Words by Emily Soon.
Music is such a beautiful thing. Everyone has a different relationship with music and how it ties into their own lives. It is expressive, it is intimate. I can’t always pinpoint a person’s music taste, which is why I find it so fascinating when I get the opportunity to dive into another music collection. You can learn so much about someone through the relationship they have with their favourite songs.
Travel has been a very significant and defining part of my life in recent years. While the places and people change, throughout all my adventures there has been one constant, music.
Here are some of my favourite songs to take travelling, and when I return home, songs that remind me of time spent away.
Fresh off the release of her new single Good Help Is Hard To Find, Emily Soon shares a playlist of tunes that remind her both of home and time spent away.
Shoot the Moon – Norah Jones
I spent a lot of time listening to Norah Jones growing up. Her music reminds me of home, of my mum, of rain. I’m addicted to Adam Levy’s guitar solo on this track. There are so many great guitar players out there, but I always come back to this simple, fleeting moment.
Don’t You Dare – Winnie Raeder
I stumbled on this song last Christmas, watching Mahogany sessions on a train somewhere in Europe (roughly around the same time I captured the picture that is now the cover art for Good Help Is Hard To Find) and became utterly obsessed with Winnie’s music. She released the studio version recently and it’s stunning. She’s got so much soul, and I absolutely love the line “flip the tables when I’m leaning” – it makes my stomach turn every time.
Happy & Sad – Kacey Musgraves
Golden Hour has been a huge record in the Soon family household. I have many special memories associated with the album already. Happy & Sad is the favourite and the concept is so relatable. We saw Kacey a few weeks ago in Melbourne, and yes, I cried when the floating synth line kicked just before the second chorus (1:55).
Covered In Rain – Patrick James
Unlike the other songs I’ve mentioned so far, I wasn’t immediately drawn to Covered In Rain. Now, it’s an old friend I can surrender myself to – I don’t look very hard into the lyrics or instrumentation, I just listen and feel better for it. Patrick’s earlier EP Broken Lines is also one of the few records with a permanent place on my phone’s music library – whenever I’m a long way from home and in need of a pick me up, it’s the perfect remedy.
Keep Keeping On – Liz Stringer
I saw Liz play live for the first time in 2017, with Tim Moxam at Burdock in Toronto. It’s always pretty surreal seeing someone from home on the opposite side of the world – the gig came at the perfect time, when I was feeling a little homesick and with a fair bit of travel still left to go. There have been a handful of live shows that have left me feeling as if I could do anything. This was one of them, and those next few months became home to some of my most cherished memories. Whenever I listen back to Keep Keeping On, I’m reminded of that wonderful feeling of breaking free.
Good Help Is Hard To Find is available now. Listen here.
