2024 Advent Playlist
Advent is a mood.
This is slow-cooking kitchen music, meant for simmering soups and dwelling on what it means to yearn, to long. Every year I try to collect songs that speak to the spirit of Advent, which is somewhere between the agony of anticipation and the hope that carries lament. Sometimes that’s a lovesick longing, and sometimes it’s an impassioned demand for change. Sometimes Advent feels like a wearied heart waiting to catch a city bus.
These are the songs that spoke to me this year. I hope they play well on these grey-skied mornings.
It’s more or less the same playlist on each of the services below. The order is pretty loose, so shuffle away after you get tired of those opening songs (though I really like those early ones!) Oh, and after doing this for a few years, I have a deep bench! You may like the 2022 or 2023 lists better, so they’re listed below, too.
I’ve been listening to these for a while, and while I’ve been thinking about this season and all that it means theologically. I’ve also been thinking about you—about the people that would find this playlist. I know you’re carrying a lot, my friend. It’s okay to be tired.
These songs aren’t really meant to fix anything, but they’re just my way of joining your wait. I don’t want to say a lot—not right now, anyway. I just want to sit here for a bit with you. Or if you want, there’s a place at my dining room table. You can sit while I stir the soup. Don’t even have to talk, if you don’t want. It’s going to be a bit before the soup is ready, so let’s turn up the music, and settle in.
Until he comes,
Steven
Steven Hovater 