"Once again I am found wanting"

What I'm singing this week at the office (and getting yelled at by the staff for being obnoxious):

High Hopes - Panic! At the Disco
The story doesn't really resonate with me, but the cadence and the beat make it impossible not to dance and sing along, and I very much enjoy Mr. Urie's voice.

I Miss You (Piano version) - Clean Bandit (feat. Julia Michaels)
Speaking of voices, it's quite possible Julia Micheals has the best voice ever. Certainly the most nuanced and evocative. She says more with tone and inflection than some singers do with all 'the best words'.

Wanting - Gordi
Gordi's vocal style, in contrast, seems tuned a bit flat, but that matches perfectly with so many of her lyrics. I really love the double entendre and the wonderful way she reflects both will and confusion.

"Sorry for the beating of my heart"

"I'm no mother
But I've done a lot
To prove to those I love that they are good enough"
-Fenne Lily, "Car Park"

There are, from the very first line, so many brilliant bits in this song, but the above sentiment strikes me to particular depth, for while I can't currently make the same claim in my own relationships, it's become a goal to be able to.

Key to that remains turning the poisonous, razor edged sword of my disappointment into a plowshare of grace and encouragement.

Bring Me Songs

Lewis Capaldi's vocal styles, particularly in the song Tough, remind me somehow of the best parts of [George Ezra]'s basso-cant in a way I very much like. The song itself is a bit simple and self pitying, but it'll do. (Lost On You, while still being hang dog, brings a more satisfyingly complex story with it.)

Richard Walters, on the other hand, with his high, clear voice, quietly brings a story just two verses long in This Fire which I'm still trying to unpack.

Slipping Out of Tune

I tweak my main playlist just a bit every few weeks, but it tends to truly molt and renew only once a year or so, and that time of sonic renewel is upon me. Even so, these songs have been good to me, and as I let most of them go (except for Fenne Lily. She's not going anywhere), I wanted to put a marker in the etheric ground for all the time we spent together.

Fenne Lily - What's Good, Car Park, & really the whole album On Hold

Lady Gaga - The Cure

Tow'rs - Going

Grizfolk (feat. James N. Commons) - In My Arms

Birdy - Wild Horses, Deep End & Lifted

Kodaline - Talk

Sweet Talk Radio - Dotted Lines

Kathleen Edwards - A Soft Place to Land

Silver Trees feat. Bailey Jehl - Paper Hearts

Oh Wonder - Bigger Than Love

Gordi feat. S. Carey - I'm Done

Lord Huron - The Night We Met

Ingrid Michaelson - My Darling

LEON - I Believe in Us

Bishop Briggs - Dream

Ryan McMullan - Ghosts

Anna Nalick - All Through the Night

The Goo Goo Dolls - Use Me