One thing that everyone looks forward to at the end of the year is seeing their Spotify Wrapped. Getting to see the artists that you spent the most time with is fun and gives you a chance to see just how much you’ve changed over the past year. Our writers feel the same way and are sharing some songs from their Spotify Wrappeds!
“Force of Nature” by Lizzy Mcalpine
The October 2024 release of Older (and wiser), the extended version of Lizzy McAlpine’s third album Older, turned a great album into a work of excellence, adding 5 new and incredible songs, and adding more of a harmonious sound and through line to the original work. My top five songs of the year included four from Older (and wiser) (The last one being “Keep Walking” by Katie Gavin, if you were wondering). It was also my top album, where I logged 3,169 minutes listening. Another 1,040 minutes spent listening to some other classic Lizzy McAlpine songs secured her spot as my top artist, landing me in her top 0.06% of listeners. Safe to say, it was a really good album.
One song in particular floated above the rest. “Force of Nature” combined all my favorite elements into one great song. A steady strum of guitar, skilled lyricism, raw, unpolished vocals (fun fact: the entire song is produced from the demo of the song. McAlpine couldn’t recreate the passion of the song in studio, so they used the vocals from the original demo), and an intense bridge, with a moment of catharsis. The addictive hook brought me back to this song 157 times over the year, closely followed by “Pushing it down and praying” and “Soccer Practice,” other deluxe tracks, which I listened to 124 and 114 times, respectively.
Even though I adore this album, I was definitely shocked to learn that I was Lizzy McAlpine’s biggest fan. I did predict that “Force of Nature” would take the cake, but the other categories were anyone’s game in my mind. In hindsight, Lizzy McAlpine has been sneaking her way into my top artists every year for the last five years, so I should have saw this coming. In my defense, that’s the fun of Spotify Wrapped!
– Avieana Rivera, Music Coordinator
“Good Will Hunting” by Black Country, New Road
So far, one of the best albums of the 2020s has been Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road. A chaotic, yet beautiful album, Ants From Up There has given me some of my favorite songs of all time, including “Good Will Hunting.” Despite the title, the song has nothing to do with the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck movie. However, like the movie “Good Will Hunting” carries a sense of a deep, dark longing. Former frontman of the band, Isaac Wood’s vocals are full of vibrato and dissonance, which creates this eerie feeling, making the song hang over the listener.
The lyrics tell a beautiful story of falling in love too fast. The singer fantasizes about this person after just one weekend. He dreams of them being together all the time. The singer sees what their daughter would look like; he is completely obsessed with the idea of her. He then tries everything to try and keep himself in his partner’s mind.
Aside from the vocals, the composition of this song is what stands out the most to me. Black Country, New Road is an interesting band because of the instruments that they use. In some songs, they have a traditional rock setup, with guitars, bass, and drums. In others, they have a keyboardist, saxophone player, and a violin player accompanying more traditional rock instruments. This makes each song stand out.
– Fenton Wright, Web Services Coordinator
“Frances” by Role Model
I knew that no matter what, at the end of the year somehow, someway Role Model would make his way onto my Spotify Wrapped. Despite my over 80,000 minutes of music listened to this year, Role Model would be there. This year, following the release of his deluxe album, Kansas Anymore (Longest Goodbye), Role Model made 2025 his own. With hits on his deluxe album like “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” and “Some Protector,” he was sure to leave his mark on the year. For me, despite the new additions to his album, “Frances” still stood out as the best song on the album. Being overtly about his ex-girlfriend Emma Chamberlain, “Frances” manages to capture the small moments of a relationship perfectly.
He misses the way she would comfort him, the way she loved nature, and, in general, the way her worldview was completely different from his own. He knows that his aversion to the spotlight is what drove her from him, and still, he wishes he could change himself to complement her better. “Frances,” and all of Kansas Anymore has a faux-country/folk feel to it. Role Model slowly introduces his fans to this acoustic style of music, adding to the intimate nature of the songs.
I first heard this song on a walk through the Boston Common in early February, and nothing could have made that walk more introspective than “Frances.” It made me think of relationships that I’ve had, and it made me want them back, and at the end of the day, that’s what listening to Role Model should make you feel!
– Fenton Wright, Web Services Coordinator
“Love Takes Miles” by Cameron Winter
With how much I have mentioned Geese and Cameron Winter respectively on the blog this year, it should be no surprise that he topped my most listened to songs. “Love Takes Miles,” like I’ve said before, is a depressing song disguised by an upbeat composition. The lyrics of this song are both incredibly hopeful, but also incredibly depressing. Winter describes the length to which people have to go to love, and in some way there is a playfulness to the way Winter puts it in this song. He says, “I need somebody sent down from the sun that talks to me how you used to.” He then goes on to say that “you better start a walking,” and this goes to show just how much you have to be willing to give up to find love.
What Winter describes is not a picture-perfect romance, but a romance that is full of flaws and compromises, which is very human. I used to think that there were only so many ways that you could describe love. A lightness in your stomach, or the smile that forms on your face when you think of someone, but Winter shows that even though we think we might know everything, love remains a mystery.
– Fenton Wright, Web Services Coordinator
