I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST, Vol. 19: "Featherweight" 🪶
Let the good air in
Long time no see! Happy Late Spring™️ — the perfect micro-season! Let’s get into it.
I’m kicking things off with a list of miscellaneous nice things that have happened to me recently:
I saw a bald eagle soaring around (like, REALLY soaring up there, exactly how they look in National Geographic footage) at the state park I frequent on the weekends.
A giant lily stalk in one of the aisle arrangements was falling over during Easter Mass, and the lady in the pew closest to it reached around and carefully propped it up on a sturdier neighboring stalk so it wouldn’t break. ❤️🩹
My favorite bakery had limited-edition lemon bar croissants a few weeks ago, so I brought one to a picnic with friends and we tried to split it into three pieces but failed miserably, got the filling absolutely everywhere, and proceeded to ascend to pastry heaven together. Truly magical.
My houseplants are thriving and looking extra glamorous in the evening sunlight these days.
Daisy Jones & The Six. Specifically Karen and Graham, the real stars of the show:
I overheard a woman ending a phone conversation with someone I can only assume was an old friend — “It was great catching up, take care of yourself” — and even though it was a very normal goodbye dialogue, I could just tell she genuinely meant every word and it made me so happy.
LISTEN
Lots to catch up on, my goodness. First things first..
Fred again..
Yes, the man is a genius and no, I don’t know how I made it this long without “Danielle (smile on my face)” in near-constant rotation. I also don’t know why he only has two .. instead of three … in his name. But more importantly, he always seems like he’s having THE MOST FUN. I hereby command you to watch his recent NPR Tiny Desk Concert, linked below. I don’t care if you then decide never to listen to his music ever again. Just take 20, press play, and after it’s over try to tell me you weren’t moved by his performance. Impossible.
+ Bonus: If you’re into production—and even if you’re not—his Tape Notes podcast episodes are unreal and totally worth the time: Episode 1 (2021) / Episode 2 (2022)
Favorite albums of the year so far:
The Weakness by Ruston Kelly
Spotify | Apple
Top three: “Breakdown” / “Michael Keaton” / “Mending Song”
the record by boygenius
Spotify | Apple
Top three: “Not Strong Enough” / “Cool About It” / “Anti-Curse”
An Orange Colored Day by Arima Ederra
Spotify | Apple
Top three: “Drugz/Wooden Wheel” / “Letters From The Imaginary” / “Message”
Honorable Mentions: Honey by Samia, Never Going Under by Circa Waves, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat by Kelsea Ballerini, AudioLust & HigherLove by SG Lewis, Health by Medium Build, and 2022 crossover fave The Loneliest Time by Carly Rae Jepsen (the IDEAL spring album!)
Unexpected obsession:
Before all of those incredible albums were released, my 2023 daily listening mostly consisted of Derry Girls needle drops, particularly “Independent Love Song” by Scarlet. I was embarrassingly late to the Derry Girls party, but I finally showed up earlier this year and I can assure you it is one of the best shows to ever grace our television screens.
A cute little Prom Season gift if you haven’t seen it:
READ
“the only good coffee is bad coffee” by Helena Fitzgerald (griefbacon)
A perfect ode to all the best types of terrible coffee. I love this part so much: “Imagine being able to give yourself exactly the thing that you need. It doesn’t matter how small the aperture is, or whether this gesture leads to some larger consistency. It usually doesn’t; after all, it’s just coffee. But for maybe ten minutes or maybe a whole hour, love is a fixed point of arrival.”
“A Blade of Grass” by Brian Patten
“you deserve a spring” by Liz Plank (Airplane Mode)
Just this: “Prepare for joy, just as seriously as you would prepare for a hurricane. It’s coming for you.”
“What if you could do it all over?” by Joshua Rothman (The New Yorker)
A wildly thought-provoking essay about the other lives we’ve imagined (and continue to imagine) for ourselves. Obsessed with this thought: “But isn’t the negative space in a portrait part of that portrait? In the sense that our unled lives have been imagined by us, and are part of us, they are real; to know what someone isn’t—what she might have been, what she’s dreamed of being—this is to know someone intimately.”
