When winter comes around the corner, it brings with it a whole different atmosphere. The nights draw in, and the wind gets colder. Max Gowers reflects on five albums that have soundtracked the coldest season of the year for them - albums that feel like winter and speak to their own experience with the season.
CARE FOR ME by Saba
Essential track: "BUSY / SIRENS"
Released in 2018, Saba's sophomore album is one of my favourite hip-hop albums of all time. Sonically, it just feels like a dark, cold late night - and its lyrical themes certaintly reflect that, too. CARE FOR ME sees Saba at his most vunerable, detailing how he grew up in the city of Chicago, and in its centerpiece "PROM / KING", a story of reconnecting with his cousin followed by a stark reminder of life living as a Black man in America, as he tells the story of how the same cousin was killed.
Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
Essential track: "Halloween"
Punisher's subdued guitar lines and soft vocals have been a staple for my walks home on winter nights during my time at university so far. Phoebe spills her emotions out into gorgeous folk and alt-rock tracks - and whilst, for me, "Kyoto" never seems to fit the overall sonic pallate of the album, the rest is always such a great listen. With it all cumulating in the existential "I Know The End", it's an album I constantly come back to for comfort.
Blonde by Frank Ocean
Essential track: "Nights"
I heard Blonde for the first time properly in 2021, during a rough part of my life - and it's stuck with me ever since. Now, it's one of my most streamed albums ever. To me, the second half of the album feels very wintery - all after the beat switch in "Nights". There's a theory that the album, in part, represents all four seasons sonically, and I absolutely hear it. Plenty of my winter nights, indoors or outside, have been soundtracked to losing myself to "Godspeed" or "White Ferrari"... and that absolutely won't change anytime soon.
SHHE by SHHE
Essential track: "Saint Cyrus"
The cold, icy synths, soft vocals and bare production of SHHE's self-titled debut album is often a sort of comfort to me on a rough day. SHHE (a.k.a Su Shaw) creates such an interesting brand of electronic and ambient music - to me, this album feels like walking through a barren, cold, snowy night... and I'm kind of obsessed with the atmosphere it creates. This isn't something I'll listen to all the time, but I always appreciate it when I hear it. Opener "Eyes Shut" sets the mood every time, and just continues to deepen that feeling as it continues on. It's a short, but brilliant album.
Ex:Re by Ex:Re
Essential track: "Crushing"
So... turns out the main emotion I connect to winter is sadness! Figures. Ex:Re is the side project of Daughter frontwoman Elena Tonra, and remains one of my favourite albums of all time. Her voice paired with the beautiful chamber-pop instrumentation on here is absolutely stunning every time, and the live version of this with the 12 Ensemble Orchestra is just as great, but in a different way. Ex:Re is a truly timeless album that I'll never tire of... and I just wish she'd make more music under this name. This one always gets put on when I need to reflect, and always helps.