Weightless by Marconi Union: Does It Really Cut Anxiety by 65%?

Originally published 2020-04-27.

"Weightless" is an eight-minute ambient track by the Manchester band Marconi Union, written with the sound therapist Lyz Cooper to help listeners relax. In a test run by the UK company Mindlab International, it was reported to cut participants' anxiety by 65 percent and their usual resting physiological rates by 35 percent. Those figures come from a commercial test, not a peer-reviewed study, so they are best read as a promising result rather than a proven treatment.

Here is how the track was made, what the test measured, what independent research says about music and stress, and how to use calming music sensibly alongside other help.

How "Weightless" was made

Marconi Union were asked to write a piece of deliberately relaxing music in consultation with Lyz Cooper, founder of the British Academy of Sound Therapy, so that it could then be tested scientifically. The result avoids anything that might grab the attention. There is no repeating melody for the brain to follow, the rhythm gradually slows, and the sound is built from warm low drones, soft chimes and gentle swells. Long harmonic intervals and a slowly descending pulse are meant to encourage the listener's heart rate and breathing to settle with it.

The track runs a little over eight minutes, long enough for the body to respond. After the test results were publicised it spread widely online, collecting millions of plays on YouTube and other platforms, and Time magazine listed it among the year's best inventions.

What the Mindlab test measured

Mindlab International, a UK consumer neuroscience company, was led by the psychologist Dr David Lewis-Hodgson, author of popular books on stress. The researchers asked participants to solve difficult puzzles against the clock, a reliable way to raise stress, while sensors recorded their heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and brain activity. During the task the participants listened to a series of different tracks.

According to Mindlab, "Weightless" produced the biggest calming effect of anything tested, with the 65 percent drop in anxiety and 35 percent drop in resting rates mentioned above. Lewis-Hodgson also reported that several listeners became drowsy, and his advice not to play it while driving became part of the song's legend.

Mindlab's list of the most relaxing tracks, as later reported by Inc. magazine, was:

1. "Weightless" – Marconi Union
2. "Electra" – Airstream
3. "Mellomaniac (Chill Out Mix)" – DJ Shah
4. "Watermark" – Enya
5. "Strawberry Swing" – Coldplay
6. "Please Don't Go" – Barcelona
7. "Pure Shores" – All Saints
8. "Someone Like You" – Adele
9. "Canzonetta Sull'aria" – Mozart
10. "We Can Fly" – Rue du Soleil (Café Del Mar)

Should you trust the 65% figure?

Treat the headline number with care. Several things are missing from public accounts of the test:

• Sample size and design. It is not clear how many people took part, how they were chosen or whether the order of the tracks was randomised.
• Peer review. The results were not published in a scientific journal where other researchers could check the methods.
• How "anxiety" was measured. A 65 percent reduction needs a baseline and a scale; without them, we cannot compare it with other studies.
• Independence. The track and the test were part of the same project, rather than an independent evaluation by outside researchers.

So the fair conclusion is that "Weightless" calmed people in one commercial test, under stressful lab conditions. It does not mean it will cut your own anxiety by 65 percent, and it is not a medical treatment.

Give it a listen and notice how your own body responds:

What research says about music and stress

The broader idea behind "Weightless" is well supported. Slow, predictable music with no sudden changes tends to lower arousal, and many controlled trials have tested music for stress and anxiety in settings such as hospitals, dentists' chairs and before surgery.

A team led by Martina de Witte at the University of Amsterdam pooled this research in two systematic reviews. The first, covering mostly simple listening sessions, found small-to-medium reductions in stress. The second, published in Health Psychology Review in 2020, analysed 47 controlled studies with 2,747 participants and found a medium-to-large effect on stress-related outcomes when music therapy was delivered by a qualified therapist.

In other words, music genuinely helps many people feel calmer, and it has no side effects. The effect varies a lot between people, though, and the music you personally find soothing may work better than any "officially" relaxing track.

Why anxiety seems to be rising among young people

Anxiety is nothing new; physicians and philosophers from Hippocrates to Søren Kierkegaard and Sigmund Freud wrote about it. What has changed is how many young adults report it. A widely shared 2015 feature in The Telegraph by Rachael Dove described anxiety as an epidemic among Generation Y, citing surveys of students and young people in the US and UK. Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, put it starkly: "Growing up has always been difficult, but this sense of desperation? That's new."

Psychologists interviewed for that piece pointed to several pressures:

• Too much choice. The London psychologist Pieter Kruger argued that having many options can make every decision feel high-stakes, because the blame for a wrong choice falls on you. Even buying shoes can turn into hours of comparison and a sense of failure.
• Always-on technology. Smartphones keep us connected but also feed the fear of missing out, or "FOMO", which Kruger described as a real and constant drain on wellbeing.
• Social comparison. Social media makes it easy to compare looks, relationships and lifestyles with friends and celebrities, and research has linked this kind of comparison with low mood.
• Exam pressure and protective parenting, also cited by psychologists as possible contributors.

Using calming music sensibly

If you want to try "Weightless" or similar music, a few simple habits help:

• Listen with headphones in a comfortable position, and give it the full eight minutes.
• Pair it with slow breathing, for example breathing out a little longer than you breathe in.
• Use it at predictable moments, such as before sleep or after work, so it becomes a cue to unwind.
• Do not listen while driving or doing anything that needs full alertness.

Music is a helpful tool, not a cure. The NHS describes generalised anxiety disorder as worry that is hard to control and affects daily life, often with poor sleep, restlessness or a racing heart. If that sounds familiar, talk to a doctor; effective treatments exist, and in England adults can also refer themselves to NHS talking therapies.

Sources: Inc.: Melanie Curtin on the Mindlab results and top 10 list · PR Newswire: Marconi Union's "Weightless" (2014) · University of Amsterdam: music therapy and stress meta-analysis (2020) · NHS: Generalised anxiety disorder · Original reporting by Carolanne Wright (Wake Up World), syndicated by The Mind Unleashed