The Top 10 EPs Of 2023
These are my 10 favorite EPs of 2023. Enjoy <3
10. Jlin - Perspective EP
Kicking off the list we have Jlin's pseudo-return to dropping new music with this Pulitzer Prize For Music finalist Perspective. After being originally composed three years ago the material was re-recorded by Jlin and finally made it to the public, which I'm very grateful for. Despite moments that feel undersold relative to her normal textural bliss, there is ton of magnetic and distinctive electronic music present throughout this project. Jlin continues to have a sound that is not only easy to identify but easy to love.
Listen To: Derivative, Paradigm
9. Softcult - See You In The Dark EP
Canadian duo Softcult aren't exactly hitting on something strikingly original with their shoegaze stylings played through a grungy lense. But it's in the dark demeanor of their songs and how it can contrast with some genuinely emotional highs throughout the short project that help it stand out. If you're like me your first instinct with the collection of tracks may be to point out all the things on the EP that you've heard before. But I found with one relisten after another the little details started to add up and won me over quickly with personality and songwriting that I overlooked on first glance.
Listen To: Someone2Me, Spoiled
8. Smoke DZA & Flying Lotus - Flying Objects EP
Okay, color me surprised that this isn't one of online rap fans hidden gems this year. FlyLo has always been a beloved producer and his worldly psychedelic beats are reigned in exactly enough to not steal the show while also providing an excellent backing throughout this project. Even though Smoke DZA may not be the most pronounced or unique MC around, he absolutely steps up to the plate across this project. Even standing up to a great guest spot from Conway The Machine and an absolute show-stealing contribution from Black Thought, DZA and FlyLo served up some of the wooziest and most lucid hip hop I heard anywhere this year on Flying Objects.
Listen To: Drug Trade, Painted Houses
7. MAR1ASOL - Different EP
R&B is a genre whose niches have been identified with an absolute laser focus. Largely to distinguish among the seas of vocalists occupying the style, one can get segmented into the darker, trap-influenced, contemporary edge of the genre just as fast as you can get assigned to its warmer and more soulful vintage sound. MAR1ASOL can do both and she proves it on the Different EP. From the richest melodies on the project's smoothest tributes to vintage R&B to the slickest and most nocturnal flavors it offers in between, MAR1ASOL's voice can do it all. Even within the limited scope of the project, she shows off her broad-reaching versatility as her greatest strength which can't help but leave me waiting on the edge of my seat for what she does next.
Listen To: city bih, idc
6. Rosalia & Rauw Alejandro - RR
The only place you can start with this EP is morbid fascination. In case you didn't know, this project was recorded and released to celebrate the couple at its core getting engaged, something that has since been called off. That makes peeking into this project feel even stranger and more invasive in retrospect, but RR begs an even more important question for me. What's in a single song? While the project runs just three tracks and even a middle song I didn't originally love has grown on me, there's one highlight that stands tall above the rest. BESO is a perfect meeting of the minds between the pair perfectly displaying what they both do so well. I think you could argue it earned a spot on this list all by itself.
Listen To: BESO, PROMESA
5. Summer Walker - CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE EP
I've never been averse to Summer Walker's music, if anything I've been more of a fan of hers than many other critics. But on CLEAR 2 she may be tapping into something greater than anything she's touched on before. The keyword for this EP is reservation, while the instrumentals are on the sparse side as usual for her it goes even beyond that. This project is compositionally bold within the realm of R&B deploying a patience that many of Summer's contemporaries aren't capable of. One place to highlight that is the guest verses where rather than deploying a typically complementary feature, Summer lets her guests roam with J. Cole rapping the text of a letter addressed to her and Childish Gambino creeping through a slouched spoken word verse. Elsewhere on the EP with songs like Pull Up and How Does It Feel she shows off her ability to maintain her confident and impressive demeanor throughout.
Listen To: Pull Up, How Does It Feel
4. Angel Olsen - Forever Means EP
Angel Olsen is a cheat code. A LARGE majority of the EPs I heard this year were glorified B-sides collections. Often just material left over from an album session very few of the projects made much of a wave for me. But Angel is entirely different. On the back of yet another great new album last year she shared even more stunning material. The tracks on Forever Means mirror the chilling space of All Mirrors more than the folky bliss of Big Time, but they come together to form a comprehensible set. That isolating space makes moments like Nothing's Free's masterful saxophone solo soar even higher. Angel isn't rewriting the book on her sound or the dense style she occupies but despite the acclaim she already receives, she's still underrated relative to the extremely high quality and consistency of her output.
Listen To: Nothing's Free, Holding On
3. Spirit Of The Beehive - i'm so lucky EP
A few years ago when Spirit Of The Beehive received a flood of critical acclaim in the wake of their album ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH I wasn't quite as hooked. While the band netted a significant amount of praise for their versatile sound, I couldn't help but feel like it was canceled out by the inconsistencies. That isn't at all the case on i'm so lucky. This short EP is just as versatile as the album that preceded it and yet there isn't a dull moment in sight. The short collection of songs reportedly comes after a period of band turbulence, and you can tell. As the EP flips from brash hardcore backed by blistering screams to jangly swaying indie rock without missing a beat it feels like living up to the promise of the group at their breakthrough moment. Indie fans at large, if this somehow slipped by you it's well worth doubling back.
Listen To: really happening, tapeworm
2. Maruja - Knocknarea EP
Many of the best breakout underground rock and metal bands of the past few years had the writing on the wall from early short-form projects if you were willing to pay attention. Squid, Chat Pile, and this year's best debuting act Model/Actriz were all known commodities from excellent early material before they ever made their debuts. Maruja is next in line. With their righteous intensity combined with fascinating musicianship and grueling personality, they feel like the best features of many of their contemporaries fuzed together. That's on full display across the frenetic and unflinching Knocknarea EP which has already taken experimental rock fans by storm this year. Even since then, the material they've released has been equally effective at catching on. Maruja being due for a breakout is the most obvious observation a critic can make this year, but it's worth noting that there's a reason for that. This EP is the fiery splash of excellence and versatility that will keep fans coming back over and over until the band is ready to drop a debut album.
Listen To: Thunder, The Tinker
1. Aphex Twin - Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760
This doesn't even seem fair. The EP as a format is championed by bands early in their career, shorter conceptual outings, even sometimes just compelling leftovers deserving to see the light of day. This list is full of that and yet at the very top comes an actual machine for good EPs. As we approach a full decade since the last time Richard D. James shared a full studio album as Aphex Twin he's become methodically precise at releasing excellent short-form projects. From his series of live sets to the memorable Cheetah, and highlighted by one of my favorite EPs of 2018 Collapse, a new splash of music from James is all but guaranteed to be good. Even then, this project really only barely qualifies as an EP. Named after two of the three songs in its tracklist plus a remix of its opener, it completely sidesteps the notions of cohesion and conceptuality that define other projects here. And yet, the material is just so irresistibly good that I can't turn away from it. In contrast to the deeply rigid machinations of Collapse, Blackbox feels as alive as James' music has in years. Not only do these songs breathe with texture and feeling beyond their rigid forms, but they often hit on genuinely emotive peaks the likes of which IDM too often overlooks. 2023 was yet another year where Aphex Twin emerged in a flash and with less flare than he needs or deserves, proved that he's still head and shoulders above his contemporaries. Blackbox was an easy choice for the best EP of 2023.
Listen To: Blackbox Life Recorder 21f, in a room7 F760
