It’s finally December- which means it’s actually time to start celebrating the holiday cheer, despite the fact that businesses began the celebration before Thanksgiving even happened. Regardless, it’s the most wonderful time of the year and it’s time to throw on a cute, comfy sweater by a window with a cup of hot chocolate! But what’s missing from this picture? Winter-themed music, of course! While singing along to our favorite Christmas tunes is fun, it can get repetitive. Sometimes you just want background music to set the winter mood and not stay stuck in your head all day. With that in mind, I’ve come up with five indie winter tracks that will be great additions to your snow watching and cozy cuddling this winter season!
1. White, Winter Hymnal – Fleet Foxes
This song by folk band Fleet Foxes provides blissful frosty images to help your mind escape to a winter fairytale full of lush harmonies.
2. Saeglopur – Sigur Ros
Sigur Ros is a band of Icelandic rockers, so of course they do a wonderful job of capturing a wintery landscape in hauntingly beautiful ballads. Listen to this song and imagine yourself in Iceland for the winter- standing on a field covered in snow where ice glitters off mountaintops and the landscape stretches out in all direction.
3. Winter Song – The Head and the Heart
This indie-folk band will sing you to sleep with a soft yet hopeful tune for a cold winter. This may be more depressing, but it also reminds you of a hopeful spring that will come after winter’s end. Grab a hot cup of tea or hot chocolate and relax, letting the lyrics guide you through the winter sadness and remind you of the beauty that can still be found.
4. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) – Arcade Fire
This might be obvious, but the thought of a world covered in snow just sounds so beautiful in this song. The lyrics will help you get lost in your own snow-covered adventuring, trekking out in the snow to see someone you love or staying locked in, wishing you could be with them. Listen and imagine escaping the world under a blanket of snow with some you love – or enjoy spending time with
5. Blindsided – Bon Iver
You couldn’t have a winter playlist without some Bon Iver! Feeling melancholy? Want to stare out a snow-covered window? This is the perfect song for getting lost in the cold, wintry scenery as the artist tells a story of watching an ex-lover through a snow-frosted window. Imagine a lost, winter world outside your window and this song will take you there.