Switched on Pop

Vulture

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A podcast all about the making and meaning of popular music. Musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding pull back the curtain on how pop hits work magic on our ears & our culture. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Music's New Success Model

Specialized platforms and social media have empowered musicians to tap into niche audiences, igniting a quiet revolution in the music industry. Despite the dominance of viral hits, a new wave of artists, labels and businesses are redefining success by building dedicated fanbases with focused, niche strategies. This conversation, live from SXSW, features Charlie leading a conversation with: LP Giobbi, a producer, jazz-trained pianist, and activist who spends 300 days a year touring betw

Apr 15, • 46:57

Miley Cyrus goes avant-garde

Miley Cyrus just released three singles from her ninth studio album, Something Beautiful. Inspired by Pink Floyd's The Wall—specifically the 1982 feature film based on the album—Cyrus is not just sharing new music but a whole visual album, each song accompanied by a music video shot by director Panos Cosmatos. We last heard from Cyrus in 2023 with her massive smash "Flowers," which found the industry veteran finding some kind of inner peace. With her new songs, Cyrus is turning from hea

Apr 8, • 38:06

Chappell Roan is giving country... and hair metal?

Why was Chappell Roan's band dressed like an 80s hair metal act during her Grammy performance? The answer unlocks the surprising secret behind her #1 country hit "The Giver." This musical detective story connects glam rock aesthetics to modern country through an unexpected lineage involving AC/DC's producer, Shania Twain's revolution, and men who inadvertently dressed in drag. Between fiddle licks and gated reverb drums lies a brilliant subversion of country traditions that proves the g

Apr 1, • 31:33

Writing The Who’s ‘My Generation' With Pete Townshend

The Who's "My Generation" wasn't born from inspiration—it was commissioned. In a rare interview, Pete Townshend reveals how six fans at London's Goldhawk Club in 1965 directly asked him to write an anthem for their post-war generation. This conversation uncovers how a simple request transformed into rock's definitive youth statement, complete with its rebellious stutter and blues foundations. As Townshend releases his solo anthology during our own era of generational flux, the story beh

Mar 25, • 54:12

Lady Gaga's Monster Return

In 2022, Lady Gaga embarked on The Chromatica Ball – a stadium tour featuring a stage that Gaga herself referred to as her "museum of brutality." Three years later, this idea of a brutalist enshrining of all things Monster can come to represent her new studio album MAYHEM. Over the course of fourteen tracks, Gaga is "unafraid to reference or not reference," invoking not just the pop weirdos of a past era like Prince and Bowie, but also her contemporaries, in this gothic and chaotic web

Mar 18, • 53:26

How Missy Elliott and Timbaland Freaked the World

When the song “Get Ur Freak On” hit radio in 2001, it set the world of popular music on fire. Missy Elliott and Timbaland’s first crossover hit sounded nothing like the chart-topping bluesy rock of Aerosmith or Lenny Kravitz, or the smooth R&B of Joe or Jagged Edge. It was a song that compelled you to dance - literally, with Missy issuing repeat commands to “get ur freak on” and encouraging crowds to gather ‘round in what we’ve only ever experienced as a hot slick mess of bodies, ch

Mar 11, • 36:27

Playing "Hide and Seek" with Imogen Heap

It may be hard to believe it in this technology-driven day and age, but one of the most pervasive sounds in popular music came about when a computer STOPPED working. In 2005, artist and innovator Imogen Heap released "Hide and Seek," a mysterious and emotional song featuring just her voice and a digital harmonizer. In this episode, Nate and Reanna dissect a song that launched a thousand memes and gave the world one of the defining sonic textures of our time.Songs DiscussedImogen Heap -

Mar 4, • 35:11

The Umbrella Effect: How Rihanna’s Breakout Hit Changed Pop Music Forever

In 2007, a 19-year-old Barbadian pop singer released the lead single off her third album. By doing so, she didn't just give us a timeless, undeniable banger -- she changed the way pop music is made, and became the global superstar that we know Rihanna to be today. In this episode we go back in time to unearth the origins of "Umbrella," and how the song blossomed as a result of many shifting currents in the music industry, the democratization recording technology, and the persistence of

