All Songs Considered

NPR Music's picks for the best albums out on Mar. 26 include the relentlessly infectious songs of AJR, Israeli rapper and singer Noga Erez, Tune-Yards, jazz legend Dr. Lonnie Smith and more.

Featured Albums:
1. AJR — OK ORCHESTRA
Featured Song: "Joe"
2. Noga Erez — KIDS
Featured Song: "End of the Road"
3. Clark — Playground In A Lake
Featured Songs: "Lambent Rag," "Forever Chemicals," "Earth Systems"
4. Miko Marks — Our Country
Featured Song: "Ancestors"
5. Tune-Yards — Sketchy
Featured Song: "Make It Right"
6. Dr. Lonnie Smith — Breathe
Featured Song: "Track 9"
7. serpentwithfeet — Deacon
Featured Song: "Sailor's Superstition"

Other notable releases for Mar. 26: Armand Hammer & The Alchemist — HARAM; Dntel — The Seas Trees See; El Michels Affair — Yeti Season; First Aid Kit — Who By Fire; Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders/London Symphony Orchestra — Promises; Rod Wave — Soulfly.

"Somebody's like, 'Beeps are the new cowbell,' and I agree!" Julien Baker unpacks the experimentation of her new album, Little Oblivions, with Torres' Mackenzie Scott.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares his favorite new tracks of the week, including an uplifting piece from Kishi Bashi, the Malian kora master Toumani Diabaté, the return of Gem Club and more.

Featured Artists And Songs:
1. Kishi Bashi: "Wait for Springtime," from Emigrant EP
2. Gem Club: "Spirit & Decline" (Single)
3. Red Ribbon: "Renegade," from Planet X
4. Madi Diaz: "New Person, Old Place" (Single)
5. Montparnasse Musique: "Panter," from Montparnasse Musique
6. Toumani Diabaté & The London Symphony Orchestra: "Mamadou Kanda Keita," from Kôrôlén
7. Witch Camp (Ghana): "Left To Live Like an Animal," from I've Forgotten Now Who I Used To Be

Hear monumental new music from Jon Batiste, country legend Loretta Lynn, the rapper Benny the Butcher and more on NPR Music's list of the best new albums out this week.

Featured Albums:
1. Jon Batiste — We Are
Featured Song: "We Are"
2. Loretta Lynn — Still Woman Enough
Featured Song: "You Ain't Woman Enough"
3. Melissa Carper — Daddy's Country Gold
Featured Song: "Makin' Memories"
4. Vegyn — Like A Good Old Friend
Featured Song: "I See You Sometimes"
5. Benny The Butcher — The Plugs I Met 2
Featured Song: "Live By It"
6. Middle Kids — Today We're The Greatest
Featured Song: "R U 4 Me"
7. Colin Miller — Hook
Featured Song: "From the Other Room"
8. Maria DeHart — Quarantunes
Featured Song: "In My Head"
9. New Pagans — The Seed, The Vessel, Roots And All
Featured Song: "Christian Boys"

Other notable releases for March 19: Alex Somers — Siblings and Siblings 2; A.A. Williams — Songs From Isolation; Lana Del Rey — Chemtrails Over The Country Club; Landlady — Landlady; Pink Siifu and Fly Anakin — $mokebreak.

Host Bob Boilen shares more songs about finding both light and darkness in life on this week's All Songs Considered, including a devastating new single from Lucy Dacus.

1. Ben Howard: "Far Out," from Collections From The Whiteout
2. Lucy Dacus: "Thumbs" (Single)
3. Sour Widows: "Crossing Over," from Crossing Over EP
4. Kelli Scarr: "Eve of Spring" (Single)
5. Cautious Clay: "Roots" (Single)
6. Lightning Bug: "The Right Thing Is Hard To Do," from A Color of the Sky

NPR Music's picks for the best albums out on March 12 include Valerie June's magical meditations, a Blake Mills and Pino Palladino collaboration, Selena Gomez's first Spanish language record and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Valerie June — The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers
Featured Songs: "You And I" and "Starlight Ethereal Silence"
2. Selena Gomez — Revelación
Featured Song: "Adios"
3. Pino Palladino and Blake Mills — Notes With Attachments
Featured Song: "Soundwalk"
4. Lushlife — Redamancy
Featured Song: "Depaysement"
5. LOUISAHHH — The Practice of Freedom
Featured Song: "Love Is A Punk"
6. Graham Lambkin — Solos
Featured Songs: "Ginkamix"

Other notable releases for March 12: Allie Crow Buckley — Moonlit and Devious; DJ Muggs — Dies Occidendum; Lake Street Dive — Obviously; Leanne Betasamosake Simpson — Theory of Ice.

All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen and Stephen Thompson listened to the nearly 300 artists performing at this year's online edition of SXSW and share their most exciting discoveries.

This includes the Korean electro-pop duo HAEPAARY, the South African folksinger Bongeziwe Mabandla, the gentle Australian pianist Sophie Hutchings and the occasional detour into Welsh indie-rock, danceable hip-hop and more.

An absolute eccentric, Peter Stampfel picked one favorite song for every year of the 20th century, then performed and recorded them all for an enormous collection.

Our picks for the best new albums out on March 5 include an ambitious remix from Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats, the surreal hip-hop of Genesis Owusu, flickering dance pop from Jane Weaver and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats — Unlocked 1.5
Featured Song: "Cosmic"
2. Ian Sweet — Show Me How You Disappear
Featured Song: "My Favorite Cloud"
3. Adult Mom — Driver
Featured Song: "Wisconsin"
4. Hafez Modirzadeh — Facets
Featured Song: "Facet 33 Tides"
5. Genesis Owusu — Smiling With No Teeth
Featured Songs: "Centrefold," "Drown," "Smiling With No Teeth," and "On The Move!"
6. Jane Weaver — Flock
Featured Song: "The Revolution of Super Visions"
7. Elizabeth and the Catapult — Sincerely, e
Featured Song: "Together Alone"

Other notable releases for March 5: Arab Strap — As Days Get Dark; Fruit Bats — The Pet Parade; Jesswar — TROPIXX; Jimbo Mathus and Andrew Bird — These 13; Kings of Leon — When You See Yourself; Tigers Jaw — I Won't Care How You Remember Me.

In February, new albums by Aaron Lee Tasjan, Wild Pink and Black Country, New Road had us yearning for live music; VanJess sang matters of the heart; and Will Liverman devoted an entire album to Black composers.

Songs featured on this episode:
• Aaron Lee Tasjan: "Computer of Love" from Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!
• Wild Pink: "Oversharers Anonymous" from A Billion Little Lights
• Black Country, New Road: "Science Fair" from For the First Time
• VanJess: "Slow Down" from Homegrown
• Maxine Funke: "Lucky Penny" from Seance
• Will Liverman: Three Dream Portraits: No. 2, Dream Variation from Dreams of a New Day

Follow the Press Pause playlist for the NPR Music staff's favorite new songs.

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out this week include Julian Baker's Little Oblivions, the warped pop of Jimmy Edgar, stirring protest songs from Chris Pierce, a debut from Sam Dew and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Julien Baker — Little Oblivions
Featured Song: "Highlight Reel"
2. Karima Walker — Waking The Dreaming Body
Featured Song: "Window I"
3. Chris Pierce — American Silence
Featured Song: "Sound All The Bells"
4. Don Jerry — Cherry Jam
Featured Song: "You Took Advantage Of Me"
5. Jimmy Edgar — Cheetah Bend
Featured Song: "Cheetah"
6. Sam Dew — Moonlit Fools
Featured Song: "Rap Shit"
7. Adrian Younge — The American Negro
Featured Song: "James Mincey Jr."
8. A Winged Victory For The Sullen — Invisible Cities
Featured Songs: "The Merchant Of Seven Nations" and "The Celestial City"

Other notable releases for Feb. 26: Blanck Mass — In Ferneaux; Cloud Nothings — The Shadow I Remember; Glitterer — Life Is Not A Lesson; Lucy Spraggan — Choices; Nick Hakim — Will This Make Me Good (Remixes)

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares his favorite tracks of the week, including Charlie Hickey's collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers, José González's first song in Spanish and more.

Featured Songs And Artists:
1. Charile Hickey: "Ten Feet Tall," from Count The Stairs
2. Francis of Delirium: "Let It All Go," from Wading
3. Floatie: "Catch a Good Worm," from Voyage Out
4. Matt Sweeney and Bonnie "Prince" Billy w/ Mdou Moctar: "Hall of Death," from Superwolves
5. José González: "El Invento" (Single)
6. Ethel Cain: "Michelle Pfeiffer," from Inbred
7. Mint Julep: "Pulse," from In A Deep And Dreamless Sleep

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out on Feb. 19 include the disco euphoria of SG Lewis, soaring, instrumental rock from Mogwai, the Somali supergroup 4 Mars, Tash Sultana and more.

Featured Artists And Albums:
1. SG Lewis — times
Featured Song: "Back to Earth"
2. Pauline Anna Strom: Angel Tears In Sunlight
Featured Song: "Temple Gardens At Midnight"
3. Mogwai — As The Love Continues
Featured Song: "F*** Off Money"
4. Tash Sultana — Terra Firma
Featured Song: "Crop Circles"
5. Lava La Rue — Butter-Fly
Featured Song: "Magpie"
6. 4 Mars — Super Somali Sounds From The Gulf Of Tadjoura
Featured Song: "Dhulka Hooyo"
7. Cassandra Jenkins — An Overview On Phenomenal Nature
Featured Song: "Crosshairs"
8. The Hold Steady — Open Door Policy
Featured Song: "Unpleasant Breakfast"

Other notable releases for Feb. 19: Animal Collective — Crestone; Another Michael — New Music And Big Pop; David Gray — Skellig; Hand Habits — Dirt; Indigo Sparke — Echo; Katy Kirby — Cool, Dry Place; Wild Pink — A Billion Little Lights.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares thrilling new music from Tune-Yards, Tōth's tale of playing the trumpet — and fainting — during a funeral, the stunning voice of a singer named mehro and more.

Featured Songs: 1. mehro: "Chance With You," from SKY ON FIRE
2. Tōth: "Turnaround (Cocaine Song)," from You And Me And Everything
3. Buzzy Lee: "Strange Town," from Spoiled Love
4. Johanna Samuels: "Nature's Way," from Excelsior!
5. Moontype: "About You," from Bodies of Water
6. Tune-Yards: "hold yourself," from sketchy.

NPR Music's shortlist for the best albums out this week includes new ones from the English rapper slowthai, R&B singer Pink Sweat$, the jazz super group R+R=Now, His Name Is Alive and more.

Featured Albums:
1. slowthai — Tyron
Featured Songs: "45 Smoke," "Push" and "ADHD"
2. Pink Sweat$ — Pink Planet
Featured Song: tbd
3. R+R=Now — R+R=Now Live
Featured Song: tbd
4. Jakbo Bro — Uma Elmo
Featured Song: tbd
5. Various — Cuba: Music And Revolution
Featured Song: tbd
6. Dominique Fils-Aimé — Three Little Words
Featured Song: "While We Wait"
7. Anika Pyle — Wild River
Featured Songs: "Failure II" and "June"
8. His Name Is Alive — Hope Is A Candle
Featured Songs: "Still" and "Halo"

Other notable releases for Feb. 12: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — New Fragility; Claud — Super Monster; Death by Unga Bunga — Heavy Male Insecurity; Django Django — Glowing in the Dark; Jillette Johnson — It's A Beautiful Day And I Love You; Pale Waves — Who Am I?; Sports — Get A Good Look Pt. 1; Various — Judas and the Black Messiah OST

On this week's show, All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares a mix of old favorites and new discoveries, including Julien Baker, the return of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, BONZIE and more.

1. Julien Baker: "Favor," from Little Oblivions
2. BONZIE: "Caves," from Reincarnation
3. The Sea The Sea "Stumbling Home" from Stumbling Home
4. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: "CYHSY 2005," from New Fragility
5. Eve Adams: "Blues Look The Same," from Metal Bird
6. Suss: "Drift," from Promise

NPR Music's roundup of the week's best new albums includes a surprise solo release from Paramore's Hayley Williams, the 20th anniversary edition of J Dilla's Welcome 2 Detroit, Foo Fighters and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Foo Fighters — Medicine at Midnight
Featured Song: "Shame Shame"
2. Odette — Herald
Featured Song: "Trial By Fire"
3. Black Coffee — Subconsciously
Song: "Wish You Were Here"
4. John Carpenter — Lost Themes III
Featured song: "Alive After Death"
5. The Staves — Good Woman
Featured Song: "Careful Kid"
6. Editrix — Tell Me I'm Bad
Featured Song: "Tell Me I'm Bad"
7. Hayley Williams — Flowers for Vases - descanos
Featured Songs: "Just A Lover" and "How You Doin?"
8. J Dilla — Welcome 2 Detroit (20th Anniversary Edition)
Featured Song: "Think Twice" and "Give it Up (acapella version)"
9. Femi and Made Kuti — Legacy +
Featured Songs: "As We Struggle Every Day" and "Hymn"
10. Archie Shepp & Jason Moran — Let My People Go
Featured Song: "Wise One"

Other notable releases for Feb. 5: Aaron Lee Tasjan — Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!; Black Country, New Road — For the First Time; Jane Birkin — Oh! Pardo Tu Dormais; Miss Grit — Impostor; Psychedelic Porn Crumpets — Shyga! The Sunlight Mound; Puma Blu — In Praise of Shadows; Sun June — Somewhere; The Weather Station — Ignorance.

In January, we saw ourselves in FKA twigs and Jazmine Sullivan, drank from Ian Sweet's astral pop, shuffled Cassandra Jenkins' Tarot deck and got lost in William Parker's tone worlds.

Songs featured on this episode:
• FKA twigs (feat. Headie One, Fred again..), "Don't Judge Me"
• Jazmine Sullivan: "Girl Like Me (feat. H.E.R.)" from Heaux Tales
• Ian Sweet: "Drink the Lake" from Show Me How You Disappear
• Cassandra Jenkins: "Hard Drive" from An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
• William Parker: "The Golden Light (Hymn)" and "A Great Day to be Dead" from Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World

Follow the Press Pause playlist for the NPR Music staff's favorite new songs.

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out this week include a Madlib-Four Tet collaboration, stunning debuts from Celeste and Arlo Parks, the Malian artist Nahawa Doumbia and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Madlib & Four Tet — Sound Ancestors
Featured Song: "Hoprock"
2. Celeste — Not Your Muse
Featured Song: "Tonight Tonight"
3. Weezer — OK Human
Featured Song: "All My Favorite Songs"
4. Nahawa Doumbia — Kanawa
Featured Song: "Didadi"
5. Arlo Parks — Collapsed in Sunbeams
Featured Song: "Hope"
6. Ani DiFranco — Revolutionary Love
Featured Song: "Crocus"
7. Shai Maestro — Human
Featured Song: "Time"
8. Yasmin Williams — Urban Driftwood
Featured Song: "Juvenessence" and "Urban Driftwood"

Other notable releases for Jan. 29: Anna B Savage — A Common Turn; The Besnard Lakes — The Besnard Lakes Are The Last Of The Great Thunderstorm Warnings; The Body — I've Seen All I Need To See; Buke & Gase With So Percussion — A Record Of...; Goat Girl — On All Fours; The Notwist — Vertigo Days; PJ Harvey — Is This Desire - Demos; Steven Wilson — The Future Bites; Tribulation — Where The Gloom Becomes Sound.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares his favorite new tunes and discoveries of the week, including a powerful song on addiction from Margo Price, a stirring violin concerto, and more surprises.

1. Hand Habits: "4th of July," from dirt - EP
2. Miss Grit: "Impostor," from Impostor - EP
3. Margo Price: "Hey Child," from That's How Rumors Get Started
4. Anna Fox Rochinski: "Cherry," from Cherry
5. Anna B Savage: "Baby Grand," from A Common Turn
6. Iceland Symphony Orchestra: "Violin Concerto by Daníel Bjarnason," from Occurrence

NPR Music's shortlist of the best albums out on Jan. 22 includes the country hip-hop of Willie Jones, electronic artist Yu Su, Atlanta rapper BRS Kash, Rhye and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Th1rt3en — A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism
Featured Song: "The Magician"
2. Yu Su — Yellow River Blue
Featured Song: "Klein"
3. BRS Kash — Kash Only
Featured Song: "Do It"
4. Remy Banks — The Phantom Of Paradise
Featured Song: "Tomorrow"
5. Rhye — Home
Featured Song: "Black Rain"
6. Typhoon — Sympathetic Magic
Featured Song: "Empire Builder"
7. Palberta — Palberta 5000
Featured Song: "Fragile Place"
8. Willie Jones — Right Now
Featured Song: "American Dream"

Other notable releases for Jan. 22: Alina Kalancea — Impedance; Bicep — Isles; CARM — CARM; Elio — Can You Hear Me Now; Elori Saxl — The Blue of Distance; Erik the Architect — Future Proof; Groupie — Ephemeral; James Yorkston and the Second Hand Orchestra — The Wide River; Jeremiah Fraites — Piano Piano; Lande Hekt — Going to Hell; Logic1000 — You've Got The Whole Night To Go; Thee Conductor — Spirit of a Ghost; Widowspeak — Honeychurch.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares his favorite new musical discoveries, with messages of love, understanding and acceptance.

1. Bernice: "It's Me, Robin" from Eau de Bonjourno
2. Nana Yamato: "Do You Wanna" from Before Sunrise
3. Darkside: "Liberty Bell" from Spiral
4. Nora Brown: "East Virginia" from Cinnamon Tree
5. Steady Holiday: "Love Me When I Go To Sleep" from Take The Corners Gently
6. Steven Wilson: "King Ghost" from The Future Bites

NPR Music's picks for the best albums out this week include the latest solo release from Zayn, the "bratty feminist" pop of Ashnikko, the Israeli jazz quartet Apifera and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Ashnikko — Demidevil
Featured Song: "Toxic"
2. Zayn — Nobody's Listening
Featured Song: "Outside"
3. Sexual Harrassment — I Need A Freak
Featured Song: "I Need A Freak"
4. Kate Davis — Strange Boy
Featured Song: "I'll Do Anything But Break Dance For Ya, Darling"
5. Pom Poko — Cheater
Featured Song: "Like A Lady"
6. Apifera — Overstand
Featured Song: "Overstand"
7. Midnight Sister — Painting the Roses
Featured Song: "Dearly Departed"
8. Pearl Charles — Magic Mirror
Featured Song: "Take Your Time"

Other notable releases for Jan. 15: Azure Ray — Azure Ray; Beach Bunny — Blame Game; Buck Meek — Two Saviors; Danielle Durack — No Place; Frank Iero and the Future Violents — Heaven is a Place, This is a Place; Jody Lo — I Will Not Break the Scale; Matthew Sweet — Catspaw; Samia — The Baby Reimagined; Shame — Drunk Tank Pink; You Me At Six — Suckapunch.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares surprising collaborations between Vagabon and Courtney Barnett, Buke and Gase with So Percussion and more great discoveries.

Featured Artists And Songs:
1. Vagabon Feat. Courtney Barnett: "Reason to Believe"
2. Gia Margaret: "Solid Heart"
3. Shame: "Nigel Hitter" from Drunk Tank Pink
4. Buke and Gase / So Percussion: "Hold It In" from A Record Of...
5. awakebutstillinbed: "beauty" from stay who you are
6. Another Sky: "It Keeps Coming" from Music For Winter Vol. 1

Spanish punk, metal-sampling rap, Kenyan grindcore, Russian synth pop — this is how NPR Music's resident Viking coped, raged and soothed himself in 2020.

Songs featured on this episode:
• Accidente: "Lo que importa" from Canibal
• Backxwash: "Spells" from God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It
• Aisha Orazbayeva: "Oliver Leith: Blurry Wake Song" from Music for Violin Alone
• Maral: "Bushehr" from Push
• Moor Mother: "Circuit Break" from Circuit City
• Стереополина: "Последнее свидание" from Институт культуры и отдыха
• Claire Rousay: "Two Things" from Both
• Meurtrieres: "Alienor" from Meurtrières

For more, follow the Viking's Choice playlist and subscribe to the newsletter.

In 2012, All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton rented a small cabin in the woods and invited some of their closest friends for what they were sure would be the party of the century.

In 2018, Steve Martin, John Legend, William Shatner and more joined Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton for All Songs Considered's annual holiday extravaganza, which unfolded like a bad high school play.

Kacey Musgraves, Conor Oberst and more special guests join All Songs hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton on a steam engine to the North Pole.

Every year, All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton go on a musical holiday adventure. This year, they take a rocket ride to outer space and are joined by a few special guests.

Join hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton as they set out on a snowy road trip in search of the true spirit of the holiday season.

Ann Powers joins All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen to discuss your favorite albums of the year.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, we celebrate the life of Beethoven and the lasting powers of his music in the 250 years since his birth.

Originally recorded live on NPR Music's YouTube channel, host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR's Ann Powers and Sidney Madden, along with contributor Christina Lee to count down NPR Music's top five songs of the year.

Radio Milwaukee's Tarik Moody leads a discussion on NPR Music's number one album pick and why it's one of 2020's most important and potent releases.

In just over a year, Sault has released three albums with little warning and scant member information. If the group's previous albums, '5' and '7' brought the funk-soul party, then 'Untitled (Black Is)' "funnels rage and sorrow into contemplative streams of thought, over equally brooding music meant to slow your heart rate," Marcus J. Moore wrote in his review for NPR Music. He further called the album "a robust collection of funk, soul, meditative spoken-word and protest chants meant to score the full spectrum of Blackness."

This conversation about the Sault album originally ran live on NPR Music's YouTube channel shortly after the record was released in June.

In this bonus feed drop we share an episode of NPR Music's new podcast Louder Than A Riot. Hosts Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden spent a year investigating the link between the rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration. In this episode they look at the story of Mac Phipps, a rapper whose own lyrics were used against him in court.

We pick our favorite music released in November 2020, featuring Kali Uchis' heart-struck devotionals, Tierra Whack's playful pop, metal duo Jucifer's tribute to Arabic music and Salaam Remi's star-studded soundtrack of the Black experience.

Songs featured:
• Salaam Remi: "Live from Soul in the Horn" from Black on Purpose
• Shameika, "Shameika Said (feat. Fiona Apple)"
• Tierra Whack, "Peppers and Onions"
• Ólafur Arnalds: "Spiral" from Some Kind of Peace
• Kali Uchis: "la luna enamorada" from Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞
• Jucifer: "Mitochondria" from نظم (Nazm)

NPR Music's pick for the best new albums out this holiday week include an epic return for The Smashing Pumpkins, Three 6 Mafia rapper Juicy J, a previously unreleased Bill Evans concert and more.

Featured Albums:
1. The Smashing Pumpkins — Cyr
Featured Song: "Save Your Tears"
2. Juicy J — The Hustle Continues
Featured Song: "1995"
3. Ane Brun — How Beauty Holds The Hand Of Sorrow
Featured Song: "Trust"
4. Sundae Crush — A Real Sensation
Featured Song: "Good Boy"
5. Bill Evans — Bill Evans Live At Ronnie Scott's
Featured Song: "A Sleeping Bee"
6. Various — Pop Ambient 2021
Featured Song: "Mittsommer"

Other notable albums out Nov. 27: Bad Bunny — El Último Tour del Mundo; Bille Joe Armstrong — No Fun Mondays; Bombino — Live in Amsterdam; JFDR — Dream On; Miley Cyrus — Plastic Hearts.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares his favorite songs of the week including Steve Earle performing the work of his late son, Justin Townes Earle who died of an apparent drug overdose in August.

Featured Tracks:
1. Steve Earle: "Harlem River Blues" from J.T.
2. Buck Meek: "Pareidolia" from Two Saviors
3. Horsegirl: "Ballroom Dance Scene" (Single)
4. Painted Shield: "Ten Years From Now" from Painted Shield
5. Miloe: "Change Your Mind" from Greenhouse
6. Katy Kirby: "Traffic!" from Cool Dry Place

Hear the first episode of the podcast, created with Vermont Public Radio's Erica Heilman, as the band reveals how they made their latest album, Free Love.

Erica Heilman spent hours talking with singer Amelia Meath and synthesist Nick Sanborn. We get a deep insight into how this couple works together — in this case, it began with Amelia's voice memo. It was just her singing, unaccompanied. And though they've made music together for the past seven-plus years, Nick thought it might be the best thing she'd ever done. Give a listen to Shaking Out The Numb, and see how the song unfolds.

NPR Music's picks for the week's best new albums includes the debut, studio full-length from rapper Megan Thee Stallion, the first all-Spanish album from Kali Uchis, U.K. dub artist The Bug and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Megan Thee Stallion — Good News
Featured Song: "Savage Remix"
2. Mamalarky — Mamalarky
Featured Song: "Drug Store Model"
3. The Bug (feat. Dis Fig) — In Blue
Featured Song: "Take"
4. Kali Uchis — Sin Miedo (Del Amor y Otros Demonios)
Featured Song: "La Luna" and "te pongo mal"
5. Partner — Never Give Up
Featured Song: "Honey"
6. Shygirl — ALIAS
Featured Song: "Twelve"
7. Grandaddy — The Sophtware Slump 20th Anniversary Edition
Featured Song: "Jed's Other Poem" (solo piano version)
8. Visionaries — V
Featured Song: "Put It Together"

Other notable releases for Nov. 20: 5 Billion In Diamonds — Divine Accidents; Anna McClellan – I Saw First Light; Ida Mae — Raining For You; Neil Young — Archives Vol. II (1972-1976); Ronn McFarlane and Carolyn Surrick — Fermi's Paradox; Tayla Parx — Coping Mechanisms; Tank and the Bangas — Friend Goals; War on Drugs — Drugs Live.

All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen shares his favorite tunes of the week, including a captivating project with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and yMusic's CJ Camerieri.

