It’s an interesting time of year. Students are beginning to settle into their monotonous rhythms after returning from winter break. Valentine’s Day looms, whether as an object of fear or excitement. Claremont winter is in full force, giving everyone an opportunity to show off their somewhat-cold-weather outfits for a transient moment.
To capture these feelings (and more), our editors each selected three songs that have been on their minds recently. Listen here, and read explanations for each choice below.
Maya
M.I.A. – CAPS LOCK: The experience: you’re stationary and delirious some time after 3 a.m.; thoughts flow through you and you don’t make an effort to interrogate them. This track is kind of like a dark side Cocteau Twins, the way the riffs, emotional expression and lyrics are as unconscious as the melody. Released in 2010, this track is astonishingly ahead of its time. M.I.A. naturally achieves a despondent, hyperreal atmosphere that many artists today scramble to replicate. A note on M.I.A.’s controversial politics: When an artist makes music like this, one can’t exactly expect them to hold conventional political views.
Massive Attack – Inertia Creeps: This trip-hop track begins with a brief bit of euphoria then becomes an altered state of consciousness, which makes you feel as though you’ve surrendered yourself to danger. The beat switches and guitar interludes command your attention, and suddenly the listening experience mirrors the experience of falling into addiction. One of the most awesome songs on one of the best albums of all time. “Mezzanine is that place in between, when you’re not sure if it’s yesterday or today. That little space where it’s quite scary and erotic.” founding member and vocalist Edward Del Naja said.
A$AP Rocky – Sundress: My friends and I listened to this song driving with the windows down after the beach at sunset. A$AP Rocky’s chorus is timeless. The hypnotizing, radiant instrumentation by Tame Impala adds neverending layers of bliss. The track shows you the sublimity in the feelings that are typically much too overwhelming. The unresolved chord progression at the end feels like a challenge to approximate as much of waking life as possible to the dream that is this track.
Jesse
Glokk40Spaz – Remember Me: With instrumentation and vocals that sound like they were lifted from two completely separate songs, “Remember Me” truly is greater than the sum of its parts. The beat is simple, playful, and strangely bittersweet, while Glokk’s aggressive and slurred rapping presents a lifestyle of violence and hedonism. Great as both a hype-up banger and a sentimental yet confident meditation (musical rabbit-duck illusion).
Clairo – Amoeba: “Amoeba” toes the line of experimentation in folk-pop songwriting while showing enough restraint to stop short of self-indulgence. A basic yet consistent drum pattern anchors the song as it wanders through various keys, moods, and intensities. Clairo always returns to the (incredibly catchy) chorus after each departure, albeit with a different assortment of emotions each time. Instruments enter, play their designated part for a few seconds, and disappear; fleeting, in a way that punctuates the themes of the song (they “show up to the party just to leave”).
DEAN feat. Eric Bellinger – I’m Not Sorry: R&B at its most maximalist. Dense synths, layered vocals, and a healthy serving of risers and bed-creaking effects make for a menacing composition that matches DEAN’s larger-than-life lyrics. Plenty of small details to sink one’s teeth into on repeat listens, especially in the vocal harmonies.
Ulwiana
Joni Mitchell – California: This 1971 folk song soundtracked my 2024. From applying to Claremont McKenna in January to settling into my dorm in August, I found hope and comfort in “California”. Unlike the rest of her album Blue, Mitchell adopts a light, cheerful tone on this track. She sings with her signature vulnerability, expressing loneliness, homesickness, fascination, and excitement. Mitchell bounces back and forth between yearning for California and discovering Europe. There are glimpses of her concerns about “the war / And the bloody changes” (the Vietnam War). In the third iteration of the chorus, Mitchell asks “Oh, will you take me as I am?”. Though this is perhaps directed at a man, it captures the universal sentiment ‘will I belong here?’. I asked myself the same question last semester.
