#have u ever even heard even by julien baker

[clowningcrows]

putting julien baker songs on my neil perry playlist is actually so fucked up im sorry everyonr

[snowdropheart]

5, 9, 10, 12, 24 music asks

Hello, Anon!! Thank u so much for the asks I had so much fun answering them :)

5. A song you like to daydream to:

Boygenius’s cover of Cowboy Take Me Away. I mean, the whole song is active daydream anyway, and Phoebe Bridgers. Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus sing it with such melancholy, that I really do just listen to their cover and stare into space, imagining “. . . a pillow of blue bonnets / in a blanket made of stars.” 

9. A song that makes you want to go on an adventure:

Dusseldorf Regina Spektor is a kind of on-the-nose answer, but it really does make me want to go on an adventure. She chronicles a whimsical and political and, at times, dark romp through European cities, and it just makes me want to go and do and see. I will always, always scream-sing “And in Amsterdam I got quite crazy / Might have been all the tulips and canals / or it might have been all that hash.” It makes me laugh every time. 

10. A song you’d want to dance with your partner to (or future partner):

Into the Spotlight by The Good Lovelies. It’s not even a question; it’s one of the sweetest, most romantic songs I’ve ever heard: “I give you my heart / to hold when it is dark / when timorous, love, I will be your night-light”; “I love you now / you ask me how / I say ‘I learned it with you, / Love.’” THAT IS TRUE LOVE IN SOME LYRICS RIGHT THERE!! I listened to this song in high school a lot, imagining slow dancing in the dim kitchen light with my love, feeling safe, understood, and quietly content. 

12. A song to listen to whilst you lie in a meadow:

I have a couple--Swansea by Joanan Newsom, Evergreen by Pekoe, Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell, and Waltz by Hem. 

Swansea, to me, is such a sunny-day song. I know it’s about abandoned gold rush towns in California, but Jo’s beautiful harp truly makes me think of a meadow in May, with bright puffy clouds and wildflowers. I just recently hear Evergreen--my roommate showed it to me--and it’s just so exquisite. It’s a perfect meadow-song; that piano! When the drums come in! Her beautiful voice! Both Sides Now, of course, makes me think of clouds; it’s a very lying-in-the-meadow-reflecting-on-living song. And Waltz by Hem is such a sublime instrumental song--it could be the score of a meadow-lie. 

24. A song to listen to on a long drive when you have the really strong urge to keep driving until you find somewhere to start a new life (preferably a European city whose language you don’t speak):

Duncan by Sarah Slean. It’s such an intense song, full of swelling strings and drums and Sarah’s straining voice. Duncan, in the song, runs away and it’s just that perfect blend of happy and melancholy and fear and hope--as well as the kind of mania involved in feeling like driving to begin a new life in a European City. This part of the chorus always gets me crying and dancing at the same time: “Oh you fool, you fool! / Don’t give in to fate! / If this is all we’ve got to fight for, / rage my darling, rage! / Duncan, good for you! / Sad but on your way!” 

[bipercabeth]

i love love loved your breakdown of Lover & i agree with so many aspects of it!! my favs are lover, paper rings, and cruel summer. the album makes me go absolutely feral at some of the lyrics and it’s so lovey dovey my heart can’t handle!! i was wondering what other artists or albums you really like???

oh man you have no idea what you signed up for with this question. i am taking this ask as an excuse to go fully music nerd up in here and i am doing so with no regrets. i’m gonna start with artists because there are a lot that i love that i can’t just pick one album or even a favorite. 

frank turner - i literally have a tattoo of his be more kind album art on my arm. he’s got an insanely diverse discography while still staying true to his punk rock roots and i think his evolution as an artist is so admirable. i’ve gone to a songwriting workshop he ran and it was the most eye opening experience. in may i went to his music festival in boston (lost evenings, look it up! he headlines every night, puts together a setlist of his favorite musicians, etc. it’s amazing) and it literally changed my life. every song of his has a point, and every single word drives that point home. his albums aren’t necessarily concept albums, but they’re all thematic and the songs drive home the point of the album as well. when i look at my playlist of favorite songs, his name pops up the most. 

