warming :: a playlist
a playlist for November
At the time of writing this, I am in LA, and it is particularly misty, rainy, and blue. “Bladerunner vibes.” I text Anna. One thing Los Angeles never lacks is an almost histrionic level of drama, even the rain is cinema. When we first moved here, I was struck by how familiar so many places felt, only to realize that I had seen them on TV. The tendrils of Los Angeles are so deeply intertwined with the apparition of Americana... separating the dream from reality always feels difficult. Time is bendier here, and I like that too. Earlier this year, immediately after David Lynch died, I saw Mulholland Drive for the first time and was struck by a palpable sense of horror when one of the characters walks off the highway into the mountains… It haunted and perturbed me for weeks, in a way that made me feel slightly nauseous. That feeling of darkness and dread and mysticism also exists within me here, in a way that I don’t feel in other cities. Maybe everything is an acquired taste, but LA gets under your skin and stays there. When I left in January, I wasn’t sure if I even liked it anymore. Being here again has been a relief. I had not been mistaken in my initial love and appreciation after all. Everything, to me, is beautiful. Here, roses grow in concrete.
I made you a playlist for the month called warming. The pending holiday season always makes me melancholy, sometimes in a nice way. When I think about November, I think about the brown, cold land in Oklahoma, horse races in New Orleans, and how the trees have all dropped their leaves. How you can touch the finality of the year, how from the backseat, the landlines swoop down and up, whipstitching the sky. In a perfect world, these songs will accompany you through both cooking and driving. There’s David Byrne and Don Walser, SZA, Smerz and Hayden Pedigo. It probably doesn’t make sense, but it makes sense to me. I hope you like it, wherever and whoever you are…
my longterm, all encompassing playlist you can listen to:
I’m Mary Bryce, a songwriter & artist. Please check out my about section for more about this newsletter. To share & subscribe is a beautiful thing. Thanks. 🤎