Music Monday // 015 —Experimental Pop and R&B For a Euphoric Autumn Playlist

I always dreaded autumn. Don’t get me wrong, I see the appeal — the nights are more comfortable for sleeping, clothes are more fashionable, the world seems to slow down, and of course my birthday month falls at the height of autumn’s peak. But this season is also tied to an undercurrent of melancholy and aching anticipation.

Fall is deceptive, masking decay with beauty.

The days are shorter, and darkness bundles itself into the workday little by little. The leaves, though vibrant, are ultimately an ode of  the restlessness of summer finally simmering.  Even the air is sinister, teasing us with a feeling of crispness before ushering in more biting temperatures. Fall is deceptive, masking decay with beauty.

By the time fall comes around, we’re well into the second half of the calendar year, and fiercely reminded that time is relentless. Fall doesn’t care that you worked too much this summer, or that you never made that one last beach trip. Fall is unconcerned with the tedious coursework that awaits you at the start of a new semester. Fall is a cruel gesture, and in its path leaves naked trees and frostbitten grounds.

Or maybe you’d just enjoy a wistful, subdued soundtrack of rising experimental Pop and R&B artists to ring in the cooler months.

And this is decay. This is the winding-down of everything, towards death. Yet the great gift of autumn is that the beginning of the end doesn’t feel like decay, at least on the surface. It doesn’t feel like a crumbling and a rottening and a collapse from within; it feels like the arrival of a world of new sensations. As such, it’s actually somewhat hopeful and indicative of rebirth.

So maybe you’re like me and embrace autumn the way one embraces a root canal. Or maybe you’d just enjoy a wistful, subdued soundtrack of rising experimental Pop and R&B artist to ring in the cooler months. Either way, here’s a playlist of beautifully euphoric songs intended to comfort the bleeding souls this November.

Listen to full music playlist on Spotify below!

Have a song I should hear? Email me with your suggestion!

Like this story? Sign up for my newsletter to get more of my best work.