If you're as obsessed with music as I am, you probably have those few songs, albums, or artists that you could just listen to on repeat forever and ever. You must know the feeling.
A song comes on shuffle on your Spotify or your Apple Music. The opening chord strikes you, somehow. It sets the mood. It just feels intrinsically right to you. It sounds like home.
You continue listening. The first lyrics of the song are sung. It feels like the lead singer is talking to you, telling you a story, the dialogue opening up and spinning itself into something beautiful and unique. Suddenly you're not just listening to a song, but are on a musical journey.
So here's a list of five albums for when you want to recreate that feeling, for when you want something new to listen to, for when you want something that will make you feel things. Here's a list of five albums to give you the feels.
1. Carrie and Lowell by Sufjan Stevens
Combining a folksy sound with minimalist vocals, singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens never fails to create art out of music. Favoring simple acoustics yet undercut with varying themes of melancholy and struggle, Carrie and Lowell is ranked among the best of Stevens' albums and certainly is renowned as one that is as emotional as it is complex.
Highlights: "Fourth of July," "Death with Dignity," "Carrie and Lowell"
2. Metals by Feist
The album Metals from Canadian independent artist Feist is composed with a chilling tone and tensely soft vocals. Ideal for contemplation or relaxation, Metals is quite vast in its scope, with multiple contrasts throughout the work, including changes in mood and in lyrical devices as well. The intensity of Feist's vocals make it a stellar match with every song on the album, resulting in an astounding work.
Highlights: "Graveyard," "Comfort Me," "How Come You Never Go There"
3. Seven + Mary by Rainbow Kitten Surprise
Indie alt-rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise delivers a freshman album that is quite deviant from its preconceived notions. When someone hears a band name with both the words "rainbow" and "kitten" in it, the first thing that comes to mind is probably quirky electro-pop. RKS, however, creates a standout record with influences of folk and bluegrass evolved with complex musical patterns. The band claims musical influences in Modest Mouse, Lana Del Rey, and Kings of Leon, all evident without being completely obvious. Rich with themes of heartbreak and new love, Seven + Mary is a record that holds a sense of timelessness.
Highlights: "Shameful Company," "All That and More (Sailboat)," "Hey Pretty Momma"
4. Landmark by Hippo Campus
High energy indie rock band Hippo Campus creates a "landmark" of a debut album with Landmark. Despite the previous release of two EPs, the complexity of Landmark is so impressive that it almost seems like a sophomore release. The band is confident in their varying tone on the record, between the upbeat pieces and the more contemplative ones. The themes on Landmark are rich with adolescence and love, as well as the self-discovery and doubt that comes with it. Overall, the record is a universal lens that the band creates for the listener so that when one listens to frontman Jake Luppen sing, they are really listening to the personal dialogue of a story.
Highlights: "Monsoon," "Epitaph," "Poems"
5. Make Out by LANY
Los Angeles trio LANY, despite being fairly new on the musical scene, are reminiscent of some kind of West Coast nostalgia, the kind that you don't have to visit California to feel. Their EP Make Out is tinged with a kind of breezy, vintage alt-pop that feels all too familiar. Similar to artists like The 1975 and Oh Wonder, LANY makes a name for themselves with this record. So put in your earbuds and catch a small listen of summer infatuation, personified,
Highlights: "ILYSB," "BRB/Kiss"
