I’m Just Gonna Dance All Night

Harry Styles – Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally

I always self describes as “excitable.” I love a movement, or a moment, or a collective sense of enthusiasm. It has been harder and harder to find things that we can all celebrate and enjoy instead of debating, fighting or hating each other over. Harry Styles brings that sense of levity. We belong together.

His fan base is dedicated in every sense. It does not feel competitive like some other artists’ cultures, but there’s only one him and so, so many of us who want some piece of him and what he gives us.

The album dropped this week following only one previously released single “Aperture” and four years from his last LP Harry’s House. When it was announced I shared my excitement with my sister. “Finally something we can all love and not fight about!” A rare thing right now, to be honest.

It’s best you know
What you don’t
Aperture lets the light in

After a night out with friends, I listened to the finished project, and immediately got emotional as soon as “American Girls” started. Such tender piano keys leading into electro-disco production gave a sense of familiarity, comfort and peace. Harry has an ability to create songs that don’t inherently challenge the listener, but invite them in for a closer whiff. It’s honey in a sky full of bees.

“I’ve known you for ages”
It’s all that I’ve heard
My friends are in love
With American girls

The album has a range of production stylings, but all fits together into a collective that reiterates it’s mission statement: “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.” On “Ready, Steady, GO!” he commands you to get off your ass and get that prize. Are you listening yet?

I knew that a pop-up shop was happening, and counted myself out. At his last event of this scale for 2022’s “Harry’s House” I waited in the sun for 7 or 8 hours. I came out with a few pieces that I still get compliments on to this day, but I’m 35 now. Too old, probably. Right?

I woke up at 4 am Saturday morning and ordered food, and found so many Tik Tok’s of kids discussing their experiences and offering advice so as to not get turned away before achieving admittance. I wanted to drive past the shop, see a huge line and put to rest any sense of FOMO that I had. When I drove by at 5:30 am I found only a handful of fans in line, and settled with myself. “If I wait from now until 10, that’s still better than the long wait in the sun that I may encounter later in the weekend.” So that’s what I chose.

The fans are always so kind and shy, if anything. One girl bravely came to me and asked a question that I did not hear because I had my AirPods in. I asked for her to say again, and she politely requested directions to where to buy a coffee. I stood up and showed her with my arms the three turns she would make to get there, and she was so kind and grateful for such a simple gesture. These kids are good people, and I was so happy to be among them.

The shop let the first 10 of us in right at ten, recorded some promo for AMEX and then let us loose throughout the experience in a manner akin to the chocolate factory scene in Willy Wonka. Off to the photo booth, then the disco room, then the greenhouse, then the big clock on the wall for pictures that I was not fully awake for, but had waited this long for and was not going to pass up. We filled out order sheets for the items that we saw displayed throughout the exhibit. I wanted this tee for my sister and I. I wanted this expensive hoodie for chilly nights and airport moments. I wanted that beach towel and that tote bag… I bought a lot, but having the album blasted throughout the experience propelled me to remember why I was there and how I wanted to commemorate the occasion, the album and the moment. I was doing this silly thing for me in search of some comfort and peace and sense of community. I got what I came for.

Song of 2025: Alison Goldfrapp – Sound & Light

What do you want? What do you really need? Okay forget that… what would make you feel good right now in this moment no matter what? Sound & Light.

This year feels like a series finale that should have come three seasons back. Everything came to such a pressure point that it felt like a betting game of “what ELSE is going to fucking happen?”

At several points in the year, I shared the mindfuck sentiment to friends, family members, coworkers and clients and anyone who I trusted “You could literally tell me anything that happened and I would believe it, based on the events of recent.” Alien invasion? Probably. They found out that the ancient Pyramids were actually built underwater by mermaids? I can see that. Jesus came back and he’s in Portland working as a barista? Yeah, that sounds about right.

This culture of dysphoria really affected all of us and it seemed that nobody was happy. The right? In control and pissed. The left? Underrepresented and blamed for everything but still super unhappy, broke and pessimistic.

How do you perceive, process and prevail?

Sound & Light.

Alison Goldfrapp’s second solo album that came after eight studio LPs under the group Goldfrapp showed that she has never lost her luster, but gained the wisdom to produce exactly what we want. What we need.

