I hate change. Let me rephrase: I’m terrified of change. It’s uncomfortable and unpleasant and never once have I enjoyed changing. To absolutely no one’s shock, I was an anxious kid who grew up to be an anxious adult. On top of the normal anxiety inducing things that scare the shit out of me (packed subway cars, being a single minute late for work, being yelled at), I also get this weird mental block sometimes when I try to eat. I’m hungry. I want to eat. I cannot make myself do it. What if it tastes different? What if it makes me sick? What if it’s not right? Sometimes, I’ll video call my friends and ask them to just watch me take the first bite so I know I’m safe. I bite, they smile, I don’t die, we go about our days.
Music is the same way for me. Do I want to love listening to new things? Yes! More than anything! Do I currently? Absolutely not. It’s scary and it makes me feel a little bit like I’m being hunted for sport, which is objectively silly. I love music! I’ve loved music my whole life. It should not need a five minute pep talk just to hit play on a new album from a band I already know I like, but this is the curse I bear. Again, silly, because I’m not a huge critic by any means. I can almost always find a song I like on my Daylist, and usually, it’s one I enjoy enough to play over and over. I’m trying to fix that part of me.
Which, I suppose, is where this harebrained idea comes into play. I’ve asked some of the people in my life who know me best to send me songs that they think I’d like but have never heard. Most of them jumped at the chance, although I did get two “You know every song ever made” messages and one “Why are you doing a column about new music when you struggle to listen to new music?” What can I say? I love a personal challenge, like putting together an entire magazine in less than four weeks and trying desperately to become a New Music Friday type person.
Welcome to The First Bite. Let’s dig in.
“Your Own Disaster (Live Acoustic TAYF10)” – Taking Back Sunday
As a casual Taking Back Sunday listener, this was probably the lowest stakes song that could’ve come up first on my shuffle. I’ve seen Taking Back Sunday, once on purpose and one and a half times in passing. I had a great time, makedamnsure was my real top song of 2024. Say what you want about their live shows, but being at the barricade for one of their annual Christmas shows and having the pleasure of seeing their acoustic pop up earlier in the day was a highlight of my holiday season. This is actually one of the songs they performed at that pop up, so it’s not a totally new experience to me.
That being said, I’m almost never the target audience for music that necessitates swaying or a lighter in the air. Something about slow music makes me antsy, so it’s often an underrepresented part of most of my playlists. That also rules out most acoustic songs for me, as objectively beautiful as I think most of them are. The more I listen to this one, though, the more I find myself enjoying the swaying. There’s a very specific time and place for music like this in my life, and it’s generally while I lay in the tub and contemplate my mortality with a crackly candle and a bath bomb. It’s hard to ignore an opening line like “Just think of this and me as just a few of the many things to lie around, to clutter up your shelves” and the stunning harmonies from John Nolan that kick in during the second verse.
Will this one be added to my rotation? Yes, but on a case by case basis, specifically when I’m deep in my feelings and want to stay there for a while.
”Bossa Nova Corps” – Origami Angel
I’ve heard of Origami Angel. They’re one of those bands I’ve been meaning to listen to but have been putting off for an unknown amount of time, so I was excited to see a familiar name nestled into the playlist that this particular friend sent me. This is almost the complete opposite of the last song I listened to — it’s loud and fast and keeps you on your toes. Never once was I confident that I knew where this song was going next. More than a couple times, I found myself blinking in surprise at what the song morphed into. It takes almost a full minute for the vocals to kick in, and I was shocked when they did. I honestly thought it was going to be purely instrumental, and I’m pretty sure I would’ve been okay with that.
This song goes from a very bare bones guitar riff into something much louder and faster very suddenly, and then right back into the light and airy sound it started with. It took a few listens for me to stop being surprised by the twists and turns, but none of them were ones that I found unpleasant. I was also really into the vocalist’s tone. As someone who did a lot of singing and wanted to be a professional singer for most of their life, vocals are something that can truly make or break a song for me. In this case, they made it. This is also exactly the kind of song that reminds me of the person who sent it to me. It’s so very her — fun and shocking and unafraid to be what it is.
“Bossa Nova Corps” was in my Liked Songs playlist before I finished the second run through.
It’s really astounding how much I can enjoy my interests when I’m not bogged down by worrying that everything will be exactly how I remember it being. One day, hopefully in the not so distant future, I won’t be so caught up in my own head and I’ll be able to just listen to something new, to just take that bite on my own. Until then, though, I’ll keep calling, as long as you keep answering.
Until next time.