The laziest stretch of summer has ended, your co-workers are returning from vacations with that crazed look in their eyes and the demands of a new school year are suddenly filling your calendar with tasks. The phone's buzzing. The emails are piling up. Everyone around you is on edge and poised to strike.
Where can you go? To what can you turn in times like this?
I think you know what I'll say, but I'll say it anyway.
Find the headphones under that stack of mail and memos. Open your streaming service of choice. Search for and listen to the following pop and R&B singers, all of whom have released unique music of late that seems specially designed to lower the blood pressure:
Alessia Cara
The 19-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter rose to prominence by doing covers on YouTube — a more common method of discovery than A&R these days. It turns out that Cara has more to offer than chill acoustic renditions of others' songs, though. Her first and only single available at the moment, "Here," is part stream-of-consciousness rant and part introvert's anthem. The song picks up on her inner thoughts as she's regretting showing up at a rager of a party when she'd rather be at home, lost in her inner world. But you don't have to despise parties or social interactions to benefit from "Here." It conveys beautifully the moments of frustration before something has to give and, in turn, serves as a release. Cara's debut album, Four Pink Walls, comes out later this month.
Kaya Stewart
Playing her new In Love with a Boy EP, you'd never guess that Stewart is only 15 years old. But the Brit who grew up Stateside had a bit of a leg up when it came to musical influence and inspiration: She's the daughter of accomplished producer Dave Stewart and grew up idolizing his Eurythmics bandmate Annie Lennox at close range. The tunes on the EP alternate from precocious ("Try It Out") to hypnotic ("Jonah"), but all benefit from Stewart's surprisingly wise, lower-register delivery and the muscular, sometimes ominous arrangements backing her.
Lianne La Havas
The previous two artists channeled some universal frustration and stress — now it's time to lean back and take deeper breaths courtesy of a honey-voiced 25-year-old singer from London. La Havas' recently released sophomore album, Blood, recalls both the sigh-worthy melancholy of Adele — they have contributions from producer Paul Epworth in common — and the analogue-girl aesthetic of Dallas' own Erykah Badu. If you start with any one track, try "What You Don't Do," a glowing love song that celebrates a partner who doesn't have to try too hard. I also keep returning to "Midnight," the perfect tune for temporarily putting a pin in the parts of your life that stress you out.
Jill Scott
If you caught Scott's weekend show at Verizon Theatre, you're already aware of her onstage dynamism. But that certainly doesn't take away from the 43-year-old Philly chanteuse's recorded work, the latest of which can be found on the album Woman. She often eschews rigid lyrical structure in favor of a looser sung soliloquy. Woman's second track, "Prepared" is an apt example of that approach, with its soulful advocacy of "getting oneself together" layered over a bouncy, "Bennie and the Jets" piano rhythm. Something altogether different arrives a few tracks later in "Fool's Gold," a breakup song packed with melodic surprises.
Scott and all the aforementioned ladies have something important in common when it comes to musical stress relief: Rather than lose control of their thoughts at the nearest happy hour, they refine their personal reflections and find catharsis in the details.
What's on your relaxation playlist? Let Hunter Hauk know on Twitter at @hausofhunter, and cool down with his music-minded podcast, "Listening."
