Ahead of their upcoming release this Friday, Teen Suicide member Sam Ray cited the caustic approach to making music, “bands are making so much music that sounds like it could be generated by a computer now – I think people want something different, even if they don’t realise it.” Sam’s words here got me thinking.

With the contorted spools of AI slop that has been wading through our art like muck recently, are fans reverting to old listening habits as a way of rebellion? When it comes to vinyl sales and what PR folks in music are focusing on, it certainly seems to be true.

Think about it. The vinyl boom is hitting 30-year highs and as we revel in making music, it’s only going to reach even greater heights. I’ve also noticed a fantastic trend where albums are being listened to the way they’re supposed to. Every single song in order. This has no doubt been magnified with Enter Shikari’s latest album where in an effort to showcase the importance and strength of community, the band just dropped the full album without notice. In a way, it’s genius. Without the notion of pre-singles flagging the way, it forces consumers to listen to the songs together as a community, allowing them to fester their own thoughts about the big hitters on the album – and those that can be skipped. Algorithms and playlists will not be deciding our fate this time. It’s in our hands. Which for a better word, is f*cking fantastic.

This is perhaps part of the reason why vinyls have had such a resurgence too. As CDs did as a way to combat the flux of pirate streaming via Napster and the like, vinyls are combatting the greedy business vendors behind some of our biggest streaming sites, which include Spotify and Apple Music. For audiophiles and fans of music in general, there’s no better way to further understand your favourite artist than purchasing their art on a format that has had all the thought in the world put into it. From the artwork, to the text and song positioning – even the way the sleeve feels. It’s not just code inputted into a machine. It’s tangible and real. And as we enter an eerie environment striving for AI at its most clever with technology being at its strongest – it is a welcoming lifeline.

So, here’s to enjoying music in the best way we can while we still can. So get out and blast your favourite album in full context (down with playlists), and enjoy the worth of art.

What’s your go-to album you’re going to try out first?