The Songs That Soothed My Loneliness

Music is a powerful antidote to alienation. Here’s the science behind it and how to create a playlist to feel less lonely.

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During my lowest period in New York, almost the only thing I found consoling was watching music videos on YouTube, curled on the sofa with my headphones on, listening again and again to the same voices finding the register for their distress.
— Olivia Laing, The Lonely City

I return to this quote often when thinking about loneliness. During my loneliest moments, when loneliness could morph into literal pain, music seemed to be the only thing that provided comfort and relief.

Take, for instance, the time I curled up in front of my radiator during a COVID-19 lockdown. I felt so much coldness and such lack of human warmth that I struggled to fall asleep that night. I tried meditating, I tried brewing some tea, I tried going for a walk — but none of that worked. It wasn’t until I listened to Ludovico Einaudi’s Svanire on repeat that I could finally find some rest and — slowly but surely — drift off into the night.