Escapist Albums

Now is a time when music can play a very different role in our lives. I like to think of spending time inside of some albums as a brief escape hatch.

Been thinking about the records I reach for in different times and when I’m stressed it’s much more ambient records but often with a bit of rhythm and hope like Vespertine or Hannah Peel’s Mary Casio

When anxiety overwhelms or panic descends it’s dreamier music like Noveller’s A Pink Sunset for No One is a goto

However, when it feels like there’s just endless awful news and I enter information overload, it’s often quite abstract and wordlessness like Sigur Ros and Cocteau Twins which seem to flush my system (I guess sort of as overwhelm by stealth).

This morning, found myself really appreciating the splendour of Panda Bear’s Person Pitch, which is perhaps linked to nostalgia for better times and zoning out to most of the words.

:thinking: Which records do you reach for and recommend in any of moments of overload, anxiety and/or stress?

1 Like

Not an album, but I do remember putting this on at moments of severe panic since my late teens (it definitely helps)

5 Likes
1 Like

Such an amazing track. And I agree with Lykke Li when I interviewed her a few years ago, whenever I hear it “I die” (and am then reborn, obvs)

1 Like

You can lose yourself in this one…

2 Likes

I basically stop breathing when it’s playing.

2 Likes

image

2 Likes

I weirdly find Tunng comforting. I’m not sure I can explain why, but they sound like home - particularly on Good Arrows. Off to check out Panda Bear now …

2 Likes

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, both the album and the era. An actual musical universe that takes you on a journey through every emotion.

2 Likes

I’d have said Geogaddi as I have a slight preference for it but being darker, it could be seen as more anxiety-inducing than this one.

3 Likes