NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out Aug. 14

Episode Date: August 14, 2026

Phoebe Bridgers. Jungle. Hovvdy. It's a surprisingly stacked Summer Friday this week, and you can hear all about it with New Music Friday host Stephen Thompson and guest Samantha Hval from WMNF in Tampa, Fla. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.The Starting 5(00:00) Phoebe Bridgers'Lost Weekend' (Dead Oceans)(10:25) Jungle'Sunshine' (AWAL)(19:38) Hovvdy'Big World' (Arts & Crafts)(27:08) Sweeping Promises'You Say I Romanticize' (Sub Pop)(32:59) L'Rain'fata morgana' (Mexican Summer)(37:54) The Lightning Round• The Womack Sisters, s/t• Channel Tres 'Enigma POV'• Ayra Starr, 'Starr Girl'• Nina Winder-Lind, 'Wild Love'• Open Mike Eagle & Kenny Segal, 'DOOMED!'Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist and see our Long List of notable releases on NPR.org.Credits:Host: Stephen ThompsonGuest: Samantha Hval, WMNFAudio Producer: Suraya MohamedDigital Producer: Dora LeviteEditors: Elle Mannion, Otis HartExecutive Producer: Suraya MohamedSpecial thanks to Sheldon Pearce, Ann Powers and Rodney Carmichael Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See 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

Happy Friday, everyone from NPR Music. It's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Samantha VOLV from WMNF in Tampa, Florida. Welcome to the show, Sam. Hey, Stephen, thanks so much for having me on. I'm super excited. Every record we're talking about is a really good record, but we are kicking off with really one of the most anticipated albums of 2026.

I think for many of our listeners, and certainly for me. Same, Stephen. Same. Let's get into it. Let's do it. Phoebe Bridgers is back with a new album called Lost Weekend. So Phoebe Bridgers has been in our pop culture ecosystem for about a decade now.

Her debut album, Stranger in the Alps, was a wonderful and massive breakthrough. And 2020's Punisher was really one of the biggest albums of the pandemic, certainly one of my very, very favorite albums of that year. In the time between 2017 and 26, you know, she formed a supergroup boy genius with Lucy Dacus and Julian Baker. She had a band with Connor Oberst from Bright Eyes. She's worked with Taylor Swift. She's worked with so, so, so many artisza. Paul McCartney.

Paul McCartney. She's been one of the most prolific collaborators in the business. And she has really taken that spirit into. this record. Her list of collaborators here is long and diverse and fascinating. Not only, you know, Lucy Dacus and Julian Baker, but also Jack Antonoff produces several tracks here. Bo Burnham co-wrote a number of songs here. She works with, you know, kind of standbys that she's worked with before, people like Christian Lee Hudson and Ethan Gruska. So many collaborators, there's so many people putting together this gorgeous,

just like stunningly pretty, constantly surprising record. Like, I love that you get to hear all of the feelings that she's had from the past few years, like not only triumphs, but also the lows, also the ups and downs, perhaps with her relationship with Bo Burnham, especially on Bobby. That was one of the highs. It's so do you sing alone in your room? I want to pry you a new pair of shoes. Now you're walking around with my heart.

It's so lovey, dovie, and I love seeing her happy and how he has to crouch down to get into her front door because he's so tall and just enjoying those little moments. I love that the album is very much this almost like a diary to me. It's very, you know, snippets of time where you are just dropping into the pensive of Dumbledore's office kind of a thing. Memories mixed in. It's really, really interesting. Yeah, and it's chronicling, you know, a tumultuous stretch of her life.

She's not only in this relationship. Another relationship ended. She lost her father. Those themes come up on this album as well. It's not just, you know, kind of capturing one snippet or one era of her life. And so there is joy, but also grief. There is also, you know, a lot of self-reflection. You know, she's assessing conflicts from her past, but really through the prism of her own role in it.

And, you know, one thing, Sam, that has. that has really frustrated me in the run-up to this record, kind of reading about, you know, this album is coming out, August 14th, blah, blah, blah. It's been six years, but she did Boy Genius. She's won X Grammys, whatever. A lot of the conversation around her tends to, I think, revolve around how sad her music is.

