Coachella 2022 Re-Cap

Well…I’m back. We did it. Coachella happened and it was as normal as could be. I look back on my time there over the last 4 weeks and feel so grateful for all of it. It’s still as magical as ever. I realized during Coachella how I can be alone on the polo fields and never feel lonely. There’s always something to see and do there. I feel like a lot of festivals are like this, but with Coachella there’s just a comfort for me that doesn’t always exist in other places. The art was great. The fashion was back. The vibes were immaculate and the music was unforgettable. So here’s what I was able to see over the two weekends….

The hype for Weekend 1 lasted from the weekend before I arrived until Day 1 Weekend 1. It was a little chaotic at times on the work front because we had a lack of staff, but my pals and I stepped up to make it work and the team that I did have was amazing. The biggest surprise of Weekend 1 came when the set times were released on Thursday and Arcade Fire was listed for a 6:45 p.m. set at Mojave. I couldn’t even believe it was real! So yes Arcade Fire played Weekend 1 and I missed it because I wasn’t onsite until 8:30 p.m. The “livestream” didn’t air the set until 9 p.m either, when I was vibing at the festival. It was okay though! I was able to see Phoebe Bridgers and Harry Styles including the Shania Twain appearance. I missed Bishop Briggs and Lost Kings as I expected due to the early set times. Lane 8 overlapped Harry Styles so that became a Weekend 2 set for me as the Danimal and I saw the beginning of Lane 8, hopped over to Harry to see who he would bring out (Lizzo!!!), and then returned to see the end of the Lane 8 set.

The music I wanted to see on Saturday was abundant. Saturday Weekend 1 began with seeing Beach Goons with Hailey before she started her shift and then followed up with Wallows on Outdoor at 4 p.m. and Emo Nite at Sahara right after Wallows. There was a bit of overlap between the two but I couldn’t bring myself to leave Wallows. I’m now very into the band with the kid from 13 Reasons Why (he should quit acting and just do music in my opinion now) and am already making plans to see their Philly show in June. They were too good live. After they ended though, I met up with some friends at Emo Nite. It was extremely cool to see the masses singing along to all the emo classics. Tom Higgenson from Plain White T’s made an appearance to play “Hey There Delilah,” which earned a huge sing along from the crowd. My plan was to see girl in red after Emo Nite but I needed to return back to the Safari home base to start on some work for Weekend 2. Girl in red became my Weekend 2 priority and it was one of my favorites after going back to back with Wallows again with the Danimal. Yes, I also decided to see Wallows again Weekend 2. Again I am now VERY into them. L’Imperatrice was another Weekend 2 set for me (super fun and full of dancing) after a recommendation from my buddy Noah. I also caught the Jacoby Shaddix from Papa Roach appearance at Emo Nite Weekend 2 and heard him sing “Last Resort.”

I needed to see Turnstile Weekend 1 as I had to meet up with my long time friend Chelsea to see one set as we usually do. It was Turnover in 2019 and Turnstile in 2022. Hailey also joined halfway through the set and so did my friend Lexi. It was definitely full of hardcore tunes and plenty of moshing. I saw the end of Disclosure both weekends with a little more of the set during Weekend 2. I definitely danced along to “Latch” twice though. I saw Flume both weekends as well, but my highlight of Flume came during Weekend 1 when I saw Dave Bayley aka Wavey Davey from Glass Animals hanging out in the viewing area. Hailey went over to him to say hey and he ended up telling her they were there to make an appearance during Denzel Curry’s set the next day. At that point, my Weekend 1 Sunday night plans changed from Jamie xx to Denzel Curry because Glass Animals are everything.

Late Saturday night I saw Hot Chip Weekend 1 and most of Billie Eilish. Weekend 2 I saw Caribou and made the mistake of leaving early. Billie Eilish brought out Hayley Williams from Paramore. They covered Misery Business and I missed it. I was so upset, but the fact that it was acoustic made it a little better. It was still one of the biggest talking points of Weekend 2.

