A Playlist for the Last Train Home

The last train home has its own atmosphere. The carriage is half empty, the windows reflect the lights, and the city slides past in streaks of orange and blue. Someone opposite is reading. Someone else is gently nodding off, which, if Puffin is on board, is almost guaranteed. It is the perfect moment for music.

A good last-train playlist does not shout. It hums. It matches the rhythm of the rails and lets your thoughts drift over the evening you have just had. Here are the moods Puffin reaches for, and how to build a playlist of your own.

The moods

Lo-fi beats

Soft, slightly dusty instrumental beats with mellow piano or guitar loops, a little vinyl crackle and a relaxed tempo. Lo-fi became hugely popular through long-running online streams that people play while studying or relaxing. On a late train, it sounds like the city breathing out. It is Puffin’s default setting.

City pop

Japanese city pop from the late 1970s and 1980s is glossy, warm and nostalgic, with smooth basslines, bright keyboards and a sense of driving through a neon city at night. Artists such as Tatsuro Yamashita and Mariya Takeuchi are among the best-known names, and the genre has found a big new audience online in recent years. It is perfect for the stretch of the journey when the train runs above ground and the city lights are spread out below.

Ambient

Ambient music is designed to sit in the background and change the feel of a space. Brian Eno’s Music for Airports is the classic example, and it works just as beautifully on a metro platform at midnight. Long, soft tones and slowly shifting textures make the carriage feel calm and spacious, even when it is not.

Jazz piano

Nothing says „late in the city“ like a quiet jazz piano trio. Think gentle chords, brushed drums and a double bass walking along unhurriedly. Bill Evans is a wonderful place to start for that introspective, after-hours feeling. Jazz piano suits the moment when you are looking out of the window and replaying the best bits of the night.

Synthwave

Inspired by 1980s film soundtracks and electronic music, synthwave is all shimmering synthesisers, steady drum machines and a feeling of speeding through a glowing city. It is a little more energetic, which makes it ideal for the start of the journey or for a night bus ride across town.

Film scores

Instrumental film music can turn an ordinary train ride into a scene. Choose quieter pieces: soft piano themes, slow strings, the gentle electronic textures of science-fiction soundtracks like Vangelis’s music for Blade Runner. Suddenly you are the main character, gazing out of a rain-streaked window. Puffin enjoys this very much, right up until he falls asleep in the middle of his own film.

„The best song is the one still playing when the train reaches my stop. Then I think: nah… just one more stop, just one more song.“ – Puffin

How to build your last-train playlist

Think in three acts

• Departure: slightly more upbeat. Synthwave, city pop. You are still glowing from the evening.
• The long middle: lo-fi beats and jazz piano. Settling in, watching the stations pass.
• The final stretch: ambient and soft film scores. Slowing down, getting ready for the walk home and bed.

Match the length to your journey

Time your usual ride home and make the playlist a little longer, so there is room for detours and missed stops. Puffin’s playlists are always considerably longer than his journey, for reasons that will be obvious to regular readers of The Night I Missed My Stop.

Mostly instrumental

Instrumental tracks blend into the background and leave space for your own thoughts. A few songs with vocals are fine, but keep them soft.

Keep the volume low

Keep your headphones at a comfortable level, so you can still hear station announcements and stay aware of what is going on around you. Late at night, being alert matters, and low volume is kinder to your ears anyway.

Download it before you go

Underground lines often have patchy signal. Save your playlist for offline listening so the music does not cut out in a tunnel at the best moment.

A few last-train rules

• Headphones, always. Your playlist is for you, not the whole carriage.
• Set a stop alarm if you are prone to dozing. Puffin never does, and look where it gets him.
• Look up sometimes. The best part of the soundtrack is the view it is scoring.

Puffin’s tip: name your playlist after the line you ride home on. Over the months it becomes a little diary of late nights, good friends and long journeys. And if you are riding a new city’s metro, have a look at our guide to night metros in Europe. Stay a little longer on board.