Music Monday (5)

Music Monday -- Late Autumn/Early Winter Addition

1. Bear's Den

Bear's Den is a band that I've only just gotten into this past year, but now that I'm into them I can't seem to stop listening. They're beautiful melodies and the sound of lead vocalist Andrew Davie's voice has a wonderful calming effect on me that's become incredibly addicting. And just like sitting beside a warm fire or drinking a hot cup of tea or cocoa, listening to their music in these cold autumn/winter months is a beautiful comfort. The soft guitar in most of their songs fits in well with falling snowflakes and quiet days spent wrapped in fuzzy blankets. Their sound encapsulates almost all of my favorite things about folk/indie music and I look forward to not only enjoying them in the next few months, but for years to come. 

Favorite Songs: Above The Clouds Of Pompeii - Agape - Sophie - Bad Blood - Elysium - Issac - Magdalene - When You Break

  

2. Alessia Cara

Alessia is a new artist that has only recently made her way onto my radar, but after first hearing her single "Here," and realizing that it was basically written for me, I was excited to hear more from her. And with the very recent release of her debut album, Know-It-All, I found even more songs to love and relate to. Her sound is fun and sweet, but with a little edge and attitude mixed in, which is what I think makes it so great. It's not my typical fall/winter go-to music like some of these other artists, but when the music is good, I don't think it really matters how well it does or doesn't fit in with the season. Alessia's music is the kind of music I would listen to at all times of the year, but since her album has been released this month I thought I'd add her to this list so you can all see for yourselves what a great new talent she is. I'm just glad that I found her so early in her career, and now I'm excited to see what great things she'll do in the future.

Favorite Songs: Here - Scars To Your Beautiful - River Of Tears - Outlaws - I'm Yours - Overdose - Stars

3. Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine (aka Sam Beam) has been in my life for quite some time now. The first song I ever heard of his was "Flightless Bird, American Mouth," and at the time it was different from everything else I was listening to. You could say that this was my alt. rock stage with how heavy and loud most of the music I was listening to was, but Iron & Wine was different, and this made me like his music all the more. Since then I've been lucky enough to hear him play live and let me tell you, it was an experience. Not only did he sound amazing, but he spent most of the evening just asking the crowd what they wanted to hear and then playing whatever it was that someone shouted out. It was great and it made the experience feel more personal than probably any show I've ever been to. Also he's pretty funny, which is always a bonus. And I think that his slow and steady sound fits in perfectly with the quietness that this colder weather always brings. 

Favorite Songs: Such Great Heights - Flightless Bird, American Mouth - The Trapeze Swinger - Boy With A Coin - The Sea & The Rhythm - Freckled Girl

4. Pentatonix 

If you haven't heard of Pentatonix by now, then let me be the first to tell you that you should definitely check them out. They are an A Capella group that got their start doing covers of popular songs, but have since gone on to release many cover albums, and have recently released their first completely original album. Now I know when you hear A Capella you might be thinking something along the lines of a barber shop quartet, but let me assure you that this group is nothing like the A Capella groups of old. This group brings a whole new meaning to the genre and if you enjoyed the music of the Pitch Perfect franchise even a little, then you'll definitely love Pentatonix. Not to mention they won a Grammy this past year, and if that doesn't convince you to give them a listen, then I don't know what will. Like Alessia Cara, they sound nothing like my usual fall/winter bands and artists, but it doesn't even matter. Instead of fitting in with the weather, they give me a little boost of energy every time I listen to their new self-titled album. They make me happy when skies are gray, so to speak, and they sound like no one else out there today because they don't use instruments. Instead their voices have become the instruments, and what beautiful instruments they are indeed.

