Mono No Aware: Six Ambient Albums for Fall

Seasonal transitions with Stars of the Lid, Khotin, Broken Social Scene and more

Fall is a very transitional time. For me in Seattle, summer seems to really hang on. September kind of feels like the best part of summer. It’s always a little surprising how it “still feels nice outside” this late in the year. And slowly, the rain starts to come back. You know the rest – trees’ leaves changing, back to school and all that. It’s a nostalgic time but also a time of big change. Looming elections, new experiences, new uncertainties. It’s a time to take stock and figure out what to do to move ahead. Or maybe I’m projecting.

I’ve created a couple of these seasonal ambient album primers – so far, I've made it through spring and summer. But trying to decide on albums for fall has been the toughest challenge yet. Mostly, it was a struggle to narrow it down. Fall is my favorite “listening season,” the time of the year I feel most attuned to music. There’s something about that transition from summer to fall that energizes and refocuses me. It’s a great time to listen to any music, but especially ambient.

So, this list (and the ones before it) is not meant to be definitive. Instead, I wanted to spotlight albums that reflected different sides of the season to me. Who knows, maybe I’ll need to make a part two or do another round next year. But I wholeheartedly recommend all of these albums. From mellow reflections to upbeat experimentations, I think fall has tremendous variety to offer, and these six records at least capture a little bit of that energy.

Broken Social Scene - Feel Good Lost

Whenever fall comes around, this is one of the first records I reach for. Whether you want to call it ambient or not is up to you – I play it loose with the definition and subscribe to the Shabazz Palaces school of thought: “It’s a feeling.” If anything, Broken Social Scene’s debut album is something of an outlier in their discography – actually playing more like an extension of founding members Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning’s previous project, KC Accidental. While the band would go on to make some of the best indie rock of the 2000s, this (mostly) instrumental album will forever be a personal favorite.

Warm. Intimate. Foggy. Feel Good Lost holds to its title – it feels good to get lost in its lavish and hauntingly beautiful tracks. Pressing play and hearing “I Slept With Bohomme At The CBC” always puts me in a trance. The plodding bass line, the light flourishes of piano, the electronics and guitars swirling in the background. It feels like a fresh new day. Crisp and light like fall.

Very little is actually said on the album in a literal sense (adding to its “ambient ambiance”). One of the most affecting songs on the record, “Passport Radio” is one of the few to have any lyrics through largely incomprehensible. Even then, Leslie Feist sings what sounds to be a radio call, “Passport radio almost mine / Coming to you live,” with powerful conviction against the swooning string tracks and trumpets.

It’s a sleepy record, but in the best way. It feels like waking up late, comfortable in bed, as the dull, grey-blue light of the sky glows in the window. The music just seems to piece together in real-time, in a perfect, quiet, satisfying way. The penultimate track “Last Place” feels like it might go on forever. The looping beats and bass lines catch a hypnotic groove, crackling synths wafting off above it.

Ambient or not, I’ll let you decide. But this record always comes with the season with me. One I find myself leaving looping in my car while I drive around, taking in the new sights of the changing year.

Roberto Carlos Lange - Plural People

Helado Negro’s Roberto Carlos Lange has become one of my favorite artists over the years. When I think of music that’s held me up in some of my most trying times as well as my most joyous, my mind always goes to records like Helado Negro’s 2019 opus This Is How You Smile. That album was a refuge in the week between losing my grandmother and the birth of my daughter several years ago. There’s such tenderness in his songwriting, the tone of his guitars and keyboards, the very essence of his work.

Lange flirts with ambient throughout his Helado Negro projects, but I don’t think enough people are aware of the stunning instrumental work he releases under his own name. His Bandcamp page is a treasure trove of experimental music. It’s like a peak behind the curtain of what makes the sound of his Helado records feel so intimate.

Lange’s 2015 record, Plural People, is one of his more accessible “solo” works and also one of his best. Across 11 tracks of loops, drones, and glitches, Lange creates a beautiful tapestry of experimental sound. As life transitions into fall, I find myself moving toward sounds like these. The sound of exploration. As foliage turns colors, leaves are shed, and the air is getting colder, it feels like a ripe time for change. Plural People is the sound of discovery, seeking out into the universe with whatever tools you have within arm’s reach. And even within that seeking, there is still Lange’s beloved tenderness brimming through.

