So this is what I am currently listening to (in no particular order of preference). I have included links to the Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube playlists. Enjoy!

1. Continents – Hembree
2. The Ramble – Julian Lage
3. The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs – Wye Oak
4. Everything is Now (Part Two) – Belle & Sebastien
5. Beautiful Blue Sky – Ought
6. See How – Young Fathers
7. Extraordinary Love – Erika Wennerstrom
8. Moon River – Frank Ocean
9. The Fear Flipped – The Shins
10. Strange as it Seems – The Wood Brothers
11. La Nueva Ciudad – Balun

Spotify Playlist | Apple Music Playlist | YouTube Playlist

Hembree’s band members have strayed quite far from their Americana roots with this single. Laced with synths and vocal delays, Continents plays like an alternative rock anthem.

The Ramble is the first song I have heard by Julian Lage and I have had it on repeat for a month now. I have never been a huge fan of jazz guitar but this man is just brilliant! His fingers effortlessly ooze across the fretboard of his Fender Strat in this bluesy masterpiece.

Jenn Wasner from Wye Oak has her own signature guitar The Reverend Signature JW-1! The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs is a synth heavy track and is perfectly unpredictable – just my jam. I wonder what the ‘It’ is?

“Lonely as a picture hung in an abandoned room. You fall back on the love inside. Please let your love be known or it will die”. The Scots – Belle and Sebastien have written the most soul filled lyrics for this magical tune Everything is Now (Part Two).

Ok… Beautiful Blue Sky takes a few listens to fully comprehend, but once you get it, you cannot stop repeating yourself. Listen to this 7 minute 43 second opus and you will understand. Listen up for the vocal / guitar jugalbandi in the bridge – very cool! Warplane. Condo. New Development. Time Again. Hows the church? Hows the job? Fancseeing you here. I FEEL ALRIGHT! Stop reading this and play the song.

From the longest song to the shortest, Young Fathers create a stunning soundscape in See How from their latest album Cocoa Sugar. Notice how delicately each bass note cuts right before the next one starts – I cannot get enough this group! Clearly Scotland is the place to be to hear fresh sounds.

Extraordinary Love is a hard hitting rock ballad about self love. This is the first single from Erika Wennerstrom’s debut solo album after taking time off from the Austin based Heartless Bastards. This album is a culmination of her two year emotional journey that included a hiatus at an Ayahuasca Retreat in the Amazon. After hearing this song I really want what she got there! In her own words “The song is the realization that I do everything in my life for love. We all want to be liked and to give and receive love. If I can’t be kind and loving to myself how can I expect anybody else to. It starts with me. I find the most extraordinary thing is to be truly compassionate to yourself.” I could not agree more.

Frank Ocean… pure genius. He has turned Moon River, the Audrey Hepburn classic from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, into a stunning labyrinth of vocal harmonies with minimal accompaniment. Whenever I listen to this song I am tempted to peek into the fire escape (if we had them in Bombay) to find Audrey Hepburn longingly strumming her guitar. Lucky for me I have my own girl but for those of you who don’t, this is the perfect love song.

Oh The Shins… a band that just continues to evolve while remaining true to their sound. While The Fear – Flipped has seemingly simple instrumentation, it is James Mercer’s effect heavy ever-droning voice and lyrics about coming from love instead of fear that brings goosebumps to my skin.

Steel guitar (I think), standup bass and cello. It’s all strings on this lovely song by The Wood Brothers. Oliver Wood’s voice sounds bright as ever and Chris Wood’s (MMW) bass provides the backbone for Strange as it Seems.

Fuck Despacito… this is the real deal from Puerto Rico. Balun in their song La Nueva Cuidad create a sonic universe that thankfully defies any genre. Cruising down Marine Drive late at night, Arabian Sea to your left, this is the song to wind down the night (and this post).

Spotify Playlist | Apple Music Playlist | YouTube Playlist