Infinite Queue: One Person's Practice for Listening to New Music

Building a Routine and Mindset to Invite New Sounds into My Life

Of all the things to stress about in life, I stress too much about trying to listen to new music. The idea that so much music is constantly being made and released is both exciting and frightening to me. So many great new albums to check out. But also, so many masterpieces that will be missed or overlooked.

In an age where we’re constantly being seduced to “consume more content,” finding time for new music can feel like a chore. But to me, finding something new to fall in love with is exciting. It’s a continual chase of that high of finding new music that totally changes your perception of your world and everything you’ve heard before it. For me, new can be something that just came out or something old that’s just new to me.

I’ve had conversations with friends and acquaintances about all this in recent years who want to listen to more music but don’t feel like they have the time or get stuck listening to the same things over and over. I wanted to write down a few of the things I do to try and keep up with the impossible deluge of music. I don’t think I’ve created any sort of definitive or best method for getting more new music into your life, but I have some practices that have worked well for me. These, I think, are good places to start.

Save New Music on Fridays

Let’s start with something very simple and practical. To start listening to new music, you need to have new music within reach.

Fridays are the industry-set “new release day.” Of course, artists can (and do) release music any day of the week, but having this designated day when you know a bunch of new albums will drop is incredibly helpful.

I have a ritual every Friday morning before work where I save a bunch of records to my streaming libraries. I’ll likely listen to one or two on the Friday they release, but really I’m stocking up on music for the week ahead.

So, where do you find these albums? I look at a few different sources. Pitchfork releases an article every Friday called “New Albums You Should Listen to Now” that does a great job giving a wide breadth of albums. Bandcamp’s editorial arm does an excellent job every day of spotlighting new albums on their homepage in the “New and Notable” section. Odds are that whatever streaming service you use has some sort of “new release” section as well. These are great places to start.

To take it beyond Friday, I find myself saving albums throughout the week as I go or hear about them. But the ritual of Friday makes it easy to remember and facilitates more new music listening.

Find Times You Can Actively Listen to Music

This sounds like the hardest part, but it doesn’t have to be. Of course, the world only seems to just get busier and busier. Music deserves our time, but it’s not the only thing in our lives that deserves time. The temptation becomes to reach for something more familiar in those rare idle moments—comfort food. I think this is great and an important part of the balance. No use denying ourselves the things we already love.

While time is limited, I do believe it’s possible to find bits of time to listen to music actively. I do this often, like starting an album when I have solo time in the car after dropping off my kid at school. A 15-minute trip can get you pretty deep into a new record. Or maybe it’s a bit of time after work, during a lunch break, whatever it might be. Taking even just a little bit of time to start a new record, I find, gets me motivated to find more time to listen to the rest or try some other things out too.

Listen in the Background (But Not All the Time)

Background listening is how I honestly do most of my listening. It’s the easiest, it’s fun, and can happen in so many different situations. Especially if you’re exploring something like ambient music, then background listening is almost essential. Putting a new record on in the background is the easiest way to “get your numbers up,” so to speak.

However, I do think it’s important to slow down and check things out in a more thoughtful way. You can get caught up in the semantics of “listening in the background” and what counts and what doesn’t. Listening while taking a walk might still be “in the background,” but I find that setting allows me to give more attention to the music. This is different from listening to music while checking my work email or playing something on a stereo while friends come over for dinner—experiences where the music is much less the focus of my attention.

You Can Bail on Something, But Don’t Be Too Quick to Bail

With limited time to spare, it’s understandable to want to bail on listening to a record if it’s not grabbing you. That’s valuable time spent listening to other things that you might like better. And sometimes you do need to follow that whim. But I also know that this whim can be deceiving and cause you to miss some potential gold.

I’ve found there are lots of records where I actually don’t like the opening track, or the opener sets a different tone from what I’m expecting or even from what comes after it. With repeat listens, maybe I’ll even come to love the opener too. But the point being, if you don’t like something immediately, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. When you can, give some records a chance to grow on you. Allow yourself to sit more in the record’s world and adjust to it. It’s not a guarantee you’ll like something more, but you may end up finding yourself falling in love with a record you might not have given a chance before.

