Six Picks: October
happy spooky season! six picks is back - here's a refresher:
Music is a key part of healing and self-soothing for me.
I'm like a musical encyclopedia sometimes. I love reading and watching interviews from artists sharing how they created their art. I’ll try to mix up some different genres to fit all of your tastes, but keep an open mind. ;) welcome to my musical brain!
here are this month’s six picks.
how lucky
- transviolet
“How many things have I missed? Worried 'bout disasters that never happened.
I was talking to the silence, it said ‘Look what's waiting for you’”
“‘Appreciate the journey.’ …I’ve had so many amazing experiences, but what’s sad is I can’t remember a lot of the ones in the beginning because I was so anxious about what was around the corner. Now, I try really hard to just soak in all the good stuff, to really be in the moment and appreciate all it has to offer.”
Sarah McTaggart of Transviolet shared these words recently, and I think they really speak to the message of this song. It’s easy to live with regret for not being present in a moment that’s passed. It’s harder to actually be in that moment when it’s happening.
I think this song is beautiful, lyrically and musically, and the reality check that we need sometimes - to step and smell the roses.
why is this resonating with me right now?
I struggle so much with not having many memories, especially during particularly overwhelming times. Yet - the beautiful moments don’t stop during these times, and it’s so hard to absorb them.
Recently, I’ve been feeling more capable of processing experiences in the moment. Part of it is practice, another piece is awareness - but I also think that time and space from certain traumas can make a world of a difference. That’s not always great news for the impatience in us (I would know), but there is hope. I’m grateful for that.
And until then, I’m taking notice of as many of the great things happening around me as I can. Wanna join me?
it’s a part of human nature
- heather sommer
“I've been trying to make sense of all the lighting,
Its timing, it doesn't always light up at your liking.”
I’ve had my eyes on Heather for a few months now. She’s an incredible songwriter - for herself and other artists - and genre-bends in really cool ways. But the lyrical vulnerability is what stands out in this song.
Everyone chases different things to find a sense of control or understanding. Some more than others (wow - me again!) All we can do is try, and somehow try to find comfort in knowing that we’re all just trying to figure it out. An isolating experience, shared amongst everyone we know.
why is this resonating with me right now?
I really love the vulnerability of this song. Sometimes I have experiences in life that require me to be vulnerable, but it’s not necessarily something that I get in return. It’s just the “nature” of it (pun intended). It’s really helpful for me to have songs like this in my life to support during those times, of more one-sided experiences, so I’m really grateful for Heather’s work.
stop feeling
- the aces
“Looking for the answers, what I get back I already know,
I don't know how to stop this feeling, so I'm gonna stop feeling.”
“When we wrote this song, really this album, I was in one of the worst places I’d been mentally in my life. I was having panic attacks every night. I was so depressed. I felt like everything I did didn’t matter. It felt very similar to when I was 14 years old —closeted and terrified about my future and how I was ever going to have the courage to be myself.”
I think we’ve all had heavy seasons like this. I love The Aces’ sound and just heard this song live in concert a few weeks ago, which sparked my love for it again.
why is this resonating with me right now?
Only recently did I learn about how the brain protects itself by numbing out. Dissociation, is the fancy term. I’ve spend many days frustrated by it because, even though numbing out helps with difficult emotions, I haven’t been able to be present in the moment.
Over the past little while, though, I’ve learned to appreciate a bit more that my body is just trying to protect itself. It has helped me become a bit more self-compassionate. I think this song speaks to a part of the world of mental health that isn’t talked about enough.
growing up
is hard
- chelsea cutler
“So much for the young and free, I know that you feel confused.
I'm sorry that it hurt so much. Growing up is hard to do.”
You may notice Chelsea has been featured last month and this one. Surprise! She has a beautiful new album full of mental health-related jams. (I had to talk myself out of dedicating this entire month’s post to her album, Stellaria.)
Growing up IS hard. A creator from Guelph who I’m a big fan of, Sarah at @thebirdspapaya, posted this really interesting, emotional reel about teenagers and halloween. It occurred to me that we spend so many years in between being a kid and being an adult. I don’t know how we’re supposed to do that “right”.
why is this resonating with me right now?
I’ve started to grow my self-compassion over the past year, and that hasn’t been easy. Contrary to popular social media posts, just saying kind stuff to yourself isn’t that effective. The hardest work has been looking at events of my past and having love for the version of me that went through them. The version of me that made the choices she thought was best for that time, but maybe weren’t the “best” ones.
But, as I said, growing up offers us nonstop opportunities to make difficult decisions. Give little you a hug for doing the best that they could.
sunny disposition
- carol ades
“Half of you is missing, something doesn't feel right.
Sunny disposition but cloudy on the inside”
I had a really cool moment at The Aces' concert a few weeks ago.
I heard Carol’s voice. She was opening for them - and I was immediately sent back into high school. Although Carol has'n’t been releasing music for very long, Caroline Pennell - her former artist name - was one of my favourite musicians in secondary school.
I love this song. She shared a story about how she wrote this when she was worried about her sister. As she started performing it on tour, though, she realized that everyone puts on a face in some way. It helped her understand her sister a bit more.
why is this resonating with me right now?
I get exhausted just thinking about how hard I work to seem like I’m okay, when I’m not. It’s particularly present in social settings when I don’t think that I can show that I’m not okay, or struggling. It’s scary to let people in, especially when other people don’t necessarily know how to support you during that struggle.
The version of Liv with a sunny disposition sometimes needs to slow down and let other people in. This song is a gorgeous reminder of that, for me.
maybe that’s why
- devon again
“Why would I wait to live my life? Little too late when the timing's right
Guess I can't lose what I don't find, Maybe that's why, maybe that's why.”
Devon Again has had my heart for over a year now. She is an alt-pop GENIUS and I demand that you listen to her other music, too!
My favourite thing about Devon is the production that she uses: layering vocals and tones to mimic the intense emotions that she details in her songs. This one explores the idea of being stuck - but realizing that you may be contributing to that feeling because you’re scared of what could be lost.
Hm, sounds a bit familiar maybe.
Why is this resonating with me right now?
It’s so much easier to blame circumstances and “bad karma” for stillness and feeling stuck. And sometimes that is certainly the case!
But for me, it can be really empowering to remember what I am in control of and what I’m not. I have moments of questioning that sounds a lot like this song, and it’s such a good reminder for me to refocus on what decisions I want to make. I may feel powerless sometimes, but that doesn’t mean that I am. And I rather look back and say I tried, than be consumed with more “what-if”s.
