Welcome to our weekly exploration of how this week sounded like.
This is a curation made of new, undiscovered, and sometimes forgotten music, one song at a day. Covering January 16th, to January 22nd, 2025.
Curated and hosted by Iohann Rashi Vega.
January 16th
Sade – “Young Lion”.
From Single: Young Lion. 2024.
Helen Folasade Adu is a nigerian-british singer and songwriter. Her sultry voice and captivating vocal style has been unique for over 40 years under her stage name, Sade.
Her music blends soft pop, jazz, soul, and her iconic voice is part of the memory of a generation who grew up in the 80s and 90s, listening to her songs.
Sade released in 2024, the song”Young Lion,” her first new song in six years. This poignant track that serves as an emotional expression of apology to her transgender son, Izaak Adu, who came out as trans in 2016.
In celebration of Sade’s birthday, on January 16th, this is her latest song, “Young Lion”.
January 17th
Yukimi – “Sad Makeup”.
From Upcoming Album: For You. 2025.
Yukimi Eleanor Nagano is a Swedish-Japanese singer, songwriter, known for her lead vocals in the electronic band Little Dragon, as well as collaborations with electronic, Neo jazz, and lounge projects like Koop.
Yukimi is embarking on a solo career with the release of her debut album “For You” on March 28th, 2025. The album will feature 13 tracks, including collaborations with Lianne La Havas, Posdnous (De La Soul), and Yukimi’s father, Yusuke Nagano. Yukimi’s solo album promises a unique and introspective musical journey, showcasing her distinct vocal style.
We selected the song “Sad Makeup” which explores the feeling of hiding sadness behind a smile, featuring a melancholic melody with jazzy production.
January 18th
Sally Shapiro – “If You Ever Wanna Change your Mind”.
From Single: If You Ever Wanna Change Your Mind. 2016.
Sally Shapiro is a dual-identity project. One, being herself under her own name, but also she was part of an italo-disco/synthpop duo she co-founded with musician Johan Agebjörn, who by the way, we heard in our last week selections, with R. Missing. (“Fakesnow”)
Sally Shapiro’s musical upbringing included Swedish pop and disco, and the duo’s sound was heavily influenced by Eurobeat and Italo disco. Agebjörn explained the choice of the fictional stage name, stating, “We were inspired by artists like Valerie Dore and Katy Gray, who also utilized a team approach, employing a singer’s name as the project’s title.”
After multiple releases, both, Shapiro and Agebjörn realized they were growing apart, following different paths in music; he was more into ambient electronic music, while she wanted to explore non-electronic pop. So, in 2016, Sally Shapiro announced the end of their 10-year career alongside the release of the final single “If You Ever Wanna Change Your Mind”.
https://www.facebook.com/shapirosally
January 19th
Lucy Dacus – “Ankles”.
From Upcoming Album: Forever is a Feeling. 2025.
Lucy Elizabeth Dacus is an singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer from Richmond, Virginia. Her career includes her solo work that has released three albums, and also she is member of the indie band Boygenius.
Lucy Dacus has a new upcoming album titled “Forever is a Feeling”, slated for released in March 28, 2025. From this new production we will listen to a fantastic sample of her great musical work. This song is titled Ankles, and is a lush piece, full of elegant string arrangements, which makes it an instant classic.
January 20th
Sebastian Böhm – “Blue Monday”.
From Single: Blue Monday. 2019
Blue Monday is a term coined by a UK travel company in 2005 to describe the “most depressing day of the year.” It’s based on a supposedly scientific formula, coined by psychologist Cliff Arnall in 2004, that considers factors like weather conditions, debt levels, time since Christmas, and failed New Year’s resolutions.
The date typically falls on the third Monday of January. For this year, the saddest day of the year 2025, is January 20. A Blue Monday indeed.
The British new wave band New Order, created in 1983 the iconic song “Blue Monday”, although based on a different source. The phrase Blue Monday got the attention of New Order’s drummer, Stephen Morris in 1982 in the Kurt Vonnegut novel he was reading: 1973’s “Breakfast of Champions”. The phrase said ‘Goodbye, Blue Monday’ and it was a reference to the invention of the washing machine.
And we are matching titles for today’s sounds, although we will listen to a different version of New Order’s Blue Monday.
Sebastian Böhm, a composer and music producer residing in Hamburg, Germany, boasts a diverse portfolio. His music has graced the silver screen, appearing in trailers for blockbusters such as Star Wars Rogue One and Aladdin, and has also found a home in high-profile advertising campaigns for luxury brands like BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz.
In a more epic and dramatic fashion, we give today proper sound with Blue Monday, by Sebastian Böhm.
https://www.positionmusic.com/artist/MjYwMjE4LWQ4Yzc0NA/category/composers
January 21st
Lautten Compagney Berlin – “Psyche”.
From Album: The Lute Songbook. 2024.
The Lautten Compagney Berlin, founded in 1984, is a renowned early music orchestra, known for its innovative performances. It cultivates musical traditions while exploring new performance approaches. Combines early music with contemporary music through innovative formats, and emphasizes experimentation and blurring musical boundaries.
Their album The Lutte Songbook of 2024, is a compilation of ancient and modern pieces, all arranged for a sort of baroque style interpretation. In it, there is a rendition to “Psyche”, a song created by Massive Attack, credited to Robert Del Naja, also known as 3D, leader of the British trip-hop legendary music collective. (Also, it is said that Del Naja could be the mysterious street artist and political activist, Banksy.)
And because January 21st is Robert Del Naja’s birthday, this is our way to celebrate him. Originally from the 2010 album Heligoland, this is the Lautten Compagney rendition to “Psyche”.
https://www.lauttencompagney.de/en
January 22nd
Musiquita – “The Weaver”.
From Single: The Weaver
Musiquita is a musical duo from New York, comprised of husband and wife, Blanca Cecilia González and Jesse Elder. They create playful music in both Spanish and English for children, aiming to uplift young people and strengthen family bonds.
Starting as park performers during the pandemic, Musiquita has grown significantly, collaborating with numerous organizations and institutions. Their latest release, The Weaver, is a song inspired by a magical experience they had with an indigenous wisdom teacher, under a tree of dreams, in the Andes Mountains outside of Bogota, in Colombia.
This song is a beautiful bilingual piece, with a dreamy sequence of progressions that resemble of jazz, classical, and ethnic music influences.
You can listen to all of our selected songs for each day of 2025 in our playlist “Today Sounds Like…” on Spotify.
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