My Top 5 Fall Albums
I feel like everyone has certain albums they associate with a particular time of year. For me, there are just some albums that sound and feel better when the weather starts getting colder and the days get shorter. Don't ask me why, but there's something about listening to certain types of music at the right time. It's one of my favorite things about music. Sometimes I'll listen to an album I haven't heard in months, and suddenly I'm reminded of exactly where I was or what I was doing when I used to listen to it. And I think the same thing happens with seasons. There are albums I rarely listen to throughout the summer, but as soon as October comes around, I find myself returning to them.
I figured I'd share my top 5 albums that I associate heavily with fall. These will be brief, but I think they will capture what's needed. I also want to point out that these albums themselves aren't necessarily autumnal by nature. They're just albums that, for one reason or another, have become part of my fall listening every year.
SABLE fABLE - Bon Iver
No that's not a typo in the album name, that's actually how it's spelled. Anyways, I'm sure I'm not the only one who associates Bon Iver with fall. The interesting thing about this album is that there are some songs that feel cold and isolated, SABLE, but also songs that feel warm and hopeful, fABLE. I'll touch on my two favorite songs from the album.
The first song is from disc 1, SABLE, and it's titled "Speyside." It was the first song I heard off the album. It's folky and has a simple sound. Just Vernon's vocals, a guitar, and a viola. But the lyrics hurt. Vernon is vulnerable, especially on disc 1. "I know now that I can't make good"..."nothings really happened like I thought it would." The theme here is Vernon realizing he's once again messed up and that he can't go back and fix it. He'll try to put himself in the other's shoes to see where he messed up. It's a slow song which I feel reflects the meaning of the song, he's reflecting and is in no hurry.
Then there's my favorite song on the album, "If Only I Could Wait." A duet between Vernon and Danielle Haim from the band HAIM. Disc 2 is more vibrant than disc 1. Maybe not celebratory but hopeful is how I'd describe it. The song is beautiful because there are just so many sounds that just take over. "For what's at stake, I'll take the pain" is Vernon trying to hold onto what they have. It's obvious it's over, been over. But I'll take the pain of knowing that as long as I have you.
For Emma Forever Ago - Bon Iver
Why wouldn't Bon Iver appear twice? Honestly, if you're familiar with his music you'd understand why. Anyways, we're going back, what, 19 years? This was the album that Vernon wrote during his retreat into a cabin in the woods after his band broke up, his relationship ended, and he got seriously ill. Despite everything, a masterpiece was made.
I don't even know where to start. This album has aged like fine wine. Most of the songs aren't grand or overwhelming, just very emotional. Songs like "Skinny Love" and "For Emma" make you feel like you're listening to someone work through their emotions. Vernon's vocals on this album act as an invitation to his pain. "The Wolves (Act I and II)" is a perfect example of that. When he repeatedly says "what might have been lost," I just begin to disassociate. A little random but a film that I highly recommend is The Place Beyond the Pines. This song is played at the very end.
One song I want to highlight is the final track on the album, “Re: Stacks,” which also happens to be my favorite. And I'm going to be completely honest, it took me a while to really understand what this song is about. I get completely lost by minute 2. It's all about coming to terms with things that are out of your control. So it's like realizing every track up until this one is Vernon addressing the pain. Yes, there's a sadness to this song, but it's really a feeling of acceptance. Realizing that it's over and moving on is all he can do.
Songs - Adrianne Lenker
I was debating between Capacity by Big Thief or this. I just think this album is so direct and honest that it hits so hard when the weather gets colder. There's something about the simplicity of the acoustic guitar and Lenker's vocals that makes the entire album feel incredibly personal. It almost feels like you're sitting in the same room as her while she's playing. Nothing feels overly produced or complicated, and I think that's what makes it so relatable. It's a folk driven collection of vulnerability and fragility. Maybe it's worth pointing out she too retreated to a cabin and wrote these two companion albums. Might have to try that myself.
