Song Exploder: Recent Episodes
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A podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made.
“Back in Love”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSSuki Waterhouse is a singer-songwriter, actress, and model from London. She released her first single in 2016, and her first album, I Can’t Let Go, in 2022, on Sub Pop. You might have seen her in the show Daisy Jones & The Six, which came out in 2023. Since then, she’s also had her first child, with her partner Robert Pattinson. And all of that history figured into her new album, Loveland. For this episode, Suki told me about how she made the song “Back in Love” with her longtime collaborators, producer Jules Apollinaire and songwriter Natalie Findlay. It was the first single from her album, but it was the last song that was written for it.
You can buy or stream “Back in Love” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Sam Ewens – horns
“Son of a Preacher Man” – Dusty Springfield
“Loaded” by Primal Scream
Aaron DessnerThe post Episode 318: Suki Waterhouse appeared first on Song Exploder.
PrinceLISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSMy guest today is Ahmir Thompson, aka Questlove, the drummer and founding member of The Roots, as well as an author, a DJ, and an Oscar-winning film director.
A song that changed my life is “Double Trouble” by The Roots, and the liner notes that Questlove wrote to go with the song. There’s a change in the drum sound in that song that blew my mind, and Questlove wrote a little bit about the effort that went into getting that drum sound. And as a drummer myself, I wanted to know everything about that. And that moment 26 years ago was maybe when the first seed for Song Exploder got planted in my brain. So getting to talk to him for this is really special for me.
Questlove has an encyclopedic knowledge of music. It’s really astounding. He knows so much about so many artists, and he’s just directed a new documentary about Earth, Wind & Fire, which is out now. But one of the artists he knows best is Prince. He was recently asked by Rolling Stone to rank the top 100 Prince songs. And for this episode, we talked about the song that he put at #1 on the list.
You can buy or stream “Little Red Corvette (Special Dance Mix)” by Prince here.
footnotes:
“Streetwave” by The Brothers Johnson
“Soft and Wet” by Prince
Right On! magazine and The Midnight Special TV series
Donna Summer
1999, What Time Is It? by The Time, and the debut album by Vanity 6
“Thriller” by Michael Jackson
Stevie Wonder and James Brown
Scott Storch
“Mellow My Man” by The Roots
The post Key Change: Questlove appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Victim of Luck”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSMetric is a band from Canada that was formed in 1998. They’ve won four Juno Awards, including Group of the Year. Rolling Stone included them in their list of the 50 Greatest Canadian Artists of All Time. In April 2026, Metric released their 10th album, Romanticize the Dive. And for this episode, I spoke to Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw about how they made the opening song on that album, “Victim of Luck.”
You can buy or stream “Victim of Luck” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Joshua Winstead – bass guitar
Joules Scott-Key – drums
Liam O’Neil – co-production
John O’Mahony – co-production
Ziggy Stardust and Almost Famous
Dave Fridmann and MGMT
Buchla synthesizersThe post Episode 317: Metric appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Girls Like Girls”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSHayley Kiyoko is a singer, songwriter, author, and director from Los Angeles. She was a child actor on Disney and Nickelodeon, and briefly in a girl group called The Stunners. But then, she started her career as a solo artist. In 2015, she put out the EP This Side of Paradise, and one of the songs on it was “Girls Like Girls.” She co-wrote it with Lily May-Young and Owen Thomas, and it was produced by James Flannigan. Hayley co-directed the music video for it, and when the song and the video came out, it was an absolute phenomenon. It became a lesbian anthem; Rolling Stone named it one of the most inspiring LGBTQ songs of all time. Hayley’s legion of fans gave her the nickname “Lesbian Jesus.” In 2023, Hayley adapted the song into a bestselling coming-of-age novel. And in June 2026, she made her feature film directorial debut, with the movie adaptation of “Girls Like Girls.” So for this episode, Hayley and I talked about how it all started with the making of that song.
You can buy or stream “Girls Like Girls” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
NSYNC
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio, and M83
Imogen HeapThe post Episode 316: Hayley Kiyoko appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Faceshopping” by SophieLISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSMy guest today is the actor Tatiana Maslany. One of the things I find so compelling about Tatiana and her career is that the roles that she plays often contain multitudes—literally. She played over 10 different characters-clones, but with distinct personalities-in the TV show Orphan Black. And in the Marvel Universe, she played She-Hulk, who also had the very different alter ego of Jennifer Walters, a lawyer. And right now, she’s starring in the show Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed on AppleTV. When Tatiana prepares for her roles—and the roles within the roles—she often uses music to inspire and motivate her. Today, I got to talk to Tatiana about a song that’s been really important to her and her process. And that song is “Faceshopping” by Sophie.
If you’re not aware of Sophie’s music, she was an incredible, groundbreaking electronic artist from the UK. She was trans, and she passed away far too young, in 2021. But even in a short time, she made a big impact. In addition to her own music, she also produced tracks for Charli XCX, and Madonna, and more. In 2018, she released her breakthrough Grammy-nominated album, Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides, which dealt a lot with her trans identity. And that’s the album that has the song “Faceshopping.”
You can buy or stream “Faceshopping” by Sophie here.
footnotes:
BIPP by Sophie
Beastie Boys, “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio, and “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” by C+C Music Factory
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Streets, Dizzee Rascal, and Prodigy
System of a Down
The post Key Change: Tatiana Maslany appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Ripples in a Pond”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSPaul McCartney is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer whose career spans more than six decades. As a member of The Beatles and later Wings and then his own solo albums, he’s simply one of the most influential artists of all time. In May 2026, he released his twentieth solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane. He co-produced it with Andrew Watt, who won the 2021 Grammy for Producer of the Year, and whose credits include working with Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones, Justin Bieber, and Elton John. For this episode, I spoke to Paul McCartney about how he wrote and recorded his song “Ripples in a Pond.”
You can buy or stream “Ripples in a Pond” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Steve Orchard – engineer
“Yesterday” by The Beatles
John LennonThe post Episode 315: Paul McCartney appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Boy From School”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSHot Chip is a band from London made up of Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. Their second album, The Warning, came out in 2006. It was nominated for a Mercury Prize, and named one of the best albums of the year by NME and Pitchfork. And later, NME would include it in their list of best albums of all time. For this episode, I talked to them about one of the songs from The Warning called “Boy From School.” You might have heard it in the second season of the show Beef on Netflix—the band’s also in the show—or you might have heard it on The Simpsons. You could have also heard the song in my car all the time in 2006. So I was very excited to talk to Alexis and Joe from Hot Chip about how “Boy from School” was made.
You can buy or stream “Boy From School” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Elliott School
Basement Jaxx
Casio MT-70 keyboard
Vox Electric Piano
Cubase and the Roland TR-909
“Deceptacon” by Le Tigre (+ The DFA remix)
James Murphy, Tim Goldsworthy, and The DFA
“Is It All Over My Face?” by Loose Joints
Pet Sounds by The Beach BoysThe post Episode 314: Hot Chip appeared first on Song Exploder.
‘69 Love Songs’ by The Magnetic FieldsLISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSMy guest today is the bestselling author Emma Straub. Her books include This Time Tomorrow, Modern Lovers, The Vacationers, and more. And with her husband, Michael Fusco, she co-owns the beautiful Brooklyn bookstore Books Are Magic.
I’m so thrilled to have her on because, not only is she a wonderful writer, but Key Change is a series about music fandom and identity. And Emma’s newest novel American Fantasy is also about music fandom and identity. That story is set on a cruise ship centered around a nineties boy band and their fans.
But today, Emma’s going to tell me her story about her own relationship with the music of the Magnetic Fields. Stephin Merritt from the Magnetic Fields was just named one of the greatest living American songwriters by the New York Times, and Emma’s introduction to their music was their 1999 triple album, 69 Love Songs.