Feb 25, • 37:24

Learning to love: Tate McRae

Tate McRae's billions of streams and perfectly crafted hits can feel almost algorithmic, like an AI trained on 20 years of pop music. In anticipation of McRae’s third album So Close to What, out this Friday, we dissect McRae’s "SimplePop" formula, from her strategic, indescript vocal delivery to expert "vibe snatching" of Y2K sounds. Through singles like "exes” and “sports car,” Charlie and Reanna trace her sonic lineage and discover why pop music needs artists who refine sounds as much

Feb 18, • 45:59

Does It Trance? The Weeknd & FKA Twigs

In last month's episode predicting the coming year in pop, one of the team's predictions was that trance music – the ethereal, dreamy subgenre of electronic music popular around the turn of the century – would make a comeback on the charts in 2025. And even though we're less than two months into the year, we're already seeing the tides of nostalgia bring this club-oriented music come back into fashion. This episode of Switched On Pop, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna take a look at trance musi

Feb 11, • 46:50

How Spotify hacked our ears (and our data)

Behind Spotify's promise of infinite music lies a carefully engineered system that shapes not just what we hear, but how music itself gets made. Journalist Liz Pelly's explosive new book "Mood Machine" rips away the curtain on streaming's biggest player, revealing how its algorithms and backroom deals dictate the soundtrack to our lives. With major labels controlling 70% of streams and Spotify commanding over 600 million users, the stakes couldn't be higher. As artists like Björk decry

Feb 4, • 53:46

25 Predictions for 2025: Grammys, J-pop, kazoos and more

2024 was an unpredictable year, and 2025 seems to be cut from the same cloth. So for this episode of Switched On Pop, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna look into the crystal ball of pop music to create a (playable) bingo card of predictions for the coming year – including AI songs on the Hot 100, a return of boy bands, and... kazoos? The Album of the Year race for this upcoming Grammys is similarly unpredictable, with a stacked nomination list including Grammy darlings Beyoncé and Billie as wel

Jan 28, • 57:45

Bad Bunny's love letter to Puerto Rico

The first great release of 2025 is already here: Bad Bunny's newest album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. Over the course of its 17 tracks, the Puerto Rican reggaetonero crafts an intertextual, anti-colonial tome of a record, incorporating sounds from across his island and the boricua diaspora. From his use of salsa classics on "NUEVAYoL," to his pointed interpolations on "VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR," and his detour into folk melodies and songwriting on tracks like the somber "LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,

Jan 21, • 46:58

The biggest theme song fail

What happens when your podcast’s theme song—cobbled together from GarageBand loops—gets called “game show music” and likened to a cereal commercial? You rewrite it. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of Switched on Pop’s sonic makeover, from scathing critiques by music industry heavyweights to the creation of a lush, layered soundscape inspired by Wendy Carlos and PBS science shows. With expert advice from sonic branding maestro Dallas Taylor (Twenty Thousand Hertz) and the

Jan 14, • 41:37

Have Disney musicals lost their edge?

Critics are not feeling the love tonight when it comes to Disney's latest sequels, Mufasa and Moana 2. They've called the animated films "lifeless and bland." But save some sympathy for the composers behind these blatant IP grabs. Lin Manuel Miranda and the duo Barlow and Bear had to match the original, iconic numbers from the Lion King and Moana, songs written by Elton John and Miranda himself. Are critics of the sequels' soundtracks being too harsh? We compare the new songs to their i

Jan 7, • 41:46

Going Off Book

On this very special episode, we join forces with the hilarious podcast OFF BOOK. When our powers combine, Zach and Jess of Off Book, plus their killer backing band of Scott, Dana and Brett create an improvised musical, while Nate and Charlie break down the sound and structure of a Broadway show. Stay tuned for deep thoughts about what separates pop music from musicals, wild speculation about the origin of the word “vamp,” and an ENTIRE FREAKING MUSICAL COMPOSED FROM SCRATCH that will m

Dec 31, 2024 • 1:31:10

Auto-Tune always and forever

Popular music changes all the time, but there’s been one consistent element in practically everything released in the last two decades: Auto-Tune is everywhere. What started as a simple audio processing tool in the 1990s has become the dominant force in music. Artists are training to sing with Auto-Tune; songs sound like Auto-Tune. Like it or hate it, Auto-Tune is everywhere. And to be clear, most people like it.On this episode of The Vergecast music journalist and Switched on Pop co-ho

Dec 24, 2024 • 1:02:45

Santa Claus is coming to town and stalking America

The first time you hear "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," it probably registers as just another cheery holiday standard. But hiding within this seemingly simple song is a remarkable story of American transformation - musical, technological, and social. Each time artists reimagine the song over its 90-year history, they leave an imprint not just of their own style, but of their entire cultural moment.Correction: Last week, we mistakenly credited Jermaine Jackson with playing bass on The J

