Waving goodbye to 2021

Another year where damn Covid has ruled the roost and to be honest, I’m losing track of what happened when, as the days and months of the last two years slide into each other.

Another year without seeing most of my friends face to face, and my already suspect social skills dwindling even further.

It feels like my world has gotten smaller, while the rest of the world has drifted further away. And as we hurtle towards Christmas and the end of another year we will all be happy to see the back of, I’m trying to make sense of where I’ve landed at the end of 2021.

The only thing I know for sure, is that I’m a year older, and a lot wearier. It does feel like this year has been grinding me (all of us) down. As ever, through it all, music has kept me afloat, so I thought I’d share a few milestones. It’s not a best of 2021, just a random assortment of things that meant something to me.

Music has always been a massive part of my life, so like many music lovers, the loss of Michael Gudinski this year hit me hard. He was such a huge and vital character and I owe him an immeasurable debt for giving me a wonderful career and making me part of his extended musical family. I’m not a fan of Ed Sheeran, but when he sang “Visiting Hours” at Michael’s state funeral in March, it just slayed me. If you’ve ever wished for one more conversation with the one who is no longer here, you’ll understand why. The version he released later in the year was way too clean and tidy for me, but if you google it, you can still find the live version.

Like everyone of a certain age, lately I’ve been immersed in the Beatles doco Get Back. So many hours, so many takeaways … too many to list here, but I will say, it’s reshaped my opinions of each one of the Fab Four, and I have new-found respect for Ringo. His face is all of us in this pandemic … stuck in a room listening to people endlessly argue. The three episodes capture the tediousness of a studio session and the banality and brilliance of the band, and that incredible creative spark between them. As someone wrote on Twitter … find someone who looks at you the way Paul McCartney looks at John Lennon … and life will be sweet.

They say it takes two, and there’s a little magic that happens in a great duet. “Like I Used To” could be an outtake from a Dusty Springfield album but is a collaboration between Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen, and I’ve drifted through 2021 on it, a big lush, layered wall of heartache and longing. It’s one of several duets I’ve put into a favourites playlist this year, alongside Sharon and Josh Homme singing “What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding” and Shannen James and Paul Dempsey dialling up a bygone era of holiday loneliness on “Fashionably Late (Every New Year’s Day)”.

There’s been so many great records released this year – musicians have been making the most of lockdown, and I don’t have the time or energy to create Best of 2021 list. But with the end of the year looming, a new Lana De Rey album arrived to help get me through. “Blue Bannisters” is raw, sparse and melancholic, and really captured the mood.

Finally, I want to end on a non-musical highlight. When I just needed something, or more specifically, someone to take me away from this world of Covid and complaints and conspiracy theories, it was Ted Lasso I turned to. Season one: every episode was a short, sweet, wonderful burst of optimism, with a pinch of sadness and enough heart to make you remember that people can be flawed and wonderful. Season two packed a meaner punch, but even with the heartache, it just leaves you feeling so damn good. Thanks Ted for giving me hope and reminding me we’re not alone.

I could go on, but there’s Christmas presents to wrap, and bags to be packed. I’m taking a short, but much needed break and will be back in early January. Until then, live well, love each other, listen to the music that makes you feel good and remember to keep dancing, even if it’s only on the inside.