Personally, autumn is a place of solace, where, if only for a month, I’m at a perfect equilibrium with the world around me. It doesn’t have to sound like pumpkin spice or reddening leaves. Though it’s difficult to pin down an autumnal sound, below are some records that fulfill the season for me.

  • “Ask me Tomorrow”
  • “Keep You”
(left image) Tomasz Bednarczyk “Let’s Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow” (2009)
(right image) Pianos Become the Teeth “Keep You” (2014)

Tomasz Bednarczyk functions as an ambient composer who, even if he isn’t trying, records albums that respectively reflect each season. “Let’s Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow” is a piece of music that sounds like summer just ending, and, after months of overbearing swelter, you feel a breeze.

It’s unironically convenient that my favorite album of all time is likewise situated as my favorite autumnal album. An elegy for his recently passed father, vocalist Kyle Durfey writes poetic regret in lieu of the band’s atmospheric post-rock sound. From front to back, “Keep You” acts as a testament to the tendency that humans sometimes love someone more, unknowingly, after they’re gone.

  • “Jude Sill”
  • “The Light of September”
  • “Ask Me Tomorrow”
(right image) Judee Sill “Judee Sill” (1971)
(center image) An Autumn For Cippled Children “The Light of September” (2018)
(right image) Mojave 3 “Ask Me Tomorrow” (1995)

I want to drive along scenic overpasses whenever I listen to Judee Sill. Her self-titled debut is classic folk with a religious (and sometimes occult) tinge, reminiscent of early Stephen Stills. Her music is energetic, vibrant, and rife with lovely lyricism.

Unlike their black metal contemporaries, Dutch post-metal trio An Autumn For Crippled Children lean away from making their music as bleak and oppressive as possible. “The Light of September” colors its span with piano, their signature synths, and glittery guitar work, while remaining true to the band’s shoegaze background.

I like to think of Mojave 3 as the folk influenced sister band to Mazzy Star, but just as minimalistic. The music, albeit slow and dwindling in instrumentation, is leisurely in its stroll through fall. “Ask Me Tomorrow” symbolizes the soft change that autumn brings without any extra convincing.