The Playlist:
1. Routine: "Cady Road," from And Other Things
2. CARM: "Land," from CARM
3. lemin.: "One Brain," from Petey Passed Away
4. Lavender Diamond: "In The Middle," from Now Is The Time
5. Indigo Sparke: "Baby," from Echo
6. Joy On Fire: "Thunderdome," from Thunderdome

NPR Music's picks for the week's best new albums include the long-awaited So Help Me God from 2 Chainz, country singer Chris Stapleton, the Afrobeats of Davido, Gillian Welch rarities and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Chris Stapleton — Starting Over
Featured Song: "Starting Over"
2. Davido — A Better Time
Featured Song: "I Got A Friend"
3. Quakers — II: The Next Wave
Featured Song: "Gun Control"
4. Hachiku — I'll Probably Be Asleep
Featured Song: "I'll Probably Be Asleep"
5. Gillan Welch and David Rawlings — Boots 2: The Lost Songs Vol. 3
Featured Song: "What Can I Do?"
6. 2 Chainz — So Help Me God
Featured Song: "YRB"
7. Katy J Pearson — Return
Featured Song: "Tonight"
8. Aesop Rock — Spirit World Field Guide
Featured Song: "Holy Waterfall"
9. Pink Siifu & Fly Anakin — FlySiffu's
Featured Song: "Mind Right"
10. Marika Hackman — Covers
Featured Song: "Between the Bars"

Other notable releases for Nov. 13: AC/DC — Power Up; BENEE — Hey u x; Goodie Mob — Survival Kit; Gwenifer Raymond — Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain; Jesse Kivel — Inifite Jess; Jules Shear — Slower; Nané — Nané; Randall Bramblett — Pine Needle Fire; Meg Myers — Thank You For Taking Me To The Disco and I'd Like To Go Home Now; Told Slant — Point The Flashlight And Walk; TSHA — Flowers.

The Icelandic composer talks with All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen about finding rebirth through making music, the growing pains of turning 30 and how Death Cab For Cutie changed his life.

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out this week include pure escapism from Kylie Minogue's Disco, the "destructive" pop-rap of Bree Runway, Argentinian bandoneon master Dino Saluzzi and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Kylie Minogue — Disco
Featured Song: "Magic"
2. Bree Runway — 2000AND4EVA
Featured Song: "ATM (feat. Missy Elliott)"
3. Little Mix — Confetti
Featured Song: "Sweet Melody"
4. Fred Hersch — Songs From Home
Featured Song: "All I Want"
5. Dino Saluzzi — Albores
Featured Song: "Adios Maestro Kancheli"
6. Digawolf — High Arctic
Featured Song: "Cry Wolf"
7. Birdy — Piano Sketches
Featured Song: "Open Your Heart"
8. Krust — The Edge of Everything
Featured Song: "Antigravity Love"
9. Madison Cunningham — Wednesday
Featured Song: "Hold On"
10. Pylon — Pylon Box
Featured Songs: "Feast on My Heart" and "Cool"

Other notable releases for Nov. 6: Christo Graham — Turnin'; David Bowie — Metrobolist (aka The Man Who Sold The World) 50th Anniversary Edition; Dave Brubeck — Lullabies; Donovan Woods — Without People; Enio Morricone — Morricone Segreto; Heather Trost — PETRICOR; Leslie Odom Jr. — The Christmas Album; Neil Young — Return to Greendale; Olafur Arnalds — Some Kind of Peace; Sangre de Muerdago — Xuntas; Tunng — Tunng Presents... Dead Club; Wilco — Summerteeth Deluxe Edition (21st anniversary).

A treasure trove of unheard Joni Mitchell recordings has just been released with more than a hundred tracks from the early 1960s, including almost 30 original songs she's never released before.

On this special edition of All Songs Considered, NPR Music's Ann Powers and host Bob Boilen explore these early works of Joni Mitchell and play selections from the new box set from Rhino. This includes some of Joni Mitchell's first-known recordings, like a radio studio recording made in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan when she was just 19-years old. We also hear some live concert recordings, including one made at the Ann Arbor Canterbury House 53 years ago, and demos she made on a home reel-to-reel tape machine. This includes one she made for her mom in 1965. Over the course of this remarkable box set and nearly six hours of music, we hear Joni Mitchell grow from a singer of folk songs to a playful and sophisticated lyricist with a brilliant voice.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, we pick our favorite music released in October 2020, featuring South African jazz group SPAZA, Wendy Eisenberg's acrobatic guitar play, Jean Dawson's adventurous pop and Touché Amoré's desperate hardcore.

Songs featured in this episode:

* Jean Dawson: "Devilish" from Pixel Bath
* Touché Amoré: "Reminders" from Lament
* Wendy Eisenberg: "Futures" from Auto
* Stephanie Lambring: "Joy of Jesus" from Autonomy
* Xavier Omär: "Find Me" from If You Feel
* SPAZA: "Bantu Education" from UPRIZE!
* Bertrand Chamayou: "Dessner: Song for Octave" from Good Night!

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out on Oct. 30 include a surprise release from Common, the return of rapper Busta Rhymes, singer Sam Smith, the country artist Cam, Ane Brun and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Outkast — Stankonia 20th Anniversary Edition
Featured Songs: "So Fresh, So Clean" and "B.O.B. (A Cappella version)"
2. Sam Smith — Love Goes
Featured Song: "Love Goes (feat. Labrinth"
3. Busta Rhymes — Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God
Featured Song: "True Indeed"
4. Ane Brun — After the Great Storm
Featured Song: "After the Great Storm"
5. Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou — May Our Chambers Be Full
Featured Song: "Ancestral Recall"
6. Common — A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 1
Featured Song: "Fallin'"
7. Nothing — The Great Dismal
Featured Song: "Say Less"
8. Elvis Costello — Hey Clockface
Featured Song: "We Are All Cowards Now"
9. Cam — The Otherside
Featured Song: "The Otherside"
10. Junk Magic — Compass Confusion
Featured Song: "Laser Beaming Hearts"

Other notable releases for Oct. 30: 38 Spesh — Interstate 38; Andrew Bird — Hark!; Creature Comfort — Home Team; Dizzee Rascal — E3 AF; Echo Collective — The See Within; Goo Goo Dolls — It's Christmas All Over; Grateful Dead — American Beauty 50th Anniversary Edition; Joni Mitchell — Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 1 - The Early Years (1963-1967); King Khan — The Infinite Ones; LÉON — Apart; Marco Pavé — Crossroads; Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche — I Can Still Hear You; War on Women — Wonderful Hell.

All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen talks with The Flaming Lips frontman about drugs, the tragic loss of friends, the impact on families and how it all informs the band's latest album, American Head.

NPR Music's shortlist of the best new albums out on Oct. 23 includes Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You, a new concept record from Gorillaz, the electronic artist known as Actress and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Gorillaz — Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
Featured Song: "The Valley of the Pagans"
2. Actress — Karma & Desire
Featured Song: "VVY"
3. Songhoy Blues — Optimisme
Featured Song: "Assadja"
4. Keaton Henson — Monument
Featured Song: "Ambulance"
5. Junglepussy — JP4
Featured Song: "Spiders"
6. Bruce Springsteen — Letter to You
Featured Song: "Ghosts"
7. clipping. — Visions of Bodies Being Burned
Featured Song: "96 Neve Campbell"
8. Raye Zaragoza — Woman in Color
Featured Song: "The It Girl"
9. Laura Veirs — My Echo
Featured Song: "Freedom Feeling"
10. Xavier Omär — If You Feel
Featured Song: "Find Me"

Other notable Oct. 23 releases: Adrianne Lenker — Songs; Adrianne Lenker — Instrumentals; Ben Harper — Winter is for Lovers; Ela Minus — Acts of Rebellion; The Elwins — The Elwins IV; Fuzz — III; Jeff Tweedy — Love is King; Joel Ross — Who Are You; Luluc — Dreamboat; The Mountain Goats — Getting Into Knives; No Thank You — Embroidered Foliage; PUP — This Place Sucks Ass; Sam Amidon — Sam Amidon; Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings — Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Rendition Was In; TechN9ne — Fear Exodus; This is the Kit — Off Off On.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares his favorite new tracks of the week, including a powerful anthem for racial justice from MILCK, Debussy's "Clair de Lune" played on a theremin and more.

Featured Songs:

1. Steady Holiday: "Living Life" from Take The Corners Gently
2. The Weather Station: "Robber" (Single)
3. Kacy & Clayton And Marlon Williams: "I Wonder Why" from Plastic Bouquet
4. MILCK: "Somebody's Beloved (feat. Bipolar Sunshine)" (Single)
5. Grégoire Blanc and Orane Donnadieu: "Clair de Lune" (Single)
6. Mary Lattimore: "Pine Trees" from Silver Ladders

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out this week include rapper Black Thought's stunning Streams of Thought Vol. 3, a solo debut from The National's Matt Berninger, Beabadoobee and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Black Thought — Streams Of Thought Vol. 3: Cane & Abel
Featured Song: "State Prisoner"
2. Autechre — Sign
Featured Song: "M4 Lema"
3. SPAZA — Uprize!
Featured Song: "Bantu Education"
4. Beabadoobee — Fake It Flowers
Featured Song: "Care"
5. Matt Berninger — Serpentine Prison
Featured Song: "Distant Axis"
6. Open Mike Eagle — Anime, Trauma And Divorce
Featured Song: "Asa's Bop"
7. Good Sad Happy Bad — Shade
Featured Song: "Blessed"
8. Deep Sea Diver — Impossible Weight
Featured Song: "Impossible Weight"
9. Helena Deland — Someone New
Featured Song: "Dog"
10. Mipso — Mipso
Featured Song: "Big Star"
Bonus Album: Sturgill Simpson — Cuttin' Grass - Vol. 1: (Butcher Shoppe Sessions)
Featured Song: "I Don't Mind"

Other notable Oct. 16 releases: Annie — Dark Hearts; Cordovas — Destiny Hotel; Growing Concerns Poetery Collective — Big Dark Bright Futures; Gulfer — Gulfer; Goldmund — The Time It Takes; Homeboy Sandman & Quelle Chris — Don't Feed the Monster; Jennifer Castle — Monarch Season; James Blake — Before; Kevin Morby — Sundowner; Low Cut Connie — Private Lives; Manu Grace — No Room for Error; Mr. Gnome — The Day You Flew Away... Visit www.npr.org/allsongs for more

All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen and NPR Music's Otis Hart share their favorite songs of the week, including the return of The Antlers, the folk duo Luluc, Tuareg rock artist Mdou Moctar and more.

1. Luluc: "Emerald City" from DREAMBOAT
2. Danielle Durack: "Broken Wings" from No Place
3. The Antlers: "Wheels Roll Home" (Single)
4. Squirrel Flower: "Chicago" (Single)
5. Mdou Moctar: "Chismiten" (Single)
6. Jake Blount: "Roustabout" from Spider Tales
7. Sam Sweeney "Unearth/Steppy Downs Road" from Unearth Repeat

NPR Music's shortlist of the best new albums out this week includes the soaring synth-pop of Future Islands, the country duo Brothers Osborne, remixed classics from John Lennon and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Future Islands — As Long As You Are
Featured Song: "Waking"
2. Carla Bruni — Carla Bruni
Featured Song: "Partir dans la nuit"
3. The Budos Band — Long in the Tooth
Featured Song: "Long in the Tooth"
4. Machinedrum — A View Of U
Featured Song: "Wait For U"
5. Brothers Osborne — Skeletons
Featured Song: "Lighten Up"
6. METZ — Atlas Vending
Featured Song: "Pulse"
7. John Lennon — Gimme Some Truth
Featured Song: "Angela"
8. Laraaji — Moon Piano
Featured Song: "Stillness"
9. The Goodbye Party — Beautiful Motors
Featured Song: "Unlucky Stars"
10. Mary Lattimore — Silver Ladders
Featured Song: "Silver Ladders"

Other notable releases for Oct. 9: Cut Worms — Nobody Lives Here Anymore; JEEN — JEEN; Kronos Quartet — Long Time Passing; Loudon Wainwright III — I'd Rather Lead A Band; Ron Miles — Rainbow Sign; Touche Amore — Lament; Travis — 10 Songs; Yo La Tengo — Sleepless Night (ep).

NPR Music's Bob Boilen and Marissa Lorusso share songs that call for unity and self-reflection in turbulent times.

Featured Tracks:
1. Maren Morris: "Better Than We Found It"
2. Palberta: "Before I Got Here" from Palberta 5000
3. Gulfer: "Nature Kids" from Gulfer
4. Purple Witch of Culver: "Trig"
5. Loudon Wainwright III: "You Rascal You" from I'd Rather Lead A Band
6. Sam Amidon: "Time Has Made A Change" from Sam Amidon

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out on Oct. 2 include the latest from West Coast rapper YG, the K-pop group BLACKPINK, Icelandic singer Jónsi and more.

Featured Albums:
1. BLACKPINK — The Album
Featured Song: "Pretty Savage"
2. YG — My Life 4Hunnid
Featured Song: "Laugh Now, Kry Later"
3. Laura Jane Grace — Stay Alive
Featured Song: "Old Friend (Stay Alive)"
4. Eartheater — Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin
Featured Song: "Fantasy Collision"
5. Jónsi — Shiver
Featured Song: "Shiver"
6. Rósín Murphy — Rósín Machine
Featured Song: "We Got Together"
7. Gabriel Garzón-Montano — Aguita
Featured Song: "Mira My Look"
8. Noah Haidu — Doctone
Featured Song: "Steepian Faith"

Other notable releases for Oct. 2: 21 Savage — Savage Mode 2; Aloe Blacc — All Love Everything; Bartees Strange — Live Forever; Born Ruffians — Squeeze; Brent Cobb — Keep 'em On They Toes; Dawes — Good Luck With Whatever; Dawn Landes — Row; Drive By Truckers — The New Okay; Robert Plant — Digging Deep: Subterranea; Shamir — Shamir; Westside Gunn — Who Made the Sunshine

We pick our favorite music released in September 2020, featuring Cuban hip-hop artist La Dame Blanche, Masego's summer wanderlust, Big Thief's Adrianne Lenker and a reimagined mass.

• Adrianne Lenker: "anything" from songs
• Waylon Payne: "Old Blue Eyes" from Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher and Me
• Masego, "Passport"
• La Dame Blanche: "La Maltratada" from Ella
• Theo Alexander: "re; Waiting" from Animadversions
• Sarah Kirkland Snider: "Kyrie" from Mass for the Endangered

All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen shares his favorite new tracks, including a collaboration between Kurt Vile and John Prine, queer country from Shamir, the gorgeous harmonies of Fleet Foxes and more.

1. Beabadoobee: "Worth It" from Fake It Flowers
2. Fleet Foxes: "Going-to-the-Sun Road" from Shore
3. Darlingside: "Green + Evergreen" from Fish Pond Fish
4. Kurt Vile with John Prine: "How Lucky" from Speed, Sound, Lonely KV
5. Shamir: "Other Side" from Shamir
6. Told Slant: "Family Still" from Point the Flashlight and Walk
7. Spacial Relations: "Default to Truth" from Talking to Strangers

NPR Music's picks for the best albums out on Sept. 25 include a long-awaited release from Sufjan Stevens, a searing new work from Public Enemy, the pop singer Joji and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Sufjan Stevens — The Ascension
Featured Song: "Lamentations"
2. Public Enemy — What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?
Featured Song: "Grid"
3. Nappy Roots — 40rty
Featured Song: "Do Better"
4. Joji — Nectar
Featured Song: "Pretty Boy"
5. Anna Von Hausswolff — All Thoughts Fly
Featured Song: "Sacro Bosco"
6. Deftones — Ohms
Featured Song: "Ceremony"
7. Sad13 — Haunted Painting
Featured Song: "Hysterical"
8. Lydia Loveless — Daughter
Featured Song: "Love is Not Enough"
9. Botany — End The Summer F(or)ever
Featured Song: "Your Whole Life"
10. The War & Treaty — Hearts Town
Featured Song: "Little Boy Blue"

Other notable releases for Sept. 25: The Band of Heathens — Stranger; Blitzen Trapper — Holy Smokes Future Jokes; Carrie Underwood — My Gift; Diana Krall — This Dream of You; Fleet Foxes — Shore; Idles — Ultra Mono; Shy Boys — Talk Loud; Surfer Blood — Carefree Theater; Sylvan Esso — Free Love; Thurston Moore — By the Fire; Tim Heidecker — Fear of Death; Will Butler — Generations.

In a conversation with All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen, Yusuf Cat Stevens explains how — and why — he decided to re-record his landmark album a half-century after it was first released.

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out on Sep. 18 include a long-awaited, self-titled release from Alicia Keys, PC Music's A.G. Cook, a rediscovered Thelonious Monk recording and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Alicia Keys — ALICIA
Featured Song: "Me x 7"
2. A.G. Cook — Apple
Featured Song: "Airhead"
3. Anjimile — Giver Taker
Featured Song: "To Meet You There"
4. Butcher Brown — #kingbutch
Featured Song: "Cabbage"
5. Thelonious Monk — Palo Alto
Featured Song: "Blue Monk"
6. Jealous of the Birds — Peninsula
Featured Song: "Pendulum"
7. Sly5thAve — What It Is
Featured Song: "What It Is"
8. Fenne Lily — Breach
Featured Song: "Elliott"
9. Steve Arrington — Down to the Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions
Featured Songs: "Make A Difference" and "Soulful I Need That In My Life"

Other notable releases for Sept. 18: Ava Max — Heaven & Hell; Body Double — Milk Fed; Cults — Host; Daniel Romano — How Ill Thy World Is Ordered; Deradoorian — Find the Sun; Dig Nitty — Reverse of Mastery; Eastwood — It Never Gets Easy; Eivør — Segl; Elderbrook — Why Do We Shake in the Cold?; Gracie & Rachel — Hello, Weakness, You Make Me Strong; Handsome Ghost — Some Still Morning; Joan Osborne — Trouble and Strife; Johann Johannsson — Retrospective II; Nate Rocket Wonder & Roman GianArthur – Antebellum (Soundtrack); Sarah Davachi — Cantus, Descant; Saunder Jurriaans — Beasts; Semisonic — You're Not Alone; Yusuf Cat Stevens — Tea for the Tillerman; Ziggy Marley — More Family Time.

This week's new mix from All Songs Considered includes solo work from Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, recorded with his sons, a stunning track from Big Thief's Adrianne Lenker, a song for the times from Cautious Clay and more.

Featured Tracks:
1. Kevin Morby "Campfire" from Sundowner
2. Adrianne Lenker "anything" from songs
3. Maple Glider "As Tradition"
4. Jeff Tweedy "Love Is The King" from Love Is The King
5. BONZIE "Alone"
6. Cautious Clay "Agreeable" from Agreeable

NPR Music picks the best new albums out this week, including new releases by The Flaming Lips, Rita Indiana, Waylon Payne and more.

On this week's All Songs Considered, hear new music from great unknowns and old favorites, including The Front Bottoms and Asaf Avidan.

1. Joe Wong: "Dreams Wash Away" from Nite Creatures
2. Frances Cone: "'93 Or '94" (single)
3. The Front Bottoms: "montgomery forever" from In Sickness & In Flames
4. Spacemoth: "Asking For You" (single)
5. Asaf Avidan: "Lost Horse" from Anagnorisis
6. Afel Bocoum: "Dakamana" from Lindé
7. Joe Wong: "Dreams Wash Away (Instrumental)" from Nite Creatures

NPR Music picks the best new albums out this week, including new albums by Big Sean, Tricky, Lomelda, Bill Callahan and more. Click here to see all of our featured albums for the week of Sept. 4.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, we pick our favorite music released in August 2020, featuring everything from the genre-busting indie rock of Bartees Strange and Victoria Monét's layered R&B to the return of Bright Eyes.

NPR Music picks the best new albums out this week, including unadorned records from Angel Olsen and The Avett Brothers, the genre-bending Georgia Anne Muldrow and more.

Fifteen years ago this week, All Songs Considered launched its first ever podcast episode. Hear how it sounded.

NPR Music's shortlist for the best new albums out this week includes the first full-length from Bright Eyes in nearly a decade, the rapper Lecrae, U.K. jazz wonder Nubya Garcia and more.

Featured Albums:
1. The Killers — Imploding the Mirage
Featured Song: "Dying Breed"
2. The Mavericks — En Español
Featured Song: "Recuerdos"
3. Nubya Garcia — Source
Featured Song: "Before Us In Demerara & Caura"
4. Cidny Bullens — Walking Through This World
Featured Song: "The Gender Line"
5. Bright Eyes — Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
Featured Songs: "Dance and Sing" and "Pageturner's Rag"
6. Lecrae — Restoration
Featured Song: "Set Me Free"
7. L.A. Witch — Play With Fire
Featured Song: "Dark Horse"
8. Roomful of Teeth — The Ascendant & Just Constellations
Featured Songs: "The Beginning And..." and "The Magic Constellation - Winter"

Other notable releases for Aug. 21: Nas — King's Disease; Alex the Astronaut — The Theory of Absolutely Nothing; Bully — Sugaregg; Chuck Prophet — The Land That Time Forgot; Logan Farmer — Still No Mother; Matmos — The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form; The Front Bottoms — In Sickness & In Flames.

On this week's All Songs Considered, The Swedish duo First Aid Kit covers Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again," reminding host Bob Boilen of how long it's been since he's seen a live show (159 days).

1. First Aid Kit: "On The Road Again"
2. Blu DeTiger: "Figure It Out"
3. Pillow Queens: "Holy Show" from In Waiting
4. Anjimile: "Baby No More" from Giver Taker
5. AMAARA: "Desert Storm" from Heartspeak
6. Ólafur Arnalds: "Back to the Sky"
7. Sonny Singh: "Mitar Pyare Nu"

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out this week include the latest from Afro-fusion singer Burna Boy, Fantastic Negrito, Jacob Collier, the queer country of Orville Peck and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Burna Boy — Twice As Tall
Featured Song: "Monsters You Made"
2. Jacob Collier — Djesse Vol. 3
Featured Song: "In My Bones"
3. Fantastic Negrito — Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?
Featured Song: "I'm So Happy I Cry"
4. Whitney — Candid
Featured Song: "Strange Overtones"
5. Son Lux — Tomorrows
Featured Song: "Plans We Made"
6. Kathleen Edwards — Total Freedom
Featured Song: "Birds on a Feeder"
7. Orville Peck — Show Pony
Featured Song: "No Glory In The West"
8. Ashley Ray — Pauline
Featured Song: "Pauline"
9. Gloria Estefan — Brazil305
Featured Song: "Samba"

Other notable releases for August 14: Poppy — I Disagree (More); Eleven7four — What's the 1174; Biffy Clyro — A Celebration of Endings; Caylee Hammack — If It Wasn't For You; Emma Swift — Blonde on the Tracks; Young Jesus — Welcome to Conceptual Beach.

The singer and author chats with All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen about Jollett's incredible new memoir, Hollywood Park. It's also the title of his latest album with The Airborne Toxic Event.

NPR Music's picks for the week's best new albums include the latest from Portland rapper Aminé, Mary Chapin Carpenter, a posthumous release from Jason Molina, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Aminé — Limbo
Featured Song: "Can't Decide"
2. Mary Chapin Carpenter — The Dirt and the Stars
Featured Song: "All Broken Hearts Break Differently"
3. Jordan Lehning — Little Idols
Featured Song: "Oolaloom"
4. Loyal Lobos — Everlasting
Featured Song: "Whatever it Is"
5. Carmen Canedo — Know It All
Featured Song: "Morrow"
6. Jason Molina — Eight Gates
Featured Song: "She Says"
7. The Microphones — Microphones in 2020
Featured Song: "Microphones in 2020"
8. Immanuel Wilkins — OMEGA
Featured Song: "Ferguson — An American Tradition"

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The musical tastes of the NPR Music crew are a delightful jumble. On this edition of All Songs Considered, we pick our favorite music from July 2020, featuring Madeline Kenney, Nubya Garcia and Taylor Swift.

NPR Music's picks for the week's best new releases include Brandy's first new album in eight years, a stunning debut from rapper and singer Dominic Fike, retro-country from Charley Crockett and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Brandy — B7
Featured Song: "Say Something"
2. Alanis Morissette — Such Pretty Forks in the Road
Featured Song: "Smiling"
3. Charley Crockett — Welcome to Hard Times
Featured Song: "Welcome to Hard Times"
4. Dominic Fike — What Could Possibly Go Wrong
Featured Song: "Joe Blazey"
5. Max Richter — Voices
Featured Songs: "Murmuration," "All Human Beings" and "Mercy"
6. Land of Talk — Indistinct Conversations
Featured Songs: "Look to You (Intro)" and "Look to You"
7. Mirah — You Think It's Like This, But Really It's Like This (20 Year Anniversary)
Featured Songs: "100 Knives" and "Of Pressure" performed by Mount Eerie
8. Thanya Iyer — Kind
Featured Song: "My Mind Keeps Running"
9. Charles Tolliver — Connect
Featured Song: "Blue Soul"

Other notable releases for July 31: Fontaines D.C. — A Hero's Death; Madeline Kenney — Sucker's Luch; Makaya McCraven — Universal Beings E&F Sides; Trevor Powers — Capricorn; The Psychedelic Furs — Made of Rain.

Keep up with the latest from NPR Music with our weekly newsletter at www.npr.org/musicnewsletter

This week's All Songs Considered features Angel Olsen's first album made without a backing band in eight years, 85-year old British folk legend Shirley Collins and a bunch of wonderful new discoveries.

1. Angel Olsen: "Whole New Mess" from Whole New Mess
2. Chrissy Stewart: "House of Christina" from House of Christina
3. Le Ren: "The Day I Lose My Mind" from Morning & Melancholia
4. Saadi: "Pearl" from Saadi
5. Shirley Collins: "Barbara Allen" from Heart's Ease
6. Cinder Well: "Our Lady's" from No Summer

Taylor Swift's surprise new album, Folklore tops our list of the week's best releases, along with new ones from Lupe Fiasco, a 50th anniversary edition of Roberta Flack's debut album and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Taylor Swift — Folklore
Featured Song: "Seven"
2. Lupe Fiasco and Kaelin Ellis — House
Featured Song: "Shoes"
3. Lord Finesse — Motown State of Mind
Featured Song: "I Wanna Be Where You Are"
4. Roberta Flack — First Take (50th Anniversary Edition)
Featured Song: "Trade Winds"
5. Sparkle Division — To Feel Embraced
Featured Song: "You Go Girl!"
6. Jaguar Sun — This Empty Town
Featured Song: "Red"
7. Jess Cornelius — Distance
Featured Song: "Banging My Head"
8. Courtney Marie Andrews — Old Flowers
Featured Song: "Together or Alone"
9. Kamaal Williams — Wu Hen
Featured Song: "Mr. Wu"
10. Maria Schneider — Data Lords
Featured Songs: "Data Lords" and "Bluebird"

Other notable releases for July 24: Katie Dey — Mydata; Liza Anne — Bad Vacation; Logic — No Pressure; Lori McKenna — The Balladeer; The Naked And The Famous — Recover; PJ Harvey — Dry Demos; Shirley Collins — Heart's Ease; Thin Lear — Wooden Cave; Thomas Bartlett — Shelter.

