This post is also available in:
Spanish
Sometimes summer isn’t about adventuring and sports and summer sun – sometimes it’s for lying back and relaxing – and we’ve got a few songs for the occasion, with another 8tracks playlist so you can listen as you read! In the fifth installment of our Top Ten Tuesdays series – relaxation music, we’ll be laying down ten fantastic tracks you can lie back and listen to as you relax by the pool, or cozy up inside on a rainy day. Below is an integrated 8tracks playlist in which you can listen to all of these. If you’d like to listen to them in the order we’ve listed them below, then click on the link in square below to get to the 8tracks website and listen to them that way. So, without much ado, let’s begin! Here goes our top ten tuesday list of relaxation music:
1. Reckless Featured on our Summer Songs playlist for their fantastically bouncy song, Fred Astaire, Australian indie pop group San Cisco isn’t just summery beats and lemonade – in their song Reckless, synth-pop hooks and upbeat rhythms are put aside for a quiet, whispery song called Reckless. While a bit sad, Reckless is a song that soothes, no doubt, perfect for a lazy evening.
2. Badge and Gun – John Mayer While a name like Badge and Gun might conjure up images of cowboy songs and country rock, the song is actually a slow, simple country song, enhanced by Mayer’s unique guitar-picking style. Give me my badge and gun, he croons, give me the road that I may run.
3. Please Come Home – Gary Clark Jr. Heralded as this generation’s Jimi Hendrix, Gary Clark Jr. would be expected to churn out intense, guitar-driven, bluesy rock – and don’t get me wrong, he does create those songs on the regular. But Please Come Home is not one of those songs. The song opens with a lone falsetto vocal, with the rest of the band’s instruments coming in for a truly beautiful slow jam of a song.
4. Shine On – The Kooks While we’re on the topic of slightly more upbeat songs on this list, The Kooks’ Shine On is a delightful song built mainly on a simple little drumbeat, a light organ and heartfelt vocals. The song truly “shines”, and, if you haven’t heard it, makes for a fantastic first listen.
5. 93 Million Miles – Jason Mraz Jason Mraz, while known mainly for his upbeat, wordplay-filled hits such as his chart-smashing single I’m Yours, released this gentle number on his 2012 album, Love is a Four Letter Word. The song conjures up the image of a night sky filled with nothing but calmness – and glowing stars.
6. Atlas Hands – Benjamin Francis Leftwich While not by any means well known, Benjamin Francis Leftwich’s song Atlas Hands makes you wonder why it’s not. An echoey ode to nostalgia, the song’s dreamy vocals could almost make for a lullaby, with a simple and beautiful melody that will end up stuck in your head for all the right reasons.
7. Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop – Landon Pigg Actor and singer-songwriter Landon Pigg may not have ever reached much commercial success, but writing this song was enough of an achievement as is – Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop tells the story the title would suggest, with great acoustic guitar and a chorus that’s all kinds of catchy. The song was an immediate “yes” when it came to thinking of the songs for this playlist.
8. Fire – Jake Bugg Recorded on an iPhone and released on his eponymous album, Jake Bugg’s Fire is a simple, short song that will have you humming along to the chorus on your first listen. Bugg’s crooner vocals are a perfect fit for this lovely little song that will have you coming back and back again for repeated listens.
9. Hiding Tonight – Alex Turner In between touring the world blasting rock songs with his band Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner sat down in 2011 to record Submarine, an EP of six acoustic songs for the soundtrack of the Richard Ayoade-directed film of the same name. Hiding Tonight, an anthem of an introvert’s remorse, consoling himself by promising tomorrow I’ll be… with all kinds of dream-like scenarios of a braver, stronger, or faster self, before adding, but I’m quite alright hiding tonight. The song’s relaxed atmosphere and beautiful lyrics make it a shoo-in for this list.
10. Anchor – Mindy Gledhill Unlike most of the musicians and bands on this list, Californian singer-songwriter and pianist Mindy Gledhill is no stranger to slow, echoey, relaxed ballads, her most well-known is this one, Anchor, a sweet love song dedicated to a significant other and their understanding of the song’s narrator. There’s not much to say about this song, its gorgeous arrangement saying more than I ever could.
So there you have it, Casa de Campo Living’s fifth Top Ten Tuesday, hope you enjoyed the playlist, or will enjoy it the next time you’re lying back and letting the world’s worries slip away.