Fall is in the air! This most excellent time of year is perfect for having the windows open — so here’s some music to celebrate.

As a reminder of the format, I’m writing one of these columns and filling it with songs from a variety of genres of music. I don’t expect anyone to listen to all of these songs! Some months, you may even not be interested in any of them, and that’s fine!

However, it is my sincere hope that some of you might find some new songs and artists that you like. All of these songs are widely available on streaming services and by doing some quick searching on Youtube and such, and if I want to highlight something harder to find, I’ll include detailed instructions on how to do so.

Here are my picks for this month:

Beltaine — Beltaine

Yea, I’m a little off time-wise here. Beltaine is also known as the Celtic holiday of May Day, or May 1, which is seen as a start of summer. So why am I listening to this song at the end of summer?

Music triumphs over meaning, ultimately, and the calming mix of fiddle, flute and guitar, with no vocals, is perfect for me for this time of year, especially when I’m writing at my desk or out in my garden.

Despite being such a busy time of year, with so many events going on, fall is in many ways a time to slow down — a time to soak it all in before the long, cold dark comes once again…and, at least for me, this music is a perfect example of that.

Leaves of Yggdrasil — Myrkur

Keeping with the previous song recommendation, we come to Myrkur. Fair warning: if you like this song and listen to more of her stuff, some of her older albums can stray into atmospheric black metal territory, so don’t get jumpscared by that. However, this entire album — Folkesange — is very placid and relaxing. Strings and piano keys carry most of the musical duties, with her clean vocals soaring over and through.

As you might infer from the album’s title, this is folk music. Songs are in a variety of languages, including English, Danish and Old Norse (some of the tracks are renditions of traditional Scandanavian songs).

More than anything else, the composition shines here. Every element has plenty of room to breathe. If you’re looking for something ephemeral and ethereal as we approach fall, this is a fantastic pick for you.

Brother — Madds Buckley

This was another one of those random autoplay finds, where I’d never heard of this artist before, but the algorithm had my back. A warm, rustic pop-sounding number with great vocals and peaceful guitar strumming, this song features a really catchy earworm of a chorus.

It’s also apparently about characters from “My Hero Academia,” if you’re an anime fan. But I’ll be honest: as someone who has seen a lot of HeroAca, I didn’t even catch that this song was a reference to the series, so I wouldn’t consider that knowledge to be particularly critical to understanding or enjoying the song.

Good music, it turns out, is just good even if you aren’t in on the reference. That said, I will say that despite a few tries, I haven’t been able to get into the rest of her music — I think because a lot of it doesn’t have the same high energy, up-tempo approach as this song, which seems to be what works really well for her. Regardless, I’m keeping an ear on her and hoping for more music from her in the future.

Haunted — Evanescence

If you listened to the radio in the early 2000s, you almost certainly remember Bring Me to Life, which, despite loving the band and the song, I will agree was massively overplayed. I know people who are still sick of it to this day.

However, Evanescence has made a lot of other good music besides that song. I am particularly partial to this track, especially as we approach fall.

I also wanted to shoutout their demo album, Origin, which is not available on streaming platforms (although you can find playlists of its track on YouTube). The album is mostly early versions of songs that would get polished and released officially on Fallen. However, it does hold Lies and Field of Innocence, which are two of my absolute favorite songs by Evanescence. Check them out, too — but since they aren’t as easy to find and can’t be added to Spotify or Tidal playlists, I wanted to go with an actual pick that doesn’t have those issues.

Incantations of the

Apprentice — Symphony X

This month’s metal pick is Symphony X, which, as a band, I could probably write an entire column about — especially a stretch of three albums:

— V: The New Mythology Suite, which still holds the crown for the best cohesive album I’ve ever heard. There are no weak songs, and I never want to skip any.

— The Odyssey, which features a 24:10 long retelling of the eponymous Homer epic in metal ballad form, along with many other incredible songs.

— Paradise Lost, which a theme album set around Milton’s classic epic poem.

They have plenty of work both before and after those three albums — much of which is also great, but those three are on another level, at least for me personally.

Their lyrical work is fantastic, with many of their individual songs feeling like short stories — like the one I selected for this column. And, of course, their musicianship is top-notch as well.

Perhaps the most remarkable, though, is that their lineup has been constant since 2000. Every member of the band is critical to their sound and truly holds their own.

The highest accolade I can give them is this: they are one of a very small number of bands where the old saying about wishing you could hear them again for the first time holds true for me. If that’s you, savor the experience for me!