This year has been a very weird one and it is a year that has been difficult for many people including myself. Luckily, alot of my friends and family have not had Covid but living in a world where everyday you hear of more people dying and having to spend a lot of the year indoors is something that is very different to anything we have experience before. I am a person that is usually out and about a lot at different times of the day -whether it is crazy work patterns, performing in shows, going to gigs or meeting friends, like a lot of people this moment has had times where being indoors a lot has felt difficult, not doing your normal routine has been hard with a constant thought in the background of your mind about all those are suffering through all of this.

One thing that I have noticed this year is that my music tastes have adapted and changed. A lot of the acts that I listened to at the beginning of the year I find myself hardly listening to anymore – not because I don’t like them or have gone off them but because they just weren’t fulfilling the feelings and emotions that i have felt all year. I wrote a list at the beginning of the year of predictions of what my Spotify end of year will have and it reflects acts I was listening to a reasonable amount or acts that I was expecting new music from. When December came around, whilst some of those predictions were there, some were a bit of a surprise. So I thought today I would share a few of the artists that have helped me through this year, musically.

Yungblud

At the beginning of the year I did have Yungblud in my playlist running order – I had seen him perform on a whim at the end of 2019 because I needed something to do before a night shift and seeing him live changed my perspective and I ended up liking his music. However, I only started to listen to this musician a lot when we got thrown into lockdown. I found on night shifts at work his music kept me awake and also his lyrics I felt were one of few bands that sort of was helping me the most through the year. There has been a lot of songs released over 2020 and that I felt was also another good thing as new music is something I love listening to and Yungblud was churning them out. He has gone from a musician I would listen to ever so often to one that I listen to a lot because for some reason his lyrics whether some of them are dark or irrelevant to me, have felt really relaxing to listen to.

Machine Gun Kelly

I never really listened to Machine Gun Kelly, I had heard a few of his songs from his rapping days and they didn’t really appeal to me. I then read that he was producing an album with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, so it go me interested. I had no expectations at all as I knew I wasn’t a fan but then I heard the album and it was fantastic. I think the fact that I went in not expecting anything that it really shone brightly, it was nothing like I expected and has been one of my favourite albums of the year. I have listened to the album on repeat (apart from Concert For Aliens I deleted that from the album playlist straight away as really not a fan) and enjoy.

Louis Prima

Being inside a lot of the year can take it’s toll and can make every day feel the same meaning it can play a pressure on your emotions and lead to you feeling fed up. From very early on into the first lockdown our household decided to have a happy song so that whenever we played it we would all do a silly dance. We would try and play it everyday or ever other day at peak lockdown and it is amazing how much it boosts your morale.

Louis Armstrong

I have always liked Louis Armstrong but never find a lot of time to listen to his music because I spend a lot of time listening to modern music and new releases (the same can be said for Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Jamie Cullum). This year however this has completely changed, whenever we want a day of relaxing and to sort of escape from the news and the world around us we have played Louis Armstrong’s music as it is so calming and just lovely.

Vera Lynn and Katherine Jenkins

This sort of has been the soundtrack of this year as it has lyrics that are very poignant. I haven’t listened to this song very much this year however there was one time where I can vividly remember it. It was just before summer in May on one of the weekends to celebrate the 75th VE Day and our road which is normally really loud and busy was completely silent and one of the houses down the street had the music on speakers and this song blared out down the road. It was such a surreal moment that it really is an example of how music has helped bring people together and help others through the year.