You can buy or stream 69 Love Songs by the Magnetic Fields here.
footnotes:
Claudia Gonson
LD Beghtol
Future Bible Heroes, The Gothic Archies
“Epitaph For My Heart,” “Long-Forgotten Fairytale,” “Grand Canyon,” “The Book of Love,” “It’s Only Time,” and “Walking My Gargoyle”
Emma Straub’s Magnetic Fields tour blogThe post Key Change: Emma Straub appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Crystalised”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSThe xx formed in 2005, when they were still in high school. They signed to the UK label Young, and put out their first album in 2009. It won the prestigious Mercury Prize, and was named one of the best albums of the year by Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and more. Since then, the Guardian has named it one of the best albums of the 21st century. This year, the three band members, Romy Croft, Oliver Sim, and Jamie xx played together as The xx for the first time in 8 years. I spoke to them in between the weekends at Coachella, where they were opening their sets with the song “Crystalised.” It’s the first song they ever released, back in April 2009, when the lineup also included Baria Qureshi on guitar. I spoke to Romy, Jamie and Oliver, here at my studio, about how they first found each other, and how they made “Crystalised.”
You can buy or stream “Crystalised” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Rodaidh McDonald – engineer
Portishead, Mazzy Star, and The Cure
Akai MPC
Hammerhead Rhythm StationThe post Episode 313: The xx appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Alibi”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSAlynda Segarra is a singer songwriter from the Bronx. They formed Hurray for the Riff Raff in 2007, and since then, they’ve released 8 albums. Their most recent is The Past Is Still Alive, which came out in 2024. It was named one of the best albums of the year in the New York Times, the Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, and The Atlantic, and Pitchfork called it one of the best albums of the decade so far. For this episode, I spoke to Alynda about the first track on the album, “Alibi.”
You can buy or stream “Alibi” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Brad Cook – producer
Yan Westerlund – drums
Phil Cook – guitar
Life on Earth – Hurray for the Riff Raff’s 7th album
Dolly PartonThe post Episode 312: Hurray for the Riff Raff appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Abracadabra”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSLady Gaga is a singer, songwriter, producer, and actress from New York. She’s one of the biggest artists in the world. She’s also won 14 Grammys, 2 Golden Globes, and an Oscar. And in March 2025, she released her sixth album, Mayhem. For this episode, I talked to her about a song from that album called “Abracadabra.” She co-wrote it and co-produced it with Andrew Watt and Cirkut, and they recorded it in Rick Rubin’s studio, Shangri-La. That’s also where we recorded the interview for this episode.
You can buy or stream “Abracadabra” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Paul LaMalfa – engineer
Iron MaidenThe post Episode 300: Lady Gaga appeared first on Song Exploder.
“I See a Darkness” by Bonnie “Prince” BillyLISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSMy guest today is Chef David Chang. He founded Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2004. That was just the start of his incredible career – he’s opened several restaurants, winning awards and Michelin stars along the way, and becoming a fixture in the upper echelon of food. He’s the host of the Netflix shows Ugly Delicious and Dinner Time Live, as well as his own podcast, The Dave Chang Show. For this episode, I talked to Dave about the song “I See a Darkness.” It’s the title track on the album by Bonnie “Prince” Billy, aka Will Oldham, which came out in 1999. Later, Johnny Cash would cover “I See a Darkness” in 2000, as a duet with Will Oldham, as part of Johnny Cash’s acclaimed American series.
You can get Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s “I See a Darkness” on vinyl or digital here.
footnotes:
Anthony Bourdain
The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon
Darkness Visible by Will Styron
Eat a Peach by David Chang
I See a Darkness – the album by Bonnie “Prince” BillyThe post Key Change: David Chang appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Nettles”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSHayden Anhedönia has been making music under the name Ethel Cain since 2019. But it’s not just a band name or a moniker; Ethel Cain is a fictional character, a sort of alter ego that Hayden’s been creating and world building around throughout her albums. The first Ethel Cain album, Preacher’s Daughter, came out in 2022. It ended up blowing up, and it made Hayden the first openly trans artist with an album in the top ten on the Billboard chart. In 2025, she put out the second Ethel Cain album, called Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You. For this episode, I talked to Hayden about how she made the song “Nettles.” As you’re about to hear, it took on a lot of different forms, over several years, before she got to the final version.
You can buy or stream “Nettles” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Steven Colyer
Bryan De Leon – drums
Cigarettes After Sex and Beach House
Muscle ShoalsThe post Episode 299: Ethel Cain appeared first on Song Exploder.
“People Watching”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSSam Fender is a singer and songwriter from the town of North Shields in England. He won the Brit Award for Best Rock/Alternative Act twice. His most recent album is called People Watching, and just like his first two albums, it went to #1 on the UK album charts. To help produce the album, Sam enlisted Adam Granduciel, the singer and frontman of the Grammy-winning band The War On Drugs. For this episode, I talked to Sam, and his bandmate Joe Atkinson, about the title track from People Watching, and the long journey that it took to get made, from Sam’s kitchen, to the Hollywood Hills, to Abbey Road.
You can buy or stream “People Watching” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Annie Orwin
Brooke Bentham – backing vocals
Dru Michael – drums
Dean Thompson – lead guitar
Mark Webb – trumpet
Johnny ‘Bluehat’ Davis – tenor sax
Jon Natchez– baritone sax
Rosie Danvers – strings arranger
Sleeper Sounds
Tom Petty
Billy Connolly
Check out the Perfume Genius episode to learn more about the binaural mic
Lost in the Dream – The War On Drugs
Dancing in the Dark – Bruce SpringsteenThe post Episode 298: Sam Fender appeared first on Song Exploder.
“I Love You Always Forever” by Donna LewisLISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSMy guest today is Jia Tolentino. Jia is the author of the essay collection Trick Mirror, which was named one of the best books of 2019 by The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Paris Review, and more. She won a National Magazine Award for her work at The New Yorker, where she’s been a staff writer since 2016. Her writing covers so many different topics, from Roe v. Wade, to the internet, to pop culture and music. And today, we’re going to talk about the 1996 pop hit “I Love You Always Forever” by Donna Lewis.
You can buy or stream “I Love You Always Forever” here.
footnotes:
Addison Rae
Jewel
Mariah Carey
The Spice Girls
Alfonso Cuarón’s A Little Princess
Pocahontas
Mario Kart Rainbow Road
Neon Gold
The Hairpin
Emma Carmichael
Whitney Houston
“Sorry” – Justin Bieber
“Teenage Dream” – Katy Perry (produced by Max Martin)
“Run Away With Me” – Carly Rae Jepsen
“Pink Pony Club” – Chappell Roan
“Shake it Off” – Taylor Swift
Olivia RodrigoThe post Key Change: Jia Tolentino appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Sugar, We’re Goin Down”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSFall Out Boy is a band from Chicago that formed in 2001. Their first album, Take This To Your Grave, was a hit, especially in the punk rock world. When they put out their second album, though, in 2005, that was on a whole other scale. That album is called From Under the Cork Tree, and it went double platinum, and they were nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist. For this episode, I talked to the band’s singer, Patrick Stump, about how they made their breakout hit from that album, the song “Sugar, We’re Goin Down.”
You can buy or stream “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Pete Wentz – bass
Joe Trohman – guitar
Andy Hurley – drums
Neal Avron – producer
Fueled by Ramen and Island Records
The Blue Meanies
Yogi Berra
Sean O’Keefe
Mike Fasano
November Rain – Guns N’ Roses
Knockout
TRL (Total Request Live) on MTVThe post Episode 297: Fall Out Boy appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Sailor Song”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSGigi Perez is a singer and songwriter from Florida, and at 25 years old, she’s already had so many ups and downs in her music career. She started sharing her songs on TikTok, where they got enough attention that she got signed to a major label deal, but that ultimately didn’t pan out. Soon after that, as an independent artist again, she had her biggest breakout hit, with “Sailor Song.” She released it in July 2024, and it went viral on TikTok. Now, it has over a billion streams on Spotify alone, and it’s a part of her new album, which came out in April 2025. In this episode, you’ll hear how the song evolved, from her first voice memo to the final version, which she recorded in her childhood bedroom. I talked to Gigi about how “Sailor Song” came about, and about all the different parts of herself that she put into it—her faith, grief, desire, and more.
You can buy or stream “Sailor Song” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Noah Weinman – co-producer
Anne Hathaway, The Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada
Splice SoundsThe post Episode 296: Gigi Perez appeared first on Song Exploder.
