Like me, you probably naturally gravitate towards sad music. So what better music to listen to than the genre dubbed "SADCORE"?
Here are 39 super sad slowcore songs that if they don't make you cry will certainly make you look out of the nearest window and feel a sense of nostalgia and longing.
Cold by Sign Crushes Motorist
Sign Crushes motorist aka Liam McCay, along with original slowcore artist Duster, are hugely responsible for the rise in popularity of slowcore music. This track is raw and although I cannot hear the words of the song can't help but feel all the sadness.
To Change The Past by The End of Our Story
This is my favourite track from one of my slowcore artists. I wrote this track about the regrets I have about how I went about parenting my kids and generally about how I deal with regrets as a whole.
Cigarettes by Shambles
I love how Shambles has embraced clipping and letting his tracks distort. Much like any natural distortion it adds to the overall warmth.
This track makes me yearn for summers past.
I Couldn't Be Myself by Faded Moments
This is another one of my slowcore artists, Faded Moments. My approach to writing this is about using only my acoustic guitar to play all the main parts.
The song is about looking back on my life and feeling like I have let myself down by not embracing the moment and worrying about the future too much.
Holding on to the past by I don't know myself
This is my instrumental slowcore artist, I don't know myself. The approach for this was to embrace the DIY bedroom aesthetic and produce sad, reflective slowcore music using only my electric guitar.
It all seems so simple by Hands Over Eyes
With this artist, I wanted to embrace something more like shoegaze; wide, whispery vocals with slowcore drums and guitar parts. I also wanted to add other elements like piano and celeste melodies to make it feel more dreamy.
This track is about looking back on the path of my life and how all my decisions seem so obvious in hindsight. D'uh, hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I'm slowly dying inside by Death by Falling
I love how Death by Falling record their vocals; so softly that they are almost spoken whispers. Plus, he gets a great guitar tone on this one!
Here comes the summer by The end of our story
This song is about the excitement I feel when I see that the seasons are changing and that summer is coming; taking me out of the cold, darkness of winter and through spring.
The stars don't glow like they used to by Ativansocial
Ooh, this is one of those great ambient tracks that slowcore artists have been producing. This combines two of my favourite genres and uses a lofi music aesthetic to boot.
I could listen to this and stare out of the window on a rainy day all day!
I miss your warm hands by i don't like mirrors
This artist is one of those slowcore artists who has become a viral sensation and I can see why - he has nailed the slowcore aesthetic with simple, warm, slowcore songs.
I'm sad it's over by The end of our story
When I was writing this I wanted to capture that feeling I get when something is over. You know the feeling, you get it when a chapter of your life has come to and end, or even when you have finished a good book or TV series.
Inside Out by Duster
Duster was a huge proponent of the original slowcore movement in the 90s and this song clearly shows why; raw, lofi, simple, and although it is not slow it has the same vibes.
I know by Faded Moments
This was the first slowcore track I wrote. I grew up in the 90s so the sounds of slowcore were no stranger to me...the name and style of the genre however were.
As soon as I heard some slowcore from Sign Crushes Motorist it was like I had returned home. It felt great to hear and I had to start making it!
Interesting fact about this one, I layered the noise that my chair made when I was recording with the snare!
It hurts now that you're gone by i don't like mirrors
This song captures that feeling when someone you love leaves so well. The fact that you can barely hear him singing only adds to that intangible feeling!
watch me by Giving a butterfly a skeleton
Giving a butterfly a skeleton gets a great bedroom recording sound whilst also making the arrangements sound interesting. I would put this artist more in the aesthetic of slowcore and the genre of lofi indie but I enjoy listening to them.
Watch as the daggers fall by To Be Invisible
To Be Invisible is my "what would slowcore sound like if it was played on the piano" project.
I also wanted to record my vocals at the very bottom of my range to get a different sound. My wife said it sounded like Jim Morrisson (thanks Debs).
This track is about a period in my life when lots of people close to me changed how they behaved around me.
Grab These Moments by The end of our story
I wrote this song after doing the running club with my kids at their school.
I wanted to capture that feeling of pure joy in the moment and the sadness when that moment has passed.
You by I hope you're okay
One of the things that I love most about slowcore is how varied the productions are and how even though we are all trying to achieve a very similar sound they almost always sound like the slowcore fingerprints of each artist.
I hope you're ok is a great example of this; the guitar patterns, and drum production, all have their own subtle sound.
Stuck by The end of our story
I wanted to write a song about the pressure we all put on ourselves to do better and be better, do more and be more and how it's all pressure in our imagination and if we can stop putting that pressure on ourselves then it will all be fine.
Restless Dreams by LochHaven
This track is a supportive arm around your shoulders from a friend. It feels like half found-sound half demo and it sounds great.
Then Again by To Be Invisible
More piano-led slowcore from To Be Invisible.
This one feels like a call to all the self-doubters in the world to pick yourself up because you don't know what is going to happen in life.
Vices by The end of our story
A song all about wanting and needing things in life that don't do anything but give us a small hit of dopamine. Vices that we chase but don't need if we could only be comfortable in our own skin.
moustache by Woebegone.
Despite the drums being crushed by distortion and the guitars being out of tune this track seems to bring me "Sonic Youth does slowcore vibes" - that's a pretty cool vibe to achieve.
What was right by To Be Invisible
This is my favourite track on the album. It seems to effortlessly tread the sweet sad/hopeful vibe that slowcore does so well.
I wrote the melody for this whilst driving to Aldi to do my weekly food shop - sometimes inspiration comes when you least expect it.
What it feels like to be alone by The end of our story
This song is about my fear of my children growing up and them becoming adults and how I both want it and don't want it.
I want to know it's you by Faded Moments
A short, sad song about love.
When will it end by Birth Day
This is one of Liam McCay's many slowcore projects and I think this is one of my favourite tracks from them.
It has all the hallmarks that I love about slowcore; clipping, off-timing, indistinct vocals and a feeling of sadness and hope.
In my dreams by Faded Moments
More cassette-infused, acoustic guitar-led indie from Faded Moments. My favourite part of this track is the little "do do do do" vocals in the chorus.
I'm too sad to do anything by I don't know myself
With this track, I wanted to capture that heavy feeling of sadness when it seems to stop you from actually doing anything other than lying down and wanting to sink into the earth.
My brain is trying to kill me by Dolent
This track quietly seeps into you like the soft drizzle of an autumn afternoon.
Empty Again by Those Distant Lights
I wanted to finish up with this track from my ambient/found sound project, Those Distant Lights. With this track, I tried to capture the movement and confusion you feel when your emotions move around your body.
Thanks for reading and listening - if you enjoyed this selection you can check out the ever-growing playlist of super sad slowcore songs I am curating.
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