NPR Music - The most anticipated spring albums

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

We look ahead to the most anticipated albums due out this spring, including Rico Nasty's LETHAL, the return of Car Seat Headrest and Lucius, the existential punk rock group Pup and more.Featured artists and albums:1. HAIM: "Relationships," from a "not yet announced fourth album"2. Blondshell: "Two Times," from 'If You Asked For A Picture'3. M(h)aol: "DM:AM," from 'Something Soft'4. Car Seat Headrest: "Gethsemane," from 'The Scholars'5. PUP: "Hallways," from 'Who Will Look After The Dogs?'6. Kara-Lis Coverdale: "Daze," from 'From Where You Came'7. Lucius: "Gold Rush," from 'Lucius'8. Rico Nasty: "TEETHSUCKER (YEA3x)," from 'LETHAL'9. Jenny Hval: "To Be A Rose," from 'Iris Silver Mist'Enjoy 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 new songs from past episodes 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

A quick note before the show, this episode contains explicit language. How's everyone doing? Is it okay to ask that question, Hazel? No, it's not okay. Do not ask me how I'm doing. I was reading an article about what brain fog is this morning, because there's all those COVID anniversary pieces, and I was like, I still don't know what brain fog is based on this.

It's so fuzzy. I can't even get my head around it. I have brain fog reading this article about trying to define brain fog. Are you concerned that you have long COVID? No, well, no, no, no. I definitely don't. I've never had, thank God, long COVID symptoms. But I do feel like I don't operate as efficiently as I did before the pandemic.

But it's always like a big mystery. It's like, is it the pandemic? Am I just older? Like, I don't know. Yeah, whenever I go to the doctor, they always ask me the same questions. And one of them's like, are you fatigued? Are you tired? And I think, well, yeah, all the time.

time. Yeah, exactly. It doesn't, I'm not, I don't have some special medical condition. It's just called a living being on the planet right now. Sheldon? Yeah, I guess I'm doing all right. I don't think I'm experiencing rain fog, so that's a plus. Wow, brag.

Kidding. But it is official. Our nation's long nightmare will soon be over, and I'm talking about winter for some people, of because spring is almost here. And this is our annual spring preview where we look ahead to the albums that we're most excited about the ones that are coming out in just the next few months.

So much amazing stuff on the horizon. Starting with one that we really don't know a whole lot about yet. It is a new album coming from Heim. Heim is back. They dropped a new single this past week and they said it's from there and I'm putting quotes around this.

They're not yet announced fourth album. And the song is called Relationship. Maybe the most universal song ever written about relationships. There is so much ugh in this song, even as buoyant as it is, it's like, even in the best relationships, I think anyone can identify with the sentiment of ugh. There is this sense of like, I have to be doing this over and over again, but I feel like it's headed the same direction every time. It's really interesting considering all the members of this band are at sort of different stages of relationships. And having to come together and, like, think about them as a collective seems to have them at this sort of influx point. It's a very interesting.

To your point, it is kind of, like, jokey, though. There is a lightness to it that's like, there's a sigh, but it's sort of fun. Yeah, this is a sentiment that I agree Robin is universal, but I feel like I do. don't hear it expressed in songs enough. And it's one that I want to hear more, which is like, I'm in this relationship, but like, why? Yeah. Like, wouldn't it be better if I weren't or why is it so complicated and should I

break up with this person? And they're really good at, I feel like people have been joking recently since this song came out that Heim putting out new music is sort of like welcoming spring. They always seem to arrive when the weather starts to turn and get warmer. And yeah, it's also just, I feel like we do have to mention the sound of the song. I feel like is new for them. It's got kind of this like retro R&B sound to me that I feel like isn't a mode that they've been working in for a while, which I feel like when I say that, that could scare some people, but I think they pull it off.

I'm like, Himes doing like 90s R&B, but I think they pull it off really well. Well, I read this as an outlier, though, on this new record, like that apparently this new album's going to really lean you into rock. And yeah, and that this song, at least in the early press that I read about it, is sort of, yeah, not like everything else that you're going to get from it. Interesting to sort of lean into this. I mean, there's a part of me that thinks. Especially as the opening statement. Yeah, the first thing that we hear from the record. There's a part of me that thinks, I mean, women in music part three was sort of universally acclaimed.

