🎵 June 2025

Six months in the rearview.

A short break at dusk. 182 Days left.

Ashland, Oregon June 2024

📸 gary lundgren

As I look back at six months of curated playlists, I’m overwhelmed with the power of music — how great songs take root and impact us. How they come alongside us in so many different ways, soundtracking our lives.

Having a melody in my head is something I crave, and when songs truly land, they become my allies and I carry them around with me. June brought twenty new ones that keep on giving — many from bands and singer/songwriters I just recently discovered. It never fails to blow my mind — all these talented artists working under the radar, who are now known quantities. New artists who I can now watch and await their new work.

June begins with the poetic stunner My Lovely Days from the Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe record LUMINAL. It asks won’t you stay with such an innocence. And the closing track What We Are, also asks, will you stay? Because night is coming and we’ll need to hold on.

In between these bookends are eighteen keepers, featuring the first Pavement song in twenty five years, a brilliant cover of Witchitai-To that reminds us no one sounds quite like this incredible band. Hannah Jadegu’s My Love is pure, infectious pop that transcends with a genuine confidence and earnestness, My love, I hope you get all my time - I hope that you get it. The Line from Trace Mountains also plays with infatuation and joy — without side-stepping the possibility these new feelings could be unrequited. Do you hear horses running? ❤️

Rounding out the playlist are new tracks from Ezra Furman, Whitney, Runner, Horsegirl, Finn Wolfhard, OK Cool, Automatic and Little Mazarn. And I also have to single out the new Blonde Redhead LP which reworks tracks from my #1 record of 2023 called Sit Down For Dinner. On their new one, The Shadow of the Guest, the art rockers let the Brooklyn Youth Chorus permeate and lift up these eight beautiful tracks. The song Before was a stunner then, even more so now.

Enjoy your life in July, all. You can find the June playlist here on Apple Music and Spotify and I hope you dig it as much as I do.

Gary