You didn’t miss anything—check out 667 wasted, 668 thank you, 669 like a dream to me now, 670 see through me, 671 the thing i knew as love, 672 i’ll be honest, and 673 saw your heart.
This year it would seem I went a little too hard in the paint—I’m going to overshoot my goal of one hundred playlists by a mile. I’m currently working on 684 and it’s only September. For reference, this time last year I was making 558 too good for me.
Music has just been sounding so good. Everything is sharper and bolder, in high definition. Even softer releases like Florist’s Florist (2022) have felt more intense, drawn in deeper blues, greens, and browns. Every new obsession results in a new playlist, which is how I’ve found myself in my current predicament. I’m not sure if I’ll try to land on a specific, significant number, like I did with 365 where this goes, or if I’ll just let the process take its own time, let it breathe despite my intense urge to apply some arbitrary but highly prescriptive measure.
This playlist took nearly a month to complete because no one is doing it like The 1975 is doing it right now. “Happiness” was an instantaneous fixation; I’ve been waiting for the return of this version of The 1975 since I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (2016). In that month, I had “Happiness” in an IV, wracking my brain constantly for different directions I could take to find nine other songs that would round out a playlist.
I decided that the unifying factor would be the bigness of the songs, rather than any real shared sonic element. This song has that nostalgic expansive sound, sound that feels like a huge display of emotion; Matty Healy is once again in love:
She showed me what love is
Now I'm acting like I know myself
Oh, in case you didn't notice
I’d go blind just to see you
Go too far just to have you near
After moping for two (admittedly excellent, genre-defying) albums, he’s finally back with some of the greatest pop music being produced right now. He’s eccentric, to say the least—a chronic oversharer, foot-in-his-mouth, contradictory by definition, opinionated to a fault. I look up to him a lot. Being Funny in a Foreign Language (2022) is my most anticipated album of this year by far.
In their twenty year career, Tegan and Sara have explored just about every possible genre. After discovering their music from The Con (2007) era, it was strange and beautiful to watch their evolution into a pop duo. Singles from their upcoming project Crybaby (2022) indicate that they are returning to their roots, but I thoroughly enjoyed their foray into massive synth-driven songs.
The music video for “Dying to Know” was announced via an exclusive Billboard premiere article in which Tegan casually tells the interviewer that neither she nor Sara can drive, reinforcing perhaps the most baffling but dependable stereotype about gays.
I was as surprised as the rest of you to discover that I had yet to use “Human” in a playlist. I think it’s become so much of a meme that I almost forgot that it’s actually kind of a banger. The lyrics make absolutely zero sense and for once, I simply do not care. The gibberish almost elevates the euphoric experience of the chorus, the complete lack of gravity when you’re astral projected to whatever plane The Killers exist on.
I pose to you a question cribbed from Neko Case’s newsletter: how does music feel today? Is everyone feeling especially moved by sound right now? Can anyone explain why I feel like I’m on drugs when I listen to “Cruel Summer?” All theories are welcome, please and thank you.
I'm not sure why, but everything sounds brighter right now, as if it's had an IG filter applied. it all seems cleaner, clearer, and with higher resolution- even when listening to lesser quality audio.
As for Cruel Summer? I'm probably the wrong person to ask; I had a whole Bananarama-related answer in my head until I realized which song you were actually talking about. if that's not a "tell" on how old I am, I don't know what is.
lastly; I kinda like moody Matt Healy. "Love it If We made it" is absolutely amazing, It's also not the sort of song one makes when their heart is full.
Last Thursday, my favorite artist Matt Maeson (as opposed to favorite band) released his sophomore album, Never Had To Leave. Since then I’ve listened to this album probably twice a day. The thing about Matt Maeson is that all his songs are either bangers with lyrics that are thought provoking and really sad, cathartic big songs with bridges that will destroy your life, or dark ballads about drugs and self destruction. The funny thing is though, there is a thread of redemption and hope through everything he writes. I relate to the feelings of music a concerning amount. He has a way of making specific experiences feel universal. So lately to me music feels like hitting rock bottom and picking yourself back up and learning to have relationships with people again. It’s a hard feeling, but satisfying.
And as for why Cruel Summer makes you feel like you’re on drugs, I am similarly trying to figure out how Lana Del Rey put actual weed into Brooklyn Baby, so I can’t help you😆