Most Played of January

January, music-wise, was a bit of a mix. There have been new releases that've grabbed my attention, new favourites from recommendations, as well as rediscoveries of old loves. Here's a run-down of my most-played music from January.

Don Broco - Come Out to LA

When Don Broco brought out Automatic in the summer of 2015, I was really into it. Since that release though, I just stuck to lo listening that album and didn't take much notice of singles they brought out in 2017. 

However, a friend who's a fan of the band recommended Come Out To LA to me at the start of the month and I absolutely love it. It's true to their alt-rock sound heard on Automatic but heavier with an insanely catchy chorus. I've since listened to those releases I missed - Technology, Stay Ignorant and T-Shirt Song - and am well and truly back on the Don Broco-hype.

joan

Synth-pop-duo joan were recommended to me by a work colleague at the start of the month, and as soon as she said 'They're very The 1975-y, you'd love them Laura' I hopped straight on Spotify to have a listen.  I view The 1975 as quite a unique band in their own league with their own sound: hard to compete with or replicate. However I believe joan have done it well, with their sounds being similar with similar elements, but they're also great in it's own right.

There's only 3 singles on there, tokyo, love somebody like you and take me on, and they're all super catchy with an 80s-pop twang thrown in. All 3 singles were released last year, and I'm hopeful they bring out more stuff soon as I'm sure I'll love it.

Airways - Reckless Tongue

There's a Spotify playlist called Walk Like a Badass - a great playlist by the way and very true to it's name - and Reckless Tongue by Airways is on it. The band are very indie-rock and I'm a huge fan on this song, musically (being similar to Arctic Monkeys) and lyrically (Jamie T-esque). Since discovering Reckless Tongue, I've listened to their other stuff and I'm really liking that too.

Side-note: I'm loving discovering new music via playlists and Daily Mixes on Spotify - I made the move from Apple Music a couple months back and definitely prefer Spotify for how it recommends and compiles music tailored to you and your tastes. 

Troye Sivan - My My My!

Back when I was in college, I was glued to YouTube, and one guy I used to watch was Troye Sivan. South-African, baby-faced and charming, I loved his comedy and singing videos. Since then, I'd not heard much from him but recently saw My My My! pop up in the charts and decided to have a listen.  Previously, I'd only listened to Happy Little Pill, a song from his 2014 EP TRXYE, and My My My! is similar, having a catchy, ambient electro-dance-pop (Spotify's very long but accurate description) sound but it's more refined and mature; I'm a huge fan.

Similar to Don Broco, I missed out some releases from Troye, so am now looking forward to going back and listening to his 2015 release Blue Neighbourhood, his first deluxe album.

The Neighbourhood - Scary Love

If you've read my Tub Tunes post, you'll know I love The Neighbourhood. I love how diverse their music is, ranging from ambient-rock and R&B, to pop-rock and hip-hop. After listening to their EPs and albums all of last year, I'm super excited that they're bringing out new stuff. The new EP To Imagine was released early Jan, but Scary Love (my favourite on the EP) was released as a pre-release single in December of last year. 

Scary Love is a classic The Neighbourhood song, being modern-rock with elements of R&B. But it's also very fresh and different to their other stuff too, with a dancey-beat layered beneath the ambient vocals. I've actually just got tickets to see them at All Points East in London in June, and the excitement is real.

 Paramore - Looking Up

Finally, an oldie which I rediscovered this month. At the start of the month, I finally got to see Paramore live (see top of post) and it was as incredible as I anticipated. With it being the After Laughter tour and that album making my list of favourites from last year, I was super excited to see those songs live alongside their older stuff. In the weeks running up to the gig, I listened back to the rockier pop-punk albums which I hadn't for a while and remembered how much I love Looking Up from the brand new eyes album.

It's a fun, upbeat rock number with strong uplifting vocals from Hayley. I never hear many talk about this song and I think it's super underrated, alongside Where the Lines Overlap (the song which follows Looking Up on the album).

I've popped these into a small playlist on Spotify...

Here's to good music in February!