Five albums to gently weep your rainy Vancouver nights away to

From bedroom pop to break-up rock, we’ve got you covered

By Jacey Gibb, Distribution Manger

It has begun.

The time of year where 98 per cent of the forecasts call for rain, and the other two per cent predict “partly cloudy, with a chance of showers.”

It’s a commonly-known fact that your will to leave your house plummets dramatically during the winter months, which means a surplus of cozy nights spent indoors. Here are five suggested soundtracks to help drown out the torrential downpour happening outside your window.

Turn Out the Lights by Julien Baker

When Baker self-released a hodgepodge of tracks back in 2014, I doubt anyone was expecting things to blow up quite like they did. In a world saturated with stadium-rock anthems and cookie-cutter club tracks, Baker’s minimalist sound and reverberating vocals are here to save us from, well, ourselves. My friends and I have an ongoing joke about how Baker is the perfect music to bring down any fun, upbeat situation—so her latest album is quintessential listening for your limitless rainy nights.

Hospice by The Antlers

Is it an autobiographical album about a nurse and a hospice patient, or is it simply a well-crafted, eerie concept album? While The Antlers’ frontman Peter Silberman continues to dodge the question, we can instead focus on what listeners do know: That Silberman et al.’s third album is as achingly beautiful as it is haunting. Chronicling a (possibly fictional?) relationship from its formative days to the patient’s inevitable medical decline, Hospice is as much a love story as it is a eulogy. In other words, get ready to crank those speakers and dab your leaky eye sockets.

Everybody Works by Jay Som

Som’s music is frequently referred to as “bedroom pop,” so what better album to play while you contemplate never leaving your bedroom again. Dreamy and mellow, but with enough rock to keep you from nodding off, Everybody Works has it all. You might argue that this is a multi-purpose album that pairs well with both indoor and outdoor activities—but for optimal usage, play inside, in the background, as you’re buried under three layers of bedding.

The First Days of Spring by Noah and The Whale

Towards the end of their career, Noah and The Whale deviated hard into upbeat, mostly-forgettable pop music; back in the earlier days, though (i.e. 2009), we were gifted with The First Days of Spring, the rare sophomore album that surpasses a band’s debut in almost every conceivable way. Lyrically, the album centres around the breakup between frontman Charlie Fink and former bandmate Laura Marling, but hints of optimism occasionally flicker through the album’s overarching sombre tone. Despite its seasonal name, The First Days of Spring fits in perfectly with Vancouver’s autumn.

Too Bright by Perfume Genius

For years I considered myself a mere dabbler in Perfume Genius, until a fateful show back in 2015, where he opened for Belle & Sebastian at the Vogue Theatre. Unaccompanied on stage, Mike Hadreas a.k.a. Perfume Genius commanded more attention by his lonesome than the combined 10-or-so members of the night’s headlining act. Throw on his third (and arguably, best) album and sink back into the dizzying vocals and power piano ballads—or better yet, learn to play these tracks on the piano, and then you can shout-harmonize yourself!