playlists > poetry slams

I took a few months hiatus from posting in order to join a writer’s workshop this spring and produce truly god-awful poetry. Seriously. I am a terrible poet. The workshop instructor was a former student of Derek Walcott, and very talented, so you would think that some type of talent osmosis had a chance of rubbing off on me, but sadly not.*

Here are a few (non-poetry) highlights from this spring’s playlist:

Sylvan Esso - Slack Jaw. Spoiler: I may be compensating for my poetic antics with a fixation on emotive songs about love and depression in this playlist. The talented Amelia Meath sat down with NPR recently, and described this song as “Everything is awesome — and I am still sad.”

Adult Mom - Be Your Own 3am. Another gorgeous, plaintive track from upstate natives Adult Mom. Make sure to catch them on tour this summer in support of their new album, Soft Spots.

P.S. Eliot - Tennessee. If you have a chance to see Allison and/or Katie Crutchfield live, GO. RUN. GET TICKETS RIGHT NOW. They are phenomenal, and their joint project P.S. Eliot is no different. This song is about stumbling through your mid-twenties.

Feist - The Wind. I love the return of Feist to the brand of folk that will never be used in an iTunes commercial. Drift into the wind of aimless melancholia with this song from her new album, Pleasure.

Mac Demarco - Still Beating. This Old Dog was a more serious album (and effort) than I had expected. The amount of emotion caught me by surprise. Maybe that is terrible to admit? Idk. For what it’s worth, Mac, I would love to work with you and your mom.

Kelly Lee Owens - Lucid. The deceptively simple arrangements from this Welsh electronica artist evoke shifting dreamscapes with each chord change.

The Sea Life - Red Eyes. The anxiety of young adulthood is adeptly summed up in a new release from DC locals The Sea Life. What better city exists in which to trade passions for a paycheck?

Listen here:

*Real life footage of me at a reading~