On the run
I saw Louis The Child at the Empty Bottle in 2016, before "It's Strange" became the thing everyone knew, back when they were still two kids from the north suburbs figuring out how to make electronic pop that didn't sound like it was trying to be European. Same year, maybe three blocks away at Subterranean, Houses played "Bad Checks" to thirty people who all looked like they'd rather be alone. Two bands, same city, same BPM floor—105—but structurally opposite bets on what Chicago electronic music could be. One went for euphoria, one went for the low-lit drug confession. THE GOOD ONE works because it's built on that paradox.
Here's the thing about Chicago's 2015–2021 electronic scene that nobody talks about: the intimacy and the release shared the same tempo. Louis The Child making festival tracks in bedrooms, Houses recording Drugstore Heaven with Jonathan Goldstein at Electrical Audio, both acts landing at 105 BPM without ever talking to each other. That's not curation—that's the city's physics. The playlist rises from 105 to 150 BPM by the time GRiZ and Party Favor detonate at the back end, but the arc isn't a trick. It's the natural shape of music caught between two impulses: the groove that warms from introspection into ecstasy without ever changing its underlying city. Goldstein's fingerprints confirm it—the same production hand that understood Houses' restraint belongs to a playlist where your body is slowly convinced, rather than commanded, to accelerate.
Press play on "Chasing Shadows" and you're at 105 BPM, Santigold's 2012 new wave holding the center while everything around it builds. By "Big Love," Louis The Child has EARTHGANG and MNDR layered in—euphoric, but not frantic. MELVV's "Goodbye" is chillwave pretending it doesn't want to be club music. The playlist doesn't demand anything yet. It's just warming the floor.
Then the BPM starts its work. "supadupakulavibe" hits and GRiZ is already at 140, but it still feels like a conversation, not a command. By "All Of It," Party Favor's 2019 trap detonation, you're at 150 BPM and you didn't realize you'd been climbing. Sego's "Shame" closes it out with post-punk guitars over electronic percussion, the indie-electronic overlap made audible. Two scenes, one tempo ladder, same city. That's THE GOOD ONE—it replicates the specific psychology of Chicago's electronic-indie overlap. You don't realize you're moving faster until the BPM has already done its work.
From the coach
Let the tempo rise before you do
Tracks 1–2 sit at 105 BPM. Match your foot strike to that floor and let your heart rate settle. Do not chase the tempo. The playlist rises, not you.
Track 3 jumps to 145 BPM. This is your first push window. Let your stride open, but keep breath cadence steady — inhale for three steps, exhale for two. Track 4 holds the climb. Track 5 drops back to 113 BPM. Recover here. Let your HR drift down 8–10 beats.
Track 6 ("Bad Checks") arrives at 66% of the run. You will feel cognitive fatigue before your legs tire. The BPM stays low. Use the restraint in the track as permission to hold form, not speed. This is a mental anchor, not a sprint cue.
Tracks 7–8 stay narrow, around 115 BPM. Hold tempo, conserve.
Tracks 9–10 hit 145–150 BPM. Final push. Let the BPM pull your turnover up. No new effort — the tempo does the work. Finish on the ceiling.
FAQ
- How do I pace this playlist?
- Start easy with '105 BPM: The Floor'—Santigold and Louis The Child establish the groove without demanding speed. Let 'Chillwave to Club: The Climb Starts' build naturally through MELVV and GRiZ. By 'Bad Checks' you're at the emotional midpoint—hold steady. Then let '150 BPM: The Ceiling' carry you through Party Favor and Sego. The BPM does the work; you just follow.
- What type of run is this playlist built for?
- This is a 30-minute tempo run or a 5K where you want to start controlled and finish fast. The 105-to-150 BPM arc is a natural acceleration curve—not a sprint, but a steady climb. If you're doing easy miles, this will push you faster than you planned. If you're racing, it'll time your effort perfectly.
- Why does the BPM jump from 105 to 150 feel so smooth?
- Because it's not a jump—it's a ladder. Louis The Child and Houses both start at 105, but from opposite directions. GRiZ climbs to 140, Party Favor hits 150, and the whole thing feels like one continuous thought. Chicago's electronic scene in the late 2010s had this specific quality—intimacy and euphoria shared the same tempo floor. The playlist replicates that physics.
- What makes 'Bad Checks' the key moment?
- 'Bad Checks' is where the playlist fractures. Houses recorded Drugstore Heaven with Jonathan Goldstein at Electrical Audio—same city as Louis The Child, same BPM, but drug-shadowed and intimate instead of euphoric. At mile 2.5, your body has accepted the climb, but the mood introduces doubt. It's the hinge between euphoria and introspection. You keep running, but now you're thinking about why.
- What makes bass house and chillwave good for running together?
- They share the same structural patience. Bass house (Louis The Child, Party Favor) builds slowly—drops that convince rather than command. Chillwave (MELVV, Houses) holds the groove without demanding speed. Both trust the runner to meet the music halfway. The crossover works because neither genre sprints out of the gate. They both warm the floor first.
- Why is Louis The Child on a running playlist twice?
- Because Louis The Child spent 2015–2019 figuring out how to make euphoric electronic pop at running tempo. 'Big Love' and 'It's Strange' are both planted at 105–120 BPM, festival tracks that work for a Tuesday morning 5K. They're the Chicago electronic scene's attempt to make dance music that didn't sound like it was trying to be European. It worked.
