As the Northern Hemisphere pulls away from the sun, in the animal kingdom, many birds migrate to warmer areas while other animals prepare to nest and hibernate. We humans generally stay put and absorb the changing season as it comes, changing our behaviour and adjusting to our new state. As part of that, we do away with the rush of glistening production over rapid beats and instead embrace moodier tracks with a steadier rhythm to match our pace.
Yes, that means saying “see you soon!” to the likes of Zara Larsson, who has been dominating the festival circuit worldwide for the past few months with ‘Midnight Sun’ and the resurgence of ‘Lush Life’; finally detaching ourselves from Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s 'Rein Me In’, which has remained an unmovable force on music charts; and, for those who understandably want every summer to be a ‘BRAT’ summer, temporarily simmering down the rave of Charli XCX’s addictive hyperpop.
This shift in our musical temperament at this time of year has been studied, so it isn't just you or a sense of feeling a bit “off”. The University of Oxford found that UK weather conditions influence music success in the markets, specifically finding that “energetic and positive music” has a pattern of “increasing in summer and decreasing in winter”. Lead researcher of the study, Dr Manuel Anglada, said: “Our study suggests that favourable environmental conditions, such as warm and sunny weather, induce positive emotional states in listeners, which in turn, leads them to choose to listen to energetic and positive music”. This shows that our song choices go far beyond the quality of the music but can, in fact, be chosen to match our current environmental state and, in turn, the effect our environment has on our moods.
For some tunes to soundtrack your crisp, maybe darker, but definitely autumnal days, take heed of these songs and albums – new, old and somewhere in between.
If you need to begin by taking some time in your feels and even reminiscing on summertime, do so with Alice Costelloe, whose album ‘Move On With The Year’, released in February, is the ideal lens to look through when processing everything that’s happened in the jam-packed, sunny months. Costelloe processes some, at times, uncomfortable emotions and ultimately emerges with a sense of peace through numerous gorgeous melodies. If you like that, it’s well worth listening back to her 2024 EP, ‘When It’s The Time’, which is equally as pensive and filled with lush art-pop to soothe the mind.
If the retreat of glittery synths has left you longing for some more unusual, psychedelic numbers that tempt you to get lost in a whirlwind of sound and thought, Crumb have three albums under their belt. Their most recent, ‘AMAMA’, is heard through a half-awake, cinematic haze as real concerns and raw feelings occasionally and imaginatively drift in and out of consciousness, bubbling to the surface as fragments piece together. Earlier work, like 2021’s ‘Trophy’, locks you into an evening trance as gently spoken lines turn to distorted guitars and muffled admissions of “That’s just the way it goes” before softening again.
For the spooky among us who know Halloween as the highlight of this period, allow your spine to be chilled by the ghostly, electrified organ on Joe Kelly & The Royal Pharmacy’s ‘Little Fears’, from his 2025 album ‘Cast Me Down’. Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘Haunted’ from her new album ‘Lost Weekend’ will disturb you, not with its surprisingly upbeat, alt-country jangle, but with its sobering lyrics: “You won’t have to open a heart that’s broken / Water’s gonna flow in either way”. Also raising some hairs is the airy shoegaze of Fontaine D.C.’s ‘Marianne’, from their upcoming album, ‘Dopamine Chamber’.
Don’t forget the classics, too! How could you soundtrack your autumn without the ethereal sounds of Kate Bush? And look beyond ‘Wuthering Heights’ to land on ‘Oh To Be In Love’, a track that truly lives up to its name with wildly gorgeous vocals and a pleasing blend of acoustic and electric elements. Likewise, the calming odes of Lindisfarne can take sedate any bad mood, particularly on folk-rock anthem ’Run for Home’. For the witchy and whimsical, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham’s ‘Crystal’ (originally from ‘Buckingham Nicks’ and later re-recorded for Fleetwood Mac’s tenth album, then again as a solo version by Nicks for the Practical Magic soundtrack) will have you channelling the four elements as the pair sing “I turned around and the water was closin’ around me”.
These tracks looking a little too peaceful for you? The Cure’s ‘A Forest’ is a twilight excursion through woodland, amplified by hypnotic bass, binding drums and far-out, impassioned vocals that repeat until they fade away.
Still not angry enough? If this time of year comes with the need for a little catharsis and release, then you may need the rage of Evanescance’s latest album, ‘Sanctuary’, where the title track is one of their strongest and most anthemic, augmented by the intense fire in lead vocalist Amy Lee’s soaring vocals.
A reminder that the autumn period is also the perfect time to indulge in these earthier tracks before winter sets in and we head into the controversial, sleigh-bell infested Christmas season, so make the most of it.
If you’re reading this from the Southern Hemisphere, then this may not be totally relevant to you right now, but return in a few months and these recommendations will be just what you require.
Kai Lewis Palmer
Image: Kai Lewis Palmer
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