2020 is nearly over! Praise be! While what’s in store for next year is still very much undecided (and admittedly not looking the most promising) it’s still important to celebrate little victories, and find positives in any way you can. Music has really helped me escape this year, and creating this blog has been a good outlet for me to express that love for all music has done for me. ‘In all your gorgeous colours’ comes from ex One Direction-er Niall Horan in his track Black and White. Horan’s vocals are impressive here and reminds us that Mr Harry Styles isn’t the only one we should all be drooling over. In a year which has been pretty dull and grey, I’m grateful for all the gorgeous colours.
Keep scrolling to read more about my final playlist of the year!
MARINA – Man’s World
Last month singer-songwriter MARINA (formerly Marina and the Diamonds) dropped a dreamy new track from what we can only assume is from an upcoming new album. The song is called Man’s World, and is an uplifting middle-finger to the patriarchy that still dominates today’s society, specifically highlighting struggles women and LGBTQIA+ communities have felt, and still continue to feel despite how far we’ve come. However the song doesn’t feel like an onslaught, but is in fact more of a commentary that satisfyingly reminds us all we still have a long way to go.
Misterwives – Colouring Outside The Lines
After American indie pop band MisterWives (who I first fell in love with after discovering their smash hit Reflections a couple of years ago) dropped their latest album SUPERBLOOM in July of this year, I found myself trawling through their back catalogue to see if there were any nuggets of music glory I had missed. Sure enough there was, and this month I’m loving Colouring Outside The Lines, taken from their 2017 LP Connect The Dots. The song is all about living in the moment and making your own mark on the world, with ‘colouring outside the lines’ being a metaphor for freedom and self-expression. Mandy Lee on lead vocals creates a dreamy, alternative, positive pop sound that will have you humming the tune all day. If you don’t know this group yet, you won’t regret giving them a listen.
KC Lights – Girl
Up next is something slightly different, but a song that has become an unexpected favourite of not just the month, but the year. It comes in the form of Scottish electronic producer KC Lights, with Girl, released this year. Citing Disclosure and Gorgon City as influences, this up-and-coming producer shows a lot of promise if this track is anything to go by. It takes me back to Barcelona circa. 2018, the days when we could party without fear and just let loose and enjoy the music. In a year in which this has been nigh-on impossible, I’ve loved turning this one up and dancing in my bedroom. (photo @KC_Lights on Twitter)
NEEDTOBREATHE – Hang On
Spotify introduced me to the band NEEDTOBREATHE this month, a band who released their first album way back in 2006! Fourteen years later and Hang On is taken from their seventh effort, entitled Out Of Body. The song is an uplifting one, about running with the positive, and trying to live those moments wholeheartedly and unapologetically. Lead vocalist Bear Rinehart adds a gorgeous tone to this track that has left me wondering where this band has been all my life. Expect more ravings from me, about them, in 2021.
Tom Grennan – Something Better
UK musician Tom Grennan teased us with music from his upcoming new album this month, with track Something Better. His unique and identifiable voice on this one makes it a certifiable BOP, citing gospel and soul music as inspirations for his pending second studio album. The sound uses those influences well but still manages to make it something fresh and exciting. With one UK Top 5 album already under his belt, can he manage a second? If Something Better is anything to go by, the future looks bright for this up-and-coming star.
*Special Mention – Taylor Swift*
Taylor Swift continues to make us all feel terrible about how little we’ve achieved in lockdown, by releasing a second album in five months?! evermore is described as folklore’s sister album, featuring another host of stripped back, guitar and piano-led ditties, as well as input from HAIM, The National, and Bon Iver once again. I can’t pretend I haven’t been enjoying this record from Swift, potentially more than it’s predecessor, as two tracks (dorothea and happiness) are in this month’s playlist and I’m loving them. Congrats Taylor for once again making history and breaking records left, right, and centre. You’re putting the rest of us to shame.
If you liked these, check out my other articles from this year, and follow me on Spotify. Much more coming in the New Year! Bring on 2021!
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