Whether you, or the seemingly persistent warm weather want to believe it, Autumn is coming. As I write this there is less than a week until classes resume and the falling of the leaves is sure to follow quickly. While some may complain about the changing of the seasons, others come alive with the scents and scenes of fall.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the sun and freedom the Summer brings, but the return of the Fall creates a range of feelings, both physical and philosophical. The calming warm, despite the descending temperatures, is easy to capture with a piping hot latte or pumpkin-spiced something or another, but the hint of softness and new beginnings is harder to encapsulate. 

It is in times like these we turn to music to express what words or pictures cannot. Even if you aren’t the biggest music aficionado, there is no denying the way music can make you feel things. Big things, small things, and especially indescribable things. Listening to a playlist designated towards an oddly specific mood, feeling or ocassion can drift our minds off to a different place, even being used to help reduce stress and anxiety.

As the summer cools down, here’s a playlist to ring in the fall season full of calming energy  - whether you are feeling stressed from school or work, grieving the summertime, or already planning for Thanksgiving and Halloween. A few songs that I feel especially set the mood for fall include:

Steady by Hotel Fiction - Leading with a lulling guitar melody and sweet voice, this song always pulls me into a hypnotic sway and has me playing a supercut of memories with friends and family in my head. The lyrics also serve as a soft reminder that we aren’t alone, even if we may feel like it sometimes.

Steamroller by Phoeobe Bridgers - While I could easy argue that most, if not all, of Phoebe’s music reminds me of the fall season, there is something about this song specifically. Between the strong strumming, the vulnerable voice and the uneasiness in the lyrics, it just feels like the changing of the season, the crisp air on your skin and the desire for something new.

Little Girl by Calica - Down to the cover art, this song is pure nostalgia. With a more upbeat yet still melancholy rhythm, Calica brings a warm and reasuring vocal to the track. Like a trip down memory lane, there is a hint of sadness, but it’s veiled heavily by overwhelming contentness. Somehow, it feels the sun is shining down on the leaves as their colours begging to change.

Fake Plastic Trees (Cover) by Holly Humberstone -  Staring off similarly to Radiohead’s original 1995 recording, this cover by British rising star Holly Humberstone features a low hum of guitar that slowly builds up, along with a haunting vocal, to a desperate, emotional peak. Although somewhat grim and sad, this song somehow brings me comfort, like a blanket on a cold, rainy day.