Music Monday 23 - First Date with an Album

I’ve bought five new albums in about a week and a half and I’m having trouble finding time to listen to them all. New music is a lot like a dating relationship: I find myself trying to get past the awkwardness of the first few dates to see if we have something that will last.

First Date
In ancient history when I used to buy physical albums, I loved the sensation of opening the new CD as I walked out of Best Buy to my truck. There was so much excitement as I readied myself for my first date with this new album. Would I like it? Would it sound good in my manufacturer’s sound system? There is a certain anticipation when listening to a new album, whether it’s by an artist you love or someone you’re just checking out. We want to know whether or not the $10 we just invested will be worth it, if it will lead to something more. Just like, when sitting across from our date at The Cheesecake Factory, we wonder if the investment of time, money and energy is going to amount to anything.

Second Date
I contend that the second date is harder to get than the first date. Most people will say “yes” to one date because the possibilities are endless, there’s no telling what could happen. But after one date, after we see the way they twirl spaghetti or how they can’t stop talking about their collection of fur balls from their eight cats, we’re less inclined to invest time in a second date. After listening to an album for the first time, the excitement has worn off and we have to decide whether or not we’re willing to invest another hour of our time into the album. My iTunes is littered with plenty of albums that got a first date but couldn’t make it to the second date. I would like to let those albums down easy, tell them that it’s not them ,that it’s me, but that would be lying.

It’s them because they weren’t as good as I thought they would be.

It’s them because there weren’t enough catchy singles to hold my attention between the moody ballads.

It’s them because they’re not Lady GaGa.

In a Relationship
I have only been in two relationships in my life and there’s nothing better than seeing that little heart in my Facebook status that says “Scott Higa went from being single to being in a relationship.” While I am a firm believer in monogamy when it comes to my relational life, I am a polygamist when it comes to my musical life. If an album survives the awkwardness of the first few dates, I like to think that we’re now in a relationship. That doesn’t mean I’ll listen to the album every day, but I’ll come back to back to it again and again, like Bernard Slade’s play Same Time Next Year. Some of my longest relationships have been with U2’s Joshua Tree, Norah Jones’ Come Away with Me and MJ’s Thriller.

I love having a relationship with new music, but only time can tell how that relationship will end up. Will the initial excitement and sizzle lead to something more substantial, a comfortable pattern of lifelong partnership? Or will it just be a summer fling, something we look back on fondly as a symbol of our reckless youth? Who knows, but at least we have a lot of time and music to figure it out.

How do you incorporate new music into your listening habits?