NPR Music - Beck, Asher White, Friko and more of the week’s best new songs

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

The Beck rarity “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime” has officially hit streaming services and we can’t get enough of it. We’ve also got new (not-yet-announced) projects from Friko and Asher White, a witchy new cut from the duo Sibyl, the Polish composer and guitarist Szymon Wójcik and more.NPR Music’s Lars Gotrich joins host Robin Hilton.Featured songs and artists:(00:00) Intro and The Grammys(03:31) Beck: “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime,” from ‘Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime’(12:29) Rat Penat: “Kijiji,” from ‘Over Easy’(18:26) Friko: “Seven Degrees,” from ‘Something Worth Waiting For’(25:27) Sibyl: “Witch Wife,” from ‘Sibyl’(30:42) Asher White: “Casper,” from ‘Jessica Pratt’(38:22) Szymon Wójcik: “it’s only begun,” from ‘when you rub your eyes, you see things you can’t describe’Support the show with a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And tell a friend!Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind always welcome: [e-mail] pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

I should have hit record. That was gold. Oh, yeah. That was really good, Robin. We're recording this episode of All Songs Considered on Monday morning. The morning after what the Grammys like to tell us is music's biggest night. Lars Gottridge. Trade Mark. I don't imagine. You don't strike me as a Grammys kind of guy.

Do you watch the Grammys? I think a certain point in my life, I used to hate watch them. Yeah. And there was a point in my professional life where I had to somewhat pay attention to them. I suppose I probably still. should. But you haven't? But I haven't because nobody's told me that I need to. I actually watched them this time. Well, I watched most of them. I maybe three quarters of the way through before I finally pewtered out and had to go to bed. But it was probably the first time I've watched and I'm not kidding,

maybe 25 years. I think the thing with these award shows, like all of them, Grammys, Oscars, or Zimmies, whatever. You know, they're kind of silly. I know they matter a lot to the people who are getting the awards or just to be nominated. None of them ever get anything right. I mean, that's part of why people watch them so they can be incredulous. How dare you? I can't believe.

You know, but there's something about the Grammys that I think they're just kind of egregiously bad sometimes when it comes to the winners they pick. They did pick Bad Bunny for album of the year, which I'm totally down with this year. But I think, honestly, back in 2001, when they gave the album of the year Grammy to Steely Dan, that just kind of broke me. They were up against Radiohead's Kid A. Sure. M&M's Marshall Mathers LP, Beck's Midnight Vultures, and Paul Simon's, You're the One. I don't think women released any albums back then. Oh, wow.

That's why you don't see any on the book. They still gave it to, and I love Steely Dan, but something about it's just like, Okay, this is just so dumb. I don't know if I can keep doing this. And then in like, whatever, it was, 2017 or 2018 or something like that, when Neil Portnow, the head of the recording academy, said the problem is that women just need to step up. Right. Yes, I remember this.

Oh, my God. That was, like, how are the Grammy still a thing after this? Like, why are we, what are we even doing here with this? Yeah. But my kids wanted to watch it, and it was fun seeing the performances. The Tyler, the creator performance was actually pretty incredible. I guess. part of it's the kind of thing like

they're juvenile and dumb until an artist you really love and care about gets nominated and then suddenly you remember, oh right, these actually really do matter. It was nice to see a band like Turnstile. Didn't it like Turnstile win Best Rock? Yeah, Best Rock album. Best Rock album and... They also won Best Metal Performance, which, you know, they're not a metal band. I don't know how they got...

thrown in there, but, you know, whatever. It was cool to see a band that I once saw play in basements. Kid 30. Well, if you want a deeper dive on the Grammys, our friends at the Pop Culture Happy Hour, did a whole episode, all about it. We put that in the feed. We're going to talk about new music on this episode, the songs that we're obsessed with this week. And I actually want to start with, well, I mentioned Beck.

I actually want to start with Beck. I was like, I was waiting for the tie-in. I was like, I think I see the train. else he's leaving. Yes, I actually want to start with a Beck song. This is an older song from him that is only now kind of seeing the light of the day. It's just been made available on streaming services for the first time. The song is called Everybody's Got to Learn Some Time. And if you are a fan of the 2004 movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this was a song that was featured in that film. And I absolutely loved it at the time. And the only way to hear it is if you

bought the soundtrack album. I actually had the score by John Bryan, and the song was not even on that score, but I think there was a separate soundtrack album with some of the other songs. That was the only way to hear it. But Beck just surprised released a little mini album that has all of these singles and rarities and one-offs, a lot of stuff he did for films on it. He's calling it. Everybody's got to learn sometime, and he opens it with this song. Change your heart will astound you. I need your loving like the sunshine. Change your heart, change your heart.

