During a slow day in the office I became engaged in a conversation with a colleague about some of our favourite moments in music, whether it be an entire album or a fleeting moment of creative expression. After I inevitably rambled about Kanye West for a few minutes (look forward to this later), she proceeded to suggest an episode of Spotify’s ‘Dissect’ podcast to me that would provide all the answers as to why certain songs leave you shuddering with excitement. After listening to the podcast episode, I can confidently say I’ve found my new favourite thing – the emotional experience of Frisson.

Frisson: A brief moment of emotional excitement

A sensation that is hard to explain but easy to demonstrate, frisson is essentially that moment of awe you involuntarily experience when listening to music, watching a film or reading poetry. There is a wealth of scientific discussion on the phenomenon, however, I’m nowhere near savvy enough to understand the intricacies of it all and relay it back to you, so I’ll try explaining it in layman’s terms. If you’ve ever been lying on your bed listening to music and suddenly a wave of chills, accompanied by goosebumps surges through your body, that’s frisson. For me it’s a beautiful moment where the sonic world of music becomes physicalised, as all of a sudden, the artists musical concept no longer exists as something intangible. Rather it has resonated with the listener so deeply and viscerally that its manifested itself as a physical, bodily response. It is within these moments when shivers rise up your spine and your face flushes up, that we are reminded why music can be so powerful.

After diving deeper into this strange phenomenon, I discovered that there are three components to experiencing frisson. The first comes from brainstem reflexes caused by an arousal of the nervous system through the onset of loud, very high or low frequency, or rapidly changing sounds. The second stems from an emotional connection to the music itself, concerning one’s ability to determine an expressed emotion from a stimulus (in this case auditory) and then mirror that emotion empathically. Finally, musical expectancy plays a key role and refers to emotions elicited when one’s explicit or implicit expectations are violated. It’s this last component that I want to primarily focus on and incorporate into some of my favourite moments in music.

Kanye West’s sixth studio album, ‘Yeezus’, encapsulates the beauty of the unexpected from front to back. Released after the critically acclaimed ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ everyone expected another insightful look into the mind of Mr. West, yet instead we got brutally abrasive synths and egotistical preaching. Across the record’s ten tracks there are numerous examples when Kanye chooses to tear down the expected norm, however, none reach such dramatic highs as the one-minute long outro on ‘New Slaves’. Up until the two minute fifty second mark our eardrums are bombarded by a barrage of booming 808s and bass ridden synth chords. Lyrics like:

Fuck you and your Hampton house

I’ll fuck your Hampton spouse

Came on her Hampton blouse

And in her Hampton mouth

set the tone for the track and construct this dark, twisted soundscape where Kanye makes his claim for being the music industries greatest villain.

With all the pieces in play, us as the listener expect more narcissistic lyricism and brutal instrumentals. However, come the last third of the track, all our expectations come crumbling down in a beautiful moment of frisson. Sampling Omega’s 1969 track ‘Gyöngyhajú Lány’ Kanye does a drastic U-turn, emphasising the power of the unexpected and transforming the track into an overwhelming sonic experience that couldn’t be further from the its origins. Kanye spends almost three minutes building musical tension within the fiery depths of hip-hop hell, only to thrust us up into the stratosphere where we gaze out unto his carefully curated kingdom. An ethereal, high pitched guitar progression tantalises in the background, accompanied by Kanye’s slightly distorted, emotionally raw vocals. Then arrives Frank Ocean’s gorgeous vocal performance. Pitch perfect, it flutters down our ear canal, causing us to forget the obscenities we have previously heard. Filtering down to a wordless passage, Ocean’s voice mirrors the angelic vocals heard reverberating around a church. We’re no longer in hell, we’re at the gates of musical heaven. This unexpected release of tension creates a satisfying sonic resolution that drags the listener up from the abyss of Kanye’s manic psyche and into a moment of total clarity.

Childish Gambino’s song ‘Me and Your Mama’ is another example of unexpected frisson, however, he approaches it from the opposite direction, choosing to guide us along a fall from grace. From the track’s opening we are met with the delicate, twinkling sound of a synthesiser that promises us shelter within a peaceful sanctuary. Just a few seconds later the innocent sound of a choir begins to harmonise in the foreground, beckoning us closer to this place of comfort . Everything is set up to suggest this track will provide a moment of bliss and in doing so we as the listener, slump down in relaxation and foolishly take our guard down. Gambino has us exactly where he wants.

After two minutes of divine instrumentation, an electrifying bass guitar unapologetically rips the door down and drags us off our seat in an act of unhinged chaos. Called into action by a demonic chuckle – as Glover quite literally begins to laugh at us – the bass kicks things into gear, whipping up the rest of the instruments into a wild frenzy. Gambino’s vocals take on a gravelly texture as he purposefully strains his voice to the extreme and mirrors the untamed demeanour of the instrumental. The choir from before takes on a new characteristic as their tone deepens and follows after the bass’s grittiness. Within the opening moments Gambino seduces us with a picturesque, sonic oasis, only to construct a foreboding wall of sound that blinds us to this promised land. The musical equivalent of a jump scare, ‘Me and Your Mama’ is a great example of how artists use frisson to shock us into life and send those aesthetic chills throughout our body.

One genre which is frequently associated with the sensation of frisson is orchestral music, mainly due to its capacity to take the listener on a journey of expression and evoke an emotional response within them. The master of this within the contemporary scene has to be Hans Zimmer. Known for his epic scores, I could pick a multitude to discuss here, but for me one in particular stands out. ‘Oogway Ascends’ from ‘Kung Fu Panda’. Yes, that’s right. A movie about a panda learning kung fu has one of the best scores to ever grace the world of music. Zimmer’s craft here is awe-inspiring. Beginning the piece with the solitary elegance of an erhu, he proceeds to build towards a majestic crescendo augmented by strings and crashing symbols. Surging upwards from a moment of clarity, Zimmer provides a meditative experience that disheartens, consoles, and motivates all in one deft movement. With everything in its right place, Zimmer manages to mirror the emotions of a cartoon panda onto the audience, creating an experience that is way too emotionally fraught for a Disney movie.

Now I hope some of this waffle has made sense and I’ve encouraged you to immerse yourself within music a bit more. I could go on and on about certain moments that send chills through my body, so here’s a playlist by Spotify instead that condenses them all down, because sometimes things are best left unexplained.