Sometimes in your journey of musical discovery you are fortunate enough to come across an artist whose music seems to speak with you on an entirely distinct from what you predominantly experience. As you listen it gives you the feeling of being an entirely different plane of existence where only you and the music are present.

I say this every year and every year I mean it. Each year it gets harder and harder to choose such a small amount of music from the vast amount of tremendous music that was released. I decided to do things a bit different this year. I finally decided to let go of my old ways and adding releases to the list other than albums. This list began with three hundred releases and after many painstaking hours of difficult decisions that I was barely capable of making I narrowed it down to twenty one. There was so much spectacular music that I had to take off this list which never became any easier but I am happy with the way it ended up.

Taryn Hadfield a singer-songwriter from the western United States has a marvelous sound that is equal parts folk, rock and pop.

Once you discover who you are nobody can take that away from you. The journey towards that discovery is never an easy one and to me that is what Manic Pixie Dream Girl is about; one person’s journey to not only find themselves but embrace who they are. I for one thoroughly enjoyed the journey.

Recently I had the incredible opportunity to have a video chat with Jenem, a musician on Twitch who is a stupendous singer songwriter(I have written about her before, here. She is very enjoyable and easy to talk to. My typical social awkwardness existed only in minimal amounts. We talked mainly about music; big surprise there. I came away from the discussion having learned a few things.

Lisa may live near the beach but her songs are no carefree summertime fare. Lisa doesn’t shy away from deeply affecting subject matter; her songs are relatable for those who have felt the sting of heartbreak, the weight of personal loss and the universal pain that comes with growing up.