Favorite Songs: Rose Gold - Can't Sleep Love - Cracked - Ref - Water - New Year's Day - Take Me Home - Misbehavin'

5. The Head And The Heart

The Head And The Heart is a group that I've been listening to for probably two or three years now, and though I like to listen to them all year round, I find myself listening to them the most in the time between November and December. It's a time that I love very much, and TH&TH are always a perfect accompaniment to the changing weather and that special time of the year when it doesn't really feel like autumn anymore, but it's still not quite winter either. I love the combination of the male voices and the one female voice that all seem to meld together so perfectly, and yet always stand out at the same time. Together they are able to create a beautiful sound that is both quintessentially indie/folk, while at the same time sounding like nothing else in the genre. Their music always reminds me of snowy woods and almost frozen streams, and days when the sun shines bright and the wind blows fast and it's so cold that it turns your cheeks red. It's little things like that that make me love this time of year, and also this band.

Favorite Songs: Down in the Valley - Rivers and Roads - Winter Song - Lost in My Mind - Let's Be Still - Another Story

Happy Listening, Friends!

Love & Chaos, Sam

Playing Catch Up

I think it's safe to say that I've spent the majority of my teen years and now my early adulthood feeling as if I'm playing catch up with everyone around me. All my friends and peers got their licenses before me. They all got summer jobs before me. They got boyfriends and broken hearts before me. And now they're all adjusting to adulthood better than I ever could. And that's how the past ten years of my life have gone. Running to catch up with my friends and my peers, and never quite making it in time. Because as soon as I get to a place where I finally feel as if I've made some progress, as if I've gotten closer to where everyone else seems to be, I look up and they're already ten steps ahead of me once again.

I remember being asked to write a poem my Junior year of high school for my English class, and I remember to this day that my poem was all about trying to keep up with everyone around me. Trying to figure out how to make the same transition from being a kid to a semi-adult that everyone else seemed to be making. And I also remember that the poem made my mother cry, but that isn't really saying much. My mother cries at everything I write. Still, that one poem has stuck with me for a long time, and in a lot of ways I feel as if I'm still living it today. Still barely keeping up. Still feeling out of place or left behind. Still wishing that I could somehow develop the same gene that everyone around me seems to have that allows them to grow up and move out and start acting like an adult. Not that I'm particularly looking forward to acting like an adult, but it feels like it should be time. I'm almost 23 years old and yet most days, at least on the inside, I still feel like that same terrified, starry-eyed 17 year old girl who only wants to spend time with her family, read books about beautiful boys and brave girls, and laugh with her friends. Who wants to believe in magic and soulmates and dreams that actually come true. Who just wishes that someone would truly see her and tell her that she matters and that everything really is going to be okay.

The girl I was back then had so many dreams and so many things she wanted to do with her life. She had so many expectations and somewhere inside she really believed that they would be met. At least she hoped so. And sitting here now writing this to you I can't help but feel that I've let her down in too many ways. The same kinds of ways that she let down the ten year old girl that came before her. And I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to be 30 years old and still thinking that I've let my almost 23 year old self down. Because letting your friends down and letting your family down is one thing, but when you let yourself down, it just makes you feel so hopeless. And I've felt hopeless and helpless for so many years and I hate it. Because I'm not either of those things. I am a perfectly capable human being, and I am the only real thing standing between what I have and what I really want. I am the only thing standing between who I am and who that 17 year old girl hoped I would be. And I don't want to let her down anymore. I don't want to always be playing this constant game of catch up. It's exhausting and it's unnecessary and it's impossible. Everyone grows and changes at their own pace. Everyone does things at their own pace. And everyone gets to where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to get there. At least that's what I'd like to believe. So even though I may not be where my peers, or even my friends are in life, I'm still here, and I'm going at my own pace, and I'm learning that that's okay.

There is a tree that lives outside my window that is only just now changing from green to red. Every autumn it is always the last tree to change color and lose its leaves, and every morning I wake up to see how much it has changed overnight. And though the change is slow and sometimes hard to notice, the tree is changing, one leaf at a time. And much like the tree outside my window, I am slow to change and I'm bad at letting go. But everyday this tree shows me that even though change may come slower for me than for those around me, that doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with me. And it doesn't mean that I'm doing something wrong. And it doesn't mean that I need to play catch up. And even though sometimes change can seem scary, I'm learning that it can also be good and necessary. And sometimes, if you're lucky, it can even be beautiful.

Love & Chaos,

Sam