And this sort of like, look, it's new sad girl music for sad girls who take Zoloft. You see a lot of these headlines go by, And it is so reductive and so frustrating. Yes, there is real melancholy here. Yes, some of these songs are about grief. The first song on this record, The Outside, which is maybe my favorite song of 2026. Wow.

Yeah. Kind of channeling image in heap, you know, with a lot of the vocal effects. I was thinking fro fro, you know, how to speak situation. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. It's some familiar techniques. but deployed in a way that sounds uniquely Phoebe Bridgers. The song is so beautiful.

It is almost, it like caves in your chest to listen to this record. But the very first line on the record, the very first lyric, Crying in a suit and tie, but you should see the other guy. And like, that's a joke. The album opens with a joke. She's extremely funny. She's like she's quotable not just because she has deep insights into the human condition. She's quotable because she's hilarious.

And so all of that is swirl together. Some of these songs are so delicate and ornate that just the arrangements will like make me tear up. But at the same time, there's joy, there's ecstasy. Or haunted, you know, where she's talking about. I'm on a plane to my next tour and I'm taking an ibuprofen, I'm doing my makeup. And if you're not with me, I'm on my way. And it was just so uplifting. It almost felt like the, you know, the guitar and some of the instruments that she used was almost propelling her metaphorical jet plane.

You know, she was on the jet stream. She was on her way. Like it was, you know, because like you were saying, Stephen, I know that, yeah, Phoebe unfortunately does get the rap of. Sad girl music for sad girls. But like you said, it's so much deeper, and it's also, you get everything in this album. It's not just the sad moments. It is the highs and the lows and everything in between and the introspection. It's everything.

Well, and you mentioned Haunted. Haunted has another one of those, like, lines that just jumps out of the record. When you hear it, I have no secrets, only feelings. And like, and like, first of all of all, talk about a disliker, music, but of so I'm putting on my head up, just like I can't. And like, like, first of all, talk about a descriptor not only of Phoebe Bridger's music, but of so many artists, right? Like, that in some ways is the job of an artist, is to kind of keep no secrets and just spray your feelings onto the page and hope for the best. And that phrase just like distills so many ways of being down to just like six words.

She's such a gifted songwriter. It's a stunner. It's one of the albums of the year. I can't wait for people to spend so much time with this record. This record is going to wear well deep into the winter, I will tell you that much. That is Phoebe Bridgers. Her new album is called Lost Weekend. Next up, a new album from Jungle.

Jungle's new album is called Sunshine. Jungle was formed in London by two producers, mainly Joshua Lloyd Watson, aka J. Lloyd and Tom McFarland. with Lydia Kito joining as their third as of 2023 after the mega breakout success of their album, Volcano, which of course had the big hit back on 74, which had an awesome music video. And then a viral dance trend. We were all doing it. However, the band said they didn't want this new album just to be a volcano two. They wanted to be something more settled and grounded. And that is how we got to now the groovy, ever optimistic, tropically warm,

sunshine. I love that it's essentially an album that's telling us, drop your guard, things are tough, but you're allowed to have joy. It's almost like the tropical warmth of the album

is dethawing some of like the icy walls we've built up over the year the insanity, which is sometimes the world. I loved this album, Stephen. I loved it. Yeah, boy, the brightness,

the accessibility, that kind of recurring sense of joy, while also musically feeling like this kind of shockingly compact survey of like 80 years worth of pop and soul. You know, you get the like little shu-wop-sh-waps, you know, will fit in like where you get like almost like du-wop feel. You'll get, you know, soul and funk and disco, Brazilian music, A little almost like French pop, you know, feel to some of these songs. And at the same time, you know, it's still dance music, it's pop, it's soul, it's so bright.

The title track, Sunshine, is just one of the most unrelentingly catchy songs of this summer. Do you remember the song, Everybody, Everybody by Black Box from 1990? Yeah. You get these like slight little, everybody, everybody. It's the kind of music that not only puts itself in your head, it puts other songs in your head along the way. Absolutely. You know, speaking of Move Like You Do, that song,

immediately disco vibes. I was thinking Michael Jackson, I want to rock with you. It's just so effervescent. Effervescent is a perfect word for this record. And that's one that has the kind of shoo-wop, shoo-up, little do-up vibes as well. Give me a drink with an umbrella in it. I am just living my best life. I also heard a lot of maybe 40s, 50s, 60s influences in Heavy on My Soul.

Maybe the Brazilian aspect that you were talking about. I put down Spanish-y. It's very much, yeah, like this retro feeling throughout the album. I also was wondering because I know that they recently. helped Leon Bridges with his new album and they at least produced it that I'm hearing similar international yet retro vibes with both of them where I also with Leon want to get my drink with the umbrella in it. Well, and another artist who is effortlessly spanning eras in everything that he does.

Like to me, and we'll talk about, you know, Leon Bridges' record when it comes out on this show, But like what a perfect pairing of interests. What a perfect kind of natural sonic mind meld that's going to be because those are two artists who are so conversant in not only decades of popular music, but generations of popular music. And yet at the same time, it really does still feel current. Yes. Modern yet calling back to what we knew and love from, like you said, previous decades. a lot of soul, but also a lot of other influences from other countries, from other artists throughout time. It's kind of timeless, like you were saying.

There's a track called Romeo 2, which features boss, and it injects a little bit of hip-hop. And it's just one of many stylistic swerves, but it is never flying off the rails. It's just consistently surprising, timeless, and consistently just so above all else inviting. The Align, what's the vibes, what you really front for? I get like you want to slide when you really want more. Let me at least call the car, walk you to the front door. Let me try and get a little plate that I go a dream. Yeah, you shy, plus you feel away because I know your friends, bullpen,

Rennie Johnson. I ain't hitting none of them. I ain't pitching them attention, girl, I'm pitching you a tent. Yeah, I'm moving with ambition, but I'm moving with intent. She don't want a love like life. The album is cohesive. You never forget that it's jungle, but they take little pit stops along the way. I also, along with Romeo, too, with the song, Waves, I said getting jiggy with it.

See, it's going to put other songs in your head, too. Now that one's in mind. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot, Sam. That is Jungle. Jungle's new album is called Sunshine. We've got some more terrific records to talk about out today, August 14th. But first, let's take a quick break.

from NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Samantha VAL from WMNF in Tampa, Florida. Sam, tell us what's going on at the station. Yeah, WMNF is such a cool, special station. I mean, we've been around since September of 1979, so it's almost 47 years now of great music, great news. But essentially, WMNF, one of the reasons I joined the station is because of its mission, which is to provide a platform for diverse voices committed to a more just,

peaceful and sustainable world. And for me, in the music department, that is one song at a time, which we love. And that's the cool part about being here on New Music Friday because WM&F plays a whole bunch of different genres and all the albums that we're going to be covering today too. So no matter what you fancy,

you're going to like what you hear. And if you don't mind me tooting, our own horn. WMNF, thanks. WM&F just got nominated for 19 Creative Loafing Best of the Bay Awards. The nominations and the voting

happens until the end of the month. So if you would like to vote for us including Best Radio Station, please do so. We'd really, really appreciate it. Awesome. All right. Next up, another terrific record by the band Howdy.

Howdy's new album is called Big World. Take a look at your room. So you can't go back, but you can't go all the way through with it. Maybe you know too fast, but you won't slow down when you're rolling. So you said too much, but you never hover back when your heart's spinning. It fell like, touchdown, slowdown. So first of all, Howdy, they spell their name, H-O-V-D-Y. I feel obligated every time I read this name, I want to say Havdi.

And honestly, if the music weren't as good as it was, I would pronounce it Havdi out of spite. One of many bands that somewhere along the way that decided to spell their name with a W in it using two Vs. But it's a duo from Austin, Texas, Will Taylor and Charlie Martin. They've been around a long time, and their music finds a way to kind of mix these kind of soft, harmony-rich ballads with indie rock with country folk, little shades of Elliot Smith, beautiful harmonies throughout, and kind of these like melancholic, gorgeous little reflections on life. I've been listening to this band. Every time they put out a record, I always check it out, I always like it, but this really feels like the best distillation of their sound yet. It feels like this band is still getting better.

