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managed to claw and scrape your way

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to the halfway point of 2024. It

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feels like it's been blazing by to

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me. Yeah. Yeah. You? Definitely? Yeah,

0:29

I have no idea what month it is. If you

0:32

told me it was January. Yeah, there was no spring

0:34

this year. Yeah. So, Hazel

0:37

Sills, Sheldon Pierce, NPR Music Editors.

0:39

Everyone just gather around. We're gonna take

0:42

a moment to stop down here and, you

0:44

know, look at the best songs that we've

0:47

gotten so far this year. And,

0:49

you know, this isn't gonna be what I

0:52

would call a, you know, a massively comprehensive,

0:54

all-encompassing, list to end all list. There are

0:56

some big songs and albums and artists that

0:58

we're just not gonna get to or talk

1:00

about, you know, like Beyonce record or Taylor.

1:03

Shaboozy's having a moment right now. There's

1:06

this inescapable espresso single from

1:08

Sabrina Carpenter. That's what's playing

1:10

underneath us right now. Do

1:14

you all like this song? You know,

1:16

it doesn't really move me personally. I

1:19

get it. There is a certain infectiousness

1:21

to it, but I find it sort

1:23

of a little too still. I like

1:25

my pop songs a little more vibrant.

1:27

And this is the kind of thing

1:29

that you can set underneath people having

1:31

a conversation. It sounds

1:34

like elevator music to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:36

No, I mean, I think it's pretty charming.

1:38

Like, I think that I had never cared

1:40

about or even paid attention to Sabrina Carpenter

1:43

until this song, which is saying something. But

1:45

I think, to Sheldon's point, it's more of

1:47

like a mojito than an espresso. And

1:51

I am the same in that, like, I

1:53

think when I think of the pop songs that

1:55

I really like, I want something that is going

1:57

to get my heart rate up pretty quickly.

2:00

not something to relax to,

2:02

but I mean if you're the kind of person who

2:04

loves that, the song's for you. Well we

2:06

have some things today that'll get your heart rate up.

2:08

Totally. And I just got done saying we're not

2:10

going to talk about the Sabrina

2:13

Carpenter and here we are talking about

2:15

the Sabrina Carpenter, but it's just that

2:17

inevitable. But

2:19

no, we're gonna talk about, you know, some of

2:21

our personal picks, the songs that have stayed with

2:23

us this year, you know, still in heavy rotation,

2:25

still moving us, making us think, giving

2:28

us life, making us move, all the different

2:30

ways that we love music. Yeah,

2:32

I mean I think like to Sheldon's point about

2:34

vibrant pop songs, I have a

2:36

very vibrant pop song that's been one

2:38

of my favorite songs of the year.

2:41

It's the song Good Luck Babe by

2:43

the artist Chapel Rhone and

2:45

she has just had like an incredible

2:47

year so far. She

2:49

put out her debut album The

2:51

Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess last year,

2:53

but she's kind of had this

2:56

like slow burn rise ever since then. You

2:58

know, she like did a stand-up Tiny Disk,

3:00

she played an incredible set at Coachella,

3:02

and then she put out this song

3:05

in April. It's a one-off single and

3:07

it's her first Billboard Hot 100 entry

3:09

and it's been climbing ever since and

3:12

it is such a freaking good song.

3:14

It's like this huge,

3:16

huge, 80s inspired synth

3:18

pop number. It feels like a cross

3:20

between like Cyndi Lauper and Kate Bush

3:23

and it's just like Chapel

3:25

Rhone is just a complete star on this

3:27

song and it's been wedged in my brain

3:29

ever since I first heard it. I

3:50

love the truth and guess I'm the

3:53

fool With their

3:55

arms out like an angel through

3:58

the car some rail I

4:00

don't wanna call it love, but you don't

4:02

wanna call it love You

4:04

only wanna be the one

4:07

that I call, baby You

4:09

can kiss chubby boys and

4:11

wives You are not a

4:13

child, just stop the feeling

4:17

You can say it just the way you

4:19

are Make a noise,

4:21

use the stupid reason Just

4:24

stop the feeling Walkin'

4:26

home, walkin' home Yeah,

4:28

just stop the world Just

4:30

stop the feeling Just stop the

4:33

feeling Walkin' home, walkin'

4:35

home Yeah, just stop the

4:37

world Just stop the

4:39

feeling You can say it just the way you are

4:42

This felt like the pop song of

4:44

the year for me so far I

4:47

mean, it's so sharp and glamorous

4:49

and a little pissy You'd

4:52

have to stop the world just to

4:54

stop the feeling It's such a monumental

4:56

read that feels like a gut punch

4:58

It's the kind of like direct emotional

5:01

attack That you can't escape even

5:03

as a bystander and I just

5:05

love that There's something going on

5:07

in this song that gets at this I

5:10

don't know, this strange feeling that I've been having for

5:12

a while And it's the feeling

5:14

that music, and really mostly pop music

5:17

It's like it's living in or growing

5:19

out of some sort of uncanny valley

5:22

It's weird to me, I hear this over

5:24

and over again Songs that sound like they

5:26

were made in a certain era But

5:30

not quite, you know, they're so close

5:32

to the reality of a certain

5:34

era or sound But something is off And

5:38

also, for me anyway, just a

5:41

little unsettling I

5:43

think unsettling is kind of what this song

5:45

is going for though I

5:48

think in the Sabrina Carpenter song

5:50

that could be an accident Like

5:52

this song... Unintentionally

5:56

creepy lives

6:01

in that weird sort of tension.

6:04

It is sort of supposed to be

6:06

spine chilling. Like there is

6:08

a charge of anger that's

6:10

running through it because she

6:13

is sort of pointing to this

6:16

lover that she has who

6:18

is refusing to

6:20

engage with her queerness

6:23

and turning to like

6:25

heteronormative relationships in

6:27

this sort of forced way. Yeah, I

6:29

also think that uncanniness Robin, I think

6:31

like, you know, Chappell is like a

6:33

millennial artist. She's often singing about

6:35

like, you know, her queerness, themes about her

6:37

personal life. And I feel like the fact

6:39

that the song sounds like something that could

6:41

have been played at like a prom in

6:44

1985, but like has this

6:46

like deep kind of like anger

6:49

to it and resistance and like, she's like

6:52

really singing from her gut, like adds to

6:54

the sort of unsettling

6:56

in a good way feeling to me. Well,

6:59

and then sonically you get like the last, I don't

7:01

know, 30 seconds or so of the song here. Just

7:05

to stop the feeling, you

7:07

have to stop the world,

7:10

just to stop the feeling.

7:14

She's like, face it. Face

7:17

yourself. Everything is just melting.

7:20

Yeah. So, Chappell Rhone, that

7:22

song, Good Luck Babe, that came out April 5th.

7:25

I want to play a cut from earlier

7:27

this year that couldn't feel more human to

7:30

me and real. It's from Pedro the

7:32

Lion, otherwise known as David Bazan. You know, he's

7:35

been doing this for a long time and

7:37

anyone who follows and loves his work knows

7:39

that he is a really gifted storyteller. And

7:42

the one that he tells here in

7:44

this song, it's called Modesto, kind

7:46

of blindsided me when I first heard it in

7:48

April. I mean, a lot of his music has

7:50

really moved me over the years, but this one

7:52

just really knocked me out. Just listen to the

7:55

story that he tells here. Again, it's called Modesto.

7:57

The first. First

8:00

I worked a

8:02

vacuum cleaner salesman

8:05

job For

8:09

men that later

8:11

recognized and Glenn

8:13

Gary Glenn I

8:16

only sold one, she couldn't

8:19

afford it She wrote

8:21

out the check and burst

8:23

out the sobbing After

8:26

work I hung out with

8:28

my new church friend

8:31

and traded stories We

8:34

decided I should quit

8:36

and then we laughed

8:39

and carried on till

8:41

morning Next

8:43

day I got a part

8:45

time job at the local

8:47

guitar store In

8:51

Modesto, it

8:54

isn't boring like you thought it

8:56

would be In

8:59

Modesto, it's not baloney

9:01

like you thought

9:03

it would be

9:08

Modesto, is it

9:11

lonely like you thought it

9:13

would be I

9:18

heard the perfect song

9:21

it was today

9:27

Having asked if there

9:29

were bands to see

9:31

and spots to play

9:35

Jim said, hell yeah,

9:38

and then he handed me a

9:41

take What

9:43

I heard in my

9:46

walk land, headphones pacing

9:48

by the speakers and

9:50

the angels Was

9:53

a beautiful, hilarious, tragic

9:56

mess that sent

9:58

tears streaming down This

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message comes from NPR sponsor, Britbox, streaming

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britbox.com/ NPR. lose

42:00

myself when I listen to music.

42:02

But I have found this year

42:04

more than certainly in

42:06

recent years, this year I have found

42:08

myself going for the

42:11

more earnest, plain

42:13

spoken, just storytelling and

42:15

songs like, well, you know, like I really

42:17

love that Billy Joel single that came out,

42:20

Turn the Lights Back On. And

42:22

this one from Mandy Diaz called

42:24

God Person that came out

42:26

back in February, it was the first song that

42:28

really wrecked me this year. But I think it

42:30

has some of those elements I'm talking about in

42:32

that it's very plain spoken, but

42:34

it is full of these big ideas

42:37

and just all this sort of beauty

42:39

and wonder that I have found myself

42:41

gravitating towards in music this year. Again,

42:44

Mandy Diaz, it's called God Person. Cause

43:00

I'm never sure and I

43:03

don't like commitment if there's something

43:05

more. They

43:07

sing their songs close in

43:10

their eyes. Seeing

43:13

the light in a

43:15

different light. How

43:17

does that happen? Why

43:20

is it beautiful? Why

43:23

isn't magic and tragic?

43:25

I don't know. I'm

43:29

not a God person,

43:32

but I'm never not

43:35

searching. Looking

43:37

at the sky, staring

43:39

at the ocean. If there's something

43:41

to know, then I

43:44

want to know it. I

43:46

want to hold it. I

43:48

want to feel it. And

43:50

maybe I can't say that

43:52

I'm not a God person.

44:00

Talking of my dad, talking

44:02

about my mom After

44:04

20 years, what the

44:06

hell went wrong And how can

44:09

I avoid making the

44:11

same choices And stay on the

44:13

Carolina coast living in the moment

44:15

We saw a storm three miles

44:17

away We

44:20

lit a fire and watched

44:22

it rage How can

44:25

that happen, why is it

44:27

beautiful Why is it

44:29

magic and tragic, I don't know

44:33

She's actually doing so much in this

44:35

song, including questioning what it

44:37

even means to be a person of

44:39

faith because she clearly has a very

44:42

traditional view of what it means to be a

44:44

God person that she's questioning by saying,

44:46

well maybe being a God person is just marveling at

44:48

all the wonder in life and the

44:51

beauty, you know, maybe that's where

44:53

God lives and all of these seemingly

44:57

small and insignificant things in

44:59

life that you could

45:02

so easily miss, and most people do But

45:05

it is the stuff of life, just watching

45:08

a storm roll in or looking up at the

45:10

sky or staring out at the ocean or

45:13

just at the very beginning of the song she's

45:15

marveling at something as simple as I think

45:18

going to a show and just hanging

45:20

out with people and having this sort

45:23

of community experience, God it just really,

45:25

really, really, really wrecked me in the

45:27

most beautiful way I really love songs

45:29

where it really feels like someone is

45:32

working through something like mentally

45:34

sort of working through an idea and they're

45:36

not I can just tell from the song

45:38

that it wasn't over labored, that there is,

45:40

as you said Robin, this

45:42

real core of earnestness and

45:45

sincerity, and I felt

45:47

that listening to this song there

45:49

are so many simple little

45:51

details that just sort of get the gears

45:54

working in her head about well

45:56

what does it mean to be a God person

45:58

and am I a God person? All

48:00

right, no shortage of great songs that we

48:03

could keep playing here. I was thinking

48:05

that I would do something for maybe that

48:07

Frico album, Where We've Been, Where

48:09

We Go From Here. That's a great record. The

48:12

song Literary Mind from the

48:14

Sprint album, Letter to Self, that was one. I

48:16

mentioned the Billy Joel song. Honestly, I'm still really

48:18

knocked out by that Billy Joel single that

48:21

came out, Turn the Lights Back On. Were

48:24

there others for you that you were all considering that we just didn't

48:26

have time to get to? Yeah, definitely. I

48:29

still really love that Kim Gordon track, Bye Bye,

48:31

that I've played on the show before. Julia

48:33

Holter put out a great album this year. I

48:36

still really love that song Spinning, great

48:38

Sleater Kenny album that came out this

48:40

year. That song Six Mistakes

48:42

is on my playlist for Favorites of the

48:44

Year, so there's been a lot of music

48:46

that I love out this year so far.

48:49

Yeah, Vince Staples, Etou

48:51

Fae, probably one of my favorites

48:54

so far, and I'd be

48:56

remiss not to mention Kendrick Lamar,

48:58

who maybe you've heard or haven't had

49:00

a pretty exciting summer this year and

49:02

released a song called Not Like Us.

49:04

If you haven't heard it, I recommend

49:06

you listen to that. We'll

49:09

put all this music in a playlist and the

49:11

All Songs Considered playlist, so if you search for

49:13

All Songs Considered in Spotify or Apple Music, you'll

49:16

find it there. But let's do one more before

49:18

we go. Yeah, this one

49:20

has stuck with me from the beginning of

49:22

the year on albums released at the

49:26

top of the year, sort of tend

49:28

to get forgotten as things pick up

49:30

during the summer, but this I think

49:32

remains one of the touchstones. It's

49:35

from The Roots Polymath, Brittany Howard,

49:37

formerly of the Alabama Shakes,

49:41

has emerged in recent

49:43

years as one of the

49:45

most dynamic artists working. And

49:47

I think that comes across on this

49:49

electric song from her album What Now,

49:51

it's called Power to Undo. Yeah, this

49:53

is one that I feel like we've

49:56

been talking about for a very long

49:58

time, not just January, but like... We

50:00

had an interview that ran last fall. You

50:03

know, when the album was announced,

50:05

I think in November, the title cut came out, which

50:07

was incredible. I kind of thought you were gonna go

50:09

with the title cut, but this one's really great too.

50:12

Yeah, I just wanted to say like, I don't want

50:14

to hear anyone talk about the death of rock music

50:17

or contemporary, or like the death of rock stars, because

50:19

I feel like Britney is

50:21

our rock star right now. Like

50:24

in the most classical sense of the word, like

50:26

this song is just incredible. Again,

50:28

that song, Power to Undo, from the

50:30

album What Now. Thanks y'all, Sheldon Pierce, Hazel

50:33

Sills, thanks so much for this. Thanks so much for

50:35

having me. I'm always glad to be here. And

50:37

for NPR Music, I'm Robin Hilton. It's

50:39

All Songs Considered. You

50:42

have the power to undo

50:44

everything that I want, but

50:46

I won't let you. You

50:48

have the power to undo everything

50:50

that I want, but I

50:52

won't let you. You

50:55

have the power to undo

50:57

everything that I want. What

51:01

kind of love is that? How

51:06

could you want me back? After

51:10

the damage is done? After

51:14

the love is dead and gone? After

51:18

the tears that I cried? How

51:22

could you want to dry my eyes? How

51:26

could you? You

51:35

have the power to undo everything

51:38

that I want, but I won't

51:40

let you. You have the power

51:42

to undo everything that I want,

51:46

but I won't let you. You

51:48

have the power to undo. You have the power

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