Nomart´s fall playlist.
For starters, we don’t even have seasons here in Colombia but ever since my 2nd grade teacher taught me about them, the concept of autumn seemed extremely appealing to me. Maybe because i’ve been a very melancholic human my entire life.
If you didn’t know, my name’s not Nomart. I came up with it in 2020 because i was actively looking for an artistic name. My thought process behind it was: “Mhmm… i’ve lived in too many places so perhaps i could be called a ‘nomad´”, but that was too easy. i wanted something unique but personal, i knew i was missing a detail so i tried different variations for that noun. Until i realized i could simply change the last three letters with my initials… “Nomart”, it sounded weird and adequate so i decided to keep it.
The point is, said nomadism that characterized my life lead me to experience a constant state of adaptation. A brand new start has been something often throughout my existence but as i got more used to making new friends everywhere i went, i started despising drastic weather changes. I’ve lived at least 13 years of my life in very hot cities but where i’m currently living (where i´d already lived years ago) is cold. Annoyingly cold sometimes. Adapting to this specific climate has changed my taste in clothing, food and music completely.
As i’ve grown here, i gravitate towards more folky and acoustic sounds. It had to do with climate at first but i found out it was an specific phase of my life that i’ve been going through since 2020. So, with enough time (almost 3 years now) to get to know the perfect albums that can fit this somber yet entrancing and rustic vibe that comes with this season, i’ll introduce you to some that may be appealing not only in its sound, but its lyrical themes and the capacity of the artist to grab your attention with their composition abilities.
A quick disclaimer before i start, not every album on here will be the same genre so please be free to check out everything i recommend on here, but you may not be able to get into some projects. That doesn’t mean you have to dismiss someone’s artistry and work because you don’t like it. It’s your taste! And if you can’t get into it, that’s fine. Just don’t be mean.
Lianne La Havas- Lianne La Havas.
Favorite songs: Weird Fishes, Can’t Fight, Paper Thin, Sour Flower (the whole album basically).
This was my introduction to Lianne. From the first chord in “Bittersweet” to the percussion outro of “Sour Flower” i got completely absorbed by her artistry. First of all… her voice. Her vibrato is as tender as cuddling the hair of someone you love, it feels like you’re flirting with comfort itself. Her ability to switch from the most soft run to a triumphant belt through her builds up needs to be studied.
This is a conceptual album but the appeal of it is beyond “the cycle of a relationship”, which is how she describes the narrative of this project. The beauty of this collection of songs is how well written, exquisitely produced and brilliantly performed they are. They just work as individual tracks as much as they do in the context of the album.
I’d describe it as a blend of folk and R&B but it brings influences from flamenco in one track, soul, house and even an explosive rock outro on the best song of the record (in my opinion): “Weird Fishes”. Yes, it’s a Radiohead cover and i cannot distress how poignant this song is.
Lianne knows how to make a ballad, an upbeat song, she knows how to play the guitar and make it sing like it´s a harp, she plays the piano masterfully and when you get to the last song, you’ll see how much fun she had during the making of this project. It’s a liberating piece of art that allowed her to come back from her 5 years break from music.
I’m not even exaggerating when i say this is my album of the decade so far.
When the Pawn…- Fiona Apple.
Favorite songs: Paper Bag, The Way Things Are, Get Gone, Fast As You Can and more…
Some may argue that a great bunch of Fiona’s discography fits into this season but i’m choosing this specific record because it was her first peak and it’s arguably her most accessible.
Listen, i fell off my bed and almost fainted when i listened to this album for the first time, I´m not being hyperbolic. Her piano playing, the fact that she wrote this on tour in less than 2 years, her gigantic artistic growth and Jon Brion’s majestic production. How would i not give her her 10s?
If you didn’t know, she had the record for the longest album title ever. The full poem is:
When the pawn hits
the conflict he thinks
like a king
What he knows throws
the blows when he
goes to the fight
And he’ll win the
whole thing ‘fore he
enters the ring
There’s nobody to
batter when your mind
is your might
So when you go solo
you hold your own hand
And remember that
depth is the greatest
of heights
And if you know where
you stand then you
know where to land
And if you fall it won’t
matter ‘cause you´ll
know that you’re right.
If that’s just the title, you may imagine the detail she puts into every line she wrote on this album.
