It's summertime and love is in the air. It all starts off so well; you go everywhere together and have countless sleepovers in front of the TV, binge watching Netflix and living life like a damn Taylor Swift song and then out of nowhere, you get hit by the bus of life and find yourself dumped. Crushed and left to rot by the love of your life, you turn to music to heal your broken soul. I've always found music to be my safe house, and just like a best friend, it always finds you at the right time. Here's my collection of albums that I feel best correlate with the stages of a break up.
Lana Del Rey Born to Die 2012
The "I'm Single" Phase.
What better way to celebrate your newly found freedom than this collection of promiscuous jams? This is the part when you're fresh out of your relationship and really want to show the world how hot you are and where the drive to make your ex wish he'd never left you begins. This album is all of the above. Boozed filled and dolled up, Lana portrays the life of the cool girl, the one who leaves before she is left that every girl secretly desires to be. Born to Die, I find, is a break up album within itself, going back and forth in dysfunctional relationships ( Born to Die, Off to the Races) to being jilted and left alone (Summertime Sadness, Million Dollar Man, Blue Jeans) to getting a grip and vamping up her inner vixen (Lolita, Video Games) and of course, finding solace in her friends (This is What Makes Us Girls). Each song different and intricate than the last; Lana's silky, pouty vocals over insanely dope beats and samples leave you longing for more and ready to be someone's national album. Highly recommended!
Feist Metals 2011
Sadness.
Live up the "I'm Single" phase because once the highs have worn off and you feel the fall, reality sets in. This is the part when you've hit the bottom, and all you have left to do is go over what went wrong. This album really resonated with me at a time when I was in a very similar relationship. Metals is the perfect assortment of epiphanies and realizations of wrong doings and self awareness. The instrumentation alone is very raw and organic, keeping it simple and back to basics: drums, piano, guitars, horns, and Feist's chilling vocals that start small and crescendo to fill even the smallest parts of you. This album is more than just your typical break up album, but more of a realization album and calling it like it is. Literally touching every feeling from start to finish of a break up; awareness (Comfort Me), accusations (The Bad in Each Other, How Come You Never Go There), nostalgia (Anti-Pioneer, Graveyard) and lastly, acceptance (Caught a Long Wind). It's really unfortunate that we haven't heard anything from Feist since this album, but this will live on in my heart forever as one of the most profound reminders of that time. Definitely a MUST.
Brand New The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me 2006
Anger.
Ah, this album really gets me good. The sadness has settled and now you're just pissed. All the plans you made, and the life you built all amount to nothing now and what do you have left to show for it? This. On their third album, Brand New came back with a vengeance and changed their normal garage punk/alternative sound to a deep, somber and angsty punch in the face. Jesse Lacy really dives deep into the pools of your soul with gut-wrenching lines in almost every song in that monotone, raspy whisper one minute, then screaming demons the next - an all around musical razor to your soul. With lines like "I love you so much, but do me a favor and don't reply, 'cause I can dish it out, but I can't take it" (Limousine) and "Goodbye, you liar. Well, you slipped from the cup and you don't own up to anything" (Degausser), the devil and godis just what you need to get you through the thick forest of your break up.
Paramore Self Titled 2013
Acceptance.
This album is perfect for the rebirth stage of your grief. This is Paramore's fifth studio album, but their first one after a very nasty and public split with former band-mates. So as you would imagine, the majority of its content is about rebuilding of something that was once destroyed. A lot of upbeat and fun tracks on this one, while still holding true to their authentic Paramore sound, "Lost the battle, but won the war". How fitting for this time, the hard part is over. You've accepted what is and what you can't change and you begin grow and emerge into an even better sense of self. This albums truly portrays the emotional roller coaster and the beauties of being young and in love, whether in love with someone or in love with the way things are in your life, Paramore gives you hope that you can come back from anything and somehow shine brighter.