It is kind of recognized as their best record. It was nominated for the Grammy for album of the year. That's a big sort of thing to come off of. It's been five years since that record came out. Why not cut to the chase with something fun, something buoyant, something universal, as you said, Robin, that can sort of like be a sort of buffer between what has come before and what is coming up. Did you all see the video for this? I have not. Oh, the video, it's a great video.

All their videos are great. But I was reading the comments on YouTube and somebody said, Haim, Inventures of walking are back. They are, because all of their music videos, they're walking down the street. And you know what? They're really good at walking down the street. They are. They are 100%.

They are so cool walking down the street and singing the songs. It's perfect. So again, Heim, The Song, Relationships. It is from a not yet announced fourth album, so no date for it yet, but hopefully not too far away. Yeah, sort of not too far away. far from that vein. There's a record coming from an artist who released an NPR fave of 2024. Blanchelle's docket with bully. We played it on this show. We talked about it. We raved about it. It was one of the best songs of the year for us. Blanchelle is back with a new

album. It's called If You Asked for a Picture. So this song's called two times from Blanchel and kind of a counterbalance to the time song. in a lot of ways because she's taking a very different view of relationships and love here. Yeah, Sabrina Titlebaum, who is the artist behind Blancho, has said that this song is about trying to figure out how much conflict is necessary for a relationship to be meaningful. Or if you need it at all. Right, right. If it's a representation, like there is an idea, as she says, that in TV and film, you see relationships are sort of built around problems and solving them. And so this song is a

a little bit about trying to work through whether or not that's even a necessary component for a healthy relationship. If you're in a healthy relationship, can it still hold that same kind of weight that we see put on drama? I think it's a really beautiful encapsulation of a lot of the stuff that this record is doing. I was kind of like, I was expecting her to write an album of dockets. That song goes so hard. I was a huge fan. Yeah. But I do feel like, if you asked for a picture, is more dynamic. And it also feels a lot quieter, her sort of settling more into singer-songwriter mode. But it's far more mature. Like I think even the way that we're talking about this song, the way that she's viewing relationships and her place in them, it is

so different than what she was doing on her debut. So, yeah, I'm definitely excited for this one to come out into the world. Really curious about the range of the album, though, because this song is so different from some of the other singles that are out. Yeah, yeah. I do think it has sort of a more of a rising, falling action. The self-titled record is right in your face, though, for the majority of it. And it never takes a step back. This record, it does have those moments where it gets loud, though. So this Blanchelle album, if you ask for a picture, is out on May 2nd.

Coming out on May 2nd. Hazel, where do you want to take us next? Yeah, I'm going to play something, I guess, more in the In Your Face. I expect nothing less. I know. Don't make fun of me for bringing weird angular punk songs to the show so much. I want to single out a release that's coming out in May. It's an album called Something Soft, and it's by the punk band, Mail.

Their name is spelled in kind of weird way. It's like M-H-A-O-L, but it's pronounced male. And the H is in parentheses. In the H is in parentheses, yes. Yeah, they're a punk band based in Dublin, Belfast. and London, and they put out this single recently called DMAM. And as soon as I heard it, I was like, oh, I have to listen to this full album immediately. This reminds me, and Hazel, you'd be proud of who you are.

I like the music you bring on the show. This reminds me of a lot of other bands, kind of like Wet Leg or even Olivia Rodriguez does a little bit, you know, that sort of disconnected, sick of it all, speak singing, set against all these distorted guitars and funny, too. Yeah. I mean, there's been a revival for the last, you want to say, like, five years of that kind of like 70s, 80s, post-punk sound. Yes, bands like Wetleg and Dry Cleaning and Fontaine's DC. They're all kind of coming out of Ireland and the UK.

But that means that that revival, there are so many bands kind of doing this sound, and it makes a band like male really stand out to me because there's, you know, I feel like they've really tapped into something very severe and sharp in their song rating. I mean, this song, DMAM, is sort of a very, like, twisted song about the kind of unwanted advances. So many women get on in physical spaces, but also digital spaces. Right. Like apps and social media and, you know, and Constance Keene, the lead singer is kind of taking on the voice of those annoying men. And, you know, I think that that kind of spirit, that like twisted, deadpan, funny but also anxious. voice is really present throughout this whole album. This song, I think of it as a spiritual successor to a song from their first record, which

is called Attachment Styles from 2023. The song was called Nice Guys. It's very much trying to get into the head of a certain kind of dude who thinks he is doing all the right things, but is really as malicious a predator as the worst kind of guy. sort of like occupying that headspace and then using this sound to like cut through the cringiness of their tone almost. I think this band, despite its sound, is very in touch and in tune with the way that people feel and is trying to zero in on a specific type of experience that I think hasn't really been explored in the sound before. Yeah, and also is saying something. It's interesting to me that there is this wave of bands who are drawing on acts like Gang of Four and the O'Pairs and Delta Five.

