I always try to find and listen to as much music as possible, and this month more so than ever, I have found so much noteworthy music that I thought I would make a list of my top 5 favourite artists/albums/songs I've found or re-discovered this month;

1. Chris Stapleton

2. HalseyHaving listened to Colors on repeat for about 3 months, back in October my friend and I jumped at the chance of getting tickets for Halsey's Glasgow show. Through a stroke of luck, we managed to get tickets and naturally, as I end up doing with literally any concert, I didn't actually start properly listening and frantically learning the setlist until a few weeks before the gig. Because of this, I've spent the whole month listening to Badlands as much as I had time for, to the extent where I felt as though I had assigned myself homework every night. It wasn't until the night of the concert a couple of weeks ago that I fully discovered everything I had been missing in all those months I had put off properly listening to the album. It is beautiful, all the songs connect so smoothly and her voice is so beautifully unique. Halsey is a born performer, and you don't truly understand that until you see her on stage. The visuals involved added a whole new dimension to the songs and left me wanted to relive the entire concert the second I left the venue. (The only criticism I would have of that concert was that there was very little audience interaction, but that's beside the point). If anyone is looking for something slightly different, or just new and fresh to listen to, I would 100% recommend this album.
My favourite songs off Badlands (that I discovered this month in particular) include Roman Holiday, Castle, Strange Love and Haunting. 

3. Storyteller by Carrie UnderwoodI fell in love with this album the second I listened to it after getting it for Christmas, which isn't a surprise really, considering how much I loved Carrie's last album Blown Away. When I realised how sad I was that I didn't have tickets to see her when she comes to Glasgow as part of Country 2 Country in March, I tried to avoid the album for the second half of January and the first few weeks of this month. That was until I refreshed Ticketmaster again, and by sheer chance and the ultimate stroke of luck, I managed to find tickets. After months of trying to find tickets from any source at all, at any vaguely affordable price, I finally found them through the most reliable source available and at face value. I've been on cloud 9 ever since and Storyteller has been playing practically non-stop since that moment. The album is perfect for anything and everything, I've painted to this album, walked my dog to this album, drove around listening to this album and exercised along to this album at the gym. It has been the ultimate soundtrack to 2016 so far and I am BEYOND excited to see her at C2C!My recent favourites off this album have been Dirty Laundry, Church Bells and Choctaw County Affair. (another honourable mention and one that isn't on this album is Undo It which is obviously one of her greatest hits, but I hadn't properly listened to it until this month and I love it SO MUCH)

4. Little RichardAfter watching a documentary on the history of R&B and hearing so many songs that I know and love, I caught Little Richard's name and binged on all his greatest hits immediately after. Although I had heard the majority of his hits before, this was the first time I had appreciated them as an entire unit of work. The rhythm is infectious and just makes you want to dance, his music is music for a good mood. The discovery of Little Richard's music also led to a new appreciation for all kinds of 50/60's R&B, including Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin and James Brown. If anyone is ever needs an immediate pick-me-up, this is what I would turn them to.
Honourable mentions; Tutti Frutti, Good Golly Miss Molly, The Girl Can't Help It and Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On.

5. Work Song by HozierI've loved Hozier's album for around a year now, and I still find it as wonderful as I did the first 100 times I listened to it, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I understood the hype about Work Song. It's actually the first time I can say that a spotify advert ever actually influenced my music choices. The song has every element of Hozier that I fell in love with to begin with and I'm astounded I got this far without genuinely listening to it and it just sounds so dark and wonderful. It's hard to explain why I love it so much at 2am.

I would 200% recommend every song on this list to anyone, and I'm actually sad there are so many good songs that I didn't have enough words to describe my love for and these include;
Fine by Kacey Musgraves, Are You Sure which is also by Kacey Musgraves, Sister Suffragette from the Mary Poppins soundtrack and Fast Car by Tracy Chapman (a re-discovery).

Love,
Lucy x