An Album a Day

Join me for the next 31 days of music.

Reckless Records Shop, October 2023. London, England

Hi Everyone,

It’s been a while, but I’m here to offer a solution to my inconsistency. If you have the bandwidth for a fun challenge this December with me or simply vicariously through my Substack, keep reading.

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I’m continuously overwhelmed by the amount of music in the world. Projects artists have poured their hearts and souls into, silly records made for fun, or even albums musicians wish they had never released. There aren’t enough hours in a lifetime to listen to it all. 

            While thinking over this predicament in the shower, I accepted the reality I will never be able to hear it all, and this obsession many musicians and music lovers alike have with listening to and creating a complete and diverse music taste is somewhat impossible. In the last few years, since studying music in a technical sense has fallen to the wayside, I’ve felt myself gravitating to music that simply feels good. Music that can capture my attention, music that makes me want to move, music that makes me smile. If a song can do that, I’ll no doubt return to it and continue exploring the album and artist it belongs to. There hasn’t been pressure to check something out because everyone else is or listen closely to identify a musical concept as it works in practice. Listening was simple and personal, but I also felt guilt that I was failing to be a well-trained listener. I enjoyed the repetitiveness of my comfort songs, and though I could hear something new with each listen, I couldn’t shake the feeling I should be branching out more. 

            What I’ve realized matters most, at least for me at this moment, is bringing more intention to my listening. To bring music back to the forefront of my day and take time to listen while doing nothing else, only for myself. In our busy lives, it’s more than easy, it’s expected to have music function as the backing to our daily tasks, and I have fallen into that habit. So, I had the idea to make an end-of-the-year resolution, rather than one for the new year. 

            Starting December 1^st, I am going to listen to one album every day until the end of the month. There are only a few rules, mostly because I don’t want to get in my own way of completing this challenge. 

1. The album has to be at least 30 minutes long 

2.   It can be an album I’ve listened to before

3.  I need to write thoughts or feelings about the record and share them at the end of each day on Substack

Sounds simple, right?

I’m excited to share this with you, dear reader, so you can share album recommendations throughout and hold me accountable. Truthfully, I hope this will function as a space to have fun writing in an informal way about music. The end-of-day musing won’t be a review, just ideas that were triggered from listening, whether that be a list of my favorite tracks or a memory the music conjured. If you want to join me on this impromptu journey, feel free. There is no turning back now. Leave a few recommendations here.

 

Until Soon, 

Emily