The ‘Rushmore’ SoundtrackLISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPS Jason Schwartzman, actor, songwriter, and musician, talks about how the soundtrack to Rushmore—his first film—changed his life. I met Jason briefly in 2017, as he was leaving the room where I was supposed to interview the band Phoenix. I was shocked when he stopped on his way out to tell me he loved Song Exploder. Eight years later, I reached out to him to see if he’d want to be a guest on Key Change, and we ended up talking for almost two hours, just on the phone. By the time he came over to record, I felt like I’d met a kindred spirit who’d also been cataloguing his whole life through the songs he’d encountered along the way. The fact that we got to talk about one of my favorite movies, Rushmore, made the experience even more meaningful and thrilling for me.
You can buy or stream the Rushmore soundtrack here.
footnotes:
Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
Phantom Planet is Missing – Phantom Planet
Davia Nelson of The Kitchen Sisters
Pinkerton – Weezer
The Kinks
“A Quick One, While He’s Away” – The Who
“Making Time” – The Creation
“Rue St. Vincent”
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
“Puttin’ on the Ritz” – TacoThe post Key Change: Jason Schwartzman appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Iris”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSGoo Goo Dolls formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, and by the time 1998 rolled around, they’d already had a pretty successful career. They’d released five albums, and one of their songs, “Name,” from 1995, had become a Top 10 hit. But things really changed for them when they made the song “Iris.” It originally came out on the soundtrack for the movie City of Angels, which came out in 1998 and starred Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan.
“Iris” spent a record-breaking 18 weeks at number one on the radio, and became one of the best selling songs of all time, with over 14 million copies sold, and over 4.5 billion streams. So for this episode, John Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls came over to my place and he told me about how he wrote the song. He told me how the Grammy-winning producer Rob Cavallo helped them expand their vision, and how the version of the song in the movie isn’t actually the version that everybody knows.
You can buy or stream “Iris” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Robby Takac – co-writer
Tim Pierce – mandolin and guitar
Jamie Muhoberac – keyboard
Producer Rob Cavallo is also interviewed in Green Day’s Song Exploder episode about the song “Basket Case”
David Campbell – string arranger
Jack Joseph Puig – recording engineer
Danny Bramson
Wings of Desire
Bob Dylan
Soul Asylum, The Replacements, and R.E.M.
Iris Dement
Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” – Smashing Pumpkins
U2, Peter Gabriel, and Alanis MorissetteThe post Episode 295: Goo Goo Dolls appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Free”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSLittle Simz is a rapper from England who put out her first album in 2015. She’s won the Mercury Prize, a Brit Award, and three MOBO awards. She also starred in the Netflix series Top Boy. Her most recent album is called Lotus. It came out in June 2025, and it followed a pretty tumultuous time in her career. For this episode, I got to talk to Little Simz about one of the songs from that album, called “Free,” along with Miles Clinton James, who produced the track.
You can buy or stream “Free” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Alex Bonfanti – co-writer and bass player
Rosie Danvers – string arranger
Conversations With God
All About Love
The Kinks
Jackson Five
RAK studiosThe post Episode 294: Little Simz appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Drop Dead/Celebration” by Siouxsie and the BansheesLISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSMy guest today is Shirley Manson. Since 1994, she’s been the lead singer of the band Garbage, and she is a bona fide rock icon. The two of us worked together on a different podcast called The Jump, which Shirley hosted and I helped produce. It was a dream of mine to get Shirley as the host of that podcast, partly because, as you’re about to hear, she has one of the greatest voices, and I could listen to her talk about anything. And so I’m especially excited to listen to her today tell me about a song that changed her life.
You can buy or stream “Drop Dead/Celebration” here.
footnotes:
“Happy House” – Siouxsie and the Banshees
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Top of the Pops
Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie
“Felt” – Garbage
Kurt Cobain
Steve Marker
John Lennon
The Cure
“Suffocate Me” – Angelfish
David Bowie
Iggy Pop
Madonna
Let All That We Imagine Be The Light – GarbageThe post Key Change: Shirley Manson appeared first on Song Exploder.
“4 Degrees”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSAnohni is a singer and songwriter originally from England, who started putting out music in 2000. She’s released 6 albums, and won the Mercury Prize. She’s also been nominated for two Brit Awards, and an Oscar. For this episode, I talked to her about the song “4 Degrees,” from her 2016 album, Hopelessness. It might be strange to describe a song about climate change as an anthem, but that’s what I think it is, and it feels more urgent with every passing year. It’s also one of my most listened-to songs. It was produced by two of my favorite electronic musicians: Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never, and Ross Birchard, aka Hudson Mohawke. I got to speak to Ross about how he started the track on his own, before it became a collaboration between the three of them. This is an episode that I’ve been trying to make happen since 2016. Here it is.
You can buy or stream “4 Degrees” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
“Hope There’s Someone”
“Indian Steps”
Synplant
The impact of 4°C global warming
Oneohtrix Point Never on Song ExploderThe post Episode 293: Anohni appeared first on Song Exploder.
“How to Write One Song”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSIn June 2024, I got to go to the Solid Sound Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts, which is organized by the band Wilco. I performed some of my new songs, and I got to interview Jeff Tweedy, the lead singer of Wilco, on stage as part of the festival. Jeff, in addition to being in Wilco and the band Tweedy, and putting out his solo albums, has also written three books. And this conversation was focused on his second book, which is called How to Write One Song. And even though it’s called How to Write One Song, I think it actually contains a lot of insight about creativity in general, and life in general. I’ve recommended it to friends of mine who aren’t songwriters. And, as you’ll hear, the conversation gets pretty personal for me, because I got so much out of the book personally. It helped me with some of the blocks that I’d been facing in my own songwriting, at a pretty profound level. And when I was listening back to this recording, I’d kind of forgotten about how much I put out there in front of Jeff and the thousands of people who were there watching. But I’m glad the conversation was recorded, partly just so I could revisit it, but also so that I could share it here on Song Exploder. I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.
You can buy How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy here (via Bookshop.org) or here (via Amazon) or on Wilco’s website.
You can listen to the Wilco episode of Song Exploder here. I also interviewed Jeff along with his son Spencer, who is also his bandmate in Tweedy, about their relationship and musical partnership, for an episode of my podcast Partners. You can listen to that here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes
George Saunders
Jill Schwartzman – Jeff’s editor
Tom Schick – Wilco producer/mixer/engineer
Mark Greenberg – studio manager at Wilco’s Loft
Star Wars – Wilco album
The post Special Episode: Jeff Tweedy appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Everybody Wants To Rule The World”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSTears for Fears is a duo formed in 1981 in Bath, England by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. They’ve sold over 30 million albums, starting with their first, The Hurting, which went to number one in the UK. But it was their second album, Songs from the Big Chair, that made them international stars. It came out in 1985, and had huge singles like “Shout” and “Head Over Heels.” But their biggest hit is “Everybody Wants to Rule The World.” It won Best Single at the BRIT Awards in 1986, and it’s been streamed over 2 billion times. So I talked to the two of them about how they, along with their producer Chris Hughes and keyboard player Ian Stanley, made a song that would help define the sound of the 80s.
You can buy or stream “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Neil Taylor – guitar solo
Jimmy Page
“Then Came the Last Days of May” by Blue Öyster Cult
Peter Gabriel
Culture Club
“The Way You Are”
“Mothers Talk”
“Waterfront” by Simple Minds
Cabasa
LinnDrum
“Throw Away the Key” by Linx
David Bates
Phonogram Inc.
“The Primal Scream” by Arthur Janov
Union Studios in Munich
Massey HallThe post Episode 292: Tears for Fears appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Still Bad”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSLizzo is a Grammy- and Emmy-winning singer, rapper, songwriter, and actress. She’s been putting out music since 2013, and her last two albums both went platinum. Her fifth album, Love In Real Life, comes out this summer. For this episode, I talked to Lizzo, as well as her longtime collaborator, Grammy-winning producer Ricky Reed, about the making of one of her new songs, “Still Bad.” It wasn’t a straightforward process at all, and coming up, you’ll hear a few of the many, many demos they made on their way to the final song.
