Newer Sounds 🎶

What are you listening to?

Hello!

In a bid to focus my attention on things other than certain world events taking place, I wanted to share a musical post.

And I’d love to know what you are listening to!

Enjoy,

Sarah

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The other day I opened up the music app on my phone and was confronted by a bunch of album covers depicting my most recent music choices. It turns out that I listen to a lot of the same stuff… again and again.

Yes, music streaming services have made searching for an artist/song/album easier, but making a choice amongst all of (forgive me) the noise can be overwhelming. That’s why I often return to or fall back on firm musical favourites; the songs and artists where I know most, if not all of the lyrics, where I know about the forthcoming key change, and what the next song is on the album.

So, in an attempt to branch out, I have been trying to listen to some newer sounds. The small selection here are not necessarily new new, but they are more recent than the late-90s/early 20s stuff that I tend to put on.

Baby steps, right?

Is there anything new(er) that you would recommend me and others to listen to?

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First Aid Kit - Stay Gold (2014)

Case in point here! This song was released in 2014, and I discovered First Aid Kit a matter of months ago. Upon first hearing the ethereal voices of Johanna and Klara Söderberg, I genuinely thought that they were American. Plus, their music has country-vibes (ignorant Western assumption on my part, I know). But I have since realised how their music is much richer in texture too. Highly recommend.

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Jungle - Back on 74 (2023)

My husband introduced me to the band Jungle earlier this year. Their music is described as a neo-soul/funk/disco, and I absolutely love it. Jungle’s sound echos some of the funk artists that I grew up listening to (notably, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Average White Band, and Prince). Also, the music videos are spectacular. Check them out if you can.

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Beyonce - TEXAS HOLD ‘EM (2024)

What can I say? It’s Beyonce. Although I know that I am inviting some criticism here, but I didn’t particularly enjoy her last dance-focused album (Renaissance), so I was intrigued when it was announced her newer work would have country influences. Also, I have never found a Beyonce album that I would choose to listen to all the way through, preferring to cut to her lead singles, but I have with this. I think this is some of her best work since ‘I am… Sasha Fierce’.

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Seventeen - Very Nice (originally released in 2016)

To be upfront, I don’t generally listen to a lot of K-pop, but after watching Seventeen perform at Glastonbury this year (just online, I wasn’t there in person, unfortunately), I found myself bopping along. Yes, I am old and will refer to my dancing as bopping. A massive band quite literally, but what a show they put on for the audience!

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The Knocks - Brazilian Soul (Feat. Sofi Tukker) (2019)

The Knocks are a band that I have been listening for nearly a decade, but I had not come across Sofi Tukker (consisting of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern) before hearing this collaboration. During the final portion of the song, if I close my eyes, I am right there on a beach in Brazil drinking a cocktail.

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And finally, a current song!

I was in my first year at university when Sophie Ellis-Bextor (a woman with some of the sharpest cheekbones I have ever seen) released Murder on the Dancefloor. Memories of dancing on sticky carpets come to mind and drinking inappropriate amounts of sambuca - ugh.

I know that MOTD experienced a recent renaissance when it was included in the film Saltburn (which I have not seen). Anyway, SEB has released what feels like a MOTD follow-up, but it is a fantastic song in its own right. And the bonus is that it is a very new song to add to my playlist!

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