Intentional Listening

A friend of mine is a big fan of Florence + the Machine. I confessed to only really knowing (but liking) her hits, “Dog Days” and “Cosmic Love.” I asked which album she would recommend I listen to; she said How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (2015),¹ and I texted her about some of the songs on it. She asked if I was listening to the whole thing given the back to back messages; I said yes, and I started to consider how I like to consume music.

We live in a shuffled playlist and artist mix culture.² We collect our favorite tracks or let an algorithm serve us up suggestions of “you might like” or “this label paid for this to be fed to the masses.” I do it, too; much of my music listening is done passively, as a backdrop to other tasks that aren’t consuming my entire mental energy like driving or cleaning or unpacking (i.e. non-diegetic video game style background noise meant to go mostly unnoticed).

TikTok is the ultimate bastardization of music listening³, as songs are reduced down to ten-second snippets replayed devoid of any context. Forget the entire album – you’re missing even just the song.

I have made a conscious effort recently to be more intentional in my listening.

Intentional listening, to me, focuses on albums, not just on tracks. Especially when I’m listening to something new, I try to go through the entire album in order at least once (usually more). From there, I’ll select my favorites and put them on their requisite playlists, but I think it’s critical that we focus on the entire work – not just selected pieces.

Artists tell stories through albums. They captures moments in their lives, their artistic journeys. There are careful, deliberate choices in sequencing, relationships between tracks, and stunning transitions that we miss out on when we just play the hits.

i had a good conversation with somebody about the struggle of the sequencing. This person told me, if every song has a purpose for it’s position them you can’t question it. I decided to give this tracklist a listen without just the musical ideas, but with exact purpose for each song. not just what i say or how it sounds, but how it makes me feel. i think my songs’ true meanings lie in the feeling they give me (or anybody listening.) so here is what happens in my album, and here is the final order. i’m not changing it. this is it. and this is why. Oh yeah, for a reason that may or may not be explained in this next novel you may decide to go and read after looking over this prologue. this whole album’s theme is birds. we will use that in every aspect. more on that later. first, enjoy… finally a method to the madness by yours truly: Malcolm James Xavier Samuel Meyers McCormick. p.s. i’m faded so some word choice may need retouching or fixing. hopefully i wrote what i was thinking correctly. hmmm, funny how difficult that is… shouldn’t we all be able to write exactly how we are feeling down on paper. Is the education system to blame? save that for my political angry rap album. anyways, that paragraph was pointless. i just wanted to create more reading for u cuz i am a horrible person. but actually read the next part.

— Mac Miller on sequencing Watching Movies with the Sound Off

This shift is partly why I’ve gotten into vinyl recently; it forces me to be intentional in my listening and to return to my favorite albums as entire works – not just the songs I love. I’ve tried to limit myself to buying just my favorite albums on vinyl, which is perhaps as much an economic decision as it is a personal mandate. But take, for example, Sylvan Esso’s self-titled debut album. I’ve been listening to it for years; “Coffee” and “Hey Mami” and “Dreamy Bruises” and “Dress” feature on many of my playlists, but owning the record has forced me to sit down and listen through the whole thing in a way I haven’t since I first heard it.

Listening to records has also made music social for me. Sure, there are big Spotify playlists and end-of-year wraps shared out, but I’ve invited folks over to sit down and listen to some records – to appreciate and talk about and enjoy the albums that have meant something to us and to share them with each other.

Intentional listening is looking at forests, not just the (proverbial) trees.