Spotify Wrapped is back! Another year, another playlist of songs that summed up how our year had been. Music always has the power to evoke emotions and memories. Jayme Law, a student from TP, has a hobby of making playlists to reminisce about the past or to pull a joke on her friend. Read more in our article below and keep a lookout for her song recommendations!
“And you call me up again just to break me like a promise
So casually cruel in the name of being honest
I'm a crumpled up piece of paper lying here
'Cause I remember it all, all, all too well”
- Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift, right now, the craze. Re-recording her good old 6 albums that were managed by Big Machine Records before. Even if it was just her old songs, people flocked to listen to them, songs like “All Too Well” . Why? It hits home way too hard, brings back the memories, the pain of a breakup and as humans, we love to revisit those emotions, which is rather weird. This is probably why I like making playlists—to revisit old emotions of mine despite there not being a need to.
Making a playlist is probably one of my favourite things to do in the world. Having twenty playlists myself, I enjoy categorizing my playlists according to my mood or the things I want to do.
For example, there is a playlist named “youtube music” which is literally as it is, meant for copyright free music for use in my video editing pursuits.
There is also a playlist named “somedays i think about you” , where I put sad breakup songs to reminisce about relationships gone by and the pain of separation.
Recently, I made this playlist for my friend Fei Xuan, and I named it “find feixuan a gf” mainly because of an inside joke where he wanted to find a girlfriend for a long time. I also hoped that one day, this playlist would help him find a girlfriend because he would be able to share similar tastes in music and recommend music to people. Humorously, I just kept adding songs to it and even Fei Xuan himself wanted his playlist to be 14 hours long, like my studying playlist (“GPA 4.0”).
Like “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift (the 10 minute version), I added songs because I felt it not only pleased me musically but also lyrically. In this playlist, there are a variety of genres, such as Punk Rock, Pop, R&B, Rap, Korean music, which I felt would expose Fei Xuan to a couple of genres that he might like. So far, I think he is pretty satisfied with my choices, and has told me he has overplayed that playlist and could predict the songs coming up next if he doesn’t shuffle (ergh). But out of the 250 songs on that playlist, here are 5 songs from different genres you should listen to.
1. Insecure - Bren Joy, Pink Sweat$
Genre: R&B/Soul
David Bowden, currently known as Pink Sweat$, released this soulful song that listeners would want to play over and over again on a loop. Together with the electric guitar lines and their combination of voices, it certainly makes me want to listen to it on a loop when I’m walking to a destination and the wind is blowing, the sun is not too harsh, and I’m in a comfortable fit.
Listen to Insecure by Pink Sweat$ on Spotify.
2. Tomorrow - JORDY, OSTON
Genre: Pop
A Lauv and Troye Sivan combination, JORDY is certainly an artist to look out for. This track offers a fresh insight into JORDY and OSTON’s feelings that people can relate to.
“But I'm busy chasing tomorrow
I'm eating and sleeping and breathing and living tomorrow
Got me thinking that it would be different if it was tomorrow
I'm hoping and pleading that I might feel better tomorrow
But when is tomorrow?”
- Lyrics from Tomorrow
Listen to Tomorrow by JORDY, OSTON on Spotify.
3. 我就想你 - 理想混蛋
Genre: Chinese
“我就想你” or also known as “Miss You So…” in English, is a light track that highlights the regrets that the singer has in a relationship yet hopes to one day believe in love again.
This song is sorrowful but hopeful, pushing us to a much cheerful future where all the things he described would happen again with someone he loves.
Listen to 我就想你 - 理想混蛋 on Spotify.
4. Tomorrow Tonight - Loote
- Tomorrow Tonight - Loote
Genre: Electropop
This track gets you in the feels when you're out on a night and see so many couples on their date night, and you start thinking about why you ended things and why, why, you’re unable to get over this certain someone when the other party moves on so quickly.
Nevertheless, Loote has got it all figured out in this song (or not).
Listen to tomorrow tonight by Loote on Spotify
5. It's Not Living (If It's Not With You) - The 1975
Genre: Alternative/Indie
This lyrical genius of a song brings joy to any listener uplifts the spirits and well, you know the magic of Matty Healy’s voice.
Surprisingly, the track talks about Matty’s heroin addiction, which he would have never written about if he did not come clean.
“And all I do is sit and think about you
If I knew what you'd do
Collapse my veins, wearing beautiful shoes
It's not living, if it's not with you”
- Lyrics from It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)
Listen to It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You) on Spotify
So, these are my song recommendations if you’re looking for songs that are not usually in the genre you listen to. Feel free check out my other songs in my playlist, “find feixuan a gf”. Happy listening!
Read our related articles ‘Songs That Brought Us Through 2020 - Episode 1’ and ‘Songs That Brought Us Through 2020 - Episode 2’ for a throwback and a wave of nostalgia!
