Playlist of the Month: January 2025

Sitting here in the depths of winter, keenly aware of the fact that my instinct in winter is to listen to depression music, and that’s really not what I need right now. Instead, this playlist is me making an active effort to have happy, or at least upbeat, music around.

Don’t tell anyone, but I had to come back and add this after initially scheduling this post, because I absolutely did forget this time: the link to the full playlist.

Machine Learning – J. Maya on Machine Learning – Single

Pink Pony Club – Chappell Roan on Pink Pony Club – Single

Sad Girls (feat. Rema) – Clean Bandit & French The Kid on Sad Girls (feat. Rema) – Single

O Superman (For Massenet) – Laurie Anderson on Talk Normal: The Laurie Anderson Anthology (Remastered)

Oklahoma Smokeshow – Zach Bryan on Summertime Blues – EP

Dicked Down in Dallas – Trey Lewis on Dicked Down in Dallas – Single

Cruel Unusual – Otherwish on iii, Empty Spaces

Midnight Drive – HurricaneTurtle on Midnight Drive – EP

Heaven On Earth – Hayden Blount on Heaven On Earth – Single

Towers – Zach Bryan on The Great American Bar Scene

Sorry 4 The Wait – Lil Wayne on Sorry 4 The Wait

East Side of Sorrow – Zach Bryan on Zach Bryan

Bitter Coffee – Make Night on Bitter Coffee – Single

Desilusão (MTG) [feat. Loirin prod] – Bruno & Marrone, Zé Felipe & Mc Jacaré on Desilusão (MTG) [feat. Loirin prod] – Single

Happy Trails – Orville Peck on Happy Trails – Single

Up, Out, and Leaving – Hayden Blount on Up, Out, and Leaving

Astronaut In The Ocean – Masked Wolf on Astronaut In The Ocean – Single

Carom – Fyfe & Iskra Strings on Carom – Single

LIGHT AGAIN! – Lil Nas X on LIGHT AGAIN! – Single

Born Slippy (Nuxx) – Underworld on 1992 – 2012

I think about it all the time featuring bon iver – Charli xcx & Bon Iver on Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat

THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS – Bon Iver on SABLE, – EP

Man In Finance (G6 Trust Fund) – Girl On Couch & Billen Ted on Man In Finance (G6 Trust Fund) – Single

Something’s in the Wind – Masked Wolf on The Devil Wears Prada but God Wears Gucci

Stained – LINKIN PARK on From Zero

Flirting with a Burnout – Vokon on Flirting with a Burnout – Single

The Emptiness Machine – LINKIN PARK on From Zero

Auld Lang Syne – Sleeping At Last on Auld Lang Syne – Single

Qué Pasaría… – Rauw Alejandro & Bad Bunny on Cosa Nuestra

Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal) – Fergie on The Dutchess

Tarot – Bad Bunny & JHAYCO on Un Verano Sin Ti

Everything is romantic featuring caroline polachek – Charli xcx & Caroline Polachek on Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat

Overflow – LINKIN PARK on From Zero

Hungover in a Deer Stand – Dylan Marlowe on Mid-Twenties Crisis

Memories – Babbage on Memories – Single

light dark light – Fred again.. & Angie McMahon on two more days – Single

Great Mother (feat. Neco Novellas) – HAEVN on Wide Awake (Deluxe)

Hotel Bible – Max McNown on Hotel Bible – Single

i Am A Mountain – Coldplay on Moon Music (Full Moon Edition)¹

Breathe – RÜFÜS DU SOL on Inhale / Exhale

Rise Up Again – Nathan Ball on Lost Track of Time – EP

How About a Drink? – Billy Raffoul on How About a Drink? – Single

That’s So True – Gracie Abrams on The Secret of Us (Deluxe)

Medusa – Cameron Whitcomb on Medusa – Single

Tell Me Why – Masked Wolf & Kota the Friend on The Devil Wears Prada but God Wears Gucci

Hold On Me – Kygo & Sandro Cavazza on Hold On Me – Single

Circuits – Fyfe & Iskra Strings on Carom – Single

Callback – HurricaneTurtle on Tunes of Now – EP

Bears & Wolves – Lilith Max on Bears & Wolves – Single²

Rust – Ben Böhmer on Bloom³

need dat boy – Lil Nas X on need dat boy – Single⁴

Una Velita – Bad Bunny on Una Velita – Single

Sometimes We Come Back – THE RUNAWAY WILD on Sometimes We Come Back – Single⁵

Much Ado About Nothing – Waxahatchee on Tigers Blood

Drunk Again – Aidan Canfield on Rivertown – EP

Breathe, Be Happy – Tep No on Breathe, Be Happy – Single⁶

Smoke – Deepend, Peachy Pete & Outliers on Smoke – Single

Old Neptune, He’s Roaring – Brian Sauvé on Hearth Songs

little mystery – Fred again.. & John Martyn on two more days – Single

Way Back Home – Ed Prosek, Portair & Driftwood Choir on Way Back Home – Single

King – Deepend, LAST CALL & Horxata on King – Single

Strangers – Kenya Grace on Strangers – Single

Dancing Like We Do – Poul, Alberto Ciccarini & Josh Reflex on Dancing Like We Do – Single

Plead the Fifth – Cooper Alan on Plead the Fifth – Single⁷

Khé? – Rauw Alejandro & Romeo Santos on Cosa Nuestra

I’m Good (Blue) – David Guetta & Bebe Rexha on I’m Good (Blue) – Single⁸

Crazy – Doechii on Crazy – Single⁹

1. Remembering how much of early Coldplay was definitely Depression Music, and then listening to this happy tune, I love that for them. ↩
2. Good one to listen to the words; it’s not happy, it’s angry, and she’s really telling a story well. ↩
3. Possibly my favorite addition this month? I dunno why this one clicked for me as much as it did. ↩
4. Just when I was starting to think “I haven’t listened to Lil Nas X for a while…” he drops some new music, and it’s great. ↩
5. I’ve listened to about half the lyrics of this one, I just tune in for bits and pieces, and while it’s not happy, it sure is upbeat in that 80s funky synth-wavey way. Who doesn’t want a horror movie in the form of a bop? ↩
6. Tep No always feels sorta like it should be played during a guided meditation or a yoga class, and the name fit the vibe I was going for this month. ↩
7. Gloriously chaotic. ↩
8. I honestly love pivoting “Blue” into being a party anthem like this. ↩
9. I did specify, “happy, or least upbeat”, and this is… one of those things. ↩