The shaking tremolo of “Haunt Her” is like an orchestra rewriting itself in the moment. “Fogetit” recalls the accordion drones of Pauline Oliveros (great company to be in). The wobbly distortion of “Time” feels like…well the wobbly distortion of time. The beautiful piano-breaking-down sound of the penultimate track “Lifer” feels like that nostalgic feeling you get as the sunsets a little earlier and the cold air fills your lungs.

All of Lange’s music is worth exploring. This season is the perfect time to delve into his more obscure works like Plural People.

Yu Su - Yellow River Blue

I think there’s a misconception that fall is strictly calm and cozy. Those are some of my favorite aspects of it, for sure, but I also find the season to be alive and at times even hectic. School’s back in session, holidays are approaching, sports and concerts both seem to ramp up – summer vacation is over and things are active. I find it invigorating. This time of year, I find myself most creatively stimulated and need a soundtrack that can keep me motivated.

It’d been a few years since I went back to Yu Su’s excellent 2021 Yellow River Blue. I’ve been a fan of the Vancouver, BC-based DJ since I caught her randomly at an arts festival in 2018 – she performed in a warehouse building set for destruction while the warm sunset light pierced through the window. I was immediately hooked. While that set was much more serene, I’ve long loved her more upbeat music going back to 2019’s Roll With The Punches. Yellow River Blue feels like the sky opening up, bright and orange like the color-burst on its cover.

Even when I say words like “bright” and “upbeat,” Yellow River Blue is far from a club album. Its beats are meditative and methodical. They accentuate the emotional feelings and tones of the record. Opener “Xiu” clatters with hope and excitement, settling into a groove that maintains that joyous feeling with looping drums and Yu Su’s voices chanting, drowned in reverb. “Gleam” rumbles with skittering drums and a muted, hypnotic synth-line that feels like your computer trying to communicate with you (akin to Suzanne Ciani’s iconic GE talking dishwasher advertisement). “Melaleuca” invokes the shimmer of old school Yellow Magic Orchestra, brimming with lightness.

Things do simmer down later with the haunting and languid “Dusty” (no relation), a slow simmer of a song that I wouldn’t mind if it went on forever. The closer “Melaleuca - at night” really brings things down to a final cool down. The whole arc of the album feels like the progression of those beautiful early fall days when the sun is still bright, life is picking up, and you’re soaking in all the hope and optimism before the inevitable darkness that’s to come later with winter.

Khotin - Finds You Well

Edmonton, Canada’s Khotin (the moniker of Dylan Khotin-Foote) is so reliable with his hazy, humanistic ambient music that I feel like I take his work for granted. Every new album, EP, or single across his various projects is always an instant listen for me. His 2019 record Beautiful You is one of my favorite murky summer soundtracks. But in the fall, I find myself craving his 2020 record Finds You Well.

Part of this could be memories associated with its release. It came out in September of 2020, back when things were still uncertain during the pandemic. We didn’t know what the future would hold, but nature and time still dutifully marched forward. I remember around this time, going stir-crazy in our small apartment, my wife and I got in the car and drove out toward the area around Leavenworth, Wash. – a two-hour drive east of Seattle. Not knowing what was okay to be doing and what wasn’t brought daily anxiety and headaches. But we needed to get out.

I remember driving around winding roads through the hills. Sweeping forests of trees, mixes of green and orange and brown. The sun was shining. We played Yves Jarvis’ Sundry Rock Song Stock and Khotin’s Finds You Well back and forth. It was a rare reprieve, and the music was perfect. Even the title Finds You Well felt provocative at the time. Being “well” in uncertain times felt like a luxury, but in retrospect it was a necessity. Khotin’s record offered up that feeling for at least 40-minutes at a time.

Voices peek in and out throughout the record, like the answering machine records on “Outside in the Light” or the chirping of his little sister’s voice on my favorite track, “Your Favorite Building.” It’s an album that has the warmth of companionship. As things get a little colder, it’s an ideal time to be inside with the people you love. Khotin’s synthesizers and cloudy production give it a sense of comfort. Even though the album was released during a time when that wasn’t always possible, it evokes feelings that were nostalgic then and prescient now.

Stars of the Lid - The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid

Stars of the Lid are something of icons in ambient music. In some ways, I might even say that they are one of “the most ambient ambient artists.” If you were trying to introduce someone to the very concept of ambient, The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid would be a great place to start (alongside Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports, of course).