The sound. My god, the way this album sounds. The blend of jazz with rock, the gorgeous arrangements, THE DRUM PLAYING!! I’m not kidding when i say “Limp” and “Fast As You Can” have some of the best drumming of the last century.
I won’t like to acknowledge #that man but the music videos of this era were spectacular too. Specially “Paper Bag’s”. Which is one of my favorite songs and videos of all time. I could make a whole article of how genius this specific lines are:
I said "honey, I don't feel so good
Don't feel justified
Come on put a little love here in my void"
He said "it's all in your head"
I said "so's everything" but he didn't get it
I thought he was a man but he was just a little boy
I cannot recommend these songs enough. If you don’t have "I Know” in your fall playlist, you are simply stealing yourself the experience of crying as the crushed leaves form a carpet underneath your feet.
Sling- Clairo.
Favorite songs: Amoeba, Management, Just For Today, Bambi and Partridge.
I did not get Clairo until i listened to this for the first time. Immunity went over my head completely and i regret it now. The thing with Sling is that everything that’s great about it is right in front of you. Clever and sensitive but sharp songwriting, incredible production by both Claire and Jack Antonoff and i cannot praise the engineering enough. This record sounds pristine, melancholic and tinted with a 70´s palette of instrumentation but a modern twist thanks to Clairo’s vocals. Which are almost liquid in their flow and their way to shape up to every rhythm. As soft as a warm and heavy blanket.
The themes of this project are coming of age in some way. It’s a shelve full of experiences that are very specific to those feelings you encounter when entering your 20s.
“Blouse” is a very important song-which was the first track she released teasing up to the album- about her experiences with sexualization in her work place. In her email newsletter posted on June 18, 2021 she explained:
‘Blouse’ describes a kitchen table conversation: you’ve hung your coat, scarf, combed your stray hairs back, and sat down. The table is set, you are equipped and prepared for a professional conversation, and all of a sudden- you see a male colleague staring down your shirt while you’re halfway through a sentence.
It’s a feeling that a lot of people know well. What’s even more defeating- is the feeling of, ‘Well, if this is what it takes for him to hear me, then I’ll allow it’.
That last paragraph refers to the lyric “If touch could make them hear, then touch me now”. Which to me, is a perfect example of her talent as a writer.
“Just For Today” is a song about anxiety and depression, “Amoeba” explores our narrator showing up to a party just to leave, “Joanie” is an instrumental track dedicated to her dog. Yes, there are songs about an specific relationship but she manages to tie this up to a much bigger theme of growing up and maturing while she was going through that pain.
And “Management”. Jesus christ, this is a TESTAMENT of someone’s artistry.
“Only for a short while
I'm bound to lose my head
And just when I start to think it's ended
Another demand commences
I'm doing it for my future self
The one who needs more attention
I'll forget to forgive and hold it all in
I'm old with some resentment”.
The strings in the back embellish every word. This whole record is magical and it’s going to be considered a classic as we get older so my advice is, catch up before we get to that point!
Stand For Myself- Yola.
Favorite songs: Barely Alive, title track, Great Divide and Diamond Studded Shoes.
One thing about me, i WILL promote Yola even if it’s the last thing i do. Is it my fault? Not at all! It’s not my responsibility her talent pours through every song i’ve heard from her. She’s one of the best vocalists alive, an insanely good storyteller and the production in this specific album enhances her sound in unbelievable ways.
This record is a story. You can tie it up by the way it starts and finishes. “Barely Alive” begins with these lines:
“I been here and I know how it is
I been living it alone for all these years
Isolated, we hold in our tears
And we try to get by
And we strive, but we’re barely alive”.
And the album closes with the title track, which’s last lines are:
“Now I’m alive, alive, I’m alive
I used to be nothing like you
I used to feel nothing like you
Now I’m alive, alive, I’m alive!”
The contrast between how she sings both of these verses is one of my favorite details on the album. She starts insecure and shy and by the end of the album she’s roaring and using her full lung capacity to belt and keep the same strength in her falsetto at the very last seconds of the track.
This particular story goes through so many steps to get there though. She’s getting more confident and with each step she takes, she wakes new feelings in her and express them with a defiant transparency. She earns that ending thanks to her resilience.
