My Music This Year
Over the past year my listening habits have been pretty consistent, but also oddly varied. Most of what I play lives somewhere between introspective rap, indie rock, and music that feels more like atmosphere than entertainment.
A lot of my year was soundtracked by Mac Miller. Both Circles and Swimming ended up on repeat, which probably says something about the general mood I gravitate toward — reflective, slightly melancholic, but still warm. They're albums I keep coming back to because they never feel intrusive. They just sit in the background of everything else.
Comfort Albums & Background Music
One of the more interesting constants was Minecraft – Volume Alpha. It's not something I actively "listen" to in the traditional sense, but it's become a kind of default background for studying, working, or just thinking. It's calm without being boring, and familiar without feeling repetitive.
That balance between comfort and focus seems to run through most of what I play. I tend to favour music that creates a space rather than demands attention.
Artists I Kept Returning To
Loyle Carner dominated a lot of my actual song plays. Tracks like Damselfly, Ottolenghi, and Desoleil (Brilliant Corners) were constant fixtures. There's something about his delivery that feels grounded and conversational, which makes the songs easy to live with day-to-day.
Alongside that, Fontaines D.C. added a completely different energy. Death Kink especially became one of those songs that cuts through everything — sharper, louder, and a contrast to the softer, jazz-leaning rap that makes up most of my playlists.
Sam Fender also slipped into heavy rotation, with Rein Me In standing out as one of the tracks I kept replaying. It sits nicely between emotional weight and something you can still casually throw on.
Genres & Patterns
Genre-wise, the mix makes sense when I look at it: indie rock at the top, closely followed by jazz rap. That combination pretty much sums up the push and pull of my listening habits — textured, guitar-driven intensity balanced with calmer, more introspective rhythms.
Even the outliers like bubblegum pop feel less random than they look. They tend to appear as bursts of contrast rather than a full shift in taste.
Overall, my year in music wasn't about chasing new releases or trends. It was more about returning to sounds that fit naturally into everyday life — music that works while I work, think, travel, or just exist in the background.