The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid could realistically work at any time of the year, but fall is when I really crave this gorgeous and sprawling record. Two hours of droning may sound like a lot, but it’s one of the easiest listens you’ll ever have. With strings, pianos, horns, guitars, and an array of other instruments, the duo hardly raises their sound above a whisper. The quietness makes you want to lean into its lushness. But really, I think it’s a record that’s at its finest when referring to Eno and Erik Satie’s original intentions of creating music that could be “interesting and ignorable.”

The way Stars of the Lid’s music swoons and settles on this album makes me think of the decomposing side of autumn. The leaves changing colors isn’t just a pretty sight, but life fading only to later return again. The bright visages of flowers fade back into the bushes. The sun burns a little less hot on our skin. This record is made for those quiet times of reflection. Fall is as good a time as any to take stock of all the life that’s changing around you, to appreciate it, to think back on summer and imagine what can come ahead. It’s the perfect record to take a walk with your coffee and let these low, thoughtful sounds allow you to meditate on what was, is, and will come next.

Various Artists - Mono No Aware

Berlin-based label PAN’s Mono No Aware compilation may be one of the most influential ambient records of the last decade. And if I’m going to go full hyperbole, Yves Tumor’s “Limerence” alone is going to be looked back at as definitive for a generation.

“Mono No Aware” is a Japanese phrase meaning “the pathos of things” or “an empathy toward things” or even “a gentle sadness.” That, at its core, is an aspect of ambient I’ve struggled to put into my own words that captures it so well. Ambient music is lauded for being peaceful and thoughtful. I certainly don’t think listening to ambient music makes you a better person – if it did, DM me for where I can pick up my Nobel Peace Prize. But I think allowing yourself the space for self reflection opens yourself up toward empathy. Maybe that’s an aspirational thought itself. I believe if we can look inward, we can recognize our own faults and have a better understanding that everyone else around us is reckoning with this same, faulted human experience. The concept of “mono no aware” might not be a definitive aspect of ambient, but I think it’s something we can experience if open ourselves up to it and ambient has a unique ability to tap into that feeling.

Like I mentioned with Stars of the Lid and this being a season of self-reflection, I want to go into the fall with this in mind. A spirit of seeking understanding. Empathy feels like its on the chopping block in our society, questioned if it’s even real. I firmly believe empathy is essential. Rather than just preach it, I want to live it better.

The music on Mono No Aware does this exceptionally. I’ve already mentioned “Limerence.” The song was a surprise breakthrough for Yves Tumor and unlike much of the music they’ve put out since (though I highly recommend you check out Serpent Music and Experiencing the Deposit of Faith). The looping synthesizer and audio of a couple filming, sharing a tender moment together, elicit so much emotion. It’s so beautifully human.

Opener “Fr3sh” by Kareem Lofty fades into the frame, a cinematic start for a record filled with cinematic moments. French artist Malibu’s contribution “Held” is dreamy and effervescent, the sound of your thoughts drifting away. But things aren’t always so light and breezy on the compilation. AYYA’s “Second Mistake” feels a bit harsher with its sharp, spiking tones, like trying to confront yourself and your worst instincts. Oil XL’s “Heretic” sounds like an industrial plant slowly falling apart. Some songs sit in the middle of these feelings, like Shy H1’s “Hurt,” mysterious but introspective.

As the seasons change and the world with it, now is a great time to explore this concept of “mono no aware.” To keep ourselves honest. To keep our minds healthy. And to better understand ourselves. This music is ideal for the journey.

Two Months Away from the release of 20th Century Ambient!

I often have a placeholder here to promote my book, which I don’t change often. But as we’re getting closer to the release, it’s suddenly becoming very real to me. A couple of weeks ago, my publisher sent several advance physical copies. Finally being able to hold this thing was truly a surreal and gratifying moment. I’m so proud of this book and I can’t wait for you all to read it.

Yesterday, Publishers Weekly gave the first review of 20th Century Ambient. Here’s what they had to say:

“ Tracing the genre’s evolution, Henry provides less of a concrete definition of ambient music than a meditation on the qualities it evokes (a sense of expansiveness) and its relationship with its listeners... Enriched by vivid profiles of the genre’s practitioners and capped by a list of essential tracks, it’s a quirky love letter to an enigmatic sound.”

Want to know more about this “quirky love letter” to ambient? Make sure to pre-order a copy at any fine retailer (or ask your favorite local bookstore to order it). Thank you to everyone who’s supported the book so far!

It’s out November 13, 2025 from Bloomsbury Books. Don’t miss your chance to reserve a copy now.

Bloomsbury | Amazon | Bookshop | Barnes & Noble

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