I’ve been really inspired to create various things since I got an Apple pencil for the iPad at the start of October and it’s made my creativity soar. These beautiful songs have been very inspiring as I create and spend some time with me, for the first time this year. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Click the play button below to listen to the playlist on Spotify.

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One of my favourite bands ever is The Lumineers. I decided to make a trip to Sydney on the way back from Melbourne once I heard they were playing an exclusive one-off show at the Enmore Theatre as I also love that venue and knew it would be worth a pit stop.

The Lumineers have been a staple for me ever since 2011 when I heard one minute of “Ho Hey” in an episode of Hart of Dixie – I became obsessed wit h the song and needed to hear more. Their music is so unique and different to anything else I’ve ever heard, but in case you have never heard of them before I would describe them as Americana indie folk rock band. You feel the music in your body and the lyrics resonate deeply in your soul, even if you’ve never experienced the situations or scenarios they are talking about. Their music is so well-crafted, and I have to say I am loving their newer songs to. They played a couple of new ones and my favourite from the new album III so far is”It Wasn’t Easy To Be Happy For You“. Of course the songs from their first self-titled album were absolutely incredible to hear again and the crowd went nuts during the likes of Ho Hey, Stubborn Love, Submarines, Flowers in Your Hair, Big Parade, and Charlie Boy. The Lumineers are professionals at what they do and although they remain quite private when it comes to their personal lives, there is no emotional distance between the crowd and the band when you’re at their show.

At previous gigs I’ve been to I’ve never liked the support acts very much, but this time around surprised me. I had never heard of Tyne-James Organ before but was pleasantly surprised by how professional he was and the songs were awesome. His style reminds me of British pop rock, kind of like Oasis, The 1975 or the band Williamette Stone from the movie If I Stay (which was led by a British actor who used The 1975 as inspiration). I would highly recommend the song Graceful as it has been stuck in my head since the show and I don’t want it to leave any time soon.

*Photos taken with Fujifilm X30 and edited in Lightroom.

I’m so excited about sharing my Top 10 records of the year with you! To clarify, these are my top 10 purchases, the albums didn’t necessarily come out in 2016. There were some I wanted to include but I realised that I got them late 2015 so they didn’t count.

Over the last few months I have noticed that I’ve stopped writing in my journal and listening to records. I was all about it at the start of the year but because I’m at the end of a cycle, life has been about cleansing and internally setting intentions for 2017. I’ve needed a lot of quiet in this half of the year, and maybe that’s why I got the job that I did in May (it’s a very quiet, masculine and cold work environment).

Hopefully I’ll get back into records in 2017 and have even more to share with you!

Ed Sheeran – Multiply (2 x 12″)
Colour: Pink. This was released as a part of Ten Bands One Cause.

The 1975 – I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (12″)
Colour: Clear Frosted

Panic! At The Disco – A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (12″)
Colour: Black

The Fray – How to Save a Life (2 x 12″)
Colour: Butter Cream

Oh Wonder – Album (2 x 12″)
Colour: White

Zayn Malik – Mind of Mine (12″)
Colour: Green

The Lumineers – Cleopatra (2 x 12″)
Colour: Grey Marble

Lukas Graham – Self Titled (12″)
Colour: Black

Fifth Harmony – 7/27 Album (12″)
Colour: Black

Ed Sheeran – Songs I Wrote With Amy (12″)
Colour: Black

I am always up for hearing about music or record recommendations, so leave me a comment with your favourite songs & albums below!