As each New Year’s Eve approaches we have a tradition in the SS family called tunes of the year. We each pick three songs that have been our songs of the year and add them to a Spotify playlist. Then when everyone has picked and the festivities are beginning we shuffle the playlist and try and guess who’s song is who’s. It doesn’t take long to work out that our dad’s is the piece from the most recent classical concert he’s played, or that the obscure Mongolian throat singers are our brother Ned’s. It makes for some good end of year reminiscing and a great way to see in the new one. 

This is my long-list as it were, the 12 songs that have been the soundtrack to each month. From February road trips with Catalan independence activists, to summer festival favs, these are the tunes that have been the backdrop to my year.