(via Shutterstock)
Want to feel good? Or even GREAT? Or freaking brilliant?
Then fire up some music, and specifically these five songs from artists who have poured their heart and soul and talent into their music and whose songs give you just the lift you need, especially at the end of the year when energy levels are flagging and spirits are a little down.
Put some pep into, you know, with these tracks and feel better about the world … and yourself …
“IN A MOOD” by INJI
(courtesy official INJI Instagram)
Born İnci Gürün, Turkish singer-songwriter INJI lives in NYC from which she’s launched a TikTok-fuelled climb to musical fame.
Kicking things with singles “Gaslight” and “Madeline” in 2022, she released her debut EP in the following year and follow-up in 2024, the titles of which were all capitalised which seems to be her thing, her music drawing on jazz and blue musicians generally, and Amy Winehouse in particular, for songwriting inspiration.
Her newest release, “IN THE MOOD”, which continues the artist’s eschewing of all things lower case, is a powerful piece of sizzling upbeat pop which, for all its beats and crunchy atmospherics comes back to one simply but compelling theme – love …or rather hoped-for love.
“This song is me, sitting in the back of a taxi at 3 AM after a wildly fun night out, with a massive pit in my stomach from one simple thought: Are you thinking of me too? The endless shower of cliche flexes in this song are a mock of my desperate and see-through attempts to prove that I’m fine. I don’t think I’ve ever name dropped so many brands in 3 minutes before – HAHA.” (OUT NOW)
“Dancing2” by Keli Holiday
(courtesy official Facebook page)
If you have had the pleasure to dance and let loose to a track by Australian outfit, Peking Duck, you will be well aware that both of the duo’s members know their way around powerfully beat-heavy, danceable alive pop.
So, it will come as no surprise that one half of the highly successful musical partnership, Adam Hyde, has released a solo song ” Dancing2″ as Keli Holiday, a pandemic-inspired persona who is all sexually laced vocals and intensely listenable musicality.
“Dancing2” isn’t just effervescently poppy with propelling beats and a sense of vibrant emotionalism but song which has a lot to say about what happens when two people connect in a world where busyness could just as easily drive them apart.
‘This song is about meeting a love that seemed a world away’, Hyde says, drawing on his real-life experience of meeting partner Abbie Chatfield. ‘There’s so much noise and distraction going on constantly as two single people in whatever business you want to call that we’re in.
‘There are people in and out of our lives at different times, trying to find what we are, and just journeying through life in our own way. We were both just dancing through the show as we all are. There was a definitive moment when we decided to connect with each other on an unspoken battlefield and we have been dancing together ever since.’ (Hyde via Rolling Stone)
“Candy Apple Girl” by Livia Barrell
(courtesy official site)
Based in NYC, Livia Rose Barrell, to use her full name, acts, sings and dances, making good use of her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Northern Kentucky University.
Clear and catchy evidence of this is “Candy Apple Girl”, a joyously upbeat celebration of love and how one person entering your life can completely change it for the good.
Very quickly, sings Barrell with lush giddiness, they fill your dreams, drive some very dirty thoughts and consume every waking moment in the best way possible.
As a queer person, it’s wonderful to see pop celebrating love in all its diverse forms and doing to music that captures the deliciously intense vibe of falling headlong in love with someone who you know will change your life for the better every step of the way.
Dance, sing and fall in love with a song that is romantic attraction distilled to just over three minutes of effervescent pop wonder and bouncy joy.
“Hot Goblin” by Em Beihold
(courtesy official Facebook page)
American singer-songwriter Em Beihold, known to the IRS as Emily Mahn Beihold, first came onto the scene with her debut EP, Infrared in 2017.
It’s been followed by a slew of singles, and another creatively titles EP, Eggs in the Backseat, and now “Hot Goblin” which unapologetically celebrates the light and dark in all of us.
Society likes to slide us into easy mono-categories but the reality is none of us are that easy to pin down, and as Beihold sagely observes:
Sometimes I feel like I’m a hot goblin
Little bit perfect, little bit problem
Could be a dream or your worst nightmare
But I know who I am, so I don’t care
Oh, I know who I am, so I don’t care
Set to a song that bounces and dances its way with energetic beat-heavy momentum, “Hot Goblin” is an empowering celebration of knowing who you are and living that truth.
If you have ever wanted a soundtrack to living your most authentic life, then this is it!
“H.A.P.P.Y.” by Jessie J
(courtesy official Jessie J Instagram)
Want a shot of joy right into your musical veins?
Then listen to the bubbly happiness of “H.A.P.P.Y.”, a single that demands to be danced to with technicolour fervour which is precisely what English singer-songwriter does in the accompanying clip which perfectly captures the light as air verve of the track.
Celebrating twenty years in the music industry this year, “H.A.P.P.Y.” is the perfect song to mark the event and while it’s attracted lots of criticism, it is a shot of giddy bliss at a time when that’s in short supply.
And honestly if the song delivers on its title, and you feel better after repeated listens, then just go with it and let the song do its thing.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST NEWS !!!
It’s been awhile between Eurovision drinks, so here’s all the latest from the last few months …
We have a host city!
There’s a fresh new look for the event’s 70th year!
And while a number of countries have not confirmed their attendance, subject to a decision about Israel’s involvement at a European Broadcasting Union meeting in December, it’s exciting that Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria are all returning to the contest in 2026!