Dec 20, 2024 • 33:05

Breaking Through: Doechii, Mk.gee, Rosé

Three artists quietly reshaped pop music in 2024, though you might not know it from your Spotify Wrapped. As listeners question the accuracy of their year-end streaming stats, we explore the innovative sounds bubbling up just below the algorithmic radar. Tampa's "Swamp Princess" Doechii brings narrative depth back to hip-hop through her chameleonic vocal approach. Bedroom producer Mk.gee discovers entirely new possibilities for the electric guitar by deliberately recording "wrong." And

Dec 17, 2024 • 42:41

The best (and worst) of holiday music in 2024

It's an annual tradition: Every December, artists release their bids to join the hallowed halls of holiday music history. The gold standard remains Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You," which reportedly earns the pop star $2.5 million annually in royalties. This year's crop of seasonal offerings spans from ambitious originals to reimagined classics, with artists trying everything from AI-generated lyrics to funk renditions of Hanukah hymns. To evaluate this year's entries, w

Dec 13, 2024 • 36:54

Kendrick Lamar: from Pulitzer to pop

In 2024, Kendrick Lamar pulled off what seemed impossible: winning hip-hop's biggest rap battle in recent history, securing the Super Bowl halftime show, and dropping GNX, a surprise album that might be the year's defining pop record. But this triumphant return wasn't guaranteed. Two decades into his career — well past the average life expectancy of a rap career — Kendrick faced a critical challenge: how to balance his legendary artistic complexity with mainstream accessibility.Songs di

Dec 10, 2024 • 41:21

We're off to see the "Wicked"

The year's hottest movie is, against all odds, a musical. Wicked, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, just hit theaters, and tells the tale of how a green-skinned girl named Elphaba became the Wicked Witch of the West. And with any musical, the songs are just as important as the narrative. On this episode of Switched On Pop, Charlie, Nate, and Reanna hop on their broomsticks to break down the music powering this cultural phenomenon.Songs Discussed The Wizard And I - Cynthia Erivo

Dec 3, 2024 • 40:46

Listening 2 Madonna: Ray of Light

TIME Magazine once said, “there are few figures more closely associated with religion in pop culture than Madonna.” And looking at her catalog, it’s hard to disagree. From cheeky double entendres on “Like A Prayer,” to explorations of alternative philosophies on Ray of Light, spiritual practice has always been a core aspect of Madonna’s work. And as she dips her toes in different ideologies, she eventually comes to mold her own special religion in the process.On our final episode of our

Nov 29, 2024 • 44:06

Listening 2 Madonna: Spanish Eyes

Throughout her forty-year career, Madonna has managed to travel the globe, both literally and musically. Despite being a white woman from the midwest (Michigan, to be exact), her discography has been influenced by countless different cultures and sounds.Even from her very first single, Madonna has frequently paid homage to those she has encountered, reflecting (and sometimes appropriating) the cultures that surrounded her. But because she's the world's biggest pop star, this globalist a

Nov 27, 2024 • 44:38

Listening 2 Madonna: Who's That Girl?

Madonna is the world's biggest female pop star. She's influenced everyone from Beyoncé to Britney Spears; is the most successful solo artist in Hot 100 chart history; and is the best-selling female recording artist of all time. Her career – which has spanned over forty years – has seen her continually reinventing herself and her sound over fourteen studio albums, from her early years in the New York City underground dance scene, to collaborating with artists like Maluma, Sam Smith, and

Nov 25, 2024 • 49:04

Fleetwood Mac perfected turning drama into hits

In 1973, before their ascent to rock superstardom with Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were just two young lovers making music in Los Angeles. Their debut album, Buckingham Nicks, though commercially unsuccessful at the time, would prove to be the catalyst that changed their lives. When Mick Fleetwood happened to walk into Sound City Studios and overheard Buckingham's masterful guitar work, he knew he'd found what his band desperately needed given the departure of the

Nov 19, 2024 • 52:59

Still Freaky After All These Years: Gaga, Tyler, The Cure

A musical "freak," to us here at Switched On Pop, is an artist who is unique, non-conforming, and always manages to surprise. We're living in some freaky times right now, so there's no better way to honor that than to listen to pop's freakiest artists. The past few weeks have seen new releases from Lady Gaga, Tyler, the Creator, and The Cure – the latter releasing their first new album in sixteen years. This episode of Switched On Pop, we unpack these songs and get to the bottom of thei

Nov 12, 2024 • 33:38

Did Kendrick Lamar kill hip-hop?

