Great music comes out every month of the year, but September just happened to be extra stacked this year. There were big returns from Slowdive, Olivia Rodrigo, and Mitski, surprise releases from Zach Bryan and Kim Petras, and several more statement pieces from the likes of Romy, Jeff Rosenstock, and Nation of Language. In alphabetical order, here are what our Consequence writers and editors think are the best albums from September 2023.
Zach Bryan — Boys of Faith EP
For many artists, the EP that follows the album is full of leftovers, but Zach Bryan has staked out his shorter projects for some of his best songwriting and most vital experimentation. Last year’s Summertime Blues gave us “Quittin’ Time” and the stone cold banger “Oklahoma Smokeshow,” and Boys of Faith might be even better: “Nine Ball” is a twist on the themes of “Open the Gates,” with a warped relationship between father, son, and sporting competitions; “Deep Satin” has an irresistible foot-stomping build; and on “Sarah’s Place” he joined with Noah Kahan for a ripping good time.
But that’s not the most exciting part. Whereas the August self-titled album Zach Bryan included deeply personal songs in the same country and southern rock traditions that fans have come to love, Boys of Faith finds Bryan expanding his sound, most noticeably on the title track featuring Bon Iver, which wouldn’t have been out of place on 2011’s Bon Iver. With lush strings and richly textured arrangements, “Boys of Faith” and the EP of the same name hint at exciting possibilities for Bryan’s future. — Wren Graves
Ralphie Choo — SUPERNOVA
Blending Latin trap, vibrant pop, dreamy R&B, and instrument-forward jazz, SUPERNOVA is a fascinating collection from Madrid-based artist Ralphie Choo. This is his first studio album, and it’s a doozy; over the course of 14 very different, expansive tracks, Choo takes the listener on a journey through an expertly produced soundscape. It’s one of September 2023’s most interesting offerings. — Mary Siroky
Deeper — Careful!
Chicago post-punk group Deeper returned this year with Careful!, an album that strikes a unique balance between crushingly tense and wholly liberating. Fans of The Cure and The Smiths — as well as newer post-punk staples like Interpol, Foals, IDLES, and Fontaines D.C. — will feel right at home in Deeper’s guitar-forward experiments, with plenty of awe-striking moments packed into each song. There’s a fascinating self-interrogation happening on Careful!; Vocalist Nic Gohl often references mirrors amidst anxiety-ridden lines and charged musings. Tracks like “Glare,” “Build a Bridge,” and “Sub” are driving, powerful presentations, taking a uniform post-punk sound and elevating it to new heights. — Paolo Ragusa
Mitski — The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
In comparison to the wild catharsis of her early work and the disco-influenced more recent projects, Mitski’s The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We is warm, gentle, and even comforting. Of course, there’s plenty of sadness to be had — it is Mitski, after all — but The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We offers too much hope and love for it to be a soundtrack for wallowing in despair. Instead, the record comes across as an honest, understanding overview of what it’s like to be simply making it through this life. Recency bias be damned, the album ranks among her bes and will undoubtedly stand out in her already impressive discography. — Jonah Krueger
Nation of Language — Strange Disciple
It’s very easy to get Nation of Language’s new-wave gems stuck in your head, and their latest offering, Strange Disciple, features these catchy and idiosyncratic melodies in droves. The album is arguably more patient and sonically complex than their previous two efforts; the highs higher, the lows more tactfully disguised and blended in. There are several standout tracks, but the first three singles, “Sole Obsession,” “Weak in Your Light,” and “Stumbling Still,” are right up there with the best songs in their catalogue. — P. Ragusa
Pelada — Ahora Más Que Nunca
Pelada continue to push beyond their limits with Ahora Más Que Nunca (Now More Than Ever). The Montreal-based duo of vocalist Chris Vargas and producer Tobias Rochman have crafted an eclectic collection of electronic sounds with a punk ethos in response to the current social, political, economic, and environmental climate. The album crafts a perfect balance of chaos and catharsis, such as the opener “La Gente Se Levanta,” featuring Zambian-Canadian rapper Backxwash, a high-energy anti-capitalist bop that sets the tone for the rest of the project. “Acabemos con el Femicido” consists of a synth driven, anti-femicide anthem. “Ya Fue,” is jazzy, experimental number that includes contributions from Panamanian-Canadian trumpet player Aquiles Navarro. In this era of impending doom, Ahora Más Que Nunca demonstrates the power of art to inform and empower the masses. — Sun Noor
Kim Petras — Problématique
