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Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode features an artist discussing a song of theirs, breaking down the sounds and ideas that went into the writing and recording. Hosted and produced by Hrishikesh Hirway.
Reflections is a Soul music podcast where two fans of the genre discuss the music, they not only love, but albums that added to and in some cases changed the musical landscape of the time. From the most beloved, well known artists to the obscure, Reflections aims to shine a light on a genre that is too multifaceted to be confined to a single box.
Episode Notes Links to the singles: Be Here ft. D'Angelo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCJY2NSSU1g Still Ray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooz85nVYfiU Other track/s mentioned: Skyy, Can You Feel Me live at Boston https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDsHJW5E1zk
Arlo Parks is a singer and songwriter from London. In January 2021, she released her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams. It hit number three on the UK charts, and she won this year’s BRIT award for Breakthrough Artist. Last year, NME called her song "Black Dog" the year’s "most devastating song." In this episode, Anaïs breaks down “Black Dog," whic…
Imagine Dragons are a Grammy-winning band from Las Vegas. They’ve sold over 20 millions albums so far, and they were the most streamed band on Spotify in 2018. In March of this year, they released the song “Follow You." Singer Dan Reynolds started the song at home, and then later, the band took it to the studio Shangri-La, to record parts of it wit…
Links to the singles: MAHOGANY SOUL Brotha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkUtYqwlHDM Wish I Didn't Miss You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PWz-NubVpM More Than A Woman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqOhkPZvUD0 (ft Calvin Richardson) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsMg32IPRUw (ft Joe)
Marie Ulven is a singer, songwriter, and producer from Norway, who makes music under the name girl in red. She just released her debut album in April 2021, but she already has a big fanbase and she’s gotten a lot of critical acclaim from two EPs and singles that she’s released online, including a couple that went gold. The New York Times included h…
Episode Notes Links to the singles: 1ST BORN SECOND: Soul Sista https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgp6-DzZgK0 Love It https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJncE7vurq0 Fast Lane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezVEZogKpYw Links to the 'Best Of Rest' Reminisce https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YZjMLRmuV8 Sometimes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTKWkJt1QIw …
Porter Robinson is a Grammy-nominated electronic artist and DJ from North Carolina. In 2014, his first album hit #1 on Billboard’s Dance chart, and he was named MTVU’s Artist of the Year, and one of the top DJs in the world — but then, he got stuck. He didn’t release his second album for seven years, until April 2021. In this episode, he talks abou…
Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned: MAMA'S GUN: Bag Lady https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqN0jsSeqPo Didn't Cha Know? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np21rH7Ldto Cleva https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIT9-VQvUgo
Lianne La Havas is a singer and songwriter from London. She’s been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit award, and in 2020, she released her third album. In this episode, she breaks down her song "Can’t Fight," and traces its evolution — along with her own evolution – over several years. For more, visit songexploder.net/lianne-la-havas.…
Jon Batiste is a pianist, songwriter, and composer from New Orleans. He’s been nominated for multiple Grammys, and just won the Golden Globe and got an Oscar nomination for the soundtrack to the Pixar film Soul, which he composed along with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Jon is also a recipient of the American Jazz Museum’s lifetime achievement awa…
Glass Animals is a band from Oxford, England. They’ve released three albums since forming back in 2010. One of their biggest hits is the song "Heat Waves," which came out in June 2020. It was certified Gold in several countries, and Platinum in Australia, where it hit #1. Dave Bayley is the singer, songwriter, and producer of the band. He won the U…
Sasha Sloan is a singer and songwriter based in Nashville. She put out her debut album, Only Child, last year. Before that, she’d written songs for artists like Katy Perry, John Legend, and Charli XCX, and she’s been a featured guest vocalist on songs by electronic artists Odesza and Kygo. Sasha made her album with her boyfriend, producer Henry All…
Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned: EMBRYA: Luxury: Cococure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8NIIl9ng1I Matrimony: Maybe You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-lZ4cuKheg NOW: Get To Know Ya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp8WYwE3LUI Lifetime https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMAHTZ2nBvk This Woman's Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkeC…
PJ Morton is a singer, songwriter, and producer. He’s the first artist ever to be nominated for a Grammy for the Best R&B album three years in a row. In 2020, he won the Grammy for Best R&B song for his track, "Say So," which is a duet with the singer JoJo, a platinum-selling artist in her own right. But that version of "Say So" almost didn’t come …
Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned: Devils Pie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fNtipp5RLs Left & Right https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT75hdcOOkU Untitled (How Does It Feel?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxVNOnPyvIU Send It On (Live) with Questlove on drums and Anthony Hamilton on bvs before going solo https://youtu.be/YZ48dMwVqPg Fee…
HAIM is a band from Los Angeles, made up of the sisters Danielle, Este, and Alana Haim. They’ve released three albums, and they’ve been nominated for three Grammys. Over the years, they’ve worked extensively with Grammy-winning producer Ariel Rechtshaid. Danielle and Ariel share the emotional backstory of the song “Summer Girl,” from HAIM’s third a…
The legendary singer/songwriter Yusuf / Cat Stevens released his first album in 1967. He’s a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and his albums have sold millions. In 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman², a re-imagining of his hit 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman. In the song “Father & Son,” he sings a duet between the two title characters,…
Common is a Grammy- and Oscar-winning rapper, actor, and activist from Chicago. He’s been making records since 1992, and in October, he released his thirteenth album, A Beautiful Revolution. In this episode, he breaks down how he made the song “A Riot In My Mind,” along with a handful of collaborators, including Lenny Kravitz and a cameo from Chuck…
Jewel is a singer-songwriter from Homer, Alaska, who’s received four Grammy nominations and sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Her debut album, Pieces of You, came out in 1995, and a 25th anniversary edition was released in November 2020. That album contains the hit song "You Were Meant for Me," but it turns out it wasn’t a runaway success—not …
Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned: Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq86e4Fhja0 Brown Skin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12kMTnObZcM Strength Courage & Wisdom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsC1vA5Gcr8 Ready For Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxkMlS2nuU8
Billie Eilish started releasing music when she was 14 years old. Her debut album came out last year, when she was 17. It debuted at Number 1 on Billboard, went triple platinum, and won five Grammys. Billie made that record with her brother and creative partner, producer Finneas O’Connell, in their parents’ house in Highland Park, Los Angeles. While…
This episode is a little different. It’s a re-issue of Phoebe Bridgers’ Song Exploder episode from January 2019, along with a brand new segment where she and I talk about dealing with writer’s block. Phoebe Bridgers is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. In September 2017, she released her debut album, Stranger in the Alps. One of the breakout so…
Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned: Just Friends (Sunny) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7zsG3XFUd8 Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIKC2ggCed4 Girl Next Door ft. Ayana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XJry6RshJo
Deftones are a Grammy-winning band from Sacramento who’ve sold over ten million albums. Their ninth album, Ohms, came out this year, on September 25th, 2020. In this episode, singer Chino Moreno breaks down how the title track came together, and how they literally went back to where things started in order to create it. songexploder.net/deftones…
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Reflections Music Podcast
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S1E10 - WHO IS JILL SCOTT? WORDS AND SOUNDS VOL. 1
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Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned: Getting In The Way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiR6sU1igKM A Long Walk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSYMKUtNuw8 The Way https://open.spotify.com/track/16dwAUATEyVF7yuqvOAZJq He Loves Me - Lyzel In E-Flat https://open.spotify.com/track/2nlJ2WhcvUOyXB9gSmmJWb…
Rapper Killer Mike and rapper/producer El-P first met in 2011. They both had established rap careers, but they entered a new era when they started making music together as Run the Jewels in 2013. They’ve been nominated for a Grammy, and they released their fourth album, RTJ4, in June 2020. Like all of their albums, they made it available to downloa…
Dua Lipa is a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter from London. Her second album, Future Nostalgia, came out in March 2020. It hit #1 on the charts in thirteen countries, and it was shortlisted for the UK’s Mercury Prize. Dua co-wrote the song "Levitating" with some of her closest collaborators, including producer Stephen Kozmeniuk, AKA Koz. In thi…
Selena Gomez is a singer, songwriter, and actress, who’s spent most of her life in the public eye. She started her acting career as a child, and put out her first albums as a teenager. She’s had three number one albums and eight Top 10 hits, and in 2017, Billboard named her Woman of the Year. At one point, she was the most followed person on Instag…
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Song Exploder
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Reissue: Ludwig Göransson - Black Panther
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On August 28, 2020, actor Chadwick Boseman died. He was only 43 years old. Unbeknownst to many, even some of his closest collaborators, he’d been battling colon cancer since 2016. His family released a statement, and in it, they said, "It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther." After hearing the news, I went ba…
Kelly Lee Owens is an electronic music producer and songwriter originally from Wales. She’s released two critically acclaimed albums and done remixes for Björk and St. Vincent. Her most recent album is is called Inner Song. It came out in August, following what Kelly described as the hardest three years of her life. In this episode, she takes apart…
Black Pumas formed in Austin, Texas in 2017, when singer Eric Burton met producer Adrian Quesada. Their self-titled debut was released in June 2019, and got them a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. In this episode, they break down their hit song “Colors,” which Eric started writing ten years ago, when he was first learning how to play guitar. …
Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned: Dance Tonight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QReOON-c6-4 Don't Mess With My Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKAcLTMBVak Without You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvOZG-pOqn8 You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OgPkAWGIDE
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Reflections Music Podcast
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S1E8 - THINGS FALL APART - THE ROOTS
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1:20:27
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Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned: You Got Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJCHeEQV454 The Next Movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm7Xt2Qsjcg BONUS TRACK *You Got Me* - Drum & Bass Mix feat Jill Scott** https://open.spotify.com/album/4n8cpGIwQyUsj6t8twKO1Z?highlight=spotify:track:1dNUTWOMTvE3apTFjyW9ST…
The 1975 are a band from Manchester, England, made up of Matty Healy, Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald, and George Daniel. They started playing music together in 2002, when they were teenagers. Since then, they’ve released four albums, won three Brit awards, and gotten two Grammy nominations. Their most recent album, Notes on a Conditional Form, came out …
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Reflections Music Podcast
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S1E7 - MEDICINE 4 MY PAIN - LYNDEN DAVID HALL
1:13:30
1:13:30
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Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned: Sexy Cinderella https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAPPrWJWEw0 Sexy Cinderella - C and J Remix or the not so good version ;-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A84f7K61vdY Do I Qualify? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0bPnKfX3Pg Crescent Moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0JigZAvZGA Medicine 4 My Pain htt…
Katie Crutchfield is a singer and songwriter from Birmingham, Alabama. She’s been making music under the name Waxahatchee since 2010. Her fifth album, Saint Cloud, came out this past March. Pitchfork named it Best New Music, and The Guardian called it the best album of the year so far. In this episode, Katie breaks down how she made the song “Fire.…
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Reflections Music Podcast
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S1E6 - THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL
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1:01:59
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Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned Doo Wop (That Thing) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6QKqFPRZSA Ex-Factor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE-bnWqLqxE Everything Is Everything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3_dOWYHS7I BONUS _TRACK_ Turn Your Lights Down Low https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VitKvID-uvY…
Khruangbin is a band from Houston, Texas, who first formed in 2010. NME called them the "low key superstars" of psychedelic music. They’ve released three albums. The most recent, which came out in June 2020, is called Mordechai. In the past, most of Khruangbin’s songs have been instrumental, or if they did have vocals, they'd be minimal. Their new …
Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned Stop Byhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha1UDuK8kI8 Where You Arehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttvYb6wcJSU Spend The Night (Not a release but it should have been, so here you go ;--))https://open.spotify.com/album/1uMPGRwlgCjpIxjGTjg93c?highlight=spotify:track:14VwBAL1qSlG4ovOSYUQF4…
The Netflix original series Dark debuted in December 2017. It’s a really mysterious, mind-bending German science fiction show with a unique tone. A big part of that tone is announced every episode with the music in the show’s opening title sequence. It’s the song “Goodbye,” by German electronic artist Apparat, the solo project of Sascha Ring. This …
Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned. Let's Stay Together (Jamie's Version)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcqsYSgcXn8 Let's Stay Together - Live (Ash's Version)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rakLuKux5iw Spiritual Thanghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO_Sc-24Dxs Femininityhttps://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15hzx True To Myselfhttps://www.yo…
Episode Notes Links to the tracks mentioned. On & Onhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CPCs7vVz6s Next Lifetimehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCyGa4AYthA(Really difficult to source the full length version of this video. However, these 2 minutes defintely give you a flavour of what we were talking about) Other Side Of The Gamehttps://www.youtube.com/…
The rappers Prodigy and Havoc met when they were still in high school in New York. Havoc grew up in Queensbridge, the biggest public housing projects in the country, and as a teenager, Prodigy lived there for a while, too. The two of them formed Mobb Deep in 1991. In 1995, they put out their second album, The Infamous. It was a success when it came…
Episode Notes Youtube links to the singles mentioned. ...Til The Cops Come Knockin'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwdoJ3A2F9c Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7rm9t5S4uE Sumthin' Sumthin'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkRl_nLLoVg Suitelady (The Proposal Jam) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-6Z4Uh0MLI…
Episode Notes If you want see the videos or hear the songs mentioned on this weeks pod see the links below. Thanks for listening. Brown Sugarhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_WzjiTzZBA Cruisnhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAfuUZRou7g Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Minehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3y2aP0B4Ic…
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Song Exploder
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Reissue: Michael Kiwanuka - Black Man in a White World
20:47
20:47
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Instead of a new episode this week, revisiting this episode originally published in May 2017. Please consider donating to local and national organizations engaged in the work of racial equality. Here are some links: American Civil Liberties Union NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Community Bail Funds Michael Kiwanuka is a singer/songwriter f…
100 gecs is a duo, made up of Laura Les and Dylan Brady. In 2016, they put out an EP called 100 gecs, and three years later, they released their first album, called 1000 gecs. It was named the Best Album of 2019 in Vice and in The New York Times. It was also on year-end lists in Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Stereogum and more. Dylan lives in Los Angel…
Laura Marling is a singer and songwriter from London. She won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist—she’s been nominated five times for that, along with the Mercury Prize, and the Grammy for Best Folk Album. Since 2008, she’s released seven albums. The most recent album is called Song for Our Daughter. It’s also the name of the song th…
Tame Impala is the project of Kevin Parker, a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer from Perth, Australia. Since putting his first EP in 2008, Tame Impala has been nominated for two Grammys and won eight of Australia’s ARIA Awards. Multiple albums of his have been named best of the year. As a producer, he has collaborated with Lady Gaga, …
FKA twigs is a singer, songwriter, and producer from London. She’s released three EPs and two albums. Her most album, Magdalene, came out in November, 2019, and was named one of the best albums of the year by Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Time, NME, and more. For this episode, twigs chose the song "Mirrored Heart" from Magdalene. She wrote and produced…