bleachers - we knew this was coming. if u have looked at a single one of my posts about music, they always come back to bleachers, specifically dream of mickey mantle. jack antonoff is an incredible songwriter, performer, and producer. i can listen to a track and tell you if he worked on it. i am so ride or die for this man. bleachers has a unique style that i really can’t put my finger on with the exception of their heavy use of synths. seeing their set at riotfest was one of the highlights of whole ass life. their lyrics are sneakily profound, they don’t always hit you upon first listen. jack antonoff has absolutely mastered the art of simple songwriting and how to make the simplest lyrics absolute gut punches. 

okay i’m putting the rest under the cut bc i have a lot to say

julien baker - when people ask me to describe my music taste, i usually opt for saying “sad ladies with guitars” and that’s largely due to julien baker’s impact. she is unafraid in her exploration of her own suffering mental health, and it’s absolutely devastating, but it’s also so comforting. it’s the type of sad that tells you you’re not alone in your struggles, and i think that’s where her power is. it’s expression of her struggles without romanticizing them, and i think that’s incredibly important.

will varley - i got into him when he opened for the first frank turner show i went to and absolutely fell in love. best songwriter i have ever heard hands down. i need to give a few examples of my favorites because i do not have the words to describe his talent and do it justice. “Birth, death, weddings and wars / That's all we are good for / If all of the past was played as a song / Our lives are a beat of the drum” “Well playgrounds look like prisons the day after you leave school / And exes look like angels the day before they fall” “He got so many chains wrapped round his eyes that he cannot see / And he'd rather be blind than to realize he's never been free”. I could go on and on just quoting my favorite lines of his, but he’s so incredibly talented. it’s just him and his guitar onstage, but his albums have more production and instruments. very folk/bluegrass in sound. i would die for him. 

albums: 

punch // autoheart - this is such an emotionally diverse album, i always know i can find something to match my mood both tonally and lyrically. there are slow, melancholy songs like january and santa fe, bops like anniversary and moscow, hauntingly beautiful and profound songs like agoraphobia, and absolute gut punches like sailor song. i listen to autoheart’s other work, but this album is such a distinct work of art that i find myself gravitating towards it regardless. it’s one of the few albums among my favorites that isn’t a concept and doesn’t have a narrative, but i think that speaks to its strengths. 

sister cities // the wonder years - this is the one punk album that everyone i’ve introduced to it has liked regardless of their musical preferences. the lead singer’s vocals are absolutely INSANE (and just as good live) and his capacity for emotion is unparalleled. this album deals with a lot of guilt and baggage over the death of a loved one, and it encompasses every aspect of that on at least one song. it tells a clear story and every line works toward driving home the narrative, but never at the expense of honesty. this is a painfully honest album due to how specific it is, and how that specificity gives it universality. the wonder years also have mastered the artistic use of the word fuck, which i admire. there’s nothing wrong with just throwing fuck in a song for the fuck of it, but they write in a way that the word fuck is necessary to convey the emotion they’re trying to get across. “i drew a line in the sand with these worthless fucking hands,” “It's been over a year now / April turns into May / I barely stopped moving / I've been so fucking afraid,” etc. also i could write a whole essay on the ocean grew hands to hold me, but maybe another day. my favorite song on the album. perfect closer. they close their concerts with it and it’s PERFECT. also dan campbell (lead singer) said this is the song they’ve been trying to write since they started writing music and i cannot express how soft that makes me. 

routine maintenance // aaron west & the roaring twenties - the good thing is i don’t have to stop talking about dan campbell! aw&trt is his solo project, two concept albums about a man (aaron) who essentially has the worst two years of his life. the first one (we don’t have each other) covers him losing his dad, his wife miscarrying, and then leaving him. heavy shit. but THIS album is about him getting back on his feet, finding music, and eventually making his way back to his family. i have a soft spot for music about healing, and this hits that spot right on the mark. 

after the party // the menzingers - more punk! the menzingers are an incredible band, but i love after the party the most because of the narrative (can u tell i like albums that tell a story?). it’s about aging, nostalgia, and self-improvement, and all are really well done, especially in the song lookers. also mastered the artistic use of fuck (”i will fuck this up, i fucking know it”)

sing to me instead // ben platt - i already made a whole post about this

lover // taylor swift - listen i know i just did a breakdown of this too but it’s my favorite ts album okay

stranger in the alps // phoebe bridgers - similar to julien baker in how achingly sad some of the songs are, but phoebe’s music is just a little inexplicably softer. she explores topics other than mental health too, like toxic relationships, normal breakups, and a few abstract songs from another perspective. the album itself is less of a narrative, but there are common themes throughout it! 