“The Women Are Smart. The Men Are Sincere. And the Ending Is Always Happy.” by Allison P. Davis (Vulture)
EmHen girlies, wya? Who’s with me on my mission to befriend her irl? Most importantly, who’s already picked up a copy of Happy Place? For the uninitiated: Emily Henry is a romance novelist and her characters are just so wonderful. They’re lovable and complicated and by the time I get to the last chapter I always wish they really existed out in the world somewhere. I really truly enjoy — like, stay-in-bed-all-Sunday-smiling-at-the-walls-like-an-idiot enjoy — every single thing she writes. She’s not reinventing the wheel, but gosh she knows how to make the old wheel really sparkle and shine like new. Bonus: This Vulture piece is by Allison P. Davis, a bona fide queen of modern profile writing.
FOLLOW
@nyplpicturecollection and @the___stacks
I’m completely obsessed with these online archives of the New York Public Library’s photo collections. The accounts highlight anything from dragonfly wings to Vogue beauty close-ups to former Philadelphia Eagles star Donovan McNabb (…not that the latter is necessarily a huge selling point for me, I’m just trying to accurately convey the staggering breadth of topics covered here).
I also appreciate that we’re told which folder the photos have been pulled from in each post — i.e. “DESIGN-TREE OF LIFE , PRINTS and NEW YORK - 1970’s” or “DANCE (various regions) DERVISHES and FIGURES IN DESIGN” or “ITALIAN INTERIORS.”
10/10 heartwarming throwback pics, movie clips, hilarious memes, etc. Exhibit A:
PLAY
Much like this newsletter installment, the accompanying playlist is a tad bit… directionless? In a pleasant way, I hope? Of course, these songs all feel like spring to me—I would never lead you astray with a seasonally-inappropriate playlist—but they do tend to float around between moods, as if they’re aware of the destination yet determined to find the most roundabout way to get there. But rest assured, the journey is most definitely a pleasant one overall. I’ve been listening and rearranging and listening and rearranging again every day for the past month (sorry to gatekeep) and I’m so excited to finally share it with you.
Side note — I’ve been loving this lyric from Samia’s “Amelia” (featured in slot #8) as a little pre-summer mantra: All I'm runnin' with, babe / is a blank slate towards the ocean / f*** your rearview, there's no room to / shoulder hindsight where we're going
“There’s no room to shoulder hindsight where we’re going.” Kinda nice, right?
AND because spring is a season of ~transition~ I’ve highlighted some of my favorite song transitions on the full track list below. Some pretty delicious moments in there if I do say so myself. 🤓
“Featherweight”
Dive - Ruston Kelly
↩️
Heaven - Niall Horan
Carry You Home - Circa Waves
Sad to Breathe - The Japanese House
↩️
Everything’s Right - Matt Wertz
It’s Euphoric - Georgia
Dog Years - Maggie Rogers
Amelia - Samia
↩️
Never Let You Go - Third Eye Blind
Anywhere But Here - Hilary Duff
Sunny Disposition - Carol Ades
Boyhood - The Japanese House
Bends - Carly Rae Jepsen
Since I Have A Lover - 6LACK
↩️
Strawberry Moon - Eleni Drake
Lately - Tom Eddy
This Far South - Tommy Prine
Hummingbird - Patrick Droney
Sunshine Over The Counter - Madison Cunningham
a little more time - ROLE MODEL
Fallin’ For You - Colbie Caillat
Holly - Anna Shoemaker
i look better when i’m in love - JAWNY
↩️
Sofa King - Royel Otis
Breakdown - Ruston Kelly
Not Strong Enough - boygenius
Baby Lay Your Head Down - Aly & AJ
Feather - Sabrina Carpenter
Honey - Samia
Saturdays - Twin Shadow feat. HAIM
Paris - Taylor Swift
↩️
Amalfi - Wild Pink
Hold On - Circa Waves
Fall For Me - Brett Eldredge
The Big Sky - Melissa Fuller
Western Wind - Carly Rae Jepsen
Listen on Spotify:
Or listen on Apple Music here.
That’s it for now! Crack a window (or two, or three), press play, and let me know what you think. I’d also LOVE to hear which albums/artists/songs you currently have on repeat :) Drop a comment if you have recs!
Natalie
I’ve really been enjoying “the record” by boygenius and Daisy Jones and the Six too! 🥹🫶