The Atlas Paradox Playlist

Looking for new tunes? How about new tunes AND a new book?

Superstar author Olivie Blake has put together the vibiest playlist of all time to pair with The Atlas Paradox, sequel to dark academia sensation / BookTok sensation / general sensation The Atlas Six.

Check it out!

By Olivie Blake

People often ask me whether I need music to write, which is a complicated question to answer. While I tend to find lyrics distracting (I’m much more inclined to make homonymic errors if music is playing whilst in the process of creation), I’m a big believer in curating a type of meditative dreamscape that necessarily precedes any productive writing period. Neil Gaiman famously emphasizes the necessity of daydreaming for creation, and I fully agree. For me, music is essential for crafting what can only be properly called a vibe.

While The Atlas Six Playlist is a lot of what I consider the soundtrack to one big cinematic fist-fight (in my head, that’s what the book is, although most of the aggression plays out in the form of sexual, ethical, or actual tension) the playlist for its sequel, The Atlas Paradox, is a little bit different. The book itself is different—as our view of the world outside the Alexandrian Society expands, so does our understanding of the characters and their respective stakes.

Traditionally I write by mood, meaning that one song can represent a variety of relationships with overlapping themes. As a result, I’ve split the playlist into a four part symphony of desire, betrayal, love, and revenge, based on the common motifs that reveal themselves throughout the Atlas series.

Part I: Ticking Clocks

This is the tension portion of the playlist. Lust, ambition, desire… maybe a little self-sabotage. Some pain for the palate to pair with an old world vintage, a newfound hatred, or a masochistic craving for an old flame.

Till Now – Banks

I am not a woman, I’m a god – Halsey

Kult (feat. Jasiah) – Steve Aoki & grandson

Bitter (with Kito) – FLETCHER

Hate Myself – Bryce Fox

One Way Or Another – Until the Ribbon Breaks

Novocaine – Dream Chief

Part II: Hydra’s Heads

Here is where we keep the irony and the anger, the bitterness of personal and institutional betrayal. The world, not unlike the Society manor house, is a troublesome place, and one without much logic to the pain it inflicts. On some level or another, these songs know it.

Aristocrats – Raleigh Ritchie

Scream! – Judah and the Lion

Monster – STARSET

The Devil is Human – AURORA

ley lines – Flor

take it back – JAWNY & Beck

Where Do We Go From Here? – Misterwives

Hometown – twenty one pilots

Part III: Golden Hour

Every playlist needs a little softness. These are the love songs, which range from toxic to desperate to true. These are meant to reflect the glimpses of intimacy woven inescapably throughout the book, some of which yield more sweetness than others.

Don’t Fade – Vance Joy

Girls Make Me Want to Die – The Aces

Aura – Cuco

Archetype – Omar Apollo

Bittersweet (feat. Dashboard Confessional) – Sam Tinnesz

Cold Heart – The Kooks

Pretty – Astrid S & Dagny

Little Freak – Harry Styles

Wretched – Bartees Strange

Magic – Coldplay

Part IV: Ashes from the Fall / Olympus is Empty

And finally, to close out the listening experience, a sense that rage can always be rekindled and put to good use when it comes to revenge. This is where we put the productive anger, the righteous suffering, and the sense that this is not the end. (And truly, it isn’t… but as for what book 3 holds? That’s one secret I’ll never tell. XOXO, Olivie.)

sadder badder cooler – Tove Lo

Revolution – Bishop Briggs

Set in Stone – Brandyn Burnette

Wake Up – Young the Giant

Red Sun – Big Wild

Same Team – Alice Merton

We Did It!!! – grandson

Burn Me Down – Sophie Simmons

OLIVIE BLAKE is the pseudonym of Alexene Farol Follmuth, a lover and writer of stories. She has penned several indie SFF projects, including the webtoon Clara and the Devil with illustrator Little Chmura and the BookTok-viral Atlas series. As Alexene, she has written a young adult rom-com, My Mechanical Romance. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, new baby, and rescue pit bull.