[capableweb]

Besides ambient music, what music doesn't have any sort of buildup of tension and subsequent release? Do you have any particular example tracks that doesn't have any tension/release at all?

I feel like most of the music people commonly listen to have that, it's an essential part of what makes music feel "human".

[standardly]

I think maybe you two aren't on the same page. I know you are referring specifically to tension and release as a music theory concept, which is for sure very common. Even a single "tense" chord in a chorus resolving to the tonic is tension and release. I think the other person is speaking of "tension" in the context of progression, like a song's building up to a crescendo would be considered tension, or a dubstep drop, or a metal breakdown, etc. (those are also tension and release in music theory, but I think the person is speaking broadly in laymens terms)