Roundup Review | Top streaming recommendations for April 10

Features and entertainment writer Josh Mandell breaks down his top music, TV and movie picks for the week: "Comfortable Enough," "Time Goes ‘Bye," "Friday Night Lights" and "How I Met Your Mother." Photo collage by ANGELINA HICKS, editor-in-chief

“Comfortable Enough” | Mac Ayres  

I have written about a lot of relaxing, soothing albums, but this one may be my favorite album of 2023 so far. A couple of weeks ago I recommended the single for this album, “Again,” and it gives me great joy to say that this 16-song, hour-long project delivers the same feeling. 

There are no misses with the emotional lyrics and seamless transitions. I called the song “ethereal in nature,” and that feeling never fluctuates through the entirety of the album. It is beautifully personal and is clearly a vulnerable piece of art to Ayres. 

The album, which came out a few weeks ago, leads with the song, “Living’s Too Much Giving,"  which sets the tone for the rest of the project through Ayre’s expressive lyrics and emotional rollercoaster of a song. He says, “If living's too much giving, I gotta save some for me," recognizing by the end of the song that putting himself first and no longer letting life take whatever it wants out of him is vital. 

It’s hard to pick, but my favorite song on the album is “Me vs. Myself," a refreshing take on a topic that has been talked about 100 times over — how to move on from someone. Not only do the lyrics tell an elegant story, but the vocals make you want to get up and move. It is such an interesting take on the topic, and finally, a song recognizing it really is you vs. you for a while. Throughout the song he even asks, “Is it just me versus you?” and later says, “Oh, looks like it's just me versus myself.” 

Each song bleeds into the next with such elegance. Seamless transitions make it feel as if it could be one long song that you never want to end. What makes the album so unique is that each song title on the album, when put together, makes a statement. On each and every song, Ayres is absolutely pouring his heart and soul out. It feels like a very emotionally mature, reflective album.

“Time Goes ‘Bye’” | Jex Nwalor 

Time is such a fascinating topic, yet I feel like it is rarely talked about in an innovative way in the realm of music. This song talks about the fear of not having enough time as most other songs do, but through the lyrics and storytelling, it feels fresh and keeps you listening. “Time Goes ‘Bye’” is Jex Nwalor's debut single released in September 2021. Nwalor started on TikTok and once he gained a large enough following (now with a total of 3.1 million followers), he released this single. While he is still an up-and-coming artist, this song has gained over 12 million Spotify streams.  

Much like the song’s message, the song moves quickly and jumps through time consistently. “Time goes bye, all the leaves have changed / Fall in love again / So, let’s try to freeze time in space in memories as time goes bye." I really appreciate that the song isn’t just about losing time and feeling like there is no more time, but it has the added element of trying to actively cherish it. I love songs with emotional maturity, songs where they aren’t complaining about an issue with no resolution but actively appreciate what they have. 

The feeling of never having enough time is a universal feeling that we all experience, so when it is put into media, it helps us all process. This song is a great coping song when I need to slow down when my life gets too busy and I need to remember to appreciate what I have around me. I strongly suggest giving this song a listen if you haven’t heard it on TikTok already. 

“Friday Night Lights”

Oftentimes sports movies feel formulaic and identical, but “Friday Night Lights” escapes that trope. It delivers a fresh take on something that has been done over and over. Not to get confused with the 2006 television series, this 2004 film is an entirely independent project. It is adapted from the book, “Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream” about real high school football players in Odessa, Texas and grossed over $60 million. 

When you look at all of the really successful, universally loved sports movies, they focus on the people. They get you invested in the characters to pull you into the rest of the world and whether you like the sport or not, at that point you are the biggest fan. From then on, it uses the game as a storytelling device rather than the crux of the story. “The Walking Dead” is a great example of a successful piece of media doing something similar. 

“The Walking Dead” was released at the height of the zombie craze in 2010, but with so many other zombie projects, it had to diversify itself from other projects. The show was so successful for so long because it doesn’t use the zombies as its driving force, it is all about the characters and their relationships with the zombies as just a cool element, which is exactly the same technique that “Friday Night Lights” employs. 

The film follows the high school football team, Permian, in Odessa, Texas in 1988. Football is everything in the small town, and with a generational talent at running back, the expectations to win a state championship are at an all-time high. The film, which is based on true events, follows the emotional ups and downs the players experience on and off the field.

There are two iconic takeaways from this film, one being the soundtrack and the second being a speech the head coach makes. The soundtrack is not the usual music for a football movie, it is more dramatic and thought-provoking. There is a scene in the movie where the coach (played by Billy Bob Thorton) makes a speech to his players about being perfect in one of my favorite scenes of all time. The speech, which is continuously talked about, was written beforehand in the script but due to a personal issue with Thorton the night before, he improvised a portion of the iconic speech. 

This film perfectly encapsulates the football culture in Texas in the 80s and is a timeless classic, even being named top 10 films of the year by American Film Institute. 

“How I Met Your Mother”

I have stayed away from sitcoms or shows with laugh tracks until now. “How I Met Your Mother” premiered in September 2005 and ran seven seasons until March 2014. Even though the show struggled to get off the ground with many mixed reviews during its first season, it nevertheless managed to find its stride in the second season and instantly became critically acclaimed. With its countless quotable lines and dynamic characters, the show has been integrated into so many facets of pop culture and even garnered a spin-off series, “How I Met Your Father." 

The show follows Ted Mosby (played by Josh Radnor) as he explains to his kids how he met their mother. She is teased throughout the entirety of the show, but is revealed in the final season. His best friends, Marshall (played by Jason Segel), Lily (played by Alyson Hannigan) and Barney (played by Neil Patrick Harris) are encompassed in all parts of his life, with most of their gatherings at their favorite bar, McLaren's Pub. Early on, he meets a love interest named Robin (played by Cobie Smulders), and their adventures ensue through the rest of the series.

Like every good sitcom, the show constantly reinvents itself, finding new avenues for comedy and innovative storytelling. The one thing I look for in shows like this is the ability to know when to take itself seriously and not make a joke out of everything. This show hits the nail on the head and does that flawlessly. The show ran for 208 total episodes and won 10 Emmy awards. I absolutely adore this show and very strongly recommend giving it a watch.