Top Eight Indie Artists of 2023
These are my top 8 indie artists of 2023. Time for some new music.

2023 has been quite the year for indie music. As we wind toward the end, let’s reflect on the artists who made the year such a beautiful one. In this article, I’ve listed the top eight indie artists of 2023. The 2024 Grammy nominations are out, so I have the five nominees for alternative album of the year plus three of my personal favorites.

I’ll talk about their backgrounds and their achievements this year. Let’s hope this inspires you to put more work into your indie career next year. Let’s do it.

Connor Price

His album, Spin the Globe, was one of my favorites in 2023 because of the ingenuity and creativity involved. All the songs on the album were collaborations between him and an artist from a random country. He picked the countries by spinning the globe and seeing where his finger landed. The selection process alone was a massive hit on social media. And the album was not a letdown.

On Spotify alone, he amassed over 600 million streams in 2023. If that doesn’t put him among the very best performers, nothing will. If you enjoy rap and hip-hop, he’s one of the best.

Tame Impala

Tame Impalas have been around since 2007 and have established themselves as a true indie music force. Kevin Parker, the main man in the band, has gone from posting songs on Myspace to collaborating with massive artists such as The Weeknd, Diana Ross, and Travis Scott. That said, they’re not here because of their exploits in previous years.

In 2023, Tame Impala made music for two blockbuster movies, Barbie and Dungeons and Dragons. They also continued to tour for their 2020 album, The Slow Rush. On Spotify, their single, The Less I Know the Better, all the way back from 2015 finished with the most streams of any indie artist.

Arctic Monkeys

Another band that enjoyed much success in 2023 is the English rock band, Arctic Monkeys. The trio of Matt Helder, Alex Turner, and Andy Nicholson started in 2006 and has grown into one of the most recognizable names in the industry. They released their most recent album, The Car, in 2022 but toured throughout 2023.

They’ve been nominated for Grammys six times before and will go into the next one hoping to win at least one of their three nominations. They’ve been nominated for Best Alternative Music Album, Best Rock Performance, and Best Alternative Music Performance.

Alec Benjamin

One of my personal favorites, Alec Benjamin has continued to grow his career since breaking out in 2018. He originally signed with Columbia Records, but the relationship ended soon after he submitted his first album. Alec then went on the most indie tour you will ever hear of. He played in parking lots and outside concert venues to whoever would listen.

Two years later, in 2020, he released his first album. It was a big success, peaking at number 8 on the Top Album Sales chart. Since then, he has gone on to build his career into something he can be proud of. In 2023, he reached a combined 1.8 billion streams of his music. Imagine going from rejection to over a billion streams!

PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey MBE is a veteran of the music industry, starting her career as far back as 1988. She has since gone on to build an incredible career for herself, earning a place in Rolling Stone’s top 200 greatest singers of all time. PJ Harvey spent most of her career signed to a major label but released her tenth and most recent album independently.

The album, titled I Inside the Old Year Dying, earned her a nomination for Best Alternative Music Album at next year’s Grammys. Cheers to her for joining the indie side of things, albeit a bit late. With seven previous nominations without a win, maybe this is her year.

Gorillaz

In a world where technology has taken over, it’s exciting to see a virtual band. That’s right, the members of this band are represented by animated characters. Created in 1998, they’ve grown into one of the big names of indie music with a Grammy win in the bag already. Next year, they’ll be competing for a second win with their eighth studio album, Cracker Island.

Lana del Rey

Lana del Rey is no strange name in the indie music industry. For all her awards and achievements, however, she has never won a Grammy despite being nominated six times. In 2023, she released her ninth studio album titled Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard? and it has earned her five nominations ahead of next year’s Grammys.

The win has proven elusive so far, but this time she will feel confident of taking at least one category home.

Boygenius

The Record by Boygenius is one of my favorite albums of 2023 and it has been rightly honored with a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Boygenius is a band made up of three girlfriends. Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus came together in 2018 and haven’t looked back since. Despite making music together for five years, their debut studio album, The Record, took until 2023 to come out. And it was no disappointment.

They also released an EP later in the year titled The Rest. Their feats haven’t gone unnoticed by the music industry. They’ve been nominated for seven awards at next year’s Grammys and I’m backing them to scoop up a couple.

Final Thoughts

These artists have all spectacularly acquitted themselves over the past year. Some of them are veterans of the industry, others are still trying to establish themselves. The uniting factor here is that they all stood out from the crowd. How they did it is a story for another day, you can even do that research yourself. For now, we celebrate their achievements.

Again, this list is not a binding standard, only my opinion. I’m sure you’ll have some different names in mind, and I’m sure they’re amazing too. So please put down your pitchforks and join me to celebrate them.