If I’m tired enough, nearly any music can send me to sleep. There’s something about the rhythmicity (is that a word?) of it that can be very somnolistic. But, for a while, I used to have the habit of playing music in the bedroom as I went to sleep, so there are some songs which I associate more with sleeping than others. By its nature, ambient trance or chillout music is well suited to that, so this album got played a lot.

I’ve already picked out one track from it as a “spirit of place” song, but the album as a whole is, for some reason, associated more in my mind with either going to sleep or long car journeys at night. That may be somewhat worrying, given that the last thing you want to do when driving a long distance is go to sleep, but it seems to work for me. I suspect that, in both cases, it’s primarily about being relaxed and calm, something which assists sleep when you’re trying to sleep but also reduces stress when driving and hence makes driving less tiring – and if driving is less tiring, then I’m less likely to feel sleepy. There’s probably a PhD in thare somewhere for someone who investigates the relationship between music and alertness.

So, have a listen to this if you feel like taking a nap. Or going for a drive. Either way, this is Children, from the album Dreamland by Robert Miles.

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC5ca6Hsb2Q