I've been discovering some real cool music lately

The title says it all: I've just been discovering some real cool music on the Internet lately. It's pretty cool. So many cool vibes emanating from these songs. Some of these songs have been out for a while and I am just discovering them now. Some are more recent. A lot of them are stuff you don't really hear on mainstream radio channels. I mean, there are also some real cool stuff on the radio nowadays as well. Like Zayn Malik's new album, Icarus Falls, which I want to finish listening to. Zayn's first album, Mind of Mine was such a masterpiece and his musicality outside of One Direction is something I really resonate with (no shade to 1D). I particularly love it when he adds Desi elements to some of his songs. It makes me so proud of the musical styles from my culture. Also guys, remember, Zayn is Desi as well. I look forward to new music from him. Anyway, if anybody has listened to the whole album, let me know what you thought about it. Listening to really stunning, well produced songs, instrumentals, etc. has a way of having me feel moved. It's a feeling I can't properly explain in words. I, initially, was going to make this a new page that lists all of the music I've discovered lately, but I later decided to make this a blog post instead. Along with listing some of the music I've been listening to lately, I also wanted to talk about the impact of music that resonates with us. How that can provide be a sense of solace for us, especially when going through the dark night of the soul.

Please note that I am not a professional musician, music commentator, or an expert in musical therapy. I just talk about music and what it means to me as a listener.

Here goes:

I request you guys to come join me on this musical adventure.

One EP that I have been listening to recently is called Everything, All at Once by Noah & Shagabond. I believe I first discovered their work when I listened to their song Genuine, which is featured on the YouTube music channel Majestic Casual. Seriously guys, go check this channel out.

https://www.youtube.com/user/majesticcasual

Ok, back to Noah & Shagabond, this EP dropped about a month ago. I believe that Shagabond worked more on the production side and Noah provided the vocals. It's a very chill EP that can played when driving under the sunset, or your commute to work or school,wherever you have to go.....it's really good cruising music. Shagabond's production and Noah's absolutely stunning vocals make for a gorgeous treat.

https://soundcloud.com/soundsbynoah/sets/eaao

Another artist that I've recently discovered is someone called NJOMZA. All of her songs that I've listened to so far have left me shook. No exaggeration. The production of her songs is pure genius.
Here a few links to some of her songs for you guys to listen for yourselves:

https://soundcloud.com/njomzamusic/lonely-nights-1
https://soundcloud.com/njomzamusic/outro?in=njomzamusic/sets/vacation 
(For me, this song takes me to another world....in a healthy way, of course.)
https://soundcloud.com/njomzamusic/talk-about-it-prod-by-the-code (Genius Production IMO!!)
https://soundcloud.com/njomzamusic/sets/sad-for-you-1 EP
https://soundcloud.com/njomzamusic/sets/vacation EP

I hope you guys like the gifs I have in this blog post. I just wanted to bring a more relaxed vibe to this. I'm kind of representing what these songs mean to me, in a way. IDK, I'm just trying to the aesthetic. Is it working?

HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN LISTENING TO NORMANI KORDEI'S RECENT SOLO MUSIC LATELY?!  Well, I have. It's amazing. Normani's vocals are so beautiful and she's kind of underrated in my opinion. Do you guys agree or disagree? Let me know. All opinions are welcome, just be kind with them :)

2 song collab with Calvin Harris:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drchDpoX0wo&list=OLAK5uy_m3B05-TaC9cjIXp5SlKta_zl2CMxCmQSE

Waves ft 6lack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shZEvOFC8ck

I don't know if she is working on a solo album. I think she is. Don't quote me on that. If she is, I cannot wait. I wonder what type of musicality she will offer on her solo album. Her songs are real fun and edgy at the same time. IDK if that's the best way to describe that but yeah....it's hard to describe musical vibes in words. I don't necessarily know why.

It just is. I can better represent what the music I listen to means to me through images than through words.

Another artist I have been listening to for about the past three years is Alina Baraz. I started listening to her older collaborations with Danish electronic artist Galimatias. Has anybody listened to her EP released earlier this year called The Color of You? It's so majestic. It's a bit different from her older collaborations with Galimatias. Those songs were toward the ambient chill side and this EP is a little more on the contemporary side. Check it out and let me know what you think.

https://soundcloud.com/alinabaraz/sets/the-color-of-you

One of my personal favorites is The One feat. Jada, which I believe is a cover or a remix version of the original version Keep Cool by Jada, who happens to the featured artist in Alina Baraz's version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iWqghpiXoU

For some reason, whenever I listen to this song. I picture some sort of fairy tale, with castles and princesses and stuff like that. You know, Disney Princess kind of stuff.

There is this overall smooth royal vibe to the whole EP. It's just beautiful. If you guys like that kind of stuff, I encourage you to check this EP out.

So far I have been sharing some of the music I have been vibing to lately and what they represent to me. Music can provide such a wonderful solace especially during rough patches in life, the hard times, even something as deep and seemingly debilitating as the Dark Night of the Soul.

Here's a short article in which Eckhart Tolle describes his take on the dark night of the soul. It's on point in my opinion as he clearly describes what it is.
https://www.eckharttolle.com/eckhart-on-the-dark-night-of-the-soul/

I won't get into that all of the events in my life that has lead to and contributed to the current dark night of the soul that I have been in, but I can briefly describe what it feels like and an overall summary of the thoughts in my head.

