From there, I suggest picking at least one song that reminds you of this feeling and going on from there. When I made my autumn 2024 playlist, I was going for ‘leaves hitting my boots’. Sounds pretentious, but I feel like there’s something so joyful about hearing the leaves crunch as I walk around.
Now I’m going to suggest something controversial. Please forgive me. If you use Spotify, take a look at the recommended songs. They’re definitely not all winners, I know! But I think it’s helpful to play through a couple, skip to around 30 seconds in, and just see if it matches the vibe you’re going for. Oftentimes I’ll just add a song that has the same tone, even if I don’t know the song, artist, or all the lyrics. You can always remove it later. As you add, Spotify will (hopefully) get a better sense of what you want with every refresh.
Still feeling stuck? Take a look at some playlists that exist with a similar title (‘comfy autumn’, ‘fall feels’, ‘Halloween vibes’, etc.) and from there pick and choose what you like. Again, you don’t necessarily need to listen to every song in full, just see what tickles your fancy along the way. Exploring a variety of playlists also really helps expand your music taste over time and gets you out of a rut of listening to the same artists over and over.
I hope this helps you create a playlist you’ll be listening to all autumn! If you’ve made it to the end and you’re not a playlist maker but a listener, here are my three fall playlists alongside their vibe:
My Spotify is taylortunes and my little profile pic is a Stardew Valley portrait. Good luck and enjoy your new playlist!