But the music hasn't actually, like, Wet Leg is not a particularly political band. Dry cleaning isn't either. And, you know, something about the political sharpness of this message, the kind of explicit feminism of this song. I was like, you know what, it's crazy in 2025. I'm actually not hearing that a lot from so many of the bands in this scene. It is explicit in its message, but I think kind of to everything you guys are both saying here is they thread these needles in very interesting ways so you don't feel like you're getting hit over the head and you're kind of laughing. But yet it's also kind of uncomfortable at the same time. I mean, it's really, really deftly done.

Music to squirm too. Yeah, exactly. Music to make people squirm is always welcome. So the album from Mail is called Something Soft and it is out to. May 16th, and again, male in this case is spelled M-H-A-O-L. M-A-E-E-F. But seriously, what's with the impossible spelling here? I mean, we could do a whole show on Impossible Band Names.

It's about SEO, man. You've got to get with the time. Right, that's exactly why they picked that. All right, a quick reminder. If you enjoy the show, share it with a friend. Sheldon Hazel, I know you don't listen to the show or probably enjoy it, but if you did, share it. with a friend. Leave us a review. Leave us a review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, later on the show, we will continue to look back at our number one songs from the past

25 years of all songs considered. We have grace the internet and airwaves for 25 years now. And we're looking back at a different year in each episode. We're up to 2006 now. So Stephen Thompson and I will talk about the show's number one songs from that year. That is coming up later on in this episode. But for spring releases, there is a new album coming out from Car Seat Headrest. Very excited for this one. It's the first new music, first new album from them in five years. It is called The Scholars. If you don't know Car Seat Headrest, this is a band fronted by Will Toledo and his bandmates. They just make the coolest, most epic, ambitious guitar rock of pretty much any band in the past decade plus, I think. And true to form, the first single that they put out from this,

album. This is a single. It is a sprawling 11-minute track, and it is called Gassimony. Tabernacle, Tabernacle, Tabernacles Tabornecrums are wide preserve. Words unspeakable for ages. It's not a place of honor or esteemed. What's left inside is what's evolved from what we have forsaken. Check the black box. So since this song is so long and it goes through so many changes,

I just want to jump ahead here a few minutes into it so you can hear how much it evolves. And we're not even halfway done with the song yet at this point. Let me scoge at just one other little bit from it so you can hear some more changes it goes through. We talk about the albums coming out this spring that we're most excited about. I cannot tell you how excited I was when I saw Carseat Head Rest was back. I have loved this band so much in the past. And from everything that I've heard from this new record so far, it sounds like it is going to be every bit as memorable and striking as any of the band's other work.

I've never really gotten into car seat headrest's music, but I love this song. And I wrote down in my notes, Slacker Crout Rock. Does that mean anything? It's lots of things. It's such an epic song, but it has that kind of like ticking, steady, like, noi beat that I could ride down the Audubon to this song. Yeah, I mean, this record has a grand concept behind it in which, It takes place on a fictional college campus and sort of documents the students and staff who live and work there.

Each song is supposed to focus on a different person and the stories sort of loosely are intertwined. I've also never really gotten into Carseat Headrest, but I mean, they have my attention with this record. I mean, this song is pretty representative of a lot of what happens on the album. I mean, there's one song that's a whopping 19 minutes. which is as long as some records these days. Well, if you guys like this, you should go back and listen to some earlier stuff. There's no shortage of it. Will Toledo, Car Seat Headrest, incredibly prolific.

