NPR Music - The Contenders, Vol. 3: The songs we can't stop playing this week

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

We update our list of the year's best songs with a Tamino-Mitski collaboration, Son Lux's first new music since scoring Everything Everywhere All At Once, new Circuit des Yeux and more.Featured artists and songs:1. Shura: "Recognise," from I Got Too Sad For My Friends2. Tamino, Mitski: "Sanctuary," from Every Dawn's a Mountain3. Julien Baker & Torres: "Sugar in the Tank" (single)4. Flora From Kansas: "The Ghost is Me," from Homesick5. Circuit des Yeux: "Megaloner," from Halo On The Inside6. Son Lux: "Cocoon," from Risk of Make BelieveEnjoy the show? Share it with a friend and leave us a review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts. Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind always welcome: [e-mail] Hear the songs in the All Songs Considered playlists in Apple Music and Spotify.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

You know, Hazel, I was thinking about how we've talked on past shows about how we're both bottlers, your bottler. Yeah? Yes, I am. Unfortunately, I am. Yeah. I mean, honestly, it's what gets me through. The bottling and a tremendous amount of denial. Not feeling things, letting them fester inside of you until they become bigger problems, possibly. Yes, exactly. And what do you do when your bottle gets all filled up, you know, and it's about to blow? Do you have a way to reset?

You know, when I think about resetting, like when I'm in a funk, I feel like I'm often, I have to leave my house. And I have to take an extremely long walk. Yeah. I'm a huge walker, anything to get out of my head and get moving in a physical way and be distracted by my surroundings. Is it a silent walk or do you like to listen? No, I listen to music. I mean, walking and listening to music. music is the preferred way to listen to music. If it was silent, I think I would go crazy.

I agree. That is exactly when I like to listen to music too. I have a dog and I take the dog on two mile walks every day. It's how I unplug Robin and plug Robin back in. Yeah. If it works every time. Well, I think this is something that everyone could use, honestly, about now. A regular recurring reset. So I'm going to try something new. A little segment, I'm going to put it at the end of every episode, and I'm calling it your weekly reset, your weekly reset. And if you want to know more, you'll just have to listen for it at the end of the show. But I'll put it after the last song plays on each episode.

So everyone should just stay tuned for that, your weekly reset. In the meantime, we have got another update to our running list of the year's best songs. We're not even done with January, but it has already, I think it's already been a pretty great few weeks for new music. What do you got to start us off? Well, I have a song by an artist who I've loved for many years now, and this is her first song in six years. It's the artist Shura, and the song that I have is called Recognize. The message of this song, I feel like this song is filled with such... resilience coming out of a dark place.

You know, Shura described having a hard last few years, going through some stuff with her family, going through some stuff with her career, and sort of holing up and not really interacting with friends, like basically kind of isolating herself with these feelings of despair. And, you know, this song is really about coming out of that moment. And, you know, she never really quite finishes that sentence of, well, maybe I recognize. But I feel like what she's recognizing is the ability to just sit with those feelings in her life and not sort of cut herself off from the rest of the world when she feels down or she feels like she needs to kind of crawl into a hole with, you know, coffee in a good book, which sounds nice to me. Yeah. You do need to interact with the world.

And, you know, I just, I think that it's a really beautiful track for her to come back with. Well, all that tracks because this song takes me to a really great place. And even though I'm not entirely sure where that is exactly, I mean, it's definitely got, you know, an 80s flare to it. And I thought, well, maybe that's all it is. But you're right, it's very comforting. I also saw that she collaborates with Elado Negro on this album and Cassandra Jing. Yeah, we should say, too, that the forthcoming album is called I Got Too Sad for My Friends, which I think is a sentiment that's also reflected in this song. So, I don't know, there's definitely a sense of self-awareness and mining her past and putting a magnifying glass up to her coping mechanisms that I love to hear about in her music. And that album is coming out on May 30th, the end of May from Shura. Do you know the singer Tamino? Are you seen?

So I actually did not know the singer. or Tamino. Oh, okay. So he is a Belgian Egyptian artist. He just has the most extraordinary voice. I think if you like Jeff Buckley, a lot of people have compared Tamino to Jeff Buckley. We featured him on the show off and on over the years. He's done a tiny desk, which people should definitely check out. Anyway, Tamino's got a new album coming out. I almost featured it on the 2025 preview show. It's called Every Dawn's a Mountain. And he just released. this glorious new single from it that he did with Mitzki. Mitzki and Tomeino together. The song is called Sanctuary. Anyone who listens to this show, but a fan trace and rise of me, of a man of the world of sorrow. Anyone who listens to this show knows that I am not a crier. Well, I had this moment when her voice first

comes in, when Mitzki's voice first comes in, where I literally just went, oh, and just tears were streaming down my face, just because it's so beautiful. Them together on this song is really just incredible work. Like, I mean, you put Mitzke on a song, I'm running. I'm running to press play, but the work that they do together and the way their voices intertwine on this track is just, is great. It has this great stride to it, you know, and you talk about. about a dawn or a sunrise, like the title of the album, Every Dawn's a Mountain. This feels like

the sunrising. It's just this steady upward climb. There's not really a chorus. There's no bridge. There's no big drop, but just this slow, steady unfolding. I wasn't really sure what it was about, honestly. I know. They're just like, we're taking you on this journey. Right. Yeah. It does feel like there's a little bit of a tug of war going on internally between maybe hope and disappointment. Like the most sort of tangible thing that I could hold on to comes near the end of the song when he says, is it late where you are? Does my call disturb you? Which implies so much tension and conflict and history, right, between two people who are living far apart from one another.

