Music has always been present in my life, but there are moments when certain records go beyond being a soundtrack and begin shaping how you see the world.
After a long creative silence, these albums did not influence my sound so much as remind me that I have a creative voice worth using. Some arrived recently, others have been with me since childhood, but all of them shaped the way I write, record and live now.
1. Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory
I discovered Hybrid Theory last year, around the time I started writing poetry again and tentatively experimenting with singing and making music after a five-year creative block. Hearing it then felt strangely relevant to me, as though it arrived in my playlist exactly when I was ready to listen.
The fusion of genres in Papercut captivated me instantly. The delivery is forceful and relentless, yet the lyrics are deeply vulnerable: a balance I had not fully considered in music until that moment. That tension, paired with emotional exposure, became central to how I began reshaping my archived poetry into lyrics.
Even their most prominent track, In the End, feels timeless. It’s an existential anthem that reframes personal struggle, reminding you how small, and yet how human, your battles are.
2. Morrissey – You Are the Quarry
You Are the Quarry has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I associate it with childhood car journeys. These lyrics and melodies existed in my mind before I was old enough to fully understand them. It has remained a constant soundtrack, resurfacing at different stages of my life with new meanings each time. There’s something timeless in it’s tone: reflective, critical, and melancholic without collapsing into despair.
Morrissey’s ability to articulate alienation with clarity and restraint left a lasting impression on me. That sense of observing the world from slightly outside it, without detachment or self-pity, is something I recognise deeply in my own writing.
3. Falling in Reverse – Popular Monster
Popular Monster is aggressive, unapologetic, and strikingly prescient in its critique of modern culture. It represents a more focused and mature evolution of Falling in Reverse’s earlier work.
I have always been drawn to heavy music, but what stands out here is the way vulnerability is allowed to coexist with aggression, similar to Hybrid Theory but amplified on a more extreme level. The music doesn’t soften itself to be palatable. There is a deliberate ugliness at times which is a core part of its power along with defiance in self-villainisation.
Ronnie’s vocal range is central to this impact, shifting between rap, metal, and almost operatic delivery, sometimes within a single track. This album influenced me to explore more aggressive sounds and merge genres in my own work – an influence that will hopefully surface more clearly in music I release later in 2026.
4. Depeche Mode – Memento Mori
I became more familiar with Depeche Mode after seeing them live at the O2 in January 2024. They opened their set with My Cosmos Is Mine and Wagging Tongue: two tracks that immediately stayed with me. I played them repeatedly in the weeks following the show.
Memento Mori feels contemplative and spacious, balancing electronic textures with emotional restraint. There’s a quiet confidence in the way the album unfolds; nothing feels rushed or overstated.
Their approach to synthesis and atmosphere has influenced how I think about space in music: allowing mood and texture to carry meaning, rather than filling every moment with lyrics. Sometimes a sound needs to be felt rather than heard.
5. Deftones – Private Music
I discovered Private Music in autumn 2025, and it quickly became one of those albums that feels intensely personal.
I am drawn to Chino’s abstract, metaphor-driven lyricism and the intimacy of the record’s tone. Despite maintaining their characteristic heavy Deftones sound on tracks such as ‘My Mind is a Mountain’, the album overall feels stripped back, inward-facing, almost confessional – very true to its title.
The balance between clarity and ambiguity in lyricism, and, between heaviness and ambience in sound, continues to influence how I approach creating my own music.
Taken together, these albums map out a return to expression, and to a voice I had once set aside, but never truly lost. My latest single, Panther Brooch is now available to stream. Check it out via the link above!
Logan Darkwoods 