Where were we...music right?
- Adeline
- Jun 24, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 20
Highlighting a few of my recent favorites, some new releases, some old, and other surface-level finds. I've missed sharing music with others and couldn't possibly keep all of these to myself. I hope you find a track or two (preferably all...) to leave with.
Like any other Beta Radio song, "Don't Leave Me Behind" is lyrically fragile and mimics a spring-like newness. I love the pureness in it all, the raw confessions amongst the fingerstyle and violin. I can't help but think of light fracturing when I hear many of the duo's songs. Also, I don't know if it's just me, but anytime an artist has tried to reference the pandemic in their song (I think we all know an artist guilty of it), it just leaves a bad taste or makes me, sigh, cringe. Although, Beta Radio intertwines it seamlessly into the theme of DLMB, making it feel less like an artificial roadblock and more like an inevitable thing of passing time.
"The pandemic outbreak at the end of days
I'm unfurling in the whirlwind when the world's on fire
If I can't tell you, then how could you know?
Our heart's been slowly opening overtime"
When I first tried to get back into writing these, I originally wanted to solely write about one song off of GOY's latest album Angel In Realtime, "Unison". After repeated listens to an album I never thought I'd pursue as a whole, it's become one of my favorites released this year. The one-in-a-million story that lead singer David Le'aupepe brings to the table is truly mind-blowing. I cannot imagine translating such a complex narrative into an album, yet this band manages to do just that in an attractively, cinematic way. Angel in Realtime constantly seeks love, closure, and home amidst a jumble of strong emotions and deception. I came across this orchestral performance for "Spirit Boy", and it drastically transformed the depth of the song and the album as a whole for me. I mean, I genuinely remember going to sleep looking forward to listening to it again the next day.
How normal all the tragic feels
How tragic all the normal is thereafter The laughter The real Enraptured
But anyway, I plan to stay
Attend the weekly football game
Thereafter Thereafter
David Le'aupepe/Gang of Youths have definitely earned a spot on my favorite songwriter's list.
The more you listen to it the deeper of a hole it digs, reflecting the aching progression of essentially a fire. "This House Is On Fire" manages to be so sorrowful in just a few words, with a repeated lyrical structure. The vocals remind me of Matt Berninger, while the belting portion could easily be mistaken for a Kings of Leon song. For fans of The National (first of all, are you okay?), I'd totally recommend this track.
I will never miss out on an opportunity to talk about Joe Vann. This five-track EP felt like an extension of his Found in The Smoke album released last year (one of my all-time favorites). Every element of these songs brings a chill to my skin. The airyness of his voice matched with the roomy acoustic guitar just makes me want an endless spring and summer, or something in between. Last year, Found in The Smoke soundtracked my summer, this year it'll still be that, plus this EP. I'm genuinely lost for words at this radiating collection of reimagined songs. I truly don't think there's any other artist like Joe Vann.
This band was one that snuck up on me. I'm not used to getting recommended music face to face sadly, but this was an evidently successful one. Their riffs remind me of Coldplay, especially those in "Heaven Up There", reflecting those in "In My Place" by CP. Despite the similarities, Palace dives deep to create a distinct sound for themselves. It's really eerie that a band as good could've just been hiding out there, while another world of people just get to bathe in this enchanting rock. It served as a great reminder that I'll never be able to find all the good music, especially on my own. (Thanks Lily)
The indie-experimental, futuristic approach COIN takes on in their fifth album attests to their ability to grow organically with the soundscape around them, without sounding too foreign. I'm going to commit a pet peeve of mine & many others, but I see Uncanny Valley as an equivalent to The 1975's A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, not sound-wise but more so timeline and conceptual-wise. I've loved seeing this band emerge as more than just artists in the musical sense but expanding their albums to being full-scale art projects, something that's becoming super unique to them. "I Think I Met You In a Dream" is the breather within this immersive album. The repeated drum melody with the guitar's strained pitch that creates tension, are like negatives that cancel out to create a chill track.
Midwest Emo has become a fallback genre for me this year. To listen to on a chill afternoon, during a walk in the park, or simply when I don't know what to listen to, it never fails. I feel like this genre, which I've now dubbed "Eternal Fall", does a very good job at turning monotony into something significant, making me appreciate life a bit more. Which is kind of ironic, not sure Midwest Emo does that for many other people. "Acolyte" is a plain and sweet profession of love.
I heard a lot of buzz around Painless when it was released in early March. Midnight Sun's guitar arpeggios remind me a lot of Radiohead and the beat sounds like one Lianne La Havas would take on, someone who also has inspiration from, you guessed it Radiohead. I love how she blends in multiple sounds from various genres, at times it'll feel like you're listening to an R&B track, then to indie pop, and straight back to a grunge song. The sporadic yet cohesive instrumentals will draw you away from the deep writing of hers that you'd otherwise miss if you didn't pull up the lyrics.
Late October 2021, you have an idea of what artists and songs will appear on your wrapped, all your streaming for the year is practically done, right? In comes Christian Lee Hutson and Northsiders, managing to surpass 10 months of listening. In Quitters, Christian Lee Hutson gets even more candid than in Beginners (2020), forcing you to conjure images in your mind. Hutson is the most whimsical singer-songwriter I've ever heard. He knows how to tell this utterly specific, yet elaborate story through his voice and lyrics that just spiral out to create a landscape to play around on with overarching themes. While Beginners still holds supremacy for me, Quitters highlights Hutson's ability to expand outside of acoustics and absolutely kill it.
"And I come from conscience where there is no conjugation
I would rather be a flower than the ocean
And I held myself as something of an innovation
I would rather be devoured than be broken"
"Reach Out", like much of A Beginner's Mind, holds this mystical, fantasy-like exposition. Right from the intro, the song unfurls into a journey toiling with feelings of defiance to exist as something of a whole, out of fear of failing to play the part. My Sufjan Stevens summer came early in April.
I'm no stranger to this band, especially their debut album First Place (2019). I began to revisit my old 2020 playlists and put this album back into my orbit. Everyone has that one song on an album they absolutely love, that's skipped over more often than the others. "Hallways" was one of those for me, but not until this year did it hit with me. I've played it so much these past few months and it is such a gem. Not a lot of songs (things in general, pretty immune to tears...) make me want to tear up out of beauty, but Hallways most definitely does.
As tempting as it was to create this playlist all the way back in April, I held out. Here's my Summer playlist for 2022, updated daily...ish.