Over the summer, the culture was shaken by the biggest rap beef this decade, between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. From “First Person Shooter” to “Not Like Us,” hip-hop listeners hung on each rapper’s every word and rebuttal, and for the first time in years, the genre felt exciting.Months after the beef had “ended,” Lamar released a track on Instagram dubbed “Watch the Party Die,” in which he lamented that hip-hop, in its current state, has lost its way and – as the title suggests – needs t

Nov 5, 2024 • 58:25

Where are all the scary songs?

It’s the spookiest time of the year; Halloween is right around the corner. But unlike the winter holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah, Halloween seems to lack a defining canon of scary music. There’s, of course, “Monster Mash,” and “Ghostbusters,” but those songs aren’t actually bone-chilling. Is there a way to make music scary? In a live show from The Dalton School in New York City, Nate and Charlie try to unpack that very question, dissecting some of the scariest songs of all time to

Oct 29, 2024 • 32:24

The virtuosity of Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder may be our modern day Mozart. A child prodigy, he joined Motown as a preadolescent where he was marketed as “Little” Stevie Wonder. He wowed audiences with his virtuosic command of the piano, harmonica, drums and of course, vocals. At just 13, he had his first number one hit “Fingertips Part II.” It was an unusual chart topper, featuring a live recording of mostly improvised music with Wonder switching between instruments as the audience cheered him on. But Wonder’s musica

Oct 22, 2024 • 1:07:06

The last decade of pop explained

We celebrate Switched On Pop's 10th anniversary by taking a deep dive into the last decade of pop music. From bubblegum pop to EDM, trap, and K-pop, we explore how the sound of pop has continually evolved—even when it feels like it’s all the same. Plus, we pull back the curtain on the show with a special interview: Sean Rameswaram, host of Vox's Today Explained, puts Nate and Charlie in the hot seat to reveal their best—and most cringe-worthy—moments from the past decade. Learn more abo

Oct 15, 2024 • 54:02

Learning to love: Coldplay

Coldplay is one of the biggest musical acts in the world, ranking #6 on Spotify and boasting one of the highest-grossing tours of all time. Yet, despite their global success, they've often been a critical punching bag. The New York Times once branded them “the most insufferable band of the decade.” The Independent described them as “pompous, mawkish, and unbearably smug.” But Coldplay has never claimed to be the hardest rock band—they’ve instead built a legacy on their softer sound and

Oct 8, 2024 • 49:45

Fall Out Boy and the worst earworm ever

Marianne Eloise has had the same Fall Out Boy song stuck in her head for over three years. "It’s Hard to Say 'I Do,' When I Don’t," an relatively obscure cut from the band's 2007 album Infinity on High has taken up permanent residence in her brain as the ultimate earworm. Everybody has had a riff or a melody stuck in their head, but not at this . Eloise, a journalist and music writer, decided to turn her malady into a story. Her pursuit of the science behind "stuck songs" led her to our

Oct 1, 2024 • 41:51

Mexican pop is bigger than you think

Last month, our producer Reanna Cruz had the opportunity to attend Baja Beach Fest in Rosarito, Mexico, a three-day Latin music festival set on the Mexican coastline. While they were there, they got the chance to tap into what's happening in the world of Mexican music – from romantic tumbados and lovesick R&B to multi-language crossovers and genre experimentation. This episode, Reanna takes us through the newest gems of the Mexican pop scene, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.Song

Sep 24, 2024 • 44:36

How Megan Thee Stallion brought Japanese hip hop to the Hot 100

"Mamushi," the fourth single from Megan the Stallion’s album Megan, was not supposed to be a huge hit. But thanks to a viral dance, the song has become the first song on the Billboard Hot 100 to feature Japanese lyrics since 1963. With a feature from rapper Yuki Chiba and a beat from producer Koshy, "Mamushi" creates the kind of cross-cultural musical collaboration that helps correct a long record of U.S. pop stars appropriating Japanese culture.Songs DiscussedMegan Thee Stallion (feat

