The premise of this tag is: shuffle your playlist and match a book to whatever comes up. I saw it on Abookolive’s YouTube Channel.
I used the playlist with all my hearted songs on Spotify, so it has a lot of different type of stuff on it, much of it obscure, but we will see what comes up. I will try and make the books recommendations.
So, I will do five goes. If you want more of these, let me know!
1. ‘Before Sunrise’ – Gengahr
Now, this is a very summery sounding song. It’s on Gengahr’s album Where Wildness Grows. They are a band I really enjoy listening too. They’re music is bright, but melancholic and I really love that combination. The title immediately reminded me of the movie Before Sunrise from 1994, which features Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. It is one of my favourite movies of all time. Because of that connection and also the title of the book I will pair it with A Bright Ray of Darkness by Ethan Hawke. I read this book in 2020 (I think). I did not absolutely love it, but I did like it fine. The feelof the book is nothing like the song and it is definitely not light and summery. Quite the opposite in fact. Yet, I just had to pick this book! I am not sure of this one as a recommendation, but if you like a darker kind of masculine story, this may well be for you.
2. ‘James’ – Oscar and the Wolf
Now, Oscar and the Wolf is on the dancier, more poppy side of my music taste. I tend to describe his music as Tame Impala meets George Michael. Oscar and the Wolf is pretty much the artist name of Belgian Max Colombie. This song is from his third and most recent album The Shimmer. His sound is quite relaxing to me – for me it does the same thing as Tame Impala does. This is a song that centres around heartbreak and let’s be honest. There are plenty of books that deal with heartbreak! But I decided to go with My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. It’s dark story about a young girl being groomed by her teacher. It’s an unsettling story and dark, but very well told. I think the lyrics of this song go with it surprisingly well.
3. ‘On BrΓ»lera’ – Pomme
This is a French song and though my French is dismal, I love this song with a passion. It’s so incredibly beautiful. This song is from Pomme’s 2017 album A Peu Pres. I love her music, especially her voice. It’s angelic and effortless. The lyrics talk about eternal love and dieing in the lover’s arms. It’s absolutely beautiful. I love the way the song scoops into the chorus. It inflates my heart every time! The first book that came to mind was The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Do I really need to tell you why? It will grab you and inflate your heart, just like this song does. If you have not read it yet, why not?!!!
4. ‘Intervals’ – Tamino
Oooh, we’re sticking with very pretty songs and gorgeous voices apparently. Now, Tamino is a Belgian/Egyptian/Lebanese singer that I absolutely love. This song is from his 2018 debut album ‘Amir’, which is unfortunately his only album to date. Tamino’s songs have this incredible melancholic beauty to them and they just connect with my emotions. At their heart they are guitar songs, but he adds Arabic instrumentation on many of them and and that intonation is also evident in his vocals. I am actually excited he came up, because there are rumours he’s releasing a new album this year. His is one of the most moving voices I know and since his voice has matured since then, I expect this next album to be an absolute gem. I definitely want to go for a book with a Middle Eastern feel to it. I could go with something Egyptian, but actually I think I will go for The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak. It is a book I absolutely loved. A modern day story is interwoven with a fictional account of Rumi’s life. An incredible book.
5. ‘Glycerine’ – Bush
This is one of those songs that remind me of being a teenager in the 1990s. I adored this song and I have a vivid memory of seeing the live version, so I will include that here. The guitar in this is just perfect! I used to be so into Gavin Rossdale back then, but… wasn’t everyone? Now, to choose a book to go with this. There’s a lot of angst in this song, of being scared and sad and maybe even depressed. I feel like it’s about people trying to make a relationship work. For some reason my heart wants to go with Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson. I absolute adored that book, even if it has some elements I am not normally a fan off (cheating on a spouse). It was angsty, but an adult ‘what if’ sort of angst. I never see this book talked about and I think it’s fantastic!
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If you enjoyed these, let me know. It was a fun one to do, as it combines my two favourite things in the whole wide world: books and music!
(It also reminded me that if Tamino and Pomme did a duet, I could die happy. )