Cycle I: Coming on Strong
The Hidden Voice
The Hidden Girl · Tracks
THE HOUSE OF ZAN — Zan
Cycle I: The Hidden Girl can be read in silence.
The tracks are not required to understand the pieces, but they are part of the full experience.
I selected every track carefully, both for what it brings to the piece beside it and because the music comes from my own listening life.
They are part of the same personal vocabulary the pieces came from.
Each Playlist Track becomes another layer of the piece beside it.
The playlist stays within the 2018-to-now world of female-driven alternative pop, dream pop, shoegaze, indie music, and adjacent sounds.
It starts softer and dreamier, then gets louder, more direct, and more sexual as the story moves forward.
The Hidden Girl belongs to a different musical generation than The Record, even when the two playlists occasionally cross paths.
Sometimes a track matches what she feels.
Sometimes it matches what she thinks she feels.
Sometimes it says more than she does.
Sometimes it carries something the piece leaves open.
Some connections are immediate.
Others may not make sense at first, but become clearer once you have read the piece.
Let it play in the background while you read.
Listen again afterward.
Come back later and see whether the song or the piece hits differently.
Starting The Cycle: Cycle I – The Hidden Girl
Opening Arrangement: Windows96 — “Caligula”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 01
Playlist Track: Caroline Polachek — “Pretty In Possible”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 02
Playlist Track: Faye Webster — “But Not Kiss”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 03
Playlist Track: The Japanese House — “Sunshine Baby”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 04
Playlist Track: Sky Ferreira — “Leash”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 05
Playlist Track: JENNIE — “Less than a Lover”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 06
Playlist Track: Slowdive — “kisses”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 07
Playlist Track: Hatchie — “Carousel”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 08
Playlist Track: Men I Trust — “Show Me How”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 09
Playlist Track: Nia Archives — “Unfinished Business”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 10
Playlist Track: The Marías — “No One Noticed”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 11
Playlist Track: Clairo — “Sexy to Someone”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 12
Playlist Track: Billie Eilish — “CHIHIRO”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 13
Playlist Track: FKA twigs — “Perfect Stranger”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 14
Playlist Track: Gracie Abrams — “Risk”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 15
Playlist Track: Japanese Breakfast — “Posing in Bondage”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 16
Playlist Track: MUNA — “What I Want”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 17
Playlist Track: Magdalena Bay — “Killshot”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 18
Playlist Track: Doja Cat — “Need to Know”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 19
Playlist Track: St. Vincent — “Broken Man”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 20
Playlist Track: Rina Sawayama — “Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 21
Playlist Track: Lorde — “What Was That”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 22
Playlist Track: Wolf Alice — “Feeling Myself”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 23
Playlist Track: Kelela & PinkPantheress — “the bridge”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 24
Playlist Track: RAYE — “Genesis.”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 25
Playlist Track: Addison Rae — “Diet Pepsi”
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Shoegaze Dreams · 26
Playlist Track: Olivia Rodrigo — “all-american bitch”
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Breaking The Cycle: Cycle I – The Hidden Girl
Closing Arrangement: Hotel Pools — “Dissolve”
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Taken together, the tracks follow the same movement as the story.
The early songs live closer to uncertainty, distance, and possibility.
As the pieces change, the music changes with them.
Sometimes the music sounds more certain than she is.
The tracks give you another way to hear what is happening around, beneath, or just beyond the words.
Some connections may have made sense immediately.
Others may make more sense now than they did the first time through.
The pieces can change the way you hear the songs.
The songs can change the way you understand the pieces.
That space between them is part of The Hidden Girl.
Listening links point to licensed, auto-generated YouTube Topic or album-audio releases whenever available.
Official music videos are used when neither is available. Unless otherwise stated, the video itself is not considered part of the linked art beside the written piece.
Availability may change by region or over time because uploads and access restrictions are controlled by third parties.
Each Playlist Track refers to the identified artist, song, and selected original recording or album version, not to a particular video, live performance, remix, visualizer, compilation, reissue, remaster, or later release.
All songs remain the property of their respective rights holders. No ownership is claimed.