Tick tock — songs for the calm before the storm

Welcome to This Week’s Playlist, where we look to current events for some melodic curation inspiration. Tune in every Wednesday for a mix of news, commentary, and of course, music.

We’re in one of those rare stretches of time between busy seasons — Memorial Day is right around the corner, and with it, the promise of summer. But before we get to the beach or your relaxing venue of choice, there’s still a final jump to be hurdled, and after that, a future that will become your present all too soon.

Whoa, forgive the introspection, but in this rare moment of downtime, chances are you’re thinking about the things you have left to do, the things you want to do, and the things that are out of your control (but oh no, that won’t keep you from thinking about them)! But instead of fighting these thoughts, why not try engaging them? One trick that usually works for me is, weirdly enough, to listen to really dense, generally pretty dark music, and let those songs carry the worry out of me. Is there any science behind this? Maybe, but it might just be better to let you try it for yourself:

(Image via.)