Frisson

This post will be a little different than the ones that have come before it. Instead of focusing on a specific artist or album, I wanted to share the random pieces of music I have collected that give me a feeling of frisson. Frisson is an indescribable rush of longing and excitement, something along the lines of goosebumps. Here are some songs that capture what makes music so special:

Moby’s “Porcelain” was released in 1999, and is a sample of a classic work played in reverse. Along with the reversed strings, the song features a shaggy beat and some tappy keys. The shadowy voice mixed with the grainy message fit the music well. The song takes an upswing at 1:50 results in what I call frisson.

I don’t need to tell you again how much Nick Drake’s music means to me. “Time of No Reply” is one of Nick’s oldest songs, but the orchestral version was not released until 2004, a full 30 years after his death. The fact that this song has been discovered and released so many years later, makes it that much more special. At 1:03, the chorus builds and has a dissonant yet peaceful resolution that hits me in just the right way.

This one won’t need much explaining after you hear BØRNS’S voice. BØRNS has one of the highest singing voices you will ever hear from a male singer, a trait that makes for a very emotional and dreamlike sound. While usually BØRNS is a pop singer, when he paired his angelic voice with the orchestra of strings, something beautiful happened. While the whole song gave me goosebumps, 3:50 is especially Frissiony.

Ignore the cover art and words in this song, but this is the only version I could find on the internet. Bittersweet Symphony is sampled on this track, a very melodious and orchestral song mixed with the flow of Kanye West and Nas made for something very interesting. I heard this song seven years ago, and it has stuck with me ever since then. Right around 2:26 is when the hidden genius of this song reveals itself. A theme of these songs is a combination of sounds that runs counter to the norm.

“Heaven at Nite” is the concluding track on Kid Cudi’s debut mixtape “A Kid Named Cudi”. The sheer number of sounds in this song is what makes it so special. There are some subtle and some less subtle buzzing and synthy tones that seem to walk and back forth through the song. The opening of this song always hits me, it feels like Kid Cudi is whispering right to me, somehow different that a normal listening.

Another strange combination of sounds brings us to our last stop in the Frisson train. Lindsey Stirling’s Crystallize is violin paired with dubstep, usually a style of music that I am not a fan of. However, that pairing of classical and computerized music makes for a truly new and exciting feeling. Around 1:07 is where the song reaches its climax and evokes its strongest feelings.

I don’t know if the feeling of Frisson that I get from this songs is deeply personal or universal, so I hope that these songs did the same thing for you as they have for me. If not, at the very least I hope I have given you a chance to reflect on the songs that give you the strongest feelings of happiness.