Here is a new idea: let’s push the brand new music to one side for a second and focus on the songs that have been on heavy rotation over the last twelve months. The ‘Most Cherished Finds’ feature will shine a bright light on the most precious songs that have become essential mainstays in all of my playlists. Essentially, these are my favourite songs; the ones that make me sit back and reflect; the ones that have become cherished finds.
First up is Sun Shy Boy‘s 2020 release Color of Home.
Sun Shy Boy is the moniker of Emile Lagarde and this track is ripped from his second EP instalment titled ‘NaNaNa‘. The track features the vocals of Jessica Matheson in the latter stages.
Why I’ve Chosen This Song?
2020 was one of the weirdest years we are ever likely to encounter. Our normal routine was replaced by this ‘new normal’ and football crowds were replaced by virtual crowd noise. You couldn’t write a script like it if you tried. Pre lockdown I was pretty much used to being a hermit so entering a ‘stay at home’ period was easy to adapt to; the government was telling me to avoid everyone and therefore no-one questioned my solitude, it worked well.
As the months went by, the days seemed to stretch longer and longer and with that, my mind seemed to veer further and further off course. Productivity levels shrunk to nil. What started as a nice few months indoors slowly became a battle with my own thoughts. As the lockdown took hold for the second time in September, my mental health took a bit of a dip, maybe more than a bit to be honest. I’ve been through some fairly extensive peaks and drop-offs in my twenties (like most of us who still run music blogs in 2021 do lol) so this wasn’t anything new or surprising. I’m used to experiencing dips, but this was different… this was serious and a year in lockdown allowed this new poignant variant of ‘the black dog’ to fester and grow.
During this darkened period the only thing that kept me ticking over was writing and typing the usual ramble on this blog. Listening to music became crucial in my quest to nurse myself back to a suitable mental state again. Songs I accumulated through the blog early in lockdown became my go-to sounds: Sun Shy Boy‘s single Color of Home was one of these tracks. Spotify became a crutch in September, I lent on music and it kept me upright. Well worth the £9.99 per month subsciption.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why Color of Home resonated so much. It’s a slow, methodical and easy-going song: the instrumentation simplistic and tempo languid. There was just something about it – perhaps it’s plodding flow and laid back atmosphere. That chorus too – it’s special. It became one of my most played songs last year.
Alongside a couple of other melancholic releases, I formed a bank of ‘crutch songs’ that got me through the mire. That mire lasted far longer than usual but the music helped. Music helps.
Thanks for reading episode one of ‘Most Cherished Finds’ : midnight musings fused with the music that matters most.
About ‘The Sound Sniffer’
The Sound Sniffer is a music blog that’s still only a baby – Founded in early 2019 by Kevin Coakley, a music writer and ghostwriter. ‘The Sound Sniffer’ also runs gigs and showcases in London since Oct 2019. The showcases are picked from artists found in the blog’s submission inbox.
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