The March Playlist

This month's playlist includes a few gems, though I will confess I would have liked it to have been longer, but I'm trying to make the monthly playlist exclusive to relatively new releases from here on in. There's 20 songs and they're all really good, so hopefully that'll satisfy your craving for musical discovery until April.

On a couple of follow ups from last month, Kwabs and Tor Miller both feature with new tracks. Tor Miller's debut EP, Headlights, was released and on it was the strong, piano-based Hold The Phone, during which the New Yorker demonstrates a clear tone throughout and a clever manipulation of pace. Kwabs is an artist who has real potential to break into popularity, his bold and soulful R&B exactly the sort of tasteful music that actually leaks through to success.

My artist of the month, Purple Ferdinand, possesses a style I would love to hear more of. Chirpy, plucky, cutesy from first hear, the more you listen to track such as Wasn't Taught To Love, the more it in fact cuts deep, leaving you vulnerable to mesmerism.

Against The Current perhaps stand out from the list, especially when you hear the feisty pop-rock sound so unlike anything else on the list. And I swear their inclusion has nothing with my long-standing admiration for singer Chrissy Costanza. (Though, I have been enamoured with her ever since her cover of Good Time I found via Alex Goot's YouTube channel. Literally, she's defined my type and even beats Natalie Portman to the prize of my ideal celebrity romantic interest. I mean, she even likes maths! I barely ever find other people who like maths!) In fact, they feature because I love their new EP, Gravity. Especially Brighter, which reminds me of another joint Goot cover of theirs, Catch My Breath, that just simmers with sass, but still fits my chilled, easy-to-listen-to style model of these playlists. I was so gutted I couldn't see them live when they visited the UK in the autumn and I hotly anticipate their return to these shores.

The Playlist

Leaf Off/The Cave Jose Gonzalez
Brighter Against The Current
Daydreamer Bipolar Sunshine
Wasn't Taught To Love Purple Ferdinand
Claude's Girl Marika Hackman
Walk Kwabs
Hold The Phone Tor Miller
Closer Kele
Distant Past Everything Everything
Always Be With You Walking On Cars
Back To You The Mighty Oaks
Oceans Seafret
Losing You Aquilo
Higher Love Prides
Ban All The Music Nothing But Thieves
T-Shirt Weather Circa Waves
Blood Osca
People Youth Club
Lisa Sawyer Leon Bridges
Drawn To Your Light Purple Ferdinand

Find the playlist via Google Play Music here.