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On this edition of All Songs Considered, Sylvan Esso share and talk about their new song "Ferris Wheel," plus the first new album from The Psychedelic Furs in 29 years and more.

1. TRISHES: "Gaslight"
2. The Psychedelic Furs: "Come All Ye Faithful" from Made Of Rain
3. Gordon Koang: "South Sudan" from Unity
4. Madeline Kenney: "Picture Of You" from Sucker's Lunch
5. Sylvan Esso: "Ferris Wheel" from Free Love
6. Barker: "Paradise Engineering" from Utility

The week's best new albums include old-school hip-hop from Blu & Exile, a transformative record from singer Lianne La Havas, the existential rock of Protomartyr, pop singer Ellie Goulding and more.

Featured Albums:
1. The Chicks — Gaslighter
Featured Song: "Sleep at Night"
2. Lianne La Havas — Lianne La Havas
Featured Song: "Seven Times"
3. Blu & Exile — Miles: From an Interlude Called Life
Featured Song: "True and Livin'"
4. JARV IS — Beyond the Pale
Featured Song: "Sometimes I Am Pharaoh"
5. Protomartyr — Ultimate Success Today
Featured Song: "Processed by the Boys"
6. Ellie Goulding — Brightest Blue
Featured Song: "How Deep is Too Deep?"
7. Zara McFarlane — Songs of An Unknown Tongue
Featured Song: "State of Mind"
8. KLLO — Maybe We Could
Featured Song: "Still Here"

Other notable released for July 17: Alice Ivy — Don't Sleep; Bing & Ruth — Species; Christian Sands — Be Water; Crickets — Crickets; David Ramirez — My Love Is A Hurricane; Dehd — Flower of Devotion; Illuminati Hotties — Free IH: This is Not the One You've Been Waiting For; Laraaji — Sun Piano; Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards — Bitter Better; Nicolas Jaar — Telas; S.G. Goodman — Old Time Feeling

This week's All Songs Considered mix features the extraordinary voice of Golda May, the cello music of Diana Burgess, the soul-filled sounds of Snoh Aalegra and more.

1. Golda May: "Hear Me Out"
2. Lomelda: "Wonder" from Hannah
3. Knot: "Foam" from Knot
4. Diana Burgess: "You Run" from You Run
5. Snoh Aalegra: "Dying 4 Your Love"
6. MXXWLL: "Light Turn Green" from Sheeesh

The best new albums out this week include the first posthumous full-length from the late rapper Juice Wrld, singer Margo Price's best record yet, the return of Rufus Wainwright and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Juice WRLD — Legends Never Die
Featured Song: "Life's A Mess"
2. Rufus Wainwright — Unfollow the Rules
Featured Song: "Damsel In Distress"
3. Apollo Brown & Ché Noir — As God Intended
Featured Song: "Money Oriented"
4. Margo Price — That's How Rumors Get Started
Featured Song: "What Happened To Our Love"
5. Sharhabil Ahmed — The King of Sudanese Jazz
Featured Song: "Argos Farfish"
6. The Beths — Jump Rope Gazers
Featured Song: "I'm Not Getting Excited"
7. My Morning Jacket — The Waterfall II
Featured Song: "Spinning My Wheels"
8. Jimmie Allen — Bettie James
Featured Song: "When This Is Over"
9. Julianna Barwick — Healing Is a Miracle
Featured Song: "In Light (feat. Jónsi)
10. Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride & Brian Blade — RoundAgain
Featured Song: "Right Back Round Again"

Other notable releases for July 10: Brett Eldredge — Sunday Drive; Dinner Party — Dinner Party; DMA's — The Glow; The Jayhawks — XOXO; Joshua Ray Walker — Glad You Made It; Kacy Hill — Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again?; Kestrels — Dream or Don't Dream; Ray Wylie Hubbard — Co-Starring; Sahbabii — Barnacles; The Streets — None of Us Are Getting Out of This Alive; Summer Walker — Life On Earth.

This week's All Songs Considered features an epic new song from Sufjan Stevens, a piano nocturne from Thomas Bartlett, a surprise release from Bill Callahan and more.

Featured Artists And Songs:

1. Bill Callahan "Pigeons" from Gold Record
2. Fenne Lily "Alapathy" from Breach
3. Lonnie Holley "Like Hell Broke Away" from National Freedom
4. Thomas Bartlett "Lucida" from Shelter
5. Sufjan Stevens "America" from The Ascension

The best new albums out this week include the posthumous debut studio release from the rapper Pop Smoke, Willie Nelson's 70th solo album, a surprise release from the Japanese experimental band Boris and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Keleketla! — Keleketla!
Featured Songs: "Future Toyi Toyi" and "Freedom Groove"
2. Denai Moore — Modern Dread
Featured Song: "Don't Close the Door"
3. Willie Nelson — First Rose of Spring
Featured Song: "Don't Let the Old Man In"
4. Pop Smoke — Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
Featured Song: "Got It On Me"
5. Mulatu Astatke & Black Jesus Experience — To Know Without Knowing
Featured Song: "To Know Without Knowing"
6. Boris — NO
Featured Songs: "Temple of Hatred" and "Interlude"

Other notable releases for July 3: Cuddle Magic — Bath; Dream Wife — So When You Gonna; Gucci Mane — So Icy Summer; Lamin Fofana — Blues; Paul Weller — On Sunset; Too Much — Club Emotion.

From the foreboding final track of Run The Jewels' RTJ4 to pianist Jenny Lin's heart-soothing Philip Glass performance to SAULT's timely Untitled (Black Is), hear the voices of the NPR Music staff share their picks.

This week's "best new albums" shortlist includes the genre-defying sounds of Arca, Carlos Niño & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson's transporting improvisations, HAIM, sacred soul and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Bad Moves — Untenable
Featured Song: "Local Radio"
2. Arca — KiCk i
Featured Song: "Riquiqui"
3. Becca Mancari — The Greatest Part
Featured Song: "The First Time"
4. Carlos Niño & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson — Chicago Waves
Featured Song: "Part VI-Into Eternity"
5. HAIM — Women in Music Pt. III
Featured Songs: "Los Angeles" and "Man From the Magazine"
6. Dedicated Men of Zion — Can't Turn Me Around
Featured Song: "Down Here Lord"
7. Khruangbin — Mordechai
Featured Song: "Time (You and I)"
8. Derrick Hodge — Color of Noize
Featured Song: "You Could Have Stayed"

Other notable releases for June 26: Angela Muñoz & Adrian Younge — Introspection; BOYO — Where Have All My Friends Gone?; Brian McKnight — Exodus; Gabriel Olafs — Piano Works; Gordi — Our Two Skins; HUM — Inlet; Japandroids — Massey F****** Hall; Jessie Ware — What's Your Pleasure?; Maceo Parker — Soul Food Cooking With Maceo; Nana Grizol — South Somewhere Else; Ray LaMontagne — Monovision; Tenille Townes — The Lemonade Stand.

There are way more new artists with stunning debuts this year than we could ever fit on a single show. But on this week's All Songs Considered, we share some of the standouts of 2020 (so far).

Featured Artists And Songs:

1. Coriky: "Clean Kill" from Coriky
2. Rina Sawayama: "STFU!" from Sawayama
3. Tenci: "Joy" from My Heart Is An Open Field
4. THICK: "Mansplain" from 5 Years Behind
5. Katie Pruitt: "Grace Has a Gun" from Expectations
6. Buscabulla: "Vámono" from Regresa
7. Asher Gamedze: "Siyabulela" from Dialectic Soul
8. Christian Lee Hutson: "Atheist" from Beginners
9. Eve Owen: "Bluebird" from Don't Let the Ink Dry
10. Jonah Mutono: "The Low" from GERG

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Our shortlist of the week's best new albums includes a celebration of love from John Legend, a stunning release from Phoebe Bridgers, a long-lost Neil Young record, the Malian singer Oumou Sangaré and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Phantom Planet — Devastator
Featured Song: "Time Moves On"
2. John Legend — Bigger Love
Featured Song: "Ooh Laa"
3. Phoebe Bridgers — Punisher
Featured Songs: "Punisher" and "I Know The End"
4. Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad - JID 002
5. Bob Dylan — Rough and Rowdy Ways
Featured Song: "Goodbye Jimmy Reed"
6. Neil Young — Homegrown
Featured Song: "Separate Ways"
7. Oumou Sangaré — Acoustic
Featured Song: "Diaraby Nene"

Other notable releases for June 19: Braids — Shadow Offering; Don Bryant — You Make Me Feel; Gabby Bryant — GOLDMINE; Owen — The Avalanche; Sault — Untitled; Teyana Taylor — The Album; Wire — 10:20; Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile — Not Our First Goat Rodeo

This week's must-hear mix from All Songs Considered includes music inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, a quarantine anthem, a track that draws on field recordings of bats and more.

Featured Tracks:
1. Shamir "On My Own" (Single)
2. H.E.R. "I Can't Breathe" (Single)
3. A.O. Gerber "Old Blue" from Another Place to Need
4. Gracie and Rachel "Ideas" (Single)
5. Hania Rani "Buka" from Home
6. Eluvium "Dusk Tempi" from Field Works: Ultrasonic

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From new jazz albums from Ambrose Akinmusire and Norah Jones to soothing works from Gia Margaret, Eighth Blackbird and Noveller, here are the best new albums out on June 12.

Featured Albums:
1. Ambrose Akinmusire — on the tender spot of every calloused moment
Featured Song: "Tide of Hyacinth"
2. Jehnny Beth — To Love Is To Live
Featured Song: "Innocence"
3. Gia Margaret — Mia Gargaret
Featured Songs: "Body" and "Lesson"
4. Chloe x Halle — Ungodly Hour
Featured Song: "Baby Girl"
5. Eighth Blackbird — Singing In The Dead Of Night
Featured Songs: "These Broken Wings" and "Singing In The Dead Of Night"
6. Naeem — Startisha
Featured Songs: "Simulation" and "You And I"
7. Norah Jones — Pick Me Up Off The Floor
Featured Song: "Hurts To Be Alone"
8. Noveller — Arrow
Featured Song: "Pre-fabled"

Notable releases for June 5: The Prison Music Project — Long Time Gone; Katie Malco — Failures; Groupe RTD — The Dancing Devils Of Djibouti; Hinds — The Prettiest Curse; Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, William Parker & Gerald Cleaver — Welcome Adventure Vol. 1

Notable releases for June 12: GoGo Penguin — GoGo Penguin; Coriky — Coriky; Sammy Brue — Crash Test Kid; Momma — Two Of Me

On this week's All Songs Considered, we listen as thoughtful musicians express their utter frustrations and fears in the aftermath of George Floyd's death at the hands of the Minneapolis police.

1. Gary Clark Jr. and The Roots, "This Land (Remix)" (feat. Black Thought)
2. Chloë Nixon, "I Can't Breathe"
3. Fantastic Negrito, "How Long?"
4. Leon Bridges, "Sweeter" (feat. Terrace Martin)
5. Mickey Guyton, "Black Like Me"

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We break format on this week's show for a deeper discussion of RTJ4, an album that speaks directly to both current and historic racism in America, police violence and systemic oppression.

At the end of every month, the NPR Music team picks their favorite albums and songs. Their passions vary widely, from Atlanta rapper Deante' Hitchcock to Australian ambient artist Madeleine Cocolas.

If there's a common theme to the best new albums out this week, it's joy, from the relentlessly jubilant rock of the band Vistas, to singer Nicole Atkins' love letter to the Jersey Shore.

Featured Albums:
1. Vistas — Everything Changes in the End
Featured Song: "Sucker"
2. Nicole Atkins — Italian Ice
Featured Song: "Captain"
3. Ondara — Folk N Roll Vol. 1 - Tales of Isolation
Featured Song: "Mr. Landlord"
4. Jaime Wyatt — Neon Cross
Featured Song: "Neon Cross"
5. 2nd Grade — Hit to Hit
Featured Songs: "Baby's First Words" and "Something I'll Have To Remember"
6. Christian Lee Hutson — Beginners
Featured Song: "Atheist"
7. Teddy Thompson — Heartbreaker Please
Featured Song: "Why Wait"
8. Jake Blount — Spider Tales
Featured Song: "Move, Daniel"

Other notable releases for May 29: David Grubbs & Taku Unami — Comet Meta; Deerhoof — Future Teenage Cave Artists; Diana Ross — Supertonic; Diplo — Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil; Flying Lotus — Flamagra Instrumentals; Hania Rani — Home; Inventions — Continuous Portrait; Kip Moore — Wild World; Lady Gaga — Chromatica; Prince — Up All Nite With Prince.

This week's new mix from All Songs Considered is all cover tunes, featuring musicians we love paying tribute to artists they love.

1. Jay Som "Lucy" from Soccer Mommy & Friends Singles Series
2. Soccer Mommy "I Think You're Alright" from Soccer Mommy & Friends Singles Series
3. Margaret Glaspy "Mythological Beauty"
4. Lucy Dacus "Tom Courtenay"
5. Sharon Van Etten "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding? [feat. Josh Homme]"
6 Caroline Spence "The Middle"
7. Palehound "Something On Your Mind"
8. Joseph Shabason "Gymnopedia No. 1"

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The best albums out this week include The 1975's sprawling masterpiece, Notes On A Conditional Form, the return of Indigo Girls, The Airborne Toxic Event, the rapper Gunna and more.

At a time when every day can feel the same, on this week's All Songs Considered you can meet someone new, with a mix of memorable music discoveries.

1. Muzz: "Red Western Sky" from Muzz
2. Liza Anne: "Bad Vacation" from Bad Vacation
3. Katie Von Schleicher "Brutality" from Consummation
4. Lou Canon "M.O.T.R." from Audomatic Body
5. Trespassers William "Winterstorms"
6. Asher Gamedze "Siyabulela" from Dialectic Soul

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Charli XCX's how i'm feeling now made entirely while quarantined, leads our shortlist of the week's best new albums, along with Jason Isbell, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Perfume Genius and more.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, we take a musical journey honoring the genius of Kraftwerk's Florian Schneider, who died May 6, just a few days after turning 73.

The German electronic band was like no other in the 1970s, with their pulsing electronic music and songs about the intersection of man and machines. Music writer Geeta Dayal and I play the band's career-defining songs from this group, a foursome that influenced everyone from David Bowie to Prince and '80s new wave while laying the groundwork for electronica and EDM.

1. "Autobahn" from Autobahn (1974)
2. "Radioactivity" from Radio-Activity (1975)
3. "Trans-Europe Express" from Trans-Europe Express (1977)
4. "Neon Lights" from The Man-Machine (1978)
5. "Computer World" from Computer World (1981)
6. "Tour de France" single (1983)

On this special edition of All Songs Considered, we look back at the life of rock and roll pioneer Little Richard through 10 of the defining songs of his career.

NPR Music Senior Director Lauren Onkey joins host Bob Boilen as they play singles from the early '50s up through his 1970 album, The Rill Thing.

1. "Tutti Frutti" (1955)
2. "Long Tall Sally (The Thing)" (1956)
3. "Get Rich Quick" (1952)
4. "Slippin' and Slidin' (Peepin' and Hidin')" (1956)
5. "The Girl Can't Help It" (1956)
6. "Lucille" (1957)
7. "Keep A Knockin' " (1957)
8. "Every Time I Feel The Spirit" (1960)
9. "I Don't Know What You've Got" (1965)
10. "Freedom Blues" (1970)

Our shortlist of the best new albums out this week includes a debut solo release from Paramore's Hayley Williams, the latest from R&B singer Kehlani, rapper Bishop Nehru and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Hayley Williams — Petals For Armor
Featured Song: "Simmer"
2. Blake Mills — Mutable Set
Featured Song: "Money is the One True God"
3. Buscabulla — Regresa
Featured Song: "Mío"
4. Mark Lanegan — Straight Songs of Sorrow
Featured Song: "This Game of Love"
5. Chelsea Williams — Beautiful and Strange
Featured Song: "Beautiful and Strange"
6. Kehlani — It Was Good Until It Wasn't
Featured Song: "Grieving"
7. Eve Owen — Don't Let The Ink Dry
Featured Song: "Mother"
8. Bishop Nehru — Nehruvia: My Disregarded Thoughts
Featured Song: "Too Lost"
9. Cyrillus Kreek — The Suspended Harp of Babel
Featured Song: "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come"

Other notable releases out on May 8: Beauty Pill — Please Advise; Hailee Steinfeld — Half-Written Story; Phenomenal Handclap Band — Do What You Like; Same — Plastic Western; Shakey Graves — Look Alive; Shiner — Schadenfreude.

This week's All Songs Considered includes a surprise drop from Big Thief, a sonic journey from The Decemberists' Chris Funk and some great unknowns.

Featured Songs And Artists:

1. Big Thief: "Love in Mine"
2. Samia: "Is There Something in the Movies?"
3. serpentwithfeet: "Psychic" from Apparition
4. Pezzettino: "Ring for Sappho" from Venus
5. Tadzio: "Pint of My Blood" from That Cold Grey Light
6. Chris Funk: "Knifey Vellocet" from The Painted Porch
7. Luke Schneider: "Lex Universum" from Altar of Harmony

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The best new albums out this week include an upside down sound from Car Seat Headrest, the technicolor world of Chicano Batman, a mind-blowing debut from actor Caleb Landry Jones and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Car Seat Headrest — Making a Door Less Open
Featured Songs: "Hollywood" and "There Must Be More Than Blood"
2. American Aquarium — Lamentations
Featured Song: "Me + Mine"
3. Diet Cig — Do You Wonder About Me?
Featured Song: "Broken Body"
4. Chicano Batman — Invisible People
Featured Song: "Blank Slate"
5. DELANILA — Overloaded
Featured Song: "The Philosopher"
6. Damien Jurado — What's New, Tomboy?
Featured Song: "Arthur Aware"
7. Johanna Warren — Chaotic Good
Featured Song: "Faking Amnesia"
8. Caleb Landry Jones — The Mother Stone
Featured Song: "Flag Day / Mother Stone"

Other notable releases for May 1: Austra — HiRUDiN; Ben Lukas Boysen — Mirage; Devon Williams — A Tear in the Fabric; The Goods — II; Hot Country Knights — The K Is Silent; Joan as Police Woman — Cover Two; Jojo — Good to Know; Kenny Chesney — Here and Now; Man Man — Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between.

NPR Music staff pick the music they love best for April 2020. "Dreamsicle" by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, "Only the Strong" from Laura Marling, "Pringle Creek" from Ellis, "Blissful Morning Dream Interpretation Melody" from Discovery Zone, "Como un Dragón" from Rita Indiana, "Look Alive" from Moor Jewelry and "Holy Mother" from Clarice Jensen.

This week's All Songs Considered mix has joy and words of encouragement from Lucinda Williams, a group of artists in Kentucky vowing to "Lift Up Louisville," and more.

1. Tenci: "Joy" from My Heart Is An Open Field
2. Khruangbin: "Time (You and I)" from Mordechai
3. Protomartyr: "Worm In Heaven" from Ultimate Success Today
4. Teddy Abrams, Jim James, Will Oldham, Jecorey Arthur and More: "Lift Up Louisville"
5. Lucinda Williams: "When The Way Gets Dark" from Good Souls Better Angels
6. Liar, Flower: "I am Sundress (She of Infinite Flowers)" from Geiger Counter
7. The Lovely Eggs: "Long Stem Carnations" from I am Moron

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The best new albums out this week include a scorcher from Lucinda Williams, a new joint from rapper Quelle Chris and Chris Keys, Sylvan Esso's first-ever live album, country singer Pam Tillis and more.

Featured Albums:

1. Brendan Benson — Dear Life
Featured Song: "I Can If You Want Me To"
2. Pam Tillis — Looking for a Feeling
Featured Song: "Looking for a Feeling"
3. Sylvan Esso — WITH
Featured Song: "Radio"
4. Quelle Chris & Chris Keys — Innocent Country 2
Featured Song: "Black Twitter"
5. Lucinda Williams — Good Souls Better Angels
Featured Song: "Waking Up"
6. Ian Chang — Belonging
Featured Songs: "Lion Dance" and "Comfort Me"
7. Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes — What Kinda Music
Featured Song: "Lift Off"
8. Whim — Abuzz in the Abyss
Featured Song: "Somebody Else's Tongue"

Other notable releases for April 24: Alice Bag — Sister Dynamite; BC Camplight — Shortly After Takeoff; Hazel English — Wake Up!; Luke De-Sciscio — Eucharist; Other Lives — For Their Love; Peter Oren — The Greener Pasture; Sweet Crude — Officiel//Artificiel Whitney Rose — We Still Go To Rodeos; Zsela — Ache of Victory.

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This week's must-hear mix includes the long-awaited return of Jónsi and Bright Eyes, some quietude from pianist Nils Frahm and some great unknowns, including Ela MInus and Noveller.

Featured Songs And Artists:
1. Bright Eyes: "Forced Convalescence"
2. Jónsi: "Exhale"
3. Ela Minus: "they told us it was hard, but they were wrong" (Single)
4. Skullcrusher: "Places / Plans" (Single)
5. Nils Frahm: "A Shimmer" from Empty
6. Noveller: "Effektology" from Arrow

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NPR Music's Ann Powers, Bob Boilen and Marissa Lorusso take a deep look at the singer's remarkable new album, Fetch The Bolt Cutters.

On Friday, April 17, Fiona Apple released the stunning collection, which fans had been waiting just over eight years to hear — and it was well worth the wait. To celebrate, NPR Music hosted a live online listening party, playing the full record on our YouTube channel while tens of thousands of people joined in to listen along with us. When it was over, NPR Music's Ann Powers, Bob Boilen and Marissa Lorusso discussed the new songs, what they mean and where they fit within Apple's remarkable career.

Fiona Apple's long-awaited Fetch the Bolt Cutters leads our rundown of the best new albums out this week. Hear that, plus the latest from Shabazz Palaces, Lido Pimienta, Rina Sawayama and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Fiona Apple — Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Featured Song: "I Want You to Love Me"
2. Rina Sawayama — Sawayama
Featured Song: "STFU!"
3. Lido Pimienta — Miss Colombia
Featured Song: "Quiero Que Me Salves"
4. Sarah Siskind — Modern Appalachia
Featured Song: "Punk Rock Girl"
5. Shabazz Palaces — The Don of Diamond Dreams
6. Zelma Stone — Dreamland
Featured Song: "Fly"
7. John Adams — Why Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes
Featured Songs: Excerpts from the 1st and 3rd movements

Other notable albums out on April 17: Bobby Bare — Great American Saturday Night; Brett Newski — Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down; dvsn — A Muse In Her Feelings; EOB — Earth; Girl Skin — Shade is on the Other Side; The Pack A.D. — It Was Fun While It Lasted; Shelby Lynne — Shelby Lynne; RJD2 — The Fun Ones; Ron Sexsmith — Hermitage; Sophie Hutchings — Scattered on the Wind; Soul Asylum — Hurry Up and Wait; Tech N9ne — Enterfear.

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This week's must-hear mix of music to slow the blood includes some delicate and joyful sounds, mostly from artists you likely haven't heard of, including Ben Lukas Boysen and Jerry Paper.

Featured Songs And Artists:
1. The Mountain Goats: "Until Olympius Returns" from Songs for Pierre Chuvin
2. Jerry Paper: "Puppeteer" from Abracadabra
3. Ben Lukas Boysen: "Clarion" from Mirage
4. Avishai Cohen & Big Vicious: "Teardrop" from Big Vicious
5. Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus: "Vespers" from Songs of Yearning

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Our weekly rundown of the best new albums out now includes the latest from Laura Marling, The Strokes' best new release in years, Hamilton Leithauser and more.

Featured Albums:
1. The Strokes — The New Abnormal
Featured Song: "The Adults Are Talking"
2. Laura Marling — Song For Our Daughter
Featured Song: "Only the Strong"
3. Pokey LaFarge — Rock Bottom Rhapsody
Featured Song: "End of My Rope"
4. Midwife — Forever
Featured Songs: "S.W.I.M." and "C.R.F.W."
5. Hamilton Leithauser — The Loves of Your Life
Featured Song: "The Garbage Men"
6. Active Child — In Another Life
Featured Song: "Weightless"
7. Watkins Family Hour — Brother Sister
Featured Song: "Keep It Clean"
8. STRFKR — Future Past Life
Featured Song: "Dear Stranger"

Other notable releases for April 10: ADULT. — Perception is/as/of Deception; The Dream Syndicate — The Universe Inside; Eliza Gilkyson — 2020; Joe Satriani — Shapeshifting; John Anderson — Years; Local H — Lifers; Maddie & Tae — The Way It Feels; Rosie Carney — I Dreamed I Was The Night; Stay Inside — Viewing; Tory Lanez — New Toronto 3; Trace Mountains — Lost in the Country; The Ultimate Fakebook — The Preserving Machine; Webb Wilder — Night Without Love.

On this special edition of All Songs Considered, we look back at the life and legacy of the late John Prine through ten of the defining songs from his nearly 50-year career.

Host Bob Boilen is joined by NPR Music's Ann Powers as they play cuts from across the singer's deep catalog, from his self-titled, 1971 debut to his final album, 2018's The Tree of Forgiveness.

1. "Sam Stone" from John Prine (1971)
2. "Angel From Montgomery" from John Prine (1971)
3. "Hello In There" from John Prine (1971)
4. "Yes I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You" from Diamonds in the Rough (1972)
5. "Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone" from Bruised Orange (1978)
6. "Unwed Fathers" from Aimless Love (1984)
7. "Lake Marie" from Lost Dogs + Mixed Blessings (1995)
8. "In Spite of Ourselves" from In Spite of Ourselves (1999)
9. "She Is My Everything" from Fair & Square (2005)
10. "When I Get To Heaven" from The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

In a conversation with All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen, Ed O'Brien reveals how he made Earth, an album that's both boldly colorful and intimate.

