I don't think I've ever shared this before, but one of my weird fears is that someone with a camera will stop me and ask me my top 5 albums of all time. In my head, I'll then freeze and embarrass myself because, as someone who kind of does for a living, I should go to bed and wake up with these things. The reality is that this is such a difficult question to answer, but Incubus' Morning View (2001) has not only been pivotal to forming my taste, but it has also been a source of everlasting memories with friends.
The reason why I thought of that particular record this morning is Kelela's brilliant live cover of "Mexico" (part of that record) for Spotify Live Room sessions.
We've been fans of Kelela since her collab, "World Restart" with Kindness in the distant 2014, and since then she has given us so much, including our 2025 highlights, In the Blue Light", and now what probably would be my record of 2026, new avatar, featuring "outta time, "idea 1" and "linknb". I should do a full-on album review, but until then, let's circle back to her phenomenal rendition of Incubus' prolific track. I think she manages to strike the perfect balance of preserving the original's soft lullaby energy, but adding bits of her dark mood to it. Also, the strings add so much flavour and depth.
I also need to point out that the live version of "idea 1" gave me instant goosebumps. This just puts you in a chokehold and doesn't let you leave whatever this sonic space is.
Today's reason to love music.
