My Top 10 Songs for Triple J’s 2023 Hottest 100 – My thoughts, insights & musings

“When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest of times, and to the latest.”

Henry David Thoreau[1]

I always look forward to selecting my top ten songs for the Hottest 100 at the end of each year, it’s now one of my annual rituals. I haven’t voted in all the Hottest 100’s, but I reckon I’ve voted in at least 75% of them since they started back in 1988.

Anyway, voting for the Hottest 100 also now coincides with receiving the yearly wrap up from Spotify which I also now look forward to, it’s interesting to compare what your perception of what you listened to over the year is to what the actual stats are. And because I write these blogs, I can also compare my listening habits from year to year. So please excuse my indulgence as I reflect on my listening habits prior to getting into my top ten songs for the year.

The breadth of the types of music I listened to has widened this year, last year I listened 25 different genres, but this rose to 41. My most popular genre is still Aussie Hip Hop, but this year Rock, Contemporary Vocal Jazz and Australian Rock moved into my top 5 with Oz Indie remaining consistent as my third most listened to genre.

I listened to music on Spotify for 51,799 minutes (or 35 days nonstop), during that time I played 3,549 songs from 1,037 artists. My most played song was We Deserve To Dream by Xavier Rudd which I listened to 75 times. This was my number 1 song from last year. Coming in second was Reggae Mylitis by Peter Tosh. I listened to 2,988 minutes of Aurora making her my most played artist. Then came Gurrumul, Peter Tosh, Xavier Rudd and The Herd.

In addition to all that I also listened to 8,213 minutes of podcasts with my top podcast being Philosophize This!, followed by Everyday Buddhism, Meditation Life Skills Podcast, Empire and Economics Explained.

Anyway, back to my top 10 for the Hottest 100 … as usual, I have set some rules for myself for choosing my top 10, namely I will only choose one song from any one artist or album.

It’s always a challenge to whittle down my short list of songs to a top 10. At numbers 14 and 15 would be We Don’t Talk About It by Thelma Plum and 100 Degrees (feat. Horrorshow & Thom Crawford) by Thundamentals.

Number 13 would be DO IT AGAIN by BENEE and Mallrat. This was the official song of the FIFA Womans World Cup and is a great motivational song.

I wish I could find room for Yirimi Gundir by Fred Leone. It’s a cracker of a song that gets you up and about. I have been listening to this track ever since attending Ubud Writers Week back in October where I first saw Fred perform. It would be my number 12.

The song that on another day may well be in my top ten, is Ylfa Spere by Faun. Its unlucky to be my number 11 for 2023 as it has been in my top 10 ever since I first heard it back in May but a couple of releases late in the year have knocked it out.

Well, that’s enough about the songs that didn’t make the cut, here is my top 10 songs for the Hottest 100 for 2023 … this time I’ll count them down from number 10 to my number 1.

#10 The Cat Empire – Thunder Rumbles

Thunder Rumbles is the opening track for The Cat Empire’s latest album, Where The Angels Fall, which is their 9^th studio album. I first became a fan of The Cat Empire back in 2003 when I heard their song Hello on Triple J, it’s from their self-titled debut album The Cat Empire.

Despite being a fan of the Cat Empire for 20 years this is the first time they have featured in my Hottest 100 votes. I have been lucky enough to see The Cat Empire perform live at Womad on several occasions now. They are always great live.

Anyway, I have selected Thunder Rumbles to kick off my top ten as it’s a great fun song to get us up and about with the catchy Cat Empire energy.

#9 Vida Sunshyne – Woii

To keep the upbeat vibe going, I have chosen Woii by Vida Sunshyne and Kuuku Black. I love the beat to this song and its bit of fun. I first heard Vida perform when she collaborated with Astronomy Class on their song Where You At? in 2005 but got a much greater appreciation for Vida from the album she released with Chasm called Move in 2009.

Vida has also released the single, Feel in November this year. It’s also a cracker of a song, but more mellow and well worth a listen.

