Thursday, May 01, 2014

Glow is published in one week. This is the first of my books to be directly inspired by music. Almost every minute that I spent working on it, I was listening to a playlist of songs that evoked the atmosphere I wanted for the story. With some trepidation, I have shared that playlist on Spotify.


A few notes:

1. Not all the songs from the playlist are available on Spotify. The missing songs are here, here and here.

2. In Glow, I never specify exactly what genre of dance music is being played at the raves and on the radio, because I don't want the book to seem dated as soon as it's published. And the songs on this playlist are not supposed to represent the music heard in the book (for one thing, you can't really dance to them).

3. A lot of these songs may bear a superficial resemblance that most unfashionable of '90s genres, chill-out. Personally, I think they all share an undercurrent of dread that renders them unsuitable for hotel lobbies and tanning salons. At the same time, if you've read the book, you'll know that chill-out isn't a totally inappropriate reference point, because, after all, it began during the rave era as music to take the edge off people's drug experiences.

4. This post does not represent an enthusiastic endorsement of Spotify or its business model. Like many people, I worry that Spotify may be grievously undermining the long-term sustainability of the art form that it purports to promote. And yet to my shame I use the site anyway because it's so convenient. Which is a predicament in which we all seem to find ourselves increasingly often these days. Anyway, if you like any of these songs, please do purchase the MP3s. And my book.