This song caused a “pull over” moment for me. I wanted to remember the exact moment that I got to hear it for the first time, and pretty quickly decided that this was my favorite song of 2025, no matter what followed it.

According to Spotify Wrapped, it was indeed tied as my most played song of the year and I was 0% Surprised. I don’t think I ever listened to it just once at a time, and appreciated how it unfolded in a way that I couldn’t imagine being more perfect. It immediately felt as familiar as my own heartbeat or breathing pattern. “Yes, that’s exactly how I wanted that next verse to go and the tempo is like the perfect human body temperature” I thought.

It genuinely takes me out of myself each and every time.

I wanna run
Keep on running
And breathe in life
Crystal clear

The song snaps you back into the reality that human satisfaction is so much simpler than we make it. Go dancing. See your friends. Put on something euphoric and lose yourself during your mundane moments at work or in the gym or even while cleaning the house with a glass of wine. Our universal pleasures are well established for a reason.

The emerald ribbons unfolding
In the sky
Sound & light, tonight
Surround me

Go for that Gold. You don’t have to spin out and overindulge, but please, give yourself a little bit of joy. Every day.

Madonna – What It Feels Like For A Girl

On the brink of pride month in what feels like the most regressive time for LGBTQIA+ rights in the 21st century, it seems appropriate to get even.

This song focuses on the archaic expectations of women in modern society. Stay soft, quiet, pretty and obedient. But you still have to bring in a salary, climb the ladder and prove your worth much more than any mediocre guy in the same scenario.

A funny thing about homophobia is that it is undeniably based in sexism. Think about it. All of the laziest complaints about gay men focus on the scrutiny of femininity.

“Just don’t shove it in my face.” “As long as you’re not one of those girly guys.” “He’s gay, but still manly, so he’s cool.”

All of this points to the idea that the worst thing a man could do is exude femininity. Why? Because the shittiest people among us hate women.

The music video for this song depicts Madonna fucking up the patriarchy at every turn. She robs a businessman at an ATM and gives the wad of cash to a waitress. She scrapes the side of a cop car with two burger chewing dummies inside. She smashes a low rider full of catcallers. She stares down a douchebag at a gas station before dropping a lighter into spilled gasoline as she rips away from the scene, blowing up everything behind her. She’s getting even for all women, and all of us who exhibit femininity.

Our current environment is different than the historic culture of homophobia. We have to fight back with more than words. Hit them where it hurts. Play dirty. They do, so we can too.

Lykke Li – I Never Learn

I Never Learn

This tattoo-worthy sequence of three words is seared in my brain. I think about it often while driving, working, exercising etc.. The level of self-assessment by someone who has fought through the same shit as me is jarring.

There’s a storm
Only love remains

“Why am I like this?” I’ve asked myself.

I fell in love with Lykke Li during her era of the album featuring this title track. At just 23, I had already begun to identify my own ticks in love and attachment style. I had a hunch that my habits were as signature to me as they were volatile.

Love hard. Say what you feel. Don’t give up. I can fix us.

Years passed. I grew, observed peoples’ behaviors and absorbed information about how others move. I heard advice from smarter, more strategic lovers. I watched some succeed while others failed.

I’m right here
I’m a star-crossed lover
I lie here
Like a starless lover

Considering all the life experience I have gathered since then, I look back at 23 year old me with the perspective of a 34 year old, and still understand where he was coming from. I continue to hang onto hope more than logic. I grasp at the shreds of someone’s virtue and afford grace to their shortcomings.

I want to see the best and, at times, miss the forest for the trees. I’m wired that way. I refuse to give up.

I never learn.

It’s Rameses

“I like your friends, Aaron, but I don’t know what Rameses thinks about me. I’m kind of scared of him.” Said the boy I was dating years ago. “You’re right to be.” I said in response.

I was introduced to Rameses through our mutual friend Steve, who has somewhere between 75 and 124 close friends. They were teammates from kickball or dogeball or some other super legitimate adult sports league. Steve had tried unsuccessfully to get me to join, but I instead just lapped up the social benefits of the league by attending the after-game drinks or team celebrations. I had been in the orbit of Rameses at least ten times before venturing out on my own one night to our usual karaoke gathering, probably around 2018 or something. Steve wasn’t there, but the rest of the guys were. “What’s your name again?” Rameses asked. “I only know you as Oldermodel.” That was my chance to establish my own rapport with Rameses, which has fully blossomed since then.