Well, I am so glad to have the two of them together on this song. What a gift. It is just so gorgeous and transporting sanctuary. Again, is the name of the song. And it's from the album Every Dawn's a Mountain. And that is out March 21st. So I know that we are updating our list of this year's best songs. But there are definitely songs that came out late last year that we haven't played on the show yet. Yeah.

That I definitely think we need to spotlight, including this song that I'm going to play called Sugar in the Tank. Oh, yeah. Yeah, from Julian Baker and Torres. They played this song last year. They premiered it on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon with a live performance. That was like mid-December or so? I think so, yeah. And it is just, you should just play it.

To hell and back. Love you tied up on your strange tracks. Love you clear as day. Love you sleeping on my dead left. But, you know, Julian Baker and Mackenzie Scott, who performs as Torres, you know, they both grew up in the South and grew up listening to country music. But to hear them squarely in this country sound is just so satisfying. And so surprising. I mean, maybe not as much for Julian Baker, but I certainly was for Torres. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, for sure. I mean, but their songwere.

writing actually suits this sound so well to me. But what I really love about this song is the lyrics. Yeah. The message of this song of just like, I am going to love you all the way. And like all the way can be you're tied up on the train tracks. Right. It gets kind of comical at a certain point. It's like there's a flash flood warning and I think I'm going to drown, but I'm still going to love you like in this situation. And, you know, even the small details, like, sleeping on someone's dead left arm. Like, I still love you when you do that. It's just, yeah, the levels of how far these two will go in love is just, the imagery is wonderful. I say surprising for Torres because, you know, she, you know, at least started out making this really gritty, grungy guitar rock. And, you know, she's done some more experimental stuff along the way that, I mean, I don't even know how you would categorize.

some of it, but this full on country sound, even given her roots, is not where I thought she was going to go next. Yeah, I mean, last year definitely we saw a wave of artists who were making country music or sort of returning to their country or Americana roots. I think, you know, Waxahatchie is another artist who grew up on country music but then started her career making indie rock and sort of has come back around to that sound in the last year or so. And I think it's what makes a song like this feel lived in. To hear them in this genre is just, it's great. Well, you know, when they released this song in December, they called it their debut single, which implies that this is only the beginning.

And I would think that there's more to come from them. But I hope so. That'd be great. Just one song. Yeah. Leave them wanting more. So that song, again, Sugar in the Tink from Julian Baker and Torres. It came out in December.

You know, I don't know how much people ever see cover art for albums anymore, but if you still go to record stores, do you still go to record stores, flip through the records? I still go to record stores. I'm not a big vinyl head, but, you know, yeah. You ever buy anything just because of the way it looks? No. Really? You've never bought art. Oh, my God, I used to do that all the time. And I've even done it digitally online. I'll see a cover. I'm like, I bet that's something that I would like. I think you can totally judge an album by it. its cover. We did this whole show about this many, many years ago with Mikkel Jolet. Well, he's best known now as the frontman for the Airborne Toxic Event. But back in the day, he was a music journalist, and we used to do a lot of stuff with him. And we did this live video thing with him

where we just randomly grabbed albums out of a bin, took one look at it, and guessed what it was going to sound like, and then put it on to see if we were right. We were usually right every time. I'm really wandering off the trail here. Are you still with me? Yes. Sorry. No, I honestly think this is kind of fascinating because I think it's just a reflection of me having grown up primarily buying music or discovering music not in physical spaces, but in digital spaces. I mean, I went to record stores growing up in high school and certainly bought CDs as a kid.

But I guess I just, I don't know. I haven't been, and I love album art, but I don't think I've ever thought of buying something because of the way that it looked. Oh, wow. I remember seeing in the iTunes store when it first opened up however many years ago, seeing the cover for the Iron and Wine album are endless number of days. I hadn't heard of the band yet at that point. And I took one look at that cover and thought, I'm going to love that album. And I was totally, totally right. Well, I actually do this with band names as well.

You know, like, I mean, honestly, Megadeth. If you've never heard Megadeth, you've got a pretty good idea probably what you're going to get with Megadeth. And so I'll listen to stuff just because of the name. And all of this is a very long-winded way of saying that that's what happened with this totally new discovery artist for me. I was supremely rewarded because of it. The artist goes by the name Flora from Kansas. Flora from Kansas. And I love the name so much.

I put it on. She's got this debut EP coming out. It's called Homestick. We will hear more about it and Flora from Kansas after we hear this opening cut from it. It's called The Ghost Is Me. There is so much that I love in this song. I love that little repeating piano line under the guitar is just that, it's just this, it's kind of unnerving but addictive at the same time.

