What I'm Listening to This November

Tune In's a monthly-or-so column for me to share what I'm listening to (and sometimes watching.)

Hey y'all!

October was a busy one for me. Work-wise, we've got gift guide season in full swing—my busiest time of the year. Writing-wise, I revised and prepared my manuscript to hopefully go on submission this fall.

Personally, I was traveling Europe for the first time, dealing with hurricane chaos in my hometown of Tampa, and started easing into my routine back on O'ahu where I live full-time.

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I watched plenty of television on various planes, but not so much at home. Listening-wise, I'm feeling a little throwback-ish and a lot dance-floor-ish. Admittedly, the top hits got me energized this month.

The Playlists I Have on Repeat

Sun Guilt (Cove)

I haven't technically started my next book yet, but I know exactly what it feels like. I tend to architect stories through that method: building out the look, feel, and senses of a given setting and atmosphere, which propels the narrative and (hopeful) distinctiveness.

So I've been piling on any song that feels slightly relevant onto this catch-all playlist and will whittle it down accordingly when I start drafting and determine the precision of the feel. For now, it's a bit of a primer. More electronic than my MOUNTAIN SOUNDS playlist and moody in a saltier, more sensual way that evokes ocean to me.

Notable Songs:

• Great One — Jessie Reyez
• Drunk (and I Don't Wanna Go Home) — Elle King, Miranda Lambert
• you're all i ever dreamed of — Chelsea Cutler
• Never Let Me Go — Florence + the Machine
• Gettin' Old — 6LACK
• Another Girl — Wild Belle
• Love — Cherub
• In the Dirt — Russ

O'AHU BEATS

Of course, back on O'ahu, I tend to oscillate between a few playlists: my default (folky), workout (throwback/hip hop), and driving (tropical beats, mainly.) So this one has a solid mix of beachy and poppy for me cruising in my beat-up 2005 Nissan Versa with the windows cranked down because the AC doesn't work, my longboard Torq banging against the ceiling (and possibly rain leaking into the car around my surf straps.) One day, any of these will transport me back to this.

Notable Songs:

• Sunsick — Bennett Coast
• Curls In The Wind — Mark Ambor
• Doin' Time — Sublime
• Gold Angel — Minke
• LONG DISTANCE — Sam Gellaitry
• 1night — Daddy NAT
• Ooah Ahh (My Life Be Like) — Grits, TobyMac

deep work

Because from about 6am to 1pm daily (and in the late afternoon/evening), I am realistically writing and/or forcing myself to write via a Pavlovian sequence of circumstances involving my kitchen countertop, headphones I only pull out to write in, a specific candle, and instrumental music. Ideally cinematic.

Notable Songs:

• Opening — Craig Armstrong
• I Wish I Had a Hundred Years — Fernando Velázquez
• The Theory of Everything — Jóhann Jóhannsson
• Bluebird — Alexis Ffrench
• We Love You So — Carter Burwell
• 2.3 Courante — Peter Gregson, Richard Hardwood, Renoiud Ford, Tim Lowe, Ben Chappell, Katherine Jenkinson
• Motion Picture Soundtrack — Vitamin String Quartet
• Snowflake — Joel Mayeur, Naomi Alzingre
• Petrichor — Keaton Henson