Earth is an album that feels both boldly colorful and intimate — one that reflects the two landscapes that underlie this record: Brazil and Wales.

Mark Ellis, who works under the name Flood, largely produced this album. He has not only a long history of working on big productions from U2 to PJ Harvey, but also has a child in the same school as Ed O'Brien's and so the two have become close friends.

That friendship accounts for the warmth on this record. There are also some extraordinary players, including Radiohead bandmate Colin Greenwood, guitarist Adrian Utley from what Ed calls the other "head" band, Portishead, drums from Omar Hakim and Wilco's Glenn Kotche, bassist Nathan East, singer and guitarist Laura Marling and the list goes on.

On March 23, Ed O'Brien posted on social media that he most likely had the coronavirus but was expecting a full recovery. Our conversation on April 2 begins with an update on his health.

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Our picks for this week's best new albums include the latest from Thundercat, M. Ward, country singers Ashley McBryde and Sam Hunt, ambient cello tunes from Clarice Jensen and more.

Featured Albums:
1. M. Ward — Migration Stories
Featured Song: "Unreal City"
2. Ashley McBryde — Never Will
Featured Song: "Martha Divine"
3. NNAMDÏ — BRAT
Featured Song: "Salut"
4. Wilma Archer — A Western Circular
Featured Songs: "Last Sniff" and "Killing Crab"
5. Thundercat — It Is What It Is
Featured Song: "Fair Chance"
6. Clarice Jensen — The Experience of Repetition as Death
Featured Song: "Day Tonight:
7. Anna Burch — If You're Dreaming
Featured Song: "Can't Sleep"
8. Sam Hunt — Southside
Featured Song: "Hard to Forget"

Other notable albums out on April 3: All Time Low — Wake Up Sunshine; Born Ruffians — JUICE; Caleb Caudle — Better Hurry Up; Ellis — Born Again; The Lovely Eggs — I Am Moron; Nina Simone — Fodder On My Wings; Peel Dream Magazine — Agitprop Alterna; Purity Ring — Womb; Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn — Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn; Yves Tumor — Heaven to a Tortured Mind.

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Listening to music during this pandemic has cast new light on old familiar tunes. Here's a listener-curated mix-tape of songs whose lyrics have an eerie — or comforting — connection to our current crisis.

It's another super-packed release week, with stellar new albums from Pearl Jam, Sufjan Stevens, the producer Knxwledge, Little Dragon and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Pearl Jam — Gigaton
Featured Song: "Quick Escape"
2. Clem Snide — Forever Just Beyond
Featured Song: "Roger Ebert"
3. Little Dragon — New Me, Same Us
Featured Song: "Are You Feeling Sad?"
4. Sufjan Stevens and Lowell Brams — Aporia
Featured Songs: "Ousia," "Agathon" and "Misology"
5. Somni — Home
Featured Song: "Home"
6. Lilly Hiatt — Walking Proof
Featured Song: "P-Town"
7. Knxwledge — 1988
Featured Song: "Don't Be Afraid"
8. Orion Sun — Hold Space for Me
Featured Song: "Grim Reaper"
9. Jacaszek — Music for Film
Featured Song: "The Iron Bridge"

Other notable releases for March 27: 5 Seconds of Summer — Calm; Basia Bulat — Are You In Love?; Bon Iver — Blood Bank 10th Anniversary Edition; Brian Fallon — Local Honey; Brooklyn Rider — Healing Modes; Cable Ties — Far Enough; Catholic Action — Celebrated by Strangers; Gold Cage — Social Crutch; Half Waif — The Caretaker; In this Moment — Mother; Jim Lauderdale — When Carolina Comes Home Again; Jessie Reyez — Before Love Came to Kill Us; Joyner Lucas — ADHD, Lakecia Benjamin — Pursuance: The Coltranes; Margaret Glaspy — Devotion; The Orb — Abolition of the Royal Familia; San Fermin — The Cormorant I & II; Vanessa Carlton — Love is an Art; Vikingur Olafsson — Debussy - Rameau; Waxahatchee — Saint Cloud.

The two brothers describe their first-ever album together as a kind of art project — Roger composed the music and Brian added all the color. "Roger is a landscape painter," says Brian, "and I'm an abstract expressionist."

Finally, some good news! J Balvin's Colores is here, along with The Weeknd's mysterious After Hours, dance therapy from TOKiMONSTA and more, all on our shortlist of the week's best new albums.

Featured Albums:
1. J Balvin — Colores
Featured Song: "Amarillo"
2. The Weeknd — After Hours
Featured Song: "After Hours"
3. TOKiMONSTA — Oasis Nocturno
Featured Song: "Get Me Some"
4. Ian William Craig — Red Sun Through Smoke
Featured Songs: "Weight" and "Condx QRN"
5. Becca Stevens — Wonderbloom
Featured Song: "I Wish"
6. Yael Naim — nightsongs
7. Kelsea Ballerini — Kelsea
Featured Song: "Half of my Hometown"

Other notable releases for March 20: Adam Lambert — Velvet; Brian and Roger Eno — Mixing Colours; Conan Gray — Kid Krow; Delta Rae — The Light; Gordon Lightfoot — SOLO; The Legendary Ingramettes — Take a Look in the Book; Låpsley — Through Water; Mapache — From Liberty Street; Moaning -- Uneasy Laughter; Sea Wolf — Through a Dark Wood; Tower of Power — Step Up.

For the first time in more than 30 years ago, SXSW isn't happening. But we still listened to hundreds of bands that were supposed to play in Austin this week and made some great discoveries.On this episode of All Songs Considered we share just a fraction of our favorite discoveries, including the German electro-pop band, Cosby, the UK singer-songwriter Luke De-Sciscio and the Nigerian singer and rapper known as Rema.Playlist:1. Cosby: "Follow the Leader"2. Luke De-Sciscio: "I'm A Dream Fighting Out Of A Man"3. Katie Malco: "Creatures"4. Akineymi: "Seaworld"5. Höröyá: "Dogon"6. Black Country, New Road: "Sunglasses"7. S.G. Goodman: "The Way I Talk"8. Totemo: "Origami"9. Chelsea Williams: "Red Flag"10. Boyo: "Backseat Driver"11. Shards: "Summer Sickness"12. Rema: "Lady"

One Direction singer Niall Horan is back with a new solo album, Big Freedia gets 'Louder' and The Flaming Lips team up with Deap Valley for a gritty new psych-rock project.

Featured Albums:
1. Niall Horan — Heartbreak Weather
Featured Song: "Nice to Meet Ya"
2. Big Freedia — Louder
Featured Song: "Chasing Rainbows"
3. JFDR — New Dreams
Featured Song: "Think Too Fast"
4. Dogleg — Melee
Featured Song: "Fox"
5. Caitlyn Smith — Supernova
Featured Song: "I Don't Want To Love You Anymore"
6. Porridge Radio — Every Bad
Featured Songs: "Sweet" and "Lilac"
7. Deap Lips — Deap Lips
Featured Song: "Hope Hell High"
8. Hilary Woods — Birthmarks
Featured Songs: "Through the Dark, Love" and "Mud and Stones"
9. Shabaka and the Ancestors — We Are Sent Here by History
Featured Song: "You've Been Called"
10. Code Orange — Underneath
Featured Song: "The Easy Way"

Other notable albums out on March 13: The Bombpops — Death in Venice Beach; The Boomtown Rats — Citizens of Boomtown; The Districts — You Know I'm Not Going Anywhere; Four Tet — Sixteen Oceans; Grouplove — Healer; Honeycutt — Coasting; Peter Bjorn and John — Endless Dream; Sam Doores — Sam Doores; Ultraista — Sister; Yumi Zouma — Truth or Consequence.

This week's must-hear mix includes the veteran English art-rock group Wire, singer Anna Calvi's reworking of "Don't Beat the Girl out of My Boy, the return of Car Seat Headrest and more.

Playlist:
1. Anna Calvi: "Don't Beat the Girl out of My Boy" (feat. Courtney Barnett) from Hunted
2. Ohmme: "3 2 4 3" from Fantasize Your Ghost
3. Wire: "Cactused" from Mind Hive
4. Car Seat Headrest: "Can't Cool Me Down" (Single)
5. Alex the Astronaut: "I Think You're Great" (Single)
6. Beatuty Pill: "J.T.S. Study No. 1" from Sorry You're Here

Our sprint through the best albums out this week includes the latest from R&B singer Jhené Aiko, Phantogram, singer Mandy Moore's first new music in a decade, Swamp Dogg, Cornershop and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Phantogram — Ceremony
Featured Song: "Love Me Now"
2. Pantha Du Prince — Conference of Trees
Featured Song: "Transparent Tickle Shining Glace"
3. Mandy Moore — Silver Landings
Featured Song: "Forgiveness"
4. Jhené Aiko — Chilombo
Featured Song: "Happiness Over Everything"
5. Nadia Reid — Out of My Province
Featured Song: "Get the Devil Out"
6. Stephen Malkmus — Traditional Techniques
Featured Song: "Xian Man"
7. Caroline Rose — Superstar
Featured Song: "Do You Think We'll Last Forever"
8. Swamp Dogg — Sorry You Couldn't Make It
Featured Song: "Please Let Me Go 'Round Again"
9. Cornershop — England is a Garden
Featured Song: "No Rock: Save In Roll"
10. THICK — 5 Years Behind
Featured Song: "Mansplain"

Other notable releases for March 6: Anna Calvi — Hunted; CocoRosie — Put the Shine On; Disq — Collector; Esmé Patterson — There Will Come Soft Rains; Grafh — The Oracle III; José James — No Beginning No End 2; Noel Gallagher's High-Flying Birds — Blue Moon Rising; Overcoats — The Fight; Riz Ahmed — The Long Goodbye; U.S. Girls — Heavy Light; Worriers — You Or Someone You Know.

This week's must-hear mix of songs includes a sunny new track from Dirty Projectors, new solo music from Radiohead's Ed O'Brien and several curiosities from NPR Music's striking Viking, Lars Gotrich.

Playlist:
1. Coriky: "Clean Kill" from Coriky
2. Azusa: "Detach" from Loop of Yesterdays
3. African Head Charge: "Dub Some More" (Single)
4. Ricardo Richaid: "Largado Nu" from Travesseiro Feliz
5. Dirty Projectors: "Overlord" (Single)
6. Big Blood: "Providence" from Do You Wanna Have A Skeleton Dream?
7. Ed O'Brien: "Shangri-La" from Earth

Our shortlist of the best albums out this week includes Caribou's first new full-length in five years, the rapper G Herbo's PTSD, a career-spanning celebration from Brazilian legend Sergio Mendes and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Carbiou — Suddenly
Featured Songs: "Home" and "Lime"
2. Real Estate — The Main Thing
Featured Song: "You"
3. G Herbo — PTSD
Featured Song: "Gangsta's Cry"
4. Kyshona Armstrong — Listen
Featured Song: "Fear"
5. Hailey Whitters — The Dream
Featured Song: "10 Year Town"
6. Sérgio Mendes — In the Key of Joy
Featured Song: "Bora Lá"
7. Kassa Overall — I Think I'm Good
Featured Song: "Darkness In Mind"
8. Ratboys — Printer's Devil
Featured Song: "Look To"
9. Thomas Adès — Adès Conducts Adès (Concerto for Piano and Orchestra)
Featured Songs: Excerpts from the third and second movements

Other notable releases for Feb. 28: Angelica Garcia — Cha Cha Palace; Ellen Fullman — In the Sea; Sierra Hull — 25 Trips; Soccer Mommy — Color Theory

This week's must-hear mix includes the mind-blowing sax band Moon Hooch, guitarist-singer Jay Som, whose latest builds to a fever pitch, and new discoveries from Wednesday, Momma and more.

Playlist:
1. Wednesday: "Fate Is"
2. Momma: "Double Dare"
3. Moon Hooch: "Candlelight"
4. Ellis: "Fall Apart"
5. Jay Som: "A Thousand Words"
6. Ada Lea: "woman, here"
7. Shabaka & the Ancestors: "Go My Heart, Go To Heaven"

New albums from the K-pop band BTS, Grimes and Best Coast are among our picks for this week's best new releases.

Featured Albums:
1. BTS — 'Map of the Soul: 7'
Featured Song: "On"
2. Grimes — 'Miss_Anthrop0cene)'
Featured Song: "You'll Miss Me When I'm Not Around"
3. Best Coast — 'Always Tomorrow'
Featured Song: "Rollercoaster"
4. Royce da 5'9" — 'The Allegory'
Featured Songs: "Overcomer" and "Mr. Grace"
5. Katie Pruitt — 'Expectations'
Featured Song: "Normal"
6. Moses Sumney — 'græ: Part 1'
Featured Songs: "Conveyor" and "Gagarin"
7. Agnes Obel — 'Myopia'
Featured Song: "Camera's Rolling"
8. King Krule — 'Man Alive!'
Featured Song: "Stoned Again"
9. Klangstof — 'The Noise You Make is Silent'
Featured Song: "Blank Page"

Other notable releases for Feb. 21: Banoffee — Look at Us Now Dad; Greg Dulli — Random Desire; Guided by Voices — Surrender Your Poppy Field; MILCK: Into Gold; Ozzy Osbourne — Ordinary Man; Sarah Harmer — Are You Gone; Six Organs of Admittance — Companion Rises; Wilsen — Ruiner.

We premiere a new song from Roger and Brian Eno, plus the ambient sounds of Jon Hopkins, Skylar Gudasz and more artists who offer a soothing mix to slow the blood, calm the nerves and inspire the mind.

Playlist:
1. Jon Hopkins: "Scene Suspended" (Single)
2. Roger & Brian Eno: "Celeste" from Mixing Colours
3. Lambert: "Vienna" from True
4. Ian Urbina & Teen Daze: "Reel In (Sea Slavery)" from Pure Water
5. Niklas Paschburg: "Duvet" from Svalbard
6. Skylar Gudasz: "Actress" (Single)

Tame Impala, the K-pop band Monsta X and a new solo album from Nathaniel Rateliff top our shortlist for this week's best new releases.

Featured Albums:
1. Tame Impala — 'The Slow Rush'
Featured Song: "Is It True?"
2. Monsta X — 'All About Luv'
Featured Song: "Someone's Someone"
3. The Ballroom Thieves — 'Unlovely'
Featured Song: "Unlovely"
4. Carly Pearce — 'Carly Pearce'
Featured Song: "Call Me"
5. The Heliocentrics — 'Infinity of Now'
Featured Song: "People Wake Up!"
6. Nathaniel Rateliff — 'And It's Still Alright'
Featured Song: "Mavis"
7. Moses Boyd — 'Dark Matter'
Featured Songs: "Dancing in the Dark" and "Shades of You"
8. Beach Bunny — Honeymoon
Featured Song: "Colorblind"

Other notable releases for Feb 14: Bambara — Stray; Cindy Lee — What's Tonight to Eternity?; DRAMA — Dance Without Me; EDEN — No Future; Habibi — Anywhere But Here; Huey Lewis and the News — Weather; Justin Bieber — Changes; Katie Gately — Loom; Noah Gundersen — A Raven and a Dove; Puss N Boots — Sister; Tami Neilson — Chickaboom!; Tennis — Swimmer; yMusic — Ecstatic Science.

As we barrel toward Valentine's Day, M. Ward, Phoebe Bridgers, Perfume Genius, Raveena and more musicians share the love songs they wish they'd written.

1. Torres' Pick: "Hounds of Love" by Kate Bush
2. Matt Berninger's Pick: "Don't Know How to Keep Loving You" by Julia Jacklin
3. Perfume Genius' Pick: "Consummation" by Nina Simone
4. Amelia Meath's Pick: "Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits
5. Raveena's Pick: "Drunk" by Dijon
6. Phoebe Bridgers' Pick: "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes
7. Conor Oberst's Pick: "Lovesong" by The Cure
8. M. Ward's Pick: "Baby, I Love You" by The Ramones
9. Waxahatchee's: "Not Given Lightly" by Chris Knox

Our list of the best new albums out this week includes the "garage country" of Aubrie Sellers, former Belle and Sebastian singer Isobel Campbell's first solo album in 14 years, Frazey Ford and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Nada Surf — Never Not Together
Featured Song: "Come Get Me"
2. Aubrie Sellers — Far From Home
Featured Song: "Glad"
3. Elkhorn — The Storm Sessions
4. Envy — The Fallen Crimson
Featured Song: "Swaying Leaves and Scattering Breath"
5. Frazey Ford — U Kin Be The Sun
Featured Song: "Azad"
6. Hamerkop — Remote
Featured Song: "The Splendor That Was Rome"
7. Isobel Campbell — There is No Other
Featured Song: "Below Zero"
8. Steve Spacek — Houses
Featured Song: "Higher Place"
9. Spanish Love Songs — Brave Faces Everyone
Featured Song: "Routine Pain"
10. William Prince — Reliever
Featured Song: "Wasted"

Other notable releases for Febl 7: Antibalas — Fu Chronicles; Ásgeir --Bury the Moon; Boldy James and The Alchemist — The Price of Tea in China; Cheerleader — Almost Forever; The Cadillac Three — Country Fuzz; Christopher Paul Stelling — Best of Luck; Darling West — We'll Never Know Unless We Try; Gil Scott-Heron & Makaya McCraven — We're New Again; Green Day — Father of All; Iyla — Other Ways to Vent; Kat Edmonson — Dreamers Do; Khruangbin & Leon Bridges — Texas Sun; La Roux — Supervision; The Lone Bellow — Half Moon Light; Oh Wonder — No One Can Wear Your Crown; Sepultura — Quadra; Shopping — All or Nothing.

This week's mix of essential new songs includes sonic adventures from the Dutch artists Sevdaliza and The Homesick, the folk singer Tré Burt, hazy, loud guitars from Deserta and more.

Playlist:
1. Sevdaliza: "Oh My God" (Single)
2. Down Time: "Not a Complicated Person" (Single)
3. Deserta: "Hide" from 'Black Aura My Sun'
4. Tré Burt: "Real You" from 'Caught It from the Rye'
5. Disq: "Daily Routine" from 'Collector'
6. The Homesick: "Male Bonding" from 'The Big Exercise'
7. Gang of Four: "At Home He's A Tourist" from 'Entertainment!'

Torres, Kesha, Drive-By Truckers, the British folk singer Sam Lee and more make our shortlist for this week's best new albums.

Featured Albums:
1. Drive-By Truckers — The Unraveling
Featured Songs: "Armageddon's Back In Town" and "21st Century USA"
2. Kesha — High Road
Featured Song: "The Potato Song (Cuz I Want To)"
3. Torres — Silver Tongue
Featured Songs: "Good Grief" and "Last Forrest"
4. Frances Quinlan — LIkewise
Featured Song: "A Secret"
5. Rafiq Bhatia — Standars Vol. 1
Featured Song: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"
6. Poliça — When We Stay Alive
Featured Song: "Fold Up"
7. Sam Lee — Old Wow
Featured Song: "Lay This Body Down"
8. Son Little — Aloha
Featured Song: "O Clever One"
9. Squirrel Flower — I Was Born Swimming
Featured Song: "Streetlight Blues"
10. Walter Martin — The World At Night
Featured Song: "Hey Joe"

Other notable releases for Jan. 31: Andras — Joyful; Ben Watt — Storm Damage; Dan Deacon — Mystic Familiar; Destroyer — Have We Met?; Freddie Gibbs and Madlib — Bandana Beats; Jose Feliciano — Behind This Guitar; Lil Wayne — Funeral; Meghan Trainor — Treat Myself; Neneh Cherry — Raw Like Sushi (30th Anniversary Edition); Squarepusher — Be Up A Hello; Tall Tall Trees — A Wave Of Golden Things; Tre Burt — Caught it From the Rye.

The 2017 winners of the Tiny Desk Contest travel to Havana with NOLA's The Soul Rebels to connect with Cimafunk, Cuban musicians and history.

This week's mix of essential songs includes the bouncy "Night Terrors" from Diet Cig, an examination of regret and forgiveness from Waxahatchee, Jamaican reggae singer Koffee and more.

Playlist:
1. Koffee: "Raggamuffin" from 'Rapture'
2. Waxahatchee: "Fire" from 'Saint Cloud'
3. Diet Cig: "Night Terrors" (Single)
4. Midwife: "Anyone Can Play Guitar" from 'Forever'
5. Half Waif: "Ordinary Talk" from 'The Caretaker'
6. Snarls: "Marbles" from 'Burst'

Our sprint through the best new albums out this week includes a debut from the rapper Hook, the sinister storytelling of Andy Shauf, a solo release from Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Black Lips — Sing in a Wold That's Falling Apart
Featured Song: "Angola Rodeo"
2. Ethan Gruska — En Garde
Featured Songs: "On the Outside" and "Haiku 4 U"
3. Hook — Crashed My Car
Featured song: "Yes Man"
4. Andy Shauf — The Neon Skyline
Featured Song: "Things I Do"
5. Khushi — Strange Seasons
Featured Song: "This Is"
6. Jeff Parker — Suite for Max Brown
Featured Songs: "Build a Nest" and "Fusion Swirl"
7. Yorkston/Thorne/Khan — Navarasa: Nine Emotions
Featured Songs: "The Shearings Not For You" and "Sukhe Phool"
8. Bonny Light Horseman — Bonny Light Horseman
Featured Song: "The Roving"

Other notable releases out on Jan. 24: Lola Marsh — Someday Tomorrow Maybe; October Drift — Forever Whatever; Okay Kaya — Watch This Liquid Pour Itself; Pet Shop Boys — Hotspot; Sarah Mary Chadwick — Please Daddy; Wire — Mind Hive; Wolf Parade — Thin Mind.

The Pinegrove singer talks about the band's latest album and how fans have interpreted the new songs, using chord tablature the band provided for fans online.

This week's mix of essential new songs includes a surprising collaboration between Khruangbin and Leon Bridges, Dan Deacon without the vocal effects, M. Ward and more.

A posthumous release from Mac Miller, Halsey's Manic and Little Big Town's Nightfall top our shortlist for the best new albums out this week.

Featured Releases:
1. Bombay Bicycle Club — Everything Else Has Gone Wrong
Featured Song: "Is It Real?"
2. The Innocence Mission — See You Tomorrow
Featured Song: "The Brothers Williams Said"
3. Halsey — Manic
Featured Song: "You Should Be Sad"
4. Little Big Town — Nightfall
Featured Song: "Sugar Coat"
5. Mac Miller — Circles
Featured Songs: "Blue World" and "That's On Me"
6. Mura Masa — R.Y.C.
Featured Song: "Teenage Headache Dream"
7. 070 Shake — Modus Vivendi
Featured Song: "Divorce"
8. Alice Boman — Dream On
Featured Song: "Who Knows?"
9. Bill Fay — Countless Branches
Featured Song: "Filled With Wonder Again"

Other notable albums out on Jan. 17: A Girl Called Eddy — Been Around; Algiers — There Is No Year; And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead — X: The Godless Void and Other Stories; David Dondero — The Filter Bubble Blues; Della Mae — Headlight; Holy F*** — Deleter; The Marcus King Band — El Dorado; Of Montreal — UR FUN; Pinegrove — Marigold; Theophilus London — Bebey; Whyte Horses — Hard Times

The annual festival in New York gathers a dozen bands from around the world to shake up your listening habits.

On this edition of All Songs Considered you'll hear extraordinary music from South Korea's Ak Dan Gwang Chil, the sweet voice of Senegalese Cheikh Lō, the husky sounds of Algerian rai music from Sofiane Saidi & Mazalda, wild distorted Kurdish wedding music from the Tufan Derince Trio, powerful vocals from France and the band San Salvador, and La Chica's swooning, arty electronica via France and Venezuela.

Taking us on this musical journey to give context and insight is NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas, Afropop Worldwide's Banning Eyre and WFMU's Rob Weisburg, host of "Transpacific Sound Paradise." Together, we share our favorite discoveries from globalFEST 2019.

Our sprint through the week's best new albums returns with music from the genre-bending artist known as Poppy, Irish singer-songwriter David Keenan, Echosmith, Field Music and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Poppy - I Disagree
Featured Song: "Fill the Crown"
2. Alexandra Savior - The Archer
Featured Song: "Saving Grace"
3. David Keenan - A Beginner's Guide to Bravery
Featured Song: "Unholy Ghost"
4. Georgia - Seeking Thrills
Featured Song: "24 Hours"
5. Echosmith - Lonely Generation
Featured Song: "Lonely Generation"
6. Craven Faults - Erratics and Unconformities
Featured Song: "Slack Sley & Temple"
7. Field Music - Making A New World
Featured Song: "Money is A Memory"

Other notable releases for Jan. 10: Apocalyptica — CELL-O; Beach Slang — The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City; Hawktail — Formations; Josephine — Music is Easy; Mick Jenkins — The Circus; Selena Gomez — Rare

Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton look back at the first year of the program, which turns 20 years old this month.

On January 3, 2000, All Songs Considered became National Public Radio's first online-only program. The show's origins came from the interest of those little music snippets played between news stories. As director of All Things Considered at the time, choosing those music "buttons" was Bob Boilen's job. The amount of mail that came his way inquiring about those buttons was astonishing. It just seemed our audience was starved for new and exciting music, and so began our journey.

On this episode of All Songs Considered, we listen back to some of the early music we played on the program. We'll paint a picture of what it was like to connect to the internet in the year 2000, how we choked people's bandwidth by producing a multimedia show filled with not only music but photographs and text. We'll also look at what it meant for NPR to take a chance on doing "a music show for your computer" in the days before iPods, iTunes and YouTube. At the time, when it came to music, the internet was mostly used to download songs illegally so you could burn a CD.

NPR Music's Lars Gotrich recounts 2019 with psychedelic noise-rock from Brazil, icy minimalism from Sweden, bonkers punk from Boston and anthemic heavy metal from Fresno.

Taylor Swift, Jenny Lewis, Tarriona "Tank" Ball, Lucy Dacus and more special guests join hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton for their annual holiday party. What could possibly go wrong?

All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton count down the top 20 albums of the year as selected by NPR listeners in our annual poll. The clear message in 2019? Love rules.

