This Week I've Been Listening To... - Christmas Edition

It's Christmas Eve tomorrow which means that the Christmas songs have been flowing throughout the house - and by that I mean that I've been blasting them non-stop to accompany the last-minute Christmas wrapping, the last of my revision in the countdown to the sadistically placed January exams, and even lulling me to sleep when the wind is howling a little too much and I can't get to sleep. While I have been listening to other songs -  James Blunt's 'When I Find Love Again' has been a favourite this week - it's been about the Christmas songs all day err day. Even though I did stumbled across some of the oddest Christmas songs. The Vengaboys' 'Where Did My Xmas Tree Go?' anyone? If you want to be festively confused then definitely check it out.

Without further ado, here are the songs that have gotten the most Christmas love: 

"Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing... A ring...

I don't mean on the phone; Santa baby,

So hurry down the chimney tonight"

-Santa Baby, Eartha Kitt

Feliz Navidad, Jose Feliciano
All I Want For Christmas Is You, Mariah Carey
Santa Baby, Eartha Kitt
Winter Wonderland/Don't Worry Be Happy, Pentatonix
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Andy Williams
I'll Be Home, Meghan Trainor
When A Child Is Born, Johnny Mathis
Mary's Boy Child/ Oh My Lord, Boney M.
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, Michael Bublé
Baby It's Cold Outside, from Neptune 1949
Little Drummer Boy, Pentatonix
Adeste Fideles, Il Divo
Santa Tell Me, Ariana Granda

I quite like a mix of good old Christmas classics and discovering new ones. I'm not usually an Ariana Grande fan so was surprised by how much I liked 'Santa Tell Me', and I've also become a huge Meghan Trainor fan. There's just something about her voice that I really enjoy, though nothing can beat a good Mariah Carey. I also really like 'Baby It's Cold Outside' for the different renditions that have been made - I really like the Lady Gaga/Joseph Gordon Levitt rendition where the gender roles are switched. It's interesting to have a different take on things. It's probably why I've also been enjoying Pentatonix's takes on Christmas songs. who have the most amazing vocals. I highly recommend checking them out if you like acapella Pitch Perfect-style singing.

What are some of your favourite Christmas songs? 

This Week I've Been Listening To...

Don't you just love it when you stick to resolutions? I recently made myself a promise to try and venture from my musical comfort zone and listen to new artists every week, no matter how much I think that I could probably listen to Hozier's 'Take Me To Church' on loop for the next five years (how great is that song?!). 

Not that venturing out of my musical comfort zone simultaneously got rid of my habit of songs that I really like on a loop. I rediscovered Lily Allen this week, and having already exhausted 'It's Not Me, It's You' back when it came out in 2009, it was the turn of 'Sheezus'. Though I'm not sure about the solidity of the feminism behind 'Hard Out Here', it's a catchy enough tune perfect for singing along to at the top of my lungs to whilst doing the washing, and the 'URL Badman' response to a critic is amusingly clever (though I haven't dug deep into the origin of the beef that sparked this witty tune). 'Wind Your Neck In' is an additional track on the Deluxe Edition that I would qualify as this album's 'F** U' but not quite as direct. I also like her little odes to Mr Cooper in the form of 'L8 CUMMR' and 'As Long As I've Got You'. All in all, Sheezus is an album giving a lesson if blasting 'Smile' in your bedroom was once (or still is) one of your pastimes.

I got this thing, gonna tie your tongue

Step in my ring, you'll be out round one

You want to feel what you cannot touch

You think it's love but you think too much

- Got It, Marian Hill

This week I've also been listening to: 

• Long Way Down, Robert Delong
• Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran
• Lips Are Moving, Meghan Trainor
• The Nights, Avicii
• Dangerous, David Guetta
• I Bet My Life, Imagine Dragons
• Mess Is Mine, Vance Joy
• Aferlife, Ingrid Michaelson
• I Can't Stop Drinking About You, Bebe Rexha
• Got It, Marian Hill
• Running Behind, HOLYCHILD
• I Followed You Home, Elliot Sumner
• Time, Mikky Ekko
• Lips, Marian Hill
• Twenty-Something, Noah Gunderson

I am really liking Meghan Trainor at the moment. Her EP already had me hooked, and her music is so bubbly, fun and deewop-y. Not to mention her amazing voice. Same with Marian Hill; 'Lips' and 'Got It' are definitely worth a listen. I didn't realise Bebe Rexha was the singer on David Guetta's 'Yesterday' which I am still in major like with, and 'I Can't Stop Drinking About You' would make a great pre-drink song for a girl's night out. Guess this week I've been really loving the female artists! 

What have you been listening to this week? Anything from my list? I'd love any recommendations!

This week I'm listening to...

I've had a Spotify Premium Membership for awhile now and I absolutely love it. I like that I can have access to thousands and thousands of songs, create playlists and check out other people playlists, and, most importantly,listen to them offline, which means I can have music when I'm out and about without having to buy loads of different songs. The Premium Membership is well worth the €9,99/month.

I recently noticed, however, that I have a tendency to listen to my favourite songs on repeat, which whilst not being a bad thing, I don't think it's the best way of getting the most out of my subscription. So I've made a vow to check out artists and bands that I might not normally listen to. To encourage me to keep to my vow, I'll be sharing with you what I've been listening to each week, in case like me you're also looking for music inspiration. 

"Hey, hey, what you say? I've got no use for yesterday

I'm gonna live, I'm gonna love right now

And if tomorrow never comes I'm gonna stay forever young

These lungs of mine were made to scream and shout" 

- Yesterday, David Guetta

• Yesterday, David Guetta
• The River, Son Little
• If You Went Away, Daniel Wilson
• 7/11, Beyoncé
• Borderline, Tover Styrke
• Hey Mama, David Guetta
• Proofread, Daniel Wilson
• Home, Naughty Boy
• Hold Back The River, James Bay
• #icanteven, The Neighbourhood
• Break The Fall, Laura Walsh
• Feel Right, Mark Ronson

I'm really glad I made this vow to myself as I'm beginning to step out of my comfort zone. I would have never thought David Guetta would be someone I listened to at home (outside of a club setting, I mean), and Tover Styrke's Borderline is a song I'm really loving at the moment that I wouldn't have otherwise listened to because I'd never heard of her. 

Do you have a music comfort zone? What songs have you been listening to today? I'd love to have some recommendations!