Just vibing

A typical song playing through my headphones when I'm working out is likely going to be some form of cheesy, abrasive pop-punk. Some (many) would consider this a tad embarrassing. However, as a nearly thirty-two year old man, I have accepted that there will always be at least a small part of that teenage skateboarding around inside of me. My penchant for this hometown-loving/hating, pizza-eating genre carries over into the rest of my musical tastes. It influences how I love to hear the rise and fall of a song, only for it to rise again. It keeps me searching for a tempo that draws you into the heart of the song and informs the necessity of a melody that holds onto you.

When I relax, like when I want to really chill, the following list encompasses what I strive for. I've linked YouTube videos for each song so you can have a full listen while you read if you like, but check each artist out on Spotify or Apple Music (or grab an album!) to support. I have embedded from the official YouTube channels for each artist where possible, but have had to use alternate channels when there is a live version or it is otherwise unavailable directly from the artist. Obviously all the rights belong to the artists named who created the song.

Keep in mind that the order in which I have presented the songs here is important, as it allows the playlist to conform into the pattern I love of rising and falling, and rising again.

1) Queen of Portland Street - by Matt Mays

I was lucky enough to see Matt Mays play live at the end of 2019, and I believe it was the last show I went to before COVID hit the world. I love including this song as the opener on my chill listening lists, primarily because of the sense the song gives you of taking a drive somewhere on an adventure. Also love too all the little references to Nova Scotia in here that my Dad pointed out to me when we listened together, which he was happy to hear due to it being his home province.

This song appears to be very personal to Matt Mays, and yet it feels to be applicable to all of us, enjoying not just good, but important times with the ones we care about.

2) Great Expectations [acoustic] - by The Gaslight Anthem

I grew up disliking country music just because. Funnily enough, I married someone who grew up on it and loves it - I've come around on it a little now too of course. As I've spent more time with country music, I have come to realize how much of a crossover happens between pop-punk and country - both genres write songs about how much they love their friends and their hometown.

So it was destined that I would be down with The Gaslight Anthem, who blend straightforward punk with blues, folk, and a little heartfelt country tinge. I love all their songs, but this one in particular hits a certain emotional chord in the listener with its steady strumming and Brian Fallon's deep, welcoming crooning.

3) Fresh Feeling - by Eels

Eels has put out some weird shit. And it's really good. My first introduction to them was their song My Beloved Monster off the soundtrack for the life-changing film Shrek. Fresh Feeling carries a gradual, larger-than-life sounding melody that is extremely soothing. Fun fact about it, it is the first track off the mixtape I made for my girlfriend a couple years ago. She is now my wife, so it must be a good song.

The song itself is a little unconventional, with Eels sampling some of their own earlier work, and using an odd rhythm to craft quite a lovely pop song.

4) Fast Car - by Tracy Chapman

This woman has an incredible catalogue of music, and this song was obviously a major hit. That lead guitar, just hearing it evokes the wrought emotion that Tracy Chapman put into this song. Every time you listen you can feel the tragedy and sadness herein, but also the hope that springs forth from it.

When I was in college my roommate and I learned to play the song. Each time we thought we had got it down pat, we went and listened to the original and were awestruck again and again. There is just something special about this song, particularly when it's coming straight from the source. The best way I can describe it is that it truly makes you feel.

5) Limitations - by East Forest

Now for a minimalist slow song to include in our first beautiful fall on this playlist.

This song is just gorgeous. I came across it when putting together calming music for yoga classes. I would typically use it nearing the end of a class just as everyone would close their eyes and lay down to rest. The way subtle layers are continuously added as the song moves forward really gives a feeling of everything coming together. I feel happy every time I hear those piano notes.

6) Between Sheets - by Imogen Heap

Between Sheets starts to rise up from the electronic foundation of our previous track. Fairytale-like is the best way I can describe this song.

I love listening to Imogen Heap under most circumstances, as her body of work is always exciting and emotionally powerful. The way the piano travels back and forth in this particular song lulls the listener into a sense of this is exactly where they need to be.

7) Passion - by Utada Hikaru

I love gaming. I played the very first Kingdom Hearts when it was released in 2002, and waited the long 17 years until 2019 to play Kingdom Hearts III, which concluded the Darkseeker Saga. As the song progresses you will hear how this is a major rising point in the playlist.

Passion, by Utada Hikaru, is the theme song for this game (vocals are in English in the North American release of the game). Now, I am not going to pretend to have even a minimal ability for speaking or understanding the Japanese language, but regardless of the language you speak, passion emanates from this track. This is evidenced in the emotional delivery, ethereal electronic sounds which include rewound vocals, and powerful guitar and drum fills. Knowing this, and also understanding the song is utilized in a game that combines classic video game and Disney legends and has a central story that focuses on the power of love and friendship, this song will always wash a wave of happiness over me.

