2023 Music Journey Into Outer Space

A Brief Bit About My Music History

I grew up listening to 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s music. My dad has been a major influence on my music tastes, having introduced me in my childhood to the wonderful and wacky sounds of new wave and the iconic 70’s and 80’s soft rock and pop songs. I didn’t know who exactly I was listening to back then, but as I grew up, I always remembered them and liked that kind of music. Growing up in the 90’s and early 2000’s, I was naturally exposed to the music coming out at that time. I distinctly remember listening to Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin, and NSYNC on CDs. Interestingly, I never fully took to the music of my own era. I loved the sound of the 80’s. When I was a teenager, I started really paying attention to who and what specifically I was listening to as a kid. Hall & Oates, Journey, Huey Lewis and the News, Chicago, Barry Manilow, Genesis, REO Speedwagon, Simply Red, A Flock of Seagulls, Tears for Fears, Cyndi Lauper, Spandau Ballet, Talking Heads, Styx, Air Supply, and an endless list of so so so many more. I did have some other distinctly different music periods in my life but, from my childhood to 2022, the main music I listened to and preferred was from the decades before my birth.

December 2022

The expansive musical journey of 2023 actually began in December 2022. I decided to create a themed playlist on Spotify based on one of my favorite topics: outer space. I started off with songs I already knew. I know a lot of songs, but it ended up being a short list when the main criteria was being outer space-themed. I then went to the discographies of the artists I knew to scour for any space-related titles. I found a few but not enough to fill up my playlist. So, the search began, using any space-related keyword in the Spotify search bar to drop down long lists of unfamiliar artists. Having picked songs at random, seeing as that was the only way I was going to find out if I liked them or not, there were some misses, but there were also plenty of hits. You know, it’s an amazing thing to hear a song you never knew existed but is in tune with your soul. Immediate connection. Sometimes, it takes time to warm up to a song, requiring multiple listens and reading the lyrics to understand it better. I had both experiences, just as I have had with many songs in the past.

Looking up new-to-me songs to add to my playlist was incredibly fun, especially as I found one fantastic song after another. I was finally expanding from my love of songs of past decades and creating a whole new modern music experience for myself. I continued this process throughout the entire year of 2023 and by the end of it, I had my glorious over 3-hour Outer Space Mix playlist.

Offshoot Playlists

This process actually spawned several other playlists, two of which I will feature here. I came across a lot of instrumental music, so I created a dedicated playlist, Outer Space Instrumental, for those kinds of songs, mostly lo-fi but also a few faster-paced/upbeat ones. I avoided ambient tracks, because I wanted the playlist to still sound musical and not boring (lol). I also avoided including intense EDM tracks to keep the playlist more on the chill side.

I also created my Retro Space Mix playlist to put songs from the 50’s and before into. It’s a short list at the moment but a fun mix of retro futuristic songs.

New Genres

I’m used to the general ones: pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, rap, country, etc. My space exploration led to genres that were completely new to me or at least very unfamiliar. Bubblegum funk, coral reef rock, pop punk, alternative indie-pop... Basically, it’s mostly indie music. I’ve never been into mainstream music, especially modern music. It’s not that I don’t like it necessarily, it’s just that I’m not into “hype”, following trends, and listening to music that I don’t connect with, so I don’t pay that much attention to it. The same goes for K-pop. I’ve never been into it, but in 2023, I came across songs I liked. So, every now and then, I’ll hear something more mainstream or generally popular that hits for me. Otherwise, I liked finding the smaller artists, niche genres, and a variety of styles that creatively conveyed the artists’ unique perspectives.

In the instrumental realm, I got to explore for the first time: lo-fi, EDM, dubstep, house, and still more unfamiliar genres. Lo-fi was discovered naturally through my space search, and I enjoyed listening to it in quiet periods of time. EDM came along prominently because of the game Beat Saber. I think I’ll write more about that later. I’m really not into intense, loud, fast, bold music, but I did discover songs that I surprisingly liked and at the right times, I can handle listening to them, but it’s not often. As an introvert, my energy drains faster around intensity and loudness, so I tend to stick with paces I can comfortably listen to.

Overall, the spectrum of new music I was taking in was completely invigorating.

Twelve Stand-Out Space Songs Found In 2023

There were many to choose from, but I will tell you about these that shined brightly throughout the year for me.

