coffee, music

A Coffee Playlist With An Untwist: Five Catchy Songs About Coffee

Listening to the Top 40 radio station can be a lesson in madness.

The same predictable chord progressions. The same exact drops. The increasingly small pool of influences that blurs musicians together and makes the very rare unique single stand out like a slap to the mouth. I don’t work a conventional nine-to-five, nor do I constantly tune in to my local radio, so the Top 40 station has become something of a niche for me. I prefer to dig for songs through YouTube recommendations or Soundcloud autoplay, enjoying good surprises and stumbling across lesser-known artists who deserve more love.

A relaxing cadence for your ears melting into the delicious flavors on your tongue. Coffee and music go hand-in-hand, and I found myself wanting to see just how much they overlap. The brew is a daily staple for millions around the world, helping people get through their day with a much-needed moment of comfort or caffeine buzz. Unsurprisingly, that love of coffee seeps into art. The media we consume, the language we speak or the ways we look at one another. It shapes us as much as we shape it.

I’m nothing if not a multitasker. I’ve got five songs that don’t just go great with coffee, but talk about coffee, with enough variety in genre to ensure there will be at least one song that speaks to you:

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music, review

Indie & Folk

This marks a new weekly segment: Sharing The Goodness! It’s exactly what it says on the tin — I’ll be sharing songs I’ve come across and feel could use a little more attention. Whether it’s a bouncy disco track I heard a week ago or an obscure acoustic number I’ve been bobbing my head to over the past month, I’ll be rounding them up five at a time every Saturday to help these artists get more exposure and to help you get some inspiration for the work week. Better yet, I’ll be grouping these up by genre(s) so you’ll know what you’re getting into. Not too fond of rock? Want to see more electronica or synth-pop? Just keep an eye out for my next piece.

After all, I want to share the goodness!

Starting off the list: indie and folk. Considering I’m a huge fan of this sound, expect me to re-visit these a lot in future posts. I’ll also occasionally put an artist on the list twice, if I feel their repertoire is just too damn grand to be confined to one suggestion. (LinksĀ in the titles!)

laura-mvula-sing-to-the-moon
1. “Sing To The Moon” by Laura Mvula

I was indirectly introduced to Laura Mvula by a mutual on Twitter, who then told me she’d make me cry, no less. Well, they weren’t wrong. British-born folk and neo-soul musician Laura Mvula is a tour-de-force, tugging on your heartstrings even as she sweeps you off your feet and ignites your imagination. ‘Sing To The Moon’ is the very definition of a showstopper — a gentle chorus and tender vocals initially draws you in, only to wrench at your heart with fanciful violins and harp strings. Even better? The lyrics are beautiful.

They hearken to a friend or a family member holding your hand through hard times, invoking hope when life is pushing anything but. Too many songs attempting to relate to a ‘general and impersonal audience’ can come off as overly vague or corny, but Laura Mvula knows exactly who she’s talking to and why. The despondent and the depressed, the hopeless regularly beaten down by reality yet turning their faces to the sky for one last look nonetheless.

Sing to the moon and the stars will shine,

Over you, lead you to the other side

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