I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST, Vol. 11: "Sundae Best" 🍨
I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST, Vol. 11: "Sundae Best" 🍨
On Sunday songs, simplicity, and ice cream for breakfast
If you’ve never eaten ice cream for breakfast, you haven’t truly lived. I swear it tastes different. Something about consuming it during off-hours really brings out the flavors and makes whatever toppings are mixed in a thousand times more complex and interesting. It’s a treat, of course, but I also like to think I’m doing a service to the ice cream’s creators, who probably tested the recipe hundreds of times before getting it exactly right. I’m telling you, you’ll notice things you would never notice at 10:30 pm while eating it after a full dinner. At breakfast, it commands (and deserves) your full attention.
Coincidentally, this is also how I feel about listening to music on a Sunday. I notice things I never would have noticed on, for example, a Tuesday afternoon. Sunday is inherently more spacious than any other day of the week, and I think this additional air allows for deeper understanding and appreciation. (Does this make any sense? I hope so.)
In my opinion, since Sunday is so kindly giving you all this ~bonus space~, it’s important to choose the songs you’re filling it with very carefully. Sunday albums have a lot to say and they make you think, which is why they need the special focus and attention. They speak for themselves, but you’ll only get the really good stuff if you’re listening closely. My picks will surely be different from yours, but here are few favorites if you need a jumping off point:
Aretha’s Gold by Aretha Franklin (or anything by Aretha, let’s be honest)
Southern Family curated by Dave Cobb
Delilah by Anderson East
Shine On Rainy Day by Brent Cobb
Kaleidoscope Heart by Sara Bareilles
Nashville Skyline by Bob Dylan
East Atlanta Love Letter by 6LACK
Ctrl by Sza
Andddd please give it up for the most recent additions: Quietly Blowing It by Hiss Golden Messenger, History Of A Feeling by Madi Diaz, and Dawn by Yebba.
LISTEN
I need to talk about an album that, on the surface, may seem like the total opposite of a Sunday album: John Mayer’s Sob Rock.
Maybe it’s the delightfully tacky cover art, but whenever I talk about this album I feel the need to offer a disclaimer. Something like “It’s cliche, but…” or “It’s not mind-blowing, but…” — But the truth is, it’s just GOOD, satisfying, easy-to-listen-to music!
Here’s the thing: Have you ever ordered plain vanilla ice cream and faced criticism for the simplicity of your choice? Or chicken, too! Especially chicken. I feel like everyone hates on chicken if you have the option to order other meats. During a recent rant about a particularly great piece of chicken I was eating, I again felt the need to preface my enthusiasm with a disclaimer (“I know it’s just chicken, but…”). The very wise friend on the receiving end of the rant assured me that “good chicken is a revelation” and deserves to be talked about. And honestly? So true.
Enter Sob Rock.
Hear me out. What I’m trying to say is that “simple” and “satisfying” do not always equal “easy”!!! In the same way the best marketing and ad campaigns give unexpected life to age-old tropes and ideas that have long sat dormant right in front of our eyes, Sob Rock somehow sounds simultaneously obvious and revelatory.
Can we see some of the songs’ twists and turns coming from ten miles away? Absolutely, yes. But does their predictability make the familiar-sounding melodies and cinematic swells worthy of a Nicholas Sparks movie any less heart-bursting? Honestly… not at all. These are well-executed pop-rock songs that sound a whole lot easier than they probably were to make. (I should note that the obvious skip here is “Why You No Love Me” because… YIKES… but otherwise it’s solid!)
Anyway, I love it, even if it’s a little embarrassing. (More on this later!) I also loved Sam Sodomsky’s review for Pitchfork, and genuinely appreciated Jon Caramanica’s critique of the album for the The New York Times.
READ
Some Sunday selections:
“Leon Bridges After Dark” by Casey Gerald (Texas Monthly)
I knew virtually nothing about Leon Bridges before reading this profile, and I think it truly paints a detailed picture of him as an artist and human. Also, it made me cry! I feel like I ~*get him*~ now, which is all you can ever hope to feel after spending an hour of your own life reading about someone else’s, right? His new album rocks—but not in an actual “rock” way, more in a low-key-hot-and-steamy-vibes-for-a-lazy-day way. “Steam”, “Sho Nuff”, and “Don’t Worry” are the standouts in my book, but overall 10/10 Sunday vibes.
“Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner (The New Yorker)
I’m still working my way through the full memoir version, but this essay is the first thing Michelle Zauner (a.k.a. Japanese Breakfast) wrote for the project, and every time I come back to this I totally lose myself in her descriptions of H Mart, Korean food, and the complexities of family.