Sunday’s afternoon sets alternated for me on Weekend 1 and Weekend 2. I saw Olivia O’Brien Weekend 1 and part of Hayden James Weekend 2 (a work meeting held me back from the full set). Olivia O’Brien might have brought out Jake Paul at the end of her set after ending it with “Josslyn” and I might have hated it. Then I hit Maggie Rogers set both weekends as well. Maggie Rogers sunset set happened and I was fully immersed in it. On Sunday night, I saw the beginning of Duke Dumont Weekend 1 and the end of the set Weekend 2. Weekend 1 we decided to hit up the tiki bar instead of sticking around for the rest of Duke so I finally got there after 4 years! Then it was Denzel Curry time Weekend 1 and Jamie xx for me Weekend 2. I saw the full sets of both, but the highlight of Denzel Curry was hearing Tokyo Drifting with Glass Animals. The highlight of Jamie xx was hanging and dancing with a bunch of my Safari fam. Both sets were a great time. On Weekend 1, we took in all of Swedish House Mafia and the Weeknd’s combined set and I hung around for the end of it Weekend 2 as well because I wasn’t ready for Coachella to be over (never am). I soaked up my last moments on the polo fields wandering around, listening to music, and taking pictures for the mems of two incredible weekends back in Indio.

After a third weekend, aka Stagecoach weekend, I’m finally back home and experiencing the Coachella Valley withdrawal, but it needed to come to an end at some point. It’s still my favorite place to work and I feel like I could do it every weekend. My body, however, would argue. I realized yesterday that this year has a lot of new music releases from some of my favorite artists so stay tuned for album reviews going forward as I’m already behind on them. That’s it for Coachella though. Three years in the making and we finally got to do it again. Until next time, Coachella forever and always!

Coachella Band Preview: girl in red

Now that it’s February, we’re closing in on the two month mark until Weekend 1! It feels so weird writing this anticipating Coachella like it’s any other year. It’s not though. We haven’t been thriving on the polo fields since 2019. So much has happened and changed since then, but at the same time, having Coachella back will feel like another part of normal life has returned. I keep writing these blogs like I have for years, but god knows I’m so much more excited and emotional about getting back to Coachella this year than I ever was. That being said, this week I’m stoked to preview an artist I didn’t know much about when the 2020 lineup came out. She was on it but I had no idea at the time. Thankfully over the last two years I got to know and love girl in red.

When girl in red was booked for Coachella 2020, she was up and coming. She was an undercard. But thanks to tik tok and lesbians everywhere, girl in red has since exploded. Last spring girl in red, aka Marie Ulven Ringheim, released her debut album, if i could make it go quiet. The album reached top 10 spots on music charts worldwide. I was able to catch a few songs of her ACL set during Weekend 2. She played the main stage early in the day. She wasn’t drawing a huge crowd at the time, but I guarantee she will at Coachella. This time her name has moved up on the lineup poster and I suspect she’ll be playing a late afternoon or early evening set on the main stage or at Outdoor.

Since I first wrote about girl in red, as I already mentioned, she has gotten a lot bigger. Over the last year, she’s stuck to the festival circuit, in support of her debut album. Her name has been rising higher on every festival lineup though. She has a completely sold out spring North American tour lined up that includes her stops in Indio, before she heads back overseas for the European leg of the tour. The European leg is completely sold out too.

girl in red is an act that you won’t want to miss in April. She fills the indie rock card that now seems a lot more rare at Coachella. However, she’s part of that new wave of Gen Z indie rock, so you’d expect a lot more younger fans at her set. She’s definitely going to crush her first Coachella appearance though. Here’s a few tracks that you’ll need to know before you catch her:

1. we fell in love in october
2. Serotonin
3. i wanna be your girlfriend
4. bad idea!
5. midnight love
6. girls
7. I’ll Call You Mine
8. summer depression
9. Rue
10. You Stupid Bitch

Coachella 2022 Lineup Review

Back in the old days, when music festivals happening were rarely a question, we used to have the Coachella lineup shortly after New Years. This year we’re already in mid-January. Around 9:35 p.m. EST last night after a two year wait (three by the time this festival happens (hopefully…wait no, it’s happening! Positive vibes only!)), we have bands to preview and anticipation to be had! I honestly have chills writing this and maybe even some tears welling up in my eyes. I know at this point that nothing is ever a guarantee until it’s actually happening, but this feels really, really good. I truly hope to be at my favorite festival this spring and I know so many Coachella fans are hoping to be there as well. I’ve almost forgotten how to do this, but let’s just get in to this because it’s a long awaited blog I’ve been ready to write:

