Songs for the Season

1) “Below My Feet” – Mumford and Sons

Straight off of the brand new Mumford and Sons album, Babel (just in time for autumn, might I add) comes this strikingly sweet, happy-sad song. It’s for you dancing-in-the-rain types. This song is also most reminiscent of their first album, so think banjo breakdowns that make you want to jump into the biggest puddle you could possibly find and piano melodies for walking through a park on a drizzly, gray day.

2)  “Milo” – Fredrik

This is a slow, blue, ambient song dominated by fingerpicking and breathy lyrics. The quick, sudden, scattered notes almost sound like rain falling on the street, drop by drop. It’s a good thinking song, as the lyrics are poetic and the tune repeats. It’s a great song for pondering life’s many questions in the midst of a downpour.

3) “Wasteland” – Woodkid

This song has a bit of a different sound from the rest of this artist’s songs. Though it may sound like a melancholy one at first, a close listen to the lyrics reveals that it’s actually very joyful and inspired. It’s kind of jazzy and upbeat, but still slow enough to be appropriate for watching the clouds crawl across the sky. It’s an anthem for the contented enjoyment of a hot beverage on a windy, foggy morning.

4) “Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes” – Modest Mouse

Being one of Modest Mouse’s less in-your-face, unusual songs, it’s my favorite driving song. It’s catchy and punchy, and the lyrics are appropriately rebellious. It’s a great jam for a long drive through a heavy rain.

5) “Falling In Love With Glaciers” – Listener

Listener is an experimental spoken word band from Arkansas. This song builds from gentle lyrics to spitting out descriptive rhymes to an unusual beat. Trumpet starts the song off and paves the path to the breakdown. You see the cumulonimbus clouds building on the horizon, you feel the thunder and you see the lightning, and the storm passes.

6) “Apologetic Shoulder Blades” – Baths

Baths is an unusual experimental electronic band that often uses spoken soundbites to build the chorus or tune. In this song, a scattered beat reminiscent of a rainstick enters towards the beginning. The whole time, an angelic, ethereal singing voice is clipped and scattered behind the beat, multiplying and blending as the song progresses. Suddenly, the song fades away, like a sun shower, gone as soon as it appeared.

7) “Burying Davy” – The Decemberists 

This song is mysterious and sends chills up and down your spine. The lyrics are mournful and melancholy, and the song slowly builds and tells the story of burying a deceased friend, the trek through the mud to the foggy graveyard as the cold wind raises the hair on your arms. The breakdown is loud and slow and carries through to the end, where it leaves you without a pause.

8 ) “Heart’s A Mess” – Gotye

Brought to you by the “Somebody That I Used To Know” guy, the album that often is overlooked, Like Drawing Blood, contains this little, unappreciated number. The beat is slightly tribal, and sad strings drive you into the pleading lyrics. The song builds to the final, climactic chorus, and disappears over the horizon.

9) “Teardrop” – Massive Attack

You might recognize this song as the main theme to the popular medical TV show “House.” The song builds into elusive lyrics. Slowly, different beats and melodies jump into the song, some so quiet you barely notice them. The song then diminishes back down to the repeating beat and simple piano before it ends.

10) “Hoppipolla” – Sigur Ros

Translating from Icelandic to “jumping into puddles,” you’ve probably heard this song in a trailer for one romantic comedy or another. The lyrics explore the childish joy associated with “jumping into puddles with no boots on.” The piano melody is simple and the multiple singing voices drives the song into a multi-faceted frenzy with so much going on, I don’t blame you if you want to spin around and catch raindrops on your tongue.

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