I Tried Falling Asleep To The Ultimate Sleep Playlist

There are so many things to listen to before you fall asleep: Rain machines, ASMR, the drone of your comfort TV show, or the chatter of your own thoughts. If none of these sound appealing, though, there’s a selection of songs that may help you drift off to dreamland, and it’s been dubbed the ultimate sleep playlist.

These sleep-inducing tunes were collected by the experts at bedding brand Bed Kingdom who used Spotify’s Playlist Miner tool to search for keywords like “sleep,” “bedtime,” and “tired” to determine what people listen to as they wind down at night. After scanning nearly 10,000 playlists, they found that songs from artists like Coldplay, Mitski, and Cigarettes After Sex topped the list.

One thing these tunes had in common? Slow tempos, ethereal instrumentation, and low-key lyrics — all factors that could be soothing for the 15% of people who have insomnia. As someone who falls into that group, I’ve tried everything from deep breathing techniques to green noise to midnight mind games designed to help you fall asleep. I have plenty of go-to tricks, but my wind-down routine almost never includes listening to music.

Music tends to wake me up more than anything else, especially if it has catchy or thought-provoking lyrics. Even still, I was ready to try the ultimate sleep playlist to see if it would work its magic. After all, a good Spotify playlist has never let me down.

The Songs

What you add to a playlist is extremely personal, and it goes without saying that music and lyrics affect everyone differently, but I can still see why some of these songs are good bedtime tunes: Each one includes chilled-out sounds and slow tempos that have been described as dream-pop slowcore and melodic warm bedroom pop.

It’s the same type of soothing music that you might listen to while you work — looking at you, Lofi Girl — but it’s also a nice mix of recognizable bands with well-known lyrics that could be familiar and comforting.

Coming in at number one on the ultimate sleep playlist was “Apocalypse” by Cigarettes After Sex which, according to Bed Kingdom, appeared 623 times across sleep-themed playlists thanks to its calming ambiance. (It’s 94 beats per minute.)

Other tunes that made the cut were “Sparks” and “Yellow” by Coldplay, “My Love Mine All Mine” by Mitski, the dreamy “Je te laisserai des mots” by Patrick Watson, and the lo-fi tune “rises the moon” by Liana Flores. Put them together, and you get quite the sleepy soundtrack.

• “Apocalypse” by Cigarettes After Sex
• “Sparks” by Coldplay
• “Je te laisserai des mots” by Patrick Watson
• “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron
• “My Love Mine All Mine” by Mitski
• “Fourth of July” by Sufjan Stevens
• “Romantic Homicide”  by d4vd
• “i was all over her” by Salvia Palth
• “Sunsetz”  by Cigarettes After Sex
• “rises the moon” by Liana Flores
• “Daddy Issues” by The Neighbourhood
• “Yellow” by Coldplay
• “K.” by Cigarettes After Sex

Trying The Ultimate Sleep Playlist

To test them out, I added the songs to a playlist and turned it on as I was winding down. Apocalypse offered the perfect chill-out vibe as I was dimming my lights and getting into bed. Ten out of ten for that one. It also blended nicely into “Sparks,” which has the same slow sound.

That said, “Je te laisserai des mots” was one of my faves. The lyrics are in French, so I didn’t find them distracting as I laid there with my eyes closed. The piano was nice, too, since nothing says “it’s time to sleep” quite like the gentle tinkling of keys.

Right when I was starting to drift, though, the rest of the playlist kicked in and it suddenly felt like I was listening to the end credits of the saddest movie ever made.

While “Fourth of July” by Sufjan Stevens appeared hundreds of times on Spotify sleep playlists, the lyrics were a bit too emotional for me, and the same was true for “The Night We Met ,” “My Love Mine All Mine,” and “Daddy Issues.”

Personally, I like to relax by watching light-hearted TikToks and comforting TV shows, so even though the remaining songs were chill on the surface, they painted a picture in my mind that was far too dramatic.

Instead of falling asleep, I felt like I needed to cry, call an ex, or maybe even have an existential crisis.

The Takeaway

Quite a few studies have shown that listening to music, whether it’s happy or sad, can help you fall asleep at night, but it looks like the science doesn’t apply to me.

I can see why these dreamy, atmospheric songs would be relaxing to some, but I’ll have to save them for the daylight hours. Until then, you can catch me watching The Great British Baking Show.

Studies referenced:

Majeed, NM (2021). Does bedtime music listening improve subjective sleep quality and next-morning well-being in young adults? A randomized corss-over trial. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain. doi:10.1027/pmu00000283.