6 Tracks for September 2014

September’s been pretty great. Life’s been peppered with short but sweet visits from Plaid Boy and some friends from Manila, a really great work month and an amazing Indian Summer. I’m also counting down til I have to fly out for my wedding prep holiday. *gulp*. Good thing I have pretty chilled tunes on loop at the mo to calm me down!

alt-J - Lovely Day
This has got to be one of the best covers I’ve heard of Bill Withers’ iconic tune. The arrangement is perfect for cool, crisp mornings and your Autumnal end-of-day reprieve. The band’s second album, This Is All Yours, is a very good follow-up to An Awesome Wave.

Ryan Adams - Feels Like Fire

I can list all the reasons why I love artists like Ryan Adams but I’ll just direct you to open Spotify and have a mindblowing ride. His new self-titled album is steady. There’s a certain feel of loss and longing (some songs stemming from something possibly painful) but there’s also hope. Lots of it.

Conway - Shut Up
I love a good 80’s-sounding catchy tune. This track is very pop, trip-happy, and reminiscent of those songs you hear in classic John Hughes films. The type of teen films they don’t seem to have much of these days.

Maroon 5 - Sugar

The band’s fifth studio album V is branded as their “most Adam Levine album to date”. By that, it’s expectedly pop rock, but less significant as Overexposed. I admire how the band’s become unapologetic for commercial radio bait, but I miss Songs About Jane Maroon 5.

Oliver $ and Jimi Jules - Pushin’ On
I like a good deep house tune and this one doesn’t disappoint. Interesting concept for the video, if “Push mo yan, teh!” (Go for it, sister!) had a visual, this might just be it.

Coldplay - Always In My Head
Not entirely new, and not entirely news that a Coldplay track lands on the September playlist. The latest album, Ghost Stories, is magnificent sleep aid (in a good way!) and I can’t name a night when it’s not been stuck on loop to help me catch Z’s. This is my favourite track from it, followed closely by the very endearing Magic. Oh, and is it just me or is Chris Martin looking a lot hunkier with all that conscious uncoupling muscle?