He released a dozen albums and EPs in just the first five years of putting out music. Twelve releases in five years from between 2010 and 2015, either as a solo artist or as Car Seat Headrest. Slowed down a little bit after that, and then now it's been five years. since the last record. So this is one I'm really, really excited about. Again, it's called The Scholars, the ambitiously titled The Scholars from Car Seat Headrest. Love it, love a big swing. And that album is also out on May 2nd. Sheldon, we've come back around to you. Yeah, I want to stay in the guitar rock space, although a different kind of guitar rock, a record that is being released the same day. It's the band Pup. They have a new album called

Who Will Look After the Dog? and let's hear a little bit of the single hallways. I love Pups so much. I love how existential they get in their music, which is always something I'm going to go for. They blend humor with this cathartic rage, and they just get into all these deep, heady ideas. You know, like, their 2016 album was called The Dream is Over,

and that's sort of like all you need to know about that album. And then just like all you need to know about 2019's album is that it was, called Morvid Stuff. Right. And then 2021's was the unraveling of Pup the Band. And now we're at, who will look after the dogs? And I kept thinking, it's like they've been staring into the abyss. They finally fell in.

And as they're falling, the only thing they can think of is like, oh, who's going to take care of the dog for us now? The title, funnily enough, was the first thing that frontman, Stefan Babcock, wrote down for this record. Oh, cool. He said his life sort of unexpectedly imploded after the unraveling of Pup the band and that line, which you can hear in this song where he says, I thought I was going to die, but if that happens, who's going to look after the dog?

And he was like that sort of sense of this devastating but overdramatic idea that was funny to them was like the center of this album. The overblown stuff, we all say in our dark moments that can be hilarious. once you've cooled off a bit. And I think that sort of is the sort of grand gesture in all pup records. To your point, they are very existential. They can be very self-deprecating. But there is also a funness,

like a brightness to their songs. Oh, I can only enjoy this as long as I know he's actually okay. Right, right. It's not funny. Then it's like, yeah. No, yeah, I mean, it's fun to hear you guys talk about the band's lyricism overall,

because when I did hear this song, I was like, oh, my gosh, the sense of, I almost felt like listening to the song, I wanted to kind of reach into it and comfort. Right. And tell him that he's not right. Like, there's this moment in this song that kind of wrecked me where he sings, you know, when one door closes, it might never open. Like, there might not be no other doors. And I wanted to be like, oh, my buddy, buddy. Maybe true, but you can't say that. You've got to believe.

I mean, there is a real pessimism to a lot of the stuff in the record. I think a lot of it could honestly be considered a breakup album. But there is a sense that he's looking back on the turmoil and assessing the wreckage of it, not really like living in it, which is what I think makes all of their music so engrossing. Well, the pup album, as you said, is out on May 2nd again. It's called Who Look After the Dogs? Can we change things up with the next song with my next pick? Yes, please.

Yes, are you need, you need a palate cleanser. Is this like a pick-me-up kind of change, or is this more like a... I don't know if it's a, it's not a pick-me-up change, but it's like a... Let's go to another galaxy. Like, let's leave Earth kind of change. So I want to play a song by this very talented composer named Carolees Coverdale. She's putting out her first album in 18. years. The album is called From Where You Came. And this song is called Days. And that's Days, D-A-Z.

Yeah, should I say Days? Should I say it? No, that works. Days. Okay. This reminds me a lot of some of the stuff that Laurie Anderson was doing in the 80s with some of her synth work, where it's clearly very synthetic, very analog, but it is conjuring a more organic world that is kind of magical in a way. You talked about entering another universe. I think that's another way to describe it. Definitely. Yeah. Carolees Coverdale, she's a Canadian composer. She's part of this group or kind of new school of composers that I really admire. Definitely played some of their music on the show before. People like Katerina Barbieri, Callie Malone, these young composers who kind of started out on a straighter path, like, you know, are classically trained, went to

conservatories and then discovered electronics and discovered avant-garde music and then began to incorporate that into their work. And her music just has this really beautiful, earthy, out of this time quality. And this song is really only a taste of what she does on this album. I have heard the whole whole album. And it's just really beautiful work. So does the rest of the album get really big and louder or more expansive? Or how does it compare? I mean, there are certain songs that sound like straight modular synthesis. And then there are some songs where she's working in far more experimentation. There's a song in which she sings on it, which is new for her. And that's very interesting because Coverdale says, you know, anything can have a voice. For me, voice is

beyond human. Yeah, I read that quote as well. And there is a sense of this music. It does feel sort of displaced in an interesting way that I can't sort of put my finger on. But at the same time, there is something very grounded about it. The way that this music is bridging sort of like traditional instrumentation and modular synthesis, sort of swinging between both, sort of finding those voices does really feel to me like conversation, having a back and forth. And I think in that dialogue, she constantly, this like whole other world that I'd never even thought about in sound. Well, this is really beautiful and it was not on my radar at all.