You'll love in the sunshine. I hadn't heard this song in maybe 20 years, not since maybe I heard it in the film. Yeah. And when his voice first comes in, I'm totally cooked. It's like it is one of the most perfectly delivered opening lines in any song ever. And I love his voice so much.

It was so great to hear this again. I don't think I've seen the movie this is from since it came out. And if people don't know about internal sunshine of the spotless mind, it's about this machine that can erase somebody from your memory. Yeah, if you have, there was something terrible that happened and you're haunted by the memory of it, They can go in and sort of surgically remove just that memory. Yeah. When does the song come in the movie?

It's in the opening credits. It's in the opening credits. It really sets the tone for the whole film. And this has such a distinctive sound from that era, from like, late 90s into the early 2000s, sort of a retro-y, kind of trippy sound. Lots of melotrons, that little flute keyboardy sound, that's a melotron. Well, this was, this would have been in his seat change. era, correct? Yeah, right in that era.

And also John Bryan, the composer for the score for the film who produced this, he was doing a lot of work at that time as well. If you listen to some of Amy Mann stuff, particularly what was in the movie Magnolia at the time, it sounds a lot like this. It was just very, very much of that era. And I really, really love that sound. This is actually a cover song. This is what I was like, I looked it up a little bit this morning. I was like, oh, this is a cover song. I didn't know that.

a band called the Corgi's. I think the original came out in 1980. This is by far the most... There been lots of covers. Lots of people have covered this song, but this is by far, I think, the most iconic cover of this song. It has been seven years

since Beck put out an album of all original new songs. Oh, yeah. It's been a while. It's been a minute. But my Spidey since tells me that he may be up to something for this year.

There's this album that he just surprised released. He's been playing more. He's been doing some shows, so hopefully we'll get a little bit more from him later this year. I hope so. The next song I want to play, I think, sort of dovetails nicely with the themes of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. At least there's one lyric in it that I'm like, oh, okay, I can connect these two together. I spend a lot of time looking for unknown artists.

This is my joy. Yes. And so last week, I found this artist based out of Valencia, Spain. apparently is originally from Montreal, who records under the name Rat Panat. And she put out this great little album called Over Easy. It kind of reminds me of early Grimes' K record, speaking of Beck, just very homemade and lovingly put together. And there's a song on it called Kijiji. A great find.

She's actually doing a lot of different things on this song. At times I hear like a little bit of almost like stereo lab kind of thing going on. I don't know if you hear that. But with these hints of kind of a poppy take on shoegaze or something, because her voice is kind of buried in the mix in an interesting way. Yeah. Like, I really, I could not make out what she was saying. I listened to this so many times trying to figure out what is this about.

I heard, I heard, like, you hear like snippets of words. So I hear the word fresh laundry. So something domestic. Yeah. And then Keejiji, I looked up apparently is the Canadian version of Craigslist. Oh, really? That is not, I just assumed it was maybe somebody's name or something because... I mean, it could be, but that was the only reference I could find.

It was like, okay, that makes sense. She's originally from Montreal, so, you know. But, like, the jangly acoustic guitar kind of keeps things steady. The monosynth line kind of like perks your ears up in different places. It's a really well-put-together little indie pop song that doesn't ever really get boring, because sometimes they can, you know. Three chords, I mean, don't get me wrong, I love me three. three chords, three chords in the truth, you know.

But sometimes you need a little bit more. Immediately fell in love with this one. Well, I want to play something that actually, as of this taping, hasn't been announced yet. It's a new album from the band, Freako. I bet you like, you like Freiko, right? I'm not familiar with Freiko. Oh, really? No.

I would have thought this was totally in your wheelhouse. Freiko, F-R-I-K-O. It's pronounced Freiko. Absolutely in love with this song that I want to play. It's called Seven Degrees. Freco is a duo out of Chicago And the album that again Hasn't been announced yet but is about to be

Is called Something Worth Waiting for And the song that I want to play from it is called Seven Degrees Dad had said we were young Seven ties between us and anyone We'd ever wish to meet One's your mom Two's your friends

Three's the one that brings Just so you're just a Two or Just so to paint a picture When they go into the climax there at the end Robin flicked an imaginary lighter And I did Raised it in the air

Let's go to a show, Lars. Let's go do it. I love this song so much. What a great build at the end. It's just like, everything is going to be all right. They just nailed that classic psych folk, like late 60s, early 70s sound that I am always going to be a sucker for. I mean, I was, when I first heard this song, I was like, man, Robin really has a type, doesn't it? And that's okay.

