Since January of 2018, I have kept bimonthly playlists of the music I discover or rediscover in those two months. Relistening to these playlists feels like I am 17, 18, and 19 again; it’s like an auditory timeline of my life.
Here are the highlights, my recommendations, (some of) my favorite songs (with lyric snippets) from September and October of 2021. As a previously insufferable girl who used to keep her favorite songs a secret and get unreasonably upset when someone liked the same music that I did, consider this a great honor. Though I have recovered, that spirit will always slightly remain.
This Will Be Our Year; The Zombies
Picture your 20th birthday, sitting at your dinner on the coastline at golden hour with someone whose “warmth of their love is like the warmth of the sun.” The breeze is just barely chilly, the sun has just begun to set, the water looks as if God put gold glitter in it just to say “Happy Birthday.” This song is deep content breaths with someone you adore, signifying new beginnings that “took a long time to come.”
Shit Show; Peter McPoland
Still feeling 13 and 17 while having just turned 20, I feel as though I’ll have to “drop the act of adolescence and I’ll play a new part,” much like Peter vibrantly expresses in this incredible song. Lamenting “I’ll find where my voice went and I’ll stop breaking my own heart,” he plays into finding strength and sense of self in the second coming of age story everyone’s twenties brings. Full of prospects for the present and future, you’d change nothing about the toll life takes on you in your fantastic shit show.
no song without you; HONNE
An ode to a lover who you’d be nothing without. A sweet, safe, melody that feels like the end of a night, the street lights are glowing in the dark blue sky as you’re holding hands walking down the street, confessing what this person means to you, saying “there would be no song without you.”
Up Granville; Peach Pit
A personal favorite band; Peach Pit’s high-pitched guitar never fails to make my eyes crease with a grin. Though this song portrays being alone and saying goodbye to a lover, the upbeat guitar solo about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the song is hopeful in the lack of togetherness.
Lover (Don’t Let Me Down); Palace
Another personal favorite; Palace has a dreamy distant sound like foggy mornings that transform into cloudy days. The lighting stays the same from morning to dusk, so you’re never sure what time it is, but you find yourself content regardless-no need for timekeeping on days like these. Begging “lover don’t let me down, cause my stomach’s been twisted for ages now,” this song is a devastating appeal to a loved one, a chorus to shout on those foggy mornings and cloudy days.
Everything Is Just a Mess; The Brook & The Bluff
A newly discovered band; I have to say I rarely put albums on shuffle and let it play-but the album this song came from has absolutely no faults. This is a praise not even my all-time favorite bands tout. Windows down, warm sun streaming in car windows, eyes closed, small smile, head nodding to the slow beat. A relinquishment of control, telling someone your “Head won’t stop spinning, love me or let me out,” asking them to make a decision right then and there.
All I Think About Now; Pixies
A small, dark, underground music venue. The lights are dim, you’re slightly sweaty, the song starts with its striking electric guitar and you’re entranced. The Pixies have this essence in their songs-the guitar is somehow intimate, saying more than the words can. In the depths of this dark red basement-esque venue, reminiscing only the happiness of a relationship, thinking “if I could go to the beginning, then for sure there would be another way.”
I’ll Call You Mine; girl in red
Sometime in the late night you look around the central room of a party where rainbow disco lights shine on the walls glowing with blue LEDs. Suddenly you are moving in slow motion as untimely clarity hits you, but the room spins as if you were in a movie and the camera is circling you, standing still, in the midst of mindless dancing. The camera spins as fast as your stomach drops and all you can do is stand and stare. This is the last chorus of “I’ll Call You Mine.”
Wake Me; Bleachers
Capturing the whimsical questioning when looking at someone you love, wondering “I can’t believe I captured your heart.” Soft glances, back of the hand kisses, head resting on a shoulder, you are hopelessly, luckily, wonderfully in love.
Adeline; The Dip
As a sucker for music from the ’50s and ’60s, this modern take on a classic sound captured me the moment it began. A quintessential confession of love, this song screams I love you in its purest form. The floors you’re dancing around on are your kitchen tiles as you’re making dinner, the sun about to go down as you look out the back window at the backyard that the sun can’t reach anymore. It’s a moment in which you’re thankful for everything, but specifically, because you can turn around and say “I love you dearly, and I need you to know I can’t leave without you.”
If I have hopefully and miraculously convinced you to listen to these songs and you want to see the rest of the playlist and the progression of the current bimonthly playlist, my Spotify is madiimotsen, the two i’s are intentional. Happy listening!