[licensedlesbian]

regan do all the emoji asks (or just the ones u wanna do)

hi aj! thank u ily 💖

🍄 - favorite nickname/petname?- tbh no one has ever really given me a petname but i think being called sweetie or sweetheart would be really comforting and lovely !!

🌺 - your comfort film/show?- Take My Wife always brings a smile to my face when I’m down bc Rhea and Cam give me hope that I will be happy in the future 

💖 - favorite place to be?- in nature, it just really brings me peace to just exist in outdoor places that feel calm and secluded. i’m a huge people person but sometimes its nice to feel that i can be somewhere in nature that feels sacred and it feels like my own

💕 - 1 thing you love about yourself (you can do it !!)- i really love my charismatic nature, i have an ability to make people laugh and be really very charming (;

💌 - something you admire in other people?- the most admirable quality another person can gave in my opinion is empathy and compassion for other people. whether its simply being patient and kind with someone who can be irritating or its giving someone a shoulder to cry on when they need it

💋 - dream getaway location & what you’d do there?- it changes but right now i would really kill to be at a beach, soaking up the sun and just feeling warm because wisco in april STILL has snow and i would love to be under the sun and also at a spa lmao

🌹 - your ideal fashion aesthetic?- lesbianism! !! (:

💄 - comforting smell?- i love the smell of the essential oil bergamot so much but no one really makes it for individual sale because its not as popular and its v upsetting :/

💗 - first tv/fictional crush?- coraline. i deadass had a thing for coraline when i was like 8 lmao

🍓 - five items that make up the core of your aesthetic?- my fedora, my browline glasses, layered button ups, ankle boots, skinny jeans

💞 - song that plucks your heartstrings?- rejoice by julien baker is honestly one of the only songs that has ever brought me to tears but her song hurt less also really gets me too

💘 - someone you look up to & why?- cameron esposito!!! she’s done so much for the lgbtq community through visibility and charity events and also i met her and she is so incredibly kind. i hope to be able to accomplish even just a fraction of the things she’s been able to do for our community. also, to further expand on her kindness...she was so sweet when i met her and the fact that she told me she was proud of me for being who i was and that she took time to read my letter and tweet at me after also speaks to the type of caring and compassionate person she is. she could tell i really admired her so she went the extra mile to let me know that it was heard and she honestly made my year doing that

🔥 - something you are passionate about?- i’m passionate about my core values... i’m someone who’s willing to stand up for what i believe no matter whether its telling off some asshole at Denny’s for being rude to a waitress who couldn’t defend herself or going to protests for policies i think need change.

💓 - describe your ideal calm afternoon- probably letting the light into my room and chilling in bed and watching netflix or reading

[slothrusts]

Hey @taylorswift ! Since you made a playlist for us, I thought I’d make one for you. Music is my life, I even study it at school, and my favorite thing about music is songwriting (which is probably why I love you so much). Lyrics are the most important part of a song to me, but soundscapes are also really rad. So here’s 19 songs that I adore, both lyrically and sonically, and hope that you will also like! @taylornation and fellow swifties feel free to listen in as well :)

Also, Taylor, look beneath the Read More for the track listing and me talking about each song like I know what I’m talking about lol

1.) Lit Me Up- Brand New 

     This is the best opening song of all opening songs. Brand New has created such an interesting soundscape and feel with the whole Science Fiction Album. It’s creepy, but great. Taylor I feel like you’d really enjoy some of the binaural action going on.

2.) Turn Out the Lights- Julien Baker @julienbaker

     Julien Baker is one of THE BEST lyricists I have ever found (besides you of course Tay). Everything she writes is heart-wrenching  and beautiful and I love it. I mean, come on “When I turn out the lights/there’s no one left/between myself and me” (lyk if u cri evrytim). This is a single from her forthcoming album by the same name and I highly recommend you listen to her debut Sprained Ankle cause damn is it good. 

