The Recent Year of Listening

Picking up from where I left off on last year's music blog. Spotify clocked me at 122,250 minutes of music in 2024 with my top artists being Sleep Token, Nine Inch Nails, Deftones, and The Cure. Here's how the year went, and some reflections. 

I spent most of January digging into Sleep Token's This Place Will Become Your Tomb. Every song on the record is great and matched the dark January days. This was also my introduction to the current metal scene and how Sleep Token has been disrupting it with their exploding popularity and blending of seemingly dissonant genres. I also got into No Doubt's hit record Tragic Kingdom. It has to be impossible to not love No Doubt with their electric performances and Stefani's vocals. 

The next few months were filled with my two favorite Cure records, Wish and Disintegration. I had never listened to Wish all the way through and instantly regretted that it took me so long to do so. Robert Smith is truly an outstanding songwriter, easily transitioning from uplifting pop songs to dark, long rock tracks. Smith's success in connecting with listeners comes from his ability to feel and reflect on experiences very deeply and translate it all into music without loosing any of the emotions.

Later in the Spring I found Amira Elfeky, a rising artist in the rock/metal scene. Her debut EP, Skin to Skin, has a Deftones meets Billie Eilish feel that produces something new and exciting. "Save Yourself" and "Secrets" are great tracks. Looking forward to hearing more from her. 

My summer was filled with Deftones, Shane Smith and The Saints, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Linkin Park. I really enjoy all of Deftones' records, but spent a lot of time listening to their newest album Ohms throughout the summer. As a record, Ohms lives up to its name with hard-hitting songs about resistance and social dissonance. "I reject both sides of what I'm being told, I see right through..." is quite the opening line in the first song. I feel like it was fate to stumble upon Shane Smith and The Saints' Live at Red Rocks album in early July. Such a great country-rock album for summer. Shane Smith's soulful singing along with the musicianship of his band makes for a great sounding live record. "Adeline", "Hurricane", "Cocaine Habit", "All I See is You", and their cover of "Tuesday's Gone" are some of my favorites on the record. The Lynyrd Skynyrd I listened to boiled down to me sitting outside on a hot summer afternoon or night and putting on Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd from front to back. Lastly, Linkin Park doesn't need much of an explanation on this list. Everyone grew up on Linkin Park. 

In the Fall I found a couple of exciting, newer bands including Leaving Time, Spiritbox, Cassyette, and Ally Nicholas. Leaving Time's record Angel In The Sand is a great combination of shoegaze and hard rock. Most of their songs make me feel like I'm sinking into the floor, especially the track "Slip". I stumbled on a live performance of Cassyette playing "September Rain", which instantly blew my mind. The chorus hits harder than anything I've heard in a while and her screaming is up to par with Chester Bennington's. I also am impressed by her dynamic range on "When She Told Me", and am looking forward to hearing more music from her. 

By the time winter rolled around in late November I was listening to a lot of Spiritbox, specifically their Fear of Fear EP. Along with Sleep Token, Spiritbox has been a nice introduction to the Metal scene for me. It wasn't until later in November that I got around to listening to the new Night Traveler record, Hotspot. This record instantly felt like a classic to me, full of nostalgia, restlessness, and love. 

Throughout the year I also listened to lots of Nine Inch Nails and film scores by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. I still find myself listening to the Patriot's Day score just about every morning at work.

Carsen