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10 songs that feel like Modern Man

Matched to Modern Man by Arcade Fire on how the music actually moves — intensity, dynamic swing, texture, tempo — not by genre tag. Here's what makes each one a match.

Modern Man
The song you love
Modern Man
Arcade Fire
moderate 50/100 intensity 130 BPM
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Close to Me — The Cure moderate 132 BPM

A 99% feel-match — carries the same anxious pull and lands at almost exactly the same energy (50/100). Nearly the same tempo, too (132 BPM).

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Lifetime Piling Up — Talking Heads moderate 128 BPM

99% match across our 8 measured dimensions; it lands at almost exactly the same energy (50/100). Same layered texture.

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EARFQUAKE — Tyler, The Creator moderate 95 BPM

Keeps the same anxious pull — lands at almost exactly the same energy (47/100). Measured 92% alike.

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Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town — Talking Heads moderate 112 BPM

Measures 96% the same. It lands at almost exactly the same energy (48/100). Same layered texture.

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Air — Talking Heads moderate 125 BPM

A 96% feel-match — carries the same anxious pull and lands at almost exactly the same energy (46/100). Nearly the same tempo, too (125 BPM).

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Tunnel of Love — Bruce Springsteen moderate 95 BPM

91% match across our 8 measured dimensions; it sits a little calmer at 43/100. Same layered texture.

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Anything You Want — Spoon moderate 126 BPM

Keeps the same anxious pull — lands at almost exactly the same energy (50/100). Measured 96% alike. Nearly the same tempo, too (126 BPM).

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Measures 90% the same. It lands at almost exactly the same energy (50/100). Same layered texture.

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Talent Show — The Replacements moderate 120 BPM

A 95% feel-match — carries the same anxious pull and lands at almost exactly the same energy (49/100).

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Zimbo — Echo & the Bunnymen moderate 128 BPM

94% match across our 8 measured dimensions; it lands at almost exactly the same energy (54/100). Same layered texture.

…and if you want it calmer

Same feeling, measured gentler — for when Modern Man is more than you want right now.

It's Too Late by Carole King
It's Too Late — Carole King safe 126 BPM

Keeps the same feel of the original, but nothing in it lurches or startles. Intensity 24/100, down from 50. Nearly the same tempo, too.

Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by The Smiths

Nothing in it lurches or startles, so it lands at 23/100 — the pull without the edge.

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Dumb — Nirvana safe 110 BPM

If it's the same feel you're after, this delivers it while its dynamic range stays a gentler 4 where the original climbs to 6. Reads 19/100.

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Cornerstone — Arctic Monkeys safe 128 BPM

Holds the same feel while its dynamic range stays a gentler 4 where the original climbs to 6. 20/100, versus the original's 50. Nearly the same tempo, too.

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Pictures of Me — Elliott Smith safe 120 BPM

Keeps the same feel of the original, but its dynamic range stays a gentler 4 where the original climbs to 6. Intensity 24/100, down from 50. Nearly the same tempo, too.

Let Her Go by Mac DeMarco
Let Her Go — Mac DeMarco safe 120 BPM

Its dynamic range stays a gentler 4 where the original climbs to 6, so it lands at 19/100 — the pull without the edge. Nearly the same tempo, too.

Let My Baby Stay by Mac DeMarco
Let My Baby Stay — Mac DeMarco safe 120 BPM

If it's the same feel you're after, this delivers it while its dynamic range stays a gentler 4 where the original climbs to 6. Reads 19/100. Nearly the same tempo, too.

Treat Her Better by Mac DeMarco
Treat Her Better — Mac DeMarco safe 115 BPM

Holds the same feel while its dynamic range stays a gentler 4 where the original climbs to 6. 19/100, versus the original's 50.

Frequently asked

What songs sound like “Modern Man” by Arcade Fire?

The closest feel-matches we measure are “Close to Me” by The Cure, “Lifetime Piling Up” by Talking Heads, “EARFQUAKE” by Tyler, The Creator — the top match scores 99% alike. Matching is by how the songs actually move (intensity, dynamic range, texture, tempo, predictability, vocal force), not by genre tag or popularity.

What songs are like “Modern Man” but calmer?

“It's Too Late” by Carole King, “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths, “Dumb” by Nirvana keep a similar feel while measuring gentler — lower dynamic swing, fewer sudden shifts, or a calmer overall level.

How intense is “Modern Man”?

It measures 50/100 on our intensity scale, computed from a dynamic range of 6/10, layered texture, mild sudden shifts, and dynamic vocals. Tempo is 130 BPM.

How do you decide which songs are similar?

Every song in our catalog is measured on 8 dimensions — intensity, dynamic range, tempo, sudden changes, texture, predictability, vocal force and fine sound detail. Similarity is the distance between two songs across those measurements, so matches cross genres and eras. Shared mood tags break ties.

By the numbers: how this song compares

Computed from this song’s place among the 19,209 songs we’ve measured.

Where it sits in 19,000 songs

On our 19k-song scale this lands in the middle band — more energetic than 62% of songs, calmer than the other 38%. Its intensity reading of 50/100 comes from a dynamic range of 6/10, layered texture, mild shifts, and dynamic vocals. It shares this stretch of the spectrum with thousands of other tracks, so the finer fingerprint below is what really separates it.

What makes it unusual

What stands out most about this song is a fast, driving tempo: more extreme on that axis than 86% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on near-total stillness — steady volume, no surprises, a slow and unhurried pulse — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.

Feels almost identical to

Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.

What it’s good for

Sleep3/10
Focus7/10
Workout6/10
Dinner7/10
Party / hype6/10

Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.

2010 in context

The 254 songs we’ve measured from 2010 average a dynamic range of 6.5/10. At 6/10, this track is right in line with its year.

Mixes smoothly with

Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.

The fingerprint

Intensity50
Dynamics56
Tempo50
Surprise25
Density33
Predictability50
Vocal force75
Trigger load13

The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.

Want the single closest match, with every dimension compared?

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