3 Albums To Get You Through Winter

As we enter the last month of winter I have found the perfect 3 albums you can use to soundtrack the end of the dark days and the start of new beginnings.

1. Just Another Diamond Day by Vashti Bunyan (1970)

Starting strong with this British folk classic. Released 5 days before Christmas 1970 on the 20th of December to little success, only a few hundred copies were pressed originally. The album was recorded in just 3 days in December 1969 and produced by Joe Boyd (Nick Drake, Nico and Fairpoint Convention).

After the albums low sales Vashti became disillusioned with the music industry, unmotivated with low self esteem from this experience she left the music industry and focussed on living a low profile rural lifestyle in the Scottish borders and then later moving to west Ireland, raising her three children with husband Robert Lewis

This album is perfect for those harsh winter nights when the rain is pouring down relentlessly and it's too cold to even consider going outside, lay in bed with a cup of coffee or tea and let this record provide the warmth needed. If I could sum up this album I would describe it as a hug from your favourite person, a safe space soundtracked by a hauntingly beautiful voice. This album is vulnerable and is a happier outlook on the winter months, an anticipation for the beauty that spring brings. This album for me is perfect, my favourite songs on this album would be: I'd Like To Walk Around In Your Mind Someday, Hebridean Sun, Winter is Blue and Love Song.

2. Feel Something by Movements (2017)

Next up is in my opinion the best emo album of all time. This is the debut album from the Californian emo/post-hardcore band Movements who were formed two years before this album in 2015.

It was a pivotal moment in my life when I first heard this album, it was a cold and dreary November and this album appeared on my Spotify, perfect timing.

From the first track Full Circle, you are dragged into confronting that seasonal depression that affects us all during these winter months as singer Patrick Miranda screams "this cycle comes full circle again". This record is as vulnerable as someone can get with themes ranging from depression, alzheimer's disease, loss of love, falling in love and personal growth, a true journey.

Produced by Will Yip ( Title Fight, Turnstile and Citizen) the sonics of this record can only be described as confrontational with the band incredibly cohesive matching Miranda's vulnerability lyrically with grungy riffs filled with emotion. The most popular song and a song that has become a staple for me in these final winter months for years now is the fourth track Daylily. This song feels like a deep breath, leaving the listener feeling hopeful and excited for spring to come.

The opening four lines of "outside for the first time in a long time, lose yourself sink into the sunlight, it's been a while since you felt right, but the warm nights are coming soon and you'll be just fine" are everything you need to hear at this time of the year. This album again is perfect to me but my personal favourite songs are: Full Circle, Daylily, Deep Red and Fever Dream.

3. For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver (2008)

Finishing off with my personal go to winter album and one of my favourite albums of all time, this is an indie/folk staple. I had heard Skinny Love after the Birdy cover became a massive hit in 2011, it wasn't until I reached my late teens where I decided to listen to the whole album and it floored me.

This album has a great lore behind it too which always adds to the experience, there is a great video on YouTube about it which you can watch here. Justin Vernon, who is the lead singer of Bon Iver was dealing with health issues, catching pneumonia then mono which led to a liver affection, leaving him bedridden for three months. On top of theses issues Vernon had left his band DeYarmond Edison and broken up with his girlfriend. Vernon has said that this record is not about that relationship, rather about "people's first love for instance like mine and how I never got over it". Vernon was 25, severely depressed and thought that his life had spiraled into mediocrity, so he packed his car with some recording equipment and his belongings and drove to his father's hunting cabin in rural Wisconsin where he drank beer and watched TV for three weeks.

After three weeks Vernon began recording the songs that would later form this masterpiece of an album. Now that you are caught up on the lore behind the album let's get into the music. Produced by Vernon himself and recorded solely in the cabin, this album carries that isolation and emotional turmoil into every one of these nine songs. The opening track of Flume is a delicate tone setter that perfectly sets you up for the next 37 minutes, the next two songs of Lump Sum and the most popular song from this album Skinny Love carry on where Flume left. The next two songs, The Wolves (Act 1 and 2) and Blindsided, are two of my favourite songs of all time. Wolves is completely soul destroying but so beautiful at the same time the bridge part at 2:38 with the repetition of "what might have been lost" is a man's desperate plea for answers that is a tough listen but great to sing along to. Moving on to Blindsided it follows the same theme as Wolves and is Vernon at his most honest and raw on this album, it almost feels like you are reading his journal instead of listening to a song. The last track on this album Re:Stacks is in my opinion the best song on this album and is as hopeful as this album gets. This song is bewitching, emotional, honest and optimistic. The songs standout lyric that has always stuck with me comes at the 4:17 mark "whatever could it be that has brought me to this loss?". The song finishes on a more hopeful note however with the three lines of "This is not the sound of a new man or a crispy realization, its the sound of the unlocking and the lift away, your love will be safe with me".

In summary, this album achieves what it sets out to do beautifully, its all about the feeling of loneliness and isolation after going through multiple traumatic events. The raw emotion on this record has a stunning beauty and calm to it, whilst you are hanging onto every word Justin Vernon is singing. This album is a true 10/10, my favourite songs are Blindsided, The Wolves (Act 1 and 2), Re:Stacks and For Emma.