So I'm really glad you brought this one from Carolis Coverdale. The album again is called From Where You Came and it is out May 9th. Okay, another album that I am super excited for that is coming out this spring is from Lucius. Lucius is back. They're a full band, but very much centered on the voices and songwriting of Jess Wolf and Holly Lessig and their incredible two-part harmonies. Lucius has been in all songs considered favorite since they first started putting out music like 15 years ago and I honestly can't think of a single thing they've done that I didn't

absolutely love. This new album, it's self-titled. They've shared a handful of singles from it so far, but the one I want to play is called Gold Rush. Foaming at the mouth over here. Nurse, nurse! Fan them down, fan them down. I want to go to the hospital.

Somebody take me to a doctor It's too good The music's too good Oh yeah I love Lucius so much You know it's funny We have covered them so much off and on Over the years on all songs considered I just assume sort of everyone in the orbit of

NPR music knows and loves this band But they're new to both of you Yeah I was not familiar with this artist at all Coming into the show But I'm glad you have introduced me And put me on because I listen to this whole record And it's awesome I mean it is so

so radiant. I think there's a real sort of like soft funk undertone to a lot of the songs. You hear it on this record too. It just feels so good. I mean, maybe I need to be hospitalized too, would you, man? You guys are scaring me.

What's in this song? No, but I think that the way that you're both talking about this music and Lucius, I agree, there's something so addicting about their music and especially the song, I think it's just the way that they harmonize. There's just such, you can just hear them as collaborators and like the unity of this band. And it's just a very tight, almost reaching perfection kind of song. And yeah, I just, the sound of it is just like, I'm surprised that they weren't

already on my radar. Yeah. And they elevate every project that they work on too. They've done tons of collaborations over the years. There's a very good chance in fact that you've heard them and you didn't even realize you were hearing them. They've worked with Cheryl Crow, John Legend, shovels and robe, Harry Styles, they're on the new Ringo Star album that just came out. Just these killer grooves, earworm melodies, and their voices are just so transfixing. Can't say enough good things about them. I will say that I would like to be buried with their entire discography.

Oh, my gosh. But I don't want to, I mean, I don't want to overstate it. I don't want to come in too hot, but very good band. Be cool, Rahman. Be cool. God, we can't take you. Sheldon and I can't take you. Yeah, yeah.

Come on, man. So Lucius, their self-titled album out on May 2nd, the rush of May continues with that release. Sheldon, you've got one more for us. Yeah, the rapper Rico Nasty is returning with her, first album in three years. It's called lethal and interestingly it's being released by fuel by ramen, the label that famously put out records for Fallout Boy. Right. So that gives you a bit of a sense of how it sounds, but let's hear some of Teeth Sucker. I listen to Rico Nasty and I'm literally always just like gripping the arms of my chair. Just like freaked out like what is she doing

and where is this going? Yeah. This is sort of, I mean, she started out as defining a sound that she called Sugar Trap since she has become sort of like a new metal mosh maven and also like drifted into hyperpop. Like she has moved in so many different directions.

But I think this record has, to the point of it being released on Philby Ramen, it's more of a thrasher record than any thing she's released before. She said that she felt like she had started living in character on previous records, and that when she started, that was actually the idea of the music. But she was backstage at a show last year,

and she got a glimpse of herself in the mirror dressed as a teenage raver, and she said, no shade, but dude, you're 26. When are you going to grow up? Are you saying that she started thinking that she'd become sort of parody of herself. Yeah, yeah, and she really had to get back to who she felt she was as an artist. And that didn't necessarily mean drifting away from the music that she was making, but sort of zeroing in on who she was as an adult. And she feels like this record is a maturation and evolution of previous sounds that she's worked through. Well, you said that she thrashes across this

record, or it's a lot noisier, but they're definitely quieter moments. I listen to it too, and I was really surprised by the range. Yeah, I mean, I think it's hard for her. to stay in any one place for too long. She likes to bounce from sound to sound. She likes to synthesize sounds. I mean, there is a sense of this being a rock record, but she's like, I'm a rapper through and through. I want to be remembered as a rapper.

