The Riff Album of the Month, November 2024 — Seasonal Affective (Re)Order

Sunday, November 17, 4 PM EST.

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

I long ago accepted that I’m the laziest participant in The Riff’s Album of the Month events, at least when it comes to album selection.

Past hosts have spoken at length about their meticulous processes in selecting the perfect album for a given month from the dozens of worthy contenders that earned consideration. I’m pretty sure spreadsheets are involved, complete with macros and concatenations. I believe Steve Goldberg once enlisted the help of a high voodoo priestess. (High on what, he never disclosed.)

I never really learned Excel, even when it was supposedly part of my job, and the only voodoo I know is D’Angelo’s. So, I’ve always trusted in the album to reveal itself. In three go-rounds, the music gods have always come through.

Nearly two weeks after being selected to host November’s discussion, however, I was starting to worry. The musical muses weren’t musing, and the Album of the Month bylaws clearly state that if no album has been chosen 21 days before the scheduled discussion date, the selection defaults to The Eagles’ Greatest Hits. I’ve been enjoying an array of albums this autumn, but when I put out the call for an Album of the Month, no turntable arms raised.

Who can blame albums for slumping back in their seats? November 2024 is a hell of a month to represent.

The autumn months are inherently elusive. They mark the most visible of seasonal transitions; darkening leaves signaling the beginning of an ending. A series of holidays beg celebration of sentimentalized traditions masking troubling histories — not to mention the indignity of feeling compelled to dress like a demon and pretending to like Candy Corn. Add to the soup the most consequential election season in over a century, and suddenly Brat, even in whatever Super Deluxe Chopped and Screwed Gluten Free edition is hitting DSPs this week, feels as painfully out of step as Chappell Roan in platform pumps.

Thankfully, November’s Album of the Month finally emerged. Its October 18 release date is fitting. It’s a quintessential autumn album in sound and texture. Fall’s visually arresting transition has an uncanny way of bringing the intricacies of our ecosystems to the forefront. This album offers its artist’s struggle to navigate her ecosystems as they and she change.

She grapples with the realization that the places she worked so hard to weave for herself in the ecological tapestries of life and music may no longer be hospitable to her, if they ever truly were.

In the minimal press he did in advance of the album, she openly contemplated an exit from music (at least as a performer) while crafting the project. She seems to have backed off of that sentiment. Still, it seems fair to listen to the album through the lens of a farewell statement since her retirement considerations almost certainly influenced her writing.

With a weary eye, she examines the stories we’re told, the stories we tell, and the realities they obscure. Her personal reckoning mirrors, in many ways, the country’s collective moment of truth.

This artist first hit my radar earlier this year. I don’t remember if it was through my Beyoncé-inspired deep dive into other artists re-imagining the form and face of Americana or an algorithmic offshoot of my exhaustive Tracy Chapman revisit. Certainly either would be a fitting entry point for a contemporary singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who is using the form of Americana to challenge its function and regularly cites Chapman as her earliest inspiration to pursue music.

What better way to round out a year defined by reflection on convention, belonging, and the existential conflict between tradition and growth that is seemingly spiraling to a head than with November’s Riff Album of the Month:

Joy Oladokun’s Observations from a Crowded Room.

Image from New Republic Records

Consider as you listen:

• The connection between genre choices and content
• Is the album ultimately a personal statement or a social one? Or is it a statement at all?
• What is “Americana,” historically and today?
• The role of personal identity in genre and what happens when there’s incongruity?
• Where do Observations from a Crowded Room and Joy Oladokun fit in 2025’s music scene? Its world?
• How does it make you feel? What does it make you think about?

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New to The Riff Album of the Month Discussion?

Come on in! All are welcome. You don’t have to be a Medium writer or member to join. In fact, we always love to hear fresh perspectives from new voices.

The only rules: 1. Be respectful 2. If your camera is on, your clothes should be too

Other than that, you’re free to say, do, and sing whatever you like.

Simply listen to the album and share your thoughts in whatever form they might take. Or, if you’d prefer, you can turn off your mic and camera and enjoy our high jinks. Scott Fountain has been known to bring sound effects.

Regulars, semi-regulars, and irregulars:

Terry Barr Jessica Lee McMillan Anthony Overs Nicole Brown Charles in San Francisco Kevin Alexander Buddy Gott Stanley C. Madeline M. Dovi Bill Cooper Charlie Cole Marmi Le

Hope to see you in the house!

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Sunday, November 17, 4PM EST (9PM for our UK friends)

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