Hello everyone, and welcome to my next installment of my monthly playlist series. If this is your first time joining me, I like to post a playlist each month with music that I’m currently listening to or that I’ve discovered recently, both new and old. This month I’m changing it up as I’m doing a double playlist to cover April and May. During the next few weeks I’m pretty busy and not sure if I’ll be able to released a May playlist on time, so I’m doing a double this month instead! I’m still gonna try release some special playlist of some sort in May though, so keep an eye out for that.
Anyways, let’s jump into the playlist!
Like most playlists, I started off with a couple of my current favorite songs. Don’t Take The Money (1) has easily been my go-to song since its release two weeks ago. Bleachers has consistently been one of my favorite bands since a few years ago and I was ecstatic when they released a new (amazing!) song finally. Bonus feature: listen for guest vocals by Lorde towards the end.
Ave María (2) is a famous early 2000s Latin pop song by Spaniard David Bisbal that I had heard plenty of times before in bars but never knew the name of. After I finally figured out the name I’ve been constantly walking through the streets of Madrid humming it to myself. While on the topic of Spanish music, I also included the Malú ballad A Prueba de Tí (26), who you might remember from last month’s playlist with Blanco y Negro.
Girl At Coachella (3) has been another favorite of mine. It’s a collaboration between Matoma, one of my favorite tropical house DJs (who I included on my very first playlist back in August) and MAGIC!, the band responsible for that somewhat-annoying 2014 hit Rude . And while this particular song doesn’t have the typical Matoma sound listeners are used to, it’s still extremely catchy summer anthem with playful lyrics about the perils of falling for a girl at Coachella only to be left behind after the festival ends.
Both The Wire (4) and Honey & I (16) are songs from HAIM, the LA-based pop rock trio of sisters. Although I had discovered and liked The Wire a few years ago, for whatever reason I never gave their 2013 debut album Days Are Gone a listen until recently and began wondering why I hadn’t sooner. When listening to HAIM you can get a similar feeling as Fleetwood Mac, a sentiment both myself and many critics have pointed out in the past.
One of the albums I’ve been listening to recently has been Mansionz, the debut for album for duo Mansionz, composed of Mike Posner and Blackbear. A hip-hop duo that throws in elements of electronic, R&B, and pop, they hit the scene with a bang with debut single Dennis Rodman (5), which features an outro rap by Rodman himself. I also included Wicked (11) and My Beloved (23), two of my other favorites, although the whole album is worth a listen.
Another album that just got released was the Chainsmokers’ debut album Memories…Do Not Open. I’ve previously written about my obsession with them and included both Something Like This and Paris on previous playlists (both off this album). This time around, I put Break Up Every Night (6), Honest (13), and The One (27) on the playlist.
Next up on the playlist is Obsession (7), a song by DJ Vice that features vocals from Jon Bellion. Du bist schön (8) is a German song that a friend recently introduced me to. It’s by artist Alligatoah, who I had discovered years ago in Austria through another popular hit of his, Willst du (19), which I also included on the playlist. To round out a trio of German songs, I also added Eine ins Leben (17) by Austrian duo Pizzera & Jaus.
It’s no secret that alt-j is one of my favorite bands out there, and I couldn’t be more excited for their upcoming third album Relaxer. I’ve added both of their singles they’ve released so far. 3WW (9) is my favorite of the two, but In Cold Blood (15) isn’t far behind it in terms of quality. Additionally, sandwiched in the middle of all these artists and albums is The Chain Gang of 1974’s newest single Wildflowers (12).
Another band I’ve been super into recently has been Fleetwood Mac. Growing up, I was exposed to their music a lot through my father, but I rarely listened to them on my own and only knew a few of their most popular hits. These past few months I’ve been listening to more and more 70s music, and they’ve been one of the bands I’ve focused most on exploring. Some of my favorite songs that I’ve discovered so far include Everywhere (10) and Seven Wonders (14) off the 1987 album Tango in the Night, and Don’t Stop (18) off the extremely famous Rumours album.
Next up is a couple more hip-hop and rap songs I’ve been into recently: Kendrick’s recently single HUMBLE. (20), Logic’s also recent single Everybody (22), the previously-mentioned Mansionz songs, and a few songs from The Weeknd. While I’m fairly familiar with The Weeknd’s second and third albums (Beauty Behind The Madness and Starboy, respectively), I had never given his first album Kiss Land a listen. Recently I gave it a try and was surprised to find I might like it the best out of the three. I’ve included Belong To The World (21) and Wanderlust (24) on the playlist.
Towards the end of the playlist we start to chill out with a few relaxing songs. Both Nothing Better (25) and We Will Become Silhouettes (28) are off The Postal Service’s famous album Give Up. For those unaware, The Postal Service was an indie band fronted by Ben Gibbard, known also as the lead vocalist of Death Cab For Cutie. The group only released one album, Give Up, in 2003. At the time, their mellow, synth-based electropop sound was extremely progressive and unique, paving the way for future artists like Owl City and Hellogoodbye. Nowadays, Give Up has retained a cult status and is regarded among both fans and critics as one of the best albums top to bottom of its time. Most people will at least recognize the lead single Such Great Heights, but I decided to throw a couple of my favorites on the playlist that I’ve been listening to recently.
At the end of the playlist is Versace On The Floor (29), a slow ballad from Bruno Mars’ last album 24K Magic, which I (somewhat embarrassingly) find a decent and catchy song. Finally, we come to Bob Dylan’s famous folk song Boots of Spanish Leather (30), which I added slightly for the references to both Madrid and Spain in general, and also because it’s a great folk song to relax to.