January in Music

I recently learned that I was not alone in feeling like January this year lasted upwards of three years. With the last weeks of the Biden presidency to the Inauguration, there were still almost two weeks after the Inauguration occurred. And somehow those final two weeks included breaking news every single one of those days.

But we made it and happy February to all who celebrate. I decided to enjoy the end of an endless month by looking back on the music I discovered in January. For context last year around October, I began making playlists for each month, adding the new music I discovered or some oldies that I re-discovered. I build it up over the course of the month and will usually put a playlist cover of a movie that I watched from that month or early the previous month. For January, I have a picture of Emma Corrin in Nosferatu. It's a chaotic mix of a wide range of different genres, especially this week which features some '70s hits with The Band, Neil Young, and some Allman Brothers Band. And on the other end of the musical spectrum there's 4batz and Summer Walker. It works though and represents the evolution of my listening patterns over just the course of four weeks.

So without further adieu, let's dive right into it.

My top Artists from this past month:

• Bad Bunny: as a surprise to no one, Debí Tirar Más Fotos was the album I listened to the most this past month. It's a beautiful ode to Puerto Rico and a fun mix between Bad Bunny's iconic reggaeton blending in some salsa-type instrumentals to create what I believe to be a perfect 'no skips' album. Artists will have a hard time creating something else that will top this album in my opinion and it'll be a great contender at the Grammy's next year. The album also includes a wide array of malleable sounds with some songs that mesh with a lot of club music and others that are softer and slower odes that balance the sound nicely. My personal favorites are "BAILE INoLVIDABLE" and "NUEVAYoL" although if it's a more melancholy mood "BOKeTE" is a devastatingly beautiful song.

  
  

• Allen Stone: I truly believe he is a sleeper neo-soul pick that has a perfectly funky sound. His newest album, Mystery, has been at the top of my listening history for the past couple of months. He has an amazingly unique voice and that paired with his horn section creates this addictive beat that makes you want to keep coming back for more. My personal favorites from the new album are "Can't Explain This Love," "Memory of You," and "Mystery" but I would honestly recommend listening to the entire album from start to finish. Probably the song he is most well known for, and for good reason, is "Bed I Made" with Alessia Cara. The harmonies are so satisfying to listen to and Cara is such a good addition to this song. In the third chorus of the song, it's difficult to describe in writing, but there's a line, "And all my troubles they fade." Every chorus throughout the song they sing it a bit differently but the final time they sing the line it is in all ways, perfect. They create this perfect arpeggio on just the second syllable of troubles (trou-buh-buh-bles) all while maintaining the harmony that has sustained throughout every chorus preceding it. I could talk about this song until the day I die but instead of boring you more I'll leave you with: just listen to it, please.

  
  

• Remi Wolf: Remi was my top artist of last year and for good reason, she's immensely talented and has the most unique sound out there. She utilizes a lot of different instruments that typically aren't incorporated in alternative music and builds up the sound by recording vocals over and over with slight alterations each time to create a chorus of her voice. Big Ideas is her latest album which came out in July of last year and hands down, the greatest song to come from this album is "Pitiful". The song was composed by Benny Sings (who has done some fantastic collaborations with Remi in the past including their song "Pyjamas") who has also built up these unique instrumentals that can be seen at the beginning of this song. The best way I can attempt to describe it is if an iPhone ringtone is jazzed up. If you ever find yourself listening to Remi though, listen to her older releases. They're a lot more experimental and just a lot of fun to listen to. My personal favorites would be "Guy," "Down The Line," and "Rufufus."

  
  

• Jungle: the New Year's Eve show they did for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest was an amazing performance of their latest album Volcano. I have been obsessed with this album since it came out, I will go on the record and state that I think Volcano is one of the greatest albums made in the past ten years, and the transitions between each song are seamless which just makes it even more enticing to listen to the album from start to finish without any breaks between. In addition, Jungle has also introduced me to the utter and jaw-dropping talent of Will West who is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to dance. The music videos that go alongside each of the songs from Volcano are also meant to be watched in the same order as the album as the plot of the videos is interpreted as a whole and not so much as one-off productions. They're almost cinematic productions that have theories as to what the ulterior meanings may be and the language of the dances, it's fluid just like these transitions, and is just perfectly produced in so many ways.

  
  

• Steve Lacy: my top artist of 2023 after the album Gemini Rights came out. Recently, I have been listening to a lot of his older music which is a lot shorter in length- and similar to Remi- a lot more experimental in the sound. I've been trying to stay in touch with his music since there has been an ongoing rumor, mostly propagated by him, that Steve would be coming out with a new album soon. His Instagram is consistently dropping hints at it, although it's hard to say exactly when a new album will come out from him. His first EP from 2017, simply called Steve Lacy's Demo is such a flawless introduction to his sound with songs like "Some" and "Dark Red" that remain some of his most notorious songs. If you want a good introduction to Steve Lacy, I recommend starting at the beginning. My personal favorites from the demo are "Looks" and "Ryd".

  
  

Ironically only one of these artists is featured on the January '25 playlist since most of them are returning artists in my world of listening. Some of the artists featured the most on this playlist include though are not limited to:

• The Zombies (I had never listened to Begin Here all the way through and listened through this past month, still think the more popular songs are the winners of the album but "I Can't Make Up My Mind" and "The Way I Feel Inside" are honorable mentions that I enjoyed discovering).

• Alice Phoebe Lou (listened to Shelter for the first time this past month and it's perfect, highly recommend it).

• Leith Ross (I knew Leith for "(You) On My Arm" and assumed her general sound was pretty similar, but Motherwell proves that wrong in the most devastating but beautiful way).

• The Cranberries (listened a lot to Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can't We? this past month, specifically discovered "Pretty" which may be a contender for a new Cranberries favorite in my book).

• Kali Uchis (finally listened to the rest of Isolation and loved it).

Favorite Song Discovery of the Month

Favorite New Release this Month