Monday Mixtape
Featuring Indigo De Souza, Olivia Dean, The Greeting Committee, Mr Twin Sister, Shallow Alcove, Post Malone, Freddy Fender, TOPS, and Television
Howdy and happy Monday! I’ll be honest — I’m still feeling pretty under the weather. But the show must go on! Some housekeeping items first:
Did anyone else notice I called quotation marks “parentheses” in my last post? If so, sorry. If not, forget I said anything. (Edit: I learned how to edit posts after publishing. It’s been fixed.)
You can find the links to the playlist for Monday Mixtape here and below. I’ll also make a point of linking the playlist archive too, for all the songs shared in previous posts.
If you’re reading this and the playlist above ^ doesn’t match what I’m writing about in the rest of this post, you might be reading an old post. Archived tracks from past playlists will live on the Monday Mixtape Archive found here!
Without further ado, here’s what’s been in my rotation lately:
Losing by Indigo De Souza
I’ve referenced Indigo in past posts but this is my first time sharing her music on the Monday Mixtape list. All of This Will End was released earlier this year and I thoroughly enjoyed it (other standouts include “Time Back,” “You Can Be Mean,” “Parking Lot,” etc.…I have a lot of them “liked” on Spotify). “Losing",” however, stood out to me recently because it talks about change. Specifically, not being able to stop change, no matter how hard you try. Indigo’s lyrics resonated with me greatly because I’ve felt similarly about my inability to stop things from changing — like my friends moving away, doing really well one month but totally crashing the next, etc.
“Am I losing to the dark? Is it overtaking me?
I was overcoming last month, but June is killing me
And all my friends are leaving or trying on new faces
And in the dark, where my car's been parked, I remember how to face it
There is nothing I can do when the winds of change blow through
There is nothing I can say to make you stay”
Indigo has this truly profound knack for writing in a way that touches your heart. Her voice and songwriting are special, and I’m glad this song came back around for me when it did.
Reminds me of: Slow Pulp, Frankie Cosmos, PACKS, Arlo Parks, and Soccer Mommy
Dive by Olivia Dean
The first time I listened to “Dive” I smiled so big. You know when you’re listening to something and it’s impossible not to nod along to the beat? This song is infectious, fun, and full of heart. Olivia’s voice is divine. It instantly reminded me of “Can’t Fight” by Lianne La Havas but with a sweet pop/r&b twist.
“It isn't working
I'm a tidal wave of question marks
And you're just surfing
Leaning into me like it's an art
It's so crazy
Lately
You just understand my feelings
Make me
See I'm capable and fine
And feeling beautified tonight
I'm ready to dive”
Reminds me of: Lianne La Havas, Yaya Bey, Victoria Monét, UMI, and Hannah Jagadu
Wrapped Inside of Your Arms by The Greeting Committee
It feels a little bit like cheating that I’ve shared not one but two songs on the mixtape from this album, but…I make the rules. So it’s fine. And this song is lovely and worth it!
Florida is starting its slow but thankfully inevitable transition into the fall season, and with it comes the weird, sometimes painful, and sometimes euphoric, feeling of the transitioning weather. September is usually when I start thinking of what I want to put on my fall playlist, and we’ve had a few precious days these past few weeks of actually kind of cool weather?? That being said, this song came up on my shuffle a few days ago and it, to me, felt like one of those perfect in-between-summer-and-fall tracks to me. This applies to Addie Sartino’s angelic voice, too.
“Early in the morning, you turn to me
Say "I've missed you terribly"
I was lying wide awake on my back
Dreaming of you wanting me back
Oh, isn't it funny how a year can pass and I feel unchanged?
Oh, isn't it funny how a year can pass and I need more days
With you?”
Reminds me of: Bad Bad Habits, Sjowgren, Miniature Tigers, Lunar Vacation, and Rosie Tucker
Your Star by Shallow Alcove
SPEAKING OF transitional fall songs and sounds….I cannot, and I repeat: cannot, get enough of Shallow Alcove. First, I have to show you the TikTok that started my obsession:
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Like…this voice!! Are you kidding me?? Anyway, this prompted me to look up their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, etc. I love how the band describes themselves on their website:
“Shallow Alcove is a band of friends fronted by Grace Krichbaum and Dan Harris. They combine stacked vocal harmonies, catchy guitar riffs, and diary-like lyrics to form a tender soundtrack to young adulthood. Shallow Alcove’s music is based in their love of DIY folk music and colored with narratives of friendship, the changing of the seasons, bad haircuts, and the ache of growing up. What started as friends writing songs in the bedrooms and basements of Upstate New York has since shifted to the apartments and studios of New York City and Philadelphia, but Shallow Alcove’s roots have remained the same: story-telling with the people they love.”
“I don't need you to call
And tell me how I probably should've felt
Though I knew you'd fall
The end of your world shouldn't be my fault
Lowercase, never bracing for the fall
My heart, wore it on my sleeves or on my wall
Beaten down but I'm not broken
Try to speak and nearly choke
I'm breathing in and out
Lowercase, you can stay up late, but don't fall in love
That'll never be enough”
Their newest single “Dream Song” (featured in the TikTok linked above) comes out on 9/14 and I am so so so ready.
