In this end of the year series, we at Ears to Feed spoke with some of our favorite artists to see what albums, films, shows, and any other forms of art or activities have helped them to cope through this truly trying year.
Frances Quinlan, the lead singer and songwriter of Philadelphia’s Hop Along, was set to have a transformative year. While she has been releasing music under different monikers for over fifteen years — first solo as “Hop Along, Queen Ansleis” and then later as “Hop Along” with a full band — this year, she released her first collection of material under her own name.
With Likewise — released on Saddle Creek last January — Quinlan worked with longtime collaborator, and Hop Along Guitarist, Joe Reinhardt. Together they craft a set of relatively restrained instrumentations compared to Hop Along’s last masterful release, Bark Your Head Off, Dog, that perfectly showcases her narrative storytelling while complementing her one-in-a-million voice. In many ways, dialing back the volume on the album’s nine songs — eight originals and a fantastic reimagining of “Carry the Zero” by Built to Spill — allows Quinlan more room for her voice to stretch and bend into unexpected territory than ever before.
While taking forced time off of the road, Quinlan has been looking to educate herself on social justice through Janaya Future Khan’s “Sunday Sermons” on Instagram and, like many of us, she has subscribed to a large arsenal of podcasts to help pass the time.
Sunday Sermons by Janaya Future Khan (@janayathefuture on Instagram)
Janaya Khan is an activist, organizer, and an incredibly powerful speaker. Every Sunday at 3pm EST / 12pm PST they go live on Instagram to do a “Sunday Sermon,” during which, they offer insight in response to the ongoing violence and injustices committed against Black, Brown, Indigenous, Immigrant, LGBQT communities, and women — not only currently, but throughout history. They expose the roots of these troubling actions, digging into both racism and toxic masculinity. It’s caused me to realize how much of our collective (American and western) culture is not a result of nature, but something that was created (by wealthy and self-serving white men).
Perhaps this is an obvious realization, but it helped me to recognize how much I was assuming to be true regarding my own identity — that is, as a person determined and defined as being female since birth. Janaya Khan especially blew my mind with this quote,: “We do not yet have language to describe the experiences of women in the 21st century.” This opened a door for me that I don’t think can ever be shut, nor do I want it to be. Anyway, the last sermon of 2020 was given on Sunday, December 13th, but you can still watch them in full on their Instagram page.
Podcasts!
I was going to list just one, but in truth, many have helped me and I think it’s worth rattling them off so folks can dig through and find one that they enjoy listening to — The Daily, Hidden Brain, The Read, The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn, Unf*ck Your Brain, Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness — just a few; also, for anyone having trouble getting to sleep — Sleep With Me is a great one, really gotten me through many nights.