Beyonce – Bodyguard: I highly recommend this catchy standout from Beyonce’s 2024 album Cowboy Carter. Beyonce’s music often transcends genres, and “Bodyguard” is not an exception. It combines 90s country, R&B, and soft rock reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac. As the title suggests, in “Bodyguard”, Beyonce expresses her desire to protect her significant other. She flips the trope of the male savior and protector on its head. She asks her partner to “let (me) ride shotgun”, an analogy also utilized in another love song on Cowboy Carter, “II Most Wanted”. This song is chock full of rhymes and references to Lucinda Williams, Miles Davis, and more.
Lizzy McAlpine – Spring into Summer: Lizzy released “Spring into Summer” last October on the deluxe version of her album Older. It is a raw, nostalgic, tender song. McAlpine draws upon the metaphor of water, with subtle harmonies creating a calming atmosphere. Particularly poignant lyrics are in the chorus: “Bridge over water, I am jumpin’ off / Taking a picture of all the people close to us”. The phrase “bridge over water” conjures imagery of a warm summer’s day at the lake. “Spring into Summer” is an ode to friendship, and to me, the perfect soundtrack for spring semester!
Jazz
Stevie Wonder – As: “As”, a relatively unsung genre-bending classic, is an incredibly moving, soulful love song from one of the most sonically and culturally influential albums of the 20th century. Wonder and his ensemble swear on every element, illustrate the violation of natural order and walk the listener through a gritty, soulful love profession that doesn’t handicap itself with melodrama. “As” can be listened to as a powerful, gospel-like serenade to a lover, a love letter to Earth, or a reminder of the goodness in a broader human audience.
Summertime Sam – BRIT POP SUMMER’S PINK SAUCE: “BRIT POP SUMMER’S PINK SAUCE” is a very fun, 2024-summer-nostalgia-inducing remix of A. G. Cook’s “Britpop” from his 2024 album, also named Britpop. Blending audio clips from live performances from Charli XCX and A. G. Cook, the original “Britpop” single, and staple jersey club rhythms, Summertime Sam created a highly recommendable and replayable time-capsule of summer 2024.
Teezo Touchdown – Third Coast: “Third Coast” connects to me on such a ridiculously personal level. Teezo Touchdown is from Beaumont, a coastal city in Southeast Texas that I, being from Texas City, TX, share a zipcode with. In “Third Coast”, he names towns up and down the Gulf of Mexico that have gone relatively unnoticed, making this song a deep cultural cut with a rare, cousin-esque personability introduced through beats reminiscent of early 2000s Texas R&B.
Annabelle
Lorde – Perfect Places: “Perfect Places” feels like lying in bed in a miniskirt at 2 a.m., pressing the side of your face into your pillowcase and ignoring the smudged mascara marks that you’re leaving behind. It feels like walking home alone after drinking too much and realizing for the first time that it’s 45 degrees outside. It feels like everything you think about after going out and not feeling anything. Lorde uses a highly charged, punchy beat overlaid with lyrics about death, shame, and distraction to highlight the mundanity of going out every night in search of something that might not exist.
Radiohead – Jigsaw Falling Into Place: “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” is the best song for feeding your delusions. Yes, that man in Frary Dining Hall was looking at you. Yes, he made intense eye contact with you. Yes, he is in love with you. The soft buildup of instrumentals throughout the song reminds me of the quiet thrill of a new crush—of the early stages, when everything is shiny and new and promising. The song culminates in a sweet sense of release at 3:11, perfectly encapsulating the overwhelming sense of victory and validation that comes with the realization that your imaginary connection is, in fact, very real.
The Technicolors – Fever Bomb: “Fever Bomb” is what I imagine to be playing through the minds of two people who don’t know how to love each other, but who also can’t leave each other alone. The song captures the tumultuous, push-pull feel of a relationship that you keep coming back to, even though you know that it won’t end well, “No class for the killer / But this is what you wanted.” It almost feels like a warning. You can return as many times as you want, but nothing is going to change; eventually, that bomb will go off, taking you down with it.
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