3.) Horseshoe Crab- Slothrust 

     This song is a trip man. Slothrust (its Sloth-rust not Slo-thrust fyi) is this cool little rock/jazz/blues band from Brooklyn that I ADORE. Leah writes some outlandish but still poignant af lyrics. Notably: “Sometimes I feel like I’m a sea horse/Sometimes I think that I’m a horseshoe crab/I don’t have anything in common with myself/Except that I came from the sea just like everyone else did”

4.) Ready to Go- Hurts @adam-hurts

     Suggested activity while listening to this song is dancing because damn it’s a certifiable BOP. 

5.) Queen- Flint Eastwood @flinteastwooddetroit

     You’ve probably never seen these guys play live but Jax Anderson is a hype beast like no other and can get a crowd full of people who have never heard her music to sing and jump along like they’re the headliners. The chorus gets u going and I think that reputation era Taylor would appreciate “I’m a queen not a soldier”

6.) I Forgive No One- Citizen 

     While I’m not sure if this genre/sound is your thing Taylor, it does remind me a lot of the whole reputation era mindset. “I forgive no one for anything/I forgive no one for what can change”

7.) Moonshine- Lights @lightsalot

     Another great bop about staying up late and partying. Also Lights wrote and drew an entire comic book series to go along with this concept album?? How fucking cool is that?? It reminds a bit of New Romantics in the attitude of “who gives a shit lets go party anyway!!” 

8.) Sunshine Type- Turnover @turnoverva

     Turnover is my go-to feel good band. This song actually sounds like the way sunshine feels. “I was thinking that you could love a song that I hate/I’d still play it for you”. 

9.) Separate- Pvris @thisispvris

     I’d imagine that swimming underneath an iceberg sounds like this song. Pvris (pronounced like Paris not p-virus or puh-vris) makes some super spooky but beautiful things. And can we talk about “There’s always been a disconnect/Running from my heart to my head/And no it’s never made much sense” as well as “Pull away the world from me I don’t mind/As long as they don’t separate you from me I’ll be fine”. It’s almost the opposite of Clean, but in a good way. This entire album has got some killer outros btw.

10.) Burn it Down- Daughter 

      Elena Tonra from Daughter is SUCH a GREAT lyricist. You, her, and Julien are probably the best lyricists that I know of honestly. Plus, her, Remi, and Igor as a band make some DOPE soundscapes that you can get actually physically lost in. “Always said I was a good kid/Always said I had a way with words/Never knew I could be speechless/Don’t know how I’ll ever break this curse”. They wrote this album for a video game soundtrack, but the one before this one Not to Disappear is lyrically so powerful I cry every time I see them live lol.

11.) Trainwreck- Banks

     Banks is a bad ass bitch and I think you and her would get along swimmingly. Also perhaps invite her to sing this with you on the rep tour?? (hint hint wink wink) “Born to take care of you, or I thought so/Maybe it was just a phase” It’s like an updated more sonically banging Dear John imo

12.) Helicopter- Deerhunter

     Back on the soundscape train Deerhunter just sounds cool as shit. The lyrics to this one are story-based and talk about some guy who was a victim of human trafficking. BUT Bradford Cox makes it sound cerebral and plucky.

13.) Deadcrush- alt-J

     I love this song cause it has the coolest premise. It’s about the Dead Crushes of the band members. So like, dead people that the band members admire. The crushes are Anne Boleyn and Lee Miller. I particularly enjoy the music video for this song which is weird as all hell. The pulsing beat that drives this song is something that I think you would appreciate, Taylor. This is one of the songs where it feels more like the words are meant to be a part of a music rather than their own separate piece if that makes sense.

