January has come again: the season of sniffly noses and dark mornings. Perhaps most importantly, it’s the month that encapsulates hopeful resolutions’ journeys to eventual abandonment. But we’re here to fight back with a New Year’s resolution of our own: to revitalize the Lakeside community as we come back from break, with some epic music to ring in 2024. No matter how your 2023 went, here are some song (as well as artist and album) recommendations, all released in 2023, to help you let go of the old and stay hopeful for the future — jamming out all the while. 

“Paul Revere” — Noah Kahan

The entire “Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)” album revolves around abandonment and lost history, but Paul Revere especially sings these themes beautifully. A bit of a depressing start, I know, but it captures the unique feeling of your old home and comforts seeming off, in a way that they’ll never be the same again. It reminds me of the things I’m sure we all outgrown that we’re eager to leave back in 2023. The minimal instrumentals, with twanging guitar notes and pleading vocals, subtly add to this feeling of isolation. Yet, as the song goes on, the instruments build, and a tension rises around if we’ll make it out or not. “Paul Revere” doesn’t give us a satisfying closing, with a rushed tempo pushing till the very end. The very last lyrics are, “If I could leave, I would’ve already left / I already left.” It’s all a gentle push to look back on formative experiences, but remember that your ties to them will change as time passes. There are always new opportunities in the new year! (If you’re looking for songs with similar sentiments on this album, I also recommend “The View Between Villages” and “Everywhere, Everything.”) 

“Morning Pages” — The Japanese House, MUNA

Now, a choice that’s a bit more uplifting! I’ve always liked The Japanese House as an artist for her versatile sound, and she does not disappoint with this choice from her latest album, “In the End It Always Does.” The Japanese House’s airy, light voice meshes beautifully with the layering of different instruments throughout this song, allowing for a soothing, bright listening experience. The song explores an elusive “she,” who you just can’t stop returning to, and who you need to, as the song says, enjoy while it lasts. Whether it’s a relationship or an addictive hobby, maybe there’s value to be found in enjoying something in the moment, and worrying yourself less with the end results. “Morning Pages” tries to strike a balance between enjoying things while they last and considering how they’ll turn out in the end — which will always prove a hard balance to strike. Maybe you’ll find that sweet spot in 2024?

“Free Yourself” — Jessie Ware 

If there’s one thing you won’t want to free yourself from, it’s this song: Its rousing piano line draws you in within the first few seconds, and it only keeps building in energy from there. While this hype song would be fitting for any time of the year, we especially encourage you to listen to it in these first few weeks of 2024, when you must embrace its one constant message: freeing yourself! Let’s take a moment to appreciate that we’ve already gotten decently far into the school year; take some time to let yourself relax and recharge. Though it might seem like you shouldn’t when you’ve just gotten off break, you need to nurture any new hobbies or media you started to enjoy during your time off in December. The first few weeks back at Lakeside after break hit hard; hit those naps and binging sessions even harder (while listening to “Free Yourself,” obviously). 

“I Wish you Roses” — Kali Uchis 

This song seems like the perfect piece to wrap up all the ones covered before it. It features the gorgeously silky voice of Kali Uchis, as well as the overlaying of both instrumentals and her voice. The different effects in the song remind me of the mixing used by The Japanese House in “Morning Pages.” To cap off our list, this song’s lyrics explore making peace with the past. You’re separated from those in your past 2023, to whom you’re only leaving roses (though maybe your roses still have their thorns). Let’s all leave our roses with 2023, and walk into 2024 metaphorically singing as beautifully as Kali Uchis on her new album. 

While 2023 was rough for many of us in many different ways, and music can’t exactly ease all our pains, it can still be there for us in the background while we work towards making this new year one for the books. We hope our song recommendations find their way into your 2024 soundtrack!