For Your Ears 1

A perfect start to a beautiful journey, ten hand-picked songs, spanning seven genres.

1. Jasmine – Jai Paul

Jai Paul is just another guy from Rayner’s Lane, London. By the way, he is also your favourite artist’s favourite artist. His music has influenced the entire electronic scene. Paul’s influence has shifted over to Hip Hop with Drake sampling Paul’s masterpiece, BTSTU.

Paul’s music was a shock to the system that fans could not get enough. After researching I found out that his debut album was leaked in 2013. Paul was so distraught with what happened that he took a hiatus from releasing music until 2019 when he released “He“.

Jasmine is a taste of the Jai Paul’s genius, yes he is a musical genius! Before Paul’s debut album was released on Spotify in 2019, fans were so starved for his music that they created playlists that “sound like Jai Paul”. In fact, go to your Spotify and type Jaiwave. This man has created a genre with his sound.

Once the industry’s best-kept secret, now a master of the sound waves. Thanks to games like Grand Theft Auto 5, Jai Paul’s music is a step closer to reaching the masses. Let it be noted, I liked Jai Paul before it was cool to like Jai Paul.

2. So Many Details – Toro y Moi

Toro Y Moi is a superb artist. At your first listen you will hear Jai Paul’s influence in his music but the more you listen, the more you will realise that he has his own unique sound. A sound that only a seasoned audiophile could appreciate. Treat your ears and play this on repeat until you appreciate the awesomeness.

3. Move on Up – Curtis Mayfield

Five words, Kanye West Touch the Sky. If someone had told me that the original song was nearly nine minutes long, had percussion drums playing throughout and it sounded better than the Kanye West version, I would not believe them. But sometimes the originals are just that much better. Take a minute to appreciate the bass and sax around the 4:30 mark. WOW, will we ever get music like this again?

4. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison

It is rumoured that it is whispered in the hills of Belfast that “if you do not know Van Morrison you do not know music.” Brown Eyed Girl is such a lovely song and to make it more interesting it was originally titled Brown Skinned Girl. Make of that what you will. Van Morrison is awesome.

Halfway Mark



5. Simple Beauty – Martin Fox

Believe it or not, I discovered this song on a sleep playlist on Spotify. Mr Martin Fox, how could you drop this gem and only make it one minute 34 seconds long? What did we do to offend you? I guess the best beings leave you wanting more.

6. La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin – Claude Debussy

The girl with the flaxen hair is my favourite classical song. Every day at lunch I walk down to the piano at work and try (and fail) to play this song. Hopefully, I can master it before I am 40.

7. Now We Are Free – Hans Zimmer

Far be it from me to pretentiously explain why Hans Zimmer is Hans Zimmer. I like this song and you hear more music from composed throughout the series.

8. We are People – Empire of the Sun

I can imagine that this will be a tough one to listen to, but remember it is about developing your musical taste.

Imagine it is 2008… Rhianna, Katy Perry, and Kanye West are dominating the charts and I stumble upon Empire of the Sun. What is this strange music? Synthpop, electro-rock and a crazy music video to top it off? Sign me up, I am sold.

9. Walking on a Dream – Empire of the Sun

If you have made it this far without skipping any of the songs, well done. This song is so epic. If I had a movie about my life this song would be on the soundtrack. It has that “I have been on an adventure kind of vibe.”

10. That’s the Joint

I am not usually one for funk, I much prefer disco but this is my joint.

Note: I had to write this twice because the article closed before I could save it. Note to self – control s.

