Listening || Best of 2017

Seinabo where are you?! I need you come back to me pleeeease! 😥

I feel like 2017 was a bad year for albums. Or more specifically, a year of very few albums I had any interest in. Or more specifically, SEINABO SEY HAS STILL NOT RELEASED ANY NEW MUSIC. As a result my favourite tracks are a bit more eclectic but then that’s not necessarily a bad thing…

Favourite Tracks of 2017

I’m not going to lie, it took me quite a few goes to get that into a decent order – it’s not easy getting yourself from La La Land to Little Mix via The National!

Favourite Albums of 2017

As previously discussed, this wasn’t a great year album-wise. There were a few like Pvris and Rag’n’Bone Man where I REALLY liked some songs then didn’t like others, so I couldn’t quite bring myself to listen to the album on repeat. The latest offerings from London Grammar and Haim weren’t really my cup of tea, and Imagine Dragons gets more mainstream by the second (even though I cannot stop listening to I Don’t Know Why), it really was a bit of a drudge. LUCKILY, there were a couple of blinders I must mention:

Oh Wonder have a gorgeous sound, but their first album is a little bit too mellow to listen to too many times on the trot. Imagine my surprise when the debut single, Ultralife, was released – mellow it is NOT. This was followed quickly after by Lifetimes and High on Humans, so by the time they finally released the album, I was chomping at the bit, and was not disappointed. The fiancé gifted me tickets for my birthday, and they were every bit as gorgeous live as they are through headphones. Also check out Sigrid, who features in my top tracks and was excellent as Oh Wonder’s support act.

I raved about La La Land back at the start of last year so it should come as no surprise to you that I was every bit as obsessed with the soundtrack – I think most of the tracks made it into my most played playlist (see below), I could not stop listening to it. It was just pure JOY. The picture on the right is the very cool cover of the vinyl version that Fiancé got me for my birthday…we really need to get a record player…

Special Mention To…

Unbelievably, 2017 was ten years since Air Traffic released their one and only album, Fractured Life, an album I loved during university but never saw live. Imagine my delight when the band reformed for a set of anniversary gigs! It was probably the most “intimate” gig I’ve ever been to; Scala has a capacity of only a few hundred and I ended up right near the front. I also went alone which is a first for me – a bit awkward at first, particularly when some poor fellow tried to strike up a conversation that I awkwardly reciprocated for a few minutes before awkwardly returning to the Kindle app on my iPhone…ANYWAY. The gig itself was one of those perfect moments where you’re in a room full of strangers who all know the words to the song you know the words to. I should say songs, because we all sang along to every track with gusto, which I think the band found rather overwhelming. It must be pretty amazing to reform after a decade and have a few hundred people singing your songs back to you as if you never left. Wonderful.

My Most Played

I was actually surprised to find John Legend at the top of this playlist – I did love a lot of his songs last year, but I think this also reflects that lack of new music I found in 2017, so I just listened to a lot of my saved songs on repeat. Dorothy turned out to be my most played artist, which is entirely deserving because their album is GREAT, and would have featured in my favourites if it hadn’t been released a year too early. I think I only discovered it after I featured Wicked in my Favourite Tracks of 2016, it is well worth a listen if you like a bit of rock with a tinge of blues and songs about whiskey. I don’t think I’ve ever sung the word ‘whiskey’ so many times in my life.

Coming in 2018

Gig-wise, I’m very much looking forward to Rag’n’Bone Man in March, and still holding out hope that Sia might do an international tour (though I’m undecided about the Christmas album…). As we’re now saving for the wedding, we’re trying to cut down on expensive gig tickets, so that may be my one and only!

I’ve got an early prediction for my most played tracks in 2018 – The Greatest Showman soundtrack has overtaken La La Land with a vengeance. I literally love Every. Song. I’m listening to it right now.

I had a quick scan of the rumoured releases and didn’t see anything I’m particularly excited about, until I received an email from Of Monsters and Men – NEW MUSIC! Exciting times! Fiancé pointed out they could well wait until December to release it, but why would anyone be that mean…

…Seinabo probably. Over two years and not a peep. I followed her on Instagram and she’s either being very secretive or she’s got absolutely no intention of following up the thing of goddamn BEAUTY that is her first album. I’m genuinely concerned it’s the latter and I’m quite upset about it. As you had probably gathered.