You can buy or stream “Still Bad” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Blake Slatkin – co-writer and co-producer
Sam Harris – co-writer
Cheche Alara – piano
Victor Indrizzo – drums
Britney Spears
Big Grrrl Small World
Aretha Franklin
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Lizzo is set to play Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the upcoming biopicThe post Episode 291: Lizzo appeared first on Song Exploder.
“You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSJake Lenderman plays and records under the name MJ Lenderman. He put out his first album in 2019. In addition to his solo work, he’s been a member of the band Wednesday, and he’s also featured on the Waxahatchee hit song “Right Back to It.” In September 2024, the fourth MJ Lenderman album came out. It’s called Manning Fireworks. The New Yorker named it the best album of the year, and Stereogum, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork all put it in their top ten. For this episode, I talked to Jake about one of the songs from that album, called “You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In.” The song itself took shape in a few different ways. Coming up, you’ll hear the way the song started as a demo, and then how that got fleshed out, and then how it got rebuilt, and then how Jake completely reimagined the whole thing.
You can buy or stream “You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Karly Hartzman – vocals
Alex Farrar – engineer and co-producer
Landon George – upright bass
Colin Miller – slide banjo
Shane McCord – clarinet
Patterning app
The Hulk
Boat Songs
Marshall half stack
“The Shape I’m In” – The Band
“You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In” – version featured on Through The Soil IIThe post Episode 290: MJ Lenderman appeared first on Song Exploder.
Theodore Shapiro – Severance (Main Title Theme)LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSThe TV show Severance debuted on Apple TV+ in February 2022. It was created by writer Dan Erickson, and developed into a series by director and executive producer Ben Stiller. He directed the pilot and most of the episodes. After the first season came out, Severance was nominated for 14 Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series, and it won two Emmys: for Main Title Design and for Musical Composition. I love this show, and the main title sequence is incredible. I was so excited to get to talk to the composer, Theodore Shapiro, about how he made the main title theme music. In this episode, you’ll hear how that theme first came into existence in a totally different form, and then, how Teddy re-imagined it to become the final version.
You can buy or stream the Severance main title theme here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Rob Moose and Gabriel Cabezas – strings
Oliver Latta aka Extraweg – main title design
Theodore Shapiro and Ben Stiller had previously worked together on Dodgeball, Tropic Thunder, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Zoolander 2
Adam Scott
Temp track
Moog Model D
Bobby McFerrinThe post Episode 289: Severance appeared first on Song Exploder.
“In Love With A Memory (feat. Clairo)”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSSasami is a singer, songwriter and producer who grew up in Los Angeles. But now she’s based in Northern California, and as you’ll hear in this episode, that’s significant. Sasami went to school for classical French horn. She was in the band Cherry Glazerr, and she’s had a lot of collaborations with other artists on their projects and her own. Collaboration is at the heart of the song that I talked to her about for this episode. It’s called “In Love with a Memory,” and it features Clairo on vocals, and it was co-produced with Grammy-winning producer Rostam. The song is on Sasami’s third album, Blood on the Silver Screen, which is out March 2025. Coming up, you’ll hear the original voice memos that she recorded for this song back in the fall of 2022. You’ll also hear the demo she made in Garageband after that, and then how she and Rostam turned that demo into the final version, a duet with Clairo.
You can buy or stream “In Love With A Memory” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Graham Brooks – guitarist
Drew Tachine – drummer
Squeeze – Sasami’s second album
David Lynch
GarageBand software
Haim
Licorice Pizza
Hand Habits and King Tuff
Thelma & LouiseThe post Episode 288: Sasami appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSKevin Barnes started of Montreal in 1996 in Athens, Georgia. The Sunlandic Twins came out in 2005; it was their seventh album. And I remember when that album came out, how it felt like they were suddenly everywhere. And the breakout song from that breakout album was “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games.” And so, for this episode, I spoke to Kevin Barnes about how that song came together, and what it meant to them then, and what it means to them now.
You can buy or stream “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Satanic Panic in the Attic – of Montreal’s 2004 album
Reason software, Cubase software
Prince and Duran Duran
Bryan Poole – former of Montreal band member
Ray Davies and The Kinks
Edward Gorey, Tristan and Isolde, Oedipus
Afrobeat and Fela Kuti
PointillismThe post Episode 287: of Montreal appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Symphony”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSYola is a singer/songwriter and actress. She released her solo debut album in 2019, which was nominated for 4 Grammys, including Best New Artist and Best Americana Album, and Rolling Stone named it one of the best country albums of the year. But the thing is, Yola’s music career wasn’t new, and her background wasn’t in country music. She’s from Bristol in the UK, and starting back in the early 2000s, she was a vocalist recording tracks for DJs and electronic music producers. And so, in January 2025, Yola put out an EP called My Way. And as you’ll hear her explain in this episode, a lot of her new music is motivated by wanting to assert her identity beyond the Americana and country music boundaries. In addition to her music, she’s also acting – she played Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the 2022 film Elvis, and she starred on Broadway in the musical Hadestown. For this episode, I talked to Yola about her song “Symphony,” along with co-writer and co-producer Sean Douglas. Yola and Sean trace the journey of the song “Symphony,” and, along with it, Yola traces her own journey, too.
You can buy or stream “Symphony” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
The PRVLG – collaborators
Zach Skelton – co-producer
Howard Artis – drummer
Divinity Roxx – bassist
Broken beat
Bugz in the Attic
Shania Twain
Dolly Parton
Hip Hop 50
Parliament-Funkadelic
Rhodes piano
Gold-Diggers
James Brown
The post Episode 286: Yola appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Deceptacon”
LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSLe Tigre originally formed in 1998. They released their self-titled debut album in October 1999. Spin Magazine called it one of the best albums of the past 30 years, and Pitchfork called it one of the best albums of the 90s. I listened to that album a lot when it came out, and 25 years later, I still hear songs from it everywhere, on TV and in movies, and just out in the world – especially the song “Deceptacon.” For this episode, I talked to Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman from Le Tigre about how they wrote it, and how they put the track together.
You can buy or stream “Deceptacon” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Chris Stamey – producer
Bikini Kill
The Julie Ruin
The Go-Go’s
Slim Moon
Drumatix drum machine
Land of the Loops
Atari Teenage Riot
Ensoniq Mirage
Tascam 8-track tape recorder
Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” demo
Kim Gordon
Joan Jett
Kenny Laguna
Tommy James and the Shondells
The Shangri-Las
Alesis HR-16B
The dB’s
Diana Ross
“YMCA”
“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”The post Episode 282: Le Tigre appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Our House”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSIn 1968, singer and songwriter Graham Nash joined David Crosby and Stephen Stills to form the supergroup Crosby, Stills and Nash. All of them had already been in successful bands: Graham Nash had been in The Hollies; David Crosby was in The Byrds; and Stephen Stills was in Buffalo Springfield. The next year, Neil Young joined them, to make Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The four of them released Deja Vu in 1970, and that album was a huge success. It sold over 8 million copies. It includes the song “Our House,” and for this episode, I spoke to Graham Nash about the making of that song, and the relationship that led to the song.
You can buy or stream “Our House” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Dallas Taylor – drums
Greg Reeves – bass
Joni Mitchell
Chateau Laurier
The Everly Brothers
“You Don’t Have to Cry”
Wally Heider StudiosThe post Episode 281: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Piece By Piece”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSPharrell Williams is—well, let me just say, he’s a big reason why Song Exploder exists. He’s a singer, songwriter and producer, and in the 90s, when I first heard the work he was doing with The Neptunes, which was his production duo with Chad Hugo, it blew my mind. It made me want to know where those sounds came from and where those ideas came from. Pharrell has won 13 Grammys. He’s been nominated for two Oscars. He’s produced iconic songs for Kendrick Lamar and Britney Spears and Clipse and Gwen Stefani, and so many others. And on his own, he’s made songs like “Happy,” the giant hit for Despicable Me that was the best-selling song of 2014. And now, there’s a movie about his life called Piece by Piece. But it’s an animated Lego film. For this episode, I talked to Pharrell about the title song from Piece By Piece. So coming up, you’ll hear how Pharrell built the song, including a first draft that never saw the light of day. You’ll hear how he first built “Piece by Piece” by programming it on his own with MIDI instruments, and then adding and replacing those parts with other musicians, including the high school marching band that he used to play in.
