Welcome to Best Left Mag’s First Ever Weekly Playlist: The Leftovers

Words by Emma Caughlan

My name is Emma  and I will possibly be making this every week for Best Left Mag. Why? Because I want to and I think it would be fun. Hopefully, I will have some friends help me from time to time too. What are my credentials? None, I just love music and I love making playlists so I may as well share it. I know everyone likes making playlists these days so will this be a particularly interesting journey? We will find out. 

How is this going to work? Each week there will be a playlist and each will have a theme. I’ll tell you a little about the songs and then you can listen. These playlists won’t be long, no longer than 45 min. No longer than a not-so-bad commute. 

I hope all of us can find some new music together.

Now, I could start out with a playlist introducing me and my music taste. But that is way too much pressure and nobody actually wants that. Instead, we are going to focus on something much more important.Love island USA. As many of you know, Love Island Season 8 ended a little over a week ago. If you are like me, you are dealing with some crazy withdrawal symptoms right now. The music choices on Love Island are notoriously bad and I am not here to argue that point. However, not every song is a miss. I have compiled a few songs featured in this past season that aren’t that bad or actually really good. I am not saying this will cure your intense need for the sound of Iain Sterling’s lilting voice, but it may help. 

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terell

I felt I must include one of the songs featured in Love Island’s first ever karaoke night. Although Kenzie and Dylan blew the competition away with “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”, KC & Titi’s rendition of this 1966 classic was my personal favorite. KC’s opening “Listen Baby” alone should put them solidly in second place. 

I Wanna Dance With Somebody Whitney Houston

For those of you who have not watched Love Island, the first episode features pre-taped introductions of the OG Islanders. My understanding is that the Islanders do not pick their own songs which is not surprising. Some on-the-nose choices were Aniya’s “Where The Hell Is My Husband” by Raye and Zach’s “You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful” by One Direction. A weirder one was Melanie’s “Looking At Me” by Sabrina Carpenter. My favorite choice was Kenzie’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston. It's in this intro where we learn of her obsession with doing the splits. It's a perfect song for such a historic moment. 

Angel of My Dreams JADE

Now to the modern era and some more traditional Love Island music. JADE’s debut single is simple, fun and a little hyper poppy. It was used for a recap of the infamous Casa Amor livestream episode, one of the best episodes from this season. I would imagine the choice has something to do with the line “It’s not fair” being repeated over and over again. I’m sure that was one of the nicer thoughts the Villa girls were having while watching the livestream.

No One Dies From Love Tove Lo

This one was a Love Island discovery for me (maybe the only one). A top single from Swedish singer Tove Lo’s 2022 album “Dirt Femme”, “No One Dies From Love” is a catchy electro-pop ballad. This has nothing to do with Love Island but I have only seen two Tove Lo music videos in my life, this song and her club classic “disco tits”. She made out with a robot in one and a muppet in the other. You’re just gonna have to watch to find out which is which I guess. 

All The Things She Said Harrison 

I don’t necessarily think this is a great song. However, the thought to play this song as the Islanders got ready for the infamous movie night deserves an Emmy. It’s also worth noting that this song would not nearly be as exciting if it wasn’t for the other show it was featured on this year, but more on that another time. 

If you wanna party, come over to my house fcukers 

I audibly gasped when this needle dropped. Fcukers, the NYC electronic/indie band, has slowly started to seep into the mainstream but this was still a shocker. The song is one of many highlights from their debut album that came out this past March. They open for Harry Styles for his residency at MSG, so their underground aura won’t last much longer. 

Her Megan Thee Stallion

One of my favorite episodes was Season 8 Episode 23. Carl made his comeback, Love Island winner Trinity said “Still You Rise I Guess” to KC, and of course, Megan Thee Stallion made a guest appearance. Her presence was a much needed reset post-movie night. I would be remiss to not include one of her many songs included in the show. “Her” is one of my favorite Meg songs and I think it was a perfect choice to shake some cake to. IYKYK. 

15 Minutes Sabrina Carpenter

Despite this being included in Episode 1, it is safe to say that this song has been stuck in my head since then. This is one of many Sabrina songs included in Season 8 and I would not say this is the best one. I am just hoping that writing about it will get it out of my head. 

Light On Maggie Rogers 

This was a surprise for me, this song seems too good and not quite popular enough to be on Love Island. No complaints here, though. I’ll never complain about an opportunity to listen to Maggie Rogers. Especially this lovely tune from arguably her best album “Heard It In a Past Life”. Also there’s a moment during this song between Love Island USA Season 8’s real winners: Zach & Bryce. 

It Must Have Been Love Kathleen Edwards

Some of the worst songs on any Love Island season are the dramatic/sad cover songs. This is the one exception. ”It Must Have Been Love” was originally recorded by Roxette for the film “Pretty Woman”. Kathleen Edwards takes a much more acoustic route with this version. I would like to believe this song was chosen in the hopes that the movie night clip played along with it would finally be the end of Melanie and Sincere's toxic romantic cycle. Who is Sincere you may ask? I think Jen said it best “You may be Sincere, but you’re not honest”.