Spotify Wrapped Breakdown 2023

Spotify Wrapped has returned once again to expose our music tastes, to brand us as a particular genre lover that you never thought existed, which in my case is Escape Room, and show which location in the UK ‘listens like you’. A reminder that the internet is keeping a record of everything you do, I always get excited to unveil my Wrapped to see how my music obsessions have morphed over this year. 

As I expect every year, Shygirl has dominated my top spot. This time with the release of her debut album Nymph which I haven’t stopped listening to since it dropped. A mix of Shygirl’s usual feminine sensuality and club beats, and a previously unseen vulnerability, the album is designed to lure you in. It worked on me anyway. The follow-up remix album Nymph_o, a version of the album I personally prefer despite its predecessor, harbours collaborations with rap and electronic artists Eartheater, Tinashe, Sevadliza, Arca, Erika de Casier, Fatima Al Qadir, DETO BLACK, and most notably, Björk. Nymph_o. definitely influenced my Wrapped this year, especially the remix of Wildfire ft. Eartheater which, as my top song of the year, I urge you to listen to.

While I did not receive an artist’s message from Shygirl, I did get one from Four Tet, my second favourite artist this year according to Wrapped. The message consisted of Four Tet staring into the camera in some field somewhere saying nothing. If it was anyone else I would’ve been surprised by that and I respected it. I will be continuing to listen to Parallel as I fall asleep. 

Another Mercury Prize nominee this year, although I promise that’s not why I listen to them, was Jockstrap, an experimental electronic duo that holds my third Wrapped spot, as well as my heart. I had always been meaning to get around to listening to ‘I love Jennifer B’ but it wasn’t until this summer that I did –  and well, there’s a reason Jockstrap is so high up on my list. The segment of the Wrapped which shows your peak listening months for each artist gave me a wave of nostalgia for September in which I must've played Greatest Hits hundreds of times.

Spotify Wrapped reminds me of how spoilt for choice we are all now in terms of how we engage with music. We are able to keep score of all the music we listen to, from a selection of millions, and be handed songs by Spotify itself in playlists or ‘blends’ that it thinks we will like. With this much packaged in one app, it’s almost a bit overwhelming compared to the iPod Touch with one I am Kloot album I had on when I was 11. That being said, there is such accessibility now to genres and artists we would never have noticed before, and Spotify Wrapped allows us all to keep score. As it varies year to year I can look back on that part of my life and see how my music taste has changed, a few years back it was mainly rap artists, and before that indie music. Spotify Wrapped is a journey through the year, unlocking new memories and reminding me of a love for a particular song I lost along the way, and it is one that I am excited to revisit in 2024. 

Edited by Nicole Collins