your soundtrack for sub-zero: 11 albums for staying inside
11 picks for 11 scenarios, even though I can't feel my fingers
Hello, dear subscriber. It’s been a while, and that’s entirely on me - no, no, don’t blame yourself. I’ve been busy doing stuff out in the real world (mostly listening to a lot of music), but I haven’t forgotten you. I could never forget a reader like you!
I love biting off more than I can chew, and the articles I’m working on are no exception. It turns out that the completely voluntary hobby I’ve turned into an online publication with no strict deadlines or rules, and projects that I’ve totally made up, is a lot of work! Fear not, I’m handling the stress and pressure like a champ. My imaginary boss (me) has been really understanding, probably because of whispers of unionization among staff (also just me).
I offer two things to you today: a taste of what’s to come in the next few months, and a treat to tide you over.
Regarding the former:
I will provide you with a Type A spreadsheet containing every detail for each Grammy-nominated album, song, and person next Sunday. I have also been trying to listen to every album nominated this year. That is 60+ albums.1 I think I can come pretty close, and to celebrate, I’m inviting YOU to my Grammy party! More on that another time.
I’ve also carefully combed through countless “Best of 2025” lists to determine which picks will actually stand the test of time.
On top of all that, I’m still on my playlist-free grind, of which I have a few updates. AND I’M STILL IN SCHOOL. AND I HAVE A JOB! No wonder I have to unionize.
Enough about all of this work to be done. Let’s get cozy.
After some investigation, it seems that almost two-thirds of my subscribers are from North America (that’s 33/50, if you’re counting - and shoutout to the other 17 from Nigeria2, Australia, Europe and the UK). I myself hail from Canada, meaning I’m smack dab in the middle of the giant snowstorm wreaking havoc over the East Coast. Not to brag, but it’s -30C where I am. It is so cold, I am wearing socks to bed. I wore a snowsuit to go get groceries. My eyebrows were frozen and white after being outside for twenty minutes.
In times like these, there is nothing to do but stay inside and hunker down3. You already know that you shouldn’t spend all of this time staring at a screen, and I’m not here to recommend that you waste the time pacing back and forth like a pipe-wielding old-timey detective.
Instead, I’m here to provide you with a soundtrack for your bunker. Even better, you get to choose what soundtrack suits you best.
Two notes: First, these are all albums, because I am still on my no-playlist soapbox. However, I am a woman of the people, so a Spotify playlist is linked below with every album from this list. You’re welcome, it was really no problem. No, really, I’m happy to do it. Stop, you flatter me! Gosh, I’m blushing.
Second, and far more important, I am highly aware that there are currently two kinds of ice instilling fear into communities across the US. Canadians are not ignorant of the horrific actions of ICE agents and the current government. I can’t help but feel awry writing about staying cozy inside when so many individuals have taken to the streets, protecting their neighbours and protesting the moral and constitutional failures of their government. I can talk about how music heals, distracts, and uplifts, but none of that feels quite appropriate. I hope you find your soundtrack for the cold weather here, but if a soundtrack doesn’t feel quite right for this moment, that’s okay. You can save this article and come back when it does. We remember the names Renee Nicole Good, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, and the 32 victims who died at the hands of ICE in 2025.
On to the sub-zero soundtracks.
If you want to spend the whole storm in bed with your lover (or thinking about your lover), may I suggest Erika de Casier’s Essentials.
This is the kind of album that just melts the world away. The sonic version of the full-body tingle you get when someone whispers in your ear, de Casier’s sexy lyrics are only a small part of its sensuality. Her gentle, soft voice is like honey, poured over some incredible alt-R&B/trip-hop production with true 90’s roots you can’t ignore. Every frequency is used to tantalize in a way that feels intimate and cozy. As AOTY user moodsandmelody said, “this album is so good i just want to ride it”. What else is there to do with your beau on a cold winter’s eve?
If you want the feeling of cozy Christmas jazz but cannot bear listening to anymore Christmas jazz, may I suggest Oscar Peterson Plays the Irving Berlin Song Book.
