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Ellie Moscati's avatar

First, imagine you’re at a party introducing yourself to a hot stranger. Add a song that reflects the first impression you’d like to give off.

EM: I picked "Attention Whore" by Tove Lo. This song has been on my rotation heavily since the album came out, and I just love the lyrics "need your eyes on me to win / I'm an attention whore

And I want what I'm asking for" ICONIC. It feels so empowering.

Now it’s time to be more real. Add a song that reflects who you are or what you’re going through right now.

EM: "Oh What a World" by Kacey Musgraves. I just celebrated a birthday, my friends came over, the far away friends called, I feel fueled and full by all the love and so appreciative. I just feel very at peace right now and amazed at how good everything feels.

Add a song that reflects the place you lived this year.

EM: "The Good Side" by Troye Sivan. I traveled to CA twice this year, and I enjoy CA, enjoyed my time there and love that I grew up there, but I am so in love with the East Coast. It definitely feels like "the good side".

Add a song that makes you feel connected to the people in your life (friends, family, community).

EM: "Stay Gold" by the Knocks & Powers. I think this reflects the moves people have made, the troubles that we go through, but that we still make the best of it with each other and that these people still make me feel golden as I hope I do for them.

Add a song that reflects the general vibe of this year for you.

EM:"Give it 2 Me" by Madonna. I think I've been focused on chasing what I want and so I love this "give it to me/'m fucking ready" energy. Also the part where it's like "get stupid" which is no doubt the worst part of the song even resonates because I've been so silly this year and loving every second of it.

Add a song that reflects the most meaningful or impactful event in your life this year.

EM: "Venus Fly Trap" By MARINA. I just has a lot of solidifying moments where I felt very confident in what I was growing and what I was doing. I trusted the things I have built, I trusted the people I built this life with. I really love the lyrics "I should be motherfuckin crazy / nothing in this world can change me". We know I've been handed a rough hand but I've turned shit into silver.

Lastly, add a song that reflects the vibe you’re going for next year.

EM: BOTH" By Tiësto. Perfect energy.

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Maya's avatar

5. ‘Free’, Florence + the Machine

Joy and dancing and art as the seams of the world split open. A major defining vibe of the year I think was descent into madness, and acceleration, and the strain of that. And given that, a healthy thread of be absurd, be loud, love your friends, dance, be silly, and intentional, cultivate pleasure and light, etc.

Honorable mentions: ‘Rain Rain Nature Rain’ and ‘Earth Worship’, Rubblebucket

I've been thinking a lot about the importance and beauty and power of water this year. And it was a rainy year for Boston! Which has been defining - floods in the region, not great, but I found the wet summer to be a huge relief from the sadness and fear of last summer's drought, which just offered views of thirst and death of plant life everywhere you went.

And besides the Earth worship ethos (listening to a chant of 'rain rain nature nature rain rain rain nature nature rain' in a concert hall full of people feels like a modern spell or prayer, and I love it), these songs have that absurdity, and earnestness, and fun, and motivation to dance and jump. Nice!

Honorable mention: ‘It’s Not Just Me, It's Everybody', Weyes Blood

"Has a time ever been more revealing / that the people are hurting"

And of course, no one's alone in this. It's everybody, it's systems, and that's really sad, but this song feels both honest with sadness and also transcendent of it.

6. ‘Mohabbat’, Arooj Aftab

Probably the most impactful experience of my year was my trip to India in February/March. It filled a calling in my heart, both to memorialize my grandma and her 1 year anniversary of passing, and to connect to country and culture and family. It changed the way I saw my dad, changed the way I relate to him. It changed the way I see myself. It changed my brain, improving my beginner's Hindi and vastly improving my native but basic and long-neglected Bangla. It opened my eyes and mind to so much, so many trees, so many birds, and names and places, and it was nourishing, and interesting, and sometimes very sad and sometimes so fond. I still, ten months out, haven't quite processed those experiences and feelings. 'Mohabbat', filled with the sounds of South Asia, and the words that Hindi and Urdu share, and the beauty and pathos of longing and love (which grief is made out of), is just the right song for this.

Honorable mention: ‘Jaago’, Lifafa

For the Hindi, which it's been awesome to learn, though I still don't know enough to understand his lyrics yet. And like what a voice, what a guy.

7. ‘Begin Again’, Jessie Ware

Let’s close it out with Jessie Ware again, because one of my New Year’s resolutions is to go dancing more, and she’s at the top of my motivators. And because this song embodies the possibilities of a new moment, new moon, new year.

Honorable mention: ‘Well Rested’, Kero Kero Bonito

In the coming year, I aspire to ramp up my momentum and practices for trying to usher in a new world - working for survival and alignment and regeneration. And this song makes me think not all is lost, and the Earth we’re a part of is powerful, and there are many possibilities beyond dystopia, and I want to maintain connection with that purpose and keep holding that door or that window open. And the fact that rest and care is a part of that? A reminder I need at least weekly.

Honorable mention: ‘Peace’, Hozier

This is a poem by Irish writer Patrick Kavanagh, read by the lovely melodious Hozier, that reminds me of everyday miracles, and simplicity, and gives me a sense of respite and comfort. In terms of ongoing resolutions, and vibes I want to aim for, I wish to cultivate serenity. If gratitude and serenity are the guiding principles of each day, it will be a good year.

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