Welcome to Sonic Hub’s first official playlist and what would it be for October if we didn’t pay homage to some of our staff’s favourite annual holiday. Whilst there are more obvious choices than the ones below, you can find those choices in any other Halloween playlist so enjoy some slightly more fun finds. Find the official playlist on our spotify [LINK HERE].
Halloween - Phoebe Bridgers
A bit on the nose? Maybe. Had to be here? Yes. Detailing the death of a relationship and how much a mundane, boring life can be just as soul-crushing as intense drama, Bridgers talks about wanting to just be normal and dress up and pretend everything is ok on the one night of the year it’s acceptable to pretend to be someone else, Halloween.
Ptolemaea - Ethel Cain
Arguably this isn’t a Halloween song because there’s nothing supernatural or pagan about it. However, nothing is more terrifying to a woman than a man like this man. Put me in a room with a swamp monster any day. Inspired by the Divine Comedy and the circle of hell where traitors reside, this song details Ethel’s drug-induced walk into the darkness following her kidnapping. The scream is more haunting than any ghost you could see.
I Dated A Monster - CATTY
Just like Ptolemaea, there is nothing more scary than a toxic man. Using all the monster buzz words you need to artfully detail the realisation that you’re in a toxic relationship, CATTY masterfully compares the emotions felt during said relationship with the physical aspects of being torn to shreds by a literal monster like one you’d see at Halloween.
Frankenstein - Rina Sawayama
From her sophomore smash hit of an album ‘Hold the Girl’, Sawayama details the feeling of wanting someone to put her back together when she’s broken through the lens of feeling like Frankenstein’s monster (Frankenstein is the doctor I cannot believe we still have to have this conversation). Equal parts heartbreaking and incredibly tense yet very very human, it deserves a place in Halloween music history.
Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Let it be known I did ALMOST put the ScarJo version but I wanted to put some respect on Karen O. Whilst in actuality an allegory for what happens if you take too many drugs at a rave, if you take the song at its most literal it's about losing your head and it rolling across a floor (gross). Couple this with the whacky red-glitter-instead-of-blood werewolf music video and you have a Halloween classic.
Good Ones - Charli XCX
There is something so intrinsically 1980s B-movie about the synths in Good Ones that I have to add it to any Halloween playlist and clearly Charli agrees following the Halloween drag performance music video for this song. I guess there is something haunting about the lyrics and the inability to keep healthy relationships but for me this is all about the instrumental itself.
Haunted - Laura Les
From the mind of one half of 100 Gecs and popularised by ‘Euphoria’ this haunting (hah!) hyperpop song details the frantic overwhelming nature of being overcome by fear or haunting. The verse starts off calm before descending into the more nightmarish chorus in the perfect blend of mysterious and spooky.
Peek-A-Boo - Red Velvet
Red Velvet are arguably South Korea’s most well-known Halloween queens through their ‘velvet’ concepts; if you ask anybody into kpop to name a Halloween song every single list will have Peek-A-Boo on it. The song itself has a creepy undertone to it which is only ingrained further by the 1980s style MV telling the story of an unsuspecting delivery boy lured into Red Velvet’s cult. An absolute classic.
Sweet Juice - Purple Kiss
Now for South Korea’s most underrated Halloween queens and a personal favourite (this will be on my spotify wrapped every year for the rest of my life) you cannot mention Halloween without pulling a Purple Kiss song. The group holds a perpetual witchy concept and Sweet Juice, about an intoxicating taste, can lean vampiric or witchy depending on your personal attachment to either.
Dracula’s Wedding - OutKast ft. Kelis
When I was making this playlist at my 9-5 job (sorry corporate boss) my coworker yelled in my ear about this song and he was correct! I don’t think I need to explain how a song called Dracula’s Wedding is about Halloween so I’ll let the music speak for itself and boy is the music good. Honorable mention here for the lyric “I make great peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Van Helsing” because it’s incredible songwriting.
Propane Nightmares - Pendulum
Picture a girl aged 13 in her grandmother’s office watching a video about escaping a cult on repeat at least 30 times a day for a good 6 months. I am that girl. Propane Nightmares is an absolute fever dream of drum n bass song referencing the Heaven’s Gate cult and their inevitable mass suicide and hey, what’s more Halloween than religious trauma.
Eyes on Fire - Blue Foundation
Yeah I know I said nothing typical that could be found on every other playlist but I’m not making a Halloween playlist in hoa-hoa-hoa season without the hoa-hoa-hoa song itself. Sue me.
Happy Halloween from the whole team!
Words & Playlist Curator Emilie Gibson
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