You can buy or stream “Piece by Piece” here.
For the Song Exploder episode with Run The Jewels about the song “JU$T,” which features backing vocals from Pharrell, click here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Brent Paschke – guitar
Princess Ann High School Fabulous Marching Cavaliers
“Beautiful” – Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell Williams
The scorpion jacket that Ryan Gosling wears in the movie Drive
1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
Logic Pro
Clavichord
The post Episode 280: Pharrell Williams appeared first on Song Exploder.
“One Of Your Girls”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSTroye Sivan is a singer and songwriter from Australia. He’s been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Grammys, and he’s won four of Australia’s ARIA awards. His song “My My My!” was a #1 hit on the Billboard Dance Chart, and his third album, Something to Give Each Other, was one of Billboard’s picks for the best albums of 2023. Troye’s also an actor; he was in the HBO series The Idol, which figures into the story that he tells about this song. Troye came to the studio and we talked about how he made one of his big hits, the song “One of Your Girls.” For that song, he worked with two of his longtime collaborators: his frequent songwriting partner, Leland, and producer Oscar Görres.
You can buy or stream “One Of Your Girls” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Max Martin – synth
Adele
Lady Gaga
Marabou
Daft Punk
“One Of The Girls”
The Weeknd
Backstreet Boys
“Baby One More Time”
1989
“Bloom”The post Episode 279: Troye Sivan appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Coming Home”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSBeabadoobee is an award-winning singer and songwriter from England who’s been releasing music since 2017. Her third album is called This Is How Tomorrow Moves. It came out in August 2024 and went to #1 on the UK charts. She made the album with her bandmate Jacob Bugden and with producer Rick Rubin at his studio, Shangri-La, in Malibu. And for this episode, I talked to Bea about a song from that album called “Coming Home.”
You can buy or stream “Coming Home” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Luca Caruso – piano
CJ Camerieri – trumpet
Thompson Hollywood
Taylor Swift
“The Wedding Singer”
The Beatles AnthologyThe post Episode 278: Beabadoobee appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Soup”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSRemi Wolf is a singer and songwriter originally from Palo Alto, California. She’s been releasing music since 2019. She performed at Coachella in 2023, and has toured with Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, and Paramore. Her second album, Big Ideas, came out in July 2024. I talked to Remi about how she and her collaborators wrote and produced the song “Soup.” How they used 80s gear to make 80s sounds, and how a fun anthem quickly turned into something pretty vulnerable.
You can buy or stream “Soup” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
solomonophonic – co-writer, bass
Knox Fortune – co-writer, synth
Carter Lang – producer
“Walking on a Dream”
Electric Lady Studios
DrumTraks
Korg M1
OB-8The post Episode 277: Remi Wolf appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Stay With Me”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSSam Smith is a Grammy and Oscar-winning singer and songwriter from London, England. Their first album, In the Lonely Hour, came out in 2014. It went quintuple platinum in the US, and the biggest hit from that album is the song “Stay With Me,” which has over 2 billion streams on Spotify alone. For this episode, in honor of the song’s 10th anniversary, I talked to Sam about how “Stay With Me” was made. I also talked to Sam’s frequent collaborator, Jimmy Napes, who is an award-winning producer and songwriter as well. The two of them tell the story of how the song began, and how it turned into the hit that it became. And then, years later, how it changed again.
You can buy or stream “Stay With Me” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Tourist – co-writer, piano, organ
Earl Harvin – drums, percussion
Simon Hale – strings arranger, conductor
Jodi Milliner – bass
Elvin Smith
“Lay Me Down”
Disclosure
“Latch”
RAK StudiosThe post Episode 276: Sam Smith appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Lights Light Up”LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSFenne Lily is a singer and songwriter from Dorset, England. She released her first album in 2018, but I didn’t find her music until 2023, when she put out her third album, Big Picture. The album she released in between those two was one that got a little lost in the lockdown, when all her touring plans around it got canceled. All of that plays into the story she tells in this episode, about making her song “Lights Light Up” from that third album. I spoke to Fenne in front of a live audience at WBUR CitySpace, in Boston. Coming up, you’ll hear how the song evolved across different versions of demos and then in the studio, where she recorded it with Grammy-nominated producer Brad Cook.
You can buy or stream “Lights Light Up” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Joe Sherrin – guitar
Kane Eagle – bass
James Luxton – drums
Phil Cook – keys
Lucy Dacus
Saint Cloud – Waxahatchee albumThe post Episode 275: Fenne Lily appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Don’t Dream It’s Over”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSCrowded House formed in 1985 in Melbourne, Australia. They’ve released eight albums, including their most recent one, Gravity Stairs, which came out last month. But on their very first album, they had a big hit with “Don’t Dream It’s Over.”
Crowded House made “Don’t Dream It’s Over” with Grammy-nominated producer Mitchell Froom, who they went on to work with multiple times. For this episode, I talked to frontman Neil Finn about how the song was first written, and how it developed with his bandmates and collaborators in the studio. And we talked about the profound connection people have had with the song over the years.
You can buy or stream “Don’t Dream It’s Over” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Paul Hester – drums
Nick Seymour – bass
Tim Pierce – guitar
Tim Finn invited Neil to join Split Enz after Phil Judd left the band
Roland Space Echo
Hammond organ
Capitol Studios
Jim Keltnerand Jerry Scheff played on “Now We’re Getting Somewhere”
Crowded House, Sydney Opera House, 1996
Ariana Grande, Manchester, 2017
U2, Las Vegas, 2024The post Episode 274: Crowded House appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Staying”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSLizzy McAlpine released her first album in 2020, and her second album in 2022. And between the two, she’s had a lot of success. One of her songs, “Ceilings,” was a viral TikTok hit, and has been streamed over half a billion times. So you might think, with all that success, you’d want to keep working in way that’s been working. But while Lizzy was making her third album, Older, after almost a year into the process of recording, she threw the whole thing out. She brought in a new band, and started over with a totally different approach. I talked to her about the song “Staying” from her new album. You’ll hear her original voice memos, as well as the first version she made in the studio, and then how it really came to life once she reimagined it.
You can buy or stream “Staying” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Mason Stoops – producer, guitar
Sam KS – drums
Michael “Libro” Libramento – bass
Tyler Nuffer – pedal steel
Ryan Richter – steel guitar
Taylor Mackall – piano, mellotron
The Japanese House – “One for sorrow, two for Joni Jones”The post Episode 273: Lizzy McAlpine appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Do You Realize??”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSThe Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983. Over the last four decades, they’ve put out 16 albums. In 1999, they put out their album The Soft Bulletin, and that brought them a new level of success. And then, in 2002, they followed it up with Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, which was their biggest album to date. Pitchfork named it one of the top 5 albums of the year, Stereogum called it one of the best albums of the decade, and they won a Grammy. And the biggest song from the album was “Do You Realize??” So, for this episode, I talked to Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd about how that song was first imagined. You’ll hear the very first demo Wayne recorded for the song, and the demo he and Steven put together later, on their way to making the final version with producer Dave Fridmann.
You can buy or stream “Do You Realize??” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
“We Can’t Predict The Future”
Mercury Rev
Jane’s Addiction
“Slow Motion” – Origin of the “Do You Realize??” drum fill
Adam Clayton fromU2The post Episode 272: The Flaming Lips appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Low Rider”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSThe band War formed in 1969, in Long Beach, California. “Low Rider” is from their 1975 album Why Can’t We Be Friends? The song was a hit as soon as it came out. It went to #1 on the Billboard R&B charts, and it’s just had tremendous lasting power ever since. Besides being in the movie Dazed and Confused, where I heard it, it’s been sampled by the Beastie Boys, it was covered by Korn, and it was the theme song for all six seasons of The George Lopez Show.
For this episode, I talked to War’s bandleader Lonnie Jordan, and their producer Jerry Goldstein. The two of them told me how “Low Rider” was made in the studio, through a combination of improvisation and meticulous editing.
