Spring in New England can be a mixed bag — days of glorious sunshine followed immediately by gloomy winter weather creates a contemplative season. Regardless, it's the time of year when we start to re-emerge from winter as the world blooms around us. This month, we asked our Mass Mix contiburtors to share songs that make them feel connected to nature ahead of Earth Day. Here's what they said.

The Ladybug Transistor, “Rushes Of Pure Spring”

I first stumbled across this song on a Darla Records CD sampler back in the late '90s. Remember CDs? Remember the '90s? Since then, "Rushes of Pure Spring" has become a springtime listening tradition, going on 25 years now. With the sun setting a little later and snowdrops popping up in bunches, the warmth of that Wurlitzer riff sets the tone of the season. And the lyrics are somewhat springy, too: "The only place I'd like to be / in your arms under the trees." It's cool to have songs like this that can connect us both musically and lyrically to nature and the outdoors. "I hear the day sing" when I put on this ray of Brooklyn indie sunshine from The Ladybug Transistor. -Adam 12, Weekdays 11a-4p, ROCK 92.9

Gem Club, "Spirit & Decline"

There's something about Somerville's Gem Club that has always felt atmospheric. It's not the kind of music that amps you up, but when In Roses was released it soundtracked my runs along the Mystic River — an aural escape from the bleak, grey winter. Seven years later, just as we are breaking free from this gloomy season, Christopher Barnes returns with a (re-?)release, "Spirit & Decline." The swell of strings ask you to take a deep breath, the repeating soft piano sequence encourages you to slow down, and the deep groans of the lower keys feel like a release. Barnes' voice brings a sense of much-needed calm: "Rise / watched for the point / when you'd wake from it / with the sun against your back." - Knar Bedian, Editor in Chief, Sound of Boston

Phoebe Bridgers, "Garden Song"

Though I currently live in the greater Boston area, I’m a New Jersey native and spent my teen years in a very rural part of the state, filled with mountains, lakes, and a leg of the Appalachian Trail. (Most people don’t think parts of New Jersey like this exist but trust me, they do.) When I first heard this track I thought of home, of the peace, of clean air and the deer eating the flowers right out of my mother’s garden. I think of wading into the lake with my friends, still fully clothed. When Bridgers sings, “I grew up here, 'til it all went up in flames/ Except the notches in the door frame,” I can smell the smoke of the wood stoves and the scent of the old barn that burned down just outside my parents’ home. I miss the smell of wood burning that perpetually hangs in the air there and the fact that I can see every star in the sky. This song just evokes the beauty of home and everything that’s so much and alive, yet so peaceful around it. -Ashley Kreutter, Music Section Manager & Editor, Boston Hassle

Birthday Ass, “Sunlit Toes”

Boston’s art-rock beau have reemerged for the first time since the release of their debut album Baby Syndrome in March 2018 — now they’re in Brooklyn, writing tunes hip to the times. “Sunlit Toes,” Birthday Ass’s latest single from their upcoming LP, Head of the Household, calls attention to the more tranquil moments in life, ones in which we’re able to breathe, bask in earth’s beauty, and feel the sun on our toes. The track careens through just short of three minutes of jazzy dissonance, vocalist Priya Carlberg’s vocals soaring over it all — “Sunlit Toes” begs those listening to sift through the noise and spiraling anxiety to find grounding and support through trying times. - N. Malte Collins, Editor at Sound of Boston

Flock Of Dimes, "Everything Is Happening Today"

All congratulations go to Jenn Wasner for the fantastic new record Head of Roses, and the changing of seasons takes me back to her first record. The simple feeling of existing in a state of constant flux is summed up perfectly in the line "Winter is behind us now, it is ahead of us also." When I first heard the song, I was plugged into my elderly iPod nano, climbing Eagle Hill to my first apartment in Eastie. Watching the Tobin shine over head, feeling the shifting sea breeze, and seeing the rising condos mingle with the disintegrating fishing boats, it really did feel like everything that could happen was all happening at once as we entered fall in 2016. It's a feeling I come back to anytime the seasons change. That said, don't sleep on the new Flock of Dimes album, which is also all about change, but with an eye towards a brighter summer. -Phil Jones, Afternoon Host, 88.9 WERS

Kacey Musgraves, "Lonely Weekend"

One common theme for me, and much of the world, during the pandemic has been an immense amount of time spent alone. I've gone back and forth about how I feel about it — is it lonely? Liberating? Even as the season changes and a light at the end of the tunnel emerges, I keep thinking about Musgraves' song in which she sings about enjoying solitude and disconnecting from the external world, a lesson I hope we all carry on past the pandemic. During my time alone, I've been trying to pay closer attention to the natural world around me, and Musgraves' voice is often in my head as I do. - Meghan Smith, Digital Producer, GBH