Another beautiful year around the sun draws to a close, which means the desire to do an unoriginal yearly round-up grows significantly. Favourites posts certainly aren’t ground-breaking, but they are some of my favourites to read and to create. Reflecting on your year in terms of cultural highlights, and personal moments reminds you of all the little (and big) things that have happened, and how lucky we are to be on this big floating rock zooming through space. Life is lush.

Book of the year – Walk through Walls, Marina Abramović 

My Goodreads target of 24 books was sharply lowered to 12 a few months into 2024, but I did manage to hit that goal as of Monday (I still reckon I can squeeze another few in) after finishing Dolly Alderton’s ‘Good Material’. I’ve read 6 fiction, 6 non-fiction and all genres in-between. My favourite however, would have to be the controversial performance artist Marina Abramović’s memoir ‘Walk through Walls‘. It was particularly poignant as I’d visited her exhibition in Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum a few months prior. I was wildly hungover but still awestruck, try walking through Imponderabilia the day after 8 wines and report back please. A lot of her artistic decisions might not make sense to me personally, but she is nonetheless a fascinating women and wholly committed to her work.

Honourable mentions – Weyward by Emilia Hart, Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion

Album of the year – Prelude to Ecstasy, The Last Dinner Party

The Last Dinner Party’s deliciously ethereal debut soundtracked the better half of my year. Their aesthetic feels like it’s been scooped out of my brain (and/or Pinterest feed), and their music feels like it’s kissing my ears and filling me up with desire, creativity and just the right amount of female rage. Nothing Matters was my top track of the year on Spotify (I have a habit of listening to it when I’m sweating the small stuff, to remind myself quite literally that ‘Nothing Matters’), but I’d say my favourite track is actually ‘The Feminine Urge’. I was lucky enough to see them live for a second time at the o2 City Hall Newcastle back in September, and they were breathtaking – I cannot wait to catch them again at Kendal Calling in 2025.

Also, they do gorgeous merch if you need a last minute gift.

Honourable mentions – Fontaines D.C. ‘Romance’, Chappell Roan ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’

Gig of the year – Stevie Nicks, Hyde Park London

I have been incredibly lucky to have gone to 20 gigs this year (I’m sad and keep a list on my phone). Some of these were bargain ticket pub gigs, and some were arena-size concerts and full-blown festivals. But, the winner was no competition in that I finally got to see one of my absolute heroes; Stevie Nicks. Not only that, I got to witness her play in the company of my best friends in the historic Hyde Park where so many of my idols have played before (what I’d give to be at The Stones at Hyde Park in 69). She sounded incredible, she gave us some cape-twirling moments, an emotional tribute to both Tom Petty and Christine McVie, and she brought out Harry Styles. It was a bloody dream. Hearing ‘Gold Dust Woman’ live sparked the fire within me to keep making sensual witchy women tunes, and actually put something out into the ether in 2025.

Honourable mentions – Vampire Weekend at O2 Apollo Manchester, Paolo Nutini and Royel Otis at Kendal Calling

Word of the year – Delicious

Blame my gal, Florence Given and her notion of living deliciously. Life is fucking delicious, and I want to taste all of it and savour every last second of being alive. I want to slow down in 2025, and really take everything in. Less screen-time is top of my list for 2025, and being present in the moment and ‘living deliciously’ will be key to this.

What I’ll be leaving behind in 2024

• Fucks given (I hope, but you all know me – this isn’t likely)
• Low-rise jeans – some of you manage to look banging in them, but that some ain’t me
• Buying so many clothes – I really need to stop, just because they’re secondhand doesn’t mean I can justify having 12 leather jackets
• Negative self-talk – I would never talk to anyone the way I talk to myself, so that shit’s got to stop
• Greggs. I think it’s overrated, sorry not sorry. I know I’m a disgrace to the North East. (P.S. I’ll take this all back if you bring back the Vegan Festive Bake).

What I’m taking forward into 2025

• Routine – the last 3 months I’ve had regular exercise in my life for the first time ever really (minus my Yoga with Adriene addiction during the lockdowns of 2020) and I’ve seen positive change mentally and physically, which I’m determined to commit to
• Creative bravery – who cares if I make something and no one likes it (in real life or on social media)? It’s the creation process that counts, setting it free into the world is enough of a rewarding release. It’s ‘success’ is irrelevant
• Being more present – I mentioned less screen time above, and this is exactly what I’m talking about. I read a terrifying statistic the other day that the average person will spend 19 years of their lifetime looking at some kind of screen. Some people don’t even get to live that long.
• Dressing for me – I’ve had a bit of an identity crisis with my style this year, not sure ‘who I want to be’, dressing for others and questioning the aesthetic or style I’ve aligned myself to since my early 20’s. But bugger that, I know what I like and I’ll stick to it – and I intend to have fun with it too.
• Being daft – fuck being serious. Life throws enough crap at you, you need to obviously uphold a level of maturity when it matters, but day to day I just like having a bit of fun and not taking myself too seriously. Not everyone will like or ‘get’ my silly nature, but I’m not changing for anyone!

---

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and get to spend time with the ones you love. Happy New Year and I’ll be back again very soon.

Em x