Lizzo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X dominated the headlines this year, but 2019 was much more than that. We look back at the music we'll remember most and the marks it left on our cultural landscape.

As we listened back to the past year in music we heard a lot of the cultural and political angst you'd expect in a turbulent (and relentless) news cycle. But the albums that seemed to resonate the most in 2019 were more personal and inward looking, overflowing with love and defiant optimism. Sharon Van Etten reflected on motherhood, Amanda Palmer shared stories of survival and David Bazan, back as Pedro the Lion for the first time in 15 years, returned to his childhood, making the personal universal. Brittany Howard wrote songs of healing on an album she named after and dedicated to her sister who died at the age of 13, while the members of the Rwandan group The Good Ones sang songs of forgiveness in the wake of unspeakable genocide.

For other artists, 2019 was a year of renewal. Angel Olsen, Michael Kiwanuka, Sleater-Kinney, Raphael Saadiq and more all reinvented their sound, pushing themselves in dramatic new directions as a testament to the resilience and restlessness of the creative spirit.

The soul musician behind one of the year's best albums, the heartwrenching Jimmy Lee, spoke with NPR music critic Rodney Carmichael as part of NPR's Tiny Desk Fest, a special four-night series of Tiny Desk concerts at NPR's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Saadiq shared stories about his brothers' battle with addiction, the origins of D'Angelo's "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," and what it's like to play two Tiny Desk concerts 10 years apart.

Sheryl Crow had a lot to say in this Tiny Desk Fest interview with NPR pop critic Ann Powers.

Every day, Sheryl Crow said at NPR's Tiny Desk Fest, she thinks about compassion. "In 2005, I got to hear the Dalai Lama speak — I was his opening act — and it was cool. It was the year he was talking about compassion, and he said if every person in every business in every walk of life made every decision based on compassion, the world would look like a completely different place." Crow and her band then led a rousing singalong of her 2008 song "Out of Our Heads," whose chorus sends an urgent plea to the online news junkies and social media warriors of today: "If we could only get out of our heads, out of our heads, and into our hearts...."

The longtime leader of ELO talks with All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen about his creative process, working with his heroes, like Roy Orbison, and his latest album, From Out of Nowhere.

Jeff Lynne has been crafting classic rock songs for more than 50 years. Many first heard him as part of The Move, a Beatle-esque British band in the late '60s. That creative outfit morphed into Electric Light Orchestra, taking their guitar, piano, and drum-based pop music and adding strings and synthesizers. ELO became a big band with a giant sound.

The first ELO record was released precisely 48 years ago, on December 3, 1971. Nowadays, Jeff Lynne is ELO. Except for a few helping hands, Jeff Lynne writes, records, sings, plays and arranges everything on his new album, From Out of Nowhere, on his own. And he loves doing it.

All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton countdown NPR listeners' favorite songs of the 2010s.

The Top 25 Listener Picks:
1. Bon Iver: "Holocene" from Bon Iver
2. Robyn: "Dancing On My Own" from Body Talk Pt. 1
3. Sufjan Stevens: "Fourth of July" from Carrie & Lowell
4. Lorde: "Royals" from Pure Heroine
5. Kanye West: "Runaway" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
6. Beyoncé: "Formation" from Lemonade
7. M83: "Midnight City" from Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
8. LCD Soundsystem: "Dance Yrself Clean" from This is Happening
9. Kendrick Lamar: "Alright" from To Pimp a Butterfly
10. Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars: "Uptown Funk" from Uptown Special
11. Childish Gambino: "This is America" (Single)
12. Adele: "Rolling in the Deep" from 21
13. Taylor Swift: "All Too Well" from Red
14. Lucy Dacus: "Night Shift" from Historian
15. Carly Rae Jepsen: "Run Away with Me" from E.MO.TION
16. Mitski: "Your Best American Girl" from Puberty 2
17. Frank Ocean: "Self Control" from Blonde
18. Hozier: "Take Me to Church" from Hozier
19. Alabama Shakes: "Hold On" from Boys & Girls
20. Janelle Monáe: "Make Me Feel" from Dirty Computer
21. Lana Del Rey: "Video Games" from Born to Die
22. Brandi Carlile: "The Joke" from By the Way, I Forgive You
23. Radiohead: "Daydreaming" from A Moon Shaped Pool
24. Courtney Barnett: "Depreston" from Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
25. Fleet Foxes: "Helplessness Blues" from Helplessness Blues

Our review of the past decade in music continues with a look at the ways music production has changed and how technology has revolutionized sound both onstage and in the studio.

We begin with the role of computers in live performance. Laptops are often used to playback sounds that can't easily be created in a live setting. So, host Bob Boilen went to the 9:30 club before soundcheck to meet the artist known as King Princess. She grew up around recording gear. Her father, Oliver Strauss is a recording engineer at Mission Sound in Brooklyn, so technology and music-making are second nature to the 21-year old. King Princess sheds light on how musicians take complex sounds from the studio and make them possible in a live setting.

Later, we look at the role of computers in the creative process, both as an effects processor and a compositional tool. One artist who is already making music and stretching the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence is Holly Herndon, who has an AI voice assistant she calls Spawn.

Our final New Music Friday of 2019 ends with some heavy hitters, from Beck's moody-groovy Hyperspace and Coldplay's most ambitious album yet, to a batch of all-new songs from the late Leonard Cohen.

Featured Albums And Songs:
1. Beck — Hyperspace
Featured Song: "Dark Places"
2. Anne Müller — Heliopause
Featured Songs: "Solo? Repeat!" and "Drifting Circles"
3. 03 Greedo & Kenny Beats — Netflix and Deal
Featured Song: "Aye Twin"
4. Coldplay — Everyday Life
Featured Songs: "Orphans," "Trouble in Town," "BrokEn," "When I Need A Friend" and "WOTW/POTP"
5. Hannah Diamond — Reflections
Featured Song: "Make Believe"
6. Leonard Cohen — Thanks for the Dance
Featured Song: "Happens to the Heart"

Other Notable Releases For Nov. 22: Animal Collective — Ballet Slippers; Harry Nilsson — Losst and Founnd; Jason Aldean — 9; Luke Lalonde — The Perpetual Optimist; Pernice Brothers — Spread the Feelings; Omar Souleyman — Shlon; Twain — Adventure; William Patrick Corgan — Cotillions.

This week's essential mix of new songs includes a Brian Eno remix of a Lee "Scratch" Perry tune, Red Baraat percussionist Sunny Jain, singer Jesca Hoop and more.

Featured Artists And Songs:
1. Lee "Scratch" Perry: "Here Come the Warm Dreads" from 'Heavy Rain'
2. Sunny Jain: "Immigrant Warrior" from 'Wild Wild East'
3. Ethan Gruska: "Event Horizon" from 'EN GARDE'
4. Tadzio: "Defiance" from 'The Sick Room'
5. Madison Cunningham: "Something to Believe in" from 'Who Are You Now'
6. Wished Bone: "Hold Me" (Single)
7. Jesca Hoop: "Song for a Bygone Era" from 'Afterbirth'
8. Esmé Patterson: "Light in Your Window" (Single)

Our sprint through the best new albums out this week includes a posthumous release from rapper Lil Peep, gorgeous reflections from Bonnie "Prince" Billy, singer Mary Lambert and more.

Featured Albums And Songs:

1. Milky Chance - Mind the Moon
Featured Songs: "Oh Mama" and "Eden's House"
2. Brainstory - Buck
Featured Song: "Sorry"
3. Lady Antebellum - Ocean
Featured Song: "The Thing That Wrecks You"
4. Arthur Russell - Iowa Dream
Featured Song: "Everybody Everybody"
5. Lil Peep - Everybody's Everything
Featured Song: "Princess"
6. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I Made A Place
Featured Song: "Dream A While"
7. Odessa - All Things
Featured Song: "All Things"
8. Mary Lambert - Grief Creature
Featured Songs: "Write You A Song" and "Me Museum"
9. Joe Henry - The Gospel According to Water
Featured Song: "Famine Walk"
10. Benoît Pioulard - Sylva
Featured Songs: "Raze II" and "Keep"

Other Notable Releases Out Nov. 15: Celine Dion — Courage; DJ Shadow — Our Pathetic Age; Fran — A Private Picture; Hammock — Silencia; Ice Cream — Fed Up; Jenny Owen Youngs — Night Shift; Juliana Hatfield — Juliana Hatfield Sings the Police; Maria Taylor — Maria Taylor; Molly Burch — The Molly Burch Christmas Album; Sam Amidon — Fatal Flower Garden; Tindersticks — No Treasure But Hope.

"Despacito" was more than a popular song. It was the culmination of a decade-long rise of sociological and musical forces that eventually birthed and cemented a style now called "Latin Urban."

The song went on to practically break the Internet, with a record number of YouTube views from around the globe (currently hovering around six billion streams).

But, as we discuss in this week's All Songs Considered/Alt.Latino collaboration, "Despacito" was more than a very popular it song. It was the culmination of a decade-long rise of sociological and musical forces that eventually birthed and cemented a style now called "Latin Urban." Spanish-language artists from just about every corner of Latin America and Spain took reggaeton and ran with it, adding elements of hip-hop, R&B and soul.

Alt.Latino host Felix Contreras joins Bob Boilen to look back at the decade and play some music samples from a period of profound transition in Latinx music.

In this All Songs Considered guest DJ session, Joan Shelley talks about her latest album, Like the River Loves the Sea and shares songs by some of the other artists who've inspired her over the years.

This week's best new albums include a solo release from Leslie Odom Jr., aka Aaron Burr from Hamilton, the woozy world of FKA Twigs, country singer Luke Combs and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Leslie Odom Jr. — Mr.
2. Bishop Briggs — Champion
3. FKA Twigs — Magdalene
4. Dessa & The Minnesota Orchestra — Sound the Bells: Recorded Live at Orchestra Hall
5. The Good Ones — Rwanda, You Should be Loved
6. Kate Davis — Trophy
7. Luke Combs — What You See Is What You Get
8. Mount Eerie & Julie Doiron — Lost Wisdom Pt. 2
9. SebastiAn — Thirst
10. Terri Lyne Carrington & Social Scene — Waiting Game

Other Notable Albums Out Nov. 8: Allen Stone — Building Balance; Josienne Clarke — In All Weather; Kele Okereke — 2042; Lucy Dacus — EP; Moor Mother — Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes; Philip B Price — Bone Almanac; Simply Red — Blue Eyed Soul; Sin Fang — Sad Party; Suss — High Line; Xylouris White — The Sisypheans;

Angel Olsen has reimagined her sound. On this edition of All Songs Considered, she and her co-producer, John Congleton reveal how they did it, with the help of a 14-piece string section.

"What making this record was about," says Angel Olsen, "is erasing my own thoughts about where the song should be, letting go and being more open to other ideas."

"I have this weird theory," adds John Congleton, "that the only thing a good producer really can do is know when a mistake is right."

This process began with Angel Olsen first recording all the songs as a solo album. Then, through these collaborations, the music organically morphed and strengthened into this extraordinary record.

You can hear the full interview with the play button at the top of the page and her the full album, All Mirrors below.

Pianist and producer Robert Glasper is on a mission to reconnect jazz with black music. In the past decade he's helped transform the work of artists like Kendrick Lamar, Brittany Howard and more.

Glasper ended the the 2000s with an album called Double Booked, which made a selling point out of his straddling of two worlds — acoustic jazz piano on one side, R&B/hip-hop groove on the other. The second of those involved a group called The Robert Glasper Experiment, and he felt it had a statement to make.

It arrived in the form of an album called Black Radio, which Blue Note released in 2012. Studded with notable guest artists (like rappers Lupe Fiasco and Yasiin Bey, and singers Lalah Hathaway and Erykah Badu), it heralded a renewed spirit of collaboration between jazz and what had previously been known as neo-soul. When Black Radio won a Grammy in 2013 — not in a jazz category but for Best R&B Album — it felt like the opening of a new chapter.

On this episode of All Songs Considered, host Robin Hilton is joined by Nate Chinen, from WBGO and Jazz Night in America, and Rodney Carmichael, from NPR Music, to discuss the influence of Glasper's approach — not only in jazz circles but also on hip-hop touchstones like Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly, and beyond-soul masterworks released this year, like Flying Lotus' Flamagra and Brittany Howard's Jaime.

Our picks for the best albums out this week include Gang Starr's first new release in 16 years, humor and heart from country singer Miranda Lambert, the latest in Bob Dylan's Bootleg series and more.

1. Jeff Lynne's ELO — From Out of Nowhere
2. Bob Dylan — Travelin' Thru, 1967-1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15
3. Miranda Lambert — Wildcard
4. Gang Starr — One of the Best Yet
5. Michael Kiwanuka — KIWANUKA
6. Vetiver — Up on High
7. A Winged Victory for the Sullen — The Undivided Five
8. R.LUM.R — Surfacing

Other Notable Releases For Nov. 1: Cate Le Bon & Bradford Cox — Myths 004 (EP); Cold War Kids — New Age Norms 1; CUP (Nels Cline & Yuka Honda) — Spinning Creature; Highly Suspect — MCID; Hootie & The Blowfish — Imperfect Circle; Jeff Goldblum — I Shouldn't Be Telling You This; Josh Rouse — The Holiday Sounds of Josh Rouse; Leif Vollebekk — New Ways; R.E.M. — Monster 25th Anniversary Expanded Edition; Sudan Archives — Athena; Turnover — Altogether; Ty Segall — Pig Man Lives Volume 1.

Our look back at the past decade in music continues as we examine the ways musical borders have fallen and why global sounds are more prevalent and popular than ever.

Over the past decade, the borders between different musical worlds have fallen. Producers, singers, songwriters and other artists from around the globe are collaborating in new ways, while genres have blended together so completely and seamlessly it's almost impossible to label a lot of popular music as any one thing. These cross-cultural, and cross-border alliances – along with streaming and social media – have also been a pipeline for delivering global artists to new audiences on a scale never seen before. Think of the juggernaut K-pop band BTS and how thoroughly the group has dominated pop charts, or the rise of Latinx artists like Bad Bunny and J Balvin or Spanish singer Rosalía.

On this episode of All Songs Considered, host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Anastasia Tsioulcas and Stephen Thompson, and Elise Hu, host of NPR's Future You and founding bureau chief for NPR's office in Seoul. They discuss the ways we're hearing globalization in music, why it's happening and some of the complications and questions around this evolution.

After her Tiny Desk performance, the rapper joined NPR's Sidney Madden for a live conversation on playing with a band for the first time, hanging onto her Texas roots and plans for her debut album.

This week's mix from All Songs Considered somehow took on a dog theme, beginning with a board game from the band PUP, where every move leads to failure and disappointment. But the music's still good!

Artists and Songs on This Episode:
1. Illuminati Hotties: "ppl plz"
2. Frances Quinlan: "Rare Thing"
3. Lucy Dacus: "In the Air Tonight"
4. Julien Baker: "Tokyo"
5. Torres: "Good Scare"
6. Squirrel Flower: "Red Shoulder"
7. Trupa Trupa: "Dream About"

In the past decade, LGBTQ issues hit the mainstream in unprecedented ways, and music played a big part, with songs about queer love on the radio and anthems of allyship coming from all major genres.

On this episode of All Songs Considered, we look back on the way queer issues moved towards the center of the conversation during the 2010s. We talk about how decades of activism led up to this moment and how social media has helped foster safe spaces and access to information for young people across spectrums of gender and sexuality. We also discuss how LGBTQ musicians are helping reimagine pop sounds — from openly expressing queer desire to cyborgian shapeshifting — and question what the future of "mainstreaming" might hold for queer communities.

The fourth-quarter deluge continues this week with new releases from Rex Orange County, King Princess, Gallant and more, including the first new album in seven years from Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

Featured Albums:
1. Mikal Cronin — Seeker
2. King Princess — Cheap Queen
3. Great Grandpa — Four of Arrows
4. Neil Young & Crazy Horse — Colorado
5. Rex Orange County — Pony
6. Anamanaguchi - [USA]
7. Gallant — Sweet Insomnia
8. Sunn O))) — Pyroclasts

Other Notable Albums For Oct. 25: Alcest — Spiritual Instinct; Anna Meredith — Fibs; Anthony Ramos — The Good & The Bad; The Bad Plus — Activate Infinity; Brooke Candy — Sexorcism; Cigarettes After Sex — Cry; Dry Cleaning — Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks; Grace Potter — Daylight; Juana Molina — For Fun; Lankum — The Livelong Day; Little Scream — Speed Queen; Old Dominion — Old Dominion; Ringo Starr — What's My Name; Sarah Jaffe — SMUT; Van Morrison — Three Chords and the Truth; Verite — New Skin; Walk off the Earth — Here We Go!

Since its founding in 2008, Bandcamp has become a buzzing, artist-friendly hub for music lovers, with pay-what-you-want pricing and lots of rabbit holes leading to music you won't find anywhere else.

In this episode of All Songs Considered, CEO and co-founder Ethan Diamond says that when an artist succeeds on Bandcamp, Bandcamp succeeds. That philosophy has driven the company since 2008, with over $425 million paid directly to musicians and record labels. Sadie Dupuis says that Bandcamp was instrumental in booking the first tour for her band Speedy Ortiz and that its name-your-price model has not only allowed her some steady income but also an avenue to raise money for causes she cares about.

In this Guest DJ session with All Songs Considered, Radie Peat and Ian Lynch of the band Lankum talk about their new album, The Livelong Day, the evolving sounds of their native Ireland, and share their favorite Irish, off-the-radar artists.

Artists and songs featured on this episode:

1. Lankum: "Bear Creek" from The Livelong Day
2. Lisa O'Neill: "Pothole in the Sky" from Pothole in the Sky
3. The Deadlians: "I Don't Want to Ride Yer Aul Anymore" (Single)
4. Lankum: "Ode to Lullaby" from The Livelong Day
5. Lankum: "Wild Rover" from The Livelong Day
6. Landless: "Via Extasia" from Bleaching Bones
7. Lankum: "Hunting the Wren" from The Livelong Day
8. Junior Brother: "Hungover at Mass" from F*** Off I Love You

Is classical music dying? No. But its institutions, artists and promoters took some hits in the past decade, from bankruptcies to sexual harassment. Still, along the way, we heard a lot of terrific music.

On this episode of All Songs Considered, we look at the roller coaster ride of high points and derailments in classical music. Symphony Orchestras and opera companies floundered financially, some going belly up and others rebounding as newly created organizations flourished. Women seemed to take a few steps forward and a few backward: While five of the last ten music Pulitzers were awarded to women, their music was conspicuously absent from our symphony halls. And tragically, both women and men, in many facets of classical music, were victims of sexual abuse and harassment.

Anne Midgette, the author and classical music critic for The Washington Post, joins NPR Music's Tom Huizenga for this discussion.

It's a packed release week, with new albums from Chairlift's Caroline Polachek, the rapper Gucci Mane, warped hip-hop from clipping., the electronic artist Floating Points and more.

1. Foals - 'Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2'
2. Patrick Watson - 'Wave'
3. Caroline Polachek - 'Pang'
4. clipping. - 'There Existed an Addiction to Blood'
5. Vagabon - 'Vagabon'
6. Gucci Mane - 'Woptober II'
7. Floating Points - 'Crush'
8. Common Holly - 'When I Say to You Black Lightning'
9. Hovvdy - 'Heavy Lifter'
10. Walrus - 'Cool to Who'

Other Notable Releases For Oct. 18: Anna Wise — As if it Were Forever; Battles — Juice B Crypts; Corridor — Junior; Jim James — The Order of Nature; Jimmy Eat World — Surviving; Mark Lanegan — Somebody's Knocking; Milk Carton Kids — The Only Ones (ep); The Muffs — No Holiday; Sufjan Stevens — The Decalogue; Tamino — Amir; Third Eye Blind — Screamer; White Reaper — You Deserve Love.

Our series looking back at the past decade in music continues with a conversation about social media and how it's allowed (for better or worse) the rise of super fans, otherwise known as stans.

NPR Music's Sidney Madden talks with reporter Joshua Bote from USA Today, along with NPR Music's Stephen Thompson and Ann Powers about the ways standom has empowered artists in positive ways while also fueling cancel culture.

In the first of a series of conversations about the past decade in music, we examine some of the ways the singer, songwriter, producer and businesswoman helped steer the 2010s in new directions.

The 17-year-old pop star talks NPR Music's Stephen Thompson about getting through her teenaged years, directing her own videos, experiencing art with synesthesia and more in this interview, recorded live on stage at Austin's ACL Music Festival.

Our shortlist of the best new albums out this week incudes Big Thief's Two Hands, rapper Lil' Kim's first new studio project in 14 years, a solo album from Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and more.

FEATURED ALBUMS:
1. Elbow - 'Giants of All Sizes'
2. Big Thief - 'Two Hands'
3. Kim Gordon - 'No Home Record'
4. Lil' Kim - '9'
5. Lightning Bolt - 'Sonic Citadel'
6. Babymetal - 'Metal Galaxy'

OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR OCT. 11:
Allah-Las — LAHS; Art Alexakis — Sun Songs; Cursive — Get Fixed; Emily King — Change of Scenery (EP); Ensemble Resonanz & Moses Sumnney — Dessner: Tenebre; Freddie Mercury — Never Boring (Box Set); Joseph Arthur — Come Back World; Mark Kozelek & Petra Hayden — Joey Always Smiled; Matt Pond & Chris Hansen — An Orchestrated Impulse; Son Little — Invisible (EP); Starcrawler — Devour You; Wale — Wow ...That's Crazy.

In this guest DJ session from All Songs Considered, Tweedy talks about Wilco's new album, Ode to Joy, and the importance of appreciating life's smallest moments.

It's a packed release week, with new albums from R&B singer Summer Walker, The Avett Brothers, Angel Olsen, Wilco, Danny Brown and more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Lyndsey McKenna, Rodney Carmichael, Sidney Madden and Stephen Thompson as they share their picks for the week's best new albums.

FEATURED ALBUMS:
1. The Avett Brothers - 'Closer Than Together'
Featured songs: "Locked Up" and "Bleeding White"
2. Angel Olsen - 'All Mirrors'
Featured songs: "What It Is" and "New Love Cassette"
3. Wilco - 'Ode to Joy'
Featured song: "Citizens"
4. Summer Walker - 'Over It'
Featured songs: "Come Thru" and "Fun Girl"
5. Dermot Kennedy - 'Without Fear'
Featured song: "Lost"
6. Danny Brown - 'unknowhatimsayin'
Featured song: "Savage Nomad"
7. San Fermin - 'The Cormorant I'
Featured songs: "Saints" and "Hickman Creek"

OTHER NOTABLE OCT. 04 RELEASES:
City and Colour — A Pill for Loneliness; The Darkness — Easter is Canceled; DIIV — Deceiver; Gatecreeper — Deserted; Lightning Dust — Spectre; Lisa Prank — Perfect Love Song; Nick Cave — Ghosteen; The North Mississippi Allstars — Up and Rolling; The Penguin Café — Handfuls of Night; Robert Glasper — F*** Yo Feelings; Supa Bwe — Jaguar; That Dog. — Old LP.

The Talking Head, author, cyclist and creative soul talks about "Reasons to be Cheerful," a story-based project to lift your spirits. He also talks about his "American Utopia" tour, now on Broadway.

The son of the late Beatles producer George Martin reveals how he remixed the final album all four members of the band made together.

The best new albums out this week include Sturgill Simpson's scuzzy rock record Sound & Fury, reliably infectious pop from The New Pornographers, new Tegan & Sara, a lost John Coltrane album and more.

1. The New Pornographers — In the Morse Code of Brake Lights
2. Tegan & Sara — Hey, I'm Just Like You
3. John Coltrane — Blue World
4. Guillermo Klein and Los Guachos
5. Sturgill Simpson — Sound & Fury
6. Girl Band — The Talkies
7. Laurie Anderson, Tenzin Choegyal and Jesse Paris Smith — Songs From the Bardo

Other Notable Releases For Sept. 27: Allesandro Cortini — Volume Massimo; The Beatles — Abbey Road 50th Anniversary Edition; The Comet is Coming — The Afterlife; Jon Pardi — Heartache Medication; Kefaya & Elaha Soroor — Songs of Our Mothers; Kevin Gates — I'm Him; Molly Brazy — Built to Last; Opeth — In Cauda Venenum; Ronin Arkestra — Sonkei.

Warning: The opening cut on this week's show, by Fran got stuck in my head and kept me wide awake at four in the morning. But a song from Soccer Mommy about dealing with temptation and the devil, Chastity Belt's first new music since 2017 and (Sandy) Alex G's devastating song titled "Hope" will help when taken at a hefty volume. Once dosed, you will be lulled by the deep, sullen sounds of the late Leonard Cohen and all-new material he recorded before his death. You can top it off with harmonies Christopher Paul Stelling's fine guitar picking and poetry on his new tune "Have To Do For Now," and River Whyless' cover of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe."

Our shortlist of the best albums out this week includes Brittany Howard's masterpiece, Jaime, sad bangers from Tove Lo, a profoundly beautiful, debut solo LP from Mountain Man's Molly Sarlé and more.

On the day before his album came out, Hobo Johnson joined me to play DJ. We discussed the making of his album and played some of the music that has inspired him over the years. I think you'll be surprised by some of his picks.

The week's best new album drops includes the genre-bending pop of Charli XCX, an ambitious concept record by The Lumineers, the euphoric songs of Emeli Sandé, new Chelsea Wolfe, Sampa The Great, more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. The Lumineers - 'III,' 2. Charli XCX - 'Charli,' 3. Bethlehem Steel - 'Bethlehem Steel,' 4. Emeli Sandé - 'Real Life,' 5. Microwave - 'Microwave,' 6. Chelsea Wolfe - 'Birth of Violence,' 7. Sampa The Great - 'The Return,' 8. Jeremy Ivey - 'The Dream and the Dreamer.' OTHER NOTABLE ALBUMS FOR SEP. 13: Alex Cameron — Miami Memory; Belle & Sebastian — Days of the Bangold Summer; Chasity — Homemade Satan; Devendra Banhart — Ma; Goo Goo Dolls — Miracle Pill; Gruff Rhys — Pang; Hobo Johnson — The Fall of Hobo Johnson; Jenny Hval — The Practice of Love; Joseph — Good Luck Kid; Long Beard — Means to Me; Pixies — Beneath the Eyrie; (Sandy) Alex G — House of Sugar; Shawn Colvin — Steady On 30th Anniversary; Trupa Trupa — Of the Sun.

There's a cinematic theme in the songs on this edition of All Songs Considered, including a new track from Thom Yorke called "Daily Battles" and an instrumental version of it from trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. These two songs were created for the Edward Norton film Motherless Brooklyn. FEATURED SONGS AND ARTISTS: 1. Ride: "R.I.D.E.," 2. Overcoats: "The Fool," 3. Arthur Moon: "Myelin," 4. Lydia Ramsey: "Story Untold," 5. Jim James & Teddy Abrams: "Set it to Song," 6. Thom Yorke & Flea: "Daily Battles," 7. Wynton Marsalis: "Daily Battles"

Our list of the best albums out this week includes The Highwomen's self-titled release, R&B singer Mahalia's remarkable Love and Compromise, new Frankie Cosmos, MUNA, Lower Dens and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Muna – 'Saves the World,' 2. Tinariwen – 'Amadjar,' 3. Lower Dens – 'The Competition,' 4. Frankie Cosmos – 'Close it Quietly,' 5. The Highwomen – 'The Highwomen,' 6. Mahalia – 'Love and Compromise,' 7. Daymé Arocena – 'Sonocardiogram,' 8. Bat for Lashes – 'The Lost Girls.' OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR SEP. 6: Adam Green — Engine of Paradise; Alessia Cara — This Summer (EP); Chrissie Hynde — Valve Bone Woe; Crystal Gayle — You Don't Know Me; Death Cab For Cutie — The Blue EP; Ghostface Killah — Ghostface Killahs; Iggy Pop — Free; Kindness — Something Like War; Miles Davis — Rubberband

This edition of All Songs Considered has songs of gratitude from Pinegrove, a take on intimacy from Norway's Jenny Hval, a song of quietude from Anna Meredith and the magic of the Mellotron. 1. Sudan Archives: "Confessions," 2. Jenny Hval: "High Alice," 3. Pinegrove: "Moment," 4. Anna Meredith: "moonmoons," 5. Mellotron Variations: "Pulsar," 6. Bonnie "Prince" Billy: "One with the Birds."

Our shortlist for the week's best new albums includes Lana Del Rey's odyssey-length adventure Norman F****** Rockwell, Sheryl Crow's final album, Threads, new Black Belt Eagle Scout and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. G Flip - About Us, 2. Boy Scouts - Free Company, 3. Black Belt Eagle Scout - At The Party With My Brown Friends, 4. Lana Del Rey - Norman F****** Rockwell, 5. Close Talker - How Do We Stay Here, 6. Somos - Prison On A Hill, 7. Sheryl Crow - Threads. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR AUG. 30: Bon Iver - i.i (physical release); Common - Let Love; The Futureheads - Powers; Joan Shelley - Like The River Loves The Sea; Pharmakon - Devour; Tool - Fear Inoculum; Trisha Yearwood - Every Girl; Whitney - Forever Turned Around.

In this encore presentation of an episode from July, 2018, we fill you in on how to shade your summer pink, with unapologetically good pop music that is ready for any mood.

This week's podcast includes the stadium guitar rock of Sheer Mag, country legend Tanya Tucker, the hip-hop boy band BROCKHAMPTON, a wonderfully strange turn from R&B singer Raphael Saadiq and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Sheer Mag - A Distant Call; 2. Raphael Saadiq - Jimmy Lee; 3. Jeezy - TM104: The Legend of the Snowman; 4. BROCKHAMPTON - Ginger; 5. Midland - Let it Roll; 6. Tanya Tucker - While I'm Livin'; 7. Rapsody - Eve; Jay Som - Anak Ko. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR AUG. 23: Jayson Hawk Harris - Love & the Dark; Joyero - Release the Dogs; Noah Gunderson - Lover; Queen of Jeans - If You're Not Afraid, I'm Not Afraid; Redd Kross - Beyond the Door; The Rembrandts - Via Satellite; Rose Dorn - Days You Were Leaving; Seratones - Power; Shannon Lay - August; Taylor Swift - Lover; Ty Herndon - Got it Covered; Vince Gill - Okie.

Bob Boilen and I are back together again to share some of the phenomenal new music we've been hearing, starting with Brittany Howard's stirring and inspired "He Loves Me," from her upcoming solo debut Jaime. She named the album after her sister who passed away when they were both teenagers. The music is a celebration of the human spirit.Also on the show: Big Thief surprises us with the band's second album of 2019 and this one is fierce; Bob is back from the DIY Musician Conference with a couple of discoveries: a playful, idiosyncratic British artist known only as EB and the singer-songwriter Anna Larson, who has a powerful reflection on mass shootings called "Acting Alone."We've also got new cathartic sounds from The Messthetics, the Philadelphia-based band Queen of Jeans and more. — Robin Hilton

Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Ann Powers, Lyndsey McKenna and Sidney Madden as they share their picks for the best albums out on Aug. 16. FEATURED ALBUMS: Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won't Hold; Frank Turner - No Man's Land; Snoh Aalegra - Ugh, Those Feels Again; Cousin Stizz - Trying to Find My Next Thrill; Shura - Forevher; Lillie Mae - Other Girls; Rodney Crowell - Texas; The Hold Steady - Thrashing Thru The Passion. OTHER NOTABLE ALBUMS OUT AUG. 16: Blanck Mass - Animated Violence Mild; Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - Dragons; Jason Lytle - Nylon and Juno; Maria Usbeck - Envejeciendo; Oso Oso - Basking in the Glow

School is really hard — and for many, music is the one thing that grounded them or made them feel connected to something bigger. On this encore edition of All Songs Considered, we hear moving stories from our listeners of how music became a force in their lives and helped them get through school. We'll also share the songs they say made a difference.

Our list of the week's best albums includes spiky and inventive punk from The Regrettes, sweetly reflective folk from Fionn Regan, the return of Ra Ra Riot and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. The Regrettes - 'How Do You Love?;' 2. half alive - 'Now, Not Yet;' 3. Fionn Regan - 'Cala;' 4. Murs & 9th Wonder - 'The Iliad Is Dead And The Odyssey Is Over;' 5. Marika Hackman - 'Any Human Friend;' 6. Ra Ra Riot - 'Superbloom;' 7. WHY? - 'AOKOHIO.' OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR AUGUST 9: Bas - 'Spilled Milk Vol. 1;' Rick Ross - 'Port Of Miami 2;' Electric Youth - 'Memory Emotion;' Marc Cohn & Blind Boys Of Alabama - 'Work To Do;' Tori Kelly - 'Inspired By True Events;' P.P. Arnold - 'The New Adventures Of P.P. Arnold.'

Originally from 2014 - Carrie Brownstein joins the All Songs gang to chat about relentless ear-worms, annoying novelty songs and other songs our hosts think of as quite possibly the worst of all time.

Our list of the week's best albums includes the breezy pop upstart Clairo and the return of rising roots-country singer Tyler Childers, as well as a few words about Chance The Rapper. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Clairo - 'Immunity;' 2. Tyler Childers - 'Country Squire;' 3. Cross Record - 'Cross Record;' 4. Ty Segall - 'First Taste;' 5. Penny And Sparrow - 'Finch;' 6. Chance The Rapper - 'The Big Day.' OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR AUGUST 2: My Morning Jacket - 'The Tennessee Fire: 20th Anniversary Edition;' Lil Durk - 'Love Songs 4 The Streets II;' The Bird And The Bee - 'Interpreting the Masters Volume 2: A Tribute To Van Halen.'

For the past 14 years, producer Andy Zax has been digging into the music and sounds of Woodstock, that culture-shifting music festival that unfolded in August of 1969. Now, 50 years later, all 32 performances — the audio announcements, the entirety of this three-day festival in upstate New York — is about to be released by Rhino Records in a 38-disc box titled Woodstock - Back To The Garden: The Definitive 50th Anniversary Archive. There's also a 10-CD collection, a book by Woodstock promoter Michael Lang, a Blu-ray disc and more. Andy Zax came to the NPR studios to play some of that previously unheard or released music and talk about the history of this culture-altering festival.

Our list of the week's best albums includes Cuco's highly anticipated Para Mí, a Spoon greatest hits compilation, rapper YBN Cordae's debut LP, devotional music from Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn, and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Spoon - 'Everything Hits At Once;' 2. YBN Cordae - 'The Lost Boy,' 3. Burna Boy - 'African Giant,' 4. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - 'Live At WOMAD, 198d,' 5. Mikey Erg - 'Waxbuilt Castles,' 6. Florist - 'Emily Alone,' 7. Cuco - 'Para Mí.' OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR JULY 26: Bill Ryder-Jones - Yawny Yawn; BJ the Chicago Kid - 1123; Of Monsters and Men - Fever Dream; Strange Ranger - Remembering the Rockets; Violent Femmes - Hotel Last Resort; Various: Original Broadway cast recording of Hadestown.

This month marks 60 years since the very first Newport Folk Festival. NPR has been covering the event since its rebirth in 2008. Jay Sweet, now the executive producer, was mostly responsible for the festival's revival, booking unexpected bands and reinvigorating the spirit of the annual gathering. It's long been a place where musicians would collaborate and make music often steeped in social justice. On this Newport Folk Festival preview edition of All Songs Considered we'll look specifically at the newer faces at this year's festival, including lesser-known artists Yola Carter, Illiterate Light, Courtney Marie Andrews and the debut performance of a new, influential band of well-known women known as The Highwomen. That collaboration includes Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, Maren Morris, and Natalie Hemby.

The best new albums out this week include the latest from psych-pop mainstays The Flaming Lips, singer Freya Ridings' stunning debut full-length, Houston rapper Maxo Kream and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Freya Ridings - 'Freya Ridings,' 2. Tony Molina - 'Songs From San Mateo County,' 3. IDER - 'Emotional Education,' 4. Maxo Kream - 'Brandon Banks,' 5. The Flaming Lips - 'The King's Mouth,' 6. Ada Lea - 'What We Say In Private,' 7. avery r. young - 'tubman.,' 8. Lingua Ignota - 'Caligula.' OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR JULY 19: Beyoncé - Lion King: The Gift; Jacob Collier - Djesse IIs; Generationals - Reader as Detective; Murs & 9th Wonder - Night Shift; Saul Williams - Encrypted & Vulnerable; Sum41 - Order in Decline.

Host Bob Boilen goes solo for this week's essential new mix, with defiant joy from Wilco, the atmospherics of Brian Eno, new discoveries from Erin Durant and Pearla, a side-project for Sylvan Esso's Nick Sanborn and more. 1. Wilco: "Love Is Everywhere (Beware)," 2. Pearla: "Daydream," 3. Khruangbin: "Mary Always," 4. Erin Durant: "Rising Sun," 5. Rosenau & Sanborn: "Saturday," 6. Bon Iver: "Jelmore," Brian Eno: "The End of a Thin Cord"

GoldLink joined NPR Music's Sidney Madden from the BBC in London to discuss his new album, Diaspora, rapid gentrification in D.C. and what he's learned about the universal black experience.

1. Imperial Teen: Now We Are Timeless; 2. Mal Blum: Pity Boy; 3. Africa Express: EGOLI; 4. Big K.R.I.T.: K.R.I.T. IZ HERE; 5. Ed Sheeran: No. 6 Collaborations Project; 6. Blood Orange: Angel's Pulse; 7. Various: Tiny Changes: A Celebration of the Midnight Organ Fight; 8. K.Flay: Solutions. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR JULY 12: Bleached - Don't You Think You've Had Enough?; The Dolly Rots - Daydream Explosion; Félicia Atkinson - The Flower and the Vessel (released 7/5); Jesca Hoop - Stone Child (released 7/5); Kyle Craft - Showboat Honey; METZ - Automat; Sigur Rós - Ágætis byrjun: A Good Beginning; Tycho - Weather.

To be clear, sad songs make up the majority of this week's All Songs Considered. So, if you have a love for the type of music you might hear from Julien Baker or Japanese Breakfast, we have five new artists to add to your playlist, including a 19-year-old singer from Belgium who goes by the name Asia; The artist known as Dolly Valentine asks, "Do you know where you want to go?" And there are more beautiful but crushing tunes brought to you by "the dream team," of NPR's Lyndsey McKenna and Marissa Lorusso. Featured Tracks: 1. Joseph: "Fighter," 2. Long Beard: "Sweetheart," 3. Strange Ranger: "Message to You," 4. Asia: "Church," 5. Bad Heaven Ltd.: "bed," 6. Dolly Valentine: "Michigan, 1997."

For the past year, NPR has been taking a deep look at American anthems and all the forms they can take. These are the songs that unite us, inspire us or say something about what it means to be an American — songs as traditional as Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land," or as defiant as Public Enemy's "Fight the Power." On this special edition of All Songs Considered, NPR's Elizabeth Blair and Tom Cole share highlights from this ongoing series, along with some of the stories behind their favorite tracks, from "America The Beautiful" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" to Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." and Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man."

Our list for this week's best new albums includes a solo release from Thom Yorke, the return of garage rock stalwarts They Black Keys, a new project from Freddie Gibbs and Madlib and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: Black Keys: Let's Rock; Gena Rose Bruce: Can't Make You Love Me; Thom Yorke: ANIMA; Freddie Gibbs & Madlib: Bandana; Runaway June: Blue Roses; Chris Staples: Holy Moly; Daughter of Swords: Dawnbreaker; Dizzy Fae: NO GMO; OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR JUNE 28: The Appleseed Cast: The Fleeing Light of Impermanence; B52s: Cosmic Thing; Erin Durant: Islands; Foy Vance: From Muscle Shoals; Ingrid Michaelson: Stranger Songs; Outer Spaces: Gazing Globe; The Small Glories: Assiniboine & The Red.

Most cities tend to have a voice, but few quite as loud or fascinating as Seattle's. This is a city that gave us Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and Pearl Jam but also the softer sounds of Fleet Foxes, The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie.I wondered just what's bubbling up in Seattle. So I went to NPR member station KEXP, a hugely important voice in the Seattle scene, now and in the past as KCMU. Kevin Cole is someone I trust implicitly. He's been at KEXP for 20 years and is the Chief Content Officer and the afternoon DJ. The musical landscape we explore on this episode of All Songs Considered is deeper than the guitar-based music we've come to know from Seattle. You'll hear everything from sonic laptop adventures in hip-hop to post-horncore. Yup, you read that right: menacing punk energy with brass. I love Seattle.

It's another packed release week; Lil Nas X's debut EP is finally here, along with a posthumous release from Prince, a solo album from producer Mark Ronson, the return of The Raconteurs and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: Black Pumas: Black Pumas; Bedouine: Bird Songs of a Killjoy; The Raconteurs: Help Us Stranger; Prince: Originals; Hatchie: Keepsake; Mark Ronson: Late Night Feelings; Lil Nas X: 7. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR JUNE 21: Blick Bassy: 1958; Cassius: Dreems; Black Midi: Schlagenheim; Buddy and Judy Miller: Breakdown on 20th Avenue South; Fruit Bats: Gold Past Life; Gucci Mane: Delusions of Grandeur; Mannequin Pussy: Patience; Pell: Gravity; Titus Andronicus: An Obelisk; Willie Nelson: Ride Me Back Home.

The first half of 2019 has given us a lot of emerging artists to celebrate, from Lil Nas X and his insanely catchy (and endlessly meme-able) "Old Town Road" remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, to the Irish punk group Fontaines D.C. On this episode of All Songs Considered we count down the top ten most-mentioned new artists as selected by listeners in our recent online poll.

Our list of the week's best new albums includes Bruce Springsteen's wistful ode to orchestral pop, the rock artistry of Baroness, DMV rapper Goldlink, the spoken-word artist Kate Tempest and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Baroness: Gold & Grey; 2. Bruce Springsteen: Western Stars; 3. Kate Tempest: The Books of Traps and Lessons; 4. Bill Callahan: Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest; 5. Calexico + Iron & Wine: Years to Burn; 6. House and Land: Across the Field; 7. John Luther Adams: Become Desert; 8. Goldlink: Disaspora. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR JUNE 14: Another Sky: Life Was Coming in Through the Blinds; Bad Books: III; Cigarette: Light Blues; Dressy Bessy: Fast Faster Disaster; Julia Shapiro: Perfect Version; Kaleidoscope: After the Futures; Keb' Mo': Oklahoma; Luxury: Trophies; Madonna: Madame X.

Host Bob Boilen is joined by NPR Music's Lyndsey McKenna and Marissa Lorusso for an essential mix that includes the honey-sludge pop of Haybaby, cathartic rock from the Shreveport band Seratones, dancer-turned singer-songwriter Jordan Moser and more. PLAYLIST: 1. (Sandy) Alex G: "Gretel," 2. Haybaby: "Animosity," 3. Seratones: "Power," 4. Outer Spaces: "YMLGOML," 5. Jordan Moser: "The Devil," 6. Joan Shelley: "Coming Down For You."

Our shortlist for the best new albums out on June 7 includes the roots-rock duo Ida Mae, new gospel from disco legend Gloria Gaynor, the ruminative rock of Palehound, Santana, Stef Chura and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Ida Mae: Chasing Light; 2. Jamie Cullum: Taller; 3. Gloria Gaynor: Testimony; 4. Santana: Africa Speaks; 5. Jake Xerxes Fussell: Out of Sight; 6. Jon Mueller: Canto; 7. Palehound: Black Friday; 8. Stef Chura: Midnight. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR JUNE 7: Aurora: A Different Kind of Human; Avicii: Tim; Bob Dylan: The Rolling Thunder Review - The 1975 Live Recordings; Cave In: Final Transmission; Dylan Leblanc: Renegade; Earthen Sea: Grass and Trees; Future: Save Me; Jonas Brothers: Happiness Begins; Neil Young: Tuscaloosa; Perry Farrell: Kind Heaven; Rickie Lee Jones: KICKS; Silversun Pickups: Widow's Weeds; Yeasayer: Erotic Returns; Tim Heidecker: What the Brokenhearted Do.

Jessi Whitten of Colorado Public Radio's Open Air co-hosts this week's All Songs Considered and turns me on to the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, the funnest band name of the year with music all the way from Perth, Australia to match. All of Jessi's picks are laced with fun, including French Vanilla's new-wave, early-'80s sound, reminiscent of the British punk band X-Ray Spex. She also brings us music from Colorado by Kiltro, a band with one foot in Colorado and another in Chile. I also have a noisy band called Wives., These folks are from Queens, New York and have a five-minute-plus, Velvet Underground-inspired tune called "Workin'." I also play one of Bon Iver's newest songs that's a nod to the past and to a mother's love. And my favorite new discovery is Kate Davis, a singer who co-wrote Sharon Van Etten's song "Seventeen." The same talented lyricism can be found in Kate's song, "rbbts."

Our list of the best new albums out this week includes Kishi Bashi's moving remembrance of Japanese internment camps during World War II, R&B singer Raveena, solo piano from Eluvium, Skepta and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: Kishi Bashi: Omoiyari; Raveena: Lucid; Eluvium: Piano Works; Daniel Wohl: État; Skepta: Ignorance Is Bliss; Christelle Bofale: Swim Team. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR MAY 31: Apex Manor: Heartbreak City; Denzel Curry: Zuu; Fujiya & Miyagi: Flashback; The Gotobeds: Debt Begins at 30; Lee Scratch Perry: Rainford; Pip Blom: Boat; Sinkane: Dépaysé; Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith: The Peyote Dance; Thomas Rhett: Center Point Road.

This week's All Songs Considered features a gorgeous, solo piano instrumental from Rhye, Tiny Desk contest winner Quinn Christopherson's unique look at male privilege, psych-pop via Ari Roar and more. 1. Ari Roar: "Let Out" from 'Best Behavior;' 2. Quinn Christopherson: "Erase Me" from his winning entry for the Tiny Desk contest; 3. Rhye: "Malibu Nights" from 'Spirit;' 4. Tōth: "When I Awoke" from 'Practice Magic and Seek Professional Help When Necessary;' 5. Joanna Sternberg: "For You" from 'Then I Try Some More;' 6. Another Sky: "The Cracks" from 'Life Was Coming in Through the Blinds;' 7. Marika Hackman: "I'm Not Where You Are" from 'Any Human Friend.'

The best new albums out this week include a stirring call for social justice from soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples, rapper YG's remembrance of Nipsey Hussle, lo-fi rock veteran's Sebadoh and more. 1. Mavis Staples: We Get By; 2. Justin Townes Earle: The Saint of Lost Causes; 3. Lucky Daye: Painted; 4. YG: 4REAL 4REAL; 5. Billy Ray Cyrus: The Snake Doctor Circus; 6. Flying Lotus: Flamagra; 7. Sebadoh: Act Surprised. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR MAY 24: Cate Le Bon: Reward; Fay Webster: Atlanta Millionaires Club; Hayden Thorpe: Diviner; Honeyblood: In Plain Sight; Middle Kids: New Songs for Old Problems; Sean Nelson: Nelson Sings Nilsson; Steve Lacy: Apollo XXI; Stray Cats: 40.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood joins us to talk about two of his classical compositions we've just premiered on our Tiny Desk series. He also shares some of the music that's inspired him over the years by other artists and explains how he came to love such a rich and diverse tapestry of sounds.

Our shortlist of the best new albums out this week includes a visionary work from The National, the pop wisdom of Carly Rae Jepsen, Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. The National: I Am Easy to Find; 2. Duckwrth: The Falling Man; 3. Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram: Kingfish; 4. Carly Rae Jepsen: Dedicated; 5. Megan Thee Stallion: Fever; The Head and the Heart: Living Mirage. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR MAY 17: Alex Lahey: Best of Luck Club; DJ Khaled: Father of Asahd; Injury Reserve: Injury Reserve; Josephine Wiggs: We Fall; Olden Yolk: Living Theater; Slowthai: Nothing Great About Britain; Steel Pulse: Mass Manipulation; Tyler, The Creator: IGOR.

On this Guest DJ edition of All Songs Considered a conversation with Joe Talbot. Joe is a passionate force behind the British band IDLES. They are a band that at once are both fierce and compassionate. IDLES are one of the best live rock bands I've seen, creating mosh pits and community with their noise and humanity. They have two albums out, Brutalism from 2017 and the summer of 2018, the beautifully titled, Joy As An Act of Resistance. The band was in D.C. and just played a Tiny Desk Concert. I begin our conversation with Joe Talbot curious what music plays in their van as they tour around the U.S. That conversation has us playing everything from old soul music to modern British hip-hop with Radiohead in between.

Our shortlist of the week's best new albums includes a career-defining release from singer Jamila Woods, the sparkling guitar rock of Charly Bliss and Holly Herndon's genius work with the AI "Spawn."FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Charly Bliss: Young Enough; 2. Holly Herndon: Proto; 3. Jamila Woods: Legacy! Legacy!; 4. HÆLOS: Any Random Kindness; 5. Tim Hecker: Anoyo; 6. Lowland Hum: Glyphic. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR MAY 10: A.A. Bondy: Enderness; Ciara: Beauty Marks; Dehd: Water; Lydia Ainsworth: Phantom Forest; Mac Demarco: Here Comes the Cowboy; Maps: Colours, Reflect. Time, Loss.; Radiator Hospital: Sings Music for Daydreaming; The Get Up Kids: Problems; Mourning A BLKstar: Reckoning.

This week's episode of All Songs Considered is a show of contrasts — cotton-candy pop one moment (from mxmtoon), raging punk sung in Farsi the next (from Khiis) — and then calming, instrumental, prog rock courtesy The Quiet Temple. For All Songs Considered's nearly 20 years, we've tried to live up to our namesake and on this show, we consider more drastic ends of the song spectrum than we have in recent memory. This week I'm joined by NPR Music's Lars "Vikings Choice" Gotrich and Joshua (cotton candy) Bote for five tunes that explore the rich polarity of making music in 2019. — Bob Boilen

Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Lars Gotrich and Stephen Thompson as they share their picks for the week's best new albums. FEATURED RELEASES: 1. Judah & The Lion: 'Pep Talks,' 2. Caroline Spence: 'Mint Condition,' 3. Big Thief: 'U.F.O.F.'; 4. SYML: 'SYML,' 5. Vampire Weekend: 'Father of the Bride,' 6. Joy Williams: 'Front Porch,' 7. Rhiannon Giddens: 'There is no Other,' 8. Unwed Sailor: 'Heavy Age,' OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR MAY 3: Barrie: 'Happy to Be Here;' Empath: 'Active Listening, Night on Earth;' Fury: 'Failed Entertainment;' Jesse Mac Cormack: 'Now;' L7: 'Scatter the Rats;' Lucy Spraggan: 'Today Was a Good Day;' Protomartyr: 'No Passion All Technique;' Tacocat: 'This Mess is a Place;' Tank and the Bangas: 'Green Balloon.'

Have you ever had Persian cotton candy? It looks like Muppet hair and tastes like pistachio — well, at least the one we ate in the studio. We begin our show with one of the great poets of the day, Kate Tempest. The British playwright, novelist and spoken word artist has a new record coming called The Book of Traps and Lessons. We play "Firesmoke," a song dedicated to her lover. We also have new music from Japanese Breakfast, and as NPR Music's Marissa Lorusso tells us, the entire song was written and recorded by Michelle Zauner in a hotel in Bali.NPR Music's Lyndsey McKenna brings us music from Mannequin Pussy and a song about what happens on the downside of romance, called "Drunk II." Lyndsey also brings us "Emotional Bachelor" from Future Teens, a band that calls its style "Boston bummer pop." And I have the shortest song in recent memory from a new trio I love called Patio. This 1:35-minute gem takes inspiration from a dream and features the winning line, "I think I'm gonna go home and listen to Washer / Instead of spending any more time with you."

