Léon - "Dreams (Fleetwood Mac Cover)"

Lotta Lindgren was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1994. The product of a musical household, though she’s only 22, she has been writing songs for more than a decade. Growing up in Stockholm as the daughter of a composer and a cello player, she estimates she penned her first tune at age 8 or 9. “I had never had a boyfriend or anything, but I wrote love songs,” she remembers. “I was so inspired by Motown, I was like, I’m going to write about love too—even if I was 8. I did a song when I was 11, and I called it ‘As I Am With You.’ Really corny title.” 

Léon began her musical career as front-women of a hip hop and soul group in her teens before embarking on a solo career with producing partner Agrin Rahmani in 2015. She has cited Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Beyoncé, Etta James, Sam Cooke, and Stevie Wonder as musical inspirations.

Her first single, "Tired of Talking", off her debut release, Treasure - EP, gained the support of Chris Anokute and the singer Katy Perry, and most recently appeared in Vogue Italia.

Léon subsequently signed with Columbia, and released her debut album last fall. “I knew about Columbia for years, because I knew that Beyoncé was signed there,” she says. “I’d be like, ‘One day, I'm gonna be at Columbia.’ My mom was like, ‘we’ll see.’ ”

She's got the kind of rough beauty that you don't always associate with Stockholm. Her performance style is reminiscent of the 90's R&B scene and her lyrics are simple and honest layered on top of complex melodies. It's the kind beautiful juxtaposition that makes you want to keep listening, just to see what she does. 

With a rich, husky voice, a delicately beautiful face, and powerhouse vocals laced with moments of intense delicacy she's got the kind of magic that makes her a force to be reckoned with. She does Stevie proud.

So today, with dreams flowing like a silver spring I choose Léon’s cover of Fleetwood Mac’s "Dreams" as my, go out and make the change, find your own path, flow like the river, song for a, bridge the gaps you can, avoid them where you must, fly when you can, Wednesday.

Maurice Ravel - "Daphnis et Chloë - Sunrise"

He was a master of orchestral color. He could show you the world in strokes you’d never seen before, only to change them in an instant.

Don’t forget to let yourself be awe struck every now and then. Let yourself see the wonder of the world around you, and find the magic in moments you’d often overlook.

So today, with sunshine on my shoulder, I choose Maurice Ravel’ "Sunrise" from ‘Daphnis et Chloë” as my, little sparkle, little shine, little love I can call mine, song for a, press me gently into the earth, find the light I lost at birth, listen to the songs the singers have forgotten, Tuesday.

Sara Bareilles - "I Choose You"

After the ups and downs and the hurdles you’ve leapt over, it’s the simple act that you keep coming back to. You continue to choose each other. That is the Magic. That is Love.

So today, with my choice made, I choose Sara Bareilles’ "I Choose You" as my, with my heart on my sleeve, with a hand on your thigh, with laughter all the way home, song for a, squish me tighter, get off me I’m hot, Forever & Always, Monday.

Jessica Rotter & Emily Colombier - "Stay/Animal Mashup"

This song, in it’s original version, is moving, and here, blending perfectly with Animal, it is heart stopping. It fuses emotional vocals, delicate instruments, and breathtaking harmonies. With the lo-fi technique used, you can hear every breath and every heartbeat.

Jessica Rotter is able to transcend creative boundaries and defy what’s expected of a modern female musician. The songstress’ voice has been heard across multiple genres, from movies, TV shows and commercials to backing vocals and collaborations with other artists—all in addition to her original songs. The list of artists she has worked with reads like a who’s who of the music industry today: Daft Punk, Carole King, Alicia Keys, Sam Smith, Sara Bareilles, and others.

Rotter’s family roots are steeped in music, with her grandfather writing songs for Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. With this background, Rotter describes herself as a “musical storyteller” with classical training from Pepperdine University in opera, musical theatre, and directing for theatre and film. She is just as comfortable using her voice in a major feature film (credits include Pitch Perfect 1 & 2 and Frozen) as she is performing one of her original songs live.

Following the success of charting #1 on HypeMachine with her mashup of Stay/Animal with Emily Colombier, Rotter just released her first full length album, Plains. 

