WILT

What I’m Listening To: May 2022

Karley

            You know that feeling when the weather warms up and you want to blast music like every day is a party? Where your daily drive feels more special because the sun is shining, the sky is a gorgeous shade of blue, and the radio is playing your song? That dancing in the kitchen, singing in the shower, humming to yourself kind of musical magic. May has finally brought the oomph back into this year with a medley of singles, new albums, and plenty of grooves to bring out the best in me. Narrowing down this month was almost impossible.

            Bless our good old rules: no more than 20 songs per month, no more than 1 song per artist (not including features or collabs), and no more than 3 songs per compilation album. This cut down over 40 new “Likes” in May to more manageable numbers. At the end of the year, only songs from each of these monthly lists are eligible for the Best Of list. I’ve also started indicating old favorites (versus new finds) with an asterisk* since that will make it clear which ones are automatically out of the running.

            Did May bloom and burst into song?

  1. “See I’m Smiling” by Anna Kendrick from The Last Five Years ~ That you can’t spend a single day / That’s not about you and you and nothing but you / Marvelous novelist, you!
  2. “Solitude” by Billie Holiday ~ I know that I’ll soon go mad
  3. “Vegas” by Doja Cat ~ High school when you finally peaked
  4. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John ~ I’m not a present for your friends to open
  5. “cellophane” by FKA Twigs ~ When all I do is for you?
  6. “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac* ~ Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’ / ‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
  7. “Daffodil” by Florence + The Machine ~ A generation soaked in grief
  8. “Matilda” by Harry Styles ~ Matilda, you talk of the pain like it’s all alright
  9. “A Pirate’s Life” by Joel Fry from Our Flag Means Death ~ Sounds quite nice, we won’t live long
  10. “Flower Shops” by Lindsay James ~ And he took up drinkin’ since I took the time / To tell him he took the best years of my life
  11. “About Damn Time” by Lizzo ~ Oh, I’m not the girl I was or used to be / Uh, bitch, I might be better
  12. “Pager” by Lyn Lapid ~ Now you’re begging for my attention
  13. “Malibu” by Miley Cyrus* ~ I always thought I would sink, so I never swam
  14. “Kind of Girl” by MUNA ~ Talk to myself real gentle
  15. “The Foundations of Decay” by My Chemical Romance ~ Take his body as a relic to be canonized, now
  16. “Mr. Percocet” by Noah Cyrus ~ You want someone to worship the worst of your mistakes
  17. “That That” by PSY feat. SUGA ~ 우리 다시 웃고, 울고, 지지고, 볶고
  18. “I Can’t Remember My Name” by Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Shanks Sioux ~ I’ll only go as far as my people
  19. “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift ~ When you’re young, you just run / But you come back to what you need
  20. “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman* ~ I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

            I had Dance Fever by Florence + The Machine and Harry’s House by Harry Styles on repeat this month. I also listened to the scores for Midsommar and Annihilation for a couple of days while writing, and we can’t underestimate how amazing those are. As usual, I’m also tuning into new episodes of Newcomers as they make their way through the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time. I can’t make any strong predictions for June, but I’m sure it will be a special month since it’s the two-year anniversary of this column.

            As always, you can find the current What I’m Listening To in 2022 playlist on Spotify here.