New songs to calm the nerves: 2025

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• This fourth installment of music to slow the blood focuses exclusively on new releases, contrasting with previous mixes that included older material.  Copied to clipboard!
• The hosts define 'calming music' broadly, ranging from propulsive, optimistic tracks that push the listener forward to ambient soundscapes that offer escapism or shared anxiety.  Copied to clipboard!
• The selection process highlights music that provides a 'reset'—whether through shared vulnerability (like KeiyaA), world-building (like Cassandra Jenkins or David Cordero), or cathartic release (like The Armed).  Copied to clipboard!

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Introduction and Breathing Exercise

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(00:00:28)

• Key Takeaway: The episode opens with a brief guided box breathing exercise intended to calm listeners before introducing the music selections.
• Summary: The episode begins with an instruction for listeners to practice box breathing, which involves slow, deep breaths. Host Robin Hilton introduces NPR Music’s Dora Levite and Sheldon Pearce. This installment of music to slow the blood is the fourth and focuses entirely on new music releases.

Kieran Hebden & William Tyler

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(00:02:00)

• Key Takeaway: Kieran Hebden & William Tyler’s “Secret City” is characterized as ‘optimism music’ that steadily builds momentum rather than passive spa music.
• Summary: “Secret City” is highlighted for its purposeful momentum, featuring a foreground riff against a shifting wall of noise in the background. The hosts prefer music that pushes them forward or has an immediate purpose over ambient music that simply exists in the background. The track is from the album ‘41 Longfield Street Late ‘80s’ and was released on September 19th.

Cassandra Jenkins’ Instrumental Work

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(00:04:53)

• Key Takeaway: Cassandra Jenkins’ instrumental piece “Only Relaxation” is a companion piece to her 2024 album, featuring piano sketches and nature sounds like croaking frogs.
• Summary: Cassandra Jenkins’ track is from the album ‘My Light, My Massage Parlor,’ which complements her previous album, ‘My Light, My Destroyer.’ The music incorporates found sounds, such as city noises and nature sounds, creating a sense of world-building that transports the listener. The hosts appreciate the intentionality of the sound design, which avoids being purely passive spa music.

David Cordero’s Ambient Soundscapes

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(00:08:12)

• Key Takeaway: David Cordero’s track “Humedal” (Wetland) exemplifies ambient, amorphous music that offers a sense of quiet expanse and companionship.
• Summary: David Cordero, a composer from Spain, offers music that settles between white noise and synth pacification, providing an engaging expanse to get lost in. The track includes nature crackling and footsteps, suggesting a walk with a close friend. The song is from the album ‘Let One Bird Sing,’ released on October 23rd, and Cordero has released several albums this year.

KeiyaA’s Shared Anxiety

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(00:11:51)

• Key Takeaway: KeiyaA’s “stupid prizes” offers comfort by validating anxiety, suggesting that hearing another person’s struggle cancels out one’s own nervousness.
• Summary: The song is noted for its hymnal quality and reverberating harmonies, creating a paradisical feeling despite lyrics about surviving rather than thriving. The underlying music features samples from easy-listening composer Percy Faith, adding a layer of sonic wash. The comfort derived from this track comes from recognizing shared burdens of the daily grind.

Annahstasia’s Fragile Warmth

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(00:15:40)

• Key Takeaway: Annahstasia’s “Unrest” provides warmth and closeness, evoking the feeling of a lullaby through her delicate vocal delivery and guitar work.
• Summary: The track’s guitar work draws comparisons to Nick Drake, while Annahstasia’s voice is noted for its fragile, whisper quality, drawing comparisons to Nina Simone and Tracy Chapman. The song is about finding comfort in another person despite external noise, making the listener feel seen and warmed. This is from her debut album, ‘Tether,’ released on June 13th.

Klein’s Hypnotic Electronic Wash

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(00:18:43)

• Key Takeaway: Klein’s “it is what it is in d minor” uses sweeping, echoey electronic sound to induce a hypnotic, almost out-of-body experience.
• Summary: The music is described as mesmerizing, causing reality to disappear the longer one listens, which some find invigorating rather than strictly calming. The hosts find humor in the specific title, noting the seriousness implied by naming the key, despite the amorphous sound. The track is from her October 1st album, ‘Sleep with a Cane.’

Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke’s Defiant Joy

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(00:23:37)

• Key Takeaway: Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke’s collaboration features a steady, tapping beat reminiscent of EMDR/tapping therapy, culminating in a grand string arrangement signifying defiant joy.
• Summary: This track is presented as an example of monotonous electronic music paired with folk elements, pushing the listener forward with a steady, almost therapeutic rhythm. The steady tapping sensation is noted for being steadying, leading to a feeling of hopeful resolution. The song is about passing on shared joy to another person.

Hand Habits’ Community Balance

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(00:27:24)

• Key Takeaway: Hand Habits’ “Jasmine Blossoms” seeks balance between acknowledging constant global turmoil and intentionally taking personal moments for self-care and community connection.
• Summary: The song addresses the difficulty of escaping the constant barrage of negative news from pocket devices. It encourages listeners to find joy and harmonize pain through intentional choice and community action. The stripped-down nature of the music lends a raw, visceral quality that fosters a close connection with the performer.

Ozbolt’s Transportive Nature Sounds

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(00:30:55)

• Key Takeaway: Ozbolt’s “Harkerville Coastal Trail” is highly transporting ambient music, evoking the image of a harp left in a field to be played by the wind.
• Summary: This German-Croatian electronic piece features natural sounds like surf and wind, eventually transitioning to crickets as night falls, creating a sense of private peace. The music is described as sounding like the reset music of ‘The Good Place,’ suggesting a calm achieved in an empty, peaceful space. The track is from the album ‘Chasyng Drakens,’ released April 18th.

Samia’s Intimate Reflection

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(00:34:46)

• Key Takeaway: Samia’s stripped-back version of “Pool” is made intimate by the inclusion of her grandmother speaking Arabic, creating the ultimate lullaby effect.
• Summary: This version is raw and visceral, lacking the reverb of the original, which brings the themes of time passage and anxiety closer to the listener. The song makes the listener feel seen by articulating anxieties about the future while trying to remain present. This track is featured on the fifth-anniversary reissue of her album ‘The Baby,’ released September 5th.

The Armed’s Cathartic Rage

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(00:38:20)

• Key Takeaway: The Armed’s hardcore track “I Steal What I Want” serves as a necessary cathartic release or ‘rage room’ experience to vent anxiety before achieving a reset.
• Summary: For some, calming music requires an initial venting of frustration, making this loud track a valid form of catharsis. The thrash quality of the song is effective for getting out the jitters, leading to a required reset. The song is from the album ‘The Future is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed.’

Stars of the Lid’s Final Silence

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(00:41:20)

• Key Takeaway: Stars of the Lid’s remastered track “Goodnight” is considered the gold standard of calming music, sounding closest to actual silence.
• Summary: The remastered track comes from the 30th-anniversary edition of ‘Music for Nitrous Oxide,’ revisited by Adam Wiltsy following the passing of bandmate Brian McBride in 2023. The music feels intentional, as if the artists are operating the knobs inside the listener’s brain to achieve the right settings. This final track is presented as the sound of silence that some people experience instead of internal noise.