Do You Need Mood Music to Write?

I usually write without music, because I find anything with lyrics a distraction, but recently a writer in my Finnish critique group pointed out that you can use music as a kind of emotional tuning fork for your prose.

I pondered this for a while. I kind of know what she means, but music has never been that important to me. In fact, a lot of my music comes from TV shows or movies, and my connection to the music is more about my connection to that particular story. When I wrote my story for the Far Orbit Apogee anthology, I watched The Guardians of the Galaxy  many times. Soon after, I bought the soundtrack and listened to it when I went pole walking. (Yeah, I know, lame, but it's the only sport I've been able to commit to, in addition to working out in front of the TV.) So I think I used the movie like others use music. Hmm.

Then I thought, why not play to my strengths? Why shouldn't I use soundtracks?

So, now I have the following options:

Aliens  (For horror/sci-fi)

Edward Scissorhands  (For magical realism and dark fairy tales)

The Labyrinth (This one has lyrics, I know, but it's one of my favorite movies and I love the soundtrack. This is turning into my current obsession. We'll see what it sparks.)

Sherlock Holmes (It's the steampunk one. For Victoriana/humor)

Mass Effect 1-3 (For sci-fi adventure, thriller type stuff, dystopia.)

The Matrix (For edgy cyberpunk coolness.)

Let the experiment begin!