You're Invited to the Witchy Disco

My spacey spin on the fall playlist

What are your autumnal listening habits?

Do you observe a Gilmore Girls fall?

If you could listen to a pumpkin spice latte, I’m guessing “There She Goes” is what it would sound like. If you’re wearing scarves and hats before it’s really cold enough for it, you might not go for the switch to a minor key that others favor this time of year. Jumping in leaf piles is better suited to something like Sixpence None the Richer, isn’t it? I can also envision The Cranberries’ “Dreams” playing while you spin around with your arms spread wide. I pretend to hate it but frankly I’m just jealous of your outfits and pleasant disposition.

…or a Practical Magic fall?

This is for the astrology and tarot card girlies. My utter inability to suspend my disbelief prevents me from joining them, but I know I’m missing out. If you enjoy dancing barefoot in the grass in handkerchief hem dresses and generally looking like a forest nymph, I imagine your fall playlist is filled with Fleetwood Mac and Kate Bush, or maybe some specific Taylor Swift eras (heh) and darker dream pop. You also have an enviable collection of scented candles.

…or a Dark and Moody fall?

The Craft fall, if you will. This song is cheating, actually, because I think everyone is required to listen to it the second they see their first no-longer-green leaf fall to the ground. The dark sister of Practical Magic fall in all her moody glory, her music is as much Siouxsie Sioux as it is PJ Harvey or Nick Cave. This might be you if flannel, heavy eyeliner (the kind you have to warm up with a lighter before you use), and Dr. Martens dominate your wardrobe. Or is that just Angela Chase?

…or a Spooky Season fall?

I wonder if this is the most obvious category of them all, and why I didn’t put it first. For all of you who set out your Halloween decor on September 1st and your white noise machines to the sweet sounds of bats flying around a cemetery, we have campy horror movie and TV show soundtracks aplenty. Everything from the Misfits to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to Yeah Yeah Yeahs (everyone loves “Heads Will Roll” for this theme but I prefer “Sacrilege”) all fit nicely.

These are the stereotypes floating around in my head, but there’s room for all kinds of darker, heavier, grungier music on one side of the fall listening spectrum, and quiet, melancholy, introspective music on the other.

Tell me what you’re listening to. In the meantime, I’m going to share the highly specific fall playlist I’ve been working on for the last few years.

You’re Invited to the Witchy Disco

The vibe is a little bit spooky, a little bit ethereal, but still very danceable.

I do have to admit that I kind of love fall and all of its cliche trappings. It’s been years since I’ve gone to a Halloween party (and I’m kinda bummed about it) but I do love a good punny costume and over the top B horror movie¹. I’ve even been known to indulge in a shellacked decorative gourd on occasion.

The problem is that when the sun sets earlier, my mood plummets with it. I can’t throw myself head first into the kind of music that generally accompanies this season without risking a too-early dive into winter madness.

Instead, I need something that acknowledges the mood shift but doesn’t push me into full-on despair (Dark and Moody) or overt silliness (Spooky Season).

Enter the Witchy Disco.

The vibe is a little bit spooky, a little bit ethereal, but still very danceable. There are quite a lot of genres that fit that description, and I’m not interested in narrowing them down, but I’m particularly drawn to spacey, electronic textures and vocal reverb that lighten up an otherwise dour mood.

I know the Monster Mash already exists, but this is what I’d want to listen to if all of my supernatural friends came over for a dance party.

The Witchy Disco was initially built around a decidedly unspooky track by a band called The Orielles.

This song could much more easily soundtrack a Barbarella remake than a Halloween party. But the otherworldly, french-pop inspired sound really scratched the itch I had for something uplifting that left summer in the rearview mirror.

From there, I developed it into a few directions. First, more on the vintage/disco theme:

And then leaning into the hypnotic elements of the retro tracks, turning down the literal ‘70s disco and dialing up the dance pop instead:

Other tracks feature stronger synths and a more ‘80s feel, but keep the breathy vocals and pop beat:

Some of my favorite selections are those that effortlessly mix dark and light. My beloved Death Valley Girls are still unmatched in this, somehow blending the Cocteau Twins with The Shangri-Las like they were always intended to fit:

This is the playlist I’m most proud of, and I hope you enjoy it.

As ever, it’s all (relatively) new music. It’s so good that I’m a little worried that my recent refurbishment has diluted it a bit; I first shared it publicly last year but added about an hour of extra music in the last month.

You’ll have to decide for yourself.