What I've Been Listening To (March)

When I’m not reading, I’ll often reach for music—and sometimes just to have noise in the background. Lately—and thanks to having the Spotify app on my tablet—I’ve gotten a lot of amazing recommendations, which has greatly expanded my playlist. That and the fact that some of my favorite artists returned in March and the end of February with new music. And with that, welcome back to the music minded corner of Our Thoughts Precisely.

Banks is one of my all-time favorite artists, and at the end of February, she returned with her latest album: Off With Her Head. This is one of Banks’s best (as well as cohesive) albums to-date, which leaned into this pop and alternative style of sound. Does it experiement as much as Serpentina? Well, no, but Off With Her Head still gets creative with what it does. At the end of the day, it was a VERY "Banks" kind of album, and that’s exactly what I was looking for.

Desires by Giift was an EP which popped up under my Spotify recommendations, and I’m so glad I gave it a chance, because it was fantastic. And, by the end, I was left wanting more. Desires had a particular vibe to it, which I enjoyed. It lands firmly in the R&B space, but it got creative with the sound, particularly on the closing song, All I Need (one of the best tracks).

Nao is another one of my favorite artists, and she was also back with new music. Jupiter was an R&B and Soul album done Nao’s way, and it was incredibly fun to listen to. Tonally, it was almost a sequel to her sophomore release, Saturn, back in October of 2018 (which remains one of my all-time favorite albums). And Jupiter lands pretty high on the list, when it comes to my the stuff I’ve listened to so far in 2025, and I appreciated it for its lighter tone and blend of genres.

Next, I checked out Antidote by SYNGA. This one was also a recommendation, and I was looking for something that had a similar vibe to Banks’s music, to tide me over during the seven days left before Off With Her Head was released. Antidote was moody pop music, so it checked all of those boxes and then some.

Michi is another new-to-me artist (found through a recommendation on Spotify), thanks to her new album, Dirty Talk. This was a solid funk and disco album with lyrics that often delved into the nuances of relationships, which offered a chill/smooth listening experience. If you listen to it, though, it’ll feel a little familiar around the edges, especially if you’ve listened to those genres before in any capacity, but it still feels lively and fresh—basically an updated and unique take while still paying homage to its inspiration.

And, of course, last but certainly not least was one of my most anticipated March releases: Lady Gaga’s Mayham. It was a callback to her other albums, but rather than remaining grounded in a vintage era, it was an upcycled affair doing what Lady Gaga does best with a blend of genres including rock, pop, and funk among others. The singles, Disease and Abracadabra, did have a bit of a different tone and substance than the later end of the album, but it was still a great album and a lot of fun to listen to. And it also reminded me of what makes Lady Gaga a great artist.

Some singles that have made it onto my playlist: Reprogram by Kilo Kish, Cut Up by SAILORR, Butterfly by Marina, Falling In Love by R.A.E., and Anxiety by Doechii.

Thought Corner: Revisiting How To Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price Seven Years Later

I first read Catherine Price’s How To Break Up With Your Phone seven years ago (in March), and it was for review. I remember liking this book, even though nonfiction, specifically self-help, isn’t something I typically reach for. Since then, it’s sort of sat on my shelf and become the kind of book I would always look at and think it was time to revisit it, but somehow I never made the time for it (even though its short, coming in under two hundred pages). In 2025, I’ve gotten more reflective about the internet at large, and as a result, I took a detour last month and ended up rereading this book.

Even after six years, How To Break Up With Your Phone retains its timeliness, especially with its chapters about social media, memory, and the way technology intersects with our lives, in both helpful and harmful ways. It’s an excellent book. And, even though this was a reread, I was left with plenty to think about by the end of it (essentially food for thought), because when I thought about it, I’m not sure I fully appreciated everything this book does when I first read it. At least, the topic it covers wasn’t as relevant to me then as it is now, especially when lately I’ve been thinking more and more about how I want to engage with the internet and social media.

For example, at the beginning of 2025, I thought I would dust off my old Instagram account and start posting regularly about books again—even if it was only once a week—since I no longer use twitter to share even links to blog posts. But, then Meta changed its policy, and I was left in the same position as before. I know there are other platforms I could try, but I haven’t done that, especially when I know it’s just as easy to post things like reviews and photos to the blog too.

All that to say, How To Break Up With Your Phone offered plenty of information to engage with independently, but it could also serve as a starting point for conversations.

Music Monday (313): Olivier Deriviere, Nova Twins

Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: Over the weekend, I started watching some playthroughs of South of Midnight, Compulsion Games's newest release. And, oh man, I'm loving everything about it so far. A definite highlight has been the soundtrack. My first pick this week is The Floods by Olivier Deriviere.

And, another one of my favorites from the soundtrack is The Storm.

Adri: I'm excited for Nova Twins' upcoming album, Parasites & Butterflies. So my pick this week is Soprano.

What are you listening to this week?

The Friday 56 (253) & Book Beginnings: How To Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. **Note: Freda @ Freda's Voice is taking a break from The Friday 56; Anne @Head is Full of Books is hosting for now.**

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Do you feel addicted to your phone? Do you frequently pick it up “just to check,” only to look up forty-five minutes later wondering where the time has gone? Does social media make you anxious? Have you tried to spend less time mindlessly scrolling—and failed? If so, this book is your solution.

Award-winning health and science journalist and TED speaker Catherine Price presents a practical, evidence-based 30-day digital detox plan that will help you break up—and then make up—with your phone. The goal: better mental health, improved screen-life balance, and a long-term relationship with technology that feels good. This engaging, user-friendly guide explains how our smartphones and apps are designed to be addictive and how the time we spend on them is increasing our anxiety and damaging our abilities to focus, think deeply, form new memories, generate ideas, and be present in our most important relationships. Next, it walks you through an effective and easy-to-follow 30-day plan that has already helped thousands of people worldwide break their phone addictions and feel more fully alive. Whether you need help for yourself or for your family, friends, students, colleagues, clients, or community, How to Break Up with Your Phone is the ultimate guide to digital detoxing. It’s guaranteed to help you put down your phone—and come back to life.

Beginning: "Let's get something clear from the start: the point of this book is not to get you to throw your phone under a bus."

56: "The second task required for concentration doesn't get as much, well, attention. But it's just as important--if not more so: we need to be able to ignore distractions."

Comments: I reread How To Break Up With Your Phone last month. It was kind of refreshing to revisit this one after so many years, especially with how relevant some of the chapters still are (but more on that on an upcoming blog post). What are you reading this week? 

Quarterly Recap: January-March (2025)

It’s April…already. Somehow, we’ve made it four months into 2025, and so that means it’s time to look back at everything that’s been happening on the blog for the past three months. As always, I’m starting with reviews.

January, February, and March Reviews...

• A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames
• The Witless Protection Program by Maria DiRico
• Written in the Waters by Tara Roberts

January, February, and March Other Blog Posts...

• What I've Been Listening To: January-February
• Doctor Who: Blink, Silence in the Library, and Forest of the Dead
• Short Stories I Read In January
• Nutcracker: The Motion Picture
• Short Stories I Read In February
• What I've Been Listening To: November-December 2024
• Happy New Year!
• New Year, New Stuff
• We're Back & Some House Keeping

As I’m writing this, I’m currently working my way through King’s The Shining. So, I’ll probably mention the book and my thoughts about it later when, you know, I actually finish reading it. Also, looking ahead, some of my most anticipated books this year are coming up. And, on the subject of the blog, I have no concrete plans other than to maintain my scaled back approach since, so far, it’s left me with more time to do others things as well as to just take my time with what I’m reading and sit with any given story longer than what I used to. It’s been great.