When you listen to music using headphones, you’re forced to really listen to music. With no other sounds but uplifted notes, your attention is focused exclusively on deciphering the message being delivered to you. Actively digesting this message allows you to experience music in new and often profound ways, even if you’re revisiting a song you’ve heard (but not quite listened to) over and over again. It’s like filling in the missing pieces of the puzzle; it’s just so satisfying to assign meaning to previously uncategorized or unacknowledged noises. These nine tracks are just a few of the songs that I’ve really dug into on headphones, and the new and unusual things I’ve found while digging have changed the way I think about these songs and music in general.

1. Robert Gomez (pictured above) ‘Under a Cloud’

I love the plodding, pretty pace of this song. It’s so hopelessly romantic, like an old flower pressed in a book that you find under your bed. When listening to this song with headphones, I heard so many other nuances that couldn’t easily be conveyed over my car’s speakers. His voice has such an The bright, whimsical guitar turns opposing the main theme began to stand out, and I really heard the countermelodies being played by the guitar underneath a heavy unbrella of distortion towards the end.

2. Sister Crayon ‘Here We Never Die’

This song begins quietly, the group’s effective use of dynamics expressing the upward direction of the song. The lead singer does a sort of call and answer with two vocal tracks, and h:earing one voice’s line in my right ear and the harmony in my left ear is equal parts bizarre and exquisite. The reverb and slight echo effect on the vocals add  to the haunting atmosphere as well, not to mention the repetitious keyboard chords marching endlessly on in the background.

3. Erykah Badu ‘Jump Up in the Air and Stay There‘

The beat grabs you right from the start with an unstoppable, irresistable pulse, the synth accents quick and futuristic.  I’ve seen her in concert twice in the last two years, and both times she showed up late and cut the shows early. And it was so worth the wait: not only is she a brilliant creator but a fantastic performer.  The layering of vocal textures is really incredible on this song, and I can’t say that I’ve ever heard anything like it. Erykah Badu‘s voice can come off raw and a little grainy at times, but this song takes that grain and turns it to grit. Her use of sharp, staccatoed accents lead a song that is almost too big to be tamed; not only is this is a perfect tune for headphones, but it’s great in the car because of the hip hop bass line.

4. Easy Star All-Stars ‘Fixing a Hole ft.Max Romeo’

I’ve never understood why bands choose to play cover songs in the same manner as that of the original: where’s the fun in that? Easy Star All-Stars cast classic albums like OK Computer, Dark Side of the Moon, and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club in a completely different light, adapting the original melodies to a host of live reggae, roots, dancehall, and DJ tracks. I’ve heard a million and one Beatles covers (who hasn’t) and this one definitely takes the cake: it’s not just ingenuity of the idea itself, but its execution. The band stands alone as a well-polished production, regardless of heavy-hitter covers they’ve picked. Listening to this song on headphones, it’s clear that the group is very skilled at adapting, arranging, and then re-arranging some already complex music. George Harrison might have been a fan.

5. Superhumanoids ‘Hey Big Bang’

Sometimes you feel like a canned beat, sometimes you don’t. Superhumanoids play with beats and percussive textures in a most appealing way, keeping the pace moving forward but always altering the destination. The shimmering synth chords add some fluidity that perfectly compliment the unyielding drum sounds. About halfway through, this instruments get heavier and darker as the female vocalist climbs higher and higher. Her voice is high and delicate, sounding almost paper-thin on headphones. The ending of the song is just as unusual and varied as the beginning,  dissolving into nothingness as the new melody really starts to take hold.

6.  Fol Chen ‘The Longer U Wait (ft. Simone White)’

I usually eschew songs that feature a stadium clap (along with useless abreviations like ‘u’) but I admit, this one got to me. It’s just so carefree and danceable, you can’t help but want to clap your hands along with the loop. They use some synth sounds that can only be described as 80′s glam, combined with some intermittent funk guitar strumming. The female vocalist sounds girlish but self-possessed, using several vocal tracks to amplify and intensify her soft voice.

7. Sundress ‘In the Reflection’

This song is almost hymnal, the chorus’ haunting notes drifting over an organ’s somber tone. There’s something about the chord progression that sticks in your head and refues to leave, and I occasionally find myself humming a few bars of it without any idea of the lyrics. The song builds slowly, adding more guitar echos and distortion but not so much that it overpowers the rest of the lines, the energy of the band well-controlled enough to add one painstaking layer at a time. Even with effects, the sounds of the instruments reaching your ears is as gentle as waves lapping at the shore.

8. The Hope Trust ‘Whatever Suits You’

Hints of country peak out from around the edges of this alt folk rock song, the lead singer’s voice rough and earthy. He was accompanied by a softer, higher voice that brought a nice balance to their harmony. The tone of the song is pensive from the start, pausing momentarily for a few upbeat choruses that break it up and keep the intensity of the song fresh. While listening with headphones, I could hear the deeper shades of the singer’s emotions as he sang particularly distressing phrases. ‘Do you love me?’ He asks, his voice self-conciously lowered,  afraid of the answer.