These 5 Songs Are Guaranteed To Get You In The Fall Mood
Written by: Danielle Azu
It’s almost fall y’all! This is the time where I'm looking for songs to take long fall drives with, watch the leaves change color, or just feel warm and introspective like the change the season brings. Here are my personal top 5 songs that I've recently been obsessed with leading into autumn!
How It Goes - Ariel River
This recent single by Philadelphia-based artist Ariel River gives us grunge! It’s punchy and has a guitar melody in the back that will have you lost in a trance. A song primarily about heartbreak, it makes you sit with it and zone into the dreamy vocals, making you not want to break up with the track! As Ariel mentioned in a recent interview: “--be able to transport to the feelings they felt when they first heard it”. I think she perfectly resonated the feeling of longing for something you can no longer have on this track and I personally am grateful to listen!
Nailbiter - Maeve Alexander
What is fall without a song about a fleeting relationship? This song by Maeve Alexander is a huge win for, in her words, “making music for the movies in your head”, bringing this raw indie alternative sound that hits you with emotion on your drive home. Released in late 2025, I stumbled across it this year and loved the nostalgic and longing guitar backed with a "breakcore-esque" drum pattern and rich vocals. This is definitely a quintessential track to add to your late night drives this fall!
Lose - Hannah Jadagu
A song about seeing what was in front of you all along? Sign me up! This 2023 Indie Rock track by New York based artist Hannah Jadagu, had me from that swirly introduction, leading into her soft and introspective vocals, and then hitting you with this incredible production. It sounds like one of those earlier 2000s scenes, or better yet, when I saw Spiderman: No Way Home, and Peter saw MJ for the first time. It just hits. And it’s rare now you get such a heart wrenching and beautiful outro to a song, making you so excited for the future in the story she’s telling. I love this track and I'm always sharing it with anyone who will listen.
Ready 4 It - Sade Olutola
I am so ready to talk about Ready 4 It! Released in February 2026, London-based singer Sade Olutola has already captured hearts with her EP Arrow Heart, and her Tumblr-core influences. The whole EP was amazing, but the song that really resonated with me was Ready 4 It. A song centering on surrendering to love, fully and openly. I think that such a beautiful and refreshing perspective on an album that is mainly reflecting on the complications of a relationship. Enveloped in trippy synth, while also imitating the punch of and softness of surrendering your pride, I can listen to this all year round, but it’s a great addition into any fall rotation.
California - Chappell Roan
This is an old one, but still one of the greats! Chappell Roan burst through the pop seams with her album "The Rise and Fall of A Midwest Princess" in 2023, and added some songs from her previous releases, including California. California was written after she was dropped from her label and moved back to Missouri. Being homesick about a place, while having to stay somewhere, you know you have to go to follow your dreams. Ugh, I feel her! I’m so Piscean! But truly, it ropes you in with her magnetic and rich voice, and slowly builds the piano as she laments, then hits you with a syncopated drum pattern that shows her frustration! I mean this is something that you don’t just listen to. The story, albeit short, has you also wishing to go back, lie in the field with trees, and watch the leaves fall down one by one. To me, this is truly one of Chappell’s more underrated songs.
And that’s my list! I am so excited for the changing season and all the musical memories that will come along with it some of these songs!! I would love to hear more about your personal fall favorites!
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