Listen…

We live in an age when we have access to all the entertainment we could ever need. It can be a little overwhelming. At the start of the year I realised that I was drifting away from the music I actually owned and committing more of my time to streaming through Apple Music and Spotify. In fact, Spotify have just dropped their Wrapped details which give a breakdown of statistics on your listening activity for the year. Here are my highlights:

In an effort to ensure I was still engaging with the music I owned, I decided to listen to every song I have. I took two letters of the alphabet (starting with A and B in January, C and D in February and so on) to listen through every song I have and ensure that I appreciate it. It’s a library that dates back to my university days so some of the albums are particularly choice (here’s to you Pigeon Detectives, Courteeners, The View).
It was a nice opportunity to dig through my own past and to engage with songs and bands that I hadn’t heard in a long time. I know the age of access means we don’t need to “own” music, but all of the music I own reminds me of particular nights out or gigs or partners.
Somehow, I got ahead of myself so the breakdown of the alphabet across the year ended in November because I was able to double up a couple of months.

Take the time to go back and read an old book or listen to an album from start to finish. It might just surprise you.

For now though, I leave you with this: