Fall is traditionally a time of harvest and preparation for the cold and darkness of winter, but also a time of celebration and thankfulness. In today’s fast-paced world, it’s important to pause sometimes and remember these values. To that end, this playlist contains a suite of gentle songs with themes of perseverance and tranquility. Pulling from all corners of the music world, featured acts include artists as far flung as John Coltrane, George Harrison, Nujabes, Tame Impala and even the Dalai Lama.

Like so many of my playlists, this one was inspired by a recent release: namely, Fleet Foxes’ Shore. The band’s principal songwriter and vocalist, Robin Pecknold, described the album as having a “joyous” sound and as “a place of safety on the edge of something uncertain.” With so many emotionally charged (Fetch the Bolt Cutters), aggressively political (RTJ4), or otherwise despairing albums this year, Shore came as a welcome relief. Its pleasant acoustic palate and mellow rhythms struck a chord with me, and I set out to find similar songs almost immediately.

One of the first artists I went to for inspiration was George Harrison, whose music shortly after the breakup of The Beatles features the sort of hopeful lyricism I was looking for: “Daylight is good at arriving at the right time / It’s not always going to be this gray,” he sings on the title track of All Things Must Pass (1970). At this time in his career, Harrison was strongly influenced by Eastern mysticism and Hinduism in particular; his spirituality is fully apparent in his most well known song, “My Sweet Lord,” which juxtaposes the Hebrew word of praise hallelujah with several Sanskrit mantras, including Hare Krishna. Following this thread, I decided to include more songs with a spiritual element, such as Sufjan Steven’s abstract single “My Rajneesh” or the meditative “Compassion” from the Dalai Lama’s debut album. The song “MASTERPLAN” is R.A.P. Ferreira’s ode to one of the masters of spiritual jazz, Pharoah Sanders, whose 32-minute free jazz epic “The Creator Has a Masterplan” served as the blueprint for the track.

Still, rather than a playlist focusing on spirituality, most of the songs here contain simple but effective messages of inspiration. “If you put your mind to it, you can surely do it,” Curtis Mayfield encourages on the upbeat “Move On Up.” Thom Yorke advises to take things one day at a time on Radiohead’s “The Numbers,” crooning over soft piano and guitar chords. John Lennon’s bare “Hold On” sees him promising himself, his wife, and indeed the whole world that things will turn out alright.

I hope these songs songs are able to bring you a little peace of mind. I suggest pairing them with a cup of coffee or some fresh air. This playlist works when listened to shuffled or in order.