Yeah, I mean, I really appreciate. that what they said about this new album, or just even going back to the last one, how they felt it was super emotionally raw. They put everything out there. You can even sometimes hear some crying in the vocals. Like, it was raw, to say the least. Whereas with this album, they said that they wanted something more grounded,

more concise while also being an exciting ride, which I can totally hear in this. And actually, when I was listening to the album, it just so happened to be raining outside of my window. And I felt, oh, this is actually perfect for the weather. Not that it means that it's sad by any means, even of course there are, right, like you said, melancholic aspects. But it's very much, I'm on my porch, I am reflecting, I'm enjoying perhaps some nature while I am thinking about the past, the present, and the future. This is a like walking through the woods wearing headphones kind of record. And maybe it is raining, you know.

Maybe this record conjures the rain, but in a good way. So many beautiful tracks here, like just kind of picking a few to just illustrate what we're talking about. You take the song JJ. You felt alone last night. We tried to sleep it out. We see a star past. The song feels kind of sleek and frictionless on the surface, but there's this undercurrent of darkness.

And one thing that I really thought hearing this song is, man, this is an excellent companion to the Phoebe Bridgers record, which has like that kind of, that mix of sad and playful and beautiful, all kind of swirling together. It's such a gorgeous song. I just kind of kept wanting to go back and live it. in that song, but it's one of many highlights here. There's a song called Try, Try, Try.

That to me suggests that Howdy ought to open for Noah Khan. You know, it kind of taps into his kind of sly and catchy and rootsy and approachable at the same time, while also like getting into like real insights about the human condition. Yes, it's very much in try, in try, try, try perhaps, but it is still rocking with those soft, introspective vocals. And I always have loved that combination from Howdy, and they do it so well. There's a song here called Junk, and all of a sudden you start to notice like these strings swelling up behind them in this kind of space cowboy amble. And you really start to notice, like, first of all, like, this band is very consistent, but they do find ways to add subtle shading in ways that keep these songs from sounding samey over the course of a record.

Right. It's definitely not monotonous by any means. No. The instruments, and of course, just the dance. different topics throughout the whole album of missing someone to make sure that you're giving love to your fellow person. I mean, yeah, give it away. Oh, beautiful song. Beautiful. Gosh, that's a beautiful song. I bet you made some decisions. Let you down the path that you're walking a date. Look at yourself. Barely feeling.

Like the whole time I'm just, I'm not crying. You're crying. Sam, this record, you know what this record is? It's a good hang. It's a good hang. It really is. And honestly, you might just emotionally speaking need a break from the Phoebe Bridger's record this weekend. Like, you're going to want to go back and listen to that record again and again. Maybe you need a little pallet cleanser that is of somewhat of the same vibe, but maybe not quite as like emotionally intense.

This record is a perfect companion that is howdy. Howdy's new album is called Big World. Next up, something pretty different. It's the band Sweeping Promises. Sweeping Promises, new album is called You Say I Romanticize. They are a post-punk husband-wife duo, originally from Boston, now based in Kansas. Sweeping Promises, they consist of the soaring vocals. Her range is wild.

and the heavy, deep bass playing of Lira Mondal, as well as the catchy, energizing guitar in production of Caulfield Snug. If you love Blondie and the Ramones, but if you also love wire, if you love maybe a little bit of some indie flair with Fontaine's DC or Amel and the Sniffers. No matter where you are in your punk journey,

in the spectrum of punk, you will love sweeping promises. Yeah, and this is their third album, and you really hear this band kind of perfecting this mix of, like, determined rawness, but also the kind of the polish that comes with experience, kind of coupled with a whole bunch of kind of writerly influences, right? Like there are literary references on this record. The song titles sometimes are just evocative on their own, a song like My Friends and Entomologist. But at the same time, like they're literary, they're very smart.

They're clearly like injecting these songs with tons and tons of ideas, but her vocals are just aiming for the rafters. The songs have these kind of gnarly little twisted guitar solos. The more time you spend with this record, I think the more you're going to be able to kind of pick apart some of those details and some of those ideas. But just on the surface alone, you just get this like scuffed up, grimy, chunky, jagged guitar rock that is such a pleasure. to listen to. They shred, Stephen. They shreds. And what I loved is that when they were making the album, they very much wanted it to sound like how they sound live.

Actually, WM and F, we were able for our annual festival, Tropical Heat Wave. We had them play live in 2024. Oh, nice. Oh, I bet they killed. Oh, it was honestly mind-blowing. You know, you hear Caulfield's staccato, juries. jerky guitar. Turns out that's from his actual movements on stage.

