BEST CHILL SONGS - WEEK 40

I'm certain that I say this every October, but fall is undoubtedly my favorite time of year.

Seriously – I'm unable to think of anything that I love more than snuggling up under my duvet with a steaming mug of hot cocoa, a book, and perhaps even a sleeping pup or two.

Of course, this idyllic autumnal scene wouldn't be complete without some sort of background music, which brings us to the latest edition of We Are: The Guard's Best Chill Songs.

As the weekend speedily approaches, then, feel free to join me in embracing fall in all of its cozy, golden glory this Friday with the following tracks from M83, Flume, Halsey, and plenty more.

-

M83 – FEELINGS

M83's Anthony Gonzalez delves into his love of sci-fi and fantasy on his lush  latest single “Feelings.” Featured on DSVII – the sequel to 2007's Digital Shades, Vol. 1 – “Feelings” would have sounded very much at home in an 80s cinematic epic like Dune or Blade Runner, with soaring strings pairing with big, booming drums for a wide-screen synthwave spectacular that aims directly at the emotions.

P.S. What did I just watch?

EKALI (FEAT. WAFIA) – BE FINE

Three years after first coming together for a remix of “Meet in the Middle,” Ekali and Wafia have reunited (and it feels so good) for “Be Fine.” “It's about the pain that you feel when you lose something that you thought that you never would, and how life will inevitably take its course in the end, but you'll be okay in time,” writes Ekali of the cut – a shimmeringly nocturnal piece of future bass that hits an emotive note as Wafia's vocals dance in the moonlight.

TEI SHI (FEAT. BLOOD ORANGE) – EVEN IF IT HURTS

This is utterly divine. Coinciding with the announcement of her forthcoming album La Linda, Tei Shi returns this Friday with “Even If It Hurts.” It's the kind of airy, tranquil psalm along the lines of what we've come to expect from Valerie Teicher, with Blood Orange's Dev Hynes lending a stunningly soft counterpoint to Tei's narrative about vulnerability in love.

RATIONALE (FEAT. AYELLE) – HURTS THE MOST

Rationale and Ayelle? It doesn't get much better than this, I'll tell you that for nothing! With Rationale's rich, soulful croon folding into Ayelle's more honeyed tones, the We Are: The Guard favorites sound, in short, transfixing together on “Hurts the Most” – a 90s-tinged piece of R&B that takes place after the honeymoon period, when the rose-tinted glasses have come off and the reality of being in a committed relationship has started to set in.

FLUME (FEAT. VERA BLUE) – RUSHING BACK

He was recently in the news for, ahem, all of the wrong reasons, but Australian producer Flume is finally returning the focus to his music with the release of his latest single. The follow-up to Quits – his collaborative EP with Reo Cragun – finds the Future Classic signee back to his glitched-out best, with feature artist Vera Blue's vocals sitting pretty like a maraschino cherry atop Flume's jagged, degraded, melting synth pyrotechnics.

HALSEY – CLEMENTINE

Ahead of the release of her album Manic in January, Halsey returns this Friday with “Clementine.” It's an affecting ode to loneliness that one can assume was titled after the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind protagonist of the same name (Halsey revealed in a recent interview with Rolling Stone that she built her “whole personality” off Kate Winslet's character), with a plucky toy piano backing Halsey as she reels off her most devastating narrative to date.

UNDERWORLD – TREE AND TWO CHAIRS

Dance legends Underworld are putting a chill, almost jazzy twist on their club sound on “Tree and Two Chairs.” The latest single to be unveiled as part of the British duo's ongoing series Drift is a transfixing groove that clocks in at almost 14 minutes, with Balearic-esque synths meeting dusty drums for a cut that could have quite easily come from one of those lo-fi hip-hop study live radios as found in the more introverted corners of YouTube.

DIJON – GOOD LUCK

“Good Luck,” the latest single from We Are: The Guard favorite Dijon, may clock in at just over a minute, but trust me when I say that it'll resonate with you for much longer than that. Listen as the 26-year-old ships a lover off into the fading sunset on the gut-wrenching cut, with barely-there piano chords allowing Dijon's parting words to hit harder than you can possibly imagine.

EMOTIONAL ORANGES – YOUR BEST FRIEND IS A HATER

Following on from the release of “Just Like You,” R&B duo Emotional Oranges are back this Friday with some more freshly squeezed juice in the form of “Your Best Friend Is a Hater.” “Your best friend is a hater/She thinks every guy is a player too/Know she gets pleasure tryna break us/I can't change your mind if it's made up too,” croons the mysterious “A” over a nostalgic blend of wavy guitars and skittering drums on the cut, which is set to feature on Emotional Oranges' forthcoming EP The Juice: Vol. II.

ASTRID S – FAVORITE PART OF ME

And so we conclude with the ridiculously cute “Favorite Part of Me” by Astrid S. The Norwegian artist is certain to melt your heart with this piano-driven ballad from her recent EP Down Low, with the 22-year-old softly, sweetly singing about the different sides of her personality, before concluding that her favorite part is her ability to love others.

B.R.B. I need a moment.

-

Don't forget to follow We Are: The Guard's Weekly Chart for plenty more! x

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

Jess Grant is a frustrated writer hailing from London, England. When she isn't tasked with disentangling her thoughts from her brain and putting them on paper, Jess can generally be found listening to The Beatles, or cooking vegetarian food.