---
title: "Chill Tunes for Unchill Times"
description: "Take your mind off of these unchill times with some very chill tunes."
date: 2025-11-22
tags:
  - Music
synopsis: "Take your mind off of these unchill times with some very chill tunes."
imageURL: /img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/car_alarm_turn_signal.jpg
imageAlt: An abstract sculpture made from foam sheets tied up with string.
mastodon_id: "115597188116254792"
---
:::info
For my younger readers: much new music is mixed in such a way that it sounds good on tinny (and tiny) smartphone speakers, often at the expense of sound quality on better audio systems. The songs below are not. If you can, please listen to these song snippets through a good pair of wired headphones, earphones, or speakers for the best experience (it's true: wireless sounds worse). You won't want to go back once you do.
:::
Dear reader, the times are not chill. In the face of the existential problems facing us today, if we are so lucky to have the opportunity, it's important to engage in self-care, to find some time to just exist as a happy animal for the sake of our physical and mental health. Fortunately, if there is one skill us negative-net-worth millennials have honed over the years, it's good old-fashioned escapism. In that spirit, here are some chill, soul-soothing tunes for some deeply, deeply unchill times.

### 6 Underground - Sneaker Pimps (Trip-Hop)
{% audio "6 Underground", "Sneaker Pimps", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/6_underground.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/6_underground.jpg" %}
I've been listening to this sublime trip-hop classic for years and I've never tired of it. Speaking of trip-hop, isn't the genre about overdue for a resurgence?

### At the River - Groove Armada (Trip-Hop)
{% audio "At the River", "Groove Armada", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/at_the_river.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/at_the_river.jpg" %}
If you're "fond of sand dunes and salty air," you might find a fondness for this legendary tune. That filthy trombone sample, [recorded on a whim through a speaker with the wires swapped](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/nov/20/groove-armada-how-we-made-at-the-river-tom-findlay-andy-cato), gets me every time.

### Car Alarm, Turn Signal - Lia Kohl (Ambient?)
{% audio "Car Alarm, Turn Signal", "Lia Kohl", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/car_alarm_turn_signal.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/car_alarm_turn_signal.jpg" %}
A standout track from Lia Kohl's *Normal Sounds,* an album in which she turns everyday sounds into nostalgic, liminal soundscapes that go straight to the feels, good or bad.

### Cold Water Music - Aim (Trip-Hop)
{% audio "Cold Water Music", "Aim", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/cold_water_music.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/cold_water_music.jpg" %}
The eponymous track from Aim's 1999 debut studio album, *Cold Water Music* is another trip-hop classic that I expect many people to have heard before, even if they don't recognize the name.

### Depths - Lowercase Noises (Ambient / Instrumental)
{% audio "Depths", "Lowercase Noises", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/depths.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/depths.jpg" %}
A beautiful track from Lowercase Noises' *Migratory Patterns,* an album about a whale.

### Erased - I Wannabe (Dubstep)
{% audio "Erased", "I Wannabe", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/erased.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/erased.jpg" %}
Not quite chillstep, this meditative dubstep track maintains the sense of space and emptiness that once characterized the genre before it imploded into self-parody.

### Gnossienne No. 1, Lent - Erik Satie (Western Classical)
{% audio "Gnossienne No. 1, Lent", "Erik Satie, Klára Körmendi", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/gnossienne_no_1.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/gnossienne_1_lent.jpg" %}
The first of Erik Satie's *Trois Gnossiennes,* written in free time, or without time signatures or bars, the only tempo-related instruction given by Satie to the soloist is "lent:" slow. As a bonus, here's a jazz version that my partner insisted I include:
{% audio "Gnossienne No. 1, Lent (Jazz Version)", "Jacques Loussier Trio", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/gnossienne_no_1_jazz.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/gnossienne_no_1_jazz.png" %}

### I Can't Find You at All - AJ Lee & Blue Summit (Bluegrass)
{% audio "I Can't Find You at All", "AJ Lee & Blue Summit", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/cant_find_you_at_all.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/cant_find_you_at_all.jpg" %}
A beautiful tune from AJ Lee & Blue Summit's *City of Glass,* a bluegrass album showcasing some incredible musicianship and stunning country vocals.

### I Wanna Go Back - Onra (Instrumental Hip Hop)
{% audio "I Wanna Go Back", "Onra", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/i_wanna_go_back.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/i_wanna_go_back.jpg" %}
The three albums in Onra's *Chinoiseries* are a stunning collection of gritty boom-bap bangers featuring samples collected from a bundle of old vinyl records the artist collected while visiting his grandparents in Vietnam. The wistful vibe and musicality of *I Wanna Go Back* make for a chill track worth remembering.

### Journey - Phaeleh (Chillstep)
{% audio "Journey", "Phaeleh", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/Journey.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/journey.jpg" %}
With his unique style, Phaeleh managed to avoid some of the cheesier tropes of the chillstep genre; as a result, *Journey,* like many of his tracks, has aged like a well-stored pu-erh.

### Raga Shree - Shruti Sadolikar (Hindustani Classical)
{% audio "Raga Shree", "Shruti Sadolikar with Mangesh Mulye, Anant Kunte, and Kiran Lele", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/raga_shree.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/raga_shree.jpg" %}
*Raga Shree* is not a song, per se. It is a raga, or raag, in Indian classical music, something between a scale and a mode in the western world. Hindustani musicians must memorize the ascent and descent of the raga, including microtones and complex ornamentation. Performers then improvise within the bounds of the raga, making each performance unique. Raga Shree, an exceptionally difficult raga to perform, is said to have a mysterious, gentle, and austere character. In keeping with tradition, the raga should be performed during the winter, in the early evening, after sunset. Associated lyrics:
> Listen, I haven't wanted to go out or meet anybody<br>
> I've just stayed modestly at home<br>
> Since my lover went away<br>
> My feet haven't passed through the doorway

### Sleep - Eric Whitacre (Contemporary Classical, Choral)
{% audio "Sleep", "Eric Whitacre, New Trombone Collective", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/sleep.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/sleep.jpg" %}
The tenor trombone was devised to replicate the sound of the human voice; it's my opinion that, in all cases, a trombone choir sounds far better than a human one (although, as a trombonist myself, I admit that I may be a touch biased). This is New Trombone Collective's rendition of Eric Whitacre's achingly beautiful *Sleep.*

### Snow - Seba (Liquid Drum and Bass)
{% audio "Snow", "Seba", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/snow.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/snow.jpg" %}
While some people find the driving breaks of liquid drum and bass stressful, I find the genre soothing like nothing else. Seba's *Snow* is an under-rated classic of the genre.

### Tezeta - Mulatu Astatqé (Ethiopian Jazz)
{% audio "Tezeta", "Mulatu Astatqé", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/tezeta.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/tezeta.jpg" %}
Perhaps the only recording in existence in which I've ever enjoyed the sound of a saxophone, there's something about *Tezeta* that feels like a warm drink on a cold day.

### Wind of Change feat. Karina Ramage - Makoto (Liquid Drum and Bass)
{% audio "Wind of Change feat. Karina Ramage", "Makoto", "/audio/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/wind_of_change.mp3", "/img/chill_tunes_for_unchill_times/wind_of_change.jpg" %}
From *Salvation,* released in 2017, Makoto takes us on a journey in this soulful tune, showing that drum and bass is more than the aggressive techstep breaks and creaky-door rollers popular at the minute.

### Well, that's all I have
I hope you found something you can enjoy here. Frankly, with the genres covered, it may be time to broaden your horizons if you didn't! If you go searching for any of the tracks or albums mentioned, try to buy your own copy, whether digital or on a CD, rather than using [a streaming service](https://www.defectivebydesign.org/spotify). Streaming services pay artists peanuts and they can (and do) make your favorite songs disappear from their platforms, never to be heard again. Obtaining your own copy of the music you enjoy is an act of cultural preservation—even if that means sailing the high seas.