Oh, nice. So cool. The vocals are definitely not auto-tuned. She sings that for real. Oh, there are times here. Like, there's a song, it opens with a song called Shooting Shadows. And it is, like, her voice could strip paint in a good way. I mean, I'm in my house.

I mean, I'm in my house. I enjoyed that she's more growly than ever on this song in particular, but also just throughout the album. Like, she is gathering all of the confidence and maybe some aggression and releasing it out into the music and in her vocals. She also screams on my anchoress. I am here for it. Yeah, and that song builds and builds and builds.

And by the end of that song, she's also doing, you know, kind of background vocals, and the vocals sound like train whistles. Like, she really has, like, an extremely versatile instrument. You know, she's not just screaming. She has a lot of different modes that she's able to explore here, and the whole band does as well. I wanted to shout out the song Rapture Orr, which is about as anthemic as sweeping promises get.

And it's, like, almost heroically epic. That is sweeping promises, Sweeping Promise's new album is called You Say I Romanticize. We've got one more record we're going to talk about in-depth, as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, August 14th. But first, we're going to take one last quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Samantha Vall from WMNF in Tampa.

Before we get to our lightning round, where we pick a bunch of our other favorite albums out today, August 14th, we got one more record we want to talk about. It's by Lorraine L.N.F. apostrophe, R-A-I-N, the album is called Fata Morgana. Where do I begin, talking about Lorraine? One of the hardest bands to describe imaginable. It's led by Tasha Cheek, who truly has so many ideas and puts them together in ways

that you have never heard before. And that is unbelievably unusual when we're talking about modern recorded music. How often do we hear music that truly sounds like nothing else? 2023, Lorraine put out a record called I Killed Your Dog, which was wildly stuffed with ideas

strange and experimental, full of these surprises and just hairpin turns. And this record may be even weirder, maybe even more amorphous. You know, you listen to the track with time. If you scoot it to about the two minute, 20 second mark, try to plot out where this song is taking you from second to second. Stephen, you know where it took me.

Where did it take you, Sam? I was in space. The aliens have come for me. They said, this is all the rage on Mars. You're going to love it. And enjoy the journey. And I said, great. Thanks so much.

I'm here for it. Let's go. You are correct. It's like, where is this taking me? You just made Mars sound inviting for the very first time. Lorraine did that for us. An irradiated rock just sounded completely inviting because I love spending time trying to slunk through this woman's brain. I guess the best way to describe it is that I should not.

have been surprised that they literally had someone accredited for sound design in the album. I can absolutely hear, yeah, we're not just on any regular music album. This is almost a movie set in the way of we are delving into maybe the time space continuum, perhaps. It's, I mean, you can hear us kind of going like, I don't know, words? Like, there's a track here July 5th. It's like foggy and looped and like kind of pastoral and hypnotic. And like every once in a while, like you get like a tiny foothold where you're like,

oh, this kind of reminds me of panda bear or this kind of reminds me of Enya. But the song is constantly wobbling off kilter. You don't care if you've been so, the goddamn compact of tie your soul still. You had lost in your own spot. And I live. And then you will never guess where the song ends up. Because all of a sudden, you know, you're, I don't know, two-thirds of the way through the song, and there's a dance hall breakdown.

Yes. And then suddenly, right, we're into maybe going into even the next song, Elmira with Afro-inspired Falakuti drums and we're jazzy, we're hip-hop, we're still ethereal? Right. And still constantly surprising. That is Lorraine. Lorraine's new album is called Fatta Morgana.

Now, Sam, as we've mentioned, couldn't possibly get to every terrific record out today, August 14th. Unusually packed release date. So much good stuff. We wanted to do a lightning round and kind of bring in some other people on the NPR music team as well to kind of contribute some of their suggestions for music you might want to check out over the course of this weekend and beyond. I'm going to kick us off with the Womack Sisters. Now, the Womack sisters are the definition of generational talents. They are the granddaughters of Sam Cooke.

