Easy Listening, Vol. 10: Pop Hits Across the Decades

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Description

Sixteen tracks spanning roughly six decades of popular music make up this collection, bringing together Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga alongside Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, and Ben E. King within the same album. The soft, even-handed approach that runs through the full album has a leveling effect on material this varied, bringing songs from very different production eras into the same dynamic range and tempo.

Hey Jude, Stand by Me, and Dream a Little Dream of Me are among the oldest entries here, all three songs with simple enough harmonic structures that they translate directly to solo piano without much adjustment. Shape of You, Bad Romance, and Lush Life were built on contemporary pop production in their original form, and the piano arrangements pull the melodic lines out of each while the surrounding texture falls away entirely. Shallow, 7 Years, and Stay with Me sit naturally in the format, all three already leaning toward piano-driven production in their original recordings. Killing Me Softly and I Say a Little Prayer bring a soul and R&B sensibility to the middle of the tracklist, both moving at a relaxed pace with the melody carried cleanly above a steady accompaniment.

A Whiter Shade of Pale closes the album — one of the most organ-driven songs in the collection, its Bach-influenced chord progression translating well to piano given how keyboard-centered the original always was. With sixteen tracks drawn from across six decades of popular music, the album makes a strong case that a great melody holds up regardless of the era it came from.

Track List:

1. Shape of You (Ed Sheeran) - 2:32
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2. Hey Jude (The Beatles) - 4:22
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3. Bad Romance (Lady Gaga) - 3:44
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4. Hello (Adele) - 2:07
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5. Love Yourself (Justin Bieber) - 2:02
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6. Shallow (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper) - 2:43
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7. Stand by Me (Ben E. King) - 2:34
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8. Stay with Me (Sam Smith) - 2:18
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9. 7 Years (Lukas Graham) - 2:13
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10. Too Good at Goodbyes (Sam Smith) - 1:52
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11. You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman (Aretha Franklin) - 2:49
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12. Killing Me Softly with His Song (Roberta Flack) - 3:02
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13. Lush Life (Zara Larsson) - 2:31
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14. I Say a Little Prayer (Aretha Franklin) - 2:52
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15. Dream a Little Dream of Me (The Mamas & the Papas) - 3:17
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16. A Whiter Shade of Pale (Procol Harum) - 4:11
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17. Total Runtime - 45:09