Reminds me of: The Greeting Committee, Ada Lea, Tiny Habits, Leith Ross, and Haley Blais
Expressions by Mr Twin Sister
I’ll be honest — this has been on my list for weeks! I’m only now getting around to adding it just because I prioritized other tracks, but I’m still not over how fun and different this song is. The pre-chorus and chorus have yet to get old for me. It’s funky and totally fits the “low-lit disco” vibe it’s associated with.
“This time apart you've been in my private thoughts
But can it work?
What has distance done to us?
You're almost here, wings flutter all through me
My heart beats faster with thoughts of you taking me in my head
So could you hurry please, getting here
When you're coming here
Been looking forward to us
No more holding back
I'm dying for your touch
My heart beats faster
Obsessed”
Reminds me of: Lake Street Drive, TOPS, Part Time, Tennis, and Connan Mockasin
Enough is Enough by Post Malone
In my last post, I mentioned that I loved Post Malone’s Tiny Desk set. The recordings from that set aren’t available on Spotify (they never are, only YouTube) but one of my favorites from that set was “Enough is Enough.” I’ve been listening to it a lot lately, and it’s fun! It feels like an anthem I’d probably really love in college. Post Malone reminds me a lot of college since 2015 is when he really blew up. I remember listening to “Stay” a lot after my then-boyfriend and I broke up in 2018, lmao. I still love that song, too!
“2 a.m
They ran out of lemonade
So I shot that vodka straight, anyway
She came in
Missin' bottle off the shelf
I can't drink this by myself, sit with me, babe
Then I started laughin'
Like it was funny
But it really ain't funny, uh”
Reminds me of: It feels kind of silly doing this for an artist as popular as him…But I guess Dominic Fike, Jack Harlow, and Travis Scott
Before the Next Teardrop Falls by Freddy Fender
If you’re a fan of the Hulu series The Bear, you may recognize this one. This 1970s hit was featured in episode 5 of season 2, sung by Liza Colón-Zayas (who plays Tina Marrero) at a karaoke bar. I whipped out Shazam almost immediately to find out what the song was, and I’ve been listening to it since. I have a soft spot for bilingual songs/artists (Freddy Fender is an American Tejano singer-songwriter) and a soft spot for Liza’s part in The Bear. I just adore her. She sang this so beautifully in the episode, too. It’s hard not to love her.
“Si te quiere de verdad
Y te da felicidad
Te deseo lo más bueno pa' los dos
Pero si te hace llorar
A mé me puedes hablar
Y estaré contigo cuando triste estás”
Reminds me of: I unfortunately know very few Latin American country artists from the 70s… but Google suggests fans would also like Jesse Lee Jones, Lindi Ortega, Johnny Rodriguez, and Rick Trevino
Party Again by TOPS
Another classic. I’ve loved TOPS since 2018, and “Party Again” isn’t new but it is a favorite of mine. Written in the height of COVID-19, it speaks to what a lot of us were thinking/feeling in the thick of isolation: When will we party again? When will I get to see my friends again, in a normal setting??
TOPS has such a distinctly funky, spacey, bubble-gum-synth pop sound to them but with a mature edge. I highly recommend this track, of course, but if you like what you hear I can’t suggest listening to their albums Sugar at the Gate, Picture You Staring, or I Feel Alive enough.
“I just can't live without hope
Sometimes you gotta let go
Sometimes you gotta say when
I just can't live without friends
When will we party again?
Missing the touch of your skin
Day, night, nothing seems right
I'm losing it
So bad I want to completely
He's dying to see me again
This must be some kind of joke”
Reminds me of: Jay Som, Marci, Alice Phoebe Lou, Melody’s Echo Chamber, and Barrie
Days by Television
What can I say? Television is a favorite of mine - they are classic in every way. Yasi Salek of Bandsplain recently published an episode all about Television and I’m only halfway through listening to it. It’s great though.
Television is a rock band from the 70s based out of New York. Its most prominent lineup of members included Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd, Billy Ficca, and Fred Smith. While I love their “big” album, Marquee Moon, I felt compelled to share “Days” because it, in my opinion, doesn’t get as much love the way their tracks “Prove It” or “Marquee Moon” or “Guiding Light” do.
Yasi and her co-host for the episode, Evan Laffer, describe Tom as a poet (and pretentious, but we can move past that bit) and it really shows in his lyricism.
“Up in the high, high hills
With my floating friend
Watching all the silver
No one will ever spend
I feel the touch of her hand
And all it will erase
These footprints I followed
Though they followed my every pace”
I also love that the band Real Estate did a cover of Television’s “Days.” It’s wonderful. If you like the original, definitely check it out.
Reminds me of: The Modern Lovers (less goofy though), Wire, New York Dolls, The Replacements, and Guided by Voices
That’s it for this week. Let me know what you think if you end up giving any of these a listen. Hope you enjoy + happy listening!
-Pam