FEATURED ALBUMS: Nick Murphy: Run Fast, Sleep Naked; Rodrigo y Gabriela: Mettavolution; Jackie Mendoza: LuvHz; Josh Ritter: Fever Breaks; The Mountain Goats: In League With Dragons; SOAK: Grim Town; OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR APRIL 26: Aldous Harding: Designer; Bailen: Thrilled to Be Here; Bear's Den: So That You Might Hear Me; The Cranberries: In the End; Craig Finn: I Need a New War; Kevin Morby: Oh My God; King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: Fishing for Fishies; Local Natives: Violent Street; Marissa Nadler & Stephen Brodsky: Droneflower; Otoboke Beaver: Itekoma Hits; Schoolboy Q: CrasH Talk; Sunn O))): Life Metal

Kevin Morby's new album is unlike anything he's done before. Gone is the guitar (for the most part) from his earlier recordings. In its place are more droning instruments — sounds more suited for church than the concert hall, including a recurring, small choir. The subject for the album is God and our culture's relationship with God, from deep introspection to the trivial, everyday use of that ever-present expression "oh my God."The origins of his album Oh My God began in 2016 with events at the forefront of American politics, including mass shootings at the Bataclan and Pulse nightclubs, the death of Freddie Gray and, for Kevin Morby, the day-to-day news, including the Presidency of Donald Trump. (Kevin Morby wrote a one-off song about the heartbreak of the world called "Beautiful Strangers," and donated proceeds to charity.)On this edition of All Songs Considered we look at the origin story behind Oh My God, including Nina Simone's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," music from Ethiopia and the quirky, groundbreaking New York duo Suicide.

Our list of the best albums out this week includes Lizzo's long-awaited debut, the rousing, infectious anthems of Johnnyswim, new music from The Tallest Man On Earth, Loyle Carner and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: Lizzo, Cuz I Love You; Johnnyswim, Moonlight; Kelsey Lu, Blood; The Tallest Man On Earth, I Love You. It's A Fever Dream.; Loyle Carner, Not Waving, But Drowning; Wand, Laughing Matter. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR APRIL 19: Anna Tivel, The Question; Cage the Elephant, Social Cues; Diane Coffee, Internet Arms; Drugdealer, Raw Honey; Fat White Family, Serfs Up; Heather Woods Broderick, Invitation; Jade Bird, Jade Bird; The O'Jays, The Last Word; Sad Planets, Akron, Ohio.

Don't worry! Everything's going to be alright. But if you need more reassurance than that, look no further than "Set of Stairs," from the Amsterdam-based band Pip Blom. It's a burst of frenetic joy to lift you up whenever life deals you a bad hand. Its singular message: You got this!That's just one of the songs we're featuring on this week's show. We've also got wild and wonderful new music from former Tiny Desk contest winners Tank and the Bangas, gorgeous harmonies and an uplifting message of unity from Jesca Hoop with Lucius, and the singer known as Sevdaliza has a dark and mysterious reflection on love gone bad.All that plus singer-songwriter Chris Staples announces his new album Holy Moly and shares a tale of young love called "Everybody Said;" and singer, multi-instrumentalist and poet Vera Sola pairs with Kenneth Pattengale of The Milk Carton Kids on "Loving, Loving (Acoustic Reprise)."

Anderson .Paak drops his followup to Oxnard, Norah Jones collaborates with Jeff Tweedy, and Sia joins Labrinth and Diplo for "LSD." Those and more make our shortlist of the week's best new albums. FEATURED: Shovels & Rope: By Blood; Damien Jurado: In the Shape of a Storm; Norah Jones: Begin Again; Anderson .Paak: Ventura; Glen Hansard: This Wild Nothing; Odonis Odonis: Reaction; LSD: Labrinth, Sia, Diplo Present LSD. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR APRIL 12: BTS: Map of the Soul; The Budos Band: V; Chris Forsyth: All Time Present; Emily Reo: Only You Can See It; Fontaines D.C.: Dogrel; Inter Arma: Sulphur English; John Paul White: The Hurting Kind; Jeff Tweedy: Warmer (vinyl only); Melissa Etheridge: The Medicine Show

On this episode of All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen and Lars Gotrich talk about the music released in the first part of 2019 that for Lars soundtracked nap time, quick rides to the grocery store for eggs (and an excuse to get out the house) and whatever else perked my ears while blissfully stuck to the couch with a sleeping babe. There are buzzing Ethiopian hymns and Tuareg folk songs, but also white-hot psych-rock and anguished black metal when I just needed some paternal catharsis. Psychedelic Speed Freaks "Redline"• Sosena Gebre Eyesus "Aser Awetar": Catherine Watine "Verrophone" (Géométries sous-cutanées) Keith Fullerton Whitman "Apollo Museumhotel Generators" (Generatorss) Griefloss "Anneliese" (Griefloss) Ahmed Ag Kaedy "Akaline Kidal" (Akaline Kidal)Ronin Arkestra "Redeye Reprisal" (First Meeting)

Host Robin Hilton, NPR Music's Lyndsey McKenna, Ann Powers and Stephen Thompson run through their picks for the best new albums out on April 5. FEATURED ALBUMS: Martha: Love Keeps Kicking; Khalid: Free Spirit; Lee Fields and the Expressions: It Rains Love; Weyes Blood: Titanic Rising; PUP: Morbid Stuff; Molly Tuttle: When You're Ready; Ages and Ages: Me You They We. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR APRIL 5: Brooks & Dunn: Reboot; Girli: Odd One Out; Idlewild: Interview Music; Lady Lamb: Even in the Tremor; Lissie: When I'm Alone: The Piano Retrospective; Priests: The Seduction of Kansas; Reba McEntire: Stronger Than the Truth.

Songs includeNatural by Julia ShapiroSIDEWINDER by Cautious ClayThe River St. Johns by Jake Xerxes FussellHenryk Górecki: Symphony No. 3 sung by Beth GibbonsThe Weight of Things by The GloamingTorched and Wrecked by Third Coast Percussion

FEATURED ALBUMS: Mekons: Deserted; Billie Eilish: When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go? Quelle Chris: Guns; Shafiq Husayn: The Loop; Marvin Gaye: You're The Man; Fennesz: Agora; Son Volt: Union.OTHER NOTABLE ALBUMS OUT MARCH 29: Beth Gibbons & The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra: Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No. 3; Billy Woods & Kenny Segal: Hiding Places; Choosey & Exile: Black Beans; DJ Muggs & Mach-Hommy: Tuez-Les Tous; Joni Void: Mise En Abyme; Karyyn: The Quanta Series; Laura Stevenson: The Big Freeze; MED & Guilty Simpson: Child of the Jungle; Mdou Moctar: Ilana; Saweetie: Icy; Small Feet: With Psychic Powers; Steve Earle & The Dukes: GUY.

Songs for this Episode"Summon the Fire" by The Comet Is Coming"Weird Little Idea" by Radiator Hospital "Give A Chance" by Jesse Mac Cormack"Daylight Matters" by Cate Le Bon"House Of Angels" by Lee "Scratch" Perry"Outside" by Mormor

It's a packed release week with a whole bunch of notable albums to highlight, including the rock guitar heroics on Ex Hex's It's Real, the wistful wisdom of Jenny Lewis, Andrew Bird's "finest work yet," mind-blowing sonics from the genre-bending composers Emily Wells and Lafawndah, the German electronic artist Apparat and much more. Hosts Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson share their top picks for the best albums out on March 22 on this episode of New Music Friday. FEATURED ALBUMS: Ex Hex: It's Real; Jenny Lewis: On The Line; American Football: American Football; Lafawndah: Ancestor Boy; Andrew Bird: My Finest Work Yet; Emily Wells: This World Is Too ______ For You; Apparat: LP5; Lambchop: This (Is What I Wanted To Tell You). OTHER NOTABLE ALBUMS OUT MARCH 22: Bill McKay: Fountain Fire; Dean Lewis: A Place We Knew; Ibibio Sound Machine: Doko Mien; Lucy Rose: No Words Left; Nilufer Yanya: Miss Universe; Rich The Kid: The World Is Yours 2; Strand Of Oaks: Eraserland; Wallows: Nothings Happens

We've returned from our weeklong grind through the South by Southwest music festival happy, though a little dazed, with ringing ears, and a whole bunch of incredible discoveries. On this All Songs Considered we run through some of the most memorable music and performances, from the shredded noise rock of Rev Rev Rev and thundering soul of Yola Carter to the Afro-Cuban grooves of Cimafunk and the remarkable voice of Tamino. Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson and I each saw around 100 different shows in just a few short days, way more than we could ever share in a single episode. But you can hear more in our Late Night Dispatches from SXSW, including a playlist of songs, and the Austin 100. You can find our complete coverage of the SXSW festival here, including video highlights from our first-ever Tiny Desk Family Hour, a series of Tiny Desk alums performing at Austin's Central Presbyterian Church, including Wyclef Jean, John Paul White and more. -- Robin Hilton

With another SXSW in the books, a truncated and reconstituted All Songs Considered gang — Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson and Jessi Whitten of Colorado Public Radio — gathered late Saturday night (early Sunday morning, really) for one last joyous huddle to share notes on the day's highlights. Since Jessi wasn't on the night before, she had to share at least one major discovery from Friday: The Jazzrauch Bigband, who put on one of the best shows she'd seen in years. (On Saturday, she loved the singer who goes by the name Del Water Gap, as well as Dreamer Boy and Ings.) Bob had raves for Indigo Sparke, THERE and the ever-evolving Miya Folick, while Stephen recommended Jerusalem-based composer and looper ORI, skirts and the soul singer Celeste.

Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson regale each other with tall tales about Friday night's escapades at SXSW.

For the third installment of All Songs Considered's late-night dispatches from SXSW 2019, the gang gathered in a hotel lobby to avoid the cold and sing the praises of Thursday's standout performances. Bob Boilen loved seeing Lonnie Holley with Mary Lattimore, KOKOKO!, John Vanderslice and David Keenan; Robin Hilton sang the praises of Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Durand Jones & The Indications and perennial SXSW favorite Calliope Musicals; Katie Presley reveled in performances by Fatai, Xenia França, King Princess and the mighty Lizzo; and Stephen Thompson couldn't say enough nice things about Another Sky, Bixiga 70, Fanclub and Mourning [A] BLKstar.

This week's somewhat abbreviated edition of New Music Friday includes an ambitious collaboration between Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O and producer Danger Mouse; the British electronic duo The Cinematic Orchestra returns with its first new album in more than a decade, featuring singer Moses Sumney, rapper Roots Manuva and other guests; and Pavement's Stephen Malkmus injects his woozy rock with a strange jolt of electronica. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson as they share their picks for the best new albums out on March 15. FEATURED ALBUMS: Karen O & Danger Mouse, Lux Prima Featured Songs: "Woman" and "Lux Prima;" The Cinematic Orchestra, To Believe Featured Songs: "A Caged Bird/Imitations of Life," "To Believe" and "The Workers of Art;" Stephen Malkmus, Groove Denied Featured Songs: "Rushing the Acid Frat" and "Belziger Faceplant;" Finn Andrews, One Piece at a Time Featured Song: "One Piece at a Time;" CHAI, Punk Featured Song: "CHOOSE GO!" OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR MARCH 15: Koffee, Rapture EP; Matmos, Plastic Anniversary; The Comet Is Coming, Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery; Todd Snider, Cash Cabin Season Vol. 3.

Our discoveries for today include Sir Baby Girl, Tamino, Laura Stevenson, Be Forest, Josin, Taimane and so much more. Look for a playlist on our website, npr.org/allsongs

Our first dispatch of discoveries from the SXSW Music Festival includes a recap of NPR Music's Tiny Desk Family Hour - an evening of Tiny Desk alum playing the Central Presbyterian Church in Austin. Also our first encounters with artists Elisapie, an Inuk singer and the Beths, Ellis, Illuminati Hotties and Rosie Tucker.

Juice WRLD, the reigning prince of emo rap, is back with a follow up to last year's Goodbye & Good Riddance. Deathrace for Love is bleak, brutal and the rare sequel that lives up to the original. The Oxford rock band Foals takes a big swing in one of the group's most ambitious albums to date; and singer Patty Griffin has a beautiful and profoundly moving, new self-titled album on growing old, the frailty of life and perseverance. On this week's New Music Friday host Robin Hilton talks about those albums and more with NPR's Rodney Carmichael, Felix Contreras and Stephen Thompson. FEATURED ALBUMS: Foals: Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt. 1; Helado Negro: This Is How You Smile; Patty Griffin: Patty Griffin; Sasami: Sasami; Maren Morris: GIRL; William Basinski: On Time Out Of Time; Juice WRLD: Deathrace For Love; OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES OUT MARCH 8: Dido: Still on My Mind; Stella Donnelly: Beware of the Dogs; David Gray: Gold in a Brass Age; Flight of the Conchords: Live in London; Amanda Palmer: There Will Be No Intermission; Townes Van Zandt: Sky Blue; The Wild Reeds: Cheers.

The annual South by Southwest music festival is our personal endurance challenge to discover as many great unknown and often unsigned bands as possible in just one week. To train for the event, Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson and I listen to more than a thousand songs by bands playing the festival, from all over the world, and try to map out a calendar to see our favorites. On this edition of All Songs Considered we play some of the standout songs ahead of the 2019 festival, including the Ghanian artist Jojo Abot, garage rock from Blushh, the Japanese pop group CHAI, music made by robots (I'm not making that up) and much, much more. — Robin Hilton

Our sprint through this week's best new albums includes Grey Area from the UK rapper Little Simz, Weezer's self-titled "Black Album," the foot-stompers of Hozier, country crooner Dee White and more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson, Sidney Madden and Jewly Hight as they share their picks for the best albums out on March 1. FEATURED ALBUMS: Little Simz: Grey Area; Hand Habits: Placeholder; Weezer: Weezer (The "Black Album"); Hozier: Wasteland, Baby!; Dee White: Southern Gentleman; Living Hour: Softer Faces OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR MARCH 1: 2 Chainz: Rap or Go to the League; Delicate Steve: 'Til I Burn Up; Durand Jones & The Indications: American Love Call; The Japanese House: Good At Falling; Sun Kil Moon: I Also Want to Die in New Orleans; Westkust: Westkust; Yves Jarvis: The Same But Different.

On this Guest DJ edition of All Songs Considered, Nilüfer talks of learning the guitar lines in songs by The Libertines as a kid, hearing her Turkish dad's love for Turkish music, her artist mom's encouragement to be a musician and the school where Nilüfer and her friends became musical companions. Nilüfer Yanya's debut album Miss Universe is out March 22 on ATO Records.

Our picks for the best albums out this week include an epic treatise on Americanism from Gary Clark Jr., the delicate and beautiful sounds of Julia Jacklin, Atlanta rapper Gunna, a gorgeous study in the healing powers of restraint from Lowland Hum, and more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael and Stephen Thompson as they share their top picks for Feb. 22. FEATURED ALBUMS: Gary Clark Jr., This Land; Adia Victoria, Silences; And The Kids, When This Life Is Over; Bayonne, Drastic Measures; Gunna, Drip Or Drown 2; Higher Brothers, Five Stars; Julia Jacklin, Crushing; Lowland Hum, Glyphonic; OTHER NOTABLE ALBUMS FOR FEB 22: The Claypool Lennon Delirium, South of Reality; Half Japanese, Invincible; James Yorkston, The Route to the Harmonium; Kehlani, While We Wait; Lily & Madeleine, Canterbury Girls; Nakhane, You Will Not Die; Our Native Daughters, Songs of Our Native Daughters; Telekinesis, Effluxion; Yola, Walk Through Fire.

On this week's All Songs Considered we premiere new music from Aldous Harding. The artist from New Zealand made Bob Boilen's number two album from 2017 (Party) and her latest song, "The Barrel," indicates that she'll be another year-end favorite of mine in 2019. Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna join Bob as co-host for the first time together and fill out the show with some new, great unknowns, including Sweden's Westkust and an artist who goes by the name Ellis. Ellis is the musical project of Linnea Siggelkow (the name is a play on her initials, L.S.), an Ontario-based singer who recently opened for Snail Mail. She proves to be a perfect musical pairing with Westkust. We've also got new music from a band we all love, Palehound. Marissa describes the new music from Ellen Kempner as suave and spooky. We get loud with the angular and stuttering sounds of Sego, then quiet with Mountain Man's Molly Sarlé. But we start the show off with a surprise you may or not love.

Our list of the best albums out this week includes the first new music from funk and R&B legend Chaka Khan in 12 years, the cinematic, transporting sounds of Yann Tiersen, bubblegum punk from Sir Babygirl and more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Lauren Onkey and Stephen Thompson as they share their top picks for Feb. 15. FEATURED ALBUMS: Chaka Khan: Hello Happiness; RY X: Unfurl; Yann Tiersen: All; Sir Babygirl: Crush on Me; J.S. Ondara: Tales of America; Robert Ellis: Texas Piano Man OTHER NOTABLE ALBUMS FOR FEB. 15: Avril Lavigne: Head Above Water; Betty Who: Betty; Dale Watson: Call Me Lucky; Florida Georgia Line: Can't Say I Ain't Country; Jonny Nash: Make a Wilderness; Ladytron: Ladytron; Natti Natasha: Illuminati; Tedeshi Trucks Band: Signs

This week's show is made possible by a generous amount of existential anxiety. This includes the ego-destroying rock anthem "I Don't Matter At All," from the Toronto band Pkew Pkew Pkew, and an epic life manifesto from Amanda Palmer called "The Ride" – a ten-minute oration about the crippling effects of unbridled and rampant fear.But we've also got some horn-powered instrumental rock from New York's Afro-soul group The Budos Band, and a beautiful, blood-slowing song from the Swedish singer Daniel Norgren, an artist who takes inspiration from the sounds of a creaking floor in an old flour mill.

Our list of the best albums out this week includes delicate piano pieces from Hauschka, the brilliantly burning rock of Bob Mould, songs inspired by the film Roma, Mercury Rev's remake of Bobbie Gentry's country opera The Delta Sweete and much more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Felix Contreras, Tom Huizenga and Stephen Thompson as they sprint through their top picks for Feb. 8. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Bob Mould: Sunshine Rock; 2. Jessica Pratt: Quiet Signs; 3. Hauschka: A Different Forest; 4. Various: Music Inspired by the Film Roma; 5. Said the Whale: Cascadia; 6. Mercury Rev: Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited; 7. Joszef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch: An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR FEB. 8: Ariana Grande: thank u, next; Cass McCombs: Tip of the Sphere; The Lemonheads: Varshons 2; Panda Bear: Buoys; Talos: Far Out Dust

On this week's show, artists battle their inner demons – the kind that come out a night when you're alone in bed, trying to find sleep – speak truth to power, celebrate love, dig into complicated characters with troubled pasts and much more.This includes a kind of demented nursery rhyme from singer Billie Eilish; the London-based duo Tender and their deep reflection on ruinous self-indulgence; and producer T Bone Burnett's new album with a prayer to overcome fear.Also on the show: The artist known as Many Rooms confronts organized religion; New York singer-songwriter Laura Stevenson has a new album inspired by the inevitable end of the universe; Lucy Dacus reimagines the French love song "La Vie En Rose" as a driving anthem to love; and producer and musician John Vanderslice returns from a five-year break from making music with a new solo album called The Cedars and a complicated tale of bent love

On this sprint through the week's best new albums, host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Lyndsey McKenna and Stephen Thompson for a whole lot of guitar rock, with a little bit of melancholy, acoustic beauty on the side. This includes Spielbergs, a group from Oslo, Norway, that makes its US debut with a fantastic squeal of feedback on This is Not the End; the L.A. quartet Cherry Gazerr, which just dropped its most emotionally potent and fully formed album ever; Girlpool, Le Butcherettes, the beautifully transporting songs of Tiny Ruins and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: Spielbergs: This is Not the End; Cherry Glazerr: Stuffed and Ready; Girlpool: What Chaos is Imaginary; Beirut: Gallipoli; Le Butcherettes: bi/MENTAL; Tiny Ruins: Olympic Girls; OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR FEB. 01: Boy Harsher: Careful; Deer Tick: Mayonnaise; Guided by Voices: Zeppelin Over China; Emily King: Scenery; Mandolin Orange: Tides of a Teardrop; David Meade: Cobra Pumps; Nina Nesbitt: The Sun Will Come Up, the Seasons Will Change; Unloved: Heartbreak

Ken Mansfield was the U.S. Manager for Apple records when the Beatles played their final gig on a rooftop in London — and one of the few people who was actually with the band to witness it.

On this edition of All Songs Considered I'm joined by Marissa Lorusso our Tiny Desk Contest leader and also a critical contributor to NPR Music's Turning the Tables project.Marissa plays music from the '90s San Jose trio, Duster. They're getting back together but not before a boxed set of their storied past comes out. Marissa is also a fan of Bellows, the music of Oliver Kalb, who we also know from the band Gabby's World (formerly Eskimeaux and O). And we hear music from Heather Woods Broderick, a songwriter and singer we've featured not only for her own music but for being a stage and studio partner with Sharon Van Etten. I play music from Tiny Desk Contest entrant Jackie Mendoza who performs a stripped-down, more focused remake of the song she submitted to our contest called "De Lejos" about loving from afar. We also hear great trance guitar from a Tuareg musician from the Saharan region. It's a recording he made in Detroit after a chance meeting with a producer who shared his love of ZZ Top's Tres Hombres record. But first, I open the show with my current 2019 favorite album, one that came out as huge surprise just last week, by Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers. They call their project the Better Oblivion Community Center.

On this week's program, host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael, Sidney Maden and Stephen Thompson to talk about the must-hear albums out on Jan. 25. This includes hard-driving riff rock with a healthy sense of humor from FIDLAR and Mike Krol, the Compton rapper Boogie, woozy synth-pop from The Dandy Warhols, the shape-shifting sounds of New Orleans singer DAWN and more. Featured Albums: FIDLAR: Almost Free; Mike Krol: Power Chords; Boogie: Everything's For Sale; The Dandy Warhols: Why You So Crazy? Rat Boy: Internationally Unknown; DAWN: New Breed; Other Notable Releases For Jan. 25: Backstreet Boys: DNA; Better Oblivion Community Center: S/T; Bring Me The Horizon: AMO; Rosie Carny: Bare; Toy: Happy In The Hollow; Vangelis: Nocturne; William Tyler: Goes West

Today on All Songs Considered, hear a conversation about the record's production, the logistics of performing live as a seven-piece band and, at long last, the meaning behind FOTB, the mysterious album-title acronym that turned fans into code-crackers early last week.

A lot has changed in Sharon Van Etten's life since she put out her last album, Are We There, in 2014. Over the past five years she's gotten into acting, she went back to school to get a degree in Mental Health Counseling, she's worked on some film scores and, the biggest change: She's a mom, now. But through it all she eventually found herself coming back to her first love: music. Sharon Van Etten has a new album out called Remind Me Tomorrow and it's unlike anything she's ever done before. Largely seen as an acoustic singer-songwriter up to now, her new album is full of pulsing synths, big beats and lots of strange, dark textures made with the help of producer John Congleton. The result is a stunning achievement for Van Etten. Remind Me Tomorrow is her most ambitious and adventurous album to date. For this edition of All Songs Considered, Sharon Van Etten and host Robin Hilton listened to her whole new album together, front to back. She reflects on motherhood, shares stories about the new songs and explains why she decided to blow up nearly everything fans have long loved about her music.

Welcome to a brand-new season of New Music Friday! After a few quiet weeks, the flood gates are opening and we've got a whole bunch of essential albums dropping on Jan. 18 to tell you about. This includes the smart, sparkling pop of singer Maggie Rogers, swooning love songs from James Blake, deep introspection from Pedro The Lion's first new album in 15 years, pure joy from Toro y Moi and much more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson for this quick sprint through the essential releases for Jan. 18, the first busy drop date for the new year. Featured Albums: 1. Maggie Rogers: Heard It In A Past Life; 2. Toro y Moi: Outer Peace; 3. Deerhunter: Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared; 4. Pedro The Lion: Phoenix; 5. James Blake: Assume Form; 6. Buke And Gase: Scholars; 7. Frances Cone: Late Riser; Other Notable Releases: Crane Like The Bird: Crane Like The Bird; Future: The Wizrd; Juliana Hatfield: Weird; Malibu Ken: Malibu Ken; Mike Posner: A Real Good Kid; Sharon Van Etten: Remind Me Tomorrow; Tender: Fear Of Falling Asleep; The Twilight Sad: It Won't Always Be Like This

It's been a minute since we got together to share some all-new music – not since our Nov. 6 show of last year, in fact. Hopefully you used the past several weeks to dig into our look back at the year in music for 2018, our remembrance of the artists we lost, Viking's Choice, Glaring Omissions and, of course, our annual Holiday Radio Play. But we're back now with a batch of essential songs to start the new year right. This includes a spare and profoundly moving new track from singer Lana Del Rey called "Hope is a Terrible Thing for a Woman Like Me To Have – But I Have It;" a brutally candid critique of toxic masculinity from Stella Donnelly; and the thumping, propulsive sounds of Priests and their new song "The Seduction Of Kansas." Also on the show: Perfect guitar pop from Telekinesis, and the punk-saxophone of Joy On Fire and the sweet harmonies of The Wild Reeds, both of whom pay tribute to a lost mother.

Steve Earle honors his musical hero Guy Clark with an album of his song called GUY.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, we share our favorite discoveries from globalFEST 2019.

Our resident Viking surveys 2018 through Italian doom metal, Chinese post-punk, underwater field recordings and a 24-hour drone.

In this special year-end edition of All Songs Considered we look back at the extraordinary singers, composers, multi-instrumentalists and other creative souls we lost in 2018, from indie rock and pop's Richard Swift and Dolores O'Riordan, to opera singer Montserrat Caballe, rapper Mac Miller, avant-garde jazz pianist Cecil Taylor and, of course, Aretha Franklin.

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, John Legend, Lucius, William Shatner, Micky Dolenz of The Monkees and Rodney Crowell all join us for our annual holiday spoof, which unfolds like a bad high school play. This year the gang goes to Bermuda to get away from it all, only to find themselves lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

A lot of the year-end lists you've looked at probably didn't have that one favorite album or song you hold near and dear. This episode of All Songs is about our hidden gems, the ones that, in the give-and-take of making a representative staff list, got left off. In the case of the NPR Music team, we each had at least one record we want you to know about that you won't find on our Top 50 Albums list or our Top 100 Songs list. So, we gathered with ALT. Latino host Felix Contreras, our hip-hop and R&B lovers, Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael, classical music geek, Tom Huizenga and pop-and-rock fans Lyndsey McKenna and Marissa Lorusso to set the record straight. And with outrage in our hearts (and bit of tongue in our cheeks) we play the eight other songs we really want you to hear.