This is the first time Vida has featured in my top 10 for the Hottest 100.

#8 G Flip – The Worst Person Alive

G Flip released her second album, DRUMMER in 2023 and my favourite track is The Worst Person Alive. I’m not usually one to get into ‘break up’ songs but I enjoy this one and relate to the sentiment of the song.

G Flip said this about the song …“This song is about feeling like the worst person alive after being the one to instigate a breakup. One day you’re in a relationship and the other person is your number 1, they know everything about you, they know you better than anyone else, you’ve had some of your best memories with that person and then you break up and you sadly become strangers. I really hate that it’s all or nothing. It’s such a drastic change – ‘Last year I was the love of your life, now I’m the worst person alive’”[2]

#7 Spinifex Gum – Juukan

Spinifex Gum released their 3^rd studio album this year called Ganalili. My favourite track from the album is the title track, Ganalili, however it was released as a single last year. But I also love Juukan, it is another classic Spinifex Gum track, beautifully sung but delivering a poignant message, this time about the destruction of First People sacred sites due to mining, in particular the Juukan Caves.

As highlighted in the song, Section 18 of the 1972 Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 requires the consent of the Minister if land uses impact a sacred site and between 2010 and 2020, 416 Section 18 claims were lodged with not one being rejected. It’s a disgrace.

This is the second time Spinifex Gum have made my top 10. Their track No Longer There came in at number 5 in 2021.

#6 AURORA – Your Blood

My musical highlight for 2023 was seeing AURORA perform at Womad in March. She was awesome and she has fast become one of my all-time favourite artists as evident by me listening to her for almost 50 hours this year, however I must confess, a good portion of that time I would have been asleep as I do enjoy listening to her when I go to bed.

AURORA has featured in my top ten ever since I first heard her song, The Seed from the A Different Kind Of Human (Step II) album released in 2019. Thats five years in a row! It equals the record set by Baker Boy who featured in my top ten from 2017 to 2021.

Your Blood is AURORA’s latest single. It was released in November so is a latecomer to my top 10.

Discussing her new single, AURORA said: “The world is always bleeding. And you never know what is going on under people’s skin. I think it’s only when we reach out to each other, that we understand what compassion and beauty we are capable of as human beings.”[3]

She continued, adding: “Even if we can’t understand what people are going through: we should still try. If we don’t, what is a life truly worth? Sometimes addressing the pain, your own, or the pain of the world hurts so much it feels like dying. But in truth, I believe it is then we are born. Your blood. My blood. Our blood.”[4]

#5 King Stingray – Lookin’ Out

I also saw King Stingray perform for the first time at Womad this year and they were also great.

First time I heard them was 2021 when they released Milkumana. Last year they released their self-titled first album, King Stingray and it soon became a favourite, I just love the sound that King Stingray create.

For Lookin’ Out they put the vocals of Dimathaya Burarrwanga to the fore, backed up by regular frontman Yirrŋa Yunupingu. Burarrwanga said this about the song … “In our part of the world, we grew up in a really special environment and all the [traditional] songs are based on our land and sea … [This song] talks about a lifetime of our people that exist today and still practising the culture and the oldest language. Land and the sea speaks to us too, so I think it’s really important we’re putting new songs out and talking about it too.”[5]

King Stingray also released a Christmas song this year called Run Rudolph Run.

#4 JK-47 – Rain (feat. Jay Orient, Adrian Eagle)

Rain (feat. Jay Orient, Adrian Eagle) was released in June and was the first single to be released from JK-47’s second album, Revision For Regrowth which was released in November. It is the third time JK-47 has featured in my top ten with Rain following The Recipe which was number 5 in 2020 and Healing which was number 7 in 2021.

