Anastasia K.
Flicking through my album collection on my iPod (yep, I’m that dinosaur who still owns an iPod and – gasp – uses it, religiously) one day this month, I stumbled upon Gang of Four’s A Brief History of the Twentieth Century, a cleverly named and compiled collection of the iconic British post-punk band’s songs I love dearly and have done so for many years. What We All Want mesmerises me with its sombre, relentless, samey rhythm and lyrics that are almost crushing in their relatability – it’s like a bad dream you can’t shake off, because guess what, it is reality, lawl.
My other pick is signed by another post-punk band, up-and-coming Dubliners Fontaines D.C. Because I’m such a high-functional individual with a rich professional and personal life, come November the lion’s share of my time is spent putting together long-winded lists of my top albums from the year, and this year I thought I was ready to have it all clocked out but then I found the band’s debut album Dogrel and it turned my current tally upside down and I now feel I have to start all over again. Great.
Catherine
November is generally quite a tough, dark month, and this time all of the murky new releases didn’t help. Take, for example, the recent one from Billie Eilish, which sounds just as great as any track on her album and hits all the right spots just as hard. Although it has been on repeat in my headphones and in my thoughts, I was craving something a bit more cheerful and upbeat. That was when I revisited The Oh Hellos to discover Constellations, my true song of the month.
The usual perfectly written lyrics, some unexpected musical decisions along the way as well as their typical startling harmonies all culminate in the last lines: Everything you thought you knew will fall apart, but you’ll be alright. As an added bonus, the song may or may not make you feel part of a Medieval adventure – happens to me every time.
Ethan
As November gets ready for its last hours and the year is ready to culminate, we can begin to plan out what are we going to do during the holidays and what to expect at the beginning of the next year. Sometimes this is accompanied by fear and uncertainty of the future but we must remember that duality is an essential part of the structure of reality and we must be able to end things in order to begin new ones, to experience sadness to feel real happiness.
All these themes came to mind when I was choosing my song of the month, an old and forgotten gem in the Coldplay catalog: Things I Don’t Understand. This piece is a B-side from the X&Y album that was a metaphor for searching for the answer (algebraic metaphor). A song that voices fundamental opposites with powerful but subtle play of words and a soothing chorus that blends into a sea of guitars. It takes you through a warm journey into the uncertainty and human doubts. The song ends with a phrase that sums it all up, an answer to the hardship of life with the perseverance of the self:
“I live but I love this life.”
Anastasia L.
My pick for November’s Song of the Month is Последняя дискотека by young Russian singer and composer Lisa Monetochka (Елизавета Гырдымова, признана иноагентом). Cheeky and sentimental at the same time, this piece is about youth, freedom and personal boundaries, about growing up and finding your place in this cold and cruel world, and this is what makes it so relatable.
Maria
There are songs that simply cannot be ignored – it doesn’t matter if it’s the first time you hear them or the hundredth – their beat is reflected inside you, and your heart begins to wake up to their power. And I Feel You by Depeche Mode is definitely one of them. Cause, you know, in the cold and uniformly gray November – probably the most difficult month of the year – it is music that can make me reconnect with the will to live, and songs such as this ageless single of the famous British band are the best for it.
However, if the songs written decades ago are not for you, here’s another recommendation. This month, I’ve been really enjoying Labrinth’s new album Miracle – and the song of the same name made such a huge impression on me that I can't help repeating after this insanely talented singer:
“Can’t tell me the world don’t mind a miracle.”
