Spring Serenade: A 2025 springtime playlist

I don’t know about you, but the term this winter has been quite the obstacle course. Whether it’s exams, essays, or realising that the academic year is almost over, it has without a doubt been a hectic period. Alongside that, it has also been a transitory phase, and over Easter break we’re left to prepare for the final term. Whether it’s your last year or your first, it’s a time all about change. 

More tangibly, this is the time where seasons morph – from wicked winter to scalding summer. Spring is when you feel this comforting middle ground, where nature protects you from its own polarity.

In times like these, with transitions and workloads, I look for songs to relax and unwind to. I look for songs that if I close my eyes, help me imagine a meadow with butterflies and countless flowers. I look for songs that bring spring right to me. Here are nine songs that embody this beautiful, yet challenging season – some of which that you hopefully take with you.

‘Pictures of Girls’ by Wallows

On their EP, aptly named Spring, the US-based trio composed an energetic yet relaxed song. Drummer Cole Preston experiments with cymbals and downbeats, while Dylan Minette’s smooth voice melds with Braeden Lemasters’s seamless arpeggios on guitar. During the bridge, Minette and Lemasters harmonise with each other as a rich bassline underscores rising drums. The song starts off with a quintessentially nostalgic indie-rock sound and ends with an energetically harmonious flourish. Like focusing on a flower, before you realise there’s a whole garden around you.

“Now you’re gone, the city’s down a number / It is not the same without you around”

‘Outlaw’ by The Staves

This UK-based trio of three sisters bring a refreshing folk song that is both tranquil and subversive. This song is thriving, with the sisters harmonising gracefully. My favourite part is when there is a drumbeat introduced on the second verse, aiding in development and adding colour. The poignant lyrics speak to themes of feminism, gender empowerment and rebellion.

“I’m an outlaw on my own, I’m an outlaw overthrown.”

‘Mystery of Love’ by Sufjan Stevens

From the Call Me by Your Name OST, you’ve definitely heard this one before. Sufjan Stevens writes a song celebrating the beauty and pain that comes from love. This is a beautiful song, with deeply poetic lyrics. With a minimal arrangement, it allows Stevens’s gentle and soothing vocals to take hold. While primarily a love song, this song transports you to an idyllic meadow – as long as you try to imagine.

“Oh, will wonders ever cease? / Blessed be the mystery of love”

‘Bread’ by Laura Mvula

From her 2016 album, The Dreaming Room, with dreamy synthesisers and angelic, gospel-inspired vocals, Mvula sings ‘Bread’. A therapeutic song, with delightful musical ornamentation and embellishment, Mvula’s voice is powerful and rich. This song very much feels like being in a springtime fairytale. Ending on reverberating strings, the song echoes in the listener’s mind way after it’s over.

“Baby, lay the breadcrumbs so we can find our way”

‘Juliet’ by Cavetown

This track starts with simple guitar chords and melancholy vocals, but it blossoms into a beautiful and musically experimental symphony by the time it ends. The pre-chorus teases this development with synthesisers and drums, but around 2:30, we start hearing synthesiser sounds that are reminiscent of an 8-bit chiptune. Ten seconds later, we fully commit to this 8-bit sound and this marriage between acoustic guitar and 8-bit synthesiser is surprising, yet organic. This is a song not just about love, but also about being yourself and confiding in people who love you – an important lesson for springtime, when things can feel hard.

“I wanna make a colour no one has seen before / I wanna be so much more.”

‘Breath of Roma’ by Meryem Aboulouafa

From Moroccan singer-songwriter Meryem Aboulouafa, we have here a love letter for a city. Aboulouafa pens and sings a lyrical and musical tapestry. A staccato flute-based background, with soft-piano chords, Aboulouafa’s vocals are centre stage. She modulates from gentle verses to a texturally rich bridge. If you were wondering whether it’s possible to be transported to a whole city, to feel its history and legacy in a single song, look no further. The romanticism in this spring speaks to the way we romanticise springtime: a peaceful, breezy season, free from extremities – full of growth.

“Tell me the story of your walls / Our love hidden behind your wounds”

‘KW’ by Vansire

With slow drums and a retro synth keyboard, Vansire presents an interstice where melancholy and acceptance coexist. Josh Augustin’s seamless vocals and picturesque lyrics merge seamlessly with Sam Winemiller’s gentle guitar. It ends on a trumpet solo, which initially emulates a sense of ennui, before meandering onto a majestic ascent and segueing into a satisfying resolve.

“We’re floating over the district/ I’m buoyed by winsome esprit”~

‘Sinking Boat’ by Infinity Song

Infinity Song share a beautiful and timeless piece, the members’ voices meld together with effortless ease against a rustic acoustic guitar and an overarching electric guitar. This family-group showcases a performance that is soothing and mesmerising, with lyrics that embody profound optimism and wisdom.

“Like eagles we will rise / In the crashing sky”

‘Scarborough Fair/Canticle’ by Simon and Garfunkel

For this iconic song, Simon and Garfunkel took a traditional English folk ballad and fused it with lyrics from an original anti-war song, ‘Canticle’. What resulted was two melodies: the primary being the ballad, the contrapuntal one being ‘Canticle’. This is an eternally transcendental song, with a soothing harmony, beautiful melodic motif on the guitar, and a haunting undercurrent. Make it a point to listen out for the intricate instrumental embellishments!

“Then she’ll be a true love of mine/ (Sleeps unaware of the clarion call)”

Listen to the playlist here: