Switched on Pop

Vulture

Listen closer to pop music, and hear how it moves us. Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

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20 episodes
Updated Tuesday

Episodes20

Newest first

III. Preaching to the Chorus (ft. Cypress Hill and Trevor Horn)
The chorus was once the part of the song that brought us together, the place we gathered to sing. Now it's the most engineered thirty seconds in music. Legendary producer Trevor Horn and hip-hop icon B-Real of Cypress Hill help Charlie and Nate answer the question on their minds: when everything's a hook, is anything a chorus? CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer Nick Ripps: Video Editor Nate Sloan: Host Lissa Soep: Editor Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions. Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ Songs discussed: Whitney Houston, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A." Handel, "Hallelujah Chorus" (from Messiah) Pete Seeger, "Oh! Susanna" Odetta, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, “Ain't No Mountain High Enough" Handel, "Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted" (from Messiah) Joan Morris & William Bolcom, "After the Ball" Judy Garland, "Over the Rainbow" Chuck Berry, "Johnny B. Goode" The Beatles, “Yesterday" The Beatles, "Getting Better" Otis Redding, "Respect" Aretha Franklin, "Respect" Dolly Parton, "I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You" The Buggles, "Video Killed the Radio Star" Prince, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" Katy Perry, "Roar" Calvin Harris, “I Need Your Love" (ft. Ellie Goulding) Britney Spears, "(You Drive Me) Crazy" Katy Perry, "Teenage Dream" Maroon 5, "Payphone" (ft. Wiz Khalifa) Bad Bunny, “Si Veo a Tu Mamá" Drake, "Janice STFU" Lykke Li, "I Follow Rivers" Charli xcx, "Rock Music" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tuesday · 50 min
II. Justice for the verse (ft. Audrey Hobert)
Everybody sings the chorus, but superfans quote the verse. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate trace the verse from Shakespeare through opera to TikTok, and songwriter Audrey Hobert shares her philosophy of specific verses and anthemic choruses: you can't have the payoff without the setup. CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer Nick Ripps: Video Editor Nate Sloan: Host Lissa Soep: Editor Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠ Songs discussed: Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" Edward Meeker, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" Third Eye Blind, "Semi-Charmed Life" Zara Larsson, "Lush Life" John Denver, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" Rick Astley, "Never Gonna Give You Up" William Smith, Choir of New College, Oxford, Edward Higginbottom, "Opening Versicles and Responses" Georges Bizet, Michel Plasson, Angela Gheorghiu, Les Éléments, Orchestre National Du Capitole De Toulouse, "Bizet: Carmen, WD 31, Act 1: Habanera. "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" (Carmen, Chœur)" Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" Built to Spill, "Joyride" The Killers, "Mr. Brightside" Gracie Abrams, "That's So True" Audrey Hobert, "Sue me" Lizzo, "About Damn Time" Audrey Hobert, "Drive" Audrey Hobert, "Bowling alley" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
July 21 · 33 min
I. Let's get it started (ft. Aaron Dessner)
Research says you judge a song in under half a second. So why write an intro at all? On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate kick off their Netflix launch and probe what an intro means in today's musical landscape, alongside special guests like Aaron Dessner (Taylor Swift, The National, Gracie Adams), who helps build the case for intros and reveals the surprising sources that form the opening sounds of Taylor Swift's “cardigan.” CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer Nick Ripps: Video Editor Nate Sloan: Host Lissa Soep: Editor Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠ Black Eyed Peas, "Let's Get It Started" Shawn Colvin, “Sonny Came Home” Smashing Pumpkins, “Tonight Tonight” The Cranberries, "Zombie" The Cranberries, "Linger" Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe" Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On" Britney Spears, "Toxic" Miles Davis, "Freddie Freeloader" Robyn, "Call Your Girlfriend" The Beatles, "All You Need Is Love" Led Zeppelin, "Over the Hills and Far Away" Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable" Deee-Lite, "Groove Is in the Heart" Missy Elliott, "Get Ur Freak On" Missy Elliott, "Work It" Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee, "Despacito" Kendrick Lamar & SZA, "Luther" Mariah Carey, "Fantasy" The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again" Stevie Wonder, "Superstition" The Temptations, "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" Rick Astley, "Never Gonna Give You Up" Amy Winehouse, "Back to Black" The Supremes, "Baby Love" The Kinks, "Sweet Lady Genevieve" The Beach Boys, "God Only Knows" Erik Satie, "Je te veux" D'Angelo and the Vanguard, "Back to the Future (Part I)" The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey, "Closer" Sabrina Carpenter, "Taste" Benson Boone, "Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else" Stella Lefty, "Boston" Taylor Swift, "Cardigan" The National, "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness" Taylor Swift, "So Long, London" Gracie Abrams, "Hit the Wall" Noah Kahan, "End of August" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
July 14 · 40 min
Switched On Pop on Netflix July 14th
We're coming to the big screen with a four part mini series starting July 14th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
July 14 · 1 min
Music only the World Cup could make
The quadrennial soccer (or fútbol, depending who you talk to) competition is upon us again: it's the FIFA World Cup! And while the World Cup is a sporting event, it's still relevant to the folks at Switched On Pop, because every four years a new crop of songs gets commissioned to drum up excitement for the games. This year, the official song is by Shakira and Burna Boy, but offerings from IShowSpeed and a madcap collaboration between Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, EJAE, and Megan Thee Stallion also play the field. On this episode, Charlie and Nate explore them all – including the Shakira and Ricky Martin songs of World Cups past. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube Songs discussed: Shakira, Burna Boy – Dai Dai K'NAAN – Wavin' Flag Tears For Fears, Lil Baby – The World Is Yours To Take Jelly Roll, Carin León – Lighter LISA, Anitta, Rema – Goals Jung Kook, BTS – Dreamers Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, EJAE, Megan Thee Stallion – DNA (More Than A Game) IShowSpeed – Champions (WC 26) Ed Sheeran – Shape of You Shakira, Carlinhos Brown – La La La (Brasil 2014) Shakira, Freshlyground – Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) Zangalewa – Zangalewa Ricky Martin, Pablo Flores – The Cup of Life (La Copa de la Vida) Ricky Martin – Livin' La Vida Loca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 30 · 37 min
Why we can't resist Swedish pop (ft. Zara Larsson) ICYMI
In case you missed it: How does a country of 10 million people dominate the global pop charts? From ABBA's Eurovision breakthrough to Max Martin's methodical hit-making, Sweden has quietly engineered a kind of musical Stockholm Syndrome: we've all become captives to their sound without realizing it. Listen to the crystalline vocal production and deceptively simple chord progressions in tracks by Lisa, Childish Gambino, and Addison Rae, and you're hearing Sweden's sonic fingerprint so embedded in pop's DNA that it now defines the genre itself. We sit down with pop star Zara Larsson to explore her love letter to home, "Midnight Sun." As she puts it, "I can't really leave Sweden; it's just something that's like a part of who I am," a sentiment that captures how Swedish pop's unique blend of melancholy and euphoria, mirroring the country's extreme seasons, has made us all willing prisoners of Stockholm's musical empire. Songs Discussed Lisa ft. Rosalia: "New Woman" Childish Gambino: "Lithonia" Addison Rae: "Fame Is a Gun" Bleachers: "Tiny Moves" Zara Larsson: "Midnight Sun" Robyn: "Show Me Love" Robyn: "Dancing on My Own" Nirvana: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Brad Mehldau: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 23 · 44 min
2hollis is the underground’s genre-hopping vampire
In the last episode of our feral pop miniseries, we take a look at the 22 year old rapper primed to take over the world: 2hollis. Splitting the difference between hardstyle and hip-hop while emanating an aura best described as “vampiric,” he’s been one of the most hyped musicians coming out of the underground. His music is distorted, chaotic, and over the top – literally – but he reflects a larger sentiment from younger audiences: the more sonic chaos the better. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube Songs discussed: Ninajirachi – Fuck My Computer underscores – Music 2hollis – poster boy SUICIDAL-IDOL – ecstacy 2hollis – flash 2hollis – beginning 2hollis – sidekick underscores, 8485 – your favorite sidekick 2hollis – crush 2hollis – 3 Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 18 · 31 min
Pop music for an internet-pilled generation
This week on Switched On Pop, we’re looking at all things feral pop, the microgenre that takes pop music to its most wild extremes. And no feral pop artist is more tapped into that ethos than underscores. Her music synthesizes dubstep, trance, and Timbaland with ease, and her latest album ‘U’ is filled with boundless energy. She’s already opened up for 100 gecs, PinkPantheress, and Porter Robinson; this fall, she’ll open up for Charli XCX on her upcoming Music, Fashion, Film tour. She said it best on her debut album, Fishmonger: “it’s the new wave of the future!” Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube Songs discussed: underscores – Music SOPHIE – Ponyboy underscores, 8485 – your favorite sidekick Nelly – Country Grammar (Hot Shit) Madonna – Music Madonna – American Life underscores – Do It Britney Spears – Piece of Me PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson – Stateside Justin Timberlake – SexyBack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 17 · 25 min
The new wave of pop is here, and it’s feral
What would it sound like if pop music was reverted to its most wild state of being? It would sound hyper-digital, influenced by the electronic vanguard of the 2010s, and speak to a post-genre audience. And while the charts have been stagnant, Gen-Z has been crafting this exact sound: one that is exciting, unpredictable, and above all else, feral. After bubbling underground for the past few years, the subgenre we’ve coined “feral pop” is finally poised to have a breakout, best exemplified by the popularity of the computer-loving Ninajirachi, pop star underscores, and rave-rapper 2hollis. This week on Switched On Pop, Reanna, Charlie, and Nate are going to tap into all that this dubstep-influenced sound has to offer, starting with the Australian DJ Ninajirachi, and explore why everyone in pop music is finally getting feral. Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠ Songs discussed: Ninajirachi – CSIRAC underscores – Music 2hollis – girl Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites Imogen Heap – Headlock SOPHIE – BIPP Ninajirachi – iPod touch Ninajirachi, Izzy Camina – Ninacamina Skrillex – Rock ’n’ Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain) Skrillex, Sirah – Bangarang Ninajirachi – Fuck My Computer Ninajirachi – London Song LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver Justice – Genesis Justice – Civilization Justice – Stress Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 16 · 32 min
Olivia Rodrigo has The Cure for sadness
Olivia Rodrigo is back with her third studio album, you seem pretty sad for a girl in love. As the title might suggest, it’s a deeply personal affair, with moody soundscapes supporting hyper-detailed lyrics of soul-wrenching depth. This album is a meditation on desire, and intriguingly, the letdown that can occur when desire is fulfilled. Each track is haunted by a band that basically invented the idea of unfulfilled longing, The Cure, who receive multiple direct shout-outs and numerous subtle references. But the album isn’t a tribute, or a rip-off. It’s a continuation of the voice Rodrigo has been developing ever since she debuted “drivers license” in 2021. It’s a sound distinctly her own, with signature techniques to match. The “re-verse” in “Drop Dead,” which we discussed in a prior episode, and a spiraling structure that keeps listeners waiting and waiting for the final word. Tune in to hear how Olivia channels her gothic predilections and fastidious lyrical craft into a powerful emotional payoff. Songs discussed: Olivia Rodrigo - drop dead, stupid song, u + me = <3, purple, the cure, begged, what’s wrong with me, less, expectations, cigarette smoke, drivers license, vampire The Cure - Just Like Heaven, Friday I’m in Love David Byrne - drivers license Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 15 · 42 min
Paul McCartney went back to Liverpool for something new to say
Boys of Dungeon Lane, McCartney's collaboration with producer Andrew Watt, arrived when McCartney was 83 and and he came out swinging: the opening track greets listeners with a dissonant, unresolved guitar chord that sets the album's tone. Harmonic instability runs through the entire record: chromatic mediants, deceptive cadences, and persistent pedal tones prevent even the most nostalgic songs from settling into comfort. The album's lyrics focus on McCartney's pre-Beatles Liverpool youth, territory unfamiliar even to long-time fans. The songs pay deliberate sonic tribute to specific Beatles recordings: Mellotron strings echoing "Strawberry Fields Forever," a backwards laugh tape loop answering "Tomorrow Never Knows," a first-ever McCartney/Starr vocal duet so close in timbre the two voices are nearly indistinguishable. Songs discussed: Paul McCartney – "Mull of Kintyre" Paul McCartney – "As You Lie There" The Beatles – "Blackbird" The Beatles – "Helter Skelter" The Beatles – "You Never Give Me Your Money" Paul McCartney – "Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey" Paul McCartney – "Band on the Run" Paul McCartney – "Live and Let Die" Paul McCartney – "Mountaintop" The Beatles – "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" The Beatles – "For No One" The Beatles – "Because" The Beatles – "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" The Beatles – "Octopus's Garden" Paul McCartney – "Down South" The Beatles – "Two of Us" Paul McCartney – "We Two" The Beatles – "Strawberry Fields Forever" Paul McCartney – "Never Know Those" The Beatles – "Tomorrow Never Knows" Paul McCartney – "Salesman Saint" John Lennon – "Working Class Hero" John Cougar Mellencamp – "Small Town" Paul McCartney – “Home to Us” (with Ringo Starr) Paul McCartney – "The Days We Left Behind" The Beatles – "When I'm Sixty Four" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 9 · 42 min
How a sci-fi dystopia became a personal utopia (ft. Arc Iris)
A sci-fi ballet imagined a 2080 where AI strips people of purpose, and the day before its New York premiere, an actual dystopia arrived. Arc Iris, the trio of Jocie Adams, Zach Tenorio and Ray Belli, built iTMRW as a concept record set in a future ruled by a mega-corporation that shares its name. In its world, AI has taken most jobs and even the thinking left inside them, so the corporation offers pods where anyone can live any dream in virtual reality. The piece premiered in Cambridge in January 2020, then its New York show collapsed the day before the lockdown. What follows is the story of a project that outlasted its own premise. When venues closed, they left Providence for Los Angeles, rebuilt a dilapidated house, spent eight months in a 120-square-foot shed, and constructed their own studio and stage. The dystopia they wrote became, in their telling, a personal utopia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 5 · 13 min
Why bands give us purpose (ft. MUNA)
A culture that rewards easily consumable individual identities produces plenty of pop stars and almost no bands. A significant exception: MUNA, the trio of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson. MUNA treats the band as a structure that grounds identity beyond the ego and makes any success feel shared among the three. Their new album, Dancing on the Wall, wraps that conviction in blaring, unapologetic '80s production: slap bass, brightness pushed to the front, and everything connected in one time and place. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube MUNA, "It Gets So Hot" MUNA, "Dancing on the Wall" Lionel Richie, "Dancing on the Ceiling" MUNA, "Eastside Girls" Yello, "Oh Yeah" Dead or Alive, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" Pet Shop Boys, "West End Girls" Billy Joel, "We Didn't Start the Fire" Charli XCX, "365" MUNA, "Wannabeher" Bikini Kill, "Rebel Girl" Peaches, "Boys Wanna Be Her" Le Tigre, "Deceptacon" MUNA, "Big Stick" MUNA, "Anything But Me" Flobots, "Handlebars" MUNA, "I Know a Place" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 2 · 52 min
Drake's Slop Era
Canada’s favorite export Drake is back! This month, the Toronto singer-rapper extraordinaire released three albums simultaneously: the long-anticipated return to form Iceman, the sultry, R&B Habibti and the pop-focused, clubby Maid of Honour. All three albums have much different vibes, and are Drake’s first official solo efforts since his seismic beef with Kendrick Lamar back in 2024. There’s a lot of music to talk about. As a result, Reanna argues that we are living in an era of “Drake Slop” – low-effort, mass-produced dumps of music, often with confused intentions. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Reanna, Charlie, and Nate explore all that these three albums have to offer, and try to figure out exactly what is going on in the twisted mind of Aubrey Graham. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube Songs discussed: Drake – Shabang Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us Drake – Circadian Rhythm Drake, Central Cee – Which One Drake – NOKIA Drake – Make Them Cry Drake – Janice STFU Drake – Make Them Pay Drake, Future, Molly Santana – Ran To Atlanta Future, Metro Boomin, Kendrick Lamar – Like That Drake – 2 Hard 4 The Radio YG, Slim 400 – Word Is Bond Mac Dre – 2 Hard 4 the Fuckin' Radio Drake – Rusty Intro Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney – FourFiveSeconds Drake – High Fives Drake – Tuscan Leather Drake – Classic Drake – Teenage Fever Drake, Sexyy Red – Cheetah Print Drake, Sexyy Red, SZA – Rich Baby Daddy Afrika Bambaataa, The Soulsonic Force – Planet Rock Drake – BBW Queen – Fat Bottomed Girls Drake – Princess A$AP Rocky – PUNK ROCKY Drake – Find Your Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 26 · 55 min
Kacey Musgraves walks country’s borderlands
Kacey Musgraves' album Middle of Nowhere finds the country outlaw taking a break from exploring her inner life to look outward, back to her roots: the regional stylings of Texas. She says the album was inspired by a sign in her hometown that read “Golden, TX: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere.” The album’s sounds probe this same borderland mentality, encapsulating desert noir, Norteño, tejano, and soft rock. Plus, Willie Nelson. The result is a collection of songs that are funny, moving, and reaching back to the sound Musgraves established in her debut record 13 years ago. But the world of country has changed since then – artists like Ella Langley have taken over the charts, cribbing Musgraves' sound while courting a more conservative audience. Can the genre encompass all these multitudes? Nate and Charlie explore this debate through Middle of Nowhere. Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠ Songs discussed: Kacey Musgraves – I Miss You Kacey Musgraves – Merry Go 'Round Kacey Musgraves – High Horse Kacey Musgraves – justified Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well Kacey Musgraves – Dry Spell Kacey Musgraves, Billy Strings – Everybody Wants To Be A Cowboy Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson – Uncertain, TX Kacey Musgraves – Middle of Nowhere Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert – Horses and Divorces Miranda Lambert – Mama's Broken Heart Ella Langley – Choosin' Texas Dolly Parton, David Hidalgo – Before The Next Teardrop Falls Ella Langley – Be Her Kacey Musgraves – Rhinestoned Neil Young – Harvest Moon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 19 · 39 min
Rostam reimagines American music
The pedal steel and the saz both live in the spaces between equal-tempered notes, and that gap is where Rostam built American Stories. Rostam joined Vampire Weekend at Columbia in 2006, produced the band's first three albums, and after leaving in 2016 made records with Clairo and Haim you can identify as his within a few bars. His solo album, American Stories, reflects his experience as an American whose family is from Iran. He came into the studio this past March, just after the United States launched military operations there. It's a record that asks us to listen between two cultures. SONGS DISCUSSED Rostam "Like a Spark" Wilco "What Light" HAIM "Summer Girl" Rostam "Back of a Truck" Bob Dylan "Like a Rolling Stone" Bob Dylan "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" The Supremes "You Keep Me Hangin' On" Lou Reed "Perfect Day" Rostam "Forgive Is to Know" Rostam "Hardy" (ft. Clairo) Clairo “Sophia” Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam “A 1000 Times” David Bowie "I Can't Give Everything Away" Rostam "The Road to Death" Rostam "Come Apart" Rostam "Campus (Original Version)" Rostam "The Weight" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 15 · 54 min
Eurovision is back – but not without controversy
The flowers are blooming and the calendar says May. That can only mean one thing: the Eurovision Song Contest is upon us once again. This year, thirty-five countries face off to determine the best song that Europe and adjacent continents have to offer. However, the competition comes with a big asterisk: while Eurovision prides themselves on being “apolitical,” the inclusion of Israel in the competition has led to a massive boycott, and the nations of Ireland, Spain, Iceland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands all withdrawing their participation. These are very real concerns impacting the general tenor of the competition this year, and are worth deeply considering. Since Eurovision is music news, and proves fundamental in discovering new sounds in global pop, as reporters, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna run down the top contenders according to bookmakers as of this recording. If you’re not watching this year, you’ll still know what’s going on. But if Eurovision isn’t of interest, it’s all good. At the end of the episode, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna also take some time to run down the current state of Switched On Pop bingo. Get your own bingo card here. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube Songs discussed: Céline Dion – Ne partez pas sans moi ABBA – Waterloo Joost – Europapa JJ – Wasted Love Delta Goodrem – Eclipse Søren Torpegaard Lund – Før Vi Går Hjem Ariana Grande – One Last Time Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper – Shallow Akylas – Ferto Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha Linda Lampenius, Pete Parkkonen – Liekinheitin Windows95man – No Rules Erika Vikman – ICH KOMME DARA – Bangaranga Alexandra Cǎpitǎnescu – Choke Me Satoshi – Viva, Moldova! PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson – Stateside Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 12 · 54 min
Samara Cyn is rap's best new writer
How do you write a rap verse that's clever without saying so? Samara Cyn, one of the sharpest young writers in hip-hop, joins us to talk about Detour, her new EP about going analog. We get into wordplay versus narrative, the Missy Elliott blueprint behind "oooshxt!", and why she takes a knee in the vocal booth when a line won't come out. Songs Discussed Samara Cyn — "Sinner" Samara Cyn "BUSHWICK" Samara Cyn — "FREE" Samara Cyn — "Highest" Samara Cyn — "oooshxt!" Samara Cyn — "summer's turning" Samara Cyn — "over influence" Samara Cyn — "Nomad" Samara Cyn — "Bad Brain" Newsletter: https://switchedonpop.substack.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 8 · 37 min
Olivia Rodrigo and the second verse massacre
Olivia Rodrigo's chart-topping new single "drop dead," the lead single from her forthcoming third album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, breaks one of pop's oldest rules by abandoning the traditional second verse and replacing it with something entirely new. From Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" to Sabrina Carpenter's "Manchild" and Chappell Roan's "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl," a growing wave of today's biggest pop stars are ditching the verse-chorus formula listeners have been trained to expect for decades. Rodrigo didn't invent the second-verse switch-up, but on "drop dead" she may have just killed off the predictable second verse for good. Songs Discussed Frank Zappa "Charlene" Olivia Rodrigo "drop dead" The Cure "Just Like Heaven" Jean-Baptiste Lully "The Tragey of Armide" Ryan Brown conducting Opera Lafayette Olivia Rodrigo "drivers license" Olivia Rodrigo "good 4 u" Olivia Rodrigo "vampire" Olivia Rodrigo "ballad of a homeschooled girl" Arnold Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire — Patricia Kopatchinskaja Mariah Carey "Fantasy" (ft. Ol' Dirty Bastard) Blackstreet "No Diggity" (ft. Dr. Dre, Queen Pen) Peter Gabriel "Don't Give Up" (ft. Kate Bush) Kendrick Lamar, SZA "luther" Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars "Die With a Smile" Post Malone, Swae Lee "Sunflower" HUNTR/X "Golden" Joshua Bassett, Olivia Rodrigo "Start of Something New" Matt Cornett, Olivia Rodrigo "What I've Been Looking For" Olivia Rodrigo "All I Want" The Avett Brothers "I and Love and You" Sheryl Crow "Strong Enough" Sabrina Carpenter "Please Please Please" Sabrina Carpenter "Manchild" Chappell Roan "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl" Chappell Roan "HOT TO GO!" Chappell Roan "Red Wine Supernova" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 5 · 44 min
Hrishikesh Hirway made an album about running out of time — in no time
Hrishikesh Hirway, host of Song Exploder, returns with his first album in fifteen years, In the Last Hour of Light, made under a premise that's almost contradictory for a podcaster built around isolated stems: session players who had never heard the songs, vocals tracked live in the room, no click track, and no overdubs. The layered style that defines current pop production is itself a relatively recent development. Hirway's record reaches back to the older live-tracking tradition that shaped the 1950s and 60s Bollywood recordings he grew up listening to in his parents' house. The album is about memory and so it’s appropriate that the music is recorded whole in all its beautiful imperfections. Songs Discussed Hrishikesh Hirway "Things Change Even Now" Hrishikesh Hirway "Stray Dogs" Hrishikesh Hirway "The Ocean" Hrishikesh Hirway "Home Movies" Adrienne Lenker “Anything” Chuck Berry "Maybellene" The Beatles "Twist and Shout" James Brown "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" Sidney Bechet "The Sheik of Araby" Les Paul & Mary Ford "How High the Moon" The Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" The Beatles “A Day In The Life” Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody" Jacob Collier "With the Love in My Heart" Brandi Carlile "You and Me on the Rock" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
April 28 · 43 min

Switched on Pop

III. Preaching to the Chorus (ft. Cypress Hill and Trevor Horn)

II. Justice for the verse (ft. Audrey Hobert)

I. Let's get it started (ft. Aaron Dessner)

Switched On Pop on Netflix July 14th

Music only the World Cup could make

Why we can't resist Swedish pop (ft. Zara Larsson) ICYMI

2hollis is the underground’s genre-hopping vampire

Pop music for an internet-pilled generation

The new wave of pop is here, and it’s feral

Olivia Rodrigo has The Cure for sadness

Paul McCartney went back to Liverpool for something new to say

How a sci-fi dystopia became a personal utopia (ft. Arc Iris)

Why bands give us purpose (ft. MUNA)

Drake's Slop Era

Kacey Musgraves walks country’s borderlands

Rostam reimagines American music

Eurovision is back – but not without controversy

Samara Cyn is rap's best new writer

Olivia Rodrigo and the second verse massacre

Hrishikesh Hirway made an album about running out of time — in no time