The Headliners: Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Ye (Kanye West), Swedish House Mafia

On Tuesday afternoon, Billboard dropped an article leaking all the headliners for 2022. Over the last two weeks I had heard about Kanye, who now goes by Ye, and Billie Eilish. Supposed headliner, Travis Scott, was knocked out two months ago over the Astroworld ordeal and other supposed headliner, Rage Against the Machine, seemed to drop out. Coachella reported the Swedish House Mafia reunion in November as well, but Harry Styles was a complete surprise. Harry Styles has always been a big deal since his One Direction days. When the band broke up and embarked on solo careers though, Harry started small, playing smaller venues and built up on his following. Now there are tons of younger and older fan girls latching on to the Harry Styles hype. I’m particularly excited to see him perform as I’ve heard great things. He’ll be kicking off the weekend on Friday night.

Billie Eilish last played Coachella in 2019, drawing huge crowds to her performance. 2019 was an up and coming year for Billie, with her hit single “Bad Guy.” Over the last two years though, she’s become a headliner. She headlined Firefly, Governor’s Ball, Life is Beautiful, and Austin City Limits among others in 2021. Now she’ll be bringing it to the Coachella Main Stage come Saturday night this spring.

In 2019, Kanye West was supposed to headline Coachella and dropped out over artistic disagreements. Then, weeks before the big event, it was announced he’d be bringing Sunday Service to Coachella Weekend 2 on Easter Sunday. This year Easter Sunday falls on Weekend 1 and it’s already been reported Kanye may bring a Sunday Service style set to the Main Stage. I’m not sure anything could ever top 2019’s Easter morning Sunday Service experience, but I’d be down to see him try. Ye plays Sunday night.

Finally, we have your 2022 Coachella comeback set, Swedish House Mafia. The trio broke up in 2012, only to reunite at Ultra Miami in 2018. Now they’ll be making their return to the desert in 2022. Two of the members came back during Coachella 2015, but now 10 years later Swedish House Mafia is back. Given the lineup poster, I’m not sure when we’ll be seeing these guys, but I’m sure it’ll be a wild set.

The Other Highly Billed Performers: Lil Baby, Daniel Caesar, Phoebe Bridgers, Big Sean, Grupo Firme, Louis the Child, Baby Keem, Still Woozy, King Gizzard & the Wizards Lizard, Snoh Aalegra, City Girls, Madeon, NIKI, Lane 8, Pink Sweat$, Omar Apollo, Black Coffee, Flume, Megan Thee Stallion, Disclosure, 21 Savage, Danny Elfman, Stromae, Giveon, Anitta, Brockhampton, Rich Brian, girl in red, Wallows, Isaiah Rashad, Caribou, Cuco, Conan Gray, Koffee, Tchami, Dixon, Doja Cat, Joji, Jamie xx, Run the Jewels, Karol G, Maggie Rogers, Ari Lennox, Banda MS, Fatboy Slim, Måneskin, J.I.D., SLANDER, Solomun, Jessie Reyez, Denzel Curry, FINNEAS, Vince Staples, Dave, Fred again..

Out of this set of major artists, I’m most excited to see Maggie Rogers. She played Coachella 2019 in the late afternoon sun on Saturday at the Mojave tent. This year I’m hoping for a sunset set on Main Stage or Outdoor. She plays Sunday. I’m also excited about Phoebe Bridgers, Madeon, Flume, Disclosure, Danny Elfman, girl in red, Jamie xx, FINNEAS, Lane 8, and Caribou.

Flume is the second artist I’m most excited to see for sure. Flume has always been one of my favorite electronic artists and the one who got me more into electronic music in general. I’m excited to see what he brings to the polo fields this spring. Many of these artists were part of the 2020 lineup, but there are plenty new additions as well, like Phoebe Bridgers, Jamie xx, and FINNEAS. From that small group, I must say Phoebe Bridgers exploded after the release of her Grammy nominated album Punisher. I never got into her enough, but I’m excited to try to see her perform this year. In 2017, I really got into the xx. So, I’m looking forward to seeing what band member, Jamie xx brings to the desert this spring. If you know Billie Eilish, then you’re aware of the presence her brother Finneas has in her music. He’s also an independent artist that goes by FINNEAS. With Billie playing Saturday night, FINNEAS performs Sunday. I actually prefer his music over Billie’s and I’m looking forward to checking out his set.