Well, it sucks, to say the least. I feel like I am at the dark crossroads of being a kid and being a full fledged adult. It's real scary. I feel I have to make hard decisions that will leave me miserable but are mandatory to take in the name of being an adult in the modern world. Even writing about it and bringing up this topic is bringing up all of the emotions that I have been constantly devoured by. This dark night of the soul started about two and a half years ago and really evolved into something truly painful over the past year and a half. I have never endured something this painful and this soul draining for this long in my life. With every passing month, I often feel like my life has had little to no progress and that breaks my heart. I often feel immense pressure to abandon that childlike expansive spirit that I was born with. Why? Mainstream society goes on this illusion that there is no room for that and the only thing available is darkness, superficiality, and fitting in to already carved out molds in order to survive. What makes it even more heartbreaking is that the people around me often carry this attitude of "Don't like it? Suck it up and deal with it".

How does music come into play? We all know that music has the power to get us through hard times and provide some sort of mediation. But what I would like to add to that is that it can help provide us a brighter, more expansive, and inspiring vision of what our lives can be if we own and step into the higher vibes music brings out of us. Seriously, guys! This isn't some casual thing that I am saying. It's a very fundamental aspect of our human experience. Music is also helping me strongly realize and declare to the universe, God, and myself that with the longevity of this dark night of the soul, the over-repetitive thoughts and emotions that go along with it, and the negative limiting attitudes outside forces try to force-feed me, I AM FED UP WITH THIS AND DON'T WANT TO PUT UP WITH THIS ANY LONGER. THIS DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL NEEDS TO END. I HAVE TO TRANSCEND THIS AND LEAD A BRIGHTER LIFE.

It's way easier said than done. I can go on and on about how hard it is to actually do that, how uncomfortable and exhausting it is to transcend such a dark night of the soul when there are so many uncertainties, etc.

But that's not what this post is about. This is about listening to music that we vibe to, what it represents for us, and how it can provide solace for us. Music is an art. According to http://www.gilbertgalindo.com/importanceofmusic.htm, "Humankind and art cannot function without one another. We have the burning desire to create, whatever it may be and however tiny or grand." We want to create and music is a creation. Music is a creative process that takes somebody's expression into account. The creative process it takes to make music can inspire us to create a life that we want regardless of how our current situations may be. Of course, there are certain things that occur where we cannot do much to change what's going on. Or situations that need immediate action. Honestly, I'm gonna be straight. I'm at a loss for words. I don't know how to go on with this post. I talked about some of the music I've been listening to, what it means to me through images, and then I briefly talked about the dark night of the soul and how I'm tired of it. Maybe, just talk about how music and solace are intertwined.

Alright cool, let's take that route.

Let's establish that: MUSIC IS AN ART!!!!

With being in tough times or even more intense, the dark night of the soul, I feel, for myself, I can get super wrapped up in those dark emotions, buying into this idea that this is all there is to life: there is nothing to look forward to and the life that I want does not exist and will never exist, especially coming from my hands. It gets so bad that I often don't even want to dream anymore because I am bombarded with ideas of what it means to be a grown up, be a highly functioning adult in society, and to being the "perfect" Indian woman that doesn't ruffle any feathers, all of which is very, very, VERY constraining and uninspiring. What music provides is another world for me to ponder about, an opportunity to be present, feel an aura at a higher frequency than the frequency I am currently at. As I was saying before with how some of the songs that I have been listening have a royal element to it or have a cool modern vibe to it or whatever it may be. That makes me like I can create a better life for myself and be in an overall better emotional state. Music can naturally make us feel that we can be free from the unnecessary and toxic limitations society and others have imposed on us and those that we have imposed on ourselves. You can't listen to music and vibe to it at the same time while conceptualizing about life. Transcending into a higher vibration and a brighter aura is not something that can be conceptualized, it has to be felt. I can't emphasize that enough. IT HAS TO BE FELT.

So, as we enter the New Year, especially after a year of major transition and honing my voice, I want to set an intention. An intention for a more positive life, with higher vibes, and giving myself the permission to live my truth more than ever before. A year that is a start to new beginnings:

https://soundcloud.com/sglewis/again-feat-totally-enormous

This track by SG Lewis called Again (feat. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs) , to me, signifies exactly that........ A start to new beginnings.

By new beginnings I mean:

- Letting go of the pain that I have held on to for so long that is supposed to help me survive, but doesn't help me live.

-Liberating myself from other people's biases, stories, opinions, energies, pain, anger, and frustrations, knowing that I DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, have to take those on, no matter how legit they and society make it seem.

-Not just knowing but owning the fact that I am bigger than the choices and paths that I have been limited to and the cultural and societal norms that back those choices and paths.

-I don't owe anyone an explanation.

-And finally to myself and everyone else out there:

With that, comes an end to this musical adventure........ for now. Did you guys like the music that I mentioned in this blog post? If so, cool. If not, that's alright. What songs did you like? Did they resonate with you in any way? Lyric-wise and/or sound wise etc.?? Are there any songs and music that you guys listen to that you have been vibing to lately? What do those songs mean to you?? Do you think that music is a form of therapy? If so, how do you guys think music can provide some sort of solace? Let me know in the comments. I wanted this blog post to have a higher vibe than a lot of the other blog posts I have posted, one that exudes hope and possibility. I hope this blog post resonated with you guys. Much love :)

Bonus Tracks: https://soundcloud.com/rumdotgold/get-through-1
                        https://soundcloud.com/leokalyan/leo-kalyan-focus 😍