Music in Isolation: A Resurrection

I don’t attempt to kid myself - to put on some bubblegum pop and pretend that everything is fine right now; it isn’t. Of course, if that is your jam and if it makes you feel at ease, all the more power to you. But personally, I've found it to be a very specific type of music that has resonated with me these past few weeks.

It's been the songs that as they play, every tense nerve and thought running through my body and mind is acknowledged and then wielded into strength. Those same songs have been the ones that have pulled my hidden emotions out from the dark in the days where I feel numb and the groundhog day effect has started to get to me just a tad too much. It has been the songs that has made me feel alive and free.

still feel.

It was just another Monday, another scroll through Spotify’s “Discover Weekly”. Normally this composition is just an enjoyable weekly fling, but this Monday, a song came on and it just oozed through me. Unable to sit still, my body started moving along to its beat; arms above my head and a big grin smeared across my face.

still feel. by the band half·alive is a combination of funk, soul, R&B, and rock. It's about the hope found in hopelessness, rediscovering purpose and passion when you stand without ground beneath you. Reconnecting with life and that within you. Feeling whilst floating. It is an immediate release of dopamine, with all worries washed away with the rhythmic current.

So, when I lose my gravity in this sleepy womb, Drifting as I dream, I'll wake up soon . To realize the hand of life is reaching out , To rid me of my pride, I call allegiance to myself .

The Science

Feeling anxious, stressed, and depressed is something most, if not all, people experience at some point in their lifetime. And during a global pandemic where it can feel as if everything is falling apart, I would gather it's almost damn near impossible (unless you are Jared Leto and meditating at a retreat secluded from society in the desert). There have been done countless of studies researching the impact that listening to music can have on our brain and mental health.

Researchers at Stanford University have actually found that the music which we listen to seems to have an effect on brain functioning and waves to the same extent as medication!

Music with a strong beat stimulates the brain and ultimately causes brainwaves to resonate in time with the rhythm, research has shown. Slow beats encourage the slow brainwaves that are associated with hypnotic or meditative states.

Movement

Have you ever jumped off a cliff into a body of water below you? Do you remember the exhilarating feeling as you were falling through the empty air? And then as you hit the water, and as it absorbed you, do you remember when you looked up and saw the sun shining through the soft waves? The adrenaline rushing through you?

When you move , I can recall somethin' that's gone from me.

As you listen to Movement by Hozier, a power will pulsate through you, urging you to move with it. It's a dance song with soul and a melody that has you completely surrendered to its demands. With its roots in blues and folk rock, this song is an empowering anthem to life and intimacy.

Backbone

Skin on fire, a gust of wind, emotions flowing through you by the strain of his voice. You feel reborn, reignited, as if anything and everything is possible. You feel invincible.

The most recent song from the Icelandic blues-rock band Kaleo is a call for strength in despair. Though with a quiet nature to him, the vocals of lead singer JJ Julius Son are anything but shy. And paired with powerful instrumentals from the rest of the band, Backbone rings of a naturalistic rawness sure to revive a forgotten vigour within you.

Do you fight for pride or glory? Do you hold your scars close to your heart?

Resurrection

I find a lot of music lack depth - how many times have you heard the same beat paired with yet another repetitive love song, to the point where you can barely differentiate between them? Now, that's not to say that they are completely useless; they can function nicely as shallow background noise.

But sometimes you need something more than that from speakers in an H&M changing room. Sometimes you need something that instead of washing over you, washes through you. My playlist "Resurrection" is exactly that. Designed for the days where you feel down, and the days where you feel nothing at all; to rise from the ashes of this helpless state of the world.

With songs from Still Woozy, Kaleo, Harry Styles, Lolawolf, Billie Eilish, and so more, I hope this will resonate with you. Listen to the full playlist available on Spotify now:

For the latest information on COVID-19 click here. Stay safe, this is not the end.