gigs & glitter.

I won’t lie, I initially wanted to have a ‘top ten albums of 2017’ and write a wee paragraph about each one, however when I scrolled through the releases of the year I discovered just how much music is released in the space of a year… and how impossible it would be for me (the most indecisive person on the planet) to just pick ten; so here’s a whole twenty five – and even that’s taken me a week…

If you’ve not listened to some of these, they’re on this list because I highly recommend them, and at one point or another, they’ve been a crucial part of my year – whether that be listening to it in the car with my dad & chatting about the lyrics (hiya Liam Gallagher), harassing everyone and anyone that’s been within a two mile radius of me about how excited I was for their releases (Taylor’s Reputation & LANY’s self titled number), or discovering that someone’s actually written an album full of the most relatable lyrics you could ever (obsessively) listen to (thank youuuu Hayley Williams & Paramore for After Laughter.)

There are obviously so many more albums that I’d liked to have added in, but guaranteed you’ll have stopped reading before the end anyway, so I’ll keep them to myself for now; excited to see what releases 2018 has in store, but it’s not looking likely that any of these albums will drop from my own personal weekly rotation any time soon!

annnnnd because it’s me, and I love a playlist, if you click the link right below here, all the favourite tracks mentioned are in a handy wee Apple Music playlist for you.

*** jimriex 2017 Favourites Playlist ***

Paramore // After Laughter

Favourite Track(s): Fake Happy. 26. Tell Me How. Rose Colored Boy.

Best Lyric: ‘Reality will break your heart, survival will not be the hardest part. It’s keeping all your hopes alive, when all the rest of you has died. Don’t let it break your heart.’

Taylor Swift // Reputation

Favourite Track(s): Delicate. Call It What You Want. New Year’s Day. Getaway Car.

Best Lyric: ‘inescapable, I’m not even going to try, and if I get burned at least we were electrified. I’m spilling wine in the bathtub, you kiss my face and we’re both drunk.’

…and ‘bass beat rattling the chandelier, feeling so Gatsby for that whole year.’

LANY // LANY

Favourite Track(s): Superfar. The Breakup. ILYSB.

Best Lyric: ‘Come on baby take my hand and dance in this pouring rain, cos what we’ve got is like a movie and I’m not above a good cliche’

Haim // Something To Tell You

Favourite Track(s): Ready For You. Found It In Silence.

Best Lyric: ‘Heavy was the sound I could not lift. And I could run for a million miles and never get away from it.’

Kelsea Ballerini // Unapologetically

Favourite Track(s): Roses. Get Over Yourself.

Best Lyric: ‘You’re so in your head about it that you can’t get your heart around it, but boy I’m over you’ (💁🏼‍♀️💅🏻)

…and ‘yeah we were classic, my dress your leather jacket.’

Coasts // This Life Vol 1 Favourite Track(s): Come On Over. Heart Starts Beating.

Best Lyric: ‘Why don’t you come on over, smoke a couple cigarettes, get drunk in the kitchen, listening to the Smiths. We can talk about nothing, to chase away the time.’

You Me At Six // Night People Favourite Track(s): Take On The World. Heavy Soul. Brand New.

Best Lyric: ‘This life’s a tune, we know the news, but you’ve been working with two left feet so…’

Lorde // Melodrama Favourite Track(s): The Louvre. Supercut. Perfect Places.

Best Lyric: ‘Broadcast the BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM and make em all dance to it.’

LCD Soundsystem // American Dream Favourite Track(s): oh baby. emotional haircut. tonite.

Best Lyric: ‘I used to like your hands in their weird positions, I used to like your hair when you watched musicians.’

The XX // I See You Favourite Track(s): On Hold. I Dare You. Replica.

Best Lyric: ‘is it in our nature to be stuck on repeat? Another encore to the after show, do I chase the night or does the night chase me?’

Phoebe Bridgers // Stranger In the Alps Favourite Track(s): You Missed My Heart. Funeral.

Best Lyric: ‘I buried a hatchet, it’s coming up lavender. The future’s unwritten, the past is a corridor.’

Foo Fighters // Concrete and Gold Favourite Track(s): The Sky Is A Neighborhood. Sunday Rain.

Best Lyric: ‘There ain’t no superheroes now. There ain’t no superhero’s, they’re underground. Happy ever after, counting down to zero hour.’

Pink // Beautiful Trauma Favourite Track(s): Beautiful Trauma. I Am Here.

Best Lyric: ‘I haven’t changed, just replaced all the chains with pearls.’

Jessie Ware // Glasshouse Favourite Track(s): Hearts. Alone. Your Domino.

Best Lyric: ‘Running in circles, not running away. You be the ocean and I’ll be the wave.’

Demi Lovato // Tell Me You Love Me Favourite Track(s): Concentrate. You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore.

Best Lyric: ‘You and I get along like thunder and rain, you make me feel everything even when it’s pain.’

The Maine // Lovely, Little, Lonely Favourite Track(s): Black Butterflies and Deja Vu. Taxi.

Best Lyric: ‘It may be bittersweet cos we’re no longer seventeen, but we’re still young so dance with me in naivety.’

Vancouver Sleep Clinic // Revival Favourite Track(s): Wildfire. Someone To Stay.

Best Lyric: ‘In a glorious moment you show me beautiful lights, and I want to know all the colours, emotion in your eyes.’

All Time Low // Last Young Renegade Favourite Track(s): Life of the Party. Last Young Renegade.

Best Lyric: ‘Just a couple kids on the summer street, chasing around to a flicker beat. Making mistakes that were meant for us, we brush them off like paper cuts.’

Halsey // Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Favourite Track(s): Bad At Love. Eyes Closed.

Best Lyric: ‘I told him that the music would be worth the wait, but he wants me in the kitchen with a dinner plate.’

The Sherlocks // Live For The Moment Favourite Track(s): Live For The Moment. Candlelight. Chasing Shadows.

Best Lyric: ‘Everybody makes mistakes but there’s memories to be made and I’m sure you’ll be just fine.’

Neck Deep // The Peace and the Panic Favourite Track(s): In Bloom. Wish You Were Here.

Best Lyric: ‘Oh we almost had it all, then we pissed it all away. Building walls and dropping bombs, stop the world I’m getting off.’

Liam Gallagher // As You Were Favourite Track(s): For What It’s Worth. I Never Wanna Be Like You. Greedy Soul.

Best Lyric: ‘Cos only love, only love can break my heart. Only love, they say will tear us apart.’

Stereophonics // Scream Above the Sounds Favourite Track(s): Taken A Tumble. Geronimo.

Best Lyric: ‘You’re a backseat driver on the side of the road, ten cups of coffee and you’re gonna explode.’

Lady Antebellum // Heart Break Favourite Track(s): This City. Heart Break. Think About You.

Best Lyric: ‘You’re a sunset hanging under purple sky, you’re the perfect melody to a lullaby. So when life gets too much, take a deep breath and don’t you ever forget.’

Harry Styles // Harry Styles Favourite Track(s): Ever Since New York. Kiwi.

Best Lyric: ‘The fridge light washes this room white, the moon dances over your good side, and this was all we used to need.’