With July Staff Picks, our writers and editors share the records from this month that turned into our obsessions. Here, in alphabetical order, are what we think are the 15 best albums from July 2023.
ANOHNI and the Johnsons — My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
ANOHNI has said that the touchstones for her first album with The Johnsons in over a decade were Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Marsha P. Johnson (who graces the cover), and her own 2016 solo LP HOPELESSNESS. While press release descriptors can often be so much set dressing, damn it all if My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross isn’t an exact synthesis of everything ANOHNI mentioned. Introducing a new (and perhaps entirely pioneering) baroque soul sound, this singular artist has created a stirring record about living amidst the maddening sorrow of the modern world. Just as ANOHNI intended, however, it’s not a record to wallow, but to accompany and nourish the listener through the shared experience. — Ben Kaye
aldn — The End EP
aldn’s new EP The End concludes a long string of releases for the producer, singer, and songwriter, and it’s his strongest body of work yet. His style draws upon dozens of influences, culminating in a singular hyperpop vision. The hooks on The End are so thunderous that they can break entire songs open; look no further than the infectious “headstrong gunner,” which features a pitched-up, earworm chorus melody that takes the song’s dance-punk attitude to cathartic desperation. He aptly soundtracks the feeling of icy distance in a relationship, like on the swampy, energetic “sub 32.” And overall, aldn creates with extraordinary confidence, even when he’s manipulating his vocals and shrouding his emotions in reverb. It may be The End, but hopefully, it’s just the beginning of a new era for aldn. — Paolo Ragusa
Alice Phoebe Lou — Shelter
One of the reasons we here at Consequence created our CoSigns feature was to let readers get in on the ground floor of a musician destined for something great. When we bestowed the honor on Alice Phoebe Lou back in 2019, Shelter is the album we were anticipating. That’s not to say the pair of records she dropped in 2021 (Glow and Child’s Play) weren’t excellent; it’s just Shelter has all the spacey-yet-intimate, raw-yet-lovely songwriting that enamored us in the first place presented at its absolute peak. The psychedelics may be reeled in, but the harmonics are as adventurous as ever, reminding us APL is every bit the artist we knew she was. — B. Kaye