These five songs share a notable feature, namely haunted elegance which manifests through these stylistic elements: a melancholic and reflective tone, a quiet steady beat, and a dream-like production paired with detached vocal delivery.
“Ghosts Again” from Depeche Mode’s latest album (Memento Mori, 2023), is a classic: sleek and sad; and it is stuck in our heads – a recent ear worm.
“everything I wanted” by Billie Eilish shares a striking tonal similarity with “Ghosts Again” — though Eilish’s hushed, whisper-like vocals offer a fragile contrast to David Gahan’s resonant baritone.
“Shadow” by Chromatics match thematically and sonically the earlier songs. It was released along with the revival of Twin Peaks: The Return in 2017.
“Eye in the Sky” is the oldest track here, released in 1982 by The Alan Parsons Project.
“It Always Comes as a Surprise” by Pet Shop Boys stands out as the most melodically uplifting song. While the other tracks drift through shadows and detachment, the Brazilian rhythm here offers a glimmer of unexpected warmth.
Random Moment is a playlist series we began sharing during the early days of the COVID pandemic in 2020. Each post in the series offers a compact set of four to five carefully chosen tracks, running between 10 and 20 minutes in total. Created as a short escape from the mundane quarantined days, these playlists are meant to sustain a particular mood or musical atmosphere. The selections are intentionally eclectic—ranging from classical and contemporary pieces to rock and dance.
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You can also listen to it on Spotify but a subscription is required to listen to the full length of each tune. Playing the samples without a subscription is still fun. Try it.
This is the 29nd playlist. The earlier playlists can be found by searching for the category “playlists” on this site.
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