This
Christmas, Spotify is helping listeners unlock 10 years of their personal streaming history. Culture writer Nathan Ma reflects on the stories
music can tell
We’re mere weeks away from the start of 2020. It’s a new year – the advent of a new decade – and a chance to reflect. In 2010, I wanted to be fitter, taller and wiser – at least, I think I did. Truth be told, the past 10 years have flown by. Who did I want to be? What did I stand for? And why did I think a topknot was a good choice? The jury’s still out on that one.
Still, a few moments stand out: there was the breakup in 2013, when I wore out Adele’s discography on Spotify until my phone was flooded with texts: “u ok hun xx”. There was the summer of 2015 when I was so deeply besotted with a new exercise regime that I was only ever one Britney Spears song away from breaking into a deep, heart-pounding sweat. There was the summer of 2018 that I spent wild swimming to the grimy, industrial beats of Berlin’s techno revival, and the following winter, spent in my flat, diving into Carole King’s back catalogue.