Spring Sounds Better in Jazz
Spring is the season where everyone collectively decides to become a more romantic version of themselves. Suddenly, walking outside is not just walking outside. It is a stroll. Opening a window becomes a lifestyle choice. Buying iced coffee feels like character development. Even sitting in the sun for five minutes makes you feel like you have personally chosen to take in life.
And obviously, a season this dramatic needs a soundtrack.
This spring (ok, every season), I have been leaning into vintage music: jazz standards, old Hollywood vocals, soft brass, bossa nova, and a tiny little bit of French music so I can feel mysterious without actually having to completely learn French.
There is something about older music that feels perfect for spring. Ella Fitzgerald singing “April in Paris” makes everything feel instantly more elegant. Blossom Dearie sounds like she knows a secret and is being very cute about it. Julie London and Helen Merrill bring in the moodier side of spring, because let’s be honest, spring is not always sunshine and flowers. Sometimes spring is rain, allergies, and wondering why it is 48 degrees in the morning and 76 by lunch.
That is why jazz works so well. It understands the emotional confusion.
When I think of the perfect spring feeling, I always think about the ending of You’ve Got Mail, when Joe says, “Don’t cry, Shopgirl.” Gaaah! Gets me every time! And then he and Kathleen are standing perfectly among the tulips at 91st Street Garden in Riverside Park. It is one of those movie scenes that makes you believe New York is just bookstores, dogs, flowers, and people finally figuring out their feelings in tasteful outfits. Obviously, real life is not always like that, but that is exactly why playlists exist: to help you pretend.
That scene is the mood I want this playlist to have. Tulips. Old New York. A little crying, but in a pretty way. The kind of romance where nobody is texting “wyd”.
I have also been adding bossa nova and Latin music, because nothing says “I am effortlessly chic” like listening to Astrud Gilberto while doing something extremely normal, like making toast. Bossa nova has this warm, breezy feeling that is perfect for late spring. It sounds like an open window, a linen shirt, and someone who definitely owns nice sunglasses.
A good spring playlist should make everyday life feel slightly more styled. Walking somewhere becomes cinematic. Sitting outside becomes “taking the air,” which sounds much classier than “scrolling on my phone near a tree.”
The perfect spring playlist is not just about songs with words like “April,” “flowers,” or “sunshine” in the title, although I fully support that. It is about texture. Soft piano. Clean vocals. Brass that sounds golden instead of chaotic. Strings that feel dramatic, but not like you are being chased through a castle.
Because spring is already a transition season, I feel like the music should feel like one too. It should sit somewhere between cozy and bright, old and new, dramatic and effortless. Basically, spring is just winter putting on lip gloss and trying again.
And honestly, it deserves a really good playlist!
Click here for Deux Pigeon’s 2026 Spring Playlist.
Warmly always, Vi
