What other female artists are teenage swifties listening to right now?

            Since I was eleven years old, I’ve diligently kept playlists for the warm and cold seasons. Six-month spans create the perfect mix of recent songs and songs on the verge of being nostalgic. My taste has developed from 35 songs at the lowest in the spring of 2019 to 211 songs in the fall of 2021!

            These playlists are very serious to me. Instead of making the covers photos from my camera roll, I craft the perfect first four tracks so Spotify can automatically make a collage of the album covers as the playlist cover. If I remove songs, I catalog the dates they were added and removed in my Notes app. I’m always prepared to make new playlists at the start of the fourth week of March and the first week of September. I love this ritual, so let’s talk about the songs I added to Fall and Winter 2024 this fall!

The playlist cover for Fall and Winter 2024

            The first clear constant is Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet album. Late August is an album release sweet spot (previously housing Good Person by Ingrid Andress in 2022, You Signed Up for This by Maisie Peters in 2021, and Lover by Taylor Swift in 2019, among others), which I’m glad she claimed. My favorite song to get on shuffle has been the iconic “Taste”. I even got the blessing of seeing her on tour in November.

The album cover for Sabrina Carpenter's Short n' Sweet (2024)

            I have a couple of Swift favorites early in this one. I included “Clean” (Taylor’s Version, of course), hoping that 2024 would show me a positive ending – it was not a fantastic year. Then, I have “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version)”, an autumn classic, and "Fearless", a necessity for romanticizing high school.

            Maude Latour released her amazing debut album this August, and I was particularly happy with two tracks: “Cosmic Superstar Girl” (the bridge!) and “Save Me” (the verses!). Gracie Abrams also had an impactful album release in June, with a couple of inclusions in “Close to You”, “us. (feat. Taylor Swift)” and “Tough Love”. Plus, the October-released deluxe version of her album.

            Halsey’s new The Great Impersonator (2024) didn’t stand out to me as an album, but the singles “Ego” and “I Never Loved You” are golden moments. As is “Lucky”, which was on my summer playlist. Similarly, I liked Lizzy McAlpine’s latest record, Older (2024), but the deluxe had the only song I adored, “Soccer Practice”.

The album cover for Halsey's The Great Impersonator (2024)

            My favorite discovery from 2024 was Suki Waterhouse. After listening to her record Memoir of a Sparklemuffin (2024), I was obsessed. “Faded” and “Lawsuit” kicked it off. It devolved into “OMG”, “Nonchalant” and “Helpless”. Then “Put Me Through It” (2022) and “Moves”, from her debut. I wish I’d gone to her concert when she came to my city.

            No playlist is complete without some throwbacks. I discovered "Let's Hear it For the Boy" (1984) by Deniece Williams when my choir sang it. "Daydreamin'" (2013) by Ariana Grande reminded me how great Grande's entire discography has always been. “Hopelessly Devoted to You” (2002) by Olivia Newton-John entered my mind after seeing a video of Sabrina Carpenter singing it when opening for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. I was looking for music by artists I hadn’t explored and found “Dreams” (1993) by The Cranberries. Then there's some ABBA (live love Mamma Mia) with “Super Trouper” (1980) and “Dancing Queen” (1976).

The album cover for Mamma Mia! The Movie Soundtrack (2008)

            How about some other songs that mention being seventeen, my current age? We’ve got Taylor Swift’s “Betty” (2020), “I Think He Knows” (2019), “Nothing New” (2021), “Starlight (Taylor's Version)” (2021), Olivia Rodrigo’s “Brutal” (2021), and Maisie Peters’ “The Song” (2023).

            There are always a couple of standalone songs that aren’t related to any others here. “Take a Shot” (2024) by Sabrina Sterling is an incredible recount of an emotionally manipulative relationship. “Tinkerbell” (2024) by Luca is a gorgeous friendship ballad from one of my favorite small artists. I recently got to interview her on this blog. “Girlhood & Godhood” (2024) by Elizabeth Gerardi has great production. I love Gerardi’s New England vibe. I discovered Katie Gavin’s “Aftertaste” (2024) – good, sad, and acoustic – while searching for concerts for a friend to attend. “Birds of a Feather” (2024) by Billie Eilish is there just because of that outro. As is “imgonnagetyouback” (2024) by Taylor Swift, but for the bridge. “Bad at Love” (2017) by Halsey re-surfaced on TikTok and I remembered my love for the quick wit. I re-watched Billie Eilish’s The World’s a Little Blurry (2019) documentary and added “My Strange Addiction" (2019).

The album cover for Charli XCX's BRAT (2024)

            Finally, some remainders of “BRAT summer”. Charli XCX’s BRAT (2024) took the world by storm, but I personally prefer the later Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat (2024), containing 16 remixes with other artists. My favorites of these included “Sympathy is a Knife” with Ariana Grande and “Girl, So Confusing” with Lorde.

            Going into winter, I expect a slow immediate rollout of releases. SZA treated the world with LANA (2024) (a deluxe version of her 2022 album SOS), which I’ve been appreciating. Other than that, everything’s kind of dry.

            However, Lana Del Rey has plans to release this spring, which gives me something to look forward to. We can also anticipate new Renee Rapp, Maisie Peters, and Chappell Roan. The year ahead of us is bright!