of desire in “What’s the Time Where You Are?,” and the harsh comedown of “Can’t Go Back, Baby.” In retrospect, the album’s quality, along with its stirring imagery, reminds me of Lil Nas X’s MONTERO, and both albums make me really excited about a new wave of queer men in music.
Hold the Girl - Rina Sawayama
To give you a rare peek inside the editorial process here at Overintellectuals Anonymous, Hold the Girl was originally supposed to be a part of my essay on Lorde’s Solar Power. Hold the Girl is similar to Solar Power in that it finds Sawayama looking inside herself and reflecting. This is in contrast to Sawayama’s preceding album, the self-titled SAWAYAMA, in which, particularly with songs like “XS” and “STFU!,” she primarily critiqued the society around her. However, as I dove into research for the piece, I realized that I felt too differently about the two albums to compare them in the way I had planned. Still, I really enjoyed diving back into Sawayama’s sophomore album. Ultimately, Cat Zheng put it well when she wrote for Pitchfork that the record is, “ambitious in the same way as putting on all the clothes in your closet.”1 Both sonically and thematically, Hold the Girl has a lot going on. There are power ballads about Sawayama’s inner-child (“Hold the Girl”), diatribes against homophobia set to 2000s-country-pop music (“This Hell”), and a gritty electronic rock song about codependency (“Frankenstein”) all trying to coexist on this record. The messiness, though, is something I’ve come to appreciate about the album. It feels messy in the same way that growing up, one of the album’s central themes, often feels. Along with the aforementioned songs, I find myself coming back to “Hurricanes,” “To Be Alive,” and “Send My Love to John.”
GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo
Another peek into the editorial process incoming: GUTS was also supposed to be involved in the essay on Solar Power. As you may have gathered from reading my ramblings, I’m nothing if not enduringly ambitious. Now, I’m going to hold myself accountable: I was something of an Olivia Rodrigo hater when she first came on the scene. More than anything, I have a counterculture streak that, at times, disallows me from enjoying whatever is popular in a given moment. Therefore, when Olivia Rodrigo took over the world with the release of “driver’s license,” I remained skeptical, even going as far as to predict that Rodrigo would hit the sophomore slump very hard. Despite this, I enjoyed a good amount of the songs on her first album, SOUR, particularly “traitor,” “enough for you,” and “happier” (which even snuck its way onto my 2021 Spotify Wrapped). Quite plainly, with GUTS, Olivia proved me wrong. Overall, it’s a more cohesive and daring album than her debut, and I always appreciate an artist showing clear growth in their music. Looking back, there are too many highlights to list out in a meaningful way; with that being said, my favorite track would have to be “logical.”
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess - Chappell Roan
At this point, I will ask you to not only hit it like rom-pom-pom-pom but also to get it hot like Papa John. I am, of course, referencing the first track off of Chappell Roan’s debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Roan first popped up on my radar when I heard her song “Pink Pony Club” in 2020 or 2021. It’s a pop power ballad about the utter ecstasy its narrator finds doing drag in a West Hollywood club. Needless to say, I was immediately hooked. While Roan would continue to release a lot of this album’s songs as singles, the only other one that caught my attention was “California.” However, shortly after the album’s late-September release, I became obsessed with it. I was pulled in by pop bangers like the aforementioned “Femininomenon” and the campy “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl.”
Unlike other albums on this list, though, this album was not a phase. Several of the songs, namely “After Midnight,” “Guilty Pleasure,” and “My Kink is Karma,” continued to grow on me. Debut records are often eclectic, and, with this record, Roan thrives in that diversity. She seamlessly weaves together ballads like the lamenting “Casual” with the thumping “HOT TO GO” and, in doing so, delivers a very promising first record that is (probably) my favorite of the year.
EPs
AR - Addison Rae
To complete the comedic rule of three, AR was also supposed to be discussed in my essay on Solar Power. This EP’s inclusion mostly revolved around the album’s exemplary pop plasticity, as articulated by Alim Kheraj in DAZED. However, in a grand act of kindness towards myself and you, dear reader, I decided against weaving a rhetorical web of five albums for us, much like a group of unsuspecting flies, to get caught up in. With that being said, most of the songs on this EP have become omnipresent in my listening since the EP’s release. The world finally has a version of the unreleased Lady Gaga song “Nothing On (But the Radio),” as well as the fun but ultimately hollow tracks “I got it bad,” “2 die 4 (feat. Charli XCX),” and “it could’ve been u.” While I’m certainly not above fun, I’m excited to see where Rae’s music goes from here.
About U: One Year On - MUNA
It’s no secret I love MUNA. My obsession proves so deep, in fact, that I’m putting a five year old EP, which was recorded on the anniversary of a six year old album, on my year end list. The EP consists of three acoustic versions of songs from MUNA’s debut record. All three are perfect in my eyes, and I would simply implore you to listen to them in all their glory.
Songs
“Timeless,” Taylor Swift - There’s definitely a discussion to be had about neither Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) nor 1989 (Taylor’s Version) being included on this list. However, out of the eleven vault tracks shared between these two albums, “Timeless” is the standout to me. A spiritual successor (or predecessor if it really was written in 2010 with the rest of Speak Now) to Kesha’s Past Lives, I love the idea that we live our numerous lives around the same group of other souls. I don’t know if I necessarily believe it, but it’s a cool theory.
“Psychedelic Switch,” Carly Rae Jepsen - Carly so consistently outserves herself and people still deign to call her the “Call Me Maybe” girl… It sickens me!
“Vienna,” Billy Joel - Talk about a song meeting me where I am…
“When You’re Breaking My Heart,” Gaitin - In a time where they have become less common, this song evinces how a bridge can take a song from “good” to “great.”
“Then It All Goes Away,” Dayglow - There’s a point in this song where the artist, after holding a sustained note, runs out of breath, and I love that it was left in the recording.
“My Heart Will Go On,” MUNA - If there’s one thing MUNA’s going to do, it’s absolutely demolish a live recording. Take this or their Tiny Desk as an example if my word isn’t good enough for you.
“Pretty Girls,” Reneé Rapp - Shoutout to songs about girls liking other girls, gotta be one of my favorite genres!
“2009 TOYOTA,” Thomas Headon - A fun song to listen to in my 2009 Honda, who I affectionately refer to as Berta. Additionally, the color of Headon’s voice on the line “spilt soy milk on my brand new carpet” is so yummy to my ears.
“Lovesick,” Laufey - I’m always struck by the sensuality of this song’s imagery. I am able to hear the floorboards creak and to see the gold rays fall on skin. Also, there’s something about Laufey’s undeniably beautiful voice that I find even more enticing on this song.
“Story,” Kylie Minogue - Now, at this point, I’m going to ask you to turn another page, baby, take the stage, because you know the stars are coming out for ya!
“One Last Time,” Ariana Grande - I started thinking about when Roxxxy Andrews appeared as a lip sync assassin on RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars 5, watched the tapes back, and, thus, became obsessed with this song. It also helped me recontextualize and understand the whole Ariana Grande/Ethan Slater story. She has told us multiple times she will steal a man. In the words of Boss and CEO, “don’t act shocked!”
“Purrr,” Slayyyter - “Drugs make this kitty go purrr” has to be one of the hardest lines of the year.
“It’s Still Cool If You Don’t,” Briston Maroney - Similarly to Headon’s entry, I love Maroney’s voice on this song. Also the chorus is so damn catchy!
The other problem with "Wrapped" is that it doesn't cover the full year - only January through October - so if you find someone/something you like in the last 2 months of the year, it doesn't get included.