Welcome back to CP Radio, your favorite monthly radio station with written words that accompany each unique curation of music. We’ve entered the new year, a figurative blank slate ripe for new beginnings and/or a continuation of the old, but good. For us at the CP Radio Station, a fresh perspective in the form of sound is an important piece of our new puzzle that is 2026 - CP Radio 016 is the first piece, a corner piece to be exact.
There is an analogy hiding in-between the lines here, about how ushering in a new year can be quite similar to beginning a new puzzle. Now, I’m no avid puzzler, but when I do dabble, I start by building the frame, as it provides structure and a defined space for the details to come. CP Radio 016 is this frame - to be listened to when writing, when reflecting, when envisioning, and so on - in the background, or the forefront, of our minds when respectively applicable. Whether one looks to rewrite their story in the new year, or continue onto the next chapter of that which is already written, January serves as an opportunity to bring to present our successes whilst, save for the valuable lessons learned, leaving behind the negatives of the past. 016 has been built with this intention at heart, to present the sounds, melodies, and lyrics that build the foundation from which perspective can be defined and homed in on.
Music has a way of pulling one’s mind into one’s body, here and now, through an oftentimes divine-like fusion of voice, melody, and prose. It is for this very reason why a song like Almost Cut My Hair by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young has a place on 016. A story about the balance between conforming to societal norms and letting your freak flag fly. About finding a place inside to laugh and separating the wheat from the chaff - a masterfully incorporated idiom that is profoundly relevant as we look to do just that going into the new year. Another track of special mention is Stray by Yellow House, a musical project by Emile van Dango, a South African singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. While the lyrics are decidedly somber, there is an uplifting nature to van Dango’s vocal progression throughout the song as he imparts an integral and grounding sense of reality, serving us a befitting reminder of the fact that leaving the past behind is not always easy and can take time, lots of time. And finally, the last honorable mention of January’s curation, Montego Slay by People Under the Stairs. Drifting through a wavy sea of slick rhymes layered over a classic west coast beat is a wonderfully enjoyable pastime, apt for making a gloomy winter walk feel a bit more irie - a small but multivalent Jamaican Creole word, and recurring lyric in the song.
New year’s resolutions may not be for everyone, but I would be hard-pressed to find someone with whom music, in the general sense, does not resonate. That is why we make these monthly curations, to find and connect more deeply with our people, through a medium with which we all can relate. We hope you enjoy the 16th installment of CP Radio, a special selection of tracks for the month of January, 2026.
I look forward to these drops every mnth. CP006 is my puzzle.