“Diamond Studded Shoes” is a social critique towards politicians who use our taxes to gain more wealth. It’s the 21st century version of the communist manifesto. Oh! I’ve forgot to mention that she’s doing all of these things while bringing country, rock, disco and much more genres to the sound palette of this body of work. I do not like country music, but when i heard this i was stunned.
All of these elements are funny to me because these songs were produced by Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys. Also known for producing Ultraviolence by Lana del Rey. This means, at least to me, that Yola knows exactly what sound she’s aiming for and it doesn’t matter who she works with- Although, Dan KILLS it here-, she’ll stay true to who she is an artist.
The range of this record is outstanding. From the ballads to the bangers you can find a variety of instrumentation and her voice is dynamic enough to pull it off. If everything i’ve said doesn’t convinces you, just check out either the intro or the title track, you will see why i love this album so much.
MY WOMAN- Angel Olsen.
Favorite songs: Shut Up Kiss Me, Give It Up, Not Gonna Kill You, Woman and much more…
Angel Olsen is a star. I was going to say “Rockstar” but she’s much more than that. Her musicianship is something i would like to talk about for the rest of my life. I’ve heard 3 albums from her and all of them are excellent, but this particular one? The word masterpiece gets often misused but this is the embodiment of the work of a mastermind. There’s no other explanation.
With influences from the 50’s and alternative rock, this project just works. The gigantic and majestic “Shut Up Kiss Me” -which is one of the best rock songs from the 2010’s-, the refrain in the chorus of “Never Be Mine”, the epic and lengthy “Woman” and “Sister” or the intimate intro track. Every song here belongs in this project. It shines individually but it somehow sounds even better in the context of the album.
I love the inclusion of synths here to create a delicate ambience, the soaring guitars, her imperfect but raw vocals throughout the project and the lyricism!
“Saw it in her eyes
Oh, it wasn’t what she said
She came together like a dream
That I didn’t know I had
From the sleeping life I lead
All the colors I have seen
I can't help but recognize
The brighter one in front of me
All the truth I thought I learned
And then it finally came along
Turned around and then it’s there
All the love I thought was gone”.
She’s bold, unapologetic and upfront about her feelings. You can be a witness of that just with her performances throughout this record. If you’re into indie rock artists like Wolf Alice or Mitski (Puberty 2 Mitski specifically), you´ll definitely love this.
Marchita- Silvana Estrada.
Favorite songs: Te guardo, La Corriente, title track, Un Día Cualquiera.
I didn’t know Silvana up until this year when i got to check out this album. As i said earlier, i’ve gravitated towards folk and rustic sounds more as i get older. When i checked out this record i knew it’d be one of my favorites of the year. From the guitar playing to the stunning string sections to her unique and traditional vocals, complemented with pure poetry. This was right up my alley.
For the entire runtime of this album- 37 minutes and 3 seconds- she travels through feelings of heartbreak. It’s a progression of this relationship blossoming and withering while we’re just witnessing it all. It might be a concept already done but what makes this unique is how Silvana incorporates influences from several Mexican folk artists who are still making incredible music. One of them being Natalia Lafourcade which i’ll mention later on here.
“Un día cualquiera” is just Silvana with diverse percussive elements where she wishes to be a fair opponent to the fear that lies in the soul of her partner. The “title track” is a reclaiming letter where she states if she knew how little she meant to this person, she would’ve been more cautious giving her heart away.
“Te Guardo” is my favorite track on this album. It has some of the lushest string arrangements i’ve heard this year. With these staggering and gut-wrenching lyrics:
“ But if you find me someday
and change your mind
i´ll save some faith
to open my eyes and look at you.
But if you find me someday
and change your mind
i´ll save you my daylight
My eyes, my love and pillow”.
This piece of work is as personal as an art piece can be. It’s definitely one of the most accessible and quick albums to listen to on here. It goes straight to the point and all the praise it’s earned is totally deserved.
Shabrang- Sevdaliza.
Favorite songs: Dormant, Human Nature, Rhode, No Way, All Rivers At Once.
I’m aware calling someone a genius sets them up to be judged but i don’t have a better adjective for someone who made this album. Blending electronic aesthetics with trip-hop, alternative R&B and Persian music with warm and extensive string sections is mind-blowing.