Spaceman by Nick Jonas

I knew about Nick Jonas from the Jonas Brothers in my childhood, so seeing a familiar name was very much welcome. What I didn’t know, since I was never really interested in their music, is that Nick Jonas has a distinctly different sound and vibe from what I remembered in the past. How do I put this? WOW. When I heard this song for the first time, I was completely blown away, and it became an instant favorite. I didn’t even know I liked music like that, but Spaceman just had the right everything – and it was space-related, so WIN.

Starlight by Muse

Excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed their progressive rock sound. I also loved the soulful, clear quality of the singer’s voice that seemed to reach out to the black holes he sang about.

Lunar Eclipse by Fulton Lee

Ah yes, my main man, Fulton Lee. He was my top artist of 2023. When I first heard Lunar Eclipse, two things stood out: 1) the song was bursting with an infectious positive energy, and 2) I thought it was a woman singing. As I later found out, Fulton Lee is a happily married guy who happens to have a higher pitched voice and often sings in falsetto. I recalled Neil Sedaka and Wayne Newton as examples of guys who sing with higher pitched voices. Every time the song came on, I found I couldn’t not move to it, and it made me smile. I had to find out who Fulton Lee was and what other songs he had. He had a lot, and the most stand-out things about his whole vibe was his positive energy, raw authenticity, not being locked into any specific genre, and I really appreciated how family-friendly his work was (and still is).

universe by thủy

I’ve never been into R&B, but thủy did it so smoothly and captured my attention immediately. The slow, low-tone pace with her honey-smooth vocals were perfection.

Orbit by Good Kid

Good Kid burst with energy, fun lyrics, and that cool garage punk style that was an instant hit with me, and the raw quality of the singer’s voice was the cherry on top.

Atmosphere by The Colours That Rise, Yazmin Lacey

This was a beautifully composed song with a dreamy atmosphere combining the easy rhythm of drums, electronic keyboard, and distinct bassline. The soulful vocals by guest artist Yazmin Lacey were the perfect compliment.

Outer Space by Nieman

*sigh* So smooth. Back to R&B, this song always caught my attention when it came on. It was cool and romantic, with the constant integration of space references to express the love song. I looked more into his discography and was completely impressed and delighted to find his music had clean lyrics, unlike what I typically see in the general R&B/hip hop/rap genres, which is why I never got into that kind of music in the first place. I was glad to add him to my music library.

Interstellar Me by Inner Wave

Inner Wave. They were one of those bands that stood out because of how distinctly different their sound was. I couldn’t figure out what genre they were. I couldn’t understand a single word they said. The deep tone of the singer’s voice seemed to effortlessly drone through the song but in a surprisingly appealing way. This was one of those songs that took multiple listens to finally get in tune with it. I never disliked it, I just didn’t understand it yet. In time, I did finally start understanding that there were actual lyrics being sang and as I focused my attention on the musical composition, I realized how much perfection that song really was. I love the bass and this song is driven prominently and beautifully by the bass guitar.

Supermoon by Summer Salt

Light, breezy, easy-going, delightful, beachy, absolute perfection. The epitome of easy feeling and careless days, Supermoon was as cool as a piña colada, dreamy as a beach sunset by the gentle tides, and a cheery delight to listen to as I found was the case with the rest of their discography.

Is Pluto A Planet? by John Michael Howell

I was introduced to John Michael Howell’s music through Fulton Lee. They did a collab song called 60’s where Fulton Lee was the guest artist. I was already a Fulton Lee fan but wasn’t familiar at all with JMH and wasn’t especially impressed with him based on this song alone. It was a nice song, but I had to look more into JMH’s discography, looking for space songs, to discover how amazingly good he actually was. I came across Is Pluto A Planet? and was hooked.

Moonlight by Public Library Commute

I honestly don’t remember how exactly I came across Public Library Commute. Maybe I did another space search on Spotify? I don’t know, but I’m glad I found him. It was December 2023. I really liked his name since I was a bookworm in my school days. Based on his name, though, I had no idea what he was going to sound like, so when I heard Moonlight, I was pleasantly surprised. His style had a quiet coolness about it, being both confident and chill, that made him one of my go-to chill artists.

Sun & Moon by NCT 127

My friend introduced me to this K-pop/hip hop group with the song Parade. It was different, for sure, but I listened and actually liked it. I looked into their discography and found Space, Sun & Moon, and Crash Landing. Sun & Moon was great in quieter moments when I could really appreciate the cool bassline and the overall song wasn’t too intense.

The End of 2023

It was a fantastic discovery year that introduced me to so many artists' music that I could add to my experience and knowledge and carry me into 2024. The music did quite a bit of carrying as my 2024 turned out to be one of the worst years.

Thank you for joining me on this recap of my music exploration journey in 2023!