The feel-good songs of the summer are quickly fading into distant memory, and being replaced by the mellower tones of fall. An album that never fails to bring me into an autumnal state of mind is The Counting Crows’ often forgotten 1999 album, This Desert Life.
Filled with jangling guitars and songs about rain, This Desert Life balances the levity of its opening track “Hangin’ Around” with the more somber notes of its later tracks like “Amy Hit The Atmosphere” and “Colorblind.”
While singer Adam Duritz never strays far—lyrically speaking—from the band’s previous two albums, which are filled with melancholy and longing for better days, The Counting Crows experiment with a more varied selection of musical styles outside of their typically slow Americana-inspired rock. No one would ever accuse This Desert Life of being a feel-good album, but it’s the perfect accompaniment to walking through the park while watching the leaves change.
Photo courtesy of Counting Crows.