You can buy or stream “Low Rider” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
“Low Rider” personnel: Lonnie Jordan, Papa Dee Allen, B.B. Dickerson, Charles Miller, Harold Brown, Howard Scott, and Lee Oskar
“Low Rider” as seen in the movie Dazed and Confused
Crystal Studios
Jerry Goldstein’s prior credits included “Hang on Sloopy” and “My Boyfriend’s Back”
Tito Puente
Lowrider cars
Stevie Wonder
Sound City Studios
“Low Rider” is sampled on “G.D.F.R.” by Flo Rida
Flavor FlavThe post Episode 271: War appeared first on Song Exploder.
“You’re Still The One”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Shania Twain is a singer and songwriter from Ontario, Canada. She’s the only female artist to have had three consecutive Diamond albums — albums that have each sold over ten million copies. Actually, her 1997 album Come On Over is the best-selling album by a female solo artist of all time. One of the most iconic songs from that iconic album is “You’re Still The One.” It was co-written and produced by Mutt Lange, who had previously produced some other classic albums, like AC/DC’s Back in Black and Def Leppard’s Pyromania. He had also produced Shania Twain’s previous album, The Woman in Me. For this episode, Shania told me the story of writing “You’re Still The One.” She told me about what the song meant to her when she was making it, over 25 years ago, and what it means to her now.
You can buy or stream “You’re Still The One” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Paul Leim – drums
John Hobbs – organ
Bruce Bouton – steel guitar
Mutt had also produced albums for Foreigner and The Cars
Shania’s childhood repertoire included Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and George JonesThe post Episode 270: Shania Twain appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Y.B.P.” (feat. Bruiser Wolf)
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Danny Brown started his career in 2007 by handing out mixtapes in Detroit, where he’s from. In 2011, he put out his acclaimed second album, XXX. Since then, he’s collaborated with rappers like Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky and JPEGMafia, but he’s also worked with electronic bands like Purity Ring and The Avalanches, and he did a verse on a remix for Korn.
When I first heard him, around when XXX came out, I was really drawn to his voice. And I also appreciated that, given how young so many artists are now when they get really famous, Danny Brown’s career really started taking off in his 30s. He put out his sixth album, Quaranta, in 2023. And for this episode, I talked to him about one of the songs from that album, called “Y.B.P.,” which features guest vocals from Bruiser Wolf.
You can buy or stream “Y.B.P.” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Skywlkr and Kassa Overall – producers
Bruiser’s verse mentions Rodney Peete, Barry Sanders, Isiah “Zeke” Thomas, Malice Green, Y.B.I., and Butch Jones
Blade Icewood, J Dilla, NellyThe post Episode 269: Danny Brown appeared first on Song Exploder.
“You Louisiana Man”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Rhiannon Giddens has released five solo albums since 2015. Before that, she was a member of the Grammy-winning band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. She is now also the artistic director of the Silkroad Ensemble, the musical supergroup that Yo-Yo Ma founded.
Rhiannon Giddens is one of those people where I feel like they have to start inventing new awards, because she’s already won all of them. She’s got multiple Grammys, she won the Pulitzer Prize for an opera she co-wrote called Omar, she’s a MacArthur Genius, and the new Beyonce song “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the one that features the banjo? That’s Rhiannon Giddens playing the banjo. (I guess that’s not technically an award, but it feels like one to me.)
In 2023, Rhiannon released an album called You’re the One, and I talked to her about the song she wrote called “You Louisiana Man,” which was nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Performance.
You can buy or stream “You Louisiana Man” here.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Jack Splash – producer
Niwel Tsumbu – acoustic guitar
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Contra dance (versus English country dance)
Freedom Highway
Fretless banjoThe post Episode 268: Rhiannon Giddens appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Basket Case”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Green Day is a punk band from the East Bay in California. Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool have playing music together since 1987. They’ve sold over 90 million records. They’ve won four Grammys, including twice for Best Rock Album. They put out their first album in 1990, and in 91, they put out their second album, Kerplunk!. And then they moved to a major label, and in 1994 they put out their third album, Dookie, which was huge. It helped bring punk into the mainstream. And this month is its 30th anniversary. So for this episode, I talked to Billie Joe Armstrong about the making of one of Green Day’s biggest hits of all time: “Basket Case.”
Coming up, you’ll also hear from Rob Cavallo, who produced the album. Plus you’ll hear two different demo versions of “Basket Case,” the first of which is basically a totally different song.
Billie Joe Amstrong traces the history of “Basket Case,” from its origins as a cassette recording in a punk basement, all the way to becoming a song that helped define an era of music.
You can buy or stream “Basket Case” here.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Andy Ernst’s studio, Art of Ears
Fantasy Studios
The Muffs’ self-titled albumThe post Episode 267: Green Day appeared first on Song Exploder.
“The District Sleeps Alone Tonight”
Deluxe Anniversary Edition
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSThe first episode of Song Exploder, about The Postal Service song “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight,” came out 10 years ago, in January 2014. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the podcast, we’re doing what bands do, and putting out a deluxe, expanded edition of our very first release: this version features a new interview, new insights, and new pieces of the song and demo.
The Postal Service formed in 2001. Their debut album came out in 2003, and it was a game changer. Their combination of electronic music and indie rock not only sold over a million copies; their songs were everywhere on TV and in film, and influenced a generation of artists. Last year, they played sold-out concerts across the US in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the album, and there are more shows to come in 2024. A few weeks ago, I spoke to Ben Gibbard, and I combined that with my original interview from 2013 with Jimmy Tamborello. And here, together, the two of them tell the story of how they made their song “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight.”
You can buy or stream “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” here.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Jenny Lewis, who sings backing vocals, was the singer of Rilo Kiley
Dntel – “(This is) The Dream of Evan and Chan”
Jimmy’s band Arca once played with Death Cab For Cutie at Spaceland in Los Angeles
Pedro Benito of Sunday’s Best and The Jealous Sound
Jimmy used a Macintosh Quadra to control his Kurzweil K2000 synth
Bjork – Homogenic
Black Cat – Music venue in Washington, D.C.
Audio-Technica 4033 – Microphone
Barsuk RecordsThe post Episode 266: The Postal Service appeared first on Song Exploder.
“The Teacher”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSFor the last episode of the year, I got the chance to drive up to Northridge, California, and have a conversation with Dave Grohl. We talked about the Foo Fighters song “The Teacher,” which is an epic, 10-minute long song. Dave told me it’s the most important piece of music he’s ever written, because it’s dedicated to his mother, Virginia, who passed away in 2022.
Dave Grohl started Foo Fighters in 1994, after Nirvana ended. This year, Foo Fighters set a record for having the most Top 10 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. They’ve won 15 Grammy awards, including winning the Grammy for Best Rock album five times — more than anyone else.
“The Teacher” is from their 11th album, But Here We Are, which came out in June 2023. I sat with Dave in the Foo Fighters practice space, and he told me the whole story of the song. Coming up, you’ll hear the two voice memos he originally recorded on acoustic guitar, plus the two demos he made on his way to figuring the song out.
You can buy or stream “The Teacher” here.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear, Rami Jaffee, Josh Freese
Greg Kurstin – Producer
Taylor HawkinsThe post Episode 265: Foo Fighters appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Escapism” (feat. 070 Shake)
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSRaye is a singer, songwriter and producer from London. Besides being an artist in her own right, she’s also been a songwriter for other artists since she was a teenager. She’s co-written songs for Beyoncé, Charli XCX, and Ellie Goulding. In 2023, she released her debut album, My 21st Century Blues. The first single, “Escapism,” became her first song to hit #1 in the UK. It’s gone platinum in the US, the UK, and seven other countries. It features guest vocals from 070 Shake. When she was here in LA on tour, I talked to Raye about how she made “Escapism.”
You can buy or stream “Escapism” here.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Mike Sabath – Co-writer, producer, programmer, synths, mellotron, strings arrangerThe post Episode 264: Raye appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Spirit 2.0”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSSampha is a singer, songwriter and producer from London. His first album, Process, won the Mercury Prize in 2017. He’s collaborated with artists like the XX, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and Solange. If you saw the Song Exploder Netflix show, Sampha was in the Alicia Keys episode, for the song they did together as a duet. This year, in October 2023, Sampha put out his second album, Lahai. And for this episode, I talked to Sampha about the song “Spirit 2.0.” Coming up, you’ll hear the original demo, and some early voice memos.
