What’s Playing in the Studio: Turn the Lights Back On
Step into What’s Playing in the Studio, my playful music check-in—part experiment, part time capsule, and all about the joy of sharing what’s on repeat.
This mini-drop is part of my Mental Health Awareness Month lane: regulation, but make it a playlist.
This one is the activation + momentum side of the menu—music I use to move, climb out, and turn the lights back on.
What this post is
A tight upshift menu for energy + nerve + catharsis + forward motion—music for when you want to activate on purpose (without sliding into chaos).
Content note
This is an “activation” list. If you’re overstimulated, you might want the soft-side post instead.
If you want the low-stimulation version of this menu, start here: What’s Playing in the Studio: Daring to Stay Soft .
Full projects (listen front-to-back)
Catharsis + forward-motion albums:
- Blame My Ex — The Beaches
- Patience — Mannequin Pussy
- Ego Death (at a Bachelorette Party) — Hayley Williams
Five mini-playlists (tighter lanes)
1) Bite back (posture fix)
Teeth out. Chest up. Confidence on purpose.
- Cobra — Megan Thee Stallion
- Anxiety — Doechii
- Yucky Blucky Fruitcake — Doechii
- Juju — OSHUN
- Do It — Chloe x Halle
- IT GIRL (Fan Remix) (feat. Ve'ondre) — Aliyah's Interlude, Ve'ondre
- 333 — Tinashe, Absolutely
2) Sparkly + blunt (brat-pop calibration)
Cute, sharp, and weirdly motivating.
- Super Shy — NewJeans
- Feather — Sabrina Carpenter
- handle me — Sophie Cates
- enemy — Charli xcx
- Self Sabotage — Rebecca Black
3) Catharsis (loud feelings, no apology)
Volume up. Feel it all. Keep it moving.
- Ego Death (at a Bachelorette Party) — Hayley Williams
- Patience — Mannequin Pussy
- Bloom Baby Bloom — Wolf Alice
- Not Like That Anymore — Lola Young
- I Am King — Nasty Cherry
4) Climb-out (turn the lights back on)
The ladder tracks. Momentum without spiraling.
- decide to be happy — MisterWives
- SUPERBLOOM — MisterWives
- Group Therapy — Elohim
- Miami — Tommy Genesis
- Glad He's Gone — Tove Lo
- Tunnel of Love — ilyTOMMY, Savage Ga$p
- Princess Bubblegum — ilyTOMMY
5) Tiny victory lap (light, warm, keeps moving)
Three songs. Quick loop. You did the thing.
- Changes — Charles Bradley, The Budos Band
- Bruises — Chairlift
- Angels (feat. Saba) — Chance the Rapper, Saba
Track Stats (because I’m nosy)
- Total recs: 30 songs + 3 full projects/albums
- Artist spread: about 28 distinct artists (counting features)
- Repeat offenders: Sabrina Carpenter (2), Doechii (2), MisterWives (2), ilyTOMMY (2)
- Tracks per mini-playlist: 7 / 5 / 5 / 7 / 3
- Genre breakdown (very non-scientific, overlapping):
- Pop / brat-pop 8
- Hip-hop / rap 8
- Indie / alt rock 6
- Dance / electronic 3
- Punk / riot-adjacent 2
- Soul / warm throwback 3
- Vibe spread:
- bite back (posture fix) 7
- sparkly + blunt 5
- catharsis 5
- climb-out 7
- tiny victory lap 3
If you want to tell me what you’re looping right now…
Drop a song that reliably gets you moving again (or a “bite back” track that fixes your posture). I will absolutely steal it for a future round.
- Atila Martin