14.) SGL- Now, Now @nownowband

     SGL stands for “Shot Gun Lover” and holy heck does this lyrically resemble some of your stuff! Sign me the fuck up for “Starry-eyed/I was young and undone/But I could’ve died/With you there in the sun”. I’ve been listening to this band for almost as long as I’ve listened to you but they recently got a more pop sound and I am LIVING for it

15.) Lose Myself- From Indian Lakes @fromindianlakes

     I saw on your playlist that you like Cigarettes After Sex and so I thought you might also enjoy the recent stuff by From Indian Lakes. This is the kind of song you listen to when driving home from a date. Ponder closely, “Am I the worm on a lover’s hook/And now I’m right where I’m supposed to be/But something still feels wrong with me”

16.) You and I (stripped version)- Pvris

     Pvris gets to be on here twice cause they are that good sorry but I don’t make the rules (wait yes I do). The lyrics here also remind me of you and how we all just have way too many feelings and our best shot at figuring things out is through writing about them. You and I is about a love that’s not working but that is still desperately wanted, “I know it’s cold when we’re apart/And I hate to feel this die/But  you can’t give me what I want/Just give it time”. Listen to this stripped version to hear how beautiful and lilting Lynn’s voice is and listen to the full band version to hear how much of a powerhouse her voice can be.

17.) Jesus Christ- Brand New

     Yes another Brand New song. You know why? Cause they are also fucking amazing. Taylor, I recommend you listen to this song while lying in your bed staring up at the ceiling and thinking “How the hell did I get here, and how the hell am I gonna leave?” (here can be anywhere, your hotel room, you home, this universe). The next time you read a shitty headline about you in a tabloid think about the lyrics, “We all got wood and nails/And we turn out hate in factories/We all got wood and nails/And we sleep inside of this machine”

18.) Townie- Mitski @whoismitski

     “I want a love that falls as fast as a body from the balcony/And I want a kiss like my heart is hitting the ground/I’m holding my breath with a baseball bat though I don’t know what I’m waiting for/I’m not gonna be who my daddy wants me to be”…… do I need to say anything else? Hopefully you’ve already heard some of Mitski’s stuff cause she’s gonna be on tour with your homegirl @lordemusic this next spring!

19.) Pigpen- Slothrust

     Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with the post-chorus riff from this song in my head. Taylor, the lyrics I’d want you to hear the most from this one are; “I would spread my wings/If they weren’t so god damn heavy/Yeah I would spread my wings/If they weren’t coated in honey” 

And that’s everyone!! I hope you liked at least one of these songs @taylorswift . Love you eternally and catch you on the flipside!!!

[cancatervation]

favourite music 2017

The affording of enormous weight to barely concealed fragility and vulnerability; when I pore over the contents of my iTunes from the last twelve or so months it’s plainly apparent that this is the hill I’ve elected to die on. Almost all the albums I found myself infatuated with at some point or another in 2017 meditated upon desire, the transience of romance, and the anguish that often accompanies its pursuit.

I’m acutely aware of how oddly this contrasts with my own life, which for the past almost-two-years has been romantically fulfilling in the way that my previous 25 absolutely weren’t. On this, I would say two things. First, that stability is elusive even (maybe especially?) for the most outwardly rose-coloured of us, and that maintaining relationship hygge takes compromise and is not easy, and for those reasons feelings of vulnerability are never far from the front of my mind; and, second, that it’s testament to the skill of certain songwriters and performers that their work was able to make this gay-ass conventionalist really feel something every now and again last year.

I wouldn’t want to suggest that I only just worked out that the theatrical presentation of desire is something I’m drawn to, but certainly there were some things in the past year that I really did begin to understand. Theatricality is often used in a critical sense as pejorative; something that is too extra, that goes too far, that is all tell and no show. Despite its predisposition towards excess, musical theatre has, for instance, always played out as sterile and spurious to me. (Sorry. And look at it this way, you don’t ever need to worry about getting me tickets to Hamilton). It’s so dramatic that it becomes too dramatic; your self-awareness isn’t allowed the chance to be suspended, even for a moment. An album like Lorde’s Melodrama makes its intentions apparent before you’ve even heard a note of it, but its theatrics (and there are many - think of the wailed chorus of “Writer In The Dark”, the gory car crash of “Homemade Dynamite”, the bridge in “Supercut” that accelerates like you’re on a bike rushing down a hill) are as easily consumed by sitting silently in tears as they are dancing, or walking, or lifting heavy weights, or running up a hill (to make or not to make a deal with God), or lying in blissful supta baddha konasana. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that hyperemotional vulnerability is for all seasons and for all hours of the day and I am now happy to welcome it into every aspect of my life.