The song overall is so gloomy. But her voice is kind of lovely and the melody has this twinge of hope in it. I was thinking, well, first of all, I was thinking that you would love this song.

This sounds like something that Hazel would love. I also was thinking that if this came out in 1993, it would be a massive hit. Yeah, I think Flora from Kansas,

which is an incredible band name, great name, has really kind of hit on this very, not unfamiliar, but like, special,

creepy, sound in this song. And, you know, she's, she's quite young. I was reading about her. She's in high school, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, she's going to high school and still living at home. Yeah. And I had read something about, you know, this song being about the rage that she felt in middle school. It's like the perspective of a younger version of herself. And I think you can hear that rage and the way that it builds in this song really beautifully. And I don't know. I think I always want teen girls to express their rage. If you're a teen girl listening to this,

please express your rage. Please express your rage. And yeah, I just think that this song is just, it's such a little snapshot of what she was clearly going through at a younger age and the way that she has incorporated this ghostly dark imagery into that experience is really promising. Yeah, I'm very excited to see where she goes from here. just this EP that is coming out on March 14th.

Again, it's called Homestick. That song was The Ghost Is Me. She's been making music with her dad and her brother, apparently. But they, I guess, for like several years now, she started when she was like you mentioned in middle school making music and just recording these songs at home. So a very DIY EP and very excited for it. I have a song that I want to play from an artist who basically every time she puts

something out, I am alert. Like, I am so excited. And that art. The red phone on your desk starts ringing. Hazel Seals. I'm like, yes. What do you have for me? And the artist is Cirque de Zieu, who I know that we've covered on All Songs Considered many times before.

She's lots of fans on this team, the project of Haley 4. And she put out a new song called Megalloin. And it is one of the biggest, darkest, most epic tracks that I feel like I've heard from her in a while. And that's saying a lot because I think she's an artist who her music is often epic. So, yeah, this is Megaloner. This is what faking can see when the tide pulls to me. This song is the sound of bones being ground into bread. It is just crushing.

Hayley's at the gates of hell. Yes. Welcome. Well, it's interesting that you say that because when this song was announced and was put out, you know, I was reading the press materials for it. And Haley said that this song is kind of this anthem for the place that exists after an action and inside its consequence. And basically she was talking about, like, I'm singing about endurance and faith and agency. and hope being our currency. And I hear endurance in this song

and I hear trying to carve a path to a better future. But for me, it's like it's so, it's like someone trying to claw their way out of a well. Or like digging your nails through the dirt. Like I don't know. This doesn't feel like a hopeful song to me. Well, think about how much hope it must require to claw out of a well. Yeah, I guess what I'm saying is it's,

not there is such a power to this song and I I feel Haley you know she sings you've got to get a second chance you got to give it up and her bellowing voice it's like it really feels like this very intense wake up call of a song like an alarm of a song like that you can create your fate and like you have power over your life so get up and make moves to this insanely industrial intense track. I love that you call it an alarm because that helps explain why this music elevates my heart rate in a way that I don't always want it to be elevated. I mean, this isn't the kind of thing that I always reach for, but when I do, I mean,

there is nothing better. It is just so weird and so strange and dark. Her voice, as you mentioned, is such a trip. It's like you could imagine her singing opera. Right? It's ornate. And it kind of has this formal quality to it. It's very formal, but then she just drops it into the sludgy, twisted world. I mean, I think I've said this on the show before, but I don't know. I am always looking for artists who are making music that kind of shocks my senses and like speaks out in a sea of contemporary music that I feel like can often be quite sleepy or like laid back. And, you know, I think Haley is just one of those artists who really cuts through so much noise with her art.

And I'm extremely excited for her next album, which the song is. is on and it's called Halo on the Inside. Well, I actually have something that I think is a good companion piece to that cut because when Haley Four announced the album, she described a halo on the inside as the product of a metamorphosis, you know, kind of the, I think she called it the butterfly and the beast, which I think is a great way to describe the different sonic elements that are happening at the same time within her music. I want to close out with a track that's also about metamorphosis and In fact, it's called Coon, and it's by the band Sunlux.

And to know me is to know how hard I ride or die for Sunlux. Do we still say ride or die, or is that like two years ago? Is that still the time? I think you can say ride or die. I think it's timeless. Timeless. Well, I think they are one of the most gifted bands making some of the most original, intentional, and just arresting music out there.

they may be best known for their score that they did for the film Everything Everywhere all at once that was nominated for an Oscar that came out in 2022. They are back now with their first collection of all new music since doing that score. It's an EP called Risk of Make Believe. And the song, again, that I want to play from it is called Cacoon. I could go very, very long on it and all the ideas behind it and what's happening sonically, I'll spare you and everyone else. that. And I'll just say that the song itself feels very much like a cocoon. And I think that after you listen to it, you will emerge, transformed.

That's what I want. I want to listen to this song and emerge. Transformed. Well, I hope that happens for you. And if not, stay tuned for your weekly reset, as I mentioned, that will happen right after the song is over. Thanks so much, Hazel. As always. Thank you for having me. And from NPR Music, I'm Robin Hilton. It's All Songs Considered.