What specific type of irony is it that Kim Petras released her best work on a Monday afternoon with absolutely no fanfare?! After a mass leak in 2022, the project was scrapped — an absolute shame, because this is the collection she should have been able to lead with. Problématique is ridiculous and confident, and it feels like some of Petras’ more interesting quirks got pared down on the album that did make it into the world, Feed the Beast. This record, instead, is a pleasant surprise, and serves as a reminder of just how fabulous Petras can be when she’s at the top of her game. — M. Siroky
Olivia Rodrigo — GUTS
Olivia Rodrigo didn’t have to return so quickly after her much-lauded, wildly popular 2021 debut SOUR — but clearly, she had a bit more to say. GUTS picks up where SOUR left off, but this time, Rodrigo isn’t afraid to get even messier; she begins the album by proclaiming she’s an “all-american bitch,” she admits that “love is embarrassing” and is retrospectively mad at the fact that being homeschooled gave her no social skills, and she spews out emotions left and right like they’re bullets from a machine gun. It’s a welcome return for a pop star who still has the world at her feet, and it’s even more satisfying to hear Rodrigo move forward solely on her own terms. — P. Ragusa
Romy — Mid Air
As a member of The xx, Romy has proven to be a master of intimate songcraft, with striking, minimal instrumentation and poignant poetic exchanges. But on her debut album, Romy is taking the charged energy that characterized even her softest xx moments and turning it into dazzling, liberating euphoria. Now leaning fully into the bustling grooves of house and disco, Mid Air finds Romy drawing upon the diva-esque energy of queer dance music, with music so open and rich that it feels like the album she’s been wanting to make her whole life. One of Romy’s standout singles, “Enjoy Your Life,” speaks to the heart of Mid Air: There has to be joy, because if not joy, then what? — P. Ragusa
Jeff Rosenstock — Hellmode
Okay, okay, yes, we know this album came out on August 31st. But Jeff Rosenstock pulled a fast one on us! It was supposed to come out on September 1st, but the mad lad couldn’t help himself and dropped it a day early. And I’ll be damned if we don’t give this album its flowers, because, plainly put, it fucking rocks.
Pairing down the angry punk energy of No Dream ever so slightly, Hellmode finds the artist spinning tales of personal anxieties and political frustrations over power-pop instrumentals that’ll likely never leave your head. It’s raw and touching, personal and universal, and everything you could possibly want from a Jeff Rosenstock record. Now we just have to wait and see if SKAmode is to follow… — J. Krueger
Slowdive — everything is alive
With everything is alive, Slowdive have once again asserted that they are not some legacy act whose 30-year-old works justify their continued existence. Instead, everything is alive demonstrates how massively influential they’ve been, how much they’ve learned and experienced in even just the past six years, and how much further they can go. It’s the work of five musicians who are so wildly in sync with each other that their moody, holistic sound takes on the form of a singular “wall-of-sound” experience, best evident in emotionally riveting songs like “a prayer remembered” and “the slab.” It’s another shoegaze masterwork from a band who, frankly, never misses. — P. Ragusa
Slow Pulp — Yard
A band of multitudes, Slow Pulp’s sophomore effort Yard showcases the wide breadth of styles the act fuses into its cocktail of indie rock. Sometimes, it’s noisy power pop (“Cramps”), other times, it’s driving slowcore-adjacent anthems (“Slugs”), and for a fleeting instance, it’s twangy indie folk (“Broadview”). What binds the album’s 10 tracks together, though, is the sheer beauty that emanates from each song. Be it gentle piano, tasteful but piercing feedback, or singer Emily Massey’s always emotive voice, every moment on Yard hides raw feelings under near-flawless construction. Taken as a whole, it’s a record full of songs worthy of soundtracking a pivotal scene in an independent coming-of-age film (and one of the really good ones, too). — J. Krueger
Sprain — The Lamb as Effigy
Let’s not mince words, Sprain’s The Lamb as Effigy won’t be for everyone. Beyond the 96-minute runtime (all housed within a mere eight songs!!), the album’s constant swing between ambient textures and cacophonous storms of epic proportions will likely overwhelm a not-insignificant amount of listeners. Those who it is for, however, might just stumble upon their album of the year. Brazen, unflinching, ambitious, and utterly captivating, The Lamb as Effigy doesn’t just deconstruct the post-hardcore and slowcore of Sprain’s past work, it completely and totally obliterates them. The result is pure artistry, one that’ll leave those who are able to key into its world of anxiety without the words to properly describe the experience. — J. Krueger