Sampha recruited some collaborators for the song, like producer Pablo Díaz-Reixa, aka El Guincho, who won a Grammy for his work on Rosalia’s first album; plus Yaeji; and Lisa Kaindé, from Ibeyi. But the song “Spirit 2.0” first took shape when Sampha was by himself, at home.
You can buy or stream “Spirit 2.0” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
El Guincho – Co-writer, co-producer, programmer
Owen Pallett – Arranger, conductor
Yussef Dayes – Drums
Yaeji – Additional vocals
Lisa Kaindé, from Ibeyi – Additional vocals
Oberheim OB-6
Moog Mother-32
Ngoni and Kora – West African instruments
Wassoulou music
“Sabu” by Oumou Sangaré, from her album Worotan
Kodwo Eshun – Writer on Ghanaian percussion taking architectural form
RAK Studios
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
In Conflict – Owen Pallett album featuring “The Passions”The post Episode 263: Sampha appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Liar”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSI think one of the hardest things there is to do in music is to write a love song that expresses something real. I read that the song “Liar” by Paramore was written by Hayley Williams, the singer of the band, about her longtime bandmate Taylor York, and about the feelings she started to realize she’d had for him. Paramore has been a band for over 20 years, since Hayley and Taylor and Zac Farro, who plays drums, were all young teenagers. Paramore’s won a Grammy for Best Rock Song, and they have multiple platinum albums. But with all that history, Taylor and Hayley only recently became a couple.
“Liar” is a song off of their most recent album, This Is Why, which came out in February 2023. So I talked to Hayley, Taylor and Zac in their studio about how their song first came about, and what it means to them.
You can buy or stream “Liar” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Brian Robert Jones – Bass
Henry Solomon – Flute, alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet
Carlos de la Garza – Engineer
Blonde Redhead
Cocteau TwinsThe post Episode 262: Paramore appeared first on Song Exploder.
Siddhartha Khosla – Only Murders in the Building (Main Title Theme) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS The “Skip Intro” button first got introduced to us through Netflix in 2017, and, I know, a lot of people use it – including me. But, […]
The post Episode 258: Only Murders in the Building appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Dark Days” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS It can be hard to be in a band, or really, in any kind of group where there’s creative collaboration, and you’re supposed to act like it’s a democracy. Because what do you […]
The post Episode 257: Local Natives appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Hell N Back” LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Bakar is a singer and songwriter from London. In 2018 he put out his first release, Badkid. A year later, he put out the EP, Will You Be My Yellow?, and this September, he’s releasing his second full-length album, Halo. One of Bakar’s tracks […]
The post Episode 256: Bakar appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Sister Tilly” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Natalie Merchant is an award-winning singer and songwriter from upstate New York. She was the lead singer of the band 10,000 Maniacs until she left in 1993. And then, as a solo artist, […]
The post Episode 255: Natalie Merchant appeared first on Song Exploder.
“In Lightning”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSFeist is a singer-songwriter from Canada. She put out her first solo album in 1999. She’s won 11 Juno awards, including two for Artist of the Year, and she has four Grammy nominations. She’s also been a member of the band Broken Social Scene since 2001.
In April 2023, Feist put out her sixth album, Multitudes. And for this episode, I talked to her about how she made the opening song from that album, called “In Lightning.”
You can buy or stream “In Lightning” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Robbie Lackritz – producer
Mocky – producer
Todd Dahlhoff – multi-instrumentalist
Amir Yaghmai – multi-instrumentalist
Shahzad Ismaily
Gabe Noel
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson
Michael Harris – engineer
Mike Mills – film director (and co-producer)
Banff Center for Arts and Creativity – location of Feist’s artist’s residency
Moog Rogue – synth
Key Change – Mocky recordThe post Episode 254: Feist appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Run” (feat. Bobby McFerrin)
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSMadison McFerrin is a singer, songwriter, and producer from New York. She’s sung with legends like Aretha Franklin, George Clinton, and De La Soul & The Roots. Madison’s first EP came out in 2016, and last week, she released her debut album, I Hope You Can Forgive Me. In the years between the EP and the album, Madison started producing her own music. It wasn’t really her plan, but something that developed over the course of the pandemic. For this episode, I talked to Madison about a song from her album called “Run.” It was inspired by Madison’s discovery that she’s the descendant of a woman who escaped slavery. And it features guest vocals from Madison’s father, Grammy-winner Bobby McFerrin.
You can buy or stream “Run” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
“Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd” – African-American folk song
JujuThe post Episode 253: Madison McFerrin appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Blue Monday”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSIn May 1980, the band Joy Division was devastated by the death of lead singer Ian Curtis. The three remaining band members, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris, decided they would keep making music together, and a few months later, Gillian Gilbert joined them. They called the band New Order.
New Order is one of the most influential bands of the last four decades. Their song “Blue Monday” came out in 1983, and it holds the record for being the best-selling 12-inch single of all time. Rolling Stone put “Blue Monday” on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and Pitchfork included it in its Top 5 Best Songs of the 1980s.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of “Blue Monday,” in this episode, New Order discusses how they created the song. This episode was produced in collaboration with Transmissions, the official New Order and Joy Division podcast produced by Cup & Nuzzle. We’ve put together this story out of the hours and hours of interviews they’ve recorded, along with a new interview I did with Peter Hook. As you’ll hear the four of them explain, nothing about Blue Monday’s success, or really even its existence, was something that they planned for.
You can buy or stream “Blue Monday” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
MOOG – synth
Britannia Row Studios
Shergold Marathon, Peter Hook’s 6-string bass
Ennio Morricone
Spaghetti Western
For a Few Dollars More – Clint Eastwood movie featuring music by Ennio Morricone
E-mu Emulator
Mellotron
Prophet-5 – synth
Rob Gretton – manager of Joy Division and New Order
The post Episode 252: New Order appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Passed Me By”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSYaeji is a singer, songwriter, and producer from New York. During her childhood, she moved between Queens, Atlanta, and Seoul. While she was at college in the States, she started DJing, and releasing her own music. That led to two EPs in 2017, and since then, she’s also done remixes for Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, and Robyn. Yaeji won the International Breakthrough Award at the AIM Awards in 2020. This week she’s releasing her debut album, With A Hammer.
For this episode, I talked to Yaeji about her song “Passed Me By.” She sings the song in Korean and English, and she told me how using both languages gives her a broader palette to express her ideas.
You can buy or stream “Passed Me By” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)
Waldorf Quantum – Synth
Konglish
The post Episode 251: Yaeji appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Kiss from a Rose”
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Seal is a multi-Grammy-winning singer and songwriter from England. His song “Kiss from a Rose” was first released in 1994, on his second album. It was a huge hit, thanks in part to being featured in the movie Batman Forever. It landed on the top ten charts in multiple countries, and eventually went quadruple platinum in the US. At the 1996 Grammys, it won Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
“Kiss from a Rose” becoming a hit was not a foregone conclusion, though. Seal almost didn’t record it. And when it was first released, it didn’t make much of a splash. But for this episode, Seal and his longtime collaborator, producer Trevor Horn, told me the story of what it took to bring “Kiss from a Rose” to life.
You can buy or stream “Kiss from a Rose” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
“Killer” – song by Adamski featuring vocals from Seal
ZTT Records
Propaganda
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
“Slave to the Rhythm” – Grace Jones song
Sarm Studios
Chris Bruce – guitarist
Jamie Muhoberac – keyboardist
Amp Fiddler – keyboardist
Harvey Mason – drummer
Charley Drayton – bassist
Betsy Cook
Bob Cavallo – Seal’s manager at the time
Joel Schumacher – film director
The post Episode 250: Seal appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Still”
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Kenny Beats is a hip-hop producer who’s been making beats and producing songs for other artists since 2010. He’s got a long list of collaborations, with rappers like Vince Staples, Freddie Gibbs, and Denzel Curry. In 2022, he did something he wasn’t really ever expecting to do, which was to release an album of his own. The album is called Louie, and it’s a tribute to Kenny’s father.
