When using the music streaming service of my choice (I currently like Deezer, please stop using Spotify), I often just listen to my last few favourited songs in reverse order, because it’s easier than actively choosing music, but still more curated than using some algorithmic playlist. Since I do use the algorithm to discover new artists, but also just favourite songs that come to my mind that I want to remember or that I discover elsewhere, this sometimes results in songs being grouped together in a way that, while almost random and unintended, still produce a pleasing experience.

I want to show you the most recent example of that happening to me.

First, the songs:

While I hope that you can appreciate these songs, this permutation of songs, and how they work together without any context, I also quite want to tell you how they stood out to me.

So, second, the story:

I put these songs into my favourites in the week before Wacken 2026, and while I listened to them by themselves during that time, this permutation revealed itself to me just after the festival. The start of our trip home had been mentally and physically exhausting thanks to the incompetency of Deutsche Bahn. Only through us quickly getting a taxi when things started going wrong, and having a buffer of >2 hours planned in, did we managed to get to Hamburg on time, where our train promptly proceeded to be late, mislabelled, and arriving literally ass-backwards. So, when we were finally sat in our seats, with the train departing and my headphones on, these three songs hit like nothing else. I think it was the combination of the stress ebbing, as well as it being very different music than anything during the festival, that just sent me into a deep relaxation. They are also, despite all of that, just really excellent atmospheric songs.

These little “accidental mini-playlists” or “neat partial permutations from the set of all my favourited songs” happen to me quite often. If I remember to do it in time, I intend to tell you about them on here.