Together Rotter and Colombier join Sarah Margaret Huff to create JEMS, a gorgeous female trio. Through collaborations on their own projects, they discovered how beautifully their voices blended and decided to share their music with the world. Sarah Margaret Huff’s bright soaring timbre is combined with Emily Colombier’s soulful earthy quality and met in the middle by Jessica Rotter’s colorful blend of the two. Through rich three-part harmonies, JEMS weaves stories, sounds, and raw emotion with a shimmering fervor. Listeners of all kinds can’t seem to resist the songwriting prowess and vocal alchemy of JEMS. 

So today, like a butterfly floating delicately on the wind I choose Jessica Rotter & Emily Colombier’s "Stay/Animal Mashup" as my, with gold dripping off the clouds, with the azure ocean shining upon you, like little pink diamonds falling from the trees, song for a, with hope comes change, with change comes progress, with progress comes hope, Friday.

The Chainsmokers & Coldplay - "Something Just Like This"

The song may be overplayed, and the musicians may be over publicized but that doesn’t mean the song itself isn’t great. It’s got a type of positive yearning that makes the listener sit up and actually listen, and when they do that they see the simple beauty of the lyrics behind the dancing beat. It reminds us that both bands who made this song became famous because the did indeed create incredible music.

The song asks your partner not to be a super hero but to be present, to take risks and to make discoveries together. It asks that you choose to go all in, and be willing to risk the pain of losing something great for the gift of having something wonderful.

So today, with lady luck on my shoulder and dainty hand to hold, I choose The Chainsmokers & Coldplay’s "Something Just Like This" as my, cheer up Charlie, find your light, choose to take the risk, song for a, break open the mold, kick fear out the door, open your heart a little wider, Thursday.

The Cinematic Orchestra - "Arrival of the Birds"

The Cinematic Orchestra's sound, in both live and studio contexts, employs a live band which improvises along with a turntablist and electronic elements such as samples provided by Swinscoe. In their studio releases Swinscoe will often remixthe live source material to produce a combination of live jazz improvisation with electronica, such that it is difficult to tell where the improvisation ends and the production begins.

The Cinematic Orchestra is a British nu jazz and electronic music group, created in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe. The group is signed to independent record label Ninja Tune. In addition to Swinscoe, the band includes former DJ Food member PC (Patrick Carpenter) on turntables, Luke Flowers (drums), Tom Chant (saxophone), Nick Ramm (piano), Stuart McCallum (guitar) and Phil France (double bass). Former members include Jamie Coleman (trumpet), T. Daniel Howard (drums), Federico Ughi (drums), Alex James (piano), and Clean Sadness (synthesizer, programming). The most recent addition to the band is Mancunian guitarist Stuart McCallum. Swinscoe and Carpenter have also recorded together under the band name Neptune.

In December 2012, the song "Arrival of the Birds" from the soundtrack for The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos appears in a commercial for the women's perfume Acqua di Gioia by Giorgio Armani. The song also appears at the end of the 2014 film The Theory of Everything and in the short film Together Apart from the Cornetto Cupidity Series.

This piece is thrilling and calming, moving and removed, painful and beautiful all at the same time. The magic they’ve captured here sneaks in softly and becomes luminous throughout the piece. Settle in and listen to wonder wash over you.

So today, with heart in hand, I choose The Cinematic Orchestra’s “Arrival of the Birds” as my, find your place, look to the sky, sink into the stars, song for a, walk on water, the clouds below you, hold the crimson wing in the cerulean sky, Wednesday,

Jean-Yves Thibaudet - "Stars & Butterflies"

Marianelli was born in Pisa, Italy. He came from a musically inclined family and learned the piano at a young age, before moving into other musical instruments. He studied piano and composition in Florence and London. After a year as a postgraduate composer at the Guildhall School of Music, he took up a 3 year post-graduate program at the National Film and Television School in London, from which he graduated in 1997. During his time there, he undertook small projects, composing for concerts and theatre productions. Marianelli then received film projects such as Ailsa and Pandaemonium which caught the eye of director Joe Wright who would later contact Marianelli to score his 2005 film Pride & Prejudice.[1] The duo would then go on to work on Wright's subsequent films which includes Atonement, The Soloist, Anna Karenina, and Darkest Hour.[2]

In 2008, Marianelli won both the Academy Award for Original Music Score and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for his score on Atonement. His other Academy Award nominations are for Pride & Prejudice and Anna Karenina.

