[Listen to our April 2021 playlist on Spotify.]

This was going to be a high-concept playlist. I’d been thinking about it for weeks, plotting out a six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon approach where every song connected to the next through a series of covers, co-writers and collaborators. I tried and I couldn’t stick the landing, so here is simply a collection of songs I love.

HAIM – Summer Girl
Breezy on the surface, this track was inspired by Danielle Haim’s experiences supporting her boyfriend through a bout with cancer. Don’t miss the Song Exploder episode where they both share the story of building this fantastic tune. 

U2 – In a Little While
An underrated gem in the band’s catalogue, “In a Little While” enjoys a measure of fame among the faithful because Joey Ramone listened to it during his final days. Ramone’s love for it, Bono liked to say, turned “a song about a hangover into a Gospel tune.” One line in particular has stuck with me for 20 years: “In a little while, I won’t be blown by every breeze.”

The Killers – Caution (Wasatch version)
I absolutely love Imploding the Mirage, and somehow my affection for it has continued to grow over the past few months. My most substantial critique of the album is that sometimes Brandon Flowers’ voice isn’t mixed to take flight the way it ought to. This alternate version of “Caution” remedies that, putting his soulful vocals front and center.

Taylor Swift – Peace
Yep, I’m the cliche 40-something dad who became a Taylor Swift fan in 2020. It’s not that I didn’t recognize her songwriting talent before — it was always there — but the sonic palettes of folklore and evermore were closer to the music I’m most often drawn to. “Peace” asks a haunting question — is the very best I can offer still not enough for someone I care about?

Chance the Rapper – Same Drugs
This is an all-time favorite. I love the wordplay and Peter Pan allusions, of course, but mostly the bittersweet look at a relationship whose time has passed.

Florence + the Machine – The End of Love
The way Florence Welch sings the phrase “that summer in New York” somehow captures my entire unrequited longing for the city itself.

The National – Quiet Light
This is just a beautiful song, and while it’s tangential to the theme, I can’t get over being implicated by this line: “I’m not that spiritual / I still go out all the time to department stores.”

Julien Baker – Hurt Less
What a perfect, tender song. This imagery is so vivid, and it’s elevated by her delivery: “ I hope the last thing that I felt before the pavement / was my body float / I hope my soul goes too.” 

Bright Eyes – We Are Nowhere and It’s Now
There’s something magical about this pairing of voices — Conor Oberst and Emmylou Harris — and the existential anxiety of this song is at home in 2021 as it was 15 years ago.

Bon Iver – Faith
There’s a lot to love on Justin Vernon’s latest album, although I mostly feel it on a level below the surface or beyond my own understanding. But this line from “Faith” was prescient for the year that was 2020: “It’s time to be brave.”

The Lone Bellow – Martingales
“If yesterday is too heavy / put it down,” could easily feel cliche, but The Lone Bellow has a way of pulling off earnestness like few others can. I believe it when they sing it. And really, maybe that’s all there is sometimes — putting down what you can’t carry anymore.

Arlo Parks – Hurt
On the other hand: “I know you can’t let go / of anything at the moment / Just know it won’t hurt so / Won’t hurt so much forever.” Overall, Collapsed in Sunbeams is full of great vibes and it’s an early contender for my favorite albums of the year.

Song of Trouble – CARM (feat. Sufjan Stevens)
The horns on this song are mesmerizing, and I’m always here for the vintage whisper vocals of Sufjan Stevens, a reliable companion in grief and lament.

Jon Foreman – Jesus, I Have My Doubts
It’s pretty much just right there in the title — I believe. Lord, help my unbelief.

Fleet Foxes – I’m Not My Season
After the year we’ve all had, maybe these lines will be a balm for you as well: “Though I liked summer light on you / If we ride a winter-long wind / Well time’s not what I belong to / And you’re not the season you’re in.”