You also have artists among this list that have gotten bigger since 2020 like girl in red, Doja Cat, and Conan Gray. Out of these few, I’m most excited for girl in red. I really got into her music in 2020 and caught part of her ACL set this past fall. I’d love to see a full set from her which I know will consist of the indie music I need at Coachella.

Lane 8, Madeon, Caribou and Disclosure are just some of the electronic artists I’d love to see this year. Lane 8 and Madeon have very vibey styles of electronic music, whereas Caribou and Disclosure are deep house. Danny Elfman who was booked for 2020 is set to play again and I’m sure his set will be as fun as Hans Zimmer’s was in 2017.

As usual, a lot of the big acts this year are from a variety of genres. This is something Coachella has always done really well. There’s hip-hop, latin, pop, indie, and electronic music in the mix again among others. They put together such a wide range of music that there’s something for everyone at this festival.

The Undercards (The Rest): IDLES, Peggy Gou, EPIK HIGH, the Marías, Carly Rae Jepsen, Spiritualized, Daphni, the Martinez Brothers, Bishop Briggs, MIKA, slowthai, Cordae, BADBADNOTGOOD, the Avalanches, Role Model, ARTBAT, Damian Lazarus, TOKiMONSTA, Princess Nokia, PUP, the Regrettes, Raveena, Ela Minus, Jayda G, Lost Kings, Lawrence, GG Magree, Giselle Woo & the Night Owls, SOHMI, MEUTE, DJ Lord, Dear Humans, Caroline Polachek, Turnstile, 100 gecs, Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Pabllo Vittar, Hot Chip, DJ Koze, Floating Points, Steve Lacy, Arlo Parks, Rina Sawayama, Japanese Breakfast, Masego, Chelsea Cutler, Nicki Nicole, Richie Hawtin, Beach Bunny, Amber Mark, Ed Maverick, Current Joys, black midi, Chris Liebing, Kyary Pamyu, Inner Wave, ANNA, Holly Humberstone, Nilüfer Yanya, L’Impératrice, Emo Nite, Alaina Castillo, Paco Osuna, Beach Goons, VNSSA, Mannequin Pussy, Sama’ Abdulhadi, Whipped Cream, DJ Holographic, Yard Act, Layla Benitez, Miane, Duck Sauce, Chicano Batman, Duke Dumont, Kim Petras, Orville Peck, Natanael Cano, beabadoobee, Belly, the Blessed Madonna, + Honey Dijon, Alec Benjamin, Ali Gatie, Surf Case, Michael Bibi, Nathy Peluso, Maxo Kream, Bedouin, Emotional Oranges, Channel Tres, Yola, Hayden James, Molchat Doma, Crumb, Olivia O’Brien, Griselda, Eyedress, Sampa the Great, Satori, Viagra Boys, Adam Port, Altin Gün, Skegss, Luttrell, Mariah the Scientist, AMÉMÉ, Cariño, Cole Knight

Many of the undercards are returners from the 2020 lineup, with of course some new acts mixed in. As I mentioned in my 2020 lineup review post, Bishop Briggs, Lost Kings, Emo Nite, Hayden James, Chelsea Cutler, and Hot Chip are all artists I’m looking forward to for various reasons. This time around I’m also interested in hearing what Duke Dumont has to offer. The electronic dj plays a deep house style, which from my other interests, you can tell is an electronic style I dig. This year I’m also excited to check out Olivia O’Brien and Turnstile.

Olivia O’Brien is an artist I found out about in the summer during Lollapalooza week from my friend Hailey. I’ve listened to her here and there but I’m excited to check out more of her music in anticipation of Coachella. She’s got some edgy pop vibes.

Turnstile is a band I’ve heard plenty of great things about. A lot of my friends always think I love Turnstile, but that’s because they confuse them with Turnover. I do love Turnover. I truly haven’t really listened to Turnstile, but I plan on it over the next few months since I want to see their set. I know they’re a hardcore punk band, so I’m about to head back to my roots while listening.