Sep 17, 2024 • 42:30

Learning to love: Oasis

Oasis, the Manchester band led by brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, conquered the charts in the 1990s with rock anthems like "Wonderwall." This month, they did something no one saw coming: Announced a reunion. In 2025, the band will play 19 dates in five cities across the UK and Ireland, their first shows with both brothers in the lineup since breaking up in 2009 due to long-simmering tensions between them.Formed in 1991 with Noel as chief songwriter and guitarist and Liam as lead vocal

Sep 10, 2024 • 53:18

Newcomers: Porter Robinson

Porter Robinson has a unique relationship with being famous. With his new record SMILE! :D, the 32 year old producer and DJ steps front and center into the spotlight for the first time in his career, working through his thoughts on fame in the process — something he says he’s “addicted” to.The first track on the record, “Knock Yourself Out XD,” is a hook-laden radio pop hit destined to sit on a neon green iPod shuffle, filled with chiptuned synth textures and tongue-in-cheek lyrics abou

Sep 6, 2024 • 34:47

Sabrina Carpenter is more than Short n' Sweet

On her sixth studio album, Short n' Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter moves seemlessly between pop, country, folk and R&B. For Carpenter, genre is merely a musical tool to help construct a song. Listen to how she bends genre to her will. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sep 3, 2024 • 40:23

Newcomers: Jhayco

Jhayco, the artist formerly known as Jhay Cortez, feels different from the rest of the Latin music machine. He considers himself a “melody freak,” has a wide variety of influences – “Alternative music, indie music, deep house, rap, trap, salsa, bachata, scores for music” – and is intimately involved in every step of the creative process, writing, producing, and performing his brand of glossy, melancholic reggaeton.Since his breakout hit “No Me Conoce” in 2019, the Puerto Rican multihyph

Aug 30, 2024 • 22:46

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars bring back the duet

It seemingly a terrible time to launch an over-the-top sentimental duet. This style of production peaked in the 80s and has had few chart topping success since. But as a sort of counter programming, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' duet "Die With A Smile" is an unexpected smash. This oddity from two beloved legacy artists may be more than a stand alone hit hit to promote Mars' Vegas residency and Gaga's upcoming film role in Joker: Folie à Deux. "Die With A Smile" more than hints at being inte

Aug 27, 2024 • 46:57

Newcomers: Magdalena Bay

Few pop groups are making music as imaginative as Magdalena Bay. The Los Angeles-based duo of singer Mica Tenenbaum and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Lewin, have been steadily releasing music since 2016, eventually breaking out with their viral hit “Killshot,” four years later. In the last four years, their work has dabbled in everything from 70’s disco-pop to Y2K pastiche. Their music, often narrative-based and paired with equally stunning visuals, excels in balancing tension; there’s

Aug 23, 2024 • 23:02

Tinashe’s “Nasty” takes on Janet and Beyoncé + Are songs getting simpler?

If you've spent any time on the internet this summer, you may have encountered a certain refrain accompanying particularly fierce dance videos—"I've been a nasty girl. Nasty, nasty, nasty." This track, "Nasty" by the R&B singer and songwriter Tinashe, is a jam in its own right. Far from just a piece of viral content, "Nasty" is one of the songs of the summer, a chance for an burgeoning artist to reach a new level of success, and the latest in a long line pop songs from Janet Jackson

Aug 20, 2024 • 46:15

Kesha v Katy + Tayla Parx on pop’s obsession with eras

On June 17 the pop world was rocked by three letters: LOL. Kesha tweeted the acronym immediately after Katy Perry announced her new single "Woman's World," which was co-written by Dr. Luke. Since Kesha had accused Dr. Luke of sexual assault a decade earlier, many read her "LOL" as directed at her one-time friend Perry. Kesha, meanwhile, released her own single a week before Perry's, a wild "Joyride" featuring hyperactive accordion, percussive handclaps, and quasi-operatic vocals.Both po

Aug 13, 2024 • 44:25

Introducing One Song

If you like how Switched On Pop breaks down songs, you’re going to love the show One Song hosted by Diallo Riddle and Luxxury. They play you the stems of iconic recordings to see how they were made. To give you a taste today we’re sharing with you an episode of One Song about Blondie’s “Call Me.”Listen to One Song on SiriusXM on Wednesdays or subscribe to the podcast which is out Thursdays wherever you get podcasts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 9, 2024 • 1:14:08

brat but it's a podcast about the album by CharliXCX

CharliXCX's latest album, brat, has created an internet fever dream. This club record celebrating messiness, partying, and brutal honesty has created its own color (brat green), a viral meme generator, and even an unlikely political platform. When CharliXCX endorsed Kamala Harris for president, saying "Kamala IS brat", the album took on a larger culture significance. The pundit class rushed to explain what it means to be a brat. Countless ink has been spilled dissecting the artwork and

Aug 6, 2024 • 41:18

Why Chappell Roan is the sound of 2024

For months, listeners have been peppering us with the same question: “When are you going to cover Chappell Roan?” We genuflect, then respond, “We interviewed her back in 2023!" The people don’t care. They want breakdowns of Chappell Roan’s musical wizardry, and who are we to deny them? After all, Chappell is having a moment, with five songs on the Billboard Hot 100, iconic performances on the biggest stages, and an average of seventy million streams a week. Everyone from the mailman to

Jul 30, 2024 • 34:36

Is country the new hip hop?

For decades, hip hop has been the most successful genre on the charts. Then, in 2023, a shift occurred. For the first time, the country songs outnumbered hip hop songs on the year end charts. Last year, country’s boom was led by hyper-partisan hits like Jason Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” and Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond.” In 2024, country has taken a left turn. Beyoncé’s genre-busting album Cowboy Carter pushed the limits of what country can sound like, and who ca

Jul 23, 2024 • 35:39

The music industry's AI fight

The Verge's Nilay Patel and David Pierce chat with Switched on Pop's Charlie Harding about the RIAA lawsuit against Al music startups Udio and Suno. Later, Nilay and David discuss the rest of this week's tech and gadget news.Subscribe to Vergecast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 19, 2024 • 49:04

Switched-On Wendy Carlos

The synthesizer was invented in the 1890s. But for people to really start using it, it took half a century, a musician named Wendy Carlos, and an album called Switched-On Bach.Charlie Harding and Nate Sloan of Switched On Pop tell Phoebe why Wendy Carlos is “the most significant figure in 20th century music that the least people know about.”Subscribe to This Is Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 17, 2024 • 37:36

The song of the summer is DEAD with Today Explained

Long live the song of the summer with Today Explained. But wait! Switched on Pop's Charlie Harding disagrees. And Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos says maybe it never existed at all. This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.Be sure to subscribe to Today Explained.Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcastSupport Today, Explained by becoming a

Jul 15, 2024 • 26:22

Lawrence: the kick-ass eight-piece family band reshaping the music business

In today’s volatile music industry, many artists struggle to navigate the pitfalls of touring, the whims of social media, and the inequity of exploitative contracts. But Lawrence, an eight-piece band led by siblings Clyde and Gracie Lawrence, provide a beacon of hope. Combining exceptional talent, savvy business acumen, and a familial bond, they've forged an uncanny path as a band. From testifying before Congress to tackle industry monopolies, to managing their tour logistics and brandi

Jul 9, 2024 • 49:11

The Imperfect Feminine: Camila, Charli, and Sabrina

The first half of 2024 has been for the “pop girlie.” It seems like every major artist who’s dominated the discourse this year has been a woman, ostensibly making music about what it means to be a woman. There’s Camila Cabello's "Chanel no.5,” Lorde and Charli XCX working out the labyrinth of emotions that come with female friendship on the “Girl, so confusing” remix, and Sabrina Carpenter’s ode to the female ego, “Please Please Please." On this episode, Charlie, Nate, and Reanna – with

Jul 2, 2024 • 46:07

Empress Of asks for your consideration (with Empress Of)

There’s many things to love about Los Angeles: low-rider cars, roadside taco stands, and, come awards season, the omnipresent “For Your Consideration” billboard. Nobody knows this better than lifelong L.A. resident Lorely Rodriguez, also known as Empress Of. The indie-pop darling’s latest record, aptly titled For Your Consideration, is her take on what it means to have your full self considered, in all of its guises. The almost genreless record is so wildly catchy and remarkable in scop

Jun 25, 2024 • 37:05

Bootsy Collins is gonna funk you up (with Bootsy Collins)

Bootsy Collins is, perhaps, the funkiest man of all time. Over the course of his nearly six decade career, Collins has given up the funk in the iconic Parliament Funkadelic, helmed Bootsy’s Rubber Band, and lended his slaparific talents to songs from everybody from James Brown to Dee-Lite to Fatboy Slim. His new album, aptly titled Album of the Year #1 Funkateer, is on the way, so in celebration of his illustrious career, we invited Bootsy Collins – aka Casper the Funky Ghost – onto Swi

