Soundtrack Your Working Week With These Top Tunes To Work To

Published on May 31, 2021 - By Kate Tattersfield

• Music has the power to connect us to others, elevate our mood, help us manage physical and emotional pain, motivate us and even keep our hearts in good nick.
• In a bid to unearth some new music gems, the Allwork.Space team shared their top workday tracks. 
• From instrumental music to LoFi and RnB, your ears are in for a treat with this eclectic selection of tunes to help you stay focused and productive. 

Where we would be without music – the ultimate elixir for body and soul. 

It has the power to connect us to others, elevate our mood, help us manage physical and emotional pain, motivate us and even keep our hearts in good nick. It’s also been a lifeline for many a lonely WFH-er over the last couple of years. 

But which tunes are good to listen to while working, specifically? 

Of course, it’s all a matter of taste and perspective. So, in a bid to unearth some new gems, I asked the Allwork.Space team – and a few past contributors – for their top workday tracks. 

Your ears are in for a treat. 

1. East Forest with Ram Dass

Recommended by Andrew Block, Allwork.Space

I’ve been listening to East Forest and East Forest with Ram Dass lately while I work because it’s mostly instrumental and positive, and allows me to concentrate when kept at a low volume!

2. LoFi, RnB & soul 

Recommended by Elena, Community Manager at Creative Works

We have a Creative Works playlist made by our members, but we normally play LoFi, RnB and Soul music to create a chilled vibe. Shantelle Brown shared her playlist with me and it’s one of my favourites.

Open in Spotify

3. Cowboy Bebop soundtrack

Recommended by Sammy Dukes, Content at Nexudus

My go-to music to work to is the soundtrack from Cowboy Bebop, a Japanese anime series, by a blues/jazz band called the Seatbelts. The whole album is amazing and ranges from relaxing, chilled-out stuff to more wild, upbeat jazzy tracks. 

If I had to choose just one song from the album it would be Space Lion. It’s a really beautiful song that starts off quite slow and ambient with a stunning saxophone melody. 

Later in the song, a great beat kicks in and then starts some very Blade Runner-esque vocals which liven the whole thing up a bit. I love it because of how relaxing it is, while it also gives me a big lift and never fails to put a smile on my face. 

All-round the perfect song for any workday – particularly when editing and writing.

4. Sade, Kiss of Life

Recommended by Rhett Lindsey, Founder of Siimee 

My favorite song to play in the background while working is Sade’s Kiss of Life. 

This song puts me in such a peaceful and positive mood no matter what! Work can sometimes be stressful. For me, listening to Sade is such a stress relief. Her music is absolutely beautiful and timeless.

5. University nostalgia…and Blues Pills

Recommended by Jo Meunier, Allwork.Space

I’m currently enjoying some favourites from my university days…Bloc Party, Audioslave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Queens of the Stone Age.

And I can’t get enough of Blues Pills!

6. Chill Music Mix 2020 playlist

Recommended by Daniel Lamadrid, Allwork.Space

I usually listen to “chill music”, but I play it from a playlist on YouTube, from my computer and not my phone. If I listen to music from my phone I get distracted by wanting to change the song and every time I do it’s a perfect excuse for me to get lost within the phone on something else! 

I tend to play this playlist in particular…

7. Atmospheric jazz to barebones folk

Recommended by Aayat Ali, Allwork.Space

I could make an entire playlist of my favorite music to listen to while I work! But I’ll just provide a top 5 😅.

1. Nujabes – Spiritual State (atmospheric jazz, low-fi hip hop)
2. William Tyler – Highway Anxiety (instrumental indie folk)
3. Explosions In The Sky – Your Hand In Mine (post-rock)
4. Kamasi Washington – Street Fighter Mas (jazz, hip hop)
5. Adrienne Lenker – Music For Indigo (barebones folk)

8. 1201_Alarm, Hello_World

Recommended by Gemma Church, Allwork.Space

I’ve been listening to “Hello_World” by the 1201_Alarm collaborative project. It’s a head-spinning jazz album with a scientific twist, incorporating Tesla coils, lasers and a theremin into the arrangements, as well as instrumentals from some world-class scientists. 

“It’s so different to anything else out there and helps me get into a technical frame of mind. I’d recommend “Surely You’re Joking” – a tribute to the great Richard Feynman (with a certain science writer playing the woodblock on the track!).

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9. Street music & Dick Dale, Misirlou

Recommended by Frank Cottle, Allwork.Space

 Candidly, I relate to street music that creates a lasting sense of travel and sharing.

Also, Misirlou by Dick Dale…the original Surf Guitar and an old friend from Newport Beach.

10. Think and Create playlist

Recommended by Dan, Workspace Manager at Yonder

My list includes a variety of genres from disco and neo-soul through to electronic and hip hop. I like a wide range of music with nice grooves and great vocals – I cannot work without music!

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11. Punk rock energy 🤘

Recommended by Sergio Villarreal, Allwork.Space

Depending on the day I listen to wildly different stuff, but most days sound like this:

Punk Rock in the morning for an early energy boost:

Let’s Ride – MXPX

Take What I Want – Masked Intruder

Then something in the middle:

If I ever Stray – Frank Turner

Day for the Dead – Zac Brown Band

And depending on workload/deadlines:

Easy afternoon: Point of Know Return – Kansas

Crazy deadline: Highway to Oblivion – DragonForce

Also movie soundtracks 😊.

12. Peaceful Piano playlist

Recommended by Ceci de San Jose, Allwork.Space

By far my favorite and go-to playlist when I need to get things done is Spotify’s Peaceful Piano. Whenever I need a change of tunes, though that doesn’t happen too often, I typically go for instrumental music; anything with lyrics distracts me way too much. 

Open in Spotify

13. Film & TV soundtracks

Recommended by Kate Tattersfield, Allwork.Space

I tend to listen to lyric-less (or lyric-lite) film and TV soundtracks while I’m engrossed in writing tasks. But when it comes to doing admin and accounting at the end of the month, I need something a little more upbeat (think ‘80s pop). 

Here’s one of my all time faves for writing: 

Open in Spotify

Do you have a favourite tune or soundtrack to work to? We’d love to hear it! Share it with our community on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.