"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Black Sun" by Death Cab for Cutie. Noticeable climb from quiet to loud. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: cathartic, contemplative, emotional, introspective. Visual style: contemporary editorial aesthetic. Painterly, grainy film texture, muted palette with strategic accent colors. The composition should read left-to-right like a timeline — calm on one side, intensifying toward the other. Strictly no faces, no text, no logos, no literal objects, no band imagery. Pure color-field abstraction with emotional weight. 16:9 editorial format."
Balanced energy, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for dinner.
85
BPM
Black Sun by Death Cab for Cutie is 85 BPM — Andante (walking pace).
Half-time 43 BPM · Double-time 170 BPM · released 2015
Fan image for "Black Sun"
An abstract illustration of what this song feels like. Each image is built from a prompt — the text description fed to the image generator. Listeners submit their own prompts, upvote the ones that fit best, and the top-voted prompt drives the next regeneration. After 100 image votes, we make a new picture.
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Song DNA
Notes: Contemplative opening with a ferociously emotional eruption midway through, featuring an eruptive psychedelic guitar solo that creates significant dynamic contrast against the otherwise still texture.
Misophonia Triggers
Recommended for: deep listening emotional release meditation
A contemplative indie rock track that builds from introspective verses to an explosive emotional climax, marking Death Cab for Cutie's artistic renewal.
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Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: cathartic, contemplative, emotional, introspective
Traditions: indie rock
Volume Warning
"Black Sun" climbs hard.
Dynamic range 7/10 places this in our upper band. The opening volume that feels comfortable will not be comfortable at the climax. If you are setting this up for a focused listen, anchor your volume to the quietest section, not the loudest. The arc is the point of the song; if you blunt it by riding the volume knob, you lose what makes it work. Death Cab for Cutie built the dynamic shape on purpose. Plan around it.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 7/10 means this song moves. Expect a real volume climb between quiet sections and the loudest part of the arrangement — enough that you may want to set the initial volume below where you'd normally land.
Sudden changes: present. This song uses surprise as a feature. For focus or background listening, it's likely to pull your attention away; for active listening, that's often the point.
Texture is layered — a full arrangement with clear separation between parts.
Predictability is medium — conventional structure overall, with one or two moments that deviate from what you'd expect.
Vocal style: dynamic vocals.
Where this sits in Death Cab for Cutie's catalog
We have 20 songs from Death Cab for Cutie in the library. Of those, 9 are rated Safe, 11 Moderate, and 0 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 7/10 sits above the artist average of 5.3, making it the #3 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
2015 context
Released in 2015. We have 373 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.3/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 2010s.
Explore by mood and tradition
Traditions
indie rock · 1111Guides that may help
Karma Police: Radiohead’s Eerie Joke About Power and Paranoia
Karma Police began as a band in-joke and became one of Radiohead’s defining songs — a queasy meditat…
How fast is "Black Sun"?
85 BPM — Slow (downtempo / ballad)
For running
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
For workouts
Warm-up, cool-down, yoga, stretching.
For daily life
Morning coffee, deep work, commute wind-down.
Browse more songs at 85 BPM.
When "Black Sun" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
✗
Focus / studying
No — too dynamic or too many surprises. Save for active listening.
✗
Running / workout
No — 85 BPM is too slow for sustained cardio.
✗
Sleep / winding down
No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.
✓
Driving / road trip
Yes — predictable enough for safe driving attention, interesting enough to stay engaged.
✓
Cooking / dinner background
Yes — sits in the background without demanding attention.
✓
Emotional release / catharsis
Yes — this is a song for actively feeling what you came to feel, not for background.
Related reading
Editorial guides that cover this song's use cases, moods, or artist.
Nick Cave's albums ranked by emotional darkness — which one is your nervous system ready for?
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds made some of the most devastating music in rock history. But not all darkness is the same. This guide ranks his …
I rated every Billie Eilish album by emotional intensity
From bedroom ASMR whispers to walls of distortion — a deep sensory dive into all three Billie Eilish studio albums and what each one actuall…
I Listened to Every Radiohead Album Through a Sensory Lens — Here's What I Found
Radiohead's nine albums analyzed through dynamic range, texture, and emotional intensity — from Pablo Honey's raw stadium rock to A Moon Sha…
Why this rating
We rate this song Moderate because it falls between our Safe and Intense thresholds on at least one dimension. Moderate is the default for most well-produced music that has real arc but no surprise elements. Full rubric: methodology.
This song in the Music Studio
57/100 intensity
See how “Black Sun” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
Listen on
Spotify and YouTube links go direct to the track when we have the ID; otherwise they search for it. Embed this sensory profile on your site →
Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-15. Reviewed by the Music I Want editorial team against the documented methodology.
Think this rating is wrong? Contact the editor — every message is read and ratings get revised.
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 76% of songs, calmer than the other 24%. Its intensity reading of 57/100 comes from a dynamic range of 7/10, layered texture, moderate 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 slow, unhurried pace: more extreme on that axis than 77% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on full chaos — sudden changes, huge quiet-to-loud swings, and relentless energy — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.
Feels almost identical to
The Holy River — Prince · 99%Baltimore — Nina Simone · 99%To Zion — Lauryn Hill · 99%Never Love Again — Eminem · 99%
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
Sleep0/10
Focus4/10
Workout4/10
Dinner6/10
Party / hype4/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
2015 in context
The 373 songs we’ve measured from 2015 average a dynamic range of 6.3/10. At 7/10, this track is louder and more dynamic than its year.
Mixes smoothly with
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity57
Dynamics67
Tempo25
Surprise50
Density33
Predictability50
Vocal force75
Trigger load13
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Black Sun"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Black Sun" by Death Cab for Cutie?
"Black Sun" by Death Cab for Cutie has a tempo of 85 BPM (Andante (walking pace)). At half-time that is 43 BPM, and at double-time 170 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Black Sun" by Death Cab for Cutie?
"Black Sun" by Death Cab for Cutie rates as Moderate intensity. Dynamic range 7/10, moderate sudden changes, layered texture. Moderate is the default for well-produced music with real arc but no surprise elements.
How loud is "Black Sun" — what is its dynamic range?
"Black Sun" has a dynamic range of 7/10. Noticeable climb from quiet sections to loudest point. Set opening volume slightly lower than your preferred peak.
Does "Black Sun" have sudden or surprising changes?
Yes. "Black Sun" uses surprise as a compositional feature. Expect unsignaled transitions.
What is "Black Sun" best for?
In our library "Black Sun" is recommended for: deep listening, emotional release, meditation. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Black Sun" released?
"Black Sun" is from 2015, on the album "Kintsugi". It appears in our 2010s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Black Sun"?
We tag "Black Sun" as cathartic, contemplative, emotional, introspective. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Black Sun"?
The vocal style is dynamic vocals.
Is "Black Sun" good for running?
Not really — at 85 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Black Sun" good for studying?
Only partially. The song's dynamic range (7/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.
Can I use "Black Sun" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Contains transitions that will wake you up.
Should I listen to "Black Sun"?
"Black Sun" is Moderate intensity — fine for most listeners, but with enough dynamic activity that it works best as active listening rather than background.
Songs with the same DNA
layered texture, similar intensity — across any genre or era.
Safer alternatives with a similar feel
These songs share similar moods but with a gentler sensory profile.
What this song means to people
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Where to next?
You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.