According to JK-47, “Rain is a song of hope. Written at a time in our lives where all we could see was problems. We wrote it to let people know that there is growth in the struggles we endure. So even though you’re going through it, be joyful, because the sun gonna shine again.”[6]

#3 Tones and I – I Am Free

Tones and I is also becoming a regular in my top 10 with I Am Free being her third track to feature, matching JK-47. It follows Cloudy Day which came in at number 4 in 2021 and Never Seen the Rain which came in at number 6 in 2019.

Tones and I has released 5 singles this year, starting with I Made It, then I Am Free, I Am Free (Piano Version), House For Kings, BRING IT ON and her most recent release The Greatest.

I suspect with all these singles perhaps a second album might be released soon. I look forward to it if that is the case.

#2 Bias B – Couldashouldawoulda (feat. Matty B)

Couldashouldawoulda (feat. Matty B) was slated to be my number 1 song ever since I first heard it on Biasphere, the 10^th studio album from Bias B and was only pipped in the last few weeks with a release in November.

Biasphere is a cracking album, and my favourite track is easily Couldashouldawoulda. As a bonus it also features Matty B who is another of my favourite MC’s. I just love this track, it’s a bit of fun and always brings a smile to my face.

Bias B has now released an album every year for the last three years, I wonder if he has plans for a fourth in a row? I hope so, but I am aware that Matty B is planning to release his 4^th album in November 2024 so that’s something to look forward to.

It’s a shame the likes of Bias B and Matty B have never really had any airplay on Triple J, be that as it may I will still keep voting for them when they produce cracking tracks such as Couldashouldawoulda.

Before I get to my number one song for 2023, I just want to mention Lowkey’s latest single Palestine Will Never Die. It was released on 1^st December so just misses the cut to be eligible for this year’s Hottest 100. This is a moving song and has been a regular in my playlists throughout December.

I wanted to mention it here as it is a song that signifies one of two events this year that have broken my heart. The first is the ongoing apartheid and now attempted genocide of Palestinians, hence I have listed this song here to pay homage to the plight of the Palestinians. I guess it’s already a strong contender to be my number one song for 2024 as well.

The second event that broke my heart this year was the referendum. I have written about it, here is a link. Whilst the result disappointed me it was the campaign that I found the most heartbreaking.

So, with this in mind, I had to bump Bias B and Matty B to number two, for Barkaa’s new single, Division.

#1 Barkaa – Division

Division is the latest single from Barkaa, released in November this year and it’s the second time she has taken out my number 1 song for the year with King Brown being my number 1 in 2021. She hoped Division wouldn’t need to be released but the result of the referendum brought the track off the back burner.

The song is a raw grief-stricken indictment of the hurt caused by the racism of Australia and is a rebuke of the ‘no’ campaign.

“Whitefellas were worried that they were going to lose their homes and stuff. And it was all lies and falsehoods. The Vote No campaign, and I mean the whole campaign, encouraged a nation to be dumb. It encourages a nation not to read and to be stupid. Like, why are you encouraging people not to read about their country’s own constitution and their country’s own laws?”[7]

Barkaa also dismisses the ‘No’ campaigns ‘division’ argument pointing at the divide that has always been imposed on First People by settler-colonial Australia. ‘No’ voters successfully campaigned on the sentiment that an Indigenous Voice to parliament would only further the racial divide in this country. Division is a retort to that argument, getting straight to the point with the opening line, “You want division? Ok listen”.

I will leave the last word to Barkaa who said this when releasing this track, “We’re going to keep shaping and adapting and moving as a culture. The referendum rejection is just a little blip. The rejection is a speck in our survival story. Our timeline is 65,000-years-plus of survival. Our destinies are our families. Theres no white saviour ship. And fuck reconciliation. We don’t want it no more.”[8]

I recommend watching the music video, it’s very powerful, here is a link. I also recommend checking out Barkaa’s other tracks, many of whom are equally powerful and poignant.

Unfortunately, that is the note that my 2023 top 10 for the Hottest 100 ends, but that was the year that was.

Here is a link to the Spotify playlist containing the above tracks – 2023 – playlist by Tolism

2023 Hottest 100 Top Ten (in order)