So there you have it, the Coachella 2022 lineup. I truly can’t believe we have a new lineup to gawk over and that the festival is in the works of happening this spring. It’s been a long tough road these past two years without it, but I’m hoping things get even better by then so Coachella can be celebrated as it was meant to be. I have a lot of listening to do and a brand new Coachella playlist to compile. In the coming weeks, I’ll be providing my standard Coachella Band Previews in anticipation of April.

I’m currently in Mexico until the end of the month, which means getting these band previews out as I’m here working. It’s already been a weird time with our first two weeks being cancelled, but hopefully all moves forward as planned for the next two. It’s a marathon month in Mexico (not a sprint) and I’ve been trying to pace myself. Dreams of Coachella vibes will surely help along the way and I can’t help but feeling a little emotional thinking about it. That said with all the disappointment in 2020, I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, yet, I still need to plan accordingly. I’ve actually already been outfit prepping for the polo fields. I hope you’re all feeling as good as me about this. So stay tuned for more weekly Coachella previews as we once again anticipate the annual 2 weekend party in the Indio desert.

if i could make it go quiet: Album Review

Since discovering girl in red last fall, I’ve joined the fans anticipating her debut album and finally it’s here. if i could make it go quiet, the debut album from girl in red, was released on Friday. The album was released through indie label AWAL and produced by girl in red herself, Marie Ulven, along with Matias Tellez and includes some production credit from Finneas O’Connell (aka Finneas, the brother of Billie Eilish). Throughout the past year girl in red released a few tracks in anticipation of the album including, “midnight love” and “Rue” last year, followed by “Serotonin” in March 2021 and “You Stupid Bitch” two weeks ago.

The album, as promised, features what we know and love about girl in red with a more mature feel. So yes, it’s indie pop/rock music about girls and love, but also with a jam about mental health and lacking serotonin. The quality of the record definitely feels more developed from girl in red’s earlier work too. This is the kind of album that could be the soundtrack to a solo drive in your car while on a road trip. I could also envision listening to this album while laying alone in a wide open field.

My early front-runners for favorite songs on the album are “Body And Mind”, “Serotonin”, which is an absolute banger, “You Stupid Bitch”, and “I’ll Call You Mine”. One thing I’ve always got from girl in red is that she doesn’t hold back in her writing. She says what she wants and it’s evident in so many of her tracks on the debut record. Listen to “Serotonin”, “Did You Come?”, and “hornylovesickness” if you want to see what I mean. I think this attribute to her music is what makes girl in red so great in her own way.

So far I feel like this year has had a slow start, both in general and musically, but even though we’re 5 months in, there’s still time. There’s plenty of potential for good things to happen and great new music to be released. girl in red’s debut album is one sign of that optimistic view for this year as it’s a solid indie album from front to back. Ironically, it boosted my serotonin and I hope it does the same for you as well.

2020 Sucked But Here’s Some Music That Didn’t

In 2016, which everyone claimed was a terrible year, I started a personal music recap for the year as a way to find something good to talk about. I kept it up because 2017 was an absolutely amazing year for music and then just kept going with it. 2016 was nothing compared to this year though. To be honest I had a pretty good 2016, but like most people, I didn’t have a great 2020. I’m usually a pretty positive person and try to look for good things when bad shit happens, but this time around there wasn’t a lot of good. Barely any actually. The bad far outweighed it. Where I found my hopefulness though is that someday it will get better. If I made it through high school and my emo years, I knew I’d be able to get through this emo year. Thankfully, even in the absence of live music and the career path I started for myself in 2016, artists still released albums. Some albums were delayed, but eventually got released. Some albums were even unplanned such as Taylor Swift’s folklore and evermore. Music discovery was one thing that wasn’t cancelled this year and for that I am grateful. So here you go, my top music faves from 2020:

“Heat Waves”, Dreamland -Glass Animals

I usually only pick a song, album, or artist to focus on for each of these, but this one was tough to distinguish. In 2020, there are no rules though. Glass animals released their latest album Dreamland back in August but a month earlier dropped the song “Heat Waves”. I fell absolutely in love with song immediately. I knew a few days after I first listened to it that it was the song of the year for me. I couldn’t stop listening to it for weeks even after the album was released. It was my most played on Spotify as well. The album was also my favorite of the year. It featured other great bangers like “Tangerine” and “Your Love (Déjà Vu)” and several other great ones as well. The album was an ode to childhood in the 90’s, but still captured the smooth yet trippy, groove style of indie music that Glass Animals is so well known for. I feel like it’s highly underrated and most definitely my favorite album of 2020.