They are the daughters of the R&B duo Womack and Womack and Womack. They are the nieces of Bobby Womack, B.G. Zimani and Kucha Wohon. have a new album together on Dap Tone Records, as the label suggests, it's a throwback. And it's a throwback in the best way. It's drawing on decades of classic soul, but never just sounding like a museum piece. The Womack Sisters new album is called The Womack Sisters. The classy and sassy, funky, electronic rapper, rapper, singer, producer, producer, he does it all, Channel Trace,

he is back today with his latest album, Enigma POV. But the story behind it is that after he got let go by his major record label, and he also parted ways with his management, he went home to regroup, understandably. When he was home, he rewatched The Wiz, and he realized, yeah, the Wids, yes. And he realized that just like those characters of Oz,

he too can embrace where, he's at instead of chasing what he thought he lacked. And that is when the creative juices started flowing and he created songs again. So Channel Trace is now triumphantly bringing you back to the dance floor with this new album, especially on the song, Only One. Channel Trace's new album is called Enigma POV. Awesome. Thank you, Sam. Next up, we're going to bring in Sheldon Pierce, my dear colleague at NPR Music. Sheldon, what do you got? My pick is Ira Starr's. new album, Star Girl. Star broke through in 2022 with the beaming single Rush and has since found herself on the vanguard of Nigerian pop. If Star's last album, the year I turned 21, was about

self-discovery and maturing into adulthood, Star Girl is about becoming comfortable in your own skin. She wrote in a substack post that the album is about being a young African woman in America of finding yourself between two cultures, and that its music is a bridge between past and present, tradition and transformation, self and society, accepting complexity and turning it into strength. In navigating these tensions, her sound grows more robust, and as a result, she has never sounded more self-assured, as duets with Rameh and WizKid put her in conversation with the Afro-pop pantheon. More than anything, though, you can really feel the wadage of her. star powers surging.

Thank you, Sheldon. Next up, the wonderful Ann Powers. And what do you got for us? So my pick this week is Wild Love by Nina Winderland. You know, I love a good eccentric. Somebody who approaches music with a rule breakers enthusiasm and a voice that doesn't try to fit into anybody's ideal. The Stockholm-born, Brighton-based Nina Winderland,

who made waves last year as part of the raucous band, The New Eves really leans into her weirdness on this passionate and super fun solo debut. There are traces of Patty Smith and post-punk bands like the raincoats on Wild Love, but Winderland, who's a multi-instrumentalist and a really interesting guitarist, has her own anarchistic take on things. I especially love her odes to women's liberation. Winderland brightens up her feminism with a kind of pagan joy in the body, and a real respect for her ancestors. Check out Four Mothers for a Real Anthem.

That's Wild Love by Nina Winderland. Thank you, Ann. Let's bring on Rodney Carmichael, my brilliant colleague, Rodney. What do you got? Okay, this week I'm here rapping Doom, the new album from Open Mike Eagle and producer Kenny Siegel, and this is an album based on relationships. You got two long-time hip-hop collaborators

coming together for their first fooling. Then you got a divorce between Open Mike and his ex-wife, which serves as the creative inspiration for Doomed. Now, this album is subtitled rap songs about a relationship that ends in every possible universe. And it's actually the second breakup album from Open Mike since 2020's animated trauma and divorce. I don't know if there's another duo in rap

capable of sounding so ominous, and humorous at the same time, it's like part grief memoir, part head trip. And this plays like it's open mic's experiential mixtape, but it's extremely relatable if you've ever loved and lost and lived long enough to laugh and get deeply existential about it. Don't let me make your day if you can't make mine. I might never respond. I left hell because I'm going to be. Spawn. I did the Roger Rabbit got framed. I can't help how I'm drawn. Put your address in maps and I said

how long is this con? I signed you up for the knives. She showed up with a bomb. I learned various spells. I have various wands. Look over there and I'm gone. Faw so hard for myself, I'm a perfect blue and black swan. Thank you so much, Rodney Carmichael. That is our show for this week. Thank you so much, Samantha time out of your week at WMNF in Tampa. Stephen, this was an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. I had a blast. Sam, you were an absolute joy. Thank you so much. I can't wait to have you on again. If you enjoyed this week's show, we always appreciate a positive review on Apple or Spotify or whatever app you're listening to right now. This episode was produced by El Manion and NPR Music's executive producer Soraya Mohamed. It was edited by Otis Hart. Our production

assistant is Dora Levitt. We'll be back next. next week to talk about more new music with Celia Gregory from WNXP in Nashville. Until then, take a moment to be well. Remember that Baz Luhrman was right about sunscreen and treat yourself to lots of great music.