The Chain

Reading Mode

The soundtrack, synced to your reading. Tap the chapter you are starting: the chapter's track plays on your Spotify, then instrumental beds matched to the chapter's mood hold until you turn the page to the next one. It learns your reading pace as you go.

The chapter links below work for everyone, no account needed. Connected mode, where chapters play straight to your own Spotify device and follow your reading pace, is limited while Spotify reviews the app and requires a Spotify Premium account.

1 Bloody Pottery Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows ~9 min 2 Keeping Score The Black Keys - Tighten Up ~13 min 3 Proof of Stake Billie Eilish - you should see me in a crown ~9 min 4 A Dead Man’s Commitment Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Hand Covers Bruise ~3 min 5 The Fall from Grace Portishead - Roads ~3 min 6 The Gentle Dose Goldfrapp - Lovely Head ~4 min 7 Signatures of Ruin Grieg - In the Hall of the Mountain King ~3 min 8 Ammar Keeps the Nets Justice - Genesis ~10 min 9 Exit Code Röyksopp - What Else Is There? ~6 min 10 The Honest Clock Kavinsky - Nightcall ~4 min 11 Rina's Room Evanescence - Bring Me To Life ~7 min 12 Without Breaking the Build Limp Bizkit - Take A Look Around ~4 min 13 Invisible, Not Free The Black Angels - Young Men Dead ~13 min 14 Time to Live John Murphy - Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor) ~7 min 15 Verify the Man Moby - God Moving Over the Face of the Waters ~3 min 16 Paid in Full Five Finger Death Punch - Wrong Side of Heaven ~7 min 17 Review Before Deploy Fleetwood Mac - The Chain ~6 min 18 Eyes Open David Bowie - Neuköln ~8 min 19 The Mirror Door Hans Zimmer - Time ~8 min 20 Every Breath You Take Garbage - The World Is Not Enough ~6 min 21 Now Fix It Talk Talk - Such a Shame ~6 min 22 False Friends Massive Attack - Angel ~4 min 23 Who Watches The Black Keys - Gold on the Ceiling ~10 min 24 Good Girl Adele - Skyfall ~9 min 25 Dragons at War Massive Attack - Safe from Harm ~7 min 26 They Took Nothing Dire Straits - Private Investigations ~6 min 27 Withered Blossom Björk - Hunter ~7 min 28 Dead Reckoning Thom Yorke - Hearing Damage ~5 min 29 Under Load The Knife - Heartbeats ~14 min 30 The Least Significant Bit Nine Inch Nails - Right Where It Belongs ~8 min 31 Read the Spaces Hans Zimmer - S.T.A.Y. ~12 min 32 Two Receipts New Order - Blue Monday ~12 min 33 Containment System Daft Punk - Rinzler ~9 min 34 Tap-Tap Portishead - Sour Times ~4 min 35 The Phoenix Fork Art of Noise - Peter Gunn ~14 min 36 One Flipped Operator The Prodigy - Breathe ~8 min 37 Zero in Three Languages Shinedown - Cut the Cord ~9 min 38 Front-Running The Black Keys - Howlin' for You ~6 min 39 Access Control Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around ~5 min 40 The Final Transaction Daft Punk - End of Line ~11 min 41 Landfall Nine Inch Nails - A Warm Place ~15 min 42 Responsible Development Limp Bizkit - Behind Blue Eyes ~12 min

How it works

  1. Pick a register. Soundtrack is the full album. Frost runs heavier. Reading is instrumental, made to sit under the words.
  2. Tap the chapter you are starting. Connected, the chapter's track plays on your active Spotify device, followed by instrumental beds chosen to match the chapter's mood, sized to how long the chapter takes to read. Not connected, the track opens on Spotify.
  3. Keep tapping as you read. Each tap re-syncs the music to where you are, and quietly calibrates to your reading speed. The music follows the book, not the clock.

Playing to your device requires a Spotify Premium account with Spotify open somewhere: phone, desktop, or web player. The full playlists live on the soundtrack page.