Monthly music playlist: The First Days of January

Monthly music playlist: The First Days of January

January is a month with both good and bad PR simultaneously.

For salary earners, it’s the longest month to exist, constantly calendar checking, wondering how you’ll survive the large weeks between the middle and the end,

It’s like 3 months in 1; the days, taking their sweet time to end.

For others, it is the realisation that enjoyment galorizzy has finished and real life continues. Yes, you’re back at the desk, but you’ll always have the memories of December, fresh and giddy within you.  

For another category of people, it’s the month to feel fresh with opportunities and goals bursting in your chest. Whether or not those goals will fizzle out, time will tell, but right now it's time to rewrite the story

Happy New Year, happy 2026 Welcome to a new dispensation. I hope that this year, though it’s merely a new day, feels like a new path, a new board to draw and assess yourself with. I hope you take off the weight of perfection off your chest and just be you.

I hope you are not too hard on yourself and you allow your mistakes even in your quests for achievement. I hope you make the best of this moment, here right now because today, we are here to make sure it happens.

And in true fashion, our playlist theme for the month is, drumroll please, “SONGS THAT FEEL LIKE NEW BEGINNINGS”!!!! This is the part where you go “Wooooooahhhhhhhh” and “Woo hoo.”

Thanl you, Great job, now let’s dive into it

Unwritten: Natasha Beddingfield

We can’t have “New beginnings” without the timeless classic that is ‘Unwritten’. This solid banger, since back in 2004, has been a source of motivation for years but particularly found its way back to us 10 years later in 2024, fresh like it was made the night before.

This song is encouragement upon encouragement; as the song reaches a crescendo, even as it starts low and slowly creeps up to that chorus, you feel something blooming in your chest, like things clicking into place, like life coming into fruition, and then finally it bursts within you. You are a walking ball of light and “feeling the rain on your skin” because no one else can feel it for you. This song reminds us what it is to be alive and feel alive. It’s the reminder that we can stare at the blank state and illuminate our world before us. So this January, as you start afresh, let this song carry you into a feeling of newness and remind you that the best is still unwritten. Take your life as always at the edge and never at the end. You are just beginning; the pen’s in your hand

Everlasting Taker: BlaqBonez

Something else that keeps us grounded in new beginnings is starting it with a fresh wave of confidence and cunt energy. "Everlasting Taker" blasts you with confidence, that unhinged and unmatched confidence that blaqbonez knows exactly how to wield.  It’s the song that says get up and get ready, wraps you in a jacket of swag. It dispels all the bad energy from your vision, reminding you of your power to change your fate. You, yes you, Today, you are an everlasting taker, so tap into the energy of "Everlasting Taker" and remember who you are! Step into January with confidence, a deliberate swag. The world is your oyster; shape it, mold it, mend it and do it all over again!

Dog Days are Over: Florence + The Machine

This song was inspired by a text art installation by Ugo Rondinone that Florence Welch (the main singer of the band Florence + The Machine), saw while biking in London. The text the "dog days of summer", which symbolise the end of unbearable times. Florence took this one-liner and made arguably one of the band's most uplifting tracks. It's almost electric, the feeling of joy and movement it brings, like an out-of-body experience. The song begins softly, the softest tones like cotton on the skin; slowly it picks up, followed by magnetic claps and an edge that the high is coming; then the bridge comes behind, the heat rising, higher and higher, and finally, gracefully, it leads us to a hot, pitching chorus. After that, it plunges down into a ghostly soprano, Florence's opera-like vocals piercing the music, and then the claps and drums hit again, the joyful eccentricity back again. This song is bound to make you feel weightless and remind you indeed that the Dog Days are over, and you can enjoy your new beginnings. That difficult, stagnant, or unlucky period has ended, transitioning to a better, happier time. And with this in mind, you can start anew

Suru: Asake

Suru is the song that keeps us grounded, smooth sailing like our hopes for the journey of a new year. It’s a song about faith, that brings us to the center of our desires, hopes, and dreams. Asake sings heartfelt and earnest, while Stormzy matches him energy for energy, reminding us that the works of God are usually unknown to man, how he moves, a deliberate mystery. He tells us that slow and steady heads the race, but the goal instead is to stay focused. So as you set ahead to start your new year, keep these words close to your heart, stay grounded, stay focused, and stay hopeful, because "Suru lere"

Hang in there Baby!

New beginnings will not always be simple, sometimes they’re confusing, scary, and a big leap of faith. This Disney star/spacecraft genius lets us know about it. "Hang in there Baby!" Nostalgic and sweet, this Disney Channel classic is for the tough times, when you’re veering off track and truly not sure where life is heading anymore, take Bridgit’s advice, dance to the chorus and hang in there because sure life is up and down, but trust me, it comes back around, because you’re gonna love who turn out to be.  It’s pop rock, edgy and so nostalgic. If Teddy can do it, so can you; there’s no motivation brighter and warmer than something that pulls at your childhood strings, reminding you everything is okay.  So if January shakes the boat a little, here’s a reminder to hang in there…baby-

And that it's it for today! Something simple

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