By Meredith Nardino
The realization that there are only three weeks left of one’s college career is a harsh one, as I’m sure every senior knows. Part of me is so ready to pack up my things and leave, but the rest of me never wants to be anywhere else. Post-grad life was once fixed; it was so much easier to know where you would be and what you would be doing. For a lot of young people today (myself included), being a college graduate means being in flux.
Grappling with this uncertainty and this swarm of emotions has been complicated, but this confusion is not reserved solely for soon-to-be graduates. So much of art hinges on themes of uncertainty, insecurity and reinvention. Listening to tracks like these helps make a bit of the stress melt away.
1.“Foreign Girls” – Bleachers
The second album from superstar producer Jack Antonoff and his band explores all aspects of living in the in-between. There’s a sense of longing and of loss that bleeds through each track on this record as the narrative comes full circle. “Foreign Girls” feels like starting over or trying to find your way home through unfamiliar faces. It’s about knowing what’s gone and the ways those things made you who you are now.
2.“Ribs” – Lorde
There are very few people who fully encapsulate the complexity of growing up like Lorde. She masterfully portrays the sometimes isolating feeling of finding yourself and choosing your own path in combination with the recklessness of youth. Pure Heroine was a cultural staple as my high school years came to an end, and the message this record sends still rings true four years later – “it feels so scary, getting old.”
3. “Dog Years” – Maggie Rogers
Maggie Rogers experienced the painful hypotheticals of post-grad life firsthand. It wasn’t until months after she graduated from New York University in 2016 that her career took shape, making “Dog Years” an anthem of self-reassurance. We each have a general idea of the trajectory of our lives while we’re students, but when that cycle comes to an end, everything becomes unpredictable. “Dog Years” explores that afterlife, convincing us that even though we may feel like we’re drowning in doubts, everything will be alright in the end.
4. “Twentytwo” – Sunflower Bean
The latest record from this Brooklyn indie trio is all about growth and self-discovery. “Twentytwo” expresses a certain vulnerability that we often try to hide when we consider ourselves to be independent adults. Julia Cumming floats through the chorus as she breaks down societal expectations placed on young adults to have everything figured out. We’re going to feel confused and lost along the way, but we don’t have to give up on the dreams we’ve always had.
5.“This Was a Home Once” – Bad Suns
It isn’t hard to interpret the emotion behind this non-album single from little-known Los Angeles alternative group, Bad Suns. Each lyric builds upon the one before and constructs a powerful message about how it feels to return to a place you once called home. There are so many memories tied to this space that it becomes hard to separate nostalgia from the present moment. Bad Suns attempt to reconcile the two, despite feeling disconnected from the home the band once knew.
