It seems odd that I’ve never investigated Emilíana Torrini’s music, considering her contribution to the Lord of the Rings trilogy with the beautiful Gollum’s Song. Then again, I never profess to be particularly good at this job!

I clearly have a thing for deceptively simple, folkish pop sung by women with beautiful voices. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! And how could there be anything wrong with that, particularly when it’s tender, deeply relaxing, and inherently beautiful? If this track floats your aural boat, you ought to cast your ears over the rest of this album: you shan’t be disappointed.

Sometimes, the world gets you down. Not down in the “I’m down; let’s boogie!” kind of way, but the “gosh dangit to heck, everyone!” variety. Life! She is a cruel mistress. But that’s ok because music shall forever be the warm blanket you can wrap around yourself when it’s chilly.

So, what does my meandering rabble have to do with anything? As per usual, not much, but I do think this tune by Brisbane group Sleepy Tea is one of those aforementioned blankies. It has a Daughter air about it, which, based on what I’ve said about them before, is most certainly not a bad thing!

I’ve decided recently that the thing missing in my life is a “songs for a lovely home” playlist. Yes, I literally have everything else: this is the last piece of the puzzle! Anyway, songs featured in this hypothetical playlist would need to carry some air of pleasantness. They don’t need to be bubbly and happy as such, because I think that would just drive me mental, but they just need to be something I can have on in the background while I’m peeling potatoes or arranging knick knacks or whatever it is people do in homes. But enough of my yabbering!

Brooklyn Doran has provided an utterly delightful piece of folky pop that’s swimming in all kinds of sweetness. It is compulsively hummable and toe-tappable, which is sure to greatly annoy anyone in your general vicinity!

Like the cocky, stuck-up hipster that I am, I bemoaned the inordinate attention that Daft Punk’s admittedly catchy Get Lucky received upon release. Partly because I absolutely must hate anything that’s popular, but mostly because it was a derivative of 60s/70s funk that really didn’t do anything much except mirror the kind of stock-standard definition of the genre.

As such, it’s always a pleasure to go back in time and pull out some truly excellent funk – or rather, let my brother do it for me. Allow me to present Stretch, a group that was initially formed to replace the members of Fleetwood Mac during their crazy period of infighting during the 70s. Once that hoo-ha settled, Stretch was officially formed and this single was released. Despite having less chords than Get Lucky, this song seems to do a whole lot more with them. Funkalicious, baby!