Women in Music Part III -HAIM

Before Dreamland was released, if you asked me, I would have told you that Women in Music Part III or WIMPIII for short was going to be my favorite album of the year. I knew earlier on from the single releases in the spring that the Haim sisters were about to release a hit of an album. I’m not the only one that took notice either. The album was recently nominated for album of the year by the Grammys and their song “The Steps” was nominated for Best Rock Performance, a category dominated by women this year. I bought the album in July and was able to secure a signed album poster! I still have yet to hang it up, but I have plans to make it happen soon. Much like Dreamland, this album is top to bottom filled with great songs. My favorite is “Don’t Wanna”, but that’s followed by “I’ve Been Down”, “Gasoline”, “I Know Alone”, and “The Steps”. I could honestly go on with the songs too. Like I said, top to bottom, it’s fire. HAIM’s third full-length is really something special and my other top fave from this past year.

Daft Punk

Daft Punk has been around since the 90’s. I’ve known about them since the Random Access Memories era, but I didn’t quite realize that I knew them way longer than that until I watched the Coachella Documentary this past spring. There was such a focus on Daft Punk’s iconic 2006 set that I began really going through their discography. I wrote a blog post about them and how even without a physical Coachella this year, Coachella still helped me discover some new artists. They were one of my top artists of the year. I even bought Discovery on vinyl back in April. The song “One More Time” was in my top 5 most played songs of the year and I’m now one of those people who want them to headline Coachella. I’m definitely late to the game on this robotic electronic duo, but it’s better late than never.

Notes on a Conditional Form -The 1975

The 1975 dropped their latest album in the spring with plenty of track releases in the lead up to the full album that began in 2019. It was an album I highly anticipated during the spring lockdown. In fact during those weeks, I was living for new music Fridays. I claimed back in my blog post review of the album that it might be one of their best works yet. However, I’m not sure if anything will able to top their debut self-titled, but I definitely believe Notes On A Conditional Form is one of the best of the year. I spent weeks listening to the full album. I love “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” and “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America” which features Phoebe Bridgers, who had a big year herself. “People”, “Frail State of Mind”, “Me & You Together Song”, and “Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy)” are all great too. This album came at the perfect time and I’m incredibly grateful for it and all the new music that helped me through this crazy year.

“POWER” -Kanye West

“POWER” by Kanye West is not a new song. It actually came out 10 years ago. I never even knew it back then. It first came into my life with the Power Rangers reboot movie in 2017. Then last year during Sunday Service at Coachella it also popped back in. Then yet again this past spring in the Coachella Doc it also made an appearance. It was this time though that I finally got hooked. It was another staple song of my spring time work out playlist and even a go-to I would listen to at other random moments. The intro and subsequent background music for the song which was taken from the song “Afromerica” by Continent Number 6 is just so damn catchy too. It was another better late than never situation, but it worked out fine. There were plenty of songs that got me through the spring but this one is definitely a stand out.

“New Daze” -Bay Ledges

In the summer Bay Ledges released a 6 song EP titled New Daze. The EP included a song of the same name that I really connected with. It’s my favorite new song of theirs since I heard “Safe” in 2018. The song exemplifies their chill indie vibe sound, but has that same uplifting feel that “Safe” also contains. The lyrics themselves do too. It gives such a hopeful perspective for this trash year and I really love the song for that reason as well.

“Giants” -Dermot Kennedy

Dermot Kennedy was huge for me in 2019. His show was actually the last concert I was able to attend before the music industry shut down on March 12th. After such a big year with his first album in October, I wouldn’t have expected any new releases in 2020, but in June he dropped the new track “Giants”. It’s another powerful upbeat track similar to “Power Over Me” and “Outnumbered”. He recently released a “Complete Edition” version of his debut album which contains “Giants” among other collabs, a cover, another new song, and alternate versions of old songs. “Giants” was just the new track I needed for my summer work out playlist to even further my love for Dermot Kennedy. I even enjoyed the Sam Feldt remix of the track and got a double dose of the track by including that version in my fall work out playlist. It’s quite a banger and one of my favorites of the year.

