There is a specific mood that many associate with the month of November, and I feel as though it isn’t the most positive mood. In fact, it’s quite dark. The leaves are either turning a deep red or falling off completely, the air chills you to the core, and the only big holiday celebrates the genocide of Native Americans. There’s simply something off about the entire month, making it feel–in a way–surreal.

With the emotions I associate with November, I also associate a certain musical mood, which, of course, is dark. This playlist starts out with a softer form of melancholy, with artists similar to (and including) Bon Iver. These first few songs have folk influences, which are appropriate for the mood associated with the fall season. A transition begins, going into songs that are heavier and darker, which I believe represents the nature of November–dramatically dismal. This moment features artists similar to and including The Wytches and Blonde Redhead. However, once we get past these songs, there is a sliver of hope, going back to softer folk songs with happier moods, which I imagine to represent the end of this somber month and the transition into December. There is a light at the end of the tunnel towards the end of this playlist, yet the final track represents the winter chill that is still yet to come with January through March.

• Track 1: Broadripple Is Burning // Margot & the Nuclear So So’s
  • Favorite Lyrics: And everything that I have loved has turned to stone // So pack your bags and come back home.
• Track 2: Holocene // Bon Iver
  • Favorite Lyrics: And at once I knew I was not magnificent
• Track 3: Sleep Apnea // Beach Fossils
  • Favorite Lyrics: I’m staring at the sky / But I can’t tell which way my thoughts are traveling / I try to listen to your words / But I can’t feel my head and it’s unraveling
• Track 4: Voyeur // Baths
  • Favorite Lyrics: I'm always in / The wake of the hope that / You might just sit and / Talk a bit
• Track 5: 10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄ // Bon Iver
  • Favorite Lyrics: I'm unorphaned in our northern lights / Dedicoding every daemon
• Track 6: Hated Because of Great Qualities // Blonde Redhead
  • Favorite Lyrics: These are different matters / These are uncertain feelings / These should never be discussed here / So keep it to yourself
• Track 7: Fragile Male For Sale // The Wytches
  • Favorite Lyrics: I've been sleeping so I'll never get to be / Right beside you when you walk through my whole daily routine / You must be a dancer cause you're dancing in me / Oh the burning never stops but I'm as cold as can be
• Track 8: I Appear Missing // Queens of the Stone Age
  • Favorite Lyrics: It's only falling in love / Because you hit the ground
• Track 9: Simple Math // Manchester Orchestra
  • Favorite Lyrics: I imply to mitigate the guilt, we could align / A perfectly constructed alibi / To hush the violent guilt that eats and never dies / In actual blame, they call me once the dark divides
• Track 10: Three White Horses // Andrew Bird
  • Favorite Lyrics: Don't dismiss it like it's easy / Tell me what's so easy / 'Bout coming to say goodbye
• Track 11: The Magician // Andy Shauf
  • Favorite Lyrics: Just a shaking hand without a concrete plan / I’m a shaking hand without a plan
• Track 12: Elizabeth // Julia Jacklin
  • Favorite Lyrics: With the front row in the heel of your palm / So good, that bright stage light / Showing the back four rows that you got it made here tonight
• Track 13: You Already Know // Bombay Bicycle Club
  • Favorite Lyrics: You said love was painted gold / Like all things growing old / The paint peels and slowly falls
• Track 14: gun-shy // Grizzly Bear
  • Favorite Lyrics: The blisters in my eyes / Recite / A guide that has only led me stray / And even as I limp / You smile
• Track 15: For The Damaged Coda // Blonde Redhead

November is a month where many people choose to embrace the melancholy, which I encourage in moderation. I will personally be divulging into this moody month, but not so much that I lose myself to it.

I would recommend drawing inspiration from it, yet maintaining a warm spirit by spending time with friends, sipping on hot drinks, and listening to music with a soft and hearty sentiment.

You may find the full playlist here.