I have types too. But, man, you got your, you got your book. In there, you got your Mark Bowlin. Oh, I was to say T-Rex. Yeah, for sure. It's a little Beatles-style chord progressions happening there, too. When I reach for the sound, I admittedly go to the classics. I don't usually seek out new people making this kind of music.

I don't know. Maybe that's, I don't know. Yeah, that's dumb. I know. I know. But it's like Bob Boylan telling me one time, he's like, I don't, what do I, I, I've got Led Zeppelin. What do I need any riffrock for? I have like some things like that, you know?

So it's kind of like I always enjoy hearing a band rip off the Ramones. Oh, you do? Yeah. So like if I hear a band that sounds like the Ramones and they do a good job, then like, hell yeah, give me 10 more of these. But sometimes with other things like Bowie is like, I only want to hear Bowie do it. And that's just me.

But again, I will say this is very accomplished. I love the way this song is arranged and is put together. It is very well sung and performed. you know, I'm into it. I'm not saying them against it. Well, yeah, I was trying to read you while you were listening to it. I couldn't quite tell if you were into it, if you were kind of rolling your eyes or what this was. But, yeah, this was produced by John Congleton, who I love. He is sort of the secret weapon of many projects that I love.

Right. Again, the band is called Freco, F-R-I-K-O, the song, Seven Degrees from the album, Something Worth Waiting for, and it is out on April, 24th. So I've got a duo as well, Robin, and I'm really excited about them. They're a sister duo called Sybil, and I think we should just listen to this song and then come back. Do you want to at least say what it's called? I guess. You don't have to. You want that to be a surprise too? No, the name of this song is called Witch W-W-I-T-H-W-W-W-T-H-W-W-T-W-T-W-T-E-R-R-R-E. And her fall of colored bee leading she never will be all my.

So witchy. And ancient sounding. I love this. What is this? This is a Chloe and Lily Holgate. They named their group Sybil after this group of women in ancient Greece that kind of would tell the future. And what little I know about them, they grow up in a very musical. household, their parents worked on Broadway, and I think one of the members is often playing

viola in the pit of Broadway musicals. I came across this song, it was just so haunted by its deceptive simplicity. Yeah. It's just viola. Everything is so intertwined. Do you know what unnotated music is? I mean, I can figure it out. Yeah. I mean, it's music that's very often, it's handed down over generations. It's not written down, but you learn it from the people who came before you. It's very informal. It kind of sounds like that to me, particularly in those sort of ailiatoric vocal clusters that they have, the way they kind of play off of each other. It helps give it that very ancient feel. There are a couple of traditionals, but everything else is composed by them. Some of them are their own lyrics, but there's a lot of musical readings

of poetry. So there would be like Emily Dickinson. And in this case for this song, which wife, a poem by Edna St. Vincent Malay. This is the second time this year already that we've had music with lyrics by a poet. You mentioned Emily Dickinson. Tom Hisinga was on the show last month at the top of January, and he played a piece that had lyrics by Emily Dickinson. It was a piece performed by Joyce Diedonado in a group called Time for Three. I mean, I'm really looking forward to spending more time with,

this record. It comes out in February. It comes out at the end of this month. And what little I've heard of it so far is just as beautiful and haunting and complex as the song that I just played. Well, I've got one more that I want to play. And this is also a project that, as of this taping, hasn't been announced yet. It is a new album from Asher White. We love Asher White. She put out a top tenor for me last year. For a lot of us, yeah. Top Tenor. Wow, for sure. Eight Tips for Full Catastrophe Living. Okay. Absolutely a top tenor for me last year.

This new album that Asher White has coming is a complete song-by-song recreation of singer Jessica Pratt's debut album that was self-titled, the album Jessica Pratt. Oh, I know this album extremely well. Okay. I figured both Asher White and Jessica Pratt were up your alley. That album came out in 2012. We also love Jessica Pratt. So it turns out Asher White, huge Jessica Pratt fan.

