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CMU Approved CMU Playlists
On The CMU Stereo 2020 – Spring
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 10 December 2020
OK, we’re into 2020 proper now with this review of the music year, as we revisit our favourite tracks from the spring, which includes not one but two lockdown albums.
Charli XCX’s ‘How I’m Feeling Now’ was, of course, the big lockdown music project. Giving herself a six week deadline – after which, it felt at the time, this whole pandemic thing might be done and dusted – she created a brand new album from scratch in isolation, involving fans in the whole process.
It was interesting just as a means to see the mechanics of an artist at work, but six weeks after it was first announced a great album also emerged, taking the record’s title completely on board and laying her emotions out for all to see, as well as her creative process.
The other lockdown album represented in our playlist is Daniel Avery’s ‘Love + Light’, which was surprise-released in June. An album of two distinct halves, Avery has spoken about its creation being therapeutic. That process can be felt in the flow of the record, beginning with energetic techno tracks, before giving way to a calmer sound, feeling like the album coming to terms with and accepting its situation. The track we’ve selected, ‘Infinite Future’, comes from that second half.
Elsewhere on the playlist, tracks from yet more of 2020’s best albums are in effect. This year saw Fiona Apple and Ghostpoet both deliver career bests – ‘Fetch The Bolt Cutters’ and ‘I Grow Tired But I Dare Not Fall Asleep’ respectively – that both capture moments outside the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Jhené Aiko, Denai Moore, Nils Bech, Kate NV and Sault all turned in amazing LPs this year, that need to be explored in full. The one artist on this list who didn’t put out an album this year, Moonchild Sannelly, is the artist we’re looking forward to hearing more from the most in 2021.
Listen to all ten of these tracks, plus our ten winter selections, in the Spotify playlist below. Stay tuned for our summer and autumn playlists next week.
Here’s the full spring tracklist:
Jhené Aiko – BS (feat HER)
Charli XCX – Forever
Fiona Apple – Under The Table
Ghostpoet – I Grow Tired But I Dare Not Fall Asleep
Denai Moore – Motherless Child
Nils Bech – Foolish Heart (2019)
Kate NV – Plans
Sault – Stop Them
Moonchild Sanelly – Bashiri
Daniel Avery – Infinite Future
