After what felt like an eternal winter, spring has begun to emerge with rays of sunlight fighting to shine against gray, dreary days. Still, we’re due for our fair share of rainy storms and cloudy contemplations, showing that renewal can’t arrive without a little gloom and reflection. Mentally and physically chaotic days often require the perfect playlist to share their ever-changing energy. Just in time for our spring cleaning, here are five albums that encapsulate the rebirth of spring in rain or shine.
‘Spring’ by Wallows
I know the title is on-the-nose, but I can’t help but play this 2018 EP once the weather starts to get warm. Like the transitional season, “Spring” is all about revisiting past memories and making room for new opportunities. Opening track “Ground” reminisces on a carefree adolescence and desire to steal time back: “We were wanting to grow up every weekend / Now we’re watching the moments as they’re leaving.” These themes of stolen youth develop into a sense of optimism, like on “Let The Sun In,” with a warm trumpet motif and lyrics about the possibilities of budding romance, where singer Braeden Lemasters admits “Now I know it’s real.” As the grass gets a little greener and being outside becomes bearable again, I love taking some time to assess where I am and appreciate who and what got me here. These six songs are a perfect backdrop for that.
— Dani Biondi, Arts Editor
‘Deeper Well’ by Kacey Musgraves
Often overshadowed by the more fan-favorite “Golden Hour,” Kacey Musgraves’ beautifully simple and criminally underrated “Deeper Well” is the epitome of emotional healing. Chronicling Musgraves’ Saturn return under folky instrumentation, “Deeper Well” is all about slowing down and leaving behind unhealthy habits. “The Architect” quietly muses on life’s biggest questions: “This life that we make, is it random or fate? / Can I speak to the architect?” Even in her introspections, the album is grounded in personal truths and mantras, heard across songs like “Dinner With Friends” and “Heart of the Woods.” “Deeper Well” plants its roots of healing and spirituality in any mindful listener, providing the perfect soundtrack for a spring rebirth.
— Amelia Knust, Music Editor
‘Older (and Wiser)’ by Lizzy McAlpine
On a gloomy spring day, the only album I’m streaming is Lizzy McAlpine’s “Older (and Wiser).” Across the record, McAlpine contemplates heartbreak while slowly coming to terms with her growing pains. On “Staying,” she captures emotional release: “Maybe I would be okay if I let this go forever,” a reminder that sometimes it’s the things we cling to that keep us stuck. On tracks like “Soccer Practice” and “Better Than This,” McAlpine traces the complicated aftermath of love with more sharp and honest lyrics about accepting that things could have never ended differently. What makes the album especially poignant is the space it gives listeners to reflect and digest McAlpine’s lyricism. Her relatability and self-awareness invite introspection, gently pushing the listener to be a lighter (and wiser) version of themself.
— Rhea Kohli, Fine Arts Editor
‘Blind’ by The Sundays
The Sundays’ 1992 dream-pop album, “Blind,” guides listeners into a graceful, intense journey of release and reconciliation. Popular songs such as “Goodbye” and “Love” celebrate the act of letting go, encouraging listeners to find the joy in life’s more burdensome layers. The Sundays also represent the desperate longing for serenity through their lesser-known songs “Blood On My Hands” and “Medicine.” They warn listeners, “don’t go imagining that time is medicine,” — some wounds never heal, and moving forward means carrying them, not leaving them behind. Blind concludes with a cover of The Rolling Stones’ classic, “Wild Horses,” creating a full-circle moment of finding closure in beginning again.
— Emily Love, Contributing Writer
‘Animal Crossing: New Leaf’ soundtrack by Nintendo
When I was growing up, my mom and I would take weeks to get through spring cleaning — clothes I had outgrown would lie strewn across my bedroom floor, creating a little cushion that I would cocoon myself into with my Nintendo 3DS to play “Animal Crossing: New Leaf.” After a hard day of being a third-grader burdened by rain-imposed indoor recess, all I wanted to do when I got home was retreat to my clothing-covered room to spend my evening with my villagers. The game’s melancholy hourly soundtrack underscored all my nights. I would leave my 3DS charging next to me while I did homework so I didn’t miss the eerily pensive “7PM,” and I frequently fell asleep hiding with my 3DS under a pillow to the gentle synthesizers and piano of “11PM.” Each track features jazzy melodies topped with light marimbas that transform from playful to bittersweet throughout the day, perfect for the wave of nostalgia that comes while looking out your bedroom window as the seasons change.
— Chantal Mann, Performing Arts Editor
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