Jun 18, 2024 • 40:09

Freaking out about songwriting with Nile Rodgers

There is no contemporary pop music without Nile Rodgers. Born in 1952, Rodgers grew up playing classical music on flute and clarinet before picking up jazz guitar. And at age 20, alongside bass player Bernard Edwards, Rodgers formed the band Chic. They wrote the biggest disco hits of the 70s, like: “Dance Dance Dance,” “Everybody Dance,” “Le Freak," and "Good TImes," which formed the core of Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper's Delight”.In his music career spanning six decades, Rodgers has produc

Jun 11, 2024 • 35:06

Begging songs and basketball's musicality (with Hanif Abdurraqib)

There's no music writer like the essayist and poet Hanif Abdurraqib: whether he's narrating the beautiful awkwardness of a Carly Rae Jepsen concert or talking jazz and eastern spirituality with Andre 3000, he manages to coax stories and insights out of songs in a way that never fails to surprise. His latest book, There's Always This Year, is a free flowing meditation on basketball, childhood, his home state of Ohio, and of course, music – so on the precipice of the NBA finals, Hanif ret

Jun 4, 2024 • 29:46

Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist (with Charlie Puth)

On her latest album, Taylor Swift “declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.” No one was more surprised by this than Charlie Puth himself: the singer, pianist, and songwriter whose career has always straddled pop stardom and behind the scenes anonymity. After three albums, billions of streams, and numerous songwriting credits – including one on the award-winning number one track “Stay” from the Kid Laroi – Puth has been busier than ever. His new song “Hero” comes on the heels of

May 28, 2024 • 39:03

Billie Eilish hits both hard and soft

On Billie Eilish’s third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, Eilish finally graduates from her signature anti-pop persona into full blown pop stardom. This record finds Eilish experimenting on the themes from her earlier records, while crafting an economic ten tracks that position themselves for mainstream radio consumption. There’s “L’amour de ma vie,” her five-and-a-half minute beat-switching eulogy for a failed relationship, or “Birds Of A Feather,” where she contrasts the soft, dreamy melo

May 21, 2024 • 43:07

Gastropod: Why are restaurants so loud? Plus the science behind the perfect playlist

When you go out for a meal, it’s not just what's on your plate that matters, it's what's in your eardrums, too. From dining rooms so loud you have to shout to be heard, to playlists that sound like a generic Millennial Spotify account, it's not surprising that sound is the single most complained about aspect of restaurants. A few years ago, Charlie and Nate explored this in an episode on restaurant playlists. This week, they joined Cynthia and Nicky on their show Gastropod to help them explore t

May 17, 2024 • 44:03

Is pop music just fast food? (with Gastropod)

Where were you when you learned that the McDonald's jingle "I'm lovin' it" was originally part of a full-fledged pop song by Justin Timberlake and Pharrell that flopped on the charts but found staying power as a slogan? For us, it was recording our live episode about sponsored content in pop back in March 2024, and we have not been the same since. Shaken by this revelation, we found ourselves asking, "What else don't we know about fast food jingles?"Turns out, it's a lot. From Taco Bell

May 14, 2024 • 39:24

Rosie Tucker's unending bliss

Tongue twisters that mock techno-optimism and cite critical theory don’t usually make for catchy song lyrics. But indie rocker Rosie Tucker’s Utopia Now! finds beauty in the dross of late capitalism. Over 13 songs backed by distorted guitars and blazing drum fills, Tucker’s searing vocals bemoan the inherent dislocation of our modern world while searching for moments of truth and human connection.The night before Tucker embarked on a tour, Nate visited their home studio to speak to them

May 10, 2024 • 23:41

Eurovision 2024: from Baby Lasagna to Windows95Man

It’s that time of year again when the entirety of Europe (and a few other countries) come together to celebrate kitschy, bombastic songwriting through the Eurovision Song Contest! This year’s competition, held in Malmo, Sweden, features everything from rave-pop on behalf of the Netherlands, to folk-rapping hybrids courtesy of Ukraine – and Charlie and Nate are here to musicologically unpack the craziest tracks that have the potential to win it all. For more on the controversy surroundin

May 7, 2024 • 33:22

Justice is never-ending

Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay of the French electronic duo Justice speak with cohost Charlie Harding about their new album Hyperdrama.Song Discussed Justice - Phantom Pt II, D.A.N.C.E., Neveender, New Jack, Genesis, Horsepower, Civilization, One Night-All Night, Dear Alan, Incognito, Moonlight Rendez-vous, Audio Video Disco, Afterimage, The End, Generator, Pleasure The Who - My Generation The White Stripes - Black Math The Human League - Human John Carpenter - Night Serge Gainsourg

