Welcome to the next installment of my monthly playlists, where I throw together 15-ish songs that I’m currently listening to! I try to pick music that isn’t already super popular and well known, and usually the songs end up being new music that has been released recently. I’m especially excited about this one, as I’ve been listening to lots of new music recently. If you wanna see any of my past playlists, you can use the search bar or click on the music category above to see all my music playlists. Feel free as always to leave any comments, suggestions, opinions, criticisms, whatever!
Side note: keep an eye out the next few weeks for a couple special music-related posts coming out!
The playlist starts off with DNCE (1), the lead track off of the eponymous debut album by DNCE. DNCE (the band) is fronted by Joe Jonas and is a funk-pop band that (surprise) aims to create upbeat, catchy dance music. They rose to prominence with their single Cake in the Ocean last fall and recently released this full-length debut, which I would be lying if I said I haven’t been playing quite a lot. And yes, their music absolutely does make me want to dance!
DNCE (the song) definitely has a bit of the funk vibe to it and has been my favorite off the album – for now, anyways! I also included Be Mean (5) and Zoom (8) on the playlist. Be Mean is another upbeat song that starts off with a wicked awesome 70s funk guitar riff. Zoom is a bit closer to the ‘generic pop song’ label, but Jonas’ ever-changing vocals, including some falsetto, a wide pitch range, and an accent, make this another one of my favorites off the album. I had issues picking which songs to include off the album, so I definitely would recommend giving the whole album a listen if you have a chance.
Next up is Safari (2), a Spanish song that’s extremely popular here in Spain right now, alongside Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos) (6). I haven’t listened to too much Spanish music in the past month, but these two are definitely catchy and easy to dance to.
I’ve recently started listening to Kanye’s 2016 album The Life of Pablo, although I’m a bit beyond on that trend. It’s one of the two or three albums I’ve been listening to on repeat, and as such, I wanted to include some of my favorites. The album has been critically praised for it’s unpolished, rough nature, something that reminds me of electropop/synthpop groups like Crystal Castles or Purity Ring, which partially explains why I’ve liked it so much.
Fade (3) (featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Post Malone) is my current go-to track from the album with it’s driving bass line and aggressive nature. Feedback (8) is an upbeat song that I primarily like for the clever rap lines. Finally, both FML (11) (featuring The Weeknd) and Real Friends (14) (featuring Ty Dolla $ign again) have that aforementioned rough, unfinished characteristic I mentioned, especially Real Friends, an extremely depressing song that explores themes of trust issues and depression. I won’t turn this post into a review of the album, but one of the reasons I like Kanye is the lyrical themes he often sings about.
Another album that I’ve been listening to recently is Starboy, the third album from hip-hop and RB&B musician The Weeknd. Party Monster (5) exemplifies the style of The Weeknd that I like the most; similar to last year’s hit The Hills, it’s a bit of a dark, twisted song that evokes thoughts of late nights at wild parties. I also ended the playlist with the final song off Starboy, I Feel It Coming (15). This song is extremely laid-back and chill that features French DJ duo Daft Punk (who is also on the eponymous lead single/title track).
The ninth song, The Runners (9), is off of The Naked And Famous’ recent album Simple Forms. The Runners is a perfect example of TNAF’s dreamy synthpop style that I absolute love. Slow (10) is another indietronica song by The Chain Gang of 1974, which is the name of the musical project of Kamtin Mohager. Good side in (12) is another dreamy, poppy indietronica song by The Japanese House, also a solo project. The project is from London musician Amber Bain. I actually saw Bain and her touring band this summer when they opened for The 1975, and they were really good live!
The last song I included is Revelator Eyes (13), which is also the one non-new song on the playlist. It’s from Australian band Paper Kites and I’m absolutely obsessed with this song. My love for the song is only furthered by the amazing music video, which you can catch me watching a couple times a week on average. It’s got this nostalgic 80s vibe to it, and always makes me think of a late night drive with the windows down. I guess this makes sense considering it’s part of a trilogy of music videos named the ‘Midnight trilogy’! I’ve included the music video below for anyone interested in watching it.