Recommended Western music for autumn: popular autumn songs and hidden gems [2026]

Tear Me DownPaul Rey

Tear Me Down

A track by singer-songwriter Paul Rey with an intriguing rhythm driven by guitar.

The vocals are powerful and fully delivered with a long reverb, yet the instrumentation—starting with the guitar—avoids flashiness, instead playing in a way that firmly supports the song, which is beautiful.

It’s a piece that suits Japan’s autumn climate perfectly.

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Murakami Shinpei

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Gust of WindPharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams – Gust of Wind (Official Video)

Gust Of Wind is the collaboration between Pharrell Williams and Daft Punk.

It’s included on Pharrell’s 2014 album GIRL, and is said to be a song dedicated to his wife, whom he married the year before its release.

It’s a disco-style track with funky guitar chops.

In the music video, Pharrell and a group of dancers perform in a forest ablaze with bright red autumn leaves.

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Hamada Takuya

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C’est La Vie No.2Phosphorescent

Phosphorescent – C’est La Vie No. 2 (Official Video)

Literally meaning “emitting a pale blue light,” Phosphorescent is a singer-songwriter from the United States.

Living up to that beautiful name, he has released numerous folk and pop songs with outstanding songwriting.

This track blends synthesizers and acoustic guitar; despite its simple arrangement, it’s a deeply satisfying listen.

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Murakami Shinpei

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This TownSkogebrandt

This Town

A track by Skogebrandt featuring vocals drenched in long reverb and delay, as if sung in a cave or vast space.

While it’s structured as a piano-and-vocal piece, the effects processing offers a fresh way of hearing it.

Combined with the deeply emotional vocals, the sound design further accentuates its melancholic world, making it incredibly compelling to listen to.

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Murakami Shinpei

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Dead Leaves and Dirty GroundThe White Stripes

The White Stripes – Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground (Official Music Video)

The White Stripes—a male-female duo consisting of a guitarist/vocalist and a drummer, the smallest lineup for a rock band—were a driving force behind the early-2000s garage rock boom.

Beyond their extraordinary musical talent, their artwork, infused with a strict aesthetic, was also remarkable, and they achieved not only commercial success but also received many prestigious music awards.

Here, I’d like to introduce “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” from their landmark 2001 release White Blood Cells, the album that helped boost their profile.

With its raw guitar and dynamic drums, the track is incredibly cool.

The title’s “Dead Leaves” literally suggests an autumn vibe, but the lyrics—seemingly straightforward yet open to various interpretations—carry a mysterious quality typical of vocalist Jack White.

The music video, directed by the filmmaker Michel Gondry, is also suggestive and layered in meaning.

In other words, it isn’t actually a song with autumn as its direct theme, yet it’s invariably cited by overseas music sites as an “autumn song.”

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KOH-1

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