“Bodies” -The Knocks ft. MUNA

Obviously the spring and summer were filled with plenty of new tunes and discoveries of old for me this year, but I found this gem by The Knocks featuring MUNA in the fall. The song was recommended to me by Spotify after my playlist finished one night and I thought it was great. After I added the song, I couldn’t get enough of it when it played during my nightly work outs. “Bodies” was released in the summer, but it didn’t come into my life until early November. For almost the last two months, I’ve been obsessed with this song. It’s a late comer to this list of my favorites for 2020, but it deserves to be here. It’s a keeper.

“Believer” -LUDVIC, Mathoma

Spring was such a time of music discovery for me thanks to the Coachella Documentary and my weekends of “Couchella”. In that time I also discovered the song “Believer” by LUDVIC and Mathoma thanks to checking out my friends’ Spotify playlists. I love being a creep on Spotify but it’s truly a great way to discover new music and find out what your friends are listening to. Although this jam wasn’t directly because of Coachella, it came to me around that time and joined my spring playlist in the midst of some great tunes. This was one song I couldn’t get enough of though. I would frequently replay it or listen to it when I wasn’t working out thus earning this trop house style track a spot on this list of my faves from 2020.

Golden Hour -Kygo

After seeing Kygo perform at Coachella in 2018, I became a huge fan. I’ve always been partial towards the trop house style of electronic music, but that 2018 performance really set in my affinity for the Norwegian DJ. Golden Hour was another album I was anticipating in the spring with new track releases every few weeks. Kygo’s third album dropped at the end of May and I already had some favorites from the new record. “Freedom”, “Lose Somebody”, and “Higher Love” caught on quick for me. I also love “Like It Is”, “I’ll Wait”, and “How Would I Know.”

Kygo decided to do a virtual live stream festival from his home in Norway to promote the new album and support LiveNation’s Crew Nation Fund among several other relief funds. As we know, streaming shows became a thing this year. I think they’re trash. They will never compare with going to a concert or festival, but in the mean time, they’re something to watch. I watched two streams in the spring and this was one of them. The thing that kept me around was the beauty of Norway. Kygo’s set was shot partially with a drone that exhibited the entire landscape of his community. People were out on the lake watching his set from boats. It was so cool. Who would have thought this music which usually sets the vibe at in the desert of southern California so perfectly would create an insane vibe in a different setting like Bergen, Norway. It was great and it gave me another chance to hear this solid new record.

Honorable Mentions:

The New Abnormal -The Strokes (the first Strokes album since 2013, full of indie rock goodness)

girl in red (the indie version of Hayley “Lesbian Jesus” Kiyoko)

“Good” -TWIN XL (indie pop summer jam)

“Palm Springs” -Luna Shadows (pure Palm Springs vibe and I bet you can’t get it out of your head)

“Anywhere” -Dillon Francis ft. Will Heard (Thanks to a re-watch of his 2019 Coachella set it became a spring fave of mine)

I typically end these posts filled with excitement knowing I’ll be anticipating the Coachella lineup to drop within days, but this time around that excitement for my favorite festival is non-existant. Instead, I’ll be looking for another postponement to the Indio festival that was only a month away before corona dragged it and the rest of live music down. The good thing is that there’s finally a light on at the end of this tunnel. The vaccines are probably the hottest records to drop this year with a few more slated for early 2021. We’re all hoping that these creations will help get us back to the things (concerts and festivals) and people we love the most at some point next year. So I’m definitely urging you to give them a chance, because the faster you do the faster we can move forward away from this crazy upside down world we’ve been living in since March.

Besides hopefully a fresh start for the live music and events industry, 2021 should be filled with some highly anticipated new music. In May 2019, Adele hinted at a new record that was to come out in 2020. I’m not sure if this year put a damper on production, but it has yet to be released. A brief stint on SNL in October gave us some hope for new music but Adele quickly squashed those hopes in her opening monologue and shifted gears towards 2021. So as the saying goes, “rumor has it” that we’ll have some new Adele music next year after over 5 years since 25.