There's raps throughout these songs, even as they lean into guitars, maybe more than any of her records have. I mean, something I've always respected about Rico Nasty is that she's always had this very, like, punk streak. to me, which is why when I heard that this album was going to be more rock for her, I was like, well, I feel like she's kind of already been doing that. I think of a song like Smackabitch from 2020's Nightmare Vacation,

which to me is like a punk song through and through. And also makes me grip my armchair when I hear it. But, you know, it's interesting to me to hear that she feels like this record is kind of her maturing her sound because I will say when I heard this song, I was like, there's something quite pop about that chorus to me. It's almost like taking her left of center, sensibility, punk streak, and making the kind of most refined version of it, if that makes any sense. And so it makes me really, really excited to hear the full album, which I have not yet.

But I think this song is great. Yeah, I mean, mashing up genres and blurring everything together is something that tons of artists do now. And it's been going on for a while now. but I can't think of anyone who makes it quite the thrill ride that Rico Nasty does. So the album Lethal is out May 16th from Rico Nasty. And Hazel, you've got one more as well. Yes. So I am a huge fan of the artist, Jenny Vall, the avant-garde Norwegian pop artist.

And she has a new album, also coming out in May. Everything's coming out in May called Iris Silver Mist. And the first song off of it is called, to be a rose. That's when the song finally clicked for me because I realized how much she's tapping into memory. Yeah. And the way these different smells, like the smell of a cigarette or a rose, sort of ignite parts of your brain that take you back to memories that you'd forgotten.

So she has said that this album is inspired by a kind of recent obsession with perfume and scents. The album name Iris Silver Miss is actually the name of a French perfume that is supposed to smell. more like steel than silver. But it's true. This album and this song are really about the feeling of not really knowing what's real and what's tangible and sort of like how a scent, as you say, can like evoke these very deep memories and images. And I just really love living inside Jenny's brain.

Her music is often like, it makes me feel like I'm in a group chat with like the smartest, coolest person I know. and she's just sharing like literary references and art pieces that have inspired her and bits of theory. And, you know, she's a novelist as well. And I feel like over time her music, there's kind of this like sermon like quality to them or almost like she's a college professor who's like really trying to make you think deeply about your relationship to art and your body. And yeah, I think this album, Iris Silver Miss, is just a continuation of her. career-long project to really make deep, deep music that's art in itself, but also about

people's relationship to art, if that makes sense? Yeah, totally. Yeah, her albums always feel like projects in the truest sense. Like, she is really working through, like, very high concept, sort of theoretical, but also existential. It never gets too far from the feeling. I think that's what really grounds it. There's nothing like super academic about her work, but it is to your point, Hazel, very intellectual, very thoughtful. And also, it always sort of ventures in a way, away from what I expect. I mean, when I heard that this record was like named after a fragrance, I wasn't expecting it to be as rhythmic as it is. Like there are a lot of drums across it. I sort of think of scent as being sort of like ethereal. Right. And, and, and, and,

But, I mean, the vocals do sort of waft through these songs in a very fragrant way, and there is an almost like wraith-like quality to some of the music, but it is so tangible. Yeah, there's this really great book I read eons ago called a, I think it's called a natural history of the senses. And it talks about the sense of smell and how underrated it is that we don't realize how powerful it can be in our connections to other people in forging those connections or in our memories or the way that. A certain smell can make us kind of time travel through our mind in lots of ways. And yeah, it's a very fascinating concept and I'm really excited to hear the rest of this record too. So Iris Silver Mist, that album from Jenny Vaugh is out on May 2nd.

All right. So as I mentioned, we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of all songs considered by looking back at the show's number one songs from each year, Stephen Thompson. and I have been taking an extended nostalgia trip looking back at what we love and what we remember most from each year. And we're doing a different year on each episode of the show all through this spring and into the summer

and we are now up to the year 2006. That's up next year. But Hazel Sills, Sheldon Pierce, thanks so much for hanging out as always and talking about all of these great spring releases. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. Thanks for having us. All right, here's Stephen Thompson.

