Songs to Save You From Daylight Savings
November in New York City marks the annual dread of sunset moving up to 4:30pm. With the return of Daylight Savings comes the gloomy darkness that makes you want to curl up in bed and sleep until the sun returns in March. But with the holidays, finals, and relationships to maintain, who has time to hibernate for the winter? Here’s a playlist of songs from the PLAYBACK team made specifically to help you fight the melancholy that comes with Daylight Savings.
Nyah: Bloom by Beach House
Beach House’s music has a way of shapeshifting to suit whatever mood you’re in, but Bloom (2012) has a sound made for transitions and new beginnings. Daylight savings usually feels more like the end than a beginning, but playing the album’s glittery opening track, “Myth,” will leave you feeling like maybe this month, you’ll get your life together for real this time. Though there are a few more yearn-worthy songs like my personal favorite, “Troublemaker” (closely followed by “Lazuli” in #2), Beach House’s signature hopeful synth and Victoria Legrand’s ethereal vocals throughout the record leave you no choice but to keep faith that everything will be okay, even on your blueblack 6:00 pm walk home.
Glenn: “All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem
This song is ideal for when the sun sets at 4:30 p.m. and you start spiraling about literally everything: your twenties, the summer internship you don’t have, that essay/PSET due tonight. The piano comes in fast, then faster, never really stopping, like your brain on too much caffeine. It loops, builds, and carries you until the drums finally crash in, and suddenly your crash out becomes a dance floor.
The song feels like watching the city go dark from the back of an Uber, windows down, on the West Side Highway or the Brooklyn Bridge. For me, Murphy nails that weird in-between of being not young enough to be reckless but not old enough to know better. It’s melancholic, euphoric, and relentlessly nostalgic, the kind of track that makes growing older feel like something you can groove through.
William: “TEETHSUCKER (YEA3x)” by Rico Nasty
To prevent myself from returning to bed 6 hours after I wake up, I need something loud and fierce to revitalize my spirits. Often a gorgeous, talented woman is blaring in my ears, and recently it’s been Rico Nasty. I only find myself listening to rock during fall, thus “TEETHSUCKER (YEA3x)” has been my recent number one. The rock sound combined with my typical musical tastes of rap and house match it perfectly with my perception of the season. The song serves as my savior, jolting me back towards reality and action while the mid-afternoon sunsets try to compel me to run home to my blankets and pjs.
Sophia: “SUMMER” by BROCKHAMPTON
What better way to remind yourself of the sunlight and warm weather waiting for you after winter than a song about summer? “SUMMER” closes out SATURATION II with a dreamy, sun-soaked tenderness that showcases the collective’s softer side. Built on warm guitar lines and an airy groove, the track drifts between longing and nostalgia, capturing the sweetness and ache of a fleeting summer romance. It’s one of BROCKHAMPTON’s most emotionally open moments—intimate, mellow, and quietly overwhelming in all the best ways.
Emma: “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson
If this song does not make you want to get up and move, then you deserve to sleep the day away. There is something about this jazzy pop anthem that always gets me dancing. Winehouse’s strong, punchy vocals overlaid on this groovy track makes it a timeless classic that transcends the seasons. The energy of this song is unmatched, and Ronson’s bumping production will put a pep in your step so you always make it to that evening class—even when it’s pitch black outside.