Blog1 min read
On singles and album tracks
Where the music for these playlists actually lives, in record terms.
Most singles don't make it onto these playlists. Singles are usually the loud track on the record — the one designed to lead with energy and demand attention. They earn their place as singles for that reason and lose their place here for the same reason.
What I'm looking for tends to live two or three tracks deep. The album's second track, the long instrumental in the middle, the closer that fades. Tracks the label didn't push. Tracks that wouldn't have worked as singles because they don't announce themselves.
This isn't snobbery about singles. Some of the singles I love are fantastic music for other rooms — a kitchen full of people, a car at speed, a Saturday night that wants something specific. They just aren't right for a playlist meant to disappear.
If you wanted a rule of thumb: a single is music that wins a room. The tracks on these playlists lose the room on purpose. Both are valuable; they just aren't the same job.