2023 Visual Year in Review (kinda...)
SPECIAL ENTRY 06: reviewing visual trends of 2023's top albums
Explore the intersection of sights and sounds with GLASSES, a deep dive into the expansive world of music graphic design.
As far as releases go, 2022 spoiled us. All the biggest artists in the world dropped huge albums, and this year it felt like we got next to nothing. Not to discount the great releases we did get, but it definitely felt like the day after your big birthday bash when all your friends have left, you already opened your presents, and now you’re left cleaning up yesterday’s party.
The problem with this year’s review is that, well, it’s not really this year’s review. I’ve spoken about all these albums and their covers before because, they all released in 2022.
Based on Spotify’s 2023 Wrapped statistics, the top 3 most streamed albums of the year were SOS by SZA at #3, Midnights by Taylor Swift at #2, and Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny at #1 (again). Despite not being in the top spot, Taylor Swift was both Spotify and Apple Music’s artist of the year.
#3 | SOS, SZA
Last year’s #3 was Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR, which incidentally released in 2021 and not 2022. Same thing here with SOS, it came out in December of 2022. So many people were upset about this album topping lots of 2023 lists, but Jesus, what chance does an album released in December have of making an impact on that year? Give it a rest.
This was my top played album of 2023, I love it so much, got the CD the day it came out and have not stopped playing it since. I’m very excited for LANA, the deluxe for this, although I wish she’d just release it as its own project.
Shot by Daniel Sannwald, with additional graphics handled by Viktor H, SOS is one of the stronger covers in this bunch. But of course, I’ve written an entire dedicated review to this album cover a year ago when it dropped!
#2 | Midnights, Taylor Swift
Another album cover that has its own dedicated in-depth review, I do like the Midnights covers a lot. She released about a hundred alternates for each physical and digital version, which is pretty silly and cash-grabby, but hey that’s the game I guess.
Read the full in-depth review here—
#1 | Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny
Somehow, Bad Bunny’s 2022 blockbuster release is Spotify’s #1 globally most streamed album, a second year in a row. This cover is super loud, whacked out, and was designed by Adrian Hernandez (Ugly Primo).
This is the one cover that didn’t get its own dedicated review, but I do like it for what it is. I love how expressive it is, and how much the sounds on the album really do reflect this little illustrative universe. The hard and grounding line of the horizon contrasts nicely against all the other organic lines that make up the rest of the scene. The colours smack you across the face, and are a dream to stare at while it’s playing on Apple Music.
Again, 2023 was a good release year, but nowhere near the level of 2022. The biggest albums of this year came out last year, Taylor Swift absolutely ripped it up again, Frank Ocean never dropped, and Kanye continues to dive deeper into a hole he can’t seem to climb out of.
All of this considered, there’s not much to say about these covers I haven’t already, but I’m very much looking forward to whatever the fuck 2024 has for us all.
Drop your top streamed album of the year below!