My music has always changed with the season. In the summer, my anthems were upbeat pop songs by Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Billie Eilish, and as the leaves started to fall and the weather chilled, I played Hozier, Noah Kahan and Phoebe Bridgers more and more often. Sure, sometimes I’ll listen to folk music when it’s warm out or turn on pop during the winter, but my favorite artists and albums are those with crossover appeal. And for me, And the War Came by Shakey Graves is the encapsulation of the perfect year-round album.

The album dropped ten years ago, and I remember being six years old in the back seat of my car as my mom played the song “Dearly Departed” over and over again. While I didn’t have the same appreciation for music then as I do now, I remember loving the track almost as much as she did. The guitar was simplistic yet fun, making it easy for anybody to enjoy, and the lyrics “You and I both know that the house is haunted/And you and I both know that the ghost is me” stuck in my head, even as a young girl. That was the first Shakey Graves song I had ever heard, and at the age of six, I was already in love.

As I entered my teenage years, I got more invested in various kinds of music, and began to seek out more than what my parents exposed me to. Essentially, this meant searching up And the War Came on Spotify and pressing shuffle. And I was instantly blown away. “Dearly Departed” was still a standout, but “Family and Genus,” “The Perfect Parts” and “House of Winston” quickly joined my list of favorite songs. The lyrics were always on point (with some personal favorites being “‘Oh boy, just choose a side’/But I wanna waste your time” from “House of Winston” and “My smile remains the thinking pains/The average passerby/Oh, they’ll sink like stones into their homes/Away from teeth like mine” from “Pansy Waltz). But beyond that, the songs can really just appeal to anybody at any time. A good chunk of the songs on the album are what I’d classify as summer songs, and the rest I like to save for fall and winter, but they still flow together perfectly anyway. Shakey Graves created a gorgeously written album with plenty of melotic variety that still feels cohesive and seamless.

I saw Shakey Graves live in November of 2023, and it was undoubtedly one of the most impactful concerts I have ever had the privilege of attending. Although I adore his entire discography, the songs from And the War Came were the ones that appealed to the crowd most– they were the ones that had everyone in the venue either screaming the words until their voices were hoarse or holding each other as tightly as they could. I saw this album that had meant the world to me for so long played for a crowd so loudly I couldn’t hear myself think, and it took my breath away.

Put simply, And the War Came is a versatile piece of artistry that has become one of my favorite albums of all time. Those songs are the ones that can be blasted at any party or during the emotional scene of any movie, the ones I have the most fun playing on my guitar, and the ones that can hold the attention of a vast audience. They can appeal to anyone. But my favorite thing about it is that it’s the kind of album I can play in both the summer and the winter, and it’s an album I’ll listen to year-round in 2025. 

On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from the MUSE Winter Collection.