In 2018, Marianelli composed the score for Bumblebee, the sixth installment in the Transformers film series. This was his second score with director Travis Knight.

In a 2019 article concerning film composing, Marianelli said: "Writing music professionally is a hard occupation, and writing for media definitely not for the fainthearted. One has to be able to enjoy the pain, in order to be able to carry on successfully. I think one of the hardest things to deal with, working as a composer involved in media, is the anxiety that comes from being in quite a vulnerable position."

Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, where he began his piano studies at age five and made his first public appearance at age seven. At twelve, he entered the Paris Conservatory to study with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves, a friend and collaborator of Ravel. At age fifteen, he won the Premier Prix du Conservatoire and, three years later, the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York City. Among his numerous commendations is the Victoire d’Honneur, a lifetime career achievement award and the highest honour given by France’s Victoires de la Musique. In 2010 the Hollywood Bowl honored Thibaudet for his musical achievements by inducting him into its Hall of Fame. Previously a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Thibaudet was awarded the title Officier by the French Ministry of Culture in 2012.

For more than three decades, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has performed world-wide, recorded more than 50 albums, and built a reputation as one of today’s finest pianists. He plays a range of solo, chamber, and orchestral repertoire – from Beethoven through Liszt, Grieg, and Saint-Saëns; to Khachaturian and Gershwin, and to contemporary composers Qigang Chen and James MacMillan. From the very start of his career, he delighted in music beyond the standard repertoire, from jazz to opera, which he transcribed himself to play on the piano. His profound professional friendships crisscross the globe and have led to spontaneous and fruitful collaborations in film, fashion, and visual art.

So today, with the butterfly migration in full flutter, I choose Jean-Yves Thibaudet performing Dario Marianelli’s "Stars & Butterflies" from his Academy Award Nominated score for Pride & Prejudice, as my, find your little magic, flutter by, like sunlight sparkling on the ocean, song for a, with these wings I will give you flight, color my world, stir my insides, Tuesday.

Ryn Weaver - "Pierre"

She’s has a bit of an up an down career, that just goes to show you an artist is not defined by their commercial success. She’s had big breaks and had hits and yet still seems to be on the fringes of success. Her music, however, stands the test of time and is consistently fresh and entrancing.

Weaver met producer Benny Blanco briefly in New York. A few years later they reconnected at Blanco's birthday party through a mutual friend in Los Angeles. Blanco signed Weaver to his imprint under Interscope Records, Friends Keep Secrets.

On June 21, 2014, Weaver posted her single "OctaHate" on her SoundCloud account and within hours it received attention from many artists including Charli XCX, Charlie Puth, Harry Styles, Jessie Ware and Hayley Williams of Paramore. The song also reached number one on Billboard Emerging Artists Chart on June 25, 2014.

On August 12, 2014 Weaver's debut EP, Promises was released as a digital download. Weaver's debut studio album, entitled The Fool, was released on June 16, 2015, through Mad Love and Interscope Records. It sold 13,800 units in its first week. Weaver performed at Lollapalooza on August 1, 2015. She performed at Billboard's first ever Hot 100 Festival on August 23, 2015. She revealed she has recently left her label at Interscope and is currently unsigned.[citation needed]

On September 14, 2018, Neon Gold released Weaver's demo single titled "Reasons Not to Die".  This is her first song in three years since The Fool, which is where today’s song comes from.

The song sings of all the wrong roads you can take that will lead you to the right one. It’s upbeat and yet still understanding of the rough moments we go though post pulling our hearts apart from someone we’ve loved. It’s a delicate dance we play with ourselves full of small goals and little smiles that slowly heal the heart we’ve wounded.

So today, with a jaunty tilt to my hat and a twinkle in my eye, I choose Ryn Weaver’s “Pierre” as my, fall in love as often as you can, you get to keep the love you make, yours are jewels to be mined and polished, song for a, break open the vault, laugh at the mishaps, keep moving forward with that rakish smile, Monday.