Evening Chillout

Look, it’s been a long day. That’s why we compiled our ultimate Evening Chillout set — to numb your nerves as painlessly as possibly. And what better way to get things started than at the foot of Norah Jones’ smoky piano (“Don’t Know Why”)? And she’s joined by some proven pulse-reducers, from two of R&B’s true godfathers — Marvin Gaye (“Let’s Get It On”) and Al Green (“Let’s Stay Together”) — to such lighter-lifting arena rockers as U2 (“One”) and Coldplay (“Spies,” “Lost?”).

Don’t pass out yet, though — not when we’ve still got a stack of soothing Next Steps to share.

More than just a trip-hop classic with a Cocteau Twins connection (singer Elizabeth Fraser) and creeping beats, “Teardrop” has been tapped as the theme song of House, sampled by Krayzie Bone, and covered by everyone from José González to Simple Minds. And it’s not the only Evening Chillout selection with crossover potential. The live hip-hop loops of “What They Do” helped the Roots earn their first hit; the heavenly hooks of “Destiny” made Zero 7 the go-to artist on countless downtempo comps; and the soulful samples of “Midnight In a Perfect World” revealed the beat conductor behind DJ Shadow’s bottomless record crates.

And you better believe we’ve got some Deep Cuts waiting in the wings to carry you home . . .

As much as we dig undisputed icons like Miles Davis (see: the twisted trumpet leads of “Dancing in the Dark”), he’s not the only name that’s given jazz its rebirth-of-cool rep. On the old-school side of things, Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond whipped up a woozy waltz with “Audrey,” setting the tone for such game-changers as Geoff Keezer, a piano man who isn’t afraid to color his post-bop compositions with bubble-bath beats (“Bibo No Aozora”). Speaking of running with whatever works, our Evening Chillout Essentials balances all that jazz with heady hip-hop (“Freedom”) and the sort of slow-burning singer-songwriter fare (Duncan Sheik, Feist) that goes well with no-whip triple lattes.

When everything goes wrong at work, the last thing you want to worry about is putting together a decent playlist. We’ve got a better idea, then: how about sinking into the nearest couch with a glass of wine, and allow us to take care of the rest? Just dim the lights and press play — from D’Angelo to Dido, from Seal to Sade, these are the stress relievers that’ll ease you into the greatest waking dream ever. And if things weren’t that bad today, that’s OK, too, because all of these songs make perfect sense morning, noon, or night, forcing you to step back for a second and appreciate the finer things in life, like the stutter-step beats of “On and On,” the steam-pressed synths of “All Is Full of Love,” and the fluttering melodies of “My Funny Valentine.”