Only the lonely – Roy Orbison
My dad kept a tight rein over all electronics in our house growing up but the car tape player was his most tightly guarded device. On long car journeys to France for holidays, me and my siblings would endure hours of depressing country music, willing this song to come around so we could bop on our booster seats and hop on BV’s (dad took lead of course!)
My Baby Just Cares For Me – Nina Simone
Nina is a master and this is one of the first songs I learned to cover on the piano. My now husband has mostly terrible music taste but we have bonded over our mutual love of the great American songbook. This is a good one for putting on in the kitchen when people have been for dinner and there’s too much washing up.
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
I won’t forget discovering Motown for the first time, it felt like magic and popping this on always gives me a natural serotonin boost. I also lived near Detroit for a while post university, and it reminds me of walking around the city and visiting the studio where it all began.
Alistrum’s March – The Gloaming
One of my favourite ever gigs to play was in support of this contemporary Irish trad supergroup – they are mesmerising. I chose to walk down the aisle to this on my wedding day, after being reminded of it while watching Fleabag, of all shows.
Low – Duke Special
I heard this song live as a teenager, and honestly thought the musician had secretly found a window into my brain. He was articulating all these feelings and thoughts I had never expressed to anyone before, and my 16-year-old self felt so seen! To this day I am blown away by the heart-breaking honesty of the lyrics and the imperfect beauty of the performance.