Weekly Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/65Xi2qC4efCIjSWNNzPj8G?si=aG95HvipQwaD00tACqoz3g 

Madelaine’s picks

1. Bane’s World – “When My Life Is Over”
2. Young the Giant – “Strings”
3. Djo – “Roddy”

Bane’s World is an alternative-indie group that has been releasing music since 2016. “When My Life Is Over” is the band’s third most popular song on Spotify with over three million plays. This song is slow and sounds like a mix of bands Beach House and Mac DeMarco. At just over two minutes, this song discusses loneliness, the end of a relationship and changes that both individuals must make in the aftermath.

“Strings” is the seventh track on Young the Giant’s 2011 self-titled album. Young the Giant’s discography is a mix of alternative, indie and folk. The band’s songs are full of melodic guitar riffs, rhythmic drum beats and lead singer Sameer Gadhia’s bright, crisp voice. “Strings” is no exception, featuring lyrics about a clean slate and a new connection with references to summer, the tides and the beach. The song sounds like summer and a trip to the beach, sticking with the same themes.

If you’re a fan of the show “Stranger Things,” you may already be familiar with Djo, whether you know it or not. Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington in “Stranger Things,” makes music under the alias. Prior to making alternative-indie music under the name Djo, Keery was a member of the psychedelic-rock band Post Animal. “Roddy” is from Djo’s first and only album “Twenty Twenty” released in September 2019. 

Angelina’s picks 

1. MisterWives – “Coloring Outside The Lines” 
2. Camila – “Todo Cambió”  
3. Willie Nelson, Ray Charles – “Seven Spanish Angels” 

“Coloring Outside The Lines” from the band MisterWives is about creating music and the relationships that can form from it. It illustrates breaking the normalities that society is strapped to and just being creative because you want to. Throughout the song they compare themselves to the sun, as its brightness doesn’t compare to the feeling they get when creating music. 

Camila is a Mexican pop-rock band that mostly sings Latin pop. “Todo Cambió” is one of the most beautiful love ballads in the music industry. Its English translation is “Everything Changed.” The lyrics describe how everything changes for the better when you fall in love, black and white turn to color and you care more about them now than ever. The song does center around love at first sight and the immediate feelings of love, passion and devotion. 

In “Seven Spanish Angels,” Willie Nelson and Ray Charles team up to tell the story of an outlaw and his lover who run to Mexico in an effort to escape Texas law enforcement. The outlaw prays for God to free him in the afterlife. It can be assumed they were killed as the chorus sings, “there were seven Spanish angels at the altar of the sun,” which we can believe is heaven, and the seven angels are a reference to the biblical book of Revelation. One at a time, the outlaw and his lover are killed as the seven Spanish angels “brought another angel home.”  

Daija’s picks

1. Squirrel Flower – “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings”
2. The La’s – “There She Goes”
3. Trash Panda – “Aging out of the 20th Century”

Caroline Polochek originally performed “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” in 2019 and it has more of a pop vibe to it, while Squirrel Flower’s version has a rock instrumental and takes a much more solemn sound. This song tackles the concept of knowing someone is toxic for you, but not being able to let go because of how attractive they are.

“There She Goes” was released in 1988 and was borrowed from The Velvet Underground’s “There She Goes Again.” This song is unique in that it contains no verses, just a chorus that is repeated and a bridge. It has played in many movies and TV shows throughout the ‘90s and early 2000s, so it’s a great song to put on if you’re feeling nostalgic. 

“Aging out of the 20th Century” is off Trash Panda’s EP “Off” released in 2016. It explores how certain experiences cause people to mature a lot quicker than others. The song has a slow tempo paired with an electric guitar riff instrumental. 

Parker’s picks

1. John Lennon – “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)”
2. Fleetwood Mac – “Say You Love Me”
3. Led Zeppelin – “Tangerine”

As the weather gets warm, with the occasional chilly day to keep us on our toes, we all need songs to remind us of the freedom and feeling of euphoria summer brings us. 

Released on his final album “Double Fantasy,” John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” is a loving tribute to his youngest son Sean. The beautiful lyrics show Lennon’s devotion to his five-year-old child and is somewhat tragic when the lyric “I can hardly wait to see you come of age” comes up. Of course, Lennon would be assassinated before that would ever happen. The song is serene and holds a special place in people’s hearts, especially if you’ve seen the film “Mr. Holland’s Opus.”

“Say You Love Me” was a single off of Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled 1975 album with the amazing vocal talents of keyboardist Christine McVie. Her rhythm is upbeat and romantic. While Fleetwood Mac is a bit more famous for the vocal talents of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, McVie’s singing was one of many great weapons the band had in its arsenal.

After two hard rock masterpieces, Led Zeppelin started to veer more toward folk influences for their third album. “Tangerine” has beautiful acoustic melodies. Some may recognize this song from the end of “Almost Famous” and the song takes on a whole new life when you experience it for the first time. While songs like “Black Dog” and “The Immigrant Song” are more well-known and display the more wild side of the band, “Tangerine” displays an intimacy that Led Zeppelin would pursue in the future, notably with “Stairway to Heaven.”