{"id":396754,"date":"2023-12-28T16:39:17","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T21:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dancingastronaut.com\/?p=396754"},"modified":"2023-12-28T16:39:18","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T21:39:18","slug":"dancing-astronauts-2023-album-of-the-year-rl-grime-play-honorable-mentions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dancingastronaut.com\/2023\/12\/dancing-astronauts-2023-album-of-the-year-rl-grime-play-honorable-mentions\/","title":{"rendered":"Dancing Astronaut’s 2023 Album of the Year: RL Grime – ‘PLAY’ (+ honorable mentions)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2023 saw a swell of dance\/electronic albums hit digital streaming platforms. Among the swath of debuts and follow-ups, some projects functioned less as mere extensions of artists\u2019 discographies and more as decisive comebacks. Dancing Astronaut\u2019s 2023 Album of the Year\u2014RL Grime\u2019s PLAY\u2014is among the latter, but the title-taker isn\u2019t the only one. Later-stage long-forms (think sophomore LPs and beyond) account for most of our honorable mentions. The list of our 23 top runner-up albums of 2023 reflects our staff\u2019s favorites this year beyond PLAY, with all albums appearing in alphabetical order below.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Words by Zach Salafia and Ross Goldenberg.<\/em><\/p>\n

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In 2023, RL Grime<\/a> did far more than just reaffirm his seat on trap\u2019s throne.<\/p>\n

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A half-decade separated the Sable Valley<\/a> boss\u2019 second and third albums, and during the five-year stretch between NOVA<\/a> <\/em>and PLAY<\/a><\/em>, clearly, Grime had come to the conclusion that playing it safe was not something he wanted to do. And in a year rife with album ingenuity, one project stood above the rest when all was said and done: PLAY<\/em>, Dancing Astronaut<\/em>\u2019s 2023 Album of the Year.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019d been rumblings of a NOVA <\/em>successor more than a few times in recent years.. And although \u201cRenegade\u201d with Nero didn\u2019t ultimately find its own place on the PLAY<\/em> tracklist, that end-of-2022 release\u2014with a new form of Sable Valley artwork\u2014from Grime felt like the beginning of a new chapter.<\/p>\n

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And it was.<\/em><\/p>\n

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At the beginning of June, we got the decisive sign that we\u2019d awaited. After wiping his Instagram clean, everyone was left to believe only one thing: it was finally album time. But Grime wouldn\u2019t formally confirm it until nearly a month and a half later\u2014after we\u2019d already received \u201cPour Your Heart Out ” and \u201cBreach,\u201d with 070 Shake and Juelz, respectively. Through a trio of teaser posts that simply read \u201cAPEX,\u201d \u201cGRID,\u201d and \u201cRUSH,\u201d Grime announced the three parts that would later make up his junior LP.<\/p>\n

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PLAY<\/em> splits a towering 21 productions across three sections, with each representing a distinct style; whereas APEX <\/em>leans into the classic brand of trap that prompted Grime\u2019s early-2010\u2019s reign, GRID <\/em>sits in crossover territory, with a flurry of singer-songwriter pairings, while RUSH<\/em> undeniably stands out as the most experimental of the three. Although each segment can certainly hold its own, when combined, they comprise one of the single most ambitious, innovative longform projects that the dance\/electronic scene has seen in recent memory, let alone in 2023.<\/p>\n

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The level of experimentation evident on PLAY<\/em> is made all the more significant by the place it occupies in Grime\u2019s discography. After years of fan anticipation, it\u2019s likely that many listeners would have been happy to have a new LP\u2019s worth of material from the producer, regardless of the output\u2019s style. And with a well-demonstrated winning formula, Grime could easily have sat comfortably within his wheelhouse on his junior album. His decision to subvert convention, nimbly striking a balance between pushing boundaries and appealing to his early-career audience members, is the crux of PLAY<\/em>\u2019s designation as our 2023 Album of the Year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A post shared by RL Grime (@rlgrime)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n