I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST, Vol. 17: "Windbreaker" 🌬
Do you think I have forgotten about you?
It’s me, hi. 👋🏼 I’m so sorry it’s been a CENTURY but really I swear August was just yesterday and it was 94 degrees and I was movin’ and groovin’ to “Hot Honey” like I had all the time in the world before 2023 would be anywhere near in-focus.
And then?!!! Would you believe?!!! I blinked, fall flew (as it always does), and I’m sitting here at 5:46 pm on December 1, utterly shocked by the darkness and coldness and overall grayness that has descended upon us.
Nevertheless, we persist, and I’m thrilled to be back with some tunes and other miscellany to help you muddle through (or totally thrive! who am I to say?) this fall-to-winter transition time.
First, some important outerwear inspo courtesy of George Harrison and Eric Clapton:
Oh, hold on—I have some quick business to attend to before we get to the main event. This is my favorite song off of Midnights, this has the hardest-hitting lyrics (“I search the party of better bodies, just to learn that my dreams aren’t rare”), this one is the most fun, and this is the most the only sonically surprising song on the whole entire project.
Okay glad we got that taken care of. Now grab your coffee/tea/hot beverage of choice and let’s get into the rest of it.
LISTEN
The 1975 - “About You”
“Do you think I have forgotten about you?” Honestly, how dare Matty Healy write a chorus so heartbreakingly simple and perfect. And this bridge!!! Ugh.
Re: The 1975 in general… the ones who get it, get it, and the ones who don’t, don’t. Either way, I completely 100% understand. But I, for one, get it, and I’m happy to tell you that their latest album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language, lives up to any and all hype you may have encountered on the ‘tok or the ‘gram (or Twitter, RIP) or anywhere else.
Zach Bryan - “Starved (Live from Detroit)”
I—along with the rest of the world—climbed aboard the Zach Bryan train (bandwagon? rocket ship?) this year. His whole 34-song American Heartbreak album is worth a listen, but the lyricism on his recent single “Starved” low-key blew me away more than any song on the full album. (I mean… first we’ve got “I love when your grin grows / the corners of your lips lifting lift me when I’m low” and then he really brings it home with “the kindest parts of my mind are you and me.” 🥲 Is he kidding?)
Note/disclaimer: I stopped by his set at Bonnaroo in June just for kicks. Like, I didn’t know a single song and I was admittedly super skeptical of his whole schtick and totally rolled my eyes at the absolute chokehold he’s had on every 20-something male I’ve interacted with in the last year… but I’ve rarely seen a crowd so completely transfixed by and invested in a sweaty dude singing very emo, earnest songs on his acoustic guitar, so I went home and did my homework and now here we are. He made the newsletter. Sorry I’m late to the party, thanks for letting me tag along!
+ more recent faves:
How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me? by The Amazons — Spotify | Apple
Earnest arena rock is back, baby! The Amazons’ latest album is cute and wholesome with justttt enough grit to counteract the sweetness. I love “Say It Again,” “Northern Star,” and most of all, “How Will I Know?".
Cub by WUNDERHORSE — Spotify | Apple
I found this on TikTok one random afternoon, pressed play five minutes later, and then couldn’t listen to anything else for the 48-ish hours that followed. “Poppy” is the one.
El Bueno Y El Malo by HERMANOS GUTIÉRREZ — Spotify | Apple
Chill. Hypnotic. Vibey, sexy, complex, transportive... All the good things. 10/10 recommend.
Loose Future by COURTNEY MARIE ANDREWS — Spotify | Apple
My favorite collection from her yet. The title track is so fun, but “On The Line,” “Satellite,” and “These Are The Good Old Days” are where things really get good.
Abbey Road Lonely by JOHN CRAIGIE — Spotify | Apple
A blast and a half! Come for the songs stay for the dad jokes! Although I will say his version of “Here Comes the Sun” made me cry, so be warned of some potential feels.
Here Goes Nothing! by ADAM MELCHOR — Spotify | Apple
Woof. What a perfectly wistful autumn album. “Cry,” “Touch And Go,” “I’m Afraid I Love You,” and “Rest Of My Night” are my must-listens, but the Fleet Foxes feature is also top-notch.
Other notables: “mad at me” by Samia, “Love What You Lose” by Cecilia Glenn, “Life According to Raechel” by Madison Cunningham, “It’s Alright” by Cecilia Castleman, and “flowers” by joan.
WATCH
Apropos of nothing, here is one of my favorite music videos ever. I rewatch it roughly once a month and it always makes me feel good/better/ready to take on the world.
