A Playlist For The End of Summer
20 tracks. some gentle electronica. some syrupy nostalgia. some feminine rage.
Hello friends,
Is summer coming to an end? I’m not entirely sure. While summer doesn’t technically end until the autumn equinox on September 23rd, many of us (myself included) are going back to school or back to work after our travels, beach trips, and restful vacations. But don’t let the premature return of the pumpkin spice latte fool you. The blistering, swampy heat of the season hasn’t let up quite yet. Everyone I talk to is either exhausted or irritable or sweaty or restless or bleary and all of us want to delay resuming life-as-usual for as long as we possibly can.
As I contemplated how to describe this liminal time of year, I decided to take some inspiration from two fellow newsletter writers whose poetic style I admire, Jade Wootton and Cecilia O’Mara, and craft a little playlist of my own to try to articulate these contradictory sensations and feelings that make up summer’s ending. There’s the sticky weight of humidity, overheated frustration, but also those moments of golden breeze, dancing body heat, effervescent heartbreak, relief in the night air, that moment when you realize the party’s almost over but you’re not ready to leave.
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