Picture this; you’ve just finished work early on a Wednesday afternoon. It’s one of the first balmy evenings of the year, and although it’s not quite ‘pub garden’ and spilling onto the pavements in full gusto weather yet, it’s the kind of evening where you can walk to the station or tram stop, jacket in hand and know it will be light when you’re cooking your dinner when you get home and looking out of the kitchen window. You know you can start getting away with putting your washing on the line (and entering ‘my towels have turned to cardboard and I couldn’t be more glad for it’ season) – and perhaps, if you’re like me, you might start tidying up your ankles and toes- as they’re finally released into the wild; sandals et al!
Of course- I couldn’t be talking about anything other than the arrival (and soon to be departure) of spring! And! The quarterly share of the songs that have been soundtracking trips to garden centres, morning errand runs, afternoons tidying up the garden and the first evenings of the year with the back door open…
I’d like to say it’s a big ol’ picnic of songs, but it’s more like a lazy Susan, leaning heavily on a good couple of months listening to the new Adrianne Lenker record (and seeing her at The Barbican which was magic), but I promise if you’ve given it a listen you’ll understand! There were also new albums from Maggie Rogers, Lucy Rose and The Lemon Twigs which made the season change from March all the sunnier, and an excellent TV soundtrack from ‘One Day’ which threw a lot of old classics back into the mix too. As always, I’d love to hear what you’ve been listening to and loving- and as always the month-by-month playlists are available on my Spotify here!
1. The Magnetic Fields – The Book of Love, 2. The Pogues – Dirty Old Town, 3. Joan Armatrading – Drop The Pilot, 4. Dobie Gray – Out on the Floor, 5. Self Esteem, O – You Can Get It If You Really Want, 6. Muireann Bradley – Police Dog Blues, 7. Simon & Garfunkel – April Come She Will, 8. Suki Waterhouse – My Fun, 9. Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!, 10. The Lemon Twigs – Only A Fool, 11. The Carpenters – We’ve Only Just Began, 12. Paramore, David Byrne – David Byrne Does Hard Times, 13. The Velvet Underground – After Hours, 14. Lucy Rose – This Ain’t The Way You Go Out, 15. Big Thief – Orange, 16. Paul McCartney, Wings – Junior’s Farm, 17. Blossoms – What Can I Say After I’m Sorry?, 18. Adrianne Lenker – Steamboat, 19. Big Thief – Spud Infinity, 20. The Beatles – I Should Have Known Better, 21. Bat for Lashes – At Your Feet, 22. Laura Marling – Fortune, 23. English Teacher – Broken Biscuits, 24. The Lemon Twigs – Church Bells, 25. Adrianne Lenker – Free Treasure, 26. Maggie Rogers – Don’t Forget Me
x