Sevdaliza is a producer, pianist and songwriter that’s been rising since her 2017 debut “Ison”. As an independent artists, her growth has been outstanding. But we’re not here to talk about numbers.
She said Ison was her learning how to make music but Shabrang was an artistic point where she knew exactly what she was doing. And it’s extremely obvious when you listen to this album from beginning to end what she was referring to.
The delicate and heartbreaking “Dormant” is about the departure of a relationship that made our narrator realize she “needs a different type of caring, a different type sharing”. "Human Nature” is a dystopian and futuristic track that she’d already release in 2017 but she brought some strings that made it even better than it already was.
“Rhode” is a deranged trip-hop track with industrial touches. With a music video that demonstrates some artists still care about visuals nowadays.
Her voice is so fragile on here, up to the point of breaking at some points. Which make the eccentric and louder beds of instrumentation surrounding her much more impactful. “No way” is an example of this. It starts as a quiet and somber ballad that transforms into a cinematic conclusion with drums and strings. It´s totally epic.
Don’t be close minded with this one. It’s certainly the most experimental album out of this list but it’s worth every second. I’d define it as an intimate but earnest path you walk through with resilience and strength even when there’s no light at the end of it.
Illinois- Sufjan Stevens.
Favorite songs: Come On! Feel the Illinoise! Part 1: The World´s Columbian Exposition Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream, Chicago, Jacksonville, Casimir Pulaski Day, The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out To Get Us!
If you got into Sufjan Stevens through Call Me By Your Name you deserve financial compensation (me included). Don’t get me wrong, Mystery of Love and Visions of Gideon are the best songs ever made and yet, they aren’t even top 10 in Sufjan’s discography. Associating his artistry to #that movie feels offensive to say the least.
I didn’t know he was one of the best lyricist alive. In 2020, i pressed play on Carrie & Lowell after i got tired of the two songs i previously mentioned. It was an incredible album indeed, but i couldn’t stop crying so i preferred not replaying it for my own health. Then 2022 arrived and i decided to get into Illinois.
My first reaction was bursting into tears at the first track because of his voice. Then, something spiritual happened during the next hour and 10 minutes approximately of that experience. I had to look up the credits because of how stunning this album turned out to be. Imagine my face when i found out he was the only producer, arranger, composer and lyricist in the album?
”Come On! Feel the Illinoise…” is a two part song that explores the tension between art and commerce, Jacksonville is a song that relates the story of this town, “Chicago” is a very personal song that gave more insight on his life and experiences in this city. Sufjan briefly described:
“I’ve had quite a few exceptional and traumatic experiences in Illinois, a few times when visiting Chicago at a particularly difficult time in my life or driving cross country and being pulled over by the cops just outside Peoria”.
“The Predatory Wasp” is a song about a relationship Sufjan had during a Methodist summer camp. I don’t even need to explain this one, just read these lines:
“North of Savanna we swim in the Palisades
I come out wearing my brother's red hat
There on his shoulder my best friend is bit seven times
He runs washing his face in his hands
Oh how I meant to tease him
Oh how I meant no harm
Touching his back with my hand I kiss him
I see the wasp on the length of my arm”
The amount of instrumentation on this album is titanic in its proportion. This could perfectly be a visual project but every word, every chord and melody brushes entire landscapes in your mind. If you love folk/soft rock music you’ll adore this.
Un Canto Por México Vol 1- Natalia Lafourcade.
Favorite songs: Veracruz, Sembrando Flórez, Nunca Es Suficiente, Hasta La Raíz, Ya No Vivo Por Vivir.
I might’ve not became a Natalia Lafourcade fan up until 2020 but i see her as a maternal figure. She raised me. I wasn’t a full human being until 2021 so i´m not crazy when i say she walked me through some of the worst moments of my life.
Fun fact, i used to write my poems exclusively in english because i didn’t think i could express myself with the same eloquence in spanish, but this remarkable album with a few more taught me i could. And thanks to that i started writing in spanish and my interest in my roots increased incredibly much.
Natalia is a Mexican singer-songwriter, instrumentalists and a special vocalist. Mentioning that she’s Mexican is important. Ever since she worked on the soundtrack for Coco, she decided to honor her culture through her music. It can be seen through the two part series “Musas” and the two volumes of “Un canto por México”. Even though her earlier work was very folkloric and traditional at some extent, up until Musas’ second volume she embraced folk in its entirety.
