By: Zainab Salam, Staff Writer
There is a strange beauty in the in-between. We often resist it — when life doesn’t offer clear beginnings or endings, where you are neither who you were nor who you will be. But as cultural theorist Homi Bhabha has explained, it is in this third space — the borderlands between identities, cultures, and selves — that new meanings emerge. This “in-between” is not a void, but a fertile terrain where hybrid selves are formed, where contradictions coexist and evolve. It’s where the rigid categories of identity begin to blur, allowing space for transformation.
That’s where this playlist begins, in that quiet threshold. It is a soundtrack for those shapeless moods and soft reckonings — for when you’re lying on your back in the afternoon sunrays, pondering all that might seem relevant in the moment.
The songs I present to you don’t offer answers; they hold space for our complexities, whether it is our desire that flickers, confidence that falters, or joy that aches. These songs remind us that clarity and contradiction often live side by side. Our experiences — including those within our realm of imagination — shape us.
“The songs I present to you don’t offer answers, they hold space for our complexities.”
“Mythologies of the self” is not a playlist for productivity or resolution. It’s a sonic mirror for your untidy thoughts and intimate reimaginings. Let these songs accompany you as you drift in the in-between. Write new personal myths and rediscover the beauty of being ever-changing and undefined.
“Catch and Release” by Tia Wood
Tia Wood, a Plains Cree and Coast Salish artist, blends voice and spirit in a song that reminds us that identity is both inherited and reimagined. It’s a quiet reckoning of the interrelated contradiction between letting go and holding on. The song inhibits the liminal space where memory meets transformation, reminding us that becoming oneself requires releasing what doesn’t benefit us and allowing the new to flood in.
“Just Fine (Ft. Kiana Ledé)” by Kitty Ca$h
Kitty Ca$h, a DJ and sonic curator, crafts immersive emotional landscapes. Featuring the tender vocals of Kiana Ledé, “Just Fine” is an anthem for graceful survival. It captures the strange confidence of vulnerability. The track lingers in emotional liminality: that tender space between hurt and healing, where strength doesn’t mean having all the answers.
“Sanctuary” by Tamino & Mitski
Two genre-defying artists, Tamino and Mitski, weave their singular sounds into this aching duet. “Sanctuary” is a slow-burning invocation of longing. With operatic melancholy and lyrical restraint, the song cradles the listener in a space that feels scared and unsettled.
Lebanese Canadian singer Zeina channels sensuality and strength in “Hooked,” a track that pulses with desire and disorientation. A slow sip of chaos, Zeina captures the high of a new crush — a song for the moments when craving overtakes caution.
thủy infuses her Vietnamese heritage with an R&B style in “in my bag,” a playful yet grounded affirmation of self-worth. Beneath its confident groove lies a quiet resilience. It’s an ode to staying soft and self-possessed in a world that asks you to choose between strength and vulnerability.
“te acuerdes de mi?” by Ivana
In this dreamy reflection, Mexican artist Ivana asks, “Do you remember me?” The song is wistful and wandering, full of ghosted emotions and delicate yearning — a lullaby for memories that won’t quite leave you.