I talked to Kenny about the song “Still,” the first song he made specifically for this project. It features guest vocals from JPEGMafia and Omar Apollo, and a sample from gospel singer Linda Kemp. Louie includes a lot of tracks where you can hear Kenny’s dad’s voice, and even though “Still” isn’t one of them, as Kenny explains, his relationship with his dad is embedded in the song’s DNA.
You can buy or stream “Still” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Click here to purchase Louie on LP, CD, or cassette, and to see Kenny’s dad on the cover
Click here for Kenny’s YouTube series, The Cave
IDLES
Ramona Park Broke My Heart
The post Episode 249: Kenny Beats appeared first on Song Exploder.
“What I Want”
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MUNA is a trio from Los Angeles, made up of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson. They’ve been making music together since 2013, when they met in college. Their third album, which is self-titled, came out in 2022, and Rolling Stone, Stereogum, The Guardian, and others, named it one of the best albums of the year. Consequence of Sound called MUNA the 2022 Band of the Year.
I talked to MUNA about the song “What I Want,” which they co-wrote with Leland. Leland is an artist and songwriter whose other credits include Selena Gomez, Charli XCX, and Troye Sivan. In this episode, Katie, Jo, and Naomi, along with Leland, tell the story of how the song came together, from the original demo to the final version, and you’ll find out how a band that doesn’t really party ended up writing a party banger.
You can buy or stream “What I Want” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
footnotes:
Britney Spears’ “Toxic”
Shalom Harlow
Linda Evangelista
Naomi Campbell
The post Episode 248: MUNA appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Stick Season”
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LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPSNoah Kahan is a singer and songwriter from Strafford, Vermont. Last year, in 2022, he released Stick Season, his third record. The title track from that record went viral on TikTok when Noah was first writing it, and posting pieces of it. One of those videos has over 10 million plays. And as of this recording, on Spotify, the full song has almost 100 million streams.
For this episode, Noah talked to me about the process of making that song: What led him to first post half a song on TikTok, and what happened after that. You’ll hear the raw recordings off of his phone; the different drafts he made as he worked; you’ll hear the different versions he first shared on social media; and you’ll hear his bracingly honest appraisal of the winding path he took — in his life, and in his music — to get to where he is now.
You can buy or stream “Stick Season” here.
@noahkahanmusic This sucks and I feel guilty buying weed from high schoolers #foryoupage #foryou #depressedjasonmraz #prozackeanureeves ♬ original sound – Noah Kahan
@noahkahanmusic The chorus u requested #foryou #foryoupage #forjewpage #stickseason ♬ original sound – Noah Kahan
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Gabe Simon
Konrad Snyder
Counting Crows
Avett Brothers
Paul Simon
Appalachian Trail
The post Episode 247: Noah Kahan appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Let Me Be Great (feat. Angélique Kidjo)”
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Sampa the Great is a songwriter, rapper, and singer from Zambia. She was based in Australia for years, but came back to Zambia in 2020, shortly before the pandemic hit. When she couldn’t travel, she decided to make her next album there in Lusaka. The album is called As Above, So Below, and it was produced by Mag44. In this episode, Sampa the Great and Mag44 break down the closing song ““Let Me Be Great,” which features vocals from legendary West African singer Angélique Kidjo, winner of 5 Grammys and one of TIME‘s Most Influential People. I got to speak to Angélique Kidjo in her studio in Paris, and I spoke to Sampa the Great and Mag44 in Lusaka. Together, the three of them tell the story of how they made “Let Me Be Great.”
You can buy or stream “Let Me Be Great” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
NPR Tiny Desk Concerts
Watch Angélique Kidjo’s 2022 NPR Tiny Desk Concert, with a guest appearance from Sampa the Great, here
Fela Kuti
Kalindula
Lozi people
Afro-pop
Afrofuturism
Yoruba language
The post Episode 246: Sampa the Great appeared first on Song Exploder.
“This is a Life” (from Everything Everywhere All at Once)
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Everything Everywhere All at Once is a sci-fi comedy independent film that came out in the spring of 2022. It’s a huge hit that made over $100 million at the box office. It’s already been named the best movie of the year by several publications and awards organizations.
The movie stars the legendary actress Michelle Yeoh, and was directed by the Daniels, the directing duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. The score for the film is by the band Son Lux. In addition to the score, Son Lux also made the original song for the film’s end credits: “This is a Life,” featuring two prestigious guest vocalists: Mitski and David Byrne of the Talking Heads.
For this episode, I spoke to Ryan Lott from Son Lux, as well as the Daniels. Ryan tells the story of how the song was created, with his bandmates and Mitski and David Byrne and Daniels all adding to it and shaping it.
You can buy or stream “This is a Life” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes:
Listen to Mitski’s episode of Song Exploder here.
“My Heart Will Go On,” Celine Dion’s end credits song from Titanic
The post Episode 245: Son Lux (feat. Mitski & David Byrne) appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Never Forget” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Omah Lay is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and producer. He’s one of the young stars of Afrobeats, the West African genre that’s become a global phenomenon. His new album Boy Alone features a […]
The post Episode 244: Omah Lay appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Flightless Bird, American Mouth” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS In 2002, Sam Beam’s first album as Iron & Wine was released on Sub Pop Records. He’d given them a bunch of demos, and rather than have him […]
The post Episode 243: Iron & Wine appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Ushers of the New World” LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Santigold is a singer, songwriter, and producer. She’s put out 4 albums since 2008, and she’s been featured as a collaborator on songs with Jay-Z, Beastie Boys, Diplo, and more. In this episode, Santi takes apart her song “Ushers of the […]
The post Episode 242: Santigold appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Let Us Die” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS King Princess is the project of Mikaela Straus, a singer, songwriter, and producer from Brooklyn. She’s a platinum-selling artist, and she put out her second album in July, 2022. […]
The post Episode 241: King Princess appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Viva Las Vengeance” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Panic! at the Disco is the Grammy-nominated project of Brendon Urie, who originally started it as a band with his high school friends from Las Vegas in 2004. In the eighteen […]
The post Episode 240: Panic! At the Disco appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Hung Up” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Madonna is the best-selling female recording artist of all time. She has 12 albums that have gone multi-platinum. She’s won seven Grammys, and has had fifty songs reach number 1 on the […]
The post Episode 239: Madonna appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Move” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Kae Tempest is a songwriter, rapper, an award-winning poet, and best-selling novelist. They’ve been nominated for the UK’s Mercury Prize and Brit Award. Their most recent album is The Line is a Curve, […]
The post Episode 238: Kae Tempest appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Selfish Soul” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Sudan Archives is a singer, songwriter, producer, and violinist. She grew up in Cincinnati before moving to LA. Her music has been called “viscerally gorgeous” by The Guardian, and “stunning” by Pitchfork, […]
The post Episode 237: Sudan Archives appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Mona Lisa” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Maia from mxmtoon released her first EP in 2018. She was 18 and recorded it in her bedroom, and self-released it. It went on to be streamed over 100 million times. This […]
The post Episode 236: mxmtoon appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Go Easy, Kid” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Monica Martin is a singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Before that, she was based in Madison, Wisconsin, where she was part of the indie rock band Phox. She’s been […]
The post Episode 235: Monica Martin appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Humble Quest” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Maren Morris is a Grammy-winning, multi-platinum artist. She’s also won multiple country music awards, including CMAs for Female Vocalist of the Year, and Single of the Year in 2020, but her feelings […]
The post Episode 234: Maren Morris appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Never Gonna Give You Up” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Rick Astley is a singer and songwriter from England, whose debut single, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” became an international smash hit. The song came out in July 1987 […]
The post Episode 233: Rick Astley appeared first on Song Exploder.
“This Is a Photograph” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON· OTHER APPS Kevin Morby is a singer and songwriter based in Kansas City. He’s put out seven albums since 2013, including his most recent one, This Is a Photograph which just came […]
The post Episode 232: Kevin Morby appeared first on Song Exploder.
“Mohabbat” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS · SPOTIFY · OTHER APPS Arooj Aftab is a singer and composer based in Brooklyn. She grew up in Saudi Arabia, but her family is from Pakistan. And earlier this year, she made history by becoming the first […]
The post Episode 231: Arooj Aftab appeared first on Song Exploder.