HEARTBEATS playlist cover

HEARTBEATS

Your heart rate is in the band.

HEARTBEATS playlist delivers 13 indie pop tracks at 117 BPM—the exact tempo where doubt travels. Running music for when forward momentum won't fix anything.

13 tracks · 42 minutes ·117 BPM ·recovery

117 BPM average — see more 120 BPM songs for recovery runs.

On the run

The description says "Your heart rate is in the band," and it's not a metaphor—it's an architectural blueprint. Between 2012 and 2017, something weird happened in indie pop. Electric Guest and Wildcat! Wildcat! both released in Los Angeles in 2012, Graveyard Club and Landon Conrath came separately out of Minneapolis, and five tracks converged in 2017 alone with no shared label or producer. They kept writing the same song about being twenty-three and suspecting, but not yet knowing, that your particular heartbreak isn't special.

The choice each made was structural: keep the BPM locked between 100 and 120—median 120, standard deviation 13.2—keep the valence just above neutral at 0.569, keep the danceability high enough to move but the energy low enough to feel the weight. This is music for the precise moment when you want to outrun a feeling you haven't fully named. Tim Pagnotta's fingerprints on two of these tracks confirm it wasn't coincidence. The mid-2010s indie-pop diaspora independently agreed that the honest sonic response to early-adulthood uncertainty is not catharsis but suspension—the body in motion while the mind stays stuck.

Running HEARTBEATS works because the flat BPM line isn't restraint. It's the sound of forward momentum held at the exact speed doubt travels. Wild Ones shows up three times here, Knox Hamilton twice. Graveyard Club's "Cellar Door" sits dead center at track five, and by the time Sjowgren's "High Beam" arrives at track eight, you're not trying to escape anything anymore. You're just moving through it at 117 beats per minute, which is exactly fast enough to keep going and exactly slow enough to feel every step.

From the coach

Lock tempo early. Let the middle drift. Finish sharp.

Tracks one and two sit at 118 BPM. Don't push yet. Let your heart rate settle below tempo effort. You're building the platform, not chasing the beat.

Tracks three and four jump to 133. This is where the run opens. Lift your cadence but keep your RPE at six out of ten. The tempo does the work — you just match it.

Tracks five and six drop to 103. Recover here. Let your breath lengthen. The BPM falls but your effort stays controlled. This isn't rest — it's recalibration before the middle section.

Around track eight, you hit the wall breaker at 66% of the run. The BPM holds at 115 but the production thins. Your mind will want to drift. Anchor to your breath. Four counts in, four counts out. Use the reverb as a metronome.

Tracks nine and ten sit at 120. You're past the cognitive dip. Hold steady. Don't surge.

The final track hits 130. Close sharp. Lift your knees. Finish controlled.

Wall Breaker: High Beam

by Sjowgren

At track eight of thirteen, "High Beam" arrives at the exact moment the playlist stops pretending motion equals progress. Sjowgren's production strips away the indie-pop gloss that held the first seven tracks together—no layered synths, no danceability safety net, just sparse guitar and her voice suspended in reverb. The BPM holds steady at 117, but the energy drops below neutral for the first time. This is the wall: not the moment your body quits, but the moment the playlist admits what you've been running from doesn't care how fast you move. It's vulnerable without being confessional, sad without being maudlin. By the time PRONOUN's "just cuz you can't" follows, the playlist has earned the right to keep going.

Tracks

  1. 1
    Mr Quiche
    Wildcat! Wildcat!
    3:06 125 BPM
  2. 2
    Golden Twin
    Wild Ones
    3:11 110 BPM
  3. 3
    Work It Out
    Knox Hamilton
    3:26 120 BPM
  4. 4
    Pretty Way to Fight
    Knox Hamilton
    3:23 145 BPM
  5. 5
    Cellar Door
    Graveyard Club
    3:15 100 BPM
  6. 6
    No Money
    Wild Ones
    3:21 105 BPM
  7. 7
    Paresthesia
    Wild Ones
    3:02 120 BPM
  8. 8
    High Beam
    Sjowgren
    4:14 110 BPM
  9. 9
    just cuz you can't
    PRONOUN
    3:15 110 BPM
  10. 10
    2AM
    Landon Conrath
    2:33 130 BPM
  11. 11
    Waves
    Electric Guest
    3:06 120 BPM
  12. 12
    Teeth
    Mallrat
    3:09 100 BPM
  13. 13
    Soul No. 5
    Caroline Rose
    3:09 130 BPM

Featured Artists

Wild Ones
Wild Ones
3 tracks
Knox Hamilton
Knox Hamilton
2 tracks
Graveyard Club
Graveyard Club
1 tracks
PRONOUN
PRONOUN
1 tracks
Electric Guest
Electric Guest
1 tracks
Mallrat
Mallrat
1 tracks

FAQ

How should I pace myself running to HEARTBEATS?
Start easy with the Los Angeles, 2012 stretch—Wildcat! Wildcat! and Wild Ones set the tempo at 117 BPM, which is slower than you think. The Knox Hamilton back-to-back pushes slightly, but don't surge. Save your fight for the Minneapolis three-in-a-row starting at track five. When Sjowgren's 'High Beam' hits at track eight, let the pace drop—this is the stripped moment, not a push. The final diaspora stretch from Electric Guest through Caroline Rose is your cooldown, not your finish line.
What type of run is HEARTBEATS best for?
This is recovery run music, maybe 10K distance max. At 117 BPM average, it's too slow for tempo work and too contemplative for intervals. It works best for the runs where you're not chasing a PR—just stealing forty-two minutes to clear your head. If you're a weekend warrior logging 10-15 miles a week, this is your Thursday easy run, the one where forward motion is the only goal and you're not racing anyone, including yourself.
Why is the BPM so slow for a running playlist?
Because 117 BPM is the exact speed doubt travels. Most running playlists chase 140-160 BPM, trying to outrun whatever you're carrying. HEARTBEATS holds steady at the tempo where your heart rate matches the music—not catharsis, just suspension. The mid-2010s indie-pop scene figured out that the honest response to uncertainty isn't speed, it's just keeping the body in motion while the mind stays stuck. That's why the BPM flatlines across thirteen tracks.
What makes 'High Beam' by Sjowgren the key moment?
Track eight is where the playlist stops pretending. Sjowgren strips away the indie-pop gloss—no layered synths, no danceability safety net, just sparse guitar and reverb. The BPM holds at 117, but the energy drops below neutral for the first time. It's the wall, but not the kind where your body quits—it's the moment the music admits what you're running from doesn't care how fast you move. After that, PRONOUN and Landon Conrath can tell the truth.
Why does Wild Ones appear three times on this playlist?
Because Wild Ones understood the assignment before anyone else named it. All three tracks—'Golden Twin,' 'No Money,' 'Paresthesia'—hold the same structural DNA: BPM locked between 100-120, valence just above neutral, danceability high enough to move but energy low enough to feel the weight. They're Minneapolis, mid-2010s, and they sound like a band that knows your heartbreak isn't special but also knows that doesn't make it hurt less. That's why they anchor the playlist.
Is HEARTBEATS better for 5K or longer distances?
Neither, honestly. At forty-two minutes and 117 BPM, it's built for the 10K sweet spot—long enough to settle into the tempo, short enough that you're not grinding. If you're running a 5K, you'll finish before the playlist does. If you're training for a half marathon, this is your recovery-day companion, not your long-run fuel. Think of it as music for the runs where distance isn't the point—just the act of moving forward at the speed doubt travels.
Listen on Spotify