September's been a month of music exploration for me. I found myself listening to new genres and albums I'd been hesitant on before, or didn't even know I could like. Here's a look at my top 5 songs, in order, of September.
5. Falling Over You - Johnny Knox
I might even consider this song for being out of my "music comfort zone"(if that even exists for me) , but Johnny Knox's voice just flows. He has these incredible vocals that just outline every edge & curve of the lyrics, it's truly amazing. Knox paints the picture of falling for someone in a way that the other really can't deny. It's a sweet, blueprinted sort of love that is almost too good to be true. 10/10 breakfast making song.
4. How Can I - Chance Emerson
You ever listen to a song and it just gets better each time you listen to it? Emerson crafts this playful song about being in this constant loop, underlined by the question asked throughout the song "How can I love you if you can't love yourself?". On the surface level, it seems just like that, but the lyrics hold such a deeper and universally relatable message, and I find different lines standing out to me each time I listen to it.
"I saw this man who didn’t know his life
And if he did he chose to lie
He wandered in circles
Said who are you and darling who am I
Fictional and sleep deprived"
"I loved my self from last spring
I thought I knew everything
Now I’m him and I think
No I know not a thing and I’m singing like
Let me out of this place let me out,
let me out of this place let me out"
3. Suburbs - The Garden Plot
The breezy electric guitar rift, the little harmonies, the vocals, and the bass line just all add up to create this refreshing song. For The Garden Plot's first song, this really sets the bar high and I'm really excited to hear more of their music!
2. How Can I Be Sure - Durand Jones & The Indications
One of the genres I really got into this month was R&B/Soul, completely out of no where. I found myself listening to artists like Charlie Burg, Michael Kiwanuka, Samm Henshaw, but Durand Jones & The Indications was really where it started. I meant to listen to them awhile back after being recommended by a friend (shout out to Michael). About a month after, the name just reappeared in my head and I was like "I'm gonna listen to them today", whole discography type of thing. Frankly, I was not disappointed, sure it was different than what I usually listened to, but it still had that familiarity in a good way. Vocalist and drummer, Aaron Frazer, sets the tone of this song with his oddly (or not oddly?), soothing falsetto which makes it's appearance in many others songs on American Love Call.
1. Thoughts In Progress - Vacation Manor
I started listening to Vacation Manor earlier this summer, which ended up being the perfect time because they've recently been releasing new music! Each of their new songs have just been spot on, but this one really hit with me. It's got such a warm-feeling & honest tone accompanied by the pungent electric guitar.
"Do you trust me with your thoughts in progress
Or only wasting our time."
"So willing you withdraw
I know that you wish all of the feelings would unravel themselves
But I'll never know if you don't tell.."
These two lines really cover the whole song well. Someone is withholding their thoughts, unsure of what will/what has become of them, but the other is conveying that doing that will only hurt them, or "waste our time". Nathan Towles singing from the perspective of the "healer", speaks for how the other is feeling gathering as much as he can from the outside, but only coming back to the same conclusion, he'll only know if they tell. This idea is really highlighted by the repeated question, "Do you trust me with your thoughts in progress?"
{The cover really resembles the song so well. I can't put it into words, but the cover just looks like how the song sounds??? }