Rameses is one of my favorite people. He’s brilliant and technical, which makes him a great attorney, while also being immeasurably silly. He’s also an encyclopedia of obscure 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s pop culture, making for some very enlightening conversations in the middle of a loud bar.

This Texan is as intimidating as he is loyal. He has looked out for me and sharply vetted every boy I’ve dated since knowing him. “Aaron is psychotic” he told one suitor, in an attempt to test the seriousness of this boy. He knows that I’m a sensitive guy, and regularly says to me “Goddamnit Aaron, why you always crying!?”

He willingly saw up-and-coming artist Claud at the Troubadour and mega-producer A.G. Cook at the Viper Room, but also brought me to Sofi Stadium for ILLENIUM, and came along with a group of us to Alanis Morissette at the Hollywood Bowl. He’s down to clown, but also appreciates live performances from a technical perspective, careful to mind the choreography, costuming and effects of whatever show we are at.

There’s nothing more satisfying than impressing Rameses. We get along about food, fashion, and especially music. Over the years we’ve discovered that we share the same favorite song from countless artists and bands, regardless the genre or decade. These are three of those songs.

Coldplay – Strawberry swing

We found this one out years ago. I used to believe that this obscure track from Viva la Vida was relatively unknown, but I’ve learned that more people remember it than I’d assumed. I brought up Coldplay at his house while we were pregaming with his siblings once, and he shouted out “I just love Strawberry Swing!” I thought I’d misheard him, but responded “That’s weird. That’s my… favorite Coldplay Song.” Years later we’d see Coldplay together at the Rose Bowl. Of course they didn’t play this song because they never do, but there was a audience member in the pit holding a sign that read “Play Strawberry Swing!” Those who know, just know.

Lady Gaga – Eh, Eh

This silly little song from early on in Gaga’s career is all but forgotten. When I tell people that it’s my favorite, they usually think it’s just a bit. He stated out loud at a club once “I wish she’d perform ‘Eh, Eh'” while discussing her touring habits. “That’s actually my favorite song of hers” I responded. “That’s MY favorite Gaga song!” He insisted. We agreed to share it.

The Supremes – I Hear a Symphony

This one really took me out. I’ve been collecting records for a few years now, and after a while of his brother and I trying to get Rameses in on it, he caved and finally started buying a few to listen to at work. He’d mostly focus on soundtracks and scores, because he could work while listening to them without the music being a distraction. Bit by bit he’s built his collection to include some of his favorite artists too. Recently he told me he was going to go to our favorite record store to find a Supremes vinyl. “Which one?” I asked. “I’m gonna see what they have, but I just need it to have ‘I Hear a Symphony’ on it because that’s my favorite.” I’ve learned to stop being surprised when this happens with us at this point, but I just shook my head and said “Yeah, mine too. Of course.” And we laughed.

Whether we’re going to a show somewhere, pregaming at his house or actively partying in the streets with all of our friends, I always have the best time with Rameses. He’s mean as hell and funny enough to throw me off my game in any conversation. His facial expressions, voices and sharp delivery make him magnetic. You want this guy on your side, and badly. The most common tagline we have is when I make him laugh at something stupid and he says “You stupid bitch!” because he didn’t want to give in. It’s one of my favorite things in the world.

Happy birthday Rameses! Thanks for everything, and I’m sorry I’m like this.

David Bowie – Heroes

We really thought we had it, didn’t we?

There were palpable collective cultural triumphs in 2024, but it seems like a lot of us fell face first into an unimaginable sense of loss in the last few months of the year.

I’ve been ruminating on this song for most of 2024, but it recently slid into relevance more than I could have expected. It was like watching three stencils of the same image fit into one frame. “I get it.” I told myself, reflecting on the fact that Bowie’s music has always felt out of reach for me, and I’d never connect with it with my limited knowledge of his legacy.

I first listened to it front to back during the finale of Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2024 show in which creative director Sarah Burton took her final bow at the house. She had been McQueens right hand during most of the company’s existence, and took the helm after his untimely death.

