Image: natasha smith
We’re 50 this issue – so, in our eyes, that means it’s time for a party. And what would be a party be without a spot of karaoke? In honour of the occasion, we’ve compiled some of our team’s favourite tunes. Whether you’re in public, in a car, or simply in your bedroom with a handy hairbrush/mic in hand, come join us in a good singsong…
Take a listen here.
illustration: hannah mccreath
In our early spring issue, we’re spreading the love and we’ve made a playlist to match. Our Embrace-themed playlist is filled with songs about coming together, staying together, standing together…
Wrap your ears – and your arms – around it here.
illustration: honey debney-succoia
The history of pop music is filled with cruel twists and turns. Stars that burn brightly for one dazzling moment that proves to be sadly short lived. Our midwinter playlist celebrates those artists who enjoyed only a brief blaze of glory, as well as those with long-lasting careers that continue to be defined in our collective memory by just one song.
Turn it up loud to enjoy their musical gifts, which encompass everything from poignant ballads to dancefloor fillers. And, in this festive period, join us in raising a glass to these musicians who gave it – and us – their best shot.
Illustration: Chrissy Curtin
Come and have a sit down. Why not rest your head for a short while? We’ve compiled a suitably dreamy playlist for our autumn issue to accompany you through the darkening days of the season. Slow your pace and let the likes of Bat for Lashes, Aretha Franklin and School of Seven Bells soothe your soul. There, that’s a bit better already.
Take a listen to our autumn playlist here
Illustration: molly egan
No matter where you are, whatever the weather, there are certain sights, smells and sounds that always conjure up those summers that seemed to last forever. This playlist celebrates those songs that pull you back through the past. It’s the soundtrack to staying out in the park till sundown, sitting out chatting with your friend into the early hours, perhaps a gentle doze in the sunshine. While the heat of summer may be beginning to die down, they’re the kind of memories that last forever.
Illustration: Fern Choonet
How much of our identity was forged in our teenage bedrooms, leaping around and singing along to music turned up way too loud? Music remains a way of escaping the humdrum of everyday life, a way of helping us out figure out who we are and who we want to be.
From angry punks to disco divas, our Identity playlist celebrates the musicians and pop stars who refuse to conform, and who encourage us to do the same. Take a listen here – we hope that by its end you’ll join us in shouting out, as instructed by Gloria Gaynor, “I am what I am”.
Illustration: Rachel Heavens
Spring is here – finally! Celebrate by plugging into our latest playlist – an ode to the season. We're dreaming of life amid Les Fleurs with Minnie Riperton or Grazing in the Grass with Hugh Maskela. And a shopping mall now covered in flowers a la Talking Heads? Yes please. You can take a listen – and get lost in a world of birds, bees and blossoms – here.
Oh Comely issue 42 – spring – is out now. Order a copy here.
Illustration: Alice Clark
Issue 41, our early spring issue, is devoted to companions. Our latest playlist – 'It takes two' – celebrates duets, collaborations and damn good partnerships.
Take a listen here. Even better: share your earphones with your best bud and give them a treat too.
Who needs coffee when you can plug into our latest playlist? It's inspired by morning rituals, full of the tracks that help us get up and go (although coffee is useful for that too...). Take a listen here.
illustration: stephanie handley
Our midwinter issue is inspired by patterns. You can pre-order a copy here.
Illustration: Jess Woodward
Take a listen to the songs that helped inspired our autumn issue of Oh Comely on Spotify here. You can read an interview with Kali Uchis in issue 39.
illustration: ellie walker
words: marta bausells
It takes skill to accept the passage of time with grace. Perhaps it takes a lifetime. That invisible, abstract force we hear of but don’t fully grasp as kids. "Time” seems so elastic, huge and slow during childhood, but suddenly speeds up like a slingshot that’s suddenly let go, and it can and will catch you off guard.
The passage of time can mean ageing, or regret, wisdom or wonderment. It means Angel Olsen singing about memories, upon a love ending, wondering whether it was real at all or just a wildcard in waiting for something better. And it means the literal – but for that no less sublime – coming of age depicted in Boyhood, soundtracked so memorably by Family of the Year. The sitting inside, paralysed by your own thoughts, of Youth Lagoon. The existential Let the Mystery Be from the title credits for post-apocalyptic show The Leftovers (which we strongly recommend). The watching of someone's death, like in Death Cab’s classic I Will Follow You Into The Dark. Or, yet, asking a new city, or country, to be kind to us as we make changes and life shifts under our feet getting us ready for the new.
The playlist for issue 38 compiles artists talking about time passing in their own ways; and it is a good soundtrack, we hope, for time-passing on many a rosé-tinted summer evening.
Take your time over the playlist here.
words: Marta Bausells
illustration: Jisun Lee
Quite a few of these tracks are songs of the effects of human touch on human skin – understandably a popular subject among songwriters – expressed in all styles and periods, from funk to electronic. From the brilliantly straightforward ode to self-love and pleasure in I Touch Myself to the invigorating Obedear, where Purity Ring sing of walking barefoot on mountains and the touch of the shale on the toes, we are in a sensual mood.
And, because it’s summer, we’re throwing in Tal Bachman’s “touch smell sight taste and sound” and songs of beaches and pools, though they aren’t always what they seem. It’s 2017 and even summer tunes have a bit of a dark side. Join us in celebrating touch – from that of a loved one, to that of the sky, the sun, or the water – as well as the absence of it (in Solange’s weary vindication) and the longing for it (we couldn’t help ourselves and we included Mariah). Have a great summer, full of all the right touches!
Take a listen to the playlist here.
words: Marta Bausells
The songs we come back to are like old friends – they can be quirky, loud, make little sense, but they’re always there to lift us up. The songs chosen for this playlist are some of the comfort songs of Oh Comely’s team members. Each for a reason, they soothe us, bring us up and assure us everything is fine just the way it is – and we hope they’ll do the same for you in this colder, darker season.
Some are celebrations of life and friends, others laments of heartbreak, other declarations of intentions like Billie Marten’s “I want to see things I’ve never seen, quietly happy and live by the sea”. Some are 90s hymns to self-assertion like No Doubt’s ‘Don’t Speak,’ shouts about when to draw the line like Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’, or roadtrip memories like Jeffrey Lewis’s ‘Roll Bus Roll.’ Others are sensational new songs we can’t stop playing, like Solange ripping her heart out and singing “sometimes I don't wanna feel those metal clouds” and Frank Ocean beautifully declaring an open, non-possessive love.
The common thread is acceptance, peace within the chaos. We’re here now, and we’re not supposed to be anywhere else. As you refocus and think of the year ahead, snuggle up, light a candle, turn the music up, and relax. You’re home.
Wrap up cosy and plug in to issue 34's playlist on Spotify.
Jinnwoo, featured on this issue's playlist, created this exclusive illustration for us. Read the story of how he sees his music before it's written in issue 33, out on 13 October 2016.
Sounds seem louder, more eerie, in the dark. The crackling footsteps against a dirt track, a rustle in the leaves. Lullabies. Creaking doors. But darkness brings out the stars too. Milky pools of moonlight filtered through a forest.
The songs chosen for this playlist have grown out of darkly magical places. Like watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer with your friends, hoping to get a glimpse of Spike. Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Child’ hasn’t earned the epithet “supernatural brag song” for no reason, whereas the beautifully creepy ‘Willow’s Song’ from The Wickerman stirs images of cult-like disappearances, orgies and fire. ‘Silent Shout’ by electro duo The Knife is simply what darkness would sound like if it had a sound. Bassy and brooding.
So get your freak on with our issue 33 playlist and plug into Spotify here.