Air
An eight-minute instrumental that opens Air's debut album, built on a hypnotic bassline, layered analog keyboards, and a…
retro-futurism seduction and mystery nocturnal drift
Abbey Lincoln
A standard-era torch song built on a single plea: seize the present because permanence is never guaranteed. Abbey Lincoln's…
carpe diem uncertainty of the future mortality
The xx
A sparse, almost hymn-like love song built around a single repeated claim of devotion, sung by a narrator who seems…
devotion the ineffability of love fear of loss
Nat King Cole
A classic Cuban bolero of romantic frustration, in which a lover demands a straight answer about the future of the relationship…
romantic indecision frustration and waiting time slipping away