Where do I even begin? Let's see, I know for a fact that the first song I heard was "ingydar." A song about life and death essentially. The lyrics "everything eats and is eaten, time is fed," alludes to the cycle of life and that death isn't necessarily seen as a sad ending in nature, but rather a necessity for life to thrive in our ecosystem. "Forwards beckon rebound," a song also referencing a cycle, but not like the one already mentioned. The cycle of essentially trying to offer someone new a chance while at the same time trying to heal. Wondering if you have enough trust and strength to do it all again.
And of course "anything" which is arguably the most popular song on the album. I mean, there isn't much for me to say about the song that you haven't already felt if you've heard it. It's raw, vulnerable, hopeful, and heartbreaking all at once. She writes about ordinary moments that feel so significant.
Strange Trails - Lord Huron
Two years after Lord Huron's debut album Lonesome Dreams they released Strange Trails. If I'm being honest, I no longer really listen to Lord Huron but it's too aligned with the topic of this blog. I would always come back to this album when I was in high school, specifically when the weather got colder. Their use of ghosts and graves to conduct storytelling was something I thought was pretty creative.
Songs like "Love Like Ghosts" and "The Night We Met" explore how emotionally painful yearning can be. Haunted by memories of what once was, knowing you'll never experience that again. The song "Fool for love," a play on words where you're so caught up on someone that you begin to think you actually have a chance. Sounds harsh but I'm just the messenger. It's a narration of a man who "isn't afraid to die" because he won't give up.
"Frozen Pines" was that song on the album that really stuck with me since the first time I heard this album 11 years ago. It's a chilling and haunting song believe it or not. The lyrics "I will find her, I will bring her back," centers on this idea of the frozen pines being a place of escape that the protagonist will leave this world for because their lover has vanished.
Bloom - Beach House
All my friends disagree with me when I say this is a top 10 album all time, but I'm willing to die on that hill. This is really an album I associate with winter but this is close enough. Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand have this incredible ability to create sounds that feel both nostalgic and otherworldly. It's a mix of dream pop, shoegaze, layered guitars, dreamy synthesizers, and of course Legrand's vocals. This album truly makes you feel like you're drifting through a memory or a dream.
I'll highlight a few songs, but just know that every song on this album deserves to be highlighted. "Other People," I interpret as being about the passage of time and how relationships change as we get older. There's this idea that people want to stay connected, but sometimes keeping in touch just isn't enough. People grow apart, circumstances change, and suddenly the relationship you once had with someone no longer exists. "On the Sea" is a unique track because it's vague. Vague in the sense that there isn't a clear cut meaning to its lyrics. I think there's a bottom line where themes of death, life, and identity are explored, but it's mostly left up for interpretation.
My favorite track on the album "Myth", the opening track, is about escapism and the desire to leave reality behind for a world that exists exactly as you wish it would. The line "what comes after this momentary bliss? The consequence of what you do to me" refers to the confrontation of reality and the world you perceived using your imagination. Constructed by your imagination, the bliss is momentary, and the consequence you face when it's over is emotionally painful. And towards the end of the song, "can't keep hangin' on to what is dead and gone" refers to the letting go of what no longer exists. We can keep telling ourselves what we want to know, creating a "myth," but in reality it's all over. Seen in this line, "materialize or let the ashes fly," saying that either way, you'll have to move on.
So, I think that's what makes music so special. For many of us we associate certain songs and albums with different times in our lives, and sometimes those associations stick with us forever. I don't even think I've explained why these five albums sound like fall albums to me, but I guess its just something that's understood when heard without having to explain. Maybe it's the memories I associate with them, the atmosphere they create, or just the feeling of listening to something familiar at the right time of year. Whatever the reason, I know I'll be coming back to these albums every fall, and hopefully I've given you a few reasons to check them out too.
Some albums I was considering to add to the list:
Fleet Foxes - self titled (2008)
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (2015)
The 1975 - self titled (2013)
Jonsi - Go (2010)
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (2000)
Current Joys - Wild Heart (2013)
Beach House - Depression Cherry (2015)
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (2010)
The Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People (2002)
Big Thief - Capacity (2017)
Volcano Choir - Repave (2013)
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