And we can talk more about why she decided to do this project. But again, the album Jessica Pratt, recreated by Asher White. The song I want to do from it is called Casper. And if you know the original, this version is pretty different. So the original by Jessica Pratt is much quieter and lovelier and acoustic. And Asher White just obliterates it. When those guitars come in, it reminded me a lot of, like, Mount Erie. Sure. Do you hear that? Like just these roaring, roaring guitars. And I think that this song has some sort of unspecified or unnamed grief or loss in it. And I love the way that Asher White kind of hones in on whatever that grief is.

It makes it more explicit. Yeah, it makes it sort of just the shattered. It's like a shattered grief. But I'm curious what you think as a diehard Jessica Pratt fan and of the original album, like what you think hearing someone cover it like this. It's interesting to me because I think you're right. I think it is expressing some unspoken grief in a shattered way. And I like how Asher brings that out. Because as you said, the original is so quiet.

And it makes you really focus on the melody and the words that are being sung. Here, the Mount Erie comparison, I think, is really apt because Phil Elvrim, for a long period there, he would take his own songs and he would recover them all the time. And there was a period, gosh, more than almost two decades ago, where he was doing this thing called a black wooden. Do you remember this era? Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Where he would take his own songs and it would kind of do like black metal. and hardcore versions of them. And I love that era of Mount Erie.

And so this kind of does that for me, but the way that Asher White sings the songs, is interesting to me, does not take the cadence. The cadence does not remind me of Jessica Pratt, which I think is wise. Like slow and plotting. Yeah. But it punctuates the notes when you need to pay attention

to what is being sung. Yeah. Well, this album, the whole thing is just going to drop all at once, is out on February 4th. The album's called Jessica Pratt, because it was a self-titled album for Jessica Pratt, a complete cover recreation by Asher White. Lars, you may not realize this, but I actually subscribe to your Vikings' Choice newsletter. Oh, thank you. And I read it every time you send it out, and I always find something interesting in it.

You had this one newsletter in January that I thought had a really wonderful idea in it, and I thought, oh, I've got to get you on to talk about it. And it was very much tied to the beginning of the year and I didn't get you on in time. But I think it's not like it's a no-countsies now because we've entered February. I think it's still relevant. But it was this idea of, and correct me if I'm not summing this up quite right, but this idea of finding a song in January, and I guess you do this every year, a song that sets the tone for the rest of the year. Yeah. And so in years previous, it's been songs by Pigeon Pit and Yasmin Williams.

and the rock band luxury. It's very much like a diary entry of like, where are my heads at at the beginning of the year. So sometimes it's hopeful, like the Pitch and Pit song, milk crates, and sometimes it's not. Well, do you find that it informs what you end up listening to for the whole year? Like, does it end up kind of signaling what your taste in music will be

for the whole year? Do you find that that really holds? I don't think so. I think it's mostly just to kind of like reset. But, you know, January, it felt like we lived an entire year in the span of like however many days. 31, actually. It was 31? Was it only 31? I could have sworn there was like 35 days of January. Honestly, every January around the third week or so, I start saying to my wife, it's still January. It's still January because it just is always a long. long month, but this one did feel incredibly long, yeah. So I have this tradition, and there is this one album by a Polish composer named Simone Vojc. The album's called When You Rub Your Eyes, You See Things You Can't Describe. And there's a track on it called It's Only Begun. Vojchec is mostly a guitarist. He also composes for lots of other instruments, but he mostly plays guitar as his own instrument. And his

tone feels like obsidian. He's playing these discordant notes very slowly. And there's like little skitters of symbols, a tuba kind of comes in. He apparently really likes, I looked this guy up, he really likes the tuba. Not that kind of tuba. And then after about two minutes, an Icelandic vocalist comes in and starts to sing, don't you worry. The arrangement makes it feels like everything is beginning and ending at the same time. Nothing ever bubbles over. Nothing reaches a climax really. But she returns to this phrase, don't you worry.

Sometimes it sounds pleading. Sometimes it sounds desperate. And by the end of the song, you get this sense that she's come to a piece with it. In my personal life, I'm a memory. in a better place about like leaning, knowing when I need to be in despair. It's a thing I know about myself. I am drawn to despair and it's something I have to fight within myself. But I accept that as a part of myself.

I mean, part of the trick to being happy in life is understanding that you're not always going to be happy and that despair is part of it. They are always dancing together. Yeah. And so this composition does that for me. Well, this is a longer one, and we are going to go out on it. Everyone should just find a nice, quiet place to close their eyes and let this piece take you away, because I think it's extraordinary. But Lars Gottrich, thanks as always for a great hang and just sharing all this wonderful music.

Thanks for having me, Robin. And for NPR music, I'm Robin Hilton. It's all songs considered.