“What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind” by Jennifer Senior (The Atlantic)
A really powerful story that’s largely about 9/11 but also about parents and families and lovers and love and figuring out how to keep going after emerging from a place of heavy, heavy sadness and anger.
“love songs” by Helena Fitzgerald (griefbacon)
Helena Fitzgerald publishes a newsletter called griefbacon, in which she routinely makes all the “embarrassing” things I feel, notice, or obsess over feel entirely less embarrassing. Somehow after reading her posts I’m reveling in the so-called cliche-ness of my favorite things or the supposed silliness of whatever it is I can’t stop thinking about that day. In this installment, she goes long on dad rock, love songs, the illusion of the perfect childhood summer, and how the highly specific autobiographical lyrics of Lucy Dacus’s latest album actually work together to tell a highly universal story.
A few of my favorite parts:
I had tried to make up fancy and convoluted reasons . . . to summarize [The National] and why their music compels me in such an outsize way, and here it was in the absolute simplest possible language: Oh right, of course, it’s love songs.
[…]
Love songs are about being young, which doesn’t mean that they can only be written by young people, or even that they have to be about experiences had at a certain age.”
[…]
Home Video depicts the years that are supposed to be the best ones, and never are, that are supposed to be free from responsibilities or anxieties, and are exactly the opposite. It is about the early love I imagine when I see fireflies in the park, and the hard-floor truths underneath it. It’s love songs.
I would also recommend Helena’s excellent essay on loving The National, which includes the perfect line, “But we rarely love things for reasons that aren’t embarrassing,” and her essay on Before Sunrise, which touches on similar themes.
PLAY
I know I said earlier that Sunday music should make you think, but if I only highlighted the Big Important Albums™️ I would be ignoring another crucial Sunday music sector: the songs that calm your fears, soundtrack your pancake prep, and make the day feel breezy and light. Some of these picks are as simple as they seem upon first listen, some are simple but secretly complex, and some are just timeless classics you’d be crazy not to invite to brunch. No matter how much brain power you choose to spend on these selections, I hope they sound comfortable and smooth, as if they’re handing you a fresh cup of coffee without any expectation of deep conversation or anything in return.
Let me put it this way: this playlist is the soft serve version of the ice cream you’re hypothetically eating for breakfast. 😉 Chill, light… just fills in the cracks, ya know? I hope you like it.
“Sundae Best”
A Sunday Kind of Love - Etta James (had to start things off right)
Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae
Why’s It Feel So Long - Keith Urban
Feelin’ The Same Way - Norah Jones
Fall For Me - Brett Eldredge
Sunday Funday - TOLEDO
There She Goes - The La’s
Now is the Time - Jade Bird
Kokomo, IN - Japanese Breakfast
Cub Pilot - Fruit Bats
Love Is A Wild Thing - Kacey Musgraves
I Think I Love You - ERNEST
My God Has A Telephone - The Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY feat. Aaron Frazer
Sunday Morning - Tyson Motsenbocker
Hey Mary - Sean McConnell
Don’t Worry Baby - The Brook & The Bluff
Miss Simone - Sara Bareilles
It’s Only Life, That’s All - Willie Wright
You Send Me - Aretha Franklin
Motorbike - Leon Bridges
Issues/Hold On - Teyana Taylor (the video is much more Saturday night than Sunday morning, but worth a watch nonetheless)
Something Like Olivia - John Mayer
Glory Strums (Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner) - Hiss Golden Messenger
Dog Has Its Day - TOLEDO
Butterflies - Kacey Musgraves (i know we’re in full star-crossed mode now, but this album remains a weekend favorite)
Lover Girl - Aaron Frazer
Fidelity - Regina Spektor
The Love I Need - Girlhood
The Man Who Lives Forever - Lord Huron
The Last Summer - Tyson Motsenbocker
Steam - Leon Bridges
For Once in My Life - Noah Cyrus (so good—??!??!?!?)
How Deep is Your Love - PJ Morton
Always Feel This Way - Tristan Prettyman
Mimi - Big Red Machine feat. Ilsey
Everything - Michael Bublé
Roll On Slow - Glen Hansard
When The Lights Go Out - Patrick Droney (watch this version, too)
Strawberry Swing - Coldplay
Bugs - Lonesome Rhodes
Fallin’ For You - Colbie Caillat
Hypotheticals - Lake Street Dive
Grow - Samm Henshaw
Til The Right One Comes - John Mayer
I’ll Be Loving You - Yellow Days
7 ANGELS - Trace Mountains
Phoenix - Big Red Machine feat. Fleet Foxes & Anais Mitchell
Where It Started From - Lawrence
Listen here:
Or here if you’re on Apple music.
Okay, bye! 👋🏼 Get off your phone/computer and go have yourselves a Sunday!
Natalie