Alexander 23 rose to prominence worldwide with music that gives an open and honest look at his life and has now returned to the spotlight with his new song “The Hardest Part,” another sincere song, this time about losing someone. Here, the singer-songwriter has created a playlist of songs for us that make him happy at times and sad at others, showing a cross section of his everyday life.

“The Hardest Part” (Alexander 23)

Alexander 23: I had experienced a real loss and tragedy in my life and honestly wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to write or release a song about it. I didn’t know if I could properly honor this person and the feeling. I am very happy that I ended up releasing this song as I have received thousands of messages from people who have experienced similar things and to me that is the best part about being a songwriter.

“IDK You Yet” (Alexander 23)

Alexander 23: I wrote this song about a time in my life when everything was going wrong for me and it just felt like something was missing. I think being in quarantine really reminded me of that time in my life and inspired the song. Jungkook recently shared the song on his insta and watching this song connect with people around the world has been incredibly rewarding.

“Hate Me If It Helps” (Alexander 23)

Alexander 23: This is the first track on my debut album ‘Aftershock’. I think it really sets the tone as the production is intentionally pretty frenetic to kind of match the intensity of the lyrics. I wrote this song with Olivia Rodrigo and produced it with Dan Nigro: two of my musical heros/inspirations.

“Good to be Alone” (Theo Katzman)

Alexander 23: Theo is one of my favorite songwriters and this song is brilliantly tongue in cheek. A great song to put on after a long tour!

“18” (Jeremy Zucker)

Alexander 23: I’m lucky to call Jerm a friend and this is one of my favorites by him. This song hits every time and sounds best in the car!

“Sincerity Is Scary” (The 1975)

Alexander 23: It is really difficult to write about big macro societal things without sounding preachy and Matty Healy is able to pull it off every time.

“Rainbow” (Kacey Musgraves) 

Alexander 23: Kacey is such an incredible songwriter and this is one of my favorites by her. She is just the master of the turn of phrase.