By ACRN’s Editorial Team
Tacoma Radar – “Take Your Time”
“Take Your Time” is like being surrounded behind only yourself in an empty car, the backseat rattling with displaced keepsakes and luggage, watching the day curl and unravel its way around into night: past the murmuring telephone lines, where the far-off windmills idly weep and the pastoral hills lay all tobacco-stained lay rested to rust away; and the off-chance gas station’s ale-flavored lights start to sour, and further distance themselves to dim and tear and leak onto the page. And everything and everyone is passing by, reeling past without you. The track revels in its sheer sincerity — the vocals are so delicate and porcelain-like that a dainty breeze passing by could easily shatter them. It’s hard not to fall so hopelessly in love with such an all-time magnetic chorus like “But you don’t say a word / It’s always the same with you / You never say a word.”
- Rocco Prioletti, Editorial Director
With the fall season comes fall weather, a wind chill, a few rainy days and crunching leaves. Fall weather is the perfect excuse to stay in with the ones you love, light a fall-scented candle, snuggle up on the couch and listen to some lighthearted tunes. Van Morrison is known for his jazzy folk style, and this song is no exception. “Tupelo Honey” is a beautiful ballad about his first wife, a love song describing the value of his affection for her. There is something so valuable about the expression of love in this tune. Morrison describes the value of his emotions by detailing the lengths one could go to and never feel the affection he has for his “Tupelo Honey.” The beautiful organ progressions in this song encapsulate what it’s like to love and be loved by someone. If one were to listen to the instrumental version of this song, the same emotions would be evoked with the gentle guitar and expressive saxophone. Listen to this song with the lights dimmed next to the ones you love, and suddenly the weight of the world melts away for the six minutes and 56 seconds of the track.
- Eileen Fortner, News Editor
Julia Wolf – “In My Room”
For only being released under a year ago, Julia Wolf’s “In My Room” encapsulates nostalgic, early 2000s fall in one hauntingly sorrowful single. Think of watching the blue-tinted Twilight movies as the weather gets too brisk to be outside, and you’ll be pretty close to the feeling this song evokes. Julia Wolf sings the main refrain – “I want your things in my room / I miss you all of the time / I stalk myself on the internet just to see what you’ll find” – in vocal flips reminiscent of Evanescence’s Amy Lee. The transition from raw acoustic guitar to the heavier electric rock is so simple yet otherworldly. As the weather gets colder, the leaves crunch on the ground and the sun sets at 5pm, “In My Room” becomes my soundtrack during cold walks to class.
- Kourtney Gierke, Copy Editor
There is no discography that is more “fall” than that of Elliott Smith. While many gravitate towards Either/Or, Smith’s self-titled album is equally infused with genius. As soon as the leaves begin to change color and the air becomes brisk, I find myself listening to “Clementine.” The song is melancholic, bleak and tragic – and I love it. Smith’s storytelling is unmatched as he quietly sings of a drunken man’s failing love, his acoustic guitar and intricate finger-picking nursing his words. The scenery he paints is that of a lonely, rainy night. As I walk the brick pathways around campus, careful to not slip on the wet orange leaves stuck to the ground, I think of this song: “They’re waking you up to close the bar / The street’s wet, you can tell by the sound of the cars / The bartender’s singing ‘Clementine’ / While he’s turning around the open sign.”
Smith’s twisted take on the folk song “Clementine” is beautiful. The way he centers the story around this classic tune and uses its original lyrics feels nostalgic. I’ve listened to Smith croon these lyrics for hours upon hours this fall, and I wouldn’t have it any other way: “Oh, my darling, Clementine / Dreadful sorry, Clementine.”
- Sage Spirk, Contributor
Alex G – “Is It Still You In There?”
As the leaves quickly drop off the trees, and the sweet critters begin to disappear, as the wind bites harder and as the sun has set by 5 p.m., I find myself repeating the same track over and over, “Is It Still You In There” by Alex G. Think of this track as if A Charlie Brown Christmas met A Christmas Carol. An indescribable, heavy melancholy sits within the instrumental, carried by G’s distinct piano playing. This track sounds like watching snow fall into soft piles on the ground through glass made foggy by your own breath. The high register is reminiscent of a children’s choir, adding to the layered, nostalgic feel of lyrics like “Is there nothing left between the world and you?” evoke. A virtually perfect winter track, “Is It Still You In There” captures the restlessness of yearning with a child-like point of view. Like the warmth of incandescent Christmas lights and the smell of cinnamon, “Is It Still You In There” was made to be the backdrop for your rumination and desire this holiday season.
- Jenell Taylor, Columns and Features Editor
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