MOOD MUSIC
Music can have a huge impact on mood and scientifically speaking it can actually have an effect on your body.
“Our physical responses to music are rooted in the brain and the way it processes information. There’s evidence that we are born with brain structures that allow us to experience music both emotionally and physically. And today many scientists are convinced that there is a biology of music, a hardwired capacity for musical appreciation and expression.
In a study in which people listened to soothing harp music, their heart rates consistently went down. But their systolic blood pressure (the higher numbers) went up and then down again when the music paused. The researchers were surprised. What was happening was a rhythmicity in the heartbeat that varied with the music. The heartbeat sped up with the music and slowed down with the music”
Everyone can relate to typing "relaxing music" or "calming tunes" into Spotify or their computer to seek a moment of calm.
For me, listening to music is something that happens naturally in my daily routine. I have tunes to uplift, tunes to relax, tunes to energise, tunes to make me feel nostalgic, tunes that make me feel sad - basically all the feels.
I, like many people in recent months, have been looking for ways to unwind, using methods which are easy to access and can be done at home.
What makes a song relaxing? Is it the tempo? The way that one note transitions into another? Is it the instrument used? The way they are played? Repetitive rhythms? How do peoples’ opinions vary on this?
The healing properties of music interest me and I wanted to find out what music other people find therapeutic.
With this in mind I reached out to people on Instagram to talk to them and get their opinions.
From this I’d like to compile a series of playlists on Spotify that everyone can access that will hopefully inspire, aid focus and shine a light on what other creatives are listening to.
Alex May Hughes
Sign Painter and Glass Gilder,
tell me some of the songs you find most relaxing
When I really want to relax I usually listen to music which doesn't have lyrics or very minimal lyrics - I find it easier to get lost in music this way. Some of my favourites are: Jonsi and Alex - “Riceboy Sleeps”, Bon Iver - “Hey, Ma”, and Still Woozy - “Habit”.
Can you choose one and tell me how it makes you feel?
“Riceboy Sleeps” is quite a slow build so it can draw you in. I find I get swept up in it and it distracts me from the everyday thoughts and stresses. It takes me to a different zone entirely.
When do you tend to listen to it/them?
If I have a long journey or I’m trying to relax after a stressful day.
Do you have a relaxing music playlist?
I don’t, but I think i should make one!
Chantal Herbert
Sister Shack CIC Founder/Director
tell me some of the songs you find relaxing
This totally depends on my mood, I am not really very good at relaxing as my brain is constantly whirring and I really enjoy being busy. At the moment I am listening to a lot of music by Black artists. I think what I find relaxing, others would not and I'm enjoying songs that make me think about the world. Currently I am listening to:
Kendrick Lamar - Alright
Koffee - Burnin
H.E.R. - I Can't Breathe
Vic Mensa - 16 Shots
Jazmine Sullivan - Baltimore
Lizzo - Good As Hell
Terrian - Let Love Lead
Chronixx - Black is Beautiful
Noname - Self
Sam Cooke - A Change is Gonna Come
Regard - Ride It
Katori Walker - Melanated
Koffee - Rapture
Can you choose one and tell me how it makes you feel?
"I Can't Breathe" makes me feel; sad, elated, happy, chilled and angry - all at the same time. It is so well written, produced and it has a powerful message. It makes me sick and tired that these songs even have to exist but I am also proud to hear it.
When do you tend to listen to it/them?
I listen mainly in the car and in bed. Most of the time I am either hanging out with my partner, working or looking after my son, so I don't get a lot of time to listen to music as much as I should. Since Covid happened, I have not been able to DJ, so that time of music listening has been taken away. I tend to listen to a lot of podcasts, so that has replaced a lot of my music listening.
Do you have a relaxing music playlist?
I have one that I have made called “Goddesses of Music” and the other is one by Spotify called “Black Lives Matter”.
Vicky Simmons
Art Director and Founder of Mean Mail
tell me some of the songs you find relaxing
I find the music of Gold Panda, Caribou and Jon Hopkins relaxing to listen to. I also love a bit of classical piano.
“Unicorn” - Four Tet
Luminous Spaces - Jon Hopkins
Feel First Life - Jon Hopkins
Most tracks by Ludovico Einaudi
All That Must Be (album) George Fitzgerald
Can you choose one and tell me how it makes you feel?
“Feel First Life” by Jon Hopkins makes me feel warm and content. It reminds me of waking up before the sunrise in California and covering hundreds of miles on my road trips there in 2016 and 2018. I sometimes just have it on in the background and listen to it on repeat. You don’t notice when it starts or ends.
When do you tend to listen to it/them?
Mid-afternoon when I’m feeling a bit of a slump or during the evening when I’m cooking.
Do you have a relaxing music playlist?
No I just search for an artist on Spotify and usually click ’start radio’ so I can discover more tracks I like.
@meanmail
My TRACK CHOICES
My Angel Rocks Back and Forth - Four Tet
Against The Sky - Harold Budd
#3 - Aphex Twin
View From my Window - Hiroshi Yoshimura
Sacred Sands - Allah Las
Doppelganger - Efterklang
My Angel Rocks Back and Forth - Four Tet is like a lullaby in the way the melody loops and sounds as it breathes throughout. I love the repetitiveness of this track and find it very easy to work while it plays in the background. It’s very soothing. It makes me feel calm and relaxed.
I tend to listen to tracks without lyrics if I’m working and then go for tracks with lyrics at the end of my working day when I’m cutting loose in the kitchen or in need of something more energetic.
I have added some of the tracks recommended by everyone in this article onto Spotify along with my choices. You can follow it here: