Sometimes the right kind of gloom can really be charming. I like when a song isn’t too overtly drenched in melancholia, but still has enough drowsiness and dread to let you in close to the artist and whatever they may be struggling with. I can get into the full-on drama of vibrant sorrow or heartbreak, but I don’t think that’s where most people actually spend most of their emotional time—we only have enough fuel for that much intensity of emotion sometimes. For most people, even those of us with mournful or depressive streaks, the applicable feels level isn’t usually at a ten, it’s more a six. I count myself lucky to be one of those people, because I’ve known too many bright stars who burned out too quickly because they felt all of their feelings so much.

These songs from Wellington, NZ’s flip for garth capture that more everyday dread and gloom. This isn’t necessarily the music of heartrending pain or uncontrollable love, but rather the more everyday human versions of those feelings—the versions of those feelings that persist and that usually still make it possible for us to get up in the morning and go to work or cook for our families. I really appreciate the sincerity of expressing the versions of sadness and woe that feel compatible with real life.

Both of these songs are from flip for garth’s 2023 record Automosphere. Grab it on bandcamp for whatever you wish to pay, or find it on all the usual streamers.

flip for garth – “Tortoise” (sc)

flip for garth – “Gentle Breeze” (sc)