Lorde has also hinted at the release of new music. It will be 4 years ago in June that Lorde released her Grammy nominated sophomore album Melodrama. So this third full-length will be a highly anticipated record in 2021.

As I mentioned girl in red in my honorable mentions, her debut album should be dropping next year as well. The first single from it, “Rue”, was released in late August and I’m sure there will be more songs coming in anticipation of the release. After the big year girl in red had, thanks in large part to Tik Tok, I’m sure this debut will help grow her fan base even more.

Lana Del Rey, who just never stops making music, has an album due out for 2021 as well with Chemtrails over the Country Club. We should be seeing new music from Bleachers, St. Vincent, Spoon, Weezer, and Greta Van Fleet in the new year too.

Although it has been over 3 years now that my favorite band, Foster the People, released an album, they released an EP called In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing on December 11th. They’ve dropped plenty of new music since their last record Sacred Hearts Club (2017) too. Hopefully touring returns at some point next year and I’ll have the chance to see Mark and the boys again soon. I miss them. I actually said the same thing at the end of last year too, but now I miss them even more.

It’s also been awhile since LCD Soundsystem has put out music so I hope to hear from them next year as well as Florence & The Machine whose last album came out in 2018. As for the next few months though, instead of going to Mexico and anticipating Coachella, I’ll be trying to ski as much as I can and keep my eyes and ears peeled for a return to the work I love so much. If all goes well, the new roaring 20’s might be in full swing by the fall. Stay tuned for that.

Although music was partially shut out this year, at least we have the technology to release, find, and hear new songs, EPs, and albums. I’m not going to try to tell you that music saved this year like it did in 2016. This year could never be saved and that’s okay. The good news is that we made it so here’s to shutting the door on a wild, lameass year and opening the next door for a better one. Onward and upwards!

girl in red

It seems like monthly posts have become my thing this year so I couldn’t let November end without something new to talk about. Back in September, I discovered a new artist that I really like. Thanks to watching Tik Tok compilations on Youtube, I heard her song “i wanna be your girlfriend” endless amounts of times and it got stuck in my head. I looked up the song and learned it was by an artist called girl in red. I heard of girl in red a few months beforehand and finally had that “OH! Okay, so that’s who that is!” moment.

girl in red, also known as Marie Ulven Ringheim, is a Norwegian indie pop singer-songwriter who releases her music straight from the comfort of her bedroom. While growing up, her grandfather gave her a guitar on Christmas. She credits him with getting her into music because of it. Her stage name, girl in red, came from describing herself while in a crowd to a friend via text message. She began releasing music to Soundcloud under the name in 2016. Her debut single was “i wanna be your girlfriend”.

girl in red released her first EP, Chapter 1, in 2018. It also included her new singles “summer depression” and “girls”. She began touring in 2018 as well, opening for Clairo during her Dublin and Paris shows. Then she opened for Conan Gray in early 2019 which was her first North American tour. She released her second EP, Chapter 2, in 2019. In late 2019, Ulven went on her first headlining tour which included dates in Europe and America. Her debut album World in Red was slated for an October 2020 arrival, but is still yet to be released. The first single from the album, “rue”, was released in late August.

When I first listened to girl in red, I called her the indie version of Hayley Kiyoko and I still stand by it. Ulven is openly gay and the subject matter of her music is representative of that much like Kiyoko’s. girl in red’s music is just way more indie/indie pop. It has also been described as bedroom pop.

Since discovering girl in red, I’ve been listening to her music here and there, even adding a song or two to my always go-to work out playlist. I really got into the song “bad idea!” and her cover of Maggie Rogers’ “Say It” during the past month and a half. I’m anticipating the release of girl in red’s debut album as I’m sure most of her fans are. It’ll be here before we know it too. Once touring resumes, I’m sure we’ll see girl in red out on the road especially with the fame she’s gained over the last year. She recently dropped the Christmas single “two queens in a king sized bed”. So this holiday season, check out that new single and while you’re at it check out all that girl in red has to offer. If you’re an indie fan, it won’t disappoint.