The All Songs gang looks back at this year's anthems and unmissable milestones, from Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer to Childish Gambino's mind-blowing video for "This Is America," Rosalía, Mitski and more. Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are joined by NPR Music's Ann Powers and Stephen Thompson as they look back at the albums, artists and moments that mattered most in 2018.

It's our final New Music Friday for 2018 – barring any big surprises, December is a pretty slow release month – but we end with some phenomenal new albums, including The 1975's Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, singer Alessia Cara's affecting coming-of-age manifesto The Pains Of Growing, an exercise in minimalism from rapper Earl Sweatshirt and more. Host Robin Hilton is joined this week by NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael, Sidney Madden and Lyndsey McKenna as they do a quick look at the most essential new albums dropping on Nov. 30. Featured Albums: The 1975: A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships; Meek Mill: Championship; J.I.D: DiCaprio 2; Alessia Cara: The Pains Of Growing; Earl Sweatshirt: Some Rap Songs. Other Notable Releases For Nov. 30: Jeff Tweedy: Warm; Foxwarren: Foxwarren; Lil' Baby: Street Gossip; Neil Young: Songs For Judy; Bryan Ferry And His Orchestra: Bitter-Sweet

Jeff Tweedy's written a book that's incredibly open-hearted and honest. Let's Go (So We Can Get Back) A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc. is a journey in music, friendship and family — from getting his first guitar (which didn't work out so well), to the formation of Uncle Tupelo with his friend, Jay Farrar, their surprising breakup and all the various incarnations of Wilco. It's filled with stories of insecurities, drug dependencies and thoughtful reflections. On this edition of All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen talks with Jeff Tweedy about his remarkable life story, plays clips from the Penguin Random House audio version of Jeff's book and digs a bit into his new solo album called Warm, which addresses a lot of personal thoughts and feels like a companion to Jeff's book.

Gobble gobble! Our Thanksgiving weekend edition of New Music Friday includes the warped and wild pop sounds of My Brightest Diamond, stunning instrumental records from Ed Harcourt and Jacco Gardner, punk with heart and humor from Art Brut and more. Host Robin Hilton is joined this week by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson as they do a quick sprint through the essential albums dropping on Nov. 23. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. My Brightest Diamond: A Million And One; 2. Ed Harcourt: Beyond The End; 3. Calexico: The Black Light 20th Anniversary Edition; 4. Art Brut: Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out! 5. Songs Ohia: Love & Work: The Lioness Sessions; 6. Jacco Gardner: Somnium

If you don't know boygenius, there's a good chance you know at least one member of this trio, Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers. They've just released a self-titled EP. We gathered in the studio here at NPR just moments after they finished their Tiny Desk Concert to talk about the music they love and listen to. In this conversation with these three talented songwriters, they talk about how they inspire one another and give each other confidence. Lucy Dacus says, "I associate Phoebe and Julien with having real strength in darkness. They're also very wise and funny people that I trust as people, not just artists. So I kind of did assume that it would be very easy to work with them. And it turned out that was right."

This week's list of essential new albums includes one of the year's most anticipated releases – Anderson .Paak's Oxnard, plus Mariah Carey's Caution, a lost Glen Campbell record he made for Elvis, a career-spanning retrospective on the late singer Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave), The Good, The Bad And The Queen's first new album in more than a decade and more. All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael, Lars Gotrich and Stephen Thompson as they run through the best releases out on Nov. 16.Featured Albums:Anderson .Paak: Oxnard; Chris Cornell: Chris Cornell; Mariah Carey: Caution; Glen Campbell: Glen Campbell Sings For The King; Leikeli47: Acrylic; Various: Brainfeeder X; The Good, The Bad & The Queen: Merrie Land;Other Notable Releases For Nov. 16:The Smashing Pumpkins: Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1: No Past, No Future, No Sun; Kate Bush: Remastered Pt. 1; The Rolling Stones: Beggars Banquet 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition; Mumford & Sons: Delta; Ryley Walker: The Lilywhite Sessions; Eiko Ishibashi: The Dream My Bones Dream; Various: The Greatest Showman: Reimagined

Fifty years ago, just before the holidays in 1968, The Beatles put out not just a new album, but a double album, something relatively unheard of at the time. The album art was a stark, white, glossy cover with raised, slanted lettering that simply said, "The Beatles." That self-titled album, with its 30 songs that span genres from American country music to avant-garde tape collage, has come to be known as "The White Album." And in celebration of it's birth 50 years ago, The Beatles label Apple Records has scoured the archives for a new deluxe edition of the album that, for the first time, includes previously unreleased, early demo recordings, studio outtakes and stunning remixes in both stereo and 5.1 surround. On this episode of All Songs Considered we've got a conversation with the man who produced this 100-plus song celebration, Giles Martin, whose father, George Martin, produced "The White Album" back in '68 (along with most everything else The Beatles ever made). In this interview with Giles Martin, you'll hear some of the early demos, outtakes and remixes. But he begins by describing the process of making of the "The White Album," how it turned out to be a much-less planned and much more organic process than ever, and how that frustrated George Martin.

This week's best new albums includes emo-rapper Lil Peep's posthumous follow-up to Come Over When Your Sober, 50th anniversary editions of Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland and The Beatles "White Album," a labor of love from the late soul singer Charles Bradley, rock with a wink from Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers, the music of Hanson set to strings and more.FEATURED ALBUMS: Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers: Bought to Rot; The Glands: Double Coda; Charles Bradley: Black Velvet; Jimi Hendrix: Electric Ladyland 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition; Golden Hornet with Jeffrey Zeigler: The Sound of Science; Hanson: String Theory; Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore: Ghost Forests; Lil Peep: Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 2; OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR NOV. 9: The Beatles: The Beatles ("The White Album"); J. Fernandez: Occasional Din; J. Masics: Elastic Days; Muse: Simulation Theory; Tom Adams: Yes, Sleep Well Death, Boygenius: Boygenius (physical release); Rays: You Can Get There From Here; Imagine Dragons: Origins

As voters head to the polls today, we hear from artists whose music speaks to our current political and cultural moment. Full playlist: 1. Deerhunter: "Death In Midsummer," 2. Andrew Bird: "Bloodless," 3. Alexander: "Strange Time," 4. Tomberlin: "Self-Help," 5. Foxwarren: "Everything Apart," 6. Ian William Craig: "TC-377 Poem," 7. Bokanté + Metropole Orkest: "All The Way Home"

This week's sprint through the best new albums, out on Nov. 2, includes a collection of outtakes and rarities from Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks period, the Flamenco-pop of Rosalía, profoundly moving reflections from Marianne Faithful, the prepared piano of Kelly Moran, fuzz-pop from Stove and more. Host Robin Hilton is joined for this week's New Music Friday by NPR Music's Ann Powers, Lars Gotrich and Stephen Thompson. Featured Albums: Rosalía: El Mal Querer; Bob Dylan: More Blood, More Tracks; Marianne Faithful: Negative Capability; Pistol Annies: Interstate Gospel; Rosanne Cash: She Remembers Everything; Stove: 's Favorite Friend; Kelly Moran: Ultraviolet; Doug Paisley: Starter Home; Other notable releases for Nov. 2: Tenacious D: Post-Apocalypto; Dead Can Dance: Dionysus; Molly Nilsson: Twenty Twenty; Gabby's World: Beast On Beast; Bill Ryder-Jones: Yawn; Rodney Crowell: Christmas Everywhere; JD McPherson: SOCKS; Sun Kil Moon: This Is My Dinner

This week on the show, we hear from artists who find ways to celebrate life no matter how broken it may be. Full playlist: 1. boygenius: "Bite the Hand," 2. Pedro The Lion: "Yellow Bike," 3. Quivers: "Pigeons," 4. PAVVLA: "Unbreakable," 5. Tōth: "Copilot," 6. Rubblebucket: "What Life Is"

This week's batch of essential new albums includes Robyn's melancholy return to the dance floor, rock-and-roll madness from Ty Segall, the otherworldly voice of NAO, singer Julia Holter's mind-blowing masterpiece Aviary, and more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Ann Powers and Stephen Thompson as they run through the best full-length releases out on Oct. 26. FEATURED ALBUMS: Oh Pep! I Wasn't Only Thinking of You; Robyn: Honey; Ty Segall: Fudge Sandwich; Nao: Saturn; Laura Gibson: Goners; Julia Holter: Aviary; Maggie Roche: Where Do I Come From? David Crosby: Here If You Listen; OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR OCT. 26: Thom Yorke: Suspiria; Ian Sweet: Crush Crusher; Georgia Ann Muldrow: Overload; Black Eyed Peas: Masters of the Sun Vol. 1; Miya Folick: Premonitions; Homeboy Sandman: Humble Pi; Devon Church: We Are Inextricable; Tasha: Alone at Last; Joji: Ballads 1

This week's essential mix includes songs of letting go, of healing, moving on and finding a deeper appreciation for the wonder of life. Tarriona "Tank" Ball (of the 2017 Tiny Desk Contest-winning band Tank And The Bangas) offers a surprising and beautiful take on the sentimental 1938 classic "I'll Be Seeing You." The psych-pop multi-instrumentalist (and former All Songs Considered intern) J. Fernandez tries to calm his irrational anxieties on the song "Common Sense." And Monica Martin of the band Phox examines the cruelty of denial and staying in a broken relationship. Also on the show: The San Francisco-based band Papercuts turns a joke about "Clean Living" into a metaphor the empty promises of quick fixes; the artist known as SASAMI dreams of reuniting with a lost love when the time is right; Jordan Sudak, who writes and records as Koda, digs deep into inconvenient truths; and Hollie Fullbrook of the band Tiny Ruins reveals the incredible story behind her new song "Olympic Girls." But first, Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton take a moment to consider the possibility that every little thing is alive.

Zach Condon, the mastermind behind Beirut, will release his fifth studio album, Gallipoli, on Feb. 1. In this conversation, he shares the title track and details how the project came together.

On this week's sprint through the best new releases we've got irresistible earworms from Peter Bjorn & John, the deep soul of PHONY PPL, Esperanza Spalding's mind-bending songcraft and more. All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Ann Powers, Lars Gotrich, Nate Chinen of WBGO, Sidney Madden and Stephen Thompson as they breakdown the best albums out on Oct. 19. FEATURED ALBUMS: Elle King: Shake the Spirit; Peter Bjorn & John: Darker Days; PHONY PPL: mō'zā-ik.; John Carpenter: Halloween (2018 Soundtrack); Neneh Cherry: Broken Politics; Will Oldham: Songs of Love and Horror; Yoko Ono: Warzone; Esperanza Spalding: 12 Little Spells. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR OCT. 19: Papercuts: Parallel Universe Blues; Cloud Nothings: Last Building Burning; Becky Warren: Undesirable

This week's episode of All Songs Considered sees NPR Music's Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton reunited to pop some popcorn and reflect on the years they've spent on and off the show. A driving single with a pulsing beat stretches Sharon Van Etten's voice to new heights, while J.S. Ondara's debut takes a fresh look at the American dream and the classic rock that inspired his move from Nairobi to Minnesota. Also on the show: Miya Folick delivers a heart-wrenching apology, Berlin-based composer Tom Adams spins our darkest fears into atmospheric music, and SOAK builds a pop song around a blissful confession. But first, we take a moment to remember Robin's dad, who passed away last week, with a few words from John Denver. 1. John Denver: "Poems, Prayers And Promises," 2. Tom Adams: "In Darkness," 3. Sharon Van Etten: "Come Back Kid," 4. SOAK: "Everybody Loves You," 5. Miya Folick: "Thingamig," 6. Jason Lytle: "Color of Dirt," 7. J.S. Ondara: "American Dream"

Our list of the best new albums out this week includes the comical and moving synth pop of John Grant, enchanting harmonies from The Watson Twins, an audacious jazz album from trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, the first new music from Elvis Costello & The Imposers in a decade and more. Host Robin Hilton returns to breakdown this week's essential releases with NPR Music's Ann Powers and Stephen Thompson, and Nate Chinen from WBGO.Featured Albums: Elvis Costello & The Imposters: Look Now; The Watson Twins: Duo; Ambrose Akinmusire: Origami Harvest; John Grant: Love is Magic; Kurt Vile: Bottle it In; Colter Wall: Songs of the Plains.Other Notable Releases: Quavo: Quavo Huncho; BRONCHO: Bad Behavior; John Hiatt: The Eclipse Sessions; The Dodos: Certainty Waves; Tom Morello: The Atlas Underground; Matthew Dear: Bunny; Dave Davies: Decade; Ella Mai: Ella Mai; Adam Hood: Somewhere in Between; Yowler: Black Dog In My Path

A conversation with songwriter and singer Adrianne Lenker from Big Thief on her newest solo record called abysskiss.

With Robin Hilton out for one more week, NPR Music's Ann Powers and Lars Gotrich join Stephen Thompson for a whirlwind tour of a busy release day. We've got the first album in five years by the spiky pop-rock band Swearin' (featuring the great and good Allison Crutchfield); the gorgeous first album in six years by Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power; the heavy, almost absurdly ambitious rock and roll of F***** Up; the versatile country of Eric Church; the springy and inspirational anthems of multi-hyphenate powerhouse Tunde Olaniran; the sprawling, deeply searching rock of mewithoutYou; the rugged metal of Matt Pike's long-running band High on Fire; and Phosporescent's Matthew Houck, whose beatific folk-rock sprawls with winsome approachability.

A conversation with Hozier. How does music travel through time? How does a kid growing up in Ireland latch on to music 50 years old and find resonance an ocean away? His new EP Nina Cried Power - his first major release since his 2014 debut album pays tribute to the 20th century musicians whose music ignited Civil Rights movements around the world. We hear new music from Hozier and the music that inspires him.

Robin Hilton is out this week, so Stephen Thompson kicks off this installment of New Music Friday by blaring some Cher, whose new album of ABBA covers is a must for anyone who flipped out when the singer made her entrance in this summer's Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again. From there, NPR Music's Marissa Lorusso and Lars Gotrich join to discuss other must-hear albums out on Sep. 28. Nile Rodgers & Chic's first album in 26 years; the rousing rock and roll of Restorations and Doe; a victory lap for 86-year-old country legend Loretta Lynn; the ambitious electronic soundscapes of Tim Hecker; and the guest-star-laden return of Marissa Nadler, whose new album features guest vocals from the likes of Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten. Featured Albums: 1. Cher: Dancing Queen 2. Nile Rodgers & Chic: It's About Time 3. Restorations: LP5000 4. Doe: Grow Into It 5. Loretta Lynn: Wouldn't It Be Great 6. Tim Hecker: Konoyo 7. Marissa Nadler: For My Crimes

On this edition of All Songs Considered, we lean toward contemplative songs with fuzzy guitars. NPR Music's Marissa Lorusso and I premiere new music from Jeff Tweedy. His new album Warm looks at life as it nears that moment when the great piano labeled "death" is about to drop from the sky. The band Charly Bliss writes its first love song, Allen Tate takes a second break from San Fermin to make an inward-looking track of self-reflection, Bad Moves thoughtfully steps between adulthood and youth and Saint Sister lights up an ethereal harp driven tune. Also: We are joined by intern Kristy Guilbault to hear Yowler yowl.

It's another busy release week, with intimate home recordings from Prince, ragged rock from Metric, the angelic harmonies of Mountain Man and Richard Swift's final recordings among our shortlist for the must-hear albums out on Sep. 21. All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton talks with NPR Music's Ann Powers, Lars Gotrich, Rodney Carmichael and Stephe Thompson, along with Nate Chinen from WBGO about the music you need to hear now.Featured Albums:1. Metric: 'Art of Doubt'2. Mountain Man: 'Magic Ship'3. Christian Sands: 'Facing Dragons'4. Father: 'Awful Swim'5. Prince: 'Piano and a Microphone, 1983'6. Richard Swift: 'The Hex'7. Lonnie Holley: 'MITH'8. Villagers: 'The Art of Pretending to Swim'Other Notable Releases:Lupe Fiasco: 'Drogas Wave'Brockhampton: 'Iridesence'Lil Wayne: 'Christine and the Queens: 'Chris'Mutual Benefit: 'Thunder Follows the Light'Liars: 'Titles With the Word Fountain'

Defining Americana isn't easy. At the festival, there were musicians from all around the world. Some were rooted in blues, jazz, boogie rock, bluegrass, soul, gospel, comedy, country, Tejano and much more. The Milk Carton Kids opened the 17th annual Americana Honors & Awards Show at the Ryman Auditorium with an original number we're exclusively premiering today. Their dry wit, reminiscent of 1960s Smothers Brothers parodies, pokes fun at the genre. NPR Music's Ann Powers, Jewly Hight and Bob Boilen spent the past week trying to hear as many of the 500 bands in the 40 or so venues around town as possible. Listen and find out what we discovered and what we'd love to pass along. 1. The Milk Carton Kids: "What Even Is Americana," 2. Amythyst Kiah: "Wildebeest," 3. Birds of Chicago: "American Flowers," 4. William Prince: "The Carny," 5. Lula Wiles: "One More Night," 6. Mipso: "Edges Run," 7. Ruston Kelly: "Faceplant," 8. Talibah Safiya: "Middle of the Night," 9. Katie Pruitt: "Grace Has a Gun," 10. Marc Ribot: "Knock That Statue Down"

This week's run through the essential albums out Sep. 14 includes the first new music from Jump Little Children in 14 years, rapper Noname's incredible follow-up to her 2016 mixtape Telefone, one of the darkest and most distorted albums ever from the band Low, a bit of melancholy and hope from country singer Carrie Underwood and much more.FEATURED ALBUMS:1. Jump Little Children: SPARROW2. Low: Double Negative3. Alejandro Escovedo: The Crossing4. 6lack: East Atlanta Love Letter5. Pale Waves: My Mind Makes Noises6. Noname: Room 257. Carrie Underwood: Cry PrettyOTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR SEP. 14:Richard Thompson: 13 RiversJoyce Manor: Million Dollars to Kill MePaul Weller: True MeaningsFred Thomas: AfteringWe Were Promised Jetpacks: The More I Sleep The Less I DreamOrbital: Monsters ExistThe Goon Sax: We're Not TalkingLyrics Born: Quite A LifeDilly Dally: HeavenBlack Belt Eagle Scout: Mother of My Children

We open this week's show with a new track from Sylvan Esso, with tentacles that reach into multiple musical universes. The song, "Funeral Singers," was originally written and recorded by the band Califone, features members of the group Collections of Colonies of Bees and was recorded at Wilco's Chicago studio, The Loft. The result is a plaintive, pulsing reflection on heartache and loss. Full playlist for this episode: 1. Sylvan Esso: "Funeral Singers," 2. Thom Yorke: "Suspirium," 3. Theodore: "Disorientation," 4. Half Alive: "Still Feel," 5. Squirrel Flower: "Conditions," 6. Buke & Gase: "No Land," 7. Amber Arcades: "Goodnight Europe"

This week's essential new releases includes Paul McCartney's best album in 20 years, the funk and disco of St. Paul & The Broken Bones, dark and twisted sounds from the rap duo $UICIDEBOY$ and more. All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Ann Powers, Lars Gotrich, Marissa Lorusso, Stephen Thompson and Rodney Carmichael. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. St. Paul & The Broken Bones: Young Sick Camellia 2. Spiritualized: And Nothing Hurt 3. Shannen Moser: I'll Sing 4. $SUICIDEBOY$: I Want to Die in New Orleans 5. Paul McCartney: Egypt Station 6. MNEK: Language 7. Mirah: Understanding 8. Amnesia Scanner: Another Life. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR SEP. 7: Paul Simon: In the Blue Light; Eric Bachmann: No Recover; Seinabo Sey: I'm A Dream; Kandace Spring: Indigo; Estelle: Lovers Rock; Jeff The Brotherhood: Magik Songs; Mothers: Render Another Ugly Method; Steven A. Clark: Where Neon Goes to Die

In this candid conversation with All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen, Paul Simon reveals he hasn't felt compelled to write a new song in years, talks about the desire to better know himself and reflects on the very meaning of life itself.

All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton talks with NPR Music's Ann Powers and Stephen Thompson about the essential new albums out on Aug. 31, including music from Big Red Machine (a new side project of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner of The National), the pop paradise of singer Troye Sivan, a tribute to Roger Miller and more. Featured Albums: Big Red Machine: Big Red Machine; Troye Sivan: Bloom; Saintseneca: Pillar of Na; Aaron Lee Tasjan: Karma for Cheap; Tash Sultana: Flow State; Various Artists: King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller; Other Notable Releases for Aug. 31: Amos Lee: My New Moon; Madeleine Peyroux: Anthem; Bun B: Return of the Trill; Anna Calvi: Hunter; Idles: Joy as an Act of Resistance; Passenger: Runaway

After spending much of the past month on the Newport Folk Festival, 50th anniversary of The Band's Songs from Big Pink, Aretha Franklin, the Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+ and more, we're finally back with an all-new mix. This week's episode includes the return of Cat Power, singer Laura Gibson, new music from Tiny Desk Contest winner Gaelynn Lea and more. Full playlist: 1. Gabby's World: "Rear View," 2. Cat Power: "Woman," 3. Anna Calvi: "Don't Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy," 4. Sam Phillips: "How Much Is Enough?" 5. Oh Pep!: "What's The Deal With David?" 6. Greg Laswell: "Royal Empress," 7. Gaelynn Lea: "The Last Three Feet," 8. Laura Gibson: "Tenderness"

All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton talks with Ann Powers, Jewly Hight, Sidney Madden and Stephen Thompson about the essential albums out on Aug. 24. This includes the drone rock of Nothing and delicate piano work of Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds, French-American rapper Bas, the return of DeVotchka and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: White Denim: Performance; Nothing: Dance on the Blacktop; Ólafur Arnalds: re:member; Bas: Milky Way; Interpol: Marauder; DeVotchka: This Night Falls Forever; Lucie Silvas: E.G.O. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR AUG 24: BTS: Love Yourself: ANSWER; Joey Dosik: Inside Voice; The Lemon Twigs: Go To School; Rubblebucket: Sun Machine; Blood Orange: Negro Swan; Tuung: Songs You Make At Night; Dee White: Southern Gentleman; Gabriel Kahane: Book of Travels; Glenn Jones: The Giant Who Ate Himself

On this week's show, All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton talks with Ann Powers, Marissa Lorusso and Sidney Madden about some of the greatest songs released by women and non-binary artists in the past 18 years. Earlier this summer NPR Music, along with dozens of other writers, compiled a list of the 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+ as part of our Turning the Tables series, an ongoing effort to make the canon of popular music more inclusive – and accurate. Together they share some of the songs that made the list, explain how they were chosen and discuss the ways women and non-binary musicians are still routinely undervalued and underrepresented.

New Music Friday returns from a two-week break with some of 2018's most anticipated releases, including Death Cab For Cutie's Thank You For Today, Mitski's Be The Cowboy, Ariana Grande's Sweetener and more.

All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton talks with NPR Music's Ann Powers and Lauren Onkey about the life and legacy of the Queen of Soul. Aretha Franklin passed away on Aug. 16 at the age of 76. In this career-spanning conversation, we share the songs and stories behind one of the most influential artists of all time, from her earliest days singing gospel in her father's church, through her '80s pop hits, later collaborations with artists like Lauryn Hill and much more.

Let's go back 50 years to a basement outside Woodstock New York — to the formation of a sound and an album that all these years later still shapes the musical landscape. The album is Music From Big Pink and the band is simply called The Band.

Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are joined by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson in this encore presentation of 'Songs We Should Retire.' Each picked a handful of classic and more recent tunes to debate longevity and overstayed welcomes in modern music history. Should "American Pie" be put out to pasture? Has John Lennon's "Imagine" been imagined one too many times? Does Pharrell's "Happy" still make us happy, or should we, as Stephen suggests, cryogenically freeze it so we never have to hear it again in our lifetimes?

We recently put out a call asking listeners to share their thoughts about the songs on Courtney Barnett's latest album, Tell Me How You Really Feel, and other tracks from her rich lyrical catalog. On this week's show, we share some of those listener stories and thoughts, and Courtney talks about what inspires her, the creative process and how her music can be interpreted.

On this week's New Music Friday, All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton talks to NPR Music guests Ann Powers and Stephen Thompson about the essential new releases for July 27, including the jangly guitar pop of Tony Molina, a celebration of queerness and the company we keep from Thin Lips and whimsical sing-a-longs from Raffi. Featured Artists/Albums: 1. Israel Nash: Lifted, featured song "Rolling On," 2. Phantastic Ferniture: Phantastic Ferniture, featured song "Bad Timing," 3. Thin Lips: Chosen Family, featured songs "Chosen Family" and "Gaslight Anthem (The Song Not The Band)," 4. Tony Molina: Kill The Lights, featured song "Nothing I Can Say," 5. Raffi: Dog On The Floor, featured song "Play Play Play," 6. Cody Jinks: Lifers, featured song "Head Case"

It's that time of year, the last weekend in July when NPR Music covers the friendliest festival around, the Newport Folk Festival.The festival's nearly 60-year history is steeped in the roots of American traditions and expands beyond the singer-songwriter tradition that the words "folk music" might conjure. This year we'll be treated to electronic R&B from Moses Sumney, the gospel sounds of War & Treaty, lyrical rock from Courtney Barnett, the Nashville sounds of Margo Price and Jason Isbell, the brilliant guitar of St. Vincent, instrumental vibes from Khruangbin and so much more

All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael, Ann Powers, and Stephen Thompson to talk about July 20th's notable releases. Highlights include sultry R&B from The Internet, seething rock from songwriter Meg Myers, the "Joy" of Ty Segall & White Fence, a new album from the bluegrass group Punch Brothers and more. 1. The Internet: Hive Mind, 2. Lori McKenna: The Tree, 3. Punch Brothers: All Ashore, 4. Ty Segall & White Fence: Joy, 5. Meg Myers: Take Me To The Disco, 6. Buddy: Harlan & Alondra. Other Notable Releases for July 20: Ovlov: Tru, Nathan Salsburg: Third, Balún: Prisma Tropical, Bugge Wesseltoft & Prins Thomas: Bugge Wesseltoft & Prins Thomas, Struckout: Struckout