Listen Here #12
Hello friends! Happy 2025! To borrow a phrase, we’re so back.
Welcome to all new readers (s/o to Culture Study buds)! I rewrote the landing page for this li’l publication, and I think it serves as a good introduction/re-introduction to our endeavors at Listen Here HQ:
This is a place to share songs that you love, fervently and unashamedly. I don't vet or edit any recommendations, and I'm ravenously curious to know why you (yes, you!) love a song. Tell us what sounds tickle your brain, what earworms have been burrowing into your soul, and what lyrics have made you go "Wow wow wow."
In other words, you have the aux cord - what are you queuing up?
This week, I’m taking the reins and sharing a few songs that I found and loved in 2024. Enjoy!
<3 Lauren
This Week’s Songs:
Any song that was shared via Spotify link has been added to this public playlist for easy access. And (many thanks to Rae!) there’s also an Apple Music playlist.
Song/Artist: "Bronwyn" by Hannah Frances
Genre: Woodsy Alt-Folk
Feels like: Inexorable yearning
Loved by: Lauren
Why I love this song: This whole album is a banger, and this song is the perfect start to it. Thoughtful, a little melancholic, but with a propulsive drive. I could live inside this melody.
Other context: Hannah Frances is an emerging artist out of Vermont, and she's an amazing guitarist, singer, and writer. I found her through some kind of IG wormhole, and I'm so, so glad I did. Can't wait to hear what else she does!
Song/Artist: "Dark Sun" by h. pruz
Genre: Folk/New-Folk
Feels like: Melty, warm
Loved by: Lauren
Why I love this song: This song is so lush - the sonic landscape is all warm guitars, hums, long echo trails. The ending phrase ("Forget everything else is real / we're here in the sun") paints a vivid picture... a long afternoon, lying on the grass, tenderness.
Other context: h. pruz is a singer-songwriter out of Brooklyn. I found her through another IG journey of discovery, and again, can’t wait to hear what she does next.
Song/Artist: "Messy" by Lola Young
Genre: Angry Pop!
Feels like: Peeved, righteous
Loved by: Lauren
Why I love this song: Very, very fun to sing along to. Catchy as hell with great lyrics. This song wears boots!
Other context: This song blew up on TikTok this summer, but I learned about it when my sister put it on her Q3 playlist. Thus, I associate it with taking the subway and stomping about NYC this summer. Excellent song for it.
Song/Artist: "After Midnight" by Chappell Roan
Genre: Pure Pop
Feels like: dancing at 2am :)
Loved by: Lauren
Why I love this song: I love the other songs on this record, but this is probably my fave song on the Rise & Fall album. It's joyous! It's irreverent! Whomst among us has not been a good, good girl for a long time? Let's start a bar fight!
Other context: It's Chappell Roan. I literally remember the first time my friend told me about her, in March. I listened to the record for the first time on 4/20 (blaze it). Like the rest of the internet, I have followed her ups and downs this year with keen interest, and I keep coming back to the record.