Last year was a pretty lousy year for a lot of people I know. Call it escapism, call it self-care, but sometimes music is the only thing that can pull us out of a bad place. Most of the songs on this year’s annual mixtape are pretty upbeat, even if the subject matter is often not (which should be no surprise if you’re at all familiar with the music I write), but the common thread between them all seems to be a belief that clawing one’s way out of the darkness and into the light is always possible… and having a good soundtrack never hurts.