Listening to Billie Eilish Might Help You Sleep More Than Whale Sounds

New research shows that slow-paced, instrumental music may not help you get to sleep. In fact, you might want to try your favorite energetic song instead. Per a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE Wednesday (January 18), scientists say listening to your preferred music — even if it is energetic and has vocals — has better results in a more restful sleep compared to typical sleep sounds of rain and whale sounds.

Experts believe this is because there is no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to the kind of music people choose for sleep. In some cases, familiarity with the song may potentially aid relaxation. Kira Vibe Jespersen, an assistant professor at the Centre for Music in the Brain at Aarhus University in Denmark, said, “Our hypothesis is that familiarity with the music makes the music very predictable to the brain, and this predictability may enable sleep, despite the music being upbeat and energetic. We are currently working to test this hypothesis.”

For the study, Jespersen and her colleagues analyzed more than 200,000 tracks from nearly 1,000 playlists associated with sleep. Results showed these quieter and slower sleep tracks also included many songs with a higher degree of energy than the average sleep music. Songs like Billie Eilish and Khalid’s collaborative track “Lovely” and Korean boy band BTS’ “Dynamite” were among some of the featured tunes. Using this data, the researchers were able to identify six distinct sub-categories of music that people listen to for sleep.

Jespersen said of the findings, “I was surprised by the amount of variation in the music that people choose to listen to for sleep. I was expecting some degree of variation, but not that much.” She added that without any sleep data from the users, the team cannot be certain whether music with a higher degree of energy helps induce sleep, but added that consciously choosing music that helps with relaxation and masks external sounds can be beneficial. The researchers said their findings could “both inform the clinical use of music and advance our understanding of how music is used to regulate human behavior in everyday life.”

Billie Eilish's 10 Best Music Videos

• 10. Lo Vas A Olvidar

  Billie Eilish and Rosalía’s angelic voices meld together in “Lo Vas A Olvidar,” in which Billie sings most of the song in Spanish. The music video is minimal, allowing the artists’ emotions to shine.

• 9. bad guy

  Billie gets colorful in the music video for “bad guy,” emerging from a bright yellow backdrop. It all gets wackier from there, with Billie riding around with her squad in a tiny car, to decapitated heads in plastic bags filled with water, to dancing on a colorful carpet that’s reminiscent of The Big Comfy Couch.

• 8. my future

  Sometimes the best music videos don’t involve real people at all, and that definitely applies to Billie’s “my future,” which shows us an adorable animated Billie in a forest in the pouring rain surrounded by little creatures. As the sun begins to breakthrough, the forest comes alive.

• 7. when the party's over

  This video puts it’s sole focus on a cup of black liquid in an all-white room. Billie is dressed from head-to-toe in white, with the exception of her bright blue hair and mountain of jewelry. Her clothes and face don’t remain pristine after she drinks the glass, though.

• 6. hostage

  Billie takes a shot at interpretive dance in “hostage,” and seriously takes our breath away with the emotion behind her moves. She once again chooses an all-white room as her stage, which allows us as viewers to focus more on the story.

• 5. NDA

  One of her newer songs from Happier Than Ever, Billie chooses a lone road as the backdrop. As the song progresses, so does the scenery behind her, with cars zooming past the star as she falls down to her knees in agony.

• 4. Your Power

  The power of this song deserved an equally powerful music video, and Billie did just that when she was completely wrapped by a python.

• 3. bury a friend

  When Billie emerged on the scene, she came out with really dark ideas that few pop stars have done. Billie plays on our fears, as she lays under a bed with blackened eyes, to being injected with multiple syringes in her back. Perhaps the most disturbing images of the video is when we see Billie’s feet being dragged down a flickering hallway, only to reveal later that she’s full-blown Exorcist levitating.

• 2. Happier Than Ever

  If we’ve learned anything from Billie Eilish’s music videos, is that she like to incorporate visual storytelling with her music. In “Happier Than Ever,” the warm house Billie starts in becomes a dark, flooded mess.

• 1. all the good girls go to hell

  In continuation from her “bury a friend” music video, the syringes that were injected into Billie’s back gave her wings. But what’s a fallen angel to do once she’s landed?