Ah, jazz. We’re in the midst of a slow-building jazz revival that should excite pop and rock fans alike. If you didn’t know, Oscar Peterson is a big deal in the jazz world. The Haitian-born Canadian’s fingers were one with the piano. However, this album, while still “swinging”4, is more melodic and easy-going than Peterson’s bigger projects. Peterson was even dubbed the king of “inside swing”, making his music (and this piece) the perfect backdrop for a day inside. Double endorsement: this pick was certified by someone who knows really good jazz (trust me).
If you can’t stop thinking about how the world outside was once overflowing with lush greens and bright hues, but now it’s barren and colourless, and that feeling fills you with both grief and hope, may I suggest Aaron Paris’ LOTUSLAND.
You want a soundtrack? I’ll give you a soundtrack. Paris hails from Toronto5, and you’ve absolutely heard him before. He’s had his hand in production for artists like Kanye, Drake, and Ariana Grande (eternal sunshine <3)6, but in LOTUSLAND, he combines his careful ear with his classical music talents. In this alternative/post-classical album, Paris will transport you through a garden of sound and all of the emotions that come with it. There is certainly enough here to satisfy old and new heads alike7, and maybe even film buffs - Paris’ mixing transcends the real world, giving the feeling that you’re in a movie. In just 7 songs, LOTUSLAND builds a vivid, lush playground for us to explore.
If being trapped inside makes you so damn bored that you want to grab your coat, run outside and disappear into another city (or any city), may I suggest Smerz’s Big city life.
One of the top releases of 2025, Big city life proves that the Norwegian’s don’t need anything fancy to make a big impact. Smerz sets the scene in an urban landscape, but instead of describing their experience, they invite us to join them as onlookers. It kind of feels like you’re a cool, young spirit floating from spot to spot; sometimes at a busy bar, sometimes in a couple’s apartment, sometimes on a stoop, people watching. A fan favourite is You got time and I’ve got money, but I think Feisty might be one of my favourite getting-ready songs of all time.
If being trapped inside makes you so damn bored that you want to scream, but you want that scream to be synthesized, and also you’re super pissed no one wants to hang out or leave their house, may I suggest Charli XCX’s how i’m feeling now.
A classic of the COVID years, and dare I say of our time. There is no better album for when you feel like Meg Stalter on the Colbert Show8. The range is perfect - from the more subdued (for Charli) pop songs about the fact you’re going to erupt at any second (detonate), to the hyperpop tracks emulating the itch to go out and party (visions, pink diamond), to the actual bomb of feeling INCREDIBLY BORED (anthems), how i’m feeling now mentions it all9. A 10/10 for me. Everybody says, “Thank you, Mrs XCX”!
If you’re stuck inside with your partner and you realize you secretly hate them, may I suggest Mitski’s Puberty 2.
I am issuing a warning: if you’re trying not to think about how you’re changing in ways you can’t control, this is actually not the album for you! However, if you’re ready to face it all, I can’t encourage you enough to let Mitski be your guide. Mitski uses Puberty 2 to navigate complicated feelings the second time around. She asks us to grow up and revisit it all: our relationships, our insecurities, our strengths and flaws. If you don’t feel something during I Bet on Losing Dogs, consider yourself in a small (but lucky?) percentage10. After pleading, fighting, loss, love, and meticulous production, Mitski invites us to reflect in the closing track. In A Burning Hill, there is no satisfying resolution, but with her hand in ours, she keeps going. Listen to it while you stare out at the falling snow, and let me know which track makes your heart hurt.
If you’re stuck inside with your partner and your only thought is “thank goodness”, may I suggest Labi Siffre’s Crying Laughing Loving Lying.
On CLLL, Siffre needs only his voice and guitar to remind us how sweet it is to be totally and completely in love. If you truly enjoy the company of the person you’re with, Siffre’s prose will inevitably bring them to mind. His lyrics ring true for all kinds of love - ‘Till Forever’s sweetness could be about a woman or a child. In this love letter of an album, Siffre expresses the gratitude, adoration, and gentle infatuation you feel in small moments - the kind of thoughts that creep up in absent-minded caresses, or admiring them from across the room when they don’t know it. My personal favourites are Fool Me a Good Night and the instrumental title track. In the cold, I would take Siffre’s advice: show your loved one you like to sit with them, and put this album on.
