Albums to make studying a little more bearable

As all you readers should know, finals are quickly approaching. I’m a firm believer that the right music can make or break a study session, but picking out the right music for finals week should be the last thing you have to worry about. And who better to provide some soft study sounds than some of my favorite female indie artists?

PSA, this is not to discredit these albums by labeling them as “study music,” I enjoy them any time of day :).

I’ve learned the hard way what music to not play during finals (I’m a nerd about song lyrics and one time decided to only play Beatles albums, which made me compelled to look up all the meanings to their songs, which led to my discovery of the Paul is dead conspiracy and lets just say freshman year didn’t end so victoriously…)

Here’s what I’ll most likely be listening to in the library while I crank out some final papers. Everyone focuses/studies differently, but these are my personal favorites; if none of these are working for you, just turn on some lo-fi study beats or rain sounds and pretend you never read this.

“Psychopomp” – Japanese Breakfast

Japanese Breakfast’s lo-fi and dream pop vibes make for some great background focus music. With a few instrumental tracks thrown in there, there’s a good balance if you get distracted by constant vocals.

I’ll throw in her second album while we’re here.

“Plum Blossom” – Mxmtoon

She has a calming voice and some gentle ukulele strums, the perfect album if you prefer some acoustic tunes while you study.

Anything by “Pale regard”

I can’t point to a specific album by this french indie quintet because they haven’t released one yet (they only have four songs released on Spotify), but I find it helpful listening to music in another language while I study. It’s a good compromise because I get to hear some lovely vocals but the words won’t distract me.

“Jinx” – Crumb

You might remember this album as my favorite of 2019. It’s also a favorite for studying. I’m a nerd.

“Willowbank” – Yumi Zouma

An electronic/dream pop album that’s a little more upbeat than others on this list. There’s some nice variety within the tracks, a nice study treat if you want to jam out every once in awhile.

“Telefone” – Noname

Noname’s debut mixtape features her smooth yet confident spoken word/rap with understated synth accompaniment.

“Por Vida” – Kali Uchis

Another upbeat study choice, “Por Vida” is Kali Uchis’ first EP she self-released back in 2015. It’s sweet, unpretentious and features dream-like tracks that are perfect for tuning out the outside world. To me, Kali Uchis has the world’s most calming voice and she could tell me anything and I’d chill out instantly.

…Anything by “Beach House”

I find anything by Beach House to be great background study music (the dream pop duo really knows how to commit to a sound), but here are my two favorites.