Bright Music for Dark Times: How to Understand the Importance of Listening to New Music
Throughout this year, keeping yourself safe and sane is perhaps more important than ever. For many, music is a form of escapism and release, and listening to something new can help us form different memories and attachments, positively affecting us in our now not-so positive lives. It’s always tempting to throw on an old favourite and seek comfort in those songs which take us back to a certain time, and there’s definitely nothing wrong with this, but being engaged with new music is a way of being engaged with the present, and right now, this is incredibly important. During 2020 and a worldwide pandemic, engaging with the here and now can be scary - the present is full of fear and sadness, homelessness and joblessness and a failing economy. But your future nostalgia is the here and now, the present will become the past and the memories you make today will be the things you look back on tomorrow.
Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is difficult, but it’s worth it. The brain-block you get when trying to listen to a new genre, artist or album is frustrating, but it’s good and through this, we’re stretching the elasticity of our brain, forming new connections and extending the patterns of our listening, and living. Scientists have found that part of our brain becomes particularly active when we hear a song for the first time, and that areas of the brain’s reward centres become stimulated by this activity. The more a listener enjoys what they are hearing, the stronger the connections are in the region of the brain known as the brain’s pleasure centre, thought to play an important role in reward, pleasure and laughter. Listening to and seeking out new music is like unlocking and embracing a perspective that isn't your own. It offers access to people, places, emotions and events that are ordinarily cut off from us and presents them in a way that is openly asking for our participation and immersion. This in itself is special, and something which is often overlooked.
It can be difficult to know where to start when branching out, and 2020 has pretty much been a disaster so far, but the one thing that this year has not been short of is a fantastic release of new music. From Tame Impala to Jeff Rosenstock, 2020 did not disappoint. Particular favourites include Porridge Radio’s Every Bad featuring Pizies-esque shifts between loud and quiet and Happyness’ Floatr, showcasing Ninties-influenced slacker-rock and muffled vocals. Beabadoobee’s debut album Fake It Flowers acts as the teenage anthem for young girls growing up, guiding them in tough times and teaching people that it’s ok not to be ok, a message we should all be clinging onto right now. Yves Tumor released his most accessible album yet, Heaven to a Tortured Mind, in which he pushes his listener’s boundaries whilst building on his original sound of experimental ambient and noise, creating an overall incredible sound with song Kerosene standing out as a particular favourite.
In light of 2020 and the pandemic, taking time to listen to new music and expanding our horizons can be beneficial to our mental health, as well as being a good way to pass the time. Combining old and new sounds to create something unique was expertly executed in Gorillaz’ new album, aptly named Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez. This audiovisual project created during the pandemic contains episodes in which each section of Song Machine is accompanied by ‘Machine Bitez’, a series of character skits featuring snippets of conversations and interviews from Gorillaz' virtual band members and guests. Sir Elton John appears on the new album, a star-studded affair that also features JPEGMAFIA, 6LACK, Slowthai, Beck and more. Elton revealed that he thinks Damon Albarn is the ‘most interesting British musician’ and he doesn’t think there’s any other British composer that’s made music like him. Albarn admitted to experimenting with new sounds in the creation of this album, such as including his nine year-old niece’s trumpet playing on the track Strange Timez featuring Robert Smith.
Another artist experimenting with sounds this year was the iconic Fiona Apple, who did not disappoint with her fifth album Fetch the Bolt Cutters, most of which was recorded at home using a variety of unorthodox instruments - I doubt many tracks released this year will feature a dead dog’s bones as percussion. This album is a triumph, raw and free-form, in which she criticises the patriarchy for refusing to show weakness and for needing women to clear away their mess. She invokes old favourites such as Kate Bush, with a reference to Running up that Hill, whilst simultaneously experimenting with improvisation, iPhone recordings and the incorporation of dogs barks and cats meows. Apple will not be silenced, and neither should we.
Listening to new music and relating to its messages and meanings is always important, but especially now when things can seem so low and hopeless. New music allows you to express yourself and seek comfort in the fact that others feel the same as you. It allows you to get outside of your head and reminds us that things will change, and that life will get better, but most importantly it reminds us that we’re not alone, and we never will be.