Happy December! Welcome to another episode of the Strawberry Skies radio show, this week including a bunch of songs from my 2021 Spotify Wrapped playlist.
If you're reading this between 3:00 and 4:00 PM EST on Thursday, December 2nd, you can listen live right now here. If you're not reading this during that timeframe, you can listen to what I played using this week's Spotify playlist here!
"Back to December" - Taylor Swift
My top artist of 2021 (according to Spotify) was Taylor Swift - I was in the top 2% of her listeners and spent over 2100 minutes listening to her - so I had to make her first this week, especially because she has a song with the word "December" in the title. I can't wait to hear this record re-recorded.
"Growing Up Song" - Anxious
My friends in Anxious just put out a new single off of their upcoming album "Little Green House" and also announced a tour supporting Meet Me @ The Altar, Hot Mulligan, and Knuckle Puck this spring. This band is doing huge things and no one is more deserving of that success.
"I Want to Kill You" - Citizen
This was my #1 most-listened-to song of the year, with 45 plays on Spotify. It definitely makes sense, since the album it's on, Citizen's "Life In Your Glass World", was one of my favorite albums that came out in 2021 (full review of the single here and the album here).
"Greek Tragedy" - The Wombats
This was the #2 song on my Spotify Wrapped playlist, and that one makes sense to me too. This was my go-to driving song for the first half of the year, and it's still one of my favorites.
"Kiss" - Pale Waves
This song was #9 on my 2021 Wrapped! My friend Luke showed it to me on a New Jersey Transit train back in June and it has quite literally not left my rotation since - Pale Waves is one of the best bands that I've discovered in 2021.
"Deep End" - Regrown
Regrown's "Deep End" was #14 on my Spotify Wrapped this year, and there were a few more songs from their 2021 EP "Closed Casket Material" on my list too. Hands down one of my favorite releases of the year.
"Heat Waves" - Glass Animals
This song falls right below "Deep End" at #15 on my 2021 Spotify Wrapped, and I remember listening to it a ton around my birthday in April. I still have to check out this band and album more, but if the rest of their discography sounds anything like this, I'm sure I'll love it.
"American Graffiti" - Waterparks
Moving on to top artists of the year, I already mentioned that Taylor Swift was my #1, but Waterparks was my #2, probably because of how much I loved their new album "Greatest Hits." I also got to see them live twice and meet them this year, so they've been a pretty big part of my 2021.
"G.I.N.A.S.F.S." - Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy was #3 on my list of top artists on Spotify this year, and this song is my favorite of all-time by them (and #22 on my list). I am never escaping my emo phase.
"Loverman" - Fiddlehead
Fiddlehead clocked in at #4 on my Spotify Wrapped top artists, and their songs "Widow In The Sunlight" and "Down University" were on my list too. I got to see them live for the first time this year and their record "Between The Richness" has very little competition for the #1 spot on my album-of-the-year list (full album review here).
"Common Sound" - Rich People
Rich People is my favorite band of all time and was #5 on my top artists for this year, and if you know me, you know how much they mean to me. This song has always been very important to me and I'll take any excuse to play it.
"Barricades" - Action/Adventure
I wanted to end this week by highlighting the bands I'll be seeing live this weekend! I've been working with Action/Adventure since April and am finally getting to see them twice this weekend, which I'm beyond excited about. This band is doing amazing things for people of color in the pop-punk scene.
"Silver Lights" - In Her Own Words
I've seen In Her Own Words twice and will be seeing them for the third time this weekend - every time I've seen them this song has been absolutely amazing live. Really excited to see what's next for them.
"Hollowed Out - Acoustic" - Belmont
Belmont's headliner hits the east coast this week, with support from Action/Adventure and In Her Own Words, and I haven't seen them since February 2020, so I can't wait to sing along with them again. This track is from their new EP "Bowser's Mixtape."
"Satellites" - Stand Still
Stand Still is playing this weekend at the Massapequa VFW in Massapequa, NY with Terror Eyes, Too Many Voices, Koyo, and Kill Your Idols, and I can't wait to see them again. Their EP is one of my favorites of 2021 for sure.
"Song for Anthony" - Koyo
Koyo is a band that's very important to me and their EP "Drives Out East" is also one of my favorites from this year. Very very excited to see them on Long Island on Sunday.
What songs do you want to hear me play next week? Let me know by tweeting me at @JENSESSlON or the blog at @StrawbSkiesBlog! The blog can also be found on social media @StrawberrySkiesBlog on Instagram and Strawberry Skies Blog on Facebook.