The 7 Best Songs For a Creative Rainy Season

I like to listen to music while I work, it helps keep the juices flowing and sets the mood. The sluggish onset of rainy season this year has filled me with a lot of shifting moods. You can tell by the music we’ve been listening to lately. Explore my 7 song supermix to discover music to add to your own rainy season soundtrack.

1. Tamaryn – “Cranekiss”

The lazy changes from rain to sleepy humidy puts me in a spacey mood, so this track has been on heavy rotation at the office. I’m a sucker for ethereal Dream Pop anytime of the year anyway though.

Tamaryn comes from New York by way of New Zealand. She’s collaborated extensively with other artists since her 2008 debut, including scoring the short film “Are You Okay” one of my favorite authors Bret Easton Ellis (Well, the early books at least). Her album Cranekiss came out this year and we’ve been grooving to the title track.

2. Ducktails – “Headbanging In The Mirror”

My slo-mo swoon continues in this tune from Ducktails’ new record “St. Catherine”, which is satisfying overall. Though “Headbanging in The Mirror” stands out with it’s languid mood and jangly guitars. When the rain comes down in opaque sheets and I can’t see across the street, like lead singer Matt Mondanile I think “wish I could see so much clearer”.

While the shoes on the porch get soggy and the road is a blur of multicolored plastic ponchos, we’re sipping hot drinks in our afternoon interior dream. Take a listen and get dreamy with me.

3. Alabama Shakes – “Give Me All Your Love”

That gray expanse of sky sometimes gives me the blues. But when you’ve got guitars like Alabama Shakes, the blues tastes like a sweet summer drink.

Lead singer Brittany Howard’s amazingly versatile vocals add earthiness, desire and just some ol’ fashioned deep-down emotion to this song. It’s one of those tracks that just makes you scrunch up your face from all that soul and savor the ride.

4. Wolf Alice – “Your Love’s Whore”

Wolf Alice came out of nowhere for me. I first heard them on a Seattle-based radio station’s stream. One listen led me to get their 2015 record “My Love Is Cool”.

The album from this four-piece, born in North London’s overcast and rain, spans a range of moods and styles. Though our favorite is “Your Love’s Whore”. With strong backing percussion, breathy vocals, and slightly shoegaze gauzy guitars, this song is my jam.

5. Dotama – “「音楽ワルキューレ」”

I just got into Dotama but he’s been around a while. This artist dropped a bomb on the alternative Japanese Hip-Hop scene with his 2010 debut Music Valkyrie. He’s been praised for his cerebral steam-of-consciousness flow and aggressive beats. This track, produced by Fragment, perfectly encapsulates the feeling of stop-and-go traffic with a manual motorbike on exhaust-hot Monivong during a drizzle.

6. Algiers – “Black Eunuch”

This hot gospel-rock-industrial fusion track is our theme to the sticky in-between rain heat when the power goes out. Algiers comes to us from Atlanta, Georgia in the US of A. Their experimental rock self-titled debut fuses political rhetoric with eclectic musicianship. Songs swing from early East Coast electro to call-and-response spirituals in delicious hodgepodge.

7.ODESZA – Light (feat. Little Dragon)

When I’m calming down at the approach of evening, after the wetness and heat have passed, I put on this song.

“Light” comes from Seattle duo Odesza. The two have been gaining ground in the electronic scene with melodic tracks over the last few years. This song features vocals from Little Dragon, who’s been a favorite of mine, especially since her guest spot on the Gorillaz joint
“Empire Ants”. A song to chill from the workday and ease into a social evening. Float on…

What have you been listening to while the rain comes on down? Let me know in the comments below!