By Narayan Saimbi
I hate to break this to you, but summer is officially coming to an end. September is right around the corner, the leaves are starting to fall off the trees. I left the house this morning and was hit with an arctic wind straight out of the tundras. However, it’s not all doom and gloom just yet. The sun is still setting later. The weather is still sometimes nice enough for a BBQ. But there’s no mistaking that our time in the sun is coming to an end, and the bittersweet feelings that arise from that. Here are the 7 best albums to soundtrack our last days of summer for the year.
- Plans, Death Cab for Cutie
Twenty years ago, indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie released Plans. An album filled to the brim with themes of love, loss, death and the inevitable passage of time- all things that provoke that bittersweet feeling in your stomach. Plans is an adventure into the psyche of man, how he deals with the ending of it all and the reflective nature that comes with it. An absolute masterpiece, and one that certainly deserves its place on this list.
Image Credits: Tanisha Pina
2. Cigarettes After Sex, Cigarettes After Sex
The self-titled debut album by dream pop band Cigarettes after Sex set out such an intimate conversation between listener and artist that no project has been able to achieve since its release in 2017. Songs like “Sunsetz”, “K” and “Apocalypse” deal with themes of absence, longing, heartbreak and letting go (even if it’s extremely difficult to do so). If you want an album to make you both weep for days gone by, but also appreciate them for what they are, this is the album for you- it certainly fits that “end of summer vibe” that we’re in.
Image credits: Brecht Bug
3. Melophobia, Cage the Elephant
Whilst most of us know this album for the indie classic “Cigarette Daydreams”, Cage the Elephant packs this project with a plethora of palatable songs that provoke that bittersweet feeling within us. Whilst the album is mainly about the fear of making music, songs like “Telescope”, “Come a Little Closer” and of course “Cigarette Daydreams” produce melodies and lyrics that provoke that sense of turmoil and quasi- anxiety within us- letting go of what we know and embracing something new altogether. A scary feeling to some, but Cage the Elephant set these themes out in a gentle fashion, easing the listener into the changes that will occur. As the seasons begin to change, it’s worth listening to “Melophobia”- it may give you a bit of closure of the summer we’ve just had.
Image credits: Smoking Resource
4. Birdie, Slaughter Beach, Dog
Lead singer Jake Ewald has built up a reputation for his captivating lyrics. One of the two ex-frontmen of iconic midwest emo band Modern Baseball, Ewald has produced gold dust out of thin air, especially on the band’s debut album Sports. It is no surprise, therefore, that “Birdie” is filled with iconography representative of youth, love and longing in midwest America. The whole album is a 10/10 in my eyes, with tracks like “Phoenix”, “Acolyte”, “Bad Beer” and “Gold and Green” being only but a few that enrapture the listener in tales of intimacy, hope and a love for the art of living. An album I would recommend anyone to listen to, but if you’re wanting to reflect on long summer nights, getting together with friends and the adventures of youth, this album is the place to go.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons
5. Immunity, Clairo
Claire Cottrill is no stranger to writing songs about love and longing- the entirety of the Immunity album is testament to that. Whilst “Bags” and “Sofia” are household tracks at this point, each emanating an overtone of heartache and reflection to the listener, the rest of the album is packed with tracks that are just as hard-hitting, if not more. “Alewife” provides a melancholy tale of Cottrill’s mental health and her gratitude to her friend that helped her out of it. “Closer to You” expresses more feelings of longing for better days and “Impossible” is all about seeking closure. Even though the album is so much larger than simply moving from season to season, it nevertheless provides that bittersweet reflection that the end of summer brings and the reflection that comes with that in tandem.
Image credits: Stefano K
6. Parachutes, Coldplay
I can name very few faults with Coldplay’s debut album. Lyrics representing heartbreak and longing for better times, catchy yet haunting melodies that remain in your head for weeks. The instrumentation is both simple yet full of depth, especially on tracks like “Yellow” and “Sparks”, both iconic in their own rights. This is Chris Martin at his lyrical best and certainly expresses that pensive reflection that we’re all feeling this time of year.
Image credits: Cocorota Producciones
7. Nothing Matters, Wallows
The soundtrack of the summer of 2019, the Wallows’ debut is the epitome of that late summer feeling. “Scrawny” represents a cocky, indie vibe whereas songs like the iconic “Are you Bored Yet” shows us the feelings surrounding a relationship that is inevitably going to end. “Remember When” talks about reminiscing of a time gone by, and the album closes with “Do Not Wait”- a message that even though a lot may have happened, there is still more to come. I think this is a fitting album to finish off this list; both the timing of the project’s release and the messages within it firmly place it on my “end of summer” soundtrack.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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