Well, one of the things that we've talked about in these segments is sometimes we'll talk about you know quote unquote a song that started at all you know we kicked off the 2000 segment you played the first piece of music that was ever played on all songs considered I'm going to play a different song that started a wonderful tradition

So it's Laura Gibson I'm blanking on the song name But she did it when she did the first ever tiny desk Shadowcast On the car Your bed moment Shining Along grey

Tell me Seasons Most This is the first song ever played at the tiny desk Yeah In 2008 But the song

Is from a Laura Gibson record From 2006 Called If You Come to Greet Me And I I fell in love with this record when it came out. And really every song on this record, I could have dropped the needle almost anywhere.

But Hands in Pockets was kind of the, in a way it's like the single. And it's how she led her Tiny Desk concert. And the fact of the matter is, we may never have created Tiny Desk concerts. If I hadn't fallen in love with this song in 2006, because Bob Boylan and I, having had to fall in love with this song in this record,

we were both at her concert at South by Southwest in 2008, which inspired us to create the series. Yeah. When the daylight leaves you staring out in dirt tall. And how incredible that she even agreed to come and play the Tiny Desk. We've been thinking a lot about the history of the Tiny Desk lately. And one of the things that I keep thinking about is the fact that there were so many things that had to sort of fall in place. No one was really thinking at first with Laura Gibson.

And it was, let's just bring Laura Gibson. It wasn't like, let's start this series and we'll call it Tiny Desk. No one was thinking that yet. We were just sort of having fun. And what if she had said no? If she had said no, we probably never would have done it. That would have been the end of it because it ended up being sort of a proof of concept that we weren't even anticipating. But when it went so well, then we were like, well, let's keep doing it.

So we brought Vic Chestnut in. Yeah, you brought the, you brought the second. I asked the first person to the tiny desk. You asked the second person to the tiny desk when you brought Vic Chestnut. I remember Bob and I were sitting there and he said, if this was, was a series. What would we call it? And I, because I knew he'd been in a band called Tiny Desk Unit. I said, well, what if we called it Tiny Desk concerts? We had no idea. No idea. We were just having fun. And then this thing happened. But we, but I will say, like, even from Laura Gibson,

I definitely had the sense like, oh, this is beautiful. Yeah. Well, back in 2016, we did a version of the show where we, where we talked about 16 number one songs from our first 16 years. And the song we picked for 2006 for that show was Fidelity by Regina Spector, which is incredible. I have no problem picking that as a number one song from that year, but this is the one I'm going to go with. And I think there's a pretty good chance that you're going to know what it is, but I'm not sure how many other people will. Oh, I know what this is. The lack of light, hollow sea, poison beaches, limousines, toothless dentists, coughs that

Emily Haynes, Oh, is this Dr. Blind, just prescribe the Emily Haynes from Metrick. The song is Oh, is this Dr. Blind? Yeah.

Dr. Blind by from her album, Knives Don't Have Your Back. Oh, my God. Emily Haynes and the soft skeleton. She's phenomenal. And Metric's still putting out records. Yeah.

She continues to be a force. I love solo Emily Haynes, maybe even more than Metric. Because she's just able to like tap into this exhaustion in her voice that doesn't always come through in metric stuff. This record is so good. Well, we're going to say this probably every time we do one of these segments that there are so many things that we could pick. The DeCembris, the Crane Wife came out in 2006. We got Amy Winehouse. Oh, my gosh.

Rehab, that track came out that year. Grizzly Bears, I think it's Vecatimist. I listened to it so much, and I don't know that I ever really knew how to say it. Vecatimus came out that same year. So much more we could play, but we'll go out on this one. Thanks, Stephen. Thank you, Robin. And for NPR music, I'm Robin Hilton.

It's all songs considered. To the first baseman, Rob Robertson. And watch this hop to Bob Robertson. He's steady as a rockdown. He was watching that second hop. It looked like it skid on him. It came up higher than you thought or what. But Robertson played,

going to stand out of this place. That's a good play, right? Well, in the first five games of the World Series, it was the Baltimore Orioles, who were, you know, making errors yesterday. The pirates came up with their second. Today they have come up with only their third error in this series. That's beautiful pickup.

He's got one at second. On the first, he pulled. No, he got him. He got him. Robertson maintained contact with the bag long enough to get the Landler in the double. So at the end of two full-in-to-play, the score is Pittsburgh, nothing, and Baltimore, nothing.