I wrote over fifty blurbs for various songs on the Singles Jukebox last year. Some I loved, some I hated, what’s new. I wrote a blurb for “Praying”, Kesha’s first solo single in nearly five years, which turned out to be both the highest scoring song on the site for 2017 and the champion of my personal “list”. I sort of said all this already on the Jukebox, but my love for “Praying” lies nearly entirely in the way Kesha leans so heavily into her aphorisms, finding new ways to bring profundity to ostensibly simple lines like “I’m proud of who I am”. (Contrast this with most of Taylor Swift’s 2017 work, which forewent specific detail in favour of portentously loaded maxim, but forgot about nuance and came up mostly dry). When Kesha punctuates her sermon with a thunderous kick drum, it’s basically game over. As the stories of survivors of sexual assault, abuse and harassment began to dominate news media in the second half of the year, the song only gathered further resonance.  

Lorde’s album held court as my favourite for most of the year. A promo image released by Kelela at the beginning of August threatened a coup. The odds shortened a few days later upon the release of its lead single and the arrival of the full album at the beginning of October marked the tangible takeover. Take Me Apart is all juxtaposition, which when applied to albums is often code for jumbled quagmire, but here there’s too much attention to detail, steadfastness of narrative, and, er, feeling, to get mixed up in anything like that. It see-saws between playful flirting, introspection, self-acceptance, control, loss of control, falling slowly through the sky, and falling fast through the abyss. I love it so much. It’s also very queer and very Black. Support Black queer art! Especially when it’s this well crafted.

Aside from all THAT, my favourite things in music last year were Moses Sumney’s Tiny Desk Concert, attending the Lorde show in the Botanic Gardens,  the line “every single day I fight another war; every single night I feel more powerful!” in Rina Sawayama’s “Take Me As I Am”, and Rihanna telling Diplo his music sounded like a “a reggae song at an airport”.

My ten favourite songs of 2017 were:

1. Kesha “Praying” - as above and here;

2. Lorde “Green Light” - see here. The score given, however, is wrong. Add another point.

3. Sigrid “Strangers” - see here. I can’t wait until she’s everywhere and everyone knows her; her potential to me scans as “unlimited / infinite / fucking enormous, if it must be quantifiable”.

4. MUNA “I Know a Place”. The album version is acceptable but I’m also partial to this live one, which involves some changes to the lyrics.

5. Tove Lo “Disco Tits”. Like a wonky, filthy Kylie B-side played underwater.

6. Kelela “Turn To Dust”. Refer also to the first set of songs below. She didn’t play this at her concert this week, which is lucky, because otherwise its title may have proved prophetic.

7. Nilüfer Yanya “Baby Luv” - see here. See also dirgey diatribe above re: vulnerability.

8. Rae Morris “Do It” - I’ve become more and more besotted with this as time has passed and am not sure whether I’m most impressed by a) the wordplay b) the ping-ponging percussion in the second verse c) the subtle yet giant switch-up halfway through d) the soaring vocals or e) managing all of the above in less than 3 and a half minutes.

9. Rina Sawayama “Alterlife” - it did not take me long to request for lamination of a stan card for a popstar who loves key changes and here deftly incorporates influences as diverse as the Need For Speed soundtrack, Samantha Mumba and Madonna at her glassiest.

10. Tove Styrke “Mistakes” - see here. I’m ready for her to run away with 2018, in or out of a wedding dress.

Aside from those, here are some other songs I enjoyed in 2017, variously categorised and (with the “top 10″) collected in a Spotify playlist, located here:

Songs that can make you feel like you’re floating slowly heavenward

Björk “Arisen My Senses”

Charli XCX “Track 10”

Julie Byrne “Natural Blue”

Julien Baker “Appointments”

Moses Sumney “Quarrel”

Rae Morris “Do It (Nico Muhly Dance Remix)”

Sampha “(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano”

Sevdaliza “Loves Way”

Slowdive “Slomo”

St. Vincent “Slow Disco”

Susanne Sundfør “Undercover”