I recently watched Sheryl Crow’s documentary on a flight back from L.A., and I can’t recommend it enough. I’ve always known her biggest songs but never knew anything about her background/career, and… ???! Her life story is pretty insane, and the whole Tuesday Night Music Club —> Self-Titled — Globe Sessions —> C’mon C’mon four-album run remains absolutely mind-blowing.
I also devoured the third season of Love Is Blind (extremely mediocre), I’m deep into Sex Lives of College Girls (mostly ridiculous), and just started White Lotus (jury still out, stay tuned).
READ
Big news! I beat my way-too-easy 2022 Goodreads reading challenge. 🏆 (Side note: Let’s be Goodreads friends.) Recent favorites include Emily Henry’s Book Lovers and Emma Straub’s This Time Tomorrow, and a few months ago I finally finished R. Eric Thomas’ supremely funny/heartfelt/important collection of essays, Here For It: Or, How To Save Your Soul In America, after bringing it with me on nearly every trip I’ve taken over the past year or so. (Sorry to all my plane seat neighbors who had to deal with the frequent lols.) Bonus: His free newsletter is fantastic, too.
I’m currently listening to Dana Stevens’ Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century, which is making me miss high school history classes, and I’m slowly tackling Joe Coscarelli’s Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story in very bite-sized chapter-by-chapter chunks. (The rumors are true, she’s a non-fiction girlie these days. 🤓)
Up next: Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.
PLAY
Drumroll please… I’m proud to present my Fall 2022 playlist! In December! Oops. Like I said, fall flew right on by with no regard for my personal schedule.
So, the theme. **There isn’t really a theme, she whispers anxiously.** Except maybe there is? I promise I don’t have a hidden meaning or clever sequencing for you to decipher this time around, but somehow, these songs all seem to have the heart/muscle/energy/backbone to help me steel myself against the colder, grayer days ahead. I guess you could say this playlist has big pre-hibernation energy.
The tracks are tender, fun, confident at times but often more reserved and tentative, a little sad, and occasionally the slightest bit ominous. Perfect to stream while you’re switching out your closet or fluffing up last year’s flattened fur hoods before taking a pre-dusk walk, simultaneously hating the damp chill and reveling in the fact that you’re no longer sweating every time you venture outside. This playlist blends some seriously deep feels and quiet contemplation with delicious crispy-crunchy drums, cranked-up guitars, and a few choice throwbacks that remind me of riding the bus to school in my North Face fleece, uniform skirt, and tights with my iPod nano in hand and hair still wet from swim practice the night before.
Anyway, I tried my absolute hardest to overthink this one, but in the end it’s simply a good windy day mix. Hopefully it’s blowing across your path just in time to soundtrack the moodier moments of the last month of the year.
“Windbreaker”
swan song - Victoria Canal
Daydreamer - Adele
Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
Goalkeeper - Chinese Football
Horsegirl - Overcoats
Overdrive - Maggie Rogers
Fireproof - One Direction
If I Needed Someone - The Beatles
Harvard - Briston Maroney
god damn shame - Harry Strange
Moving - Ethansroom
Limbo Bitch - Samia
The Glass Widow in the Glass Window - Wild Pink
Mulholland Dr. - Bartees Strange
Burning Up Slow - Cautious Clay
Stay Out Of It - Michigander
Loose Future - Courtney Marie Andrews
Like She Does - Dayglow
Part Of The Band - The 1975
Pulling Teeth - Alix Page
End of Beginning - Djo
Grace - Marcus Mumford
Killer Queen (What I Need) - Goldpark feat. Bre Kennedy
Listerine - Cece Coakley
Honey - Maggie Rogers
Blue Sky - Patty Griffin
It’s Too Late - Lucy Dacus
Bottle It Up - Sara Bareilles
knuckle tattoo - girlhouse
Trick Candle - Ryann
Purple - Wunderhorse
Say It Again - The Amazons
Climber - TOLEDO
When We Are Together - The 1975
Honey - The Lone Bellow
Cry - Adam Melchor
How to Save a Life - The Fray
The Future is Dead - Ken Yates
How Close We Came - Dan Croll
About You - The 1975
Follow the full playlist here:
Or here if you use Apple Music!
And if you need more fall-winter tunes, here is last year’s playlist and the year before’s, both of which really hold up if I do say so myself.
Thanks for hanging! Hope you find a song that makes you feel cozy and protected, like the perfect coat + sweater combo. See you very soon for some 2022 favorites… 👀
Natalie