2024-01-01 19:23:53
It does not seem that it can respond to any premeditated global plan, and the truth is that the lists of the best albums of 2023 made by newspapers and publications show a overwhelming dominance of female creators. We have barely had time to analyze it, given the urgency to put together the rankings that they give us all in the last moments of the year, but the balance, in terms of gender, is unprecedented. Neither here, nor by opening the plan to the international press.
Parity achieved? Let’s stop being mediocre: 80%! Eight out of ten discos best rated of the year on Metacritic (the portal that carefully compiles and measures reviews of publications in the English-speaking world, both specialized and general) are signed by women, with Amaarae, Caroline Polachek and Julie Byrne at the top of the podium.
A decade ago there were only three. Twenty years ago, in 2003, one and a half (Lucinda Williams and the mixed duo The White Stripes). The now dominant artists have all been built in the 21st century: the oldest turn out to be Caroline Bailey Rae and Taylor Swift, who published their first albums in 2006. Then there are also Olivia Rodrigo, Mitski and Boygenius, the trio put together by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus.
And in Spain? Well, there we are, with selections like those of this newspaper, voted for by the editorial staff, where ssix of the ten best international albums They were of female authorship. Including (important) the first three, by Polachek, Lana del Rey and Boygenius. Balance equal to that of ‘Rockdelux’, whose podium is the same, but in a different order, headed by the enigmatic Lana. And not far from ‘Mondosonoro’, whose first place is occupied by Boygenius.
The selections of the best Spanish albums draw more balanced balances between men and women, depending on the medium, highlighting figures such as Sílvia Pérez Cruz, María José Llergo or Renaldo & Clara. This last brand, expressive vehicle of Clara Viñals, heads the list of Catalan albums from ‘Enderrock‘, another sample of female predominance, seven out of ten.
The evolution is clear and reflects a boom in feminine representation that responds to facts and fundamental social changes. And the best thing is that it does not obey a policy of quotas, because it goes beyond them, at the own initiative of music critics and media, going beyond the agreed correction of 50% and slipping the most complete and exciting photo possible of a reality that does not We can afford to cut or restrict.
#albums #year #pulverizing #parity