Dance music that I barely pay any attention to throughout the calendar year and then become unusually enthusiastic about come end-of-year-list season

Bicep “Vale”

Gerd Janson x Shan "Surrender”

Honey Dijon “Catch The Beat”

Jad & The “Strings That Never Win”

Kink “Perth”

Minor Science “Volumes”

Octo Octa “Adrift (Avalon Emerson’s Furiously Awake Version)”

Shanti Celeste “Make Time”

SW. “Untitled B2”

The xx “On Hold (Jamie xx Remix)”

Yaeji “Raingurl”

Songs for the summer gloaming

Charlotte Day Wilson “Doubt”

Daniel Caesar “Blessed”

Frank Ocean “Chanel”

Jessie Ware “Stay Awake, Wait For Me”

Ladi6 “Guru”

Rachel Foxx “Happen To Me”

Sampa The Great “Bye River”

Sevyn Streeter “Before I Do”

Syd “Body”

Tyler, The Creator “Garden Shed feat. Estelle”

Plaintive songs for grey afternoon walks

Alvvays “Dreams Tonite”

Amandla Stenberg “Let My Baby Stay”

HAIM “You Never Knew”

Kehlani “Advice”

Khalid “Winter”

Lana Del Rey “Love”

Laura Marling “Next Time”

Paramore “Forgiveness”

Perfume Genius “Die 4 You”

St. Vincent “Happy Birthday, Johnny”

SZA “Prom”

Taylor Swift “New Year’s Day”

Best bangers

Amber Mark “Heatwave”

Charli XCX “Lipgloss feat. Cupcakke”

Charli XCX “Porsche feat. MØ”

Charlotte Gainsbourg “Deadly Valentine”

Charly Bliss “Glitter”

Drake “Get It Together feat. Jorja Smith & Black Coffee”

Dua Lipa “New Rules”

Haiku Hands “Not About You”

Ibibio Sound Machine “Give Me A Reason”

ionnalee “Samaritan”

J. Balvin x Willy William “Mi Gente feat. Beyoncé”

J. Hus “Did You See”

Jessie Ware “Your Domino”

Jorja Smith x Preditah “On My Mind”

Kah-Lo “Fasta”

Kelela “Truth Or Dare”

Kendrick Lamar “LOYALTY. feat. Rihanna”

Kllo “Last Yearn”

Leikeli47 “Miss Me”

Lorde “Sober”

Maliibu Miitch “4AM”

Miguel “Banana Clip”

Nite Jewel “2 Good 2 Be True”

Paramore “Hard Times”

Phoenix “J-Boy”

Rina Sawayama “Take Me As I Am”

Ronika “Better Than Ever”

Rose Elinor Dougall “All At Once”

Sigrid “Don’t Kill My Vibe”

Stormzy “Big For Your Boots”

The Horrors “Something To Remember Me By”

Tove Lo “Shedontknowbutsheknows”

Whethan “love gang feat. Charli XCX”

Wolf Alice “Don’t Delete The Kisses”

Finally, here are thirty albums I loved last year. Onwards and upwards!

1. Kelela Take Me Apart

2. Lorde Melodrama

3. SZA Ctrl

4. Fever Ray Plunge

5. Charly Bliss Guppy

6. Wolf Alice Visions Of A Life

7. Rina Sawayama RINA

8. Jessie Ware Glasshouse

9. Tove Lo Blue Lips

10. Charli XCX Pop 2

11. MUNA about u

12. Moses Sumney Aromanticism

13. Sevdaliza ISON

14. St Vincent MASSEDUCTION

15. Susanne Sundfør Music For People In Trouble

16. Ibeyi Ash

17. Sampa The Great Birds & The Bee9

18. Kink Playground

19. Daniel Caesar Freudian

20. Bicep Bicep

21. Sophia Kennedy - Sophia Kennedy

22. Miguel War & Leisure

23. Laura Marling Semper Femina

24. Ibibio Sound Machine Uyai

25. Jen Cloher Jen Cloher

26. Dua Lipa Dua Lipa

27. The xx I See You

28. Honey Dijon The Best Of Both Worlds

29. Kesha Rainbow

30. Leikeli47 Wash & Set