McQueen had famously made a look for David Bowie’s 1997 Earthling album cover, giving further significance to this soundtrack choice during Burton’s final bow. It was truly the end of an era. A decade after McQueen’s death, the last trace of his influence evaporated as Naomi Campbell serimoniously closed out the runway show.

I think about the energy of this song often. At the surface, it’s about heroism and victory. The tone, however, indicates that it’s focused on a reality that never was, but maybe could be. Maybe someday.

I believe that the political climate has demolished the hopes for progress that many of us were hinging on. I felt the electricity in the air as we circled a victory that meant so much more than a new administration.

It’s maddening to imagine how much longer we’ll have to wait for that hope to be realized, but I know that we will get there. We can be heroes.

AG Cook/Charli XCX – Lucifer

Kicking around my head since its release, this song has remained on repeat throughout this year. It preceded BRAT summer and all that Charli would accomplish as a newly mainstream artist, but grabbed my attention moreso than any individual track in the BRAT universe.

Being that AG Cook is her most frequent collaborator, it’s just as much a Charli song as anything she’s self-released.

Vaguely chronicling her experience of feeling like an asshole for calling Lucifer, you start wondering, who is Lucifer? If they’re so harmful, why do I call them? Why am I so apt to invite the pain? Why am I like this?

We all have moments of inviting our personal demons. It could be an unresolved feud, some struggle getting past a personal failure, or beating yourself up for not making the progress in life that you wanted to. Whether it’s for intrigue, curiosity or masochism, we all call Lucifer.

This song finds Charli working out where this urge comes from and how to rectify it in her solitary time. As a listener, you find peace knowing that you’re not the only psycho forcing yourself back into the wheel of habit. It’s frustrating and regrettable, but entirely human. AG Cooks stark mechanic production of whirs, zips and booms contrasts the very primal feeling of kicking yourself when you’re down, leading to no progress.

We can reflect and be self aware, which this song promotes. It’s a better move to get past your self-defeating patterns and learn to let yourself grow. Hang up the phone.

So Clear – Miya Folick

I feel really lucky to have stumbled across this track.

It will be a staple as I move through difficult times, having trouble trusting myself to pull through and not sink into an unrecognizable version of myself who’s incapable of feeling any normalcy.

I see messed up things happening to everyone close to me now more than ever. Whatever the cause, it’s bad out there. Losing careers, losing family members, having relationships crumble at the blink of an eye. I’m so proud of my people for handling these things with more grace than me.

I was down like you see in the movies
Crying on the bathroom floor
Blaming everybody around me
Hating myself more

The production starts with repetitive beeping that slowly pushes forward like a heartbeat. You really don’t know where she’s going with this, and whether her next words will hurt or help your mental state.

I was alone in a lonesome place
‘Till I finally said, I’m done.

She turns to optimism.

Ten thousand days of waking up
I pulled myself out of the dust
I’m sun and sea
So suddenly
So clear to me, so clear to me

A euphoric chorus sends you soaring up past the obstacles you’re facing, or the version of yourself who can’t seem to get any joy back. You’re right there, just on the other side. Just a little bit more fight and you’ll be there. It’s really simple.

Looking in the eyes of a stranger
Who told me I’d be nothing alone
But I said no. NO.

It’s soothing and comforting, but also celebratory. Angelic vocals and an increasing pace throughout the song get your head in a place to face the day, or night. Whatever is hard for you. You can get your shit together. You’ve got it in you. Go.

Sun Bleached Flies – Ethel Cain

This will be my most streamed song of the year.

There aren’t days that I don’t listen to it, and I rarely do so without repeating it several times. The ethereal composition of this specific storyline makes it feel oddly familiar. Each line has me leaning in closer, looking for the bits that feel true and authentic to me. I believe everything that she says.

I was lucky to see Ethel Cain at Coachella in 2023 during her rise to becoming the cult icon that she is now. Her following has grown immensely, far outsizing the mom-and-pop presentation of her scattered tour dates, super limited merchandise releases and lack of any vinyl pressings for her one studio album “Preacher’s Daughter” or super popular EP “Inbred.”

