No one warned us that being in your twenties sucks, a lot. We were always told by adults that it was a magical era of self discovery and experiences, but they failed to mention how isolating and confusing it can be. Trust me, for all the incredible moments I experience in my twenties, it was equally met with vicious anxiety and self-doubt. Music ended up becoming the one thing I could turn to help validate my feelings, and I leaned into it deeply. I've been tracking the music I listen to yearly since 2015, and I recently went through those lists to see how my taste has grown. What I found was an incredible pattern of my moods throughout the years.
It ended up sparking the idea for this listicle, and I've gone through to pick four songs that truly changed my life back then. Whether it was as a friend I was seeking comfort in, or when I was angry and needed an outlet - music was there for me. Just putting together this playlist sparked a lot of nostalgia for me, I reflected on how wild life was during that decade and how proud I am of it to have made it through and be who I am today. Music is so cool that way. If you're in your twenties and reading this right now, hopefully you'll find solace in the same music I did back then.
xoxo Kelsey
Kyle Craft - 'The Rager'
Full Circle Nightmare
I truly attribute my complete life shift at 28 to Kyle Craft. Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, but let me explain. I was 26, living in Seattle and battling some pretty heavy depression. My co-worker at the time recommended this Oregon artist, Kyle Craft, who was making a name in the Pacific Northwest. I turned on his 2016 debut album, Dolls of Highland, and from the first second of 'Eye of a Hurricane', I was hooked. Kyle Craft's sound can only be described as jangly piano, ole' fashioned rock 'n' roll, his aura bleeds 70s vibes and his voice teeters between raspy belting to folky warbling. While I obsessed, time went on, still battling the depression and in 2018, Kyle Craft released one of my all-time favorite albums, Full Circle Nightmare. 'The Rager' became anthemic to me, I loved its witty lyrics, 'who's she? they ask me / as she stumbles past me / it's one of twenty different names / depending where she goes'. I kept coming back for more, each time digging deeper into the catchy hook, the earworm chorus, and through that obsession, I found my creative spark again. I knew I needed to keep working on my dream of being in the music industry, and because of one album, I found my passion. I started working on what is now GRRRL Music, I began talking about music online, writing album reviews for smaller up & coming artists. So needless to say, Kyle Craft did change my life, he hasn't released music since his 2019 album, Showboat Honey. I hope he comes back to music, I've been lucky to meet him twice (he is a sweet baby angel), but for now I'll still put Full Circle Nightmare on repeat.
Hop Along - 'The Waitress'
Painted Shut
Ashley & I often joke that my music taste can be described as 'chaotic', but it's actually so real and I attribute it to artists like Hop Along, Tune-Yards and Sleigh Bells. Hop Along was the perfect soundtrack for Seattle and my 25th year of life. Raging with undiagnosed (until 30) ADHD, entering therapy and trying to change my life, I gravitate towards 'wailing women'. Hop Along brought the chaos and the incredible front-woman, Frances Quinlan. It was the music that mirrored my brain's own chaos, Hop Along wrote short stories, disregarding whatever was happening musically, punching in poetic lines wherever Quinlan thought best. It was jazz in the sense that it felt organic and improvisational. When I needed music to help me drown out my anxiety, Hop Along brought the noise, in that classic 'indie rock' sound of the decade, the guitars are loud, the drums build and breakdown. 'The Waitress' is spectacularly special to me, at the heart of it, it's a song about embarrassment, the feeling of dread that sits in the pit of your stomach. Quinlan sings, 'I don't know why I worry, I mean / Maybe she didn't recognize me / I call you an enemy / Cause I'm afraid of / What you could call me' - it felt like she was validating my own feelings at the time, the feelings we all have in our twenties. Hop Along's music allowed me to work on my anxiety, it brought calm in a chaotic environment and for that, they'll always be on this list.
Camp Cope - 'The Opener'
How To Socialise & Make Friends
I had gone through my Riot GRRRL obsession (Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Veruca Salt), but I was needing something fresh, a new revival of the iconic sound. Lo and behold, Camp Cope came and gave me what I was needing: pure feminine rage. When I heard the first guitar plucks of Australian trio Camp Cope's 'The Opener', I knew it was going to change my life. I wish I could put down the entire lyrics of this song, it is a searing ripping apart of the male-dominated music industry. 'You worked so hard but we were just lucky / to ride those coat-tails into infinity / And all my success has got nothing to do with me / Yeah, tell me again how there just / Aren't that many girls in the music scene'. This moment of time is stuck in my head forever, the rage became drive for me - I wanted to also break down those walls with Camp Cope. 'The Opener' is angry, its message is layered with a plucky-turned-forceful bass line, but the highlight is Georgia Maq's powerful belt. You can feel the anger and frustration of her experiences pour out on every yell. It's my go-to when I need to belt out frustration, the words reminding me to keep fighting for equality. The entire album is a force to be reckoned with, it holds such a special place in my heart and it will always be one of my favorites.
Jamila Woods - 'Lonely' (feat. Lorine Chia)
HEAVN
'I put a sun in my lamp / I put a post-it note on my mirror / So I might love myself / So I might be enough today', croons Jamila Woods on her 2017 debut album, HEAVN. I repeated these lyrics as a mantra to myself, the song hit me in the middle of my 'self-discovery', I needed those lyrics. Jamila Woods brings depth and emotion to her music as you can hear through every soulful lyric. Her words became my own, through anxiety attacks or rough days, I knew if I could listen to this song, I would be able to calm myself. The smooth R&B feels secondary to Jamila's words, it gives way to the importance of the message and allows the music to simply flow with her poetry. Another moment in the song, 'I could be crazy / but my crazy is my own' brought such a power to me, to 'own my crazy', to know that I can love those sides of me without guilt. When you're in your twenties and feel like nothing belongs to you, like your constantly 're-doing' yourself, you often feel....crazy. Through Jamila's own affirmation, just know that you can own it, music is powerful and healing. 'Lonely' is one of those songs that helped me find the brightness in life, I hope it can help you.
That's all for this listicle, I will definitely be doing a few parts to this series, and I swear there is some happy music coming! Happy listening, I'll see you next time!
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