Hometown: Nashville, Tenn.

Pairs well with: A long drive on wooded backroads

Allison Mahal's soothing vocals are a bittersweet contrast to the melancholy of her song "Autopilot." The song is a woeful reminiscence of a former version of ones' self — "Feel myself on autopilot / Can you hijack my mind for a minute / Take the wheel cause, I'm not looking at it / I wanna go down," she sings. Mahal's singing effortlessly floats between conviction-filled belting and softness. As she strums simple chords on her guitar inside Nashville, Tenn.'s celebrated Grimey's music shop, you can't help but feel comforted despite the sobering lyrics. In the same way Taylor Swift's "All Too Well" is sad in the best way, "Autopilot" makes Mahal's discontent feel like the slight sting of a crisp autumn wind: chilling, but welcomed.

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