Ethel Cain, Coachella 2023 in Custom Givenchy

The song lands at the end of her debut concept album, and evidently recounts the experience of seeing her dead self from heaven after running away with a boy that she held every hope for. The same boy who would eventually kill her.

Line by line, she ponders what could have been, and how sorrowful she is to not be back in the Midwest where she could have avoided this fate, sparing her family from suffering the loss of her.

This standout track was prominently remixed with Robyn’s Dancing On My Own, and subsequently blew up on Tiktok. That version is euphoric and thrilling, giving the sensation that you’ve just had an exorcism, or been baptized.

Sun Bleached Flies/Dancing On My Own

In any variation, Sun Bleached Flies is rich with breathtaking lyricism that begs self-reflection of the listener.

God Loves You
But Not Enough To Save You
So Baby Girl
Good Luck Taking Care Of Yourself

I’ve gained clarity from this song, and found that accountability in each of our lives is vital. Most of our failures and victories fall within our own control. It’s not a warning or a threat, but a push forward to keep a sharp eye out and get your shit together. Be wise, and love yourself enough to survive.

And I Spend My Life
Watching It Go By
From The Sidelines
And God I’ve Tried
But I Think It’s About Time
I Put Up A Fight

The 7+ minute track is an emotional journey. You sympathize with the now-dead Ethel Cain, and learn from the missteps that led her to this point. Comfort can be found in the fact that she’s at peace, and lovingly sharing her message with listeners. The triumphant conclusion to this evangelical, abstract and relatable song leaves you chanting with your eyes closed.

If It’s Meant To Be
Then It Will Be

Sun Bleached Flies

Sean Fucking Kennedy

I have awesome friends. Sean Kennedy ranks among the highest.

I remember when he moved into my apartment in February of 2020. He had previously lived across town, and he wanted to experience life in the gayborhood. We went out one epic evening, only to be met with a global shutdown the next week due to Covid. It sucked. With tons in common, we had so much fun on that night out, but it would be a while until we got to party again in the same fashion. Thankfully, we’ve made up for that lost time since then. That’s my boy.

Unlike me, he’s not the autobiographical type. He rarely talks about himself in great detail, as fascinating as his life is. You would never catch him bragging.

During his 30th birthday party, I met dozens of his friends. Some from college and some from work. But then there were many others who knew him from “dance.” I dug a little deeper only to find out that he competed in Irish Dance, and was quite literally one of the best in the world. When one of his girlfriends relayed that information, I laughed and exclaimed in a cracking voice “What !? That’s amazing!” as my eyes watered up. I was so proud of him and so surprised that I didn’t know that. He just doesn’t flex like so many bullshitters in LA do. I valued him even more after learning that.

My job didn’t change much during pandemic, but everything fun and joyous outside of work was unavailable to me. The gym, movies, concerts and even shopping all stopped. I’d come home to find Sean wrapping up his day with a big smile on his face. When Taylor Swift dropped Folklore, it was the topic of the household for months. I remember the coziness of that time, and how nice it felt to come home to a peaceful living space after handling panicked clients all day while facing public health risks. Our bond was the only stable thing I had at that time.

As time went on, we’d take a couple trips with a group of friends whom I grew much closer to because Sean was a more consistent attendant to social gatherings. He’s organized in a way that I’m not. It feels stupid to say, but I sometimes wonder where he benefits in our friendship. He’s always down to show up, though, and we’ve had so many adventures as a result.

Most recently, we went Charli XCX’s extremely limited BRAT tour (I think it was 7 dates with only 4 including her singing live). When this cryptically hushed performance was announced long before the now famed BRAT album was released, I text my group of friends that there was apparently some kind of show happening in a few months. Sean didn’t hesitate, and grabbed a ticket alongside me. We had a perfect evening, and raged to some of the first live performances of the songs that make up the album of the year. It paid off. But what if it didn’t? My friend still showed up for me, as he always has.

He’s fun but stable. He’s selfless and supportive. He’s guarded me when I wasn’t making the best decisions about whom I was spending time with, but did so in a way that never felt judgmental. I don’t have a lot of people like him in my life and I’m so happy that he’s here.

Happy Birthday Sean. Please don’t be mad at me.