8) Masollan - by Balmorhea

Everything about this song is somehow simultaneously soothing and chaotic in the absolute best way. The powerful strings are accentuated with various percussion instruments, all on a layer of noodling guitar and the bass doing its own thing, and somehow this all fits perfectly.

Moody but uplifting. Mysterious but beautiful. Chaotic but comforting. Soaring but grounding.

9) City Girl - by Crush Luther

The video for this song was hugely popular on MuchMusic back in 2007. I was also enamored by the fact these guys formed in London, where I was attending university in 2007. Which means I listened to the song a lot. Repeatedly. You would think I would grow tired of it, but I never did.

This groovy little number will always hold a special place in my heart. It helps that the rest of their output was awesome as well. Crush Luther created a song that sounds like it is quietly and continuously building to something big but never does, and rather than leaving you feeling like it's missing something, the execution makes it utterly satisfying.

10) Taylor - by Jack Johnson

Everyone will remember the music video for this song that featured Ben Stiller. He drove up to a beach that was the set for a music video in which he taught Jack Johnson how to look like he was playing the guitar. An odd video within a video, and it was honestly great.

I was in Hawaii for a very short period back in the early aughts and picked up the In Between Dreams album from a record shop. I instantly fell in love. Taylor is from the previous album On and On, but is just one of many examples of the literal vibes coming off this artist.

11) Ocean - by John Butler

I promised myself I wasn't going to use the word "transcendent" while I wrote this. But goddamn this song is transcendent. I've linked the version above because it is the first version of the song I ever heard. There are a lot of studio versions and a lot of live versions that vary wildly in length, all of them incredible.

This track is a major rising point on this playlist. The pounding foot drum carries the almost frantic strumming to unbelievable heights. This one is not exactly a chill, calm song, but it definitely helps you take an inward look at yourself and what you want out of life.

12) What's My Age Again? - by Vitamin String Quartet (originally by blink-182)

I absolutely had to include this on my playlist - rather, on all of my playlists. blink-182 is my favourite band. While perhaps What's My Age Again? is not my favourite song by them (that discussion can be saved for a later time), it is still fantastic, and this cover is a masterpiece.

The way the quartet uses their strings to convey the catchy, driving tempo of the original hits me hard every time. When listening to this for the first time it was really important that it capture the energy of the original song, and it absolutely delivers. Despite it being such a high-energy song, the combination of the strings and the familiarity of the melody makes it extremely comfortable to come to.

13) Messages - by Xavier Rudd

Listening to this song is like being wrapped in a warm hug. Its story speaks of the struggles that might be faced in life, but also reassures the listener that things will be okay. You will have those around you to help through those struggles.

The slide guitar and rhythmic percussion gradually build up to carry the song away at a traversing pace, adding to the sense that we are always moving forward and improving.

14) The Devil's Tears - by Angus & Julia Stone

I cried the first time I heard this. I feel that same wanting to cry every time I listen. When the brother-sister duo sing "but I'll never give up you" I get literal goosebumps, and the goosebumps hit hard again when THAT piano comes in.

Dear God this song is amazing. I love having this song on a playlist just for the sheer fact that it carries you away to other plane of existence with its grandiose atmosphere and at the same time it strikes you such an intimate, personal way.

15) Epilogue: Long Jawn - by Shad

I love all of Shad's work. I love the humour he puts into his rap. I love how he tackles important issues head on. I love how he forms sentences together and spaces the sounds that he makes. Love is a perfect word to use to describe Shadrach Kabango due to the amount of love he puts into crafting raps and the love and positivity that emanates from him.

This song is a must have on chill vibe lists because of the lo-fi musical accompaniment to Shad's nearly seven minute continuous flow, referencing everything from opening the track with how he's tired of rapping, to how he misses tour, to how it's important to sometimes soften our hearts against hard times. You can't help but get carried away by the sound of Shad talking about the world.

16) Flash Junked Mind - by Milky Chance

One of my best friends got me into this German new(er?)-wave electronic folk-pop band sometime around 2014. One weekend in October we had tickets to see them play at a club in Toronto. The entire evening involved a lot of rye and gingers, falling off an uncomfortably high fence, more pizza than rye and gingers, and funding the first EP of a guy playing in a small piano bar. Oh, and also two visits to a psychic and losing a bet with an Irish bartender.

Even without the happy memories I experience every time I hear the opening notes to this song, I would still require it as the perfect closer to a chill playlist. Milky Chance's live show was incredible, but when this song came on, I actually felt a deep peace inside me. The infectiousness of the song grabs you in the very first notes and does not let go. When the chorus comes in, the slowing of the tempo and Clemens Rehbein's vocals simply carry you on to another plane of existence.

Well, there it is. The sixteen songs I keep on a playlist for when I just want to relax or feel a little better about the world. Thanks for reading, and take some time to check out some of these artists if they are new to you, I promise you won't regret delving deeper into their catalogues.