Last year in music was marked by buzzy album drops and Rolling Stone‘s controversial “200 Greatest Singers of All Time” list (Celine Dion-hive, rise up!). It gave us beautiful albums like Beyoncé’s Renaissance, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, Taylor Swift’s Midnights, and much much more. Each Friday morning, the world convened on Spotify in shared playlists to stream new hits from Mitski, The 1975, Earl Sweatshirt, FKA twigs, Bad Bunny, and The Weeknd, to name a few. Top artists broke records, sold out Madison Square Garden 10 times over, and brought Ticketmaster to its knees.
Spotify’s top streamed albums of the year included Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR, Ed Sheeran’s =, and Doja Cat’s Planet Her. The year’s top streamed singles included “As It Was,” “Bad Habits,” “Peru,” “Go,” and “Shivers.” Other notable mentions that just scream 2022 are Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and the movie Encanto‘s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” All of this musical prowess reflects in the 2023 Grammy Nominees for Album of the Year include ABBA’s Voyage, Adele’s 30, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, Beyoncé’s Renaissance, Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous, Brandi Carlile’s In These Silent Days, Coldplay’s Music Of The Sphere, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Lizzo’s Special, and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House. (Tune into the Grammy Awards on February 5 to see which album reigns supreme._
Will 2022 be remembered as a standout year for music…or is 2023 gearing up to beat it? Only time will tell if the next twelve months pack just as much of a punch in leveling up our collective music tastes. (Well, time *and* New Music Friday.)
More From Cosmopolitan
As we kick of 2023, here are the best albums of the year (so far!) along with the most-anticipated. Happy listening!
Best New Albums of January 2023
We are in midst of a slow return to life post-holidays, and musicians are no exception to that. The early days of the year tend to be slower for music, leaving TikTok’s playlist curators yearning for a new bop with less than 5,000 streams. Still, the music business never fully sleeps. Here’s what we’re listening (and looking forward) to in January.
Margo Price – Strays
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Måneskin – Rush!
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Mac DeMarco – Five Easy Hot Dogs
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Ice Spice – Like..? EP
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Coming Soon in January 2023
- Ava Max – Diamonds & Dancefloors (January 27)
- Elle King – Come Get Your Wife (January 27)
- Sam Smith – Gloria (January 27)
- SG Lewis – AudioLust & HigherLove (January 27)
On Our 2023 Radar
Here’s what’s coming down the pike this spring. Pre-save it, calendar it, whatever you need to do:
- Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (February)
- Gorillaz – Cracker Island (February)
- Gracie Abrams – Good Riddance (February)
- Paramore – This Is Why (February)
- Rebecca Black – Let Her Burn (February)
- Logic – College Park (February)
- Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (March)
- Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation (March)
- Mimi Webb – Amelia (March)
- Lewis Capaldi – Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent (May)
Unannounced but Anticipated
On this occasion, we’ll get ahead of ourselves. No one is making any promises, but in all likelihood, 2023 will be a big year for some of the world’s biggest artists, from Taylor to Selena to A$AP Rocky. Behold, a 2023 album wish-list:
- Taylor Swift – Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
- Beyoncé – Renaissance: Act II
- A$AP Rocky – Don’t Be Dumb
- Chlöe – Chlöe
- Rihanna – TBA
- Selena Gomez – TBA
- Cardi B – TBA