If you’re in a situationship and they’re texting you about the weather, may I suggest TV Girl’s Who Really Cares.
Did TV Girl set out to make an album that defines the Gen Z dating experience? I’m not sure, but the pop-adjacent, heartbreak-disguised-as-apathy is pretty spot-on. Who Really Cares pokes at all of the soft spots, from questioning if a relationship even existed (Song About Me) to begging them to speak the unspoken (Till You Tell Me To Leave). The two most well-known songs, Cigarettes Out the Window and Not Allowed, use different hues to talk about the bittersweetness of remembering the love you once shared. TV Girl’s fun but minimal production, well-placed sampling and slightly monotone voice will keep you from thinking too hard about it all. Just focus on the snow, babe.
If you’re just trying to vibe out and make it to spring, may I suggest Jamie xx’s In Color.
It takes a true artist to breathe rays of colour into an open space, but if anyone can do it, it’s Jamie xx. In Color is not the big rainbow in the sky - instead, it is the rainbow hidden in sunrays and misted water. Minimal, sensitive and deep without losing its vivid brightness, it’s impossible not to feel like spring is just around the corner with this record. The track range is vast: SeeSaw verges on romantic, Loud Places feels like a sermon, and I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) is a pop-rap hit whose Caribbean influence preserves the rest of the record’s warmth. If hope is what you’re looking for, In Color promises it’s on the way.
If you’re vibing out because you love this weather and being inside is actually perfect, may I suggest Steve Lacy’s The Lo-Fis.
If anyone can curate a vibe, it’s Steve Lacy. Give that man an electric guitar, and he will give you back yearning over groovy instrumentals that always put a grin on my face. There’s nothing flamboyant about this record, consisting of just 25 minutes of previously unreleased and loosely arranged demos, but that’s a part of my fondness for it. In between funky synths and basslines, you’ll spot hidden Lacy gems such as Jars of It and Infrunami. Lacy’s giving us silly, lo-fi fun, and some people just don’t appreciate that! Just like how some people don’t appreciate this weather, but not you. There’s plenty to enjoy if you have the right mindset. I’m happy for you, I really am.11
And if you’re good at being delusional (me!) and just want to pretend like it’s summer, may I suggest Japanese Breakfast’s Jubilee.
If you look through reviews of Jubilee, they all share the same descriptors - sparkling, bright, happiness, jubilant. Think of clementines and sunshine in the park. Think of heartfelt kisses at a drive-in movie. Think of big production, upbeat drums, dreamy synth and strings - the soundtrack to summer. Japanese Breakfast doesn’t shy away from hard feelings; she faces them head-on, through glittering and bright production. In Slide Tackle, the instrumentals ooze with joy - and killer sax - despite the anxious and romantic lyrics. Even Posing In Bondange’s vulnerable expression of desire and pain is woven between an alt-pop rhythm that makes you want to DANCE! Jubilee is not delusional in choosing the overture of joy - it’s actually smarter than the rest of us.
Happy listening, stay warm, and speak soon <3
See this list I made on Album of the Year - also, I got an AOTY account! You should follow me. I’m also on MusicBoard, kind of. What was I talking about? Oh yes, being super focused and Type A.
I actually have 2 subscribers from Nigeria, which is incredibly cool in a way that only the 3 of us understand.
Not entirely true. Today I forced myself to bundle up and go outside for 20 minutes because I had been indoors for almost 48 hours, and I was starting to act like a rabid hamster in a room with no windows. Felt much better after, albeit slightly colder.
Bring back the word “swinging” in day-to-day vernacular!
LET’S GOOOOOOO
The man actually has incredibly cool lore. I implore you to do a Google.
A percentage I am not a part of…
…but I would like to see the sun again.
Loved this, I found myself scrolling to the bottom of the each section to play the song while I read the section about that song. Maybe it’s what’s wrong with me (adhd) but I can read and enjoy lyrical music in the background at the same time. Gave me an immersive experience while reading the article.