Bath Spa community playlist

Feeling a little stressed by your first week at uni? Relax with our staff and student curated playlist…

The composer John Cage said, "Everything we do is music." And by the same token it seems there’s music for everything we do - pumping and energetic for dancing or working out; sweeping and cinematic for a long drive; loud and raucous for a party. And when we’re feeling frazzled and anxious after a busy day, many of us turn to music to relax. The right music can lift your mood and soothe the soul like nothing else.

As another academic year begins and we try to get into the swing of a new schedule, new homes, new friends, and new versions of normality, there are bound to be moments when you need to just slow down and take a break. So we asked our staff and students what music they listened to when they wanted to relax, and collected them together into a playlist for the Bath Spa community.

There’s an eclectic mix of tunes, as you can imagine, from post rock and classical to electronica, a lovely, lengthy Brian Eno track (is there any other kind?) and… Dwayne Johnson?! We even discovered that a few of our staff are secret metalheads, and prefer to chill out to the likes of Alice in Chains.

Dr Anil de Sequeira, Course Leader for Food with Nutrition, suggested a beautiful piano concerto by Rachmaninoff, but was most inspired by our own Bath Spa Commercial Music students’ rendition of "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys. "Of course this would be my preference," he said. #BathSpaProud!

Ready to chill out? Grab your headphones and have a listen on Spotify.

Or if you’d like to try something a bit louder, here are some of our staffs’ metal suggestions (there were more than you’d think!):

• Dirt by Alice in Chains
• Matriarch by Veil of Maya
• Hail Stan by Periphery
• Colours by Between the Buried and Me

Here’s to a successful and stress-free first semester! And remember, our Student Wellbeing Services are also here to support you if relaxing music isn’t quite enough.