Whether you prefer to spend your snowy season out on the slopes or cozying up inside with a good book and a warm cup of hot cocoa, here are some of my top winter album recommendations to add to your perfect Winter 2023-24 playlists.
Noah Kahan: Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)
Released in June of 2023, Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever) is an expanded version of his incredibly well-received October 2022 album Stick Season. The folk-pop album encapsulates the feeling of small-town life in New England and the intangible ache that comes with growing older and leaving home.
The album gets its name from, as Kahan himself puts it in his January 2023 Genius interview, “It was a term that was used by some of the older folks in the town I grew up in to describe this miserable time of year when it’s just kind of gray and cold, and there’s no snow yet, and the beauty of the foliage is done” (Noah Kahan Breaks Down the Meaning of “Stick Season”). This term of seasonal blight, an in-between of fall and winter that seems void of natural beauty, is an allegory for the transitional period of life and the bleak prospects of leaving home alone.
Neglecting the Stick Season WABHF songs in your winter musical rotation would be an absolute crime. Some biased wintery recommendations off the album from your author would be “Northern Attitude” (particularly his rendition with Hozier), “Stick Season,” and “The View Between Villages.”
Prince of Eden: The Tree That Bears Fruit in the Freedom That Bears You
Prince of Eden’s 2018 debut album is a perfect underrated album to add to your winter music rotation. Taking similar biblical notes as his name, the album title earns its name from the fig tree and the fruit parable: “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt the bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his fruit,” from Luke 6:43-45 (The Bible). The parable essentially means that in order to cultivate goodness in the world, one must do it within oneself first. The indie-folk album covers themes of nature, growth, and personal development. Following the idea of the tree having to be good to bear fruit, the album shares a similar message of self-development and leaving old ways behind for new beginnings, reflected through colorful nature imagery.
Some winter music recommendations off this album would have to be: “Babyblue,” “Fog,” and “Mammal Talk”.
Coldplay: Parachutes
Let’s take it back to the 2000s and discuss Coldplay’s debut album, Parachutes, from 2000. The band’s first album, this OG indie album, put them on the map. The album includes their biggest song to date, “Yellow,” which alone had nearly 2 billion streams on Spotify. The album is rife with sad music, perfect for a cold and bleak wintery day. In general, the album is chock-full of songs about exes and relationship angst. However, the album’s title comes from the short song of the same name, “Parachutes” on the album. Lead singer Martin claims they chose this song to be the title track due to the metaphor of what a parachute is, which helps you to safety, to provide a less depressing title than some of the sadder songs on the album (Barker).
My top winter recommendations off the album are “Yellow,” “Sparks,” and “We Never Change.”
Mazzy Star: So Tonight That I Might See
Mazzy Star’s major-label debut 1993 album So Tonight That I Might See was a staple album of the 1990s and still holds up to this day. The album’s downcast softness was a great departure from the other alternative ‘90s bands. It has a quite despondent tone that conveys an eerie and otherworldly essence, with a mysticism akin to music by The Velvet Underground and Stevie Nicks. The biggest hit off the album and its headliner, “Fade Into You,” went platinum by 1995 and is featured on numerous show and movie soundtracks (Moreland). The transcendental and melancholy sound of the album is perfect for a dreary winter day, and I feel like the cold air of a winter’s night just before the snow.
My top recommendations off the album are (of course) “Fade into You,” “Into Dust,” and “Five String Serenade.”
Taylor Swift: folklore
Taking a complete 180 from her previous bright-pop album Lover, Taylor Swift ventured into the indie sound space with her 2020 album folklore. Made mostly in collaboration with Aaron Dessner from the National, the album goes back to her country storytelling roots with the air of atmospheric rock and quiet folk tunes (Caramanica). The definition of a sweater-weather album, Swift’s 8th album is full to the brim with moody and melancholic love songs and fictitious tales of betrayal and heartache. The theme of folklore harkens back to Taylor’s Reputation album, delivering the same message in a very different way: people will talk. Swift’s mythology carefully constructs a more downtrodden interpretation, the sadness, and lonely emptiness that comes from missed and mixed signals.(Mapes). The album acts as a sort of calm after the storm of her aggressive album Reputation era.
The top recommendations off the albums are “cardigan,” “exile,” and “august.”
Hozier: Unreal Unearth
Hozier’s 2023 album, inspired by Dante’s Inferno, unpacks the deep yearning for love and understanding in an ultimately damned world of physical affliction. The artist’s third album highlights his academic interests, featuring inspiration from Inferno, The Third Policeman, the works of Ovid, and Beowulf (Jones). Hozier also connects with his Irish heritage, singing in Irish Gaelic on several songs off the album, referencing the centuries-old Irish struggle for independence and connection to their culture. The song’s connection to nature and introspection lends itself heavily to the more lonely and interior winter months, reminiscent of the changing colors of fall leaves and a snowbound day at home.
My top winter recommendations off the album are “I, Carrion (Icarian),” “Unknown/Nth,” and “To Someone From a Warm Climate.”
The Smiths: Louder Than Bombs
The Smith’s 1987 album Louder Than Bombs augments the 12 core tracks from their previous work Hatful of Hollow, one that had yet to be released in America (Wolk). A compilation album in its nature, some may say it’s the only Smiths album you need, with some of their very best residing in the album. So, if you can look past Morrisey’s moody involvement, consider bringing Louder Than Bombs into your winter playlists.
My top wintery recommendations of this album are “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” “Back to the Old House,” and “This Night Has Opened My Eyes”.
The Cranberries: Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?
With their recent revival in popularity, thanks to the ever-growing musical power of TikTok, it would be a sin to omit one of my all-time favorite albums, The Cranberries’ 1993 debut studio album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? The band formed, all inspired by the art of the Smiths, and came together to make their own music under the name The Cranberry Saw Us (which they later changed). The melancholic album packs a major punch both lyrically and generally musically. The bittersweet and often somber sounds off the album are the perfect backdrop for a chilly winter day, invoking the crisp air of an early sunset that you just wish would let itself linger.
My top recommendations off the album are (of course) “Linger,” “Dreams,” and “Sunday.”
Works Cited
Barker, Emily. Coldplay: The Hidden Stories and Meanings Behind Every Song on “Parachutes” Revealed. 15 July 2015.
Caramanica, Jon. “Taylor Swift, a Pop Star Done With Pop.” New York Times, 26 July 2020.
Jones, CT. Hozier Goes Through Hell and Tastes Ectasy on “Unreal Unearth.” Aug. 2023.
Mapes, Jill. “Folklore.” Pitchfork, 27 July 2020.
Moreland, Quinn. “So Tonight That I Might See.” Pitchfork, 14 June 2020.
Noah Kahan Breaks Down the Meaning of “Stick Season.” Genius, 2023.
The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.
Wolk, Douglas. “The Smiths Complete Album Review.” Pitchfork, 18 Nov. 2011.