Are you struggling to close your eyes and let the sweet, sweet relief of sleep wash over you? Is your mind rushing and you need to clear your head? Try out putting on these albums to help you fall asleep.

“Strange Trails” by Lord Huron
“Strange Trails” feels like more than just an album; it feels like a collection of stories. The album uses melody and cadence to create an assortment of musical styles. That being said, all of the music in the album, while some is upbeat, is calming. The album feels like it’s set in the Pennsylvania woods; listening to “Strange Trails” feels almost like a bedtime story. The music of the album is beautifully melancholy and haunting. Whenever I’m having trouble sleeping I put on this album and am asleep by “Hurricane,” the fourth song on the album. — Josh Zucker, Senior Cadenza Editor

“Water Night” by Eric Whitacre
This classical album is conducted by Eric Whitacre and performed by the Eric Whitacre Singers and the London Symphony Orchestra. With both choral and orchestral tracks, this album is relaxing and easy to fall asleep to, especially with repetitive lyrics, soothing melodies, tracks that are over 10 minutes long and surprisingly complicated cluster chords. If you hate dissonance, don’t put this on, but otherwise, “Water Night” is a good choice. — Elizabeth Grossman, Contributing Writer

“Atlas: Year One” by Sleeping at Last
This album is long, it’s relaxing and in all honesty, it is a gorgeous collection of music. While it has a few un-themed songs, it goes into an exploration of the universe, with a song named after each planet, each ocean and each cardinal direction. The band itself sounds symphonic, mostly relying on a piano, several string instruments and the amazing voice of its lead singer. I chose this particular album for its length, but in all honesty, you could shuffle every song this band has ever played and perfectly drift off into sleep; they are called “Sleeping at Last,” after all. — Lauren Alley, Senior Editor

“So Long Forever” by Palace
This album is one that is almost calming to a fault. Whenever I listen to “So Long Forever” during the day I find myself beginning to get drowsy; others have described Palace’s music as “sonic Valium.” The slow beats and calming vocals of the album are enough to sedate a rhinoceros. The British drawl of Leo Wyndham is soothing above all else and the instrumentation of the album is soft and pulsing. “So Long Forever” is an album that brings together elements in a way that places the listener in a trance. — Josh Zucker, Senior Cadenza Editor

“In Rainbows” by Radiohead
On “In Rainbows”, every member of Radiohead is at their best. It is at once dreary and lively, with the rhythm section creating these unique soundscapes. Ed O’Brien is both everywhere and nowhere, creating an ambience within what would seem to be a straightforward art rock album. Phil Selway’s drumming is hypnotic on tracks like “Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi” and “Jigsaw Falling into Place.” Yet no instrumentation dominates the album nearly as much as Thom Yorke’s voice does. To describe what he’s doing as singing doesn’t do him justice. If the soundscape is the river bed, and the ambience was the natural sounds of a night, Yorke’s voice is the river. In a moment, that river is pounding away at rock and eroding everything in its path, like on “Bodysnatchers,” where he cuts through the noise with a manic performance. But in the next minute, it could be a slow cooling stream, propelling you forward at a deliberate pace. The album ends on a somber note, with Yorke reflecting on his legacy over dull instrumentals. It’s an album that can easily be listened to in the middle of a rainy day or in the dead of night, just before falling asleep. — Dorian DeBose, Senior Editor

“The Disintegration Loops I” by William Basinski
The world is disintegrating and so is your consciousness. Moths eating at the tapes. Where will you be when the last skyscrapers crumble? Numb to it all. Fade into nothingness. Fade into nothingness, Fade into no hingness. Fade into no h ngness. Fade into no h n ness. Fade into no h n n ss. Fade into no h n n ss Fade into no n n ss Fade int no n n ss Fade i t no n n ss Fade i t no n n s ade i t no n n s ade i t no n s ade i t no s a e i t no s a i t no s a i no s i no s i n s n s n
— Ethan Jaynes, Staff Writer