After that incredible project, she managed to release a career defining body of work. Un Canto Por México Vol 1 revisits some of Natalia’s classic songs but with brand new instrumentation that make them sound so much better than they were. “Hasta La Raíz” is her biggest hit and this version takes the mystifying element out of it but the song turns into something you´d sing with your friends in the middle of a forest. The chanted end is phenomenal. “Nunca Es Suficiente” sounds better than ever, “Ya No Vivo Por Vivir” was already an excellent song and it makes me miss Juan Gabriel but Leonel García sounds gorgeous too.
Not every song here is a throwback though. “Veracruz” is a cover of a classic that suits Natalia’s voice perfectly. “Sembrando Florez” contains her best vocal performance to date with some excellent guitar work from her and Los Cojolites who have worked with her since 2017.
And if you think it doesn’t get better than this, you’re not prepared for the orchestration throughout the album. I love everything about this project and don’t be fooled, it might be labeled as latin folk but this has a bolero and some rancheras and sounds that you might not be familiar with, but you’ll get into once you’re in the right headspace.
Have One On Me- Joanna Newsom.
Favorite songs: In California, Baby Birch, Kingfisher, Soft As Chalk, Go Long and the title track.
Last but not least! If you know me or just follow me on social media, you must be aware of this: I love Joanna Newsom. She became my favorite artist of all time this year and i was struggling to choose which project would fit this season specifically. “How was he able to make that choice?” you may wonder. Well, this project has a song called “Autumn”. Did i even have an alternative?
Joanna Newsom is a singer-songwriter, harpist and piano player who has been making eclectic and experimental folk music since the early 2000s. This is her third full length album and it came after Ys- which is considered “her masterpiece”- and people wondered which turn her music would take after such an important album.
And what we got was a three part album just as good as the last one. It brought her piano playing back but with different influences from baroque, jazz and her most traditional medieval folk sound. This is a conceptual album about the ending of a relationship with so many layers.
For instance, the title track is a song about Lola Montez, an hispanic immigrant who lived in California. She used to perform for a living because she had to runaway from Spain since she was the king’s mistress. While she performed, her signature was the “spider dance”, where she lifted her skirt and showed her underwear. Joanna uses this to parallel this with her job as a performer too. But the song itself is about Lola´s relationship with Louis de Bavaria.
“Baby Birch” is a song about the loss of a child. A heartbreaking track where she uses a metaphor of a “skinned rabbit” with one of the best build ups i’ve ever heard in a song. “Good Intentions Paving Company” is a song about doubting about a relationship and with a line that i adore: “And i’m in love with the hook upon which everyone hangs”.
How have i managed to write all of this without mentioning her writing? I don’t know. It might be a record. I’ll highlight some of the best lyrics of this album in this section!
“Meanwhile, I will raise my own glass
To how you made me fast and expendable
And I will drink to your excellent health
And your cruelty, will you have one on me?”
From the title track.
“And it can change in shape or form
But never change in size
Well, the water, it ran deep, my darling
Where it don't run wide”.
From Jackrabbits.
“Well, I have sown untidy furrows across my soul, but I am still a coward
Content to see my garden grow so sweet and full of someone else's flowers”.
AND
“I don’t belong to anyone
My heart is heavy as an oil drum
And I don’t want to be alone
My heart is yellow as an ear of corn
And I have torn my soul apart
From pulling artlessly with fool commands”.
From In California.
And i could go on and on. Songs like “Kingfisher”, “Soft As Chalk” and “In California” are tracks some people never obtain after decades of making music.
This is my favorite album of all time so OF COURSE you should listen to it. If you enjoy artists like Fiona Apple, Kate Bush or Joni Mitchell you’ll dig this from front to end.
I hope you check out some of the albums i recommended on this list! I tried not to be obvious about my picks because Folklore/Evermore by Taylor, Punisher by Phoebe 30 by Adele, the new Arctic Monkeys album, Rumours by Fleetwood Mac and a lot of other projects could’ve fit this list perfectly.
Be free to share your opinions about these projects if you listen or have already listened to them and don´t doubt if you want to also give an album recommendation.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting this Newsletter!