What’s the soundtrack of your summer?
Hi! It’s Charluxx.
Finally, summer is here!
So in this spirit, let’s discuss seasonal music.
Every year, there is a lot of talk about the song or songs of the summer.
Whatever song the propaganda, er.. marketing machine decides to get behind and put into heavy rotation any given year. There is a complex science behind developing such a song... then it all comes down to business.
Admittedly, there are songs that unavoidably capture that “summer feeling” more than others.
Personally, songs such as Jimi Hendrix’ Purple Haze, Bob Marley’s Could You Be Loved, Aquarius (Let the Sunshine In) by The 5th Dimension, Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder, Nelly’s Hot in Herre, Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, do the trick.
However, I’ve always preferred to have a soundtrack of the summer. Every year I seem to gravitate towards an album that ends up on repeat for most of the summer... and more.
Last year it was Jamiroquai’s Automaton, the year before Donald Fagen’s Sunken Condos. Before that Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, Manu Chao’s Clandestino and also Próxima Estación: Esperanza, Amadou & Mariam’s Dimanche à Bamako, The Eric Burdon Band’s Sun Secrets, David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, and sooooo many others!
It can even be an actual soundtrack. Recently the movie Baby Driver offered an amazing collection of summery songs.
These albums create a mood at a point in my life and stay with me for years. I can always go back to what I was feeling at any particular time by listening to the music that accompanied me then.
It is said that the sense of smell is one of the strongest memories we have. I wholeheartedly agree with that. A smell will trigger a rush of remembrance that is crystal clear.
Arguably, I would put music a close second. For me, music instantly brings me back to the core feelings, the disposition I was in, at that specific time, and let’s me experience it all over again. It is a magical feeling... if you let it be.
There IS such a thing as the soundtrack of our life.
A lot of us have probably thought about what song we want played at our funeral. My uncle Ernest died quite young and his favorite song was Space Oddity by David Bowie. It was played in church during the memorial service and there wasn’t a dried eye in the place. It shook the 12 year old me to the core. By so doing, revealing another aspect of the power of music. How it connects us, affects us and stir up powerful emotions.
Summer music is like that.
The climate is better. We wear less clothes. We feel lighter. More open. Summer invites a sense of freedom and happiness that music accompanies wonderfully. That is how it slips into our consciousness.
This year, with the appending arrival of my Album’s release (Sexy Funk: July 2019) I’ve been spending a lot of time with my own music.
I love my music. I make it for myself. I figure: if I love it, people will too. (It makes me sad when I hear musicians talk about how they never listen to their own music. Not satisfied?)
So, I’ve had the incredible fortune to create my own summer soundtrack. That is a feeling I’ve never experienced before, and it is quite a high!
I recently saw Rocketman at the cinema, so I’m re-listening to Elton John, especially Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Brilliant work! That for sure will accompany me throughout the summer.
That being said, I’m still awaiting fervently and excitedly this summer’s musical discovery that will stay with me for years to come.
Hope you find yours too... and maybe—fingers crossed—it will feature a song of mine, or my album!
Enjoy the summer!
Peace and Love,
Charluxx.
p.s.: share your summer soundtrack in the comments below!