Consider Your Environment and Mood

There’s a lot of music I find where I’ll start track one and can quickly tell that this isn’t the right fit for me right now—but I might like it later.

Many factors apply here. Sometimes it’s just that I’m simply not in the mood for whatever I’m trying to listen to. If I’m feeling subdued and want to lean into that, it’s not going to do me any good to try and listen to the new Deftones record. It’s only going to cloud my experience. Or sometimes I’ll even think I’m in the mood for something in particular, only to quickly realize I’m actually feeling something different. None of this is the “fault” of the music itself—it’s just not the headspace I’m in at that time. If I come back at a time that feels more aligned with the record, I’ll be more open to it.

The same goes for environment. I remember putting on a new Julien Baker record once, an album I was really excited to hear. But it was a beautiful, sunny summer day and the album was very murky and sad. Sometimes that contrast can work, depending on how you’re feeling, but for me, I could just tell this wasn’t going to be a “summer record” for me. I broke it back out again in the darkness of winter and the album sounded much better to me.

Switch Things Up With What You Listen to and How You Listen

Especially with the times we live in, it’s hard to give up control of what you listen to. Having albums easily streamed from our phones wherever we go means we never have to listen to someone else’s song selection unless we take off our headphones. That’s hard to give up. However, I find that sometimes it leads to getting stuck in a musical rut. Even with lots of options of new things to listen to saved on my phone, the burden of choice can be exhausting.

This is where I think it’s important to mix it up a bit. Instead of just streaming albums, try tuning in to a public or internet radio station. Listen to a DJ mix, check out some playlists, try some new mediums for listening to music. Let someone else show you what they’re into. Changing the medium you listen through can change the whole experience.

Sometimes it just takes the proverbial cold plunge—trying out a different kind of music than what you would consider to be “your taste.” Generally lean toward softer ambient music? Why not try a metal album? Like weird, abstract electronic music? Take a stab at something poppy and accessible. It might not always land, but pushing yourself out of your comfort zone can be exhilarating.

Go Easy on Yourself

This is one of the hardest ones for me. With the constant onslaught of new releases mixed with the desire to “keep up,” I often feel like I’m not listening to enough. Even during weeks where I feel like I’ve listened to mostly new things, it feels like there’s so much I haven’t gotten to.

So I’m speaking to myself directly when I say, take it easy. No one can listen to everything. There are always going to be blind spots or things you miss. That’s okay. Those are things you can discover another day. Or maybe you’ll never get around to them, and that’s okay too. The point is to expand your horizons, not summit every peak. By making the intentional effort to try to hear new things, you’re going to open yourself to so much more and end up in rabbit holes you’d never imagined you’d go down. And, speaking from experience, that rules.

20th Century Ambient Out in Nearly Two Weeks!

We are getting so close to the release of my book, 20th Century Ambient. This books is a blend of music history, comics, and illustrations, much like what you see here on Another Thought. I’m so proud of this book and having the chance to explore such a beautiful and expansive genre in this way.

Throughout the book, I explore the idea of what ambient music is and the surprising role it plays in all of our lives. It goes through histories ranging from the genre’s roots in classical and dub reggae music through landmark works by Brian Eno, Laraaji, Suzanne Ciani, and more.

20th Century Ambient is out on November 13, 2025, from Bloomsbury Books. Don’t miss your chance to reserve a copy now.

Bloomsbury | Amazon | Bookshop | Barnes & Noble

Seattle Book Reading on November 24

If you’re in the Seattle area, I’ll be doing a book reading on Nov. 24 at Third Place Books in Seward Park. I’ll be joined in conversation by my good friend and co-host of The Cobain 50, Martin Douglas (he also runs the great Trick Bag Substack).

This is a free event! More details and RSVP link here.

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