May 4, 2024 • 41:34

Best of 2024 so far: hip hop feuds, Hozier’s pop surprise and espresso shots

The beginning of 2024 has brought new music aplenty. Some big releases are in the form of big-ticket albums by the world’s biggest superstars (shoutout Taylor and Beyoncé); some are in the form of soon-to-be radio-friendly staples (we love you, "Espresso"); and some are in the form of personal earworms (Justice! Rosie Tucker! Dua!).This episode of Switched on Pop, we take a look at the records that we can’t stop listening to from the past few months, from Metro Boomin to Kacey Musgraves

Apr 30, 2024 • 53:38

Taylor Swift's Literary Era

The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift's 11th studio album, finds the songwriter in the world of literature. She interweaves personal romance with mythical creation and quotations from high and low culture: Genesis, Peter Pan and even Playstation. Despite calling herself a "modern idiot," less-than-subtle nods to Sylvia Plath, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Dylan Thomas, and Patti Smith reveal the artist’s literary aspirations and “legendary” status. The full length Anthology version con

Apr 23, 2024 • 46:19

Lost Notes: How Fela Kuti Found Afrobeat in LA

Lost Notes by KCRW explores how Fela Kuti’s time in LA in 1969 was instrumental in the creation of his legendary Afrobeat sound. Hosted by Michael Barnes and Novena Carmel. Find a full transcript of Lost Notes at KCRW. And subscribe to the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 20, 2024 • 32:10

Berlin's Hottest Club is Rico Nasty & Boys Noize

There are few artists pushing the boundaries of their respective genres like Maryland rapper Rico Nasty and German-Iraqi electronic producer Boys Noize. The two have run in the same circles for over half a decade, but their joint collaboration has reached an apex with their three song EP, HARDC0RE DR3AMZ, a dance-floor ready project that owes as much to Berlin techno as it does to Dutch gabber music. Rico and Boys Noize – a.k.a. Alexander Ridha – are also incredible friends with a lot o

Apr 16, 2024 • 44:49

Chasing old sounds: Djo's "End of Beginning" with Joe Keery

Joe Keery is best known for his acting roles, such as the reformed jock Steve Harrington in "Stranger Things" and his chilling performance in season 5 of "Fargo." But he's also a spectacular musician. Rising through the Chicago music scene in college, he has self-released two albums under the moniker 'Djo.' His latest work, "Decide" from 2022, serves as a coming-of-age story and a meditation on navigating modern life. Despite strong initial reviews, the album only gained widespread attention two

Apr 9, 2024 • 39:11

Cowboy Carter: This Ain't Country

Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter is her foray into country music, but this isn't just dirt roads, blue jeans and whiskey. Her country music distills all of American pop: blues, gospel, R&B, soul, house, hip-hop and yes, country. If this ain't country, what is? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 2, 2024 • 39:27

Hip-hop's Sea Change at Rolling Loud

Hip-hop is in a weird place right now. Research says that the genre, in both streaming and chart performance, has declined over the last decade. And while rap artists can still get number one songs on the Hot 100, it’s a far cry from the peak of trap circa 2017, when Nielsen data named hip-hop as the most popular genre in the U.S.So what does that mean for the future of rap? To find out, producer Reanna Cruz spent all weekend reporting from Inglewood, CA, at the California edition of th

Mar 26, 2024 • 42:47

Rhapsody in Blue, Reimagined

What do Duke Ellington, United Airlines, and the K Pop group Red Velvet share in common? They've all covered George Gershwin's piano concerto, Rhapsody in Blue. First premiered in 1924, the piece became an immediate hit for the way it blended American jazz with the European symphonic tradition. Gershwin had a number of successes as a composer in his day—his aria "Summertime" from the opera Porgy and Bess is by some measures the most covered song ever—but the staying power of the Rhapsody make it

Mar 22, 2024 • 30:28

Eternal Sunshine of Ariana Grande's Mind

Sidestep the gossip and focus on the music in Ariana Grande’s latest album Eternal Sunshine. The music is an exercise in nostalgia: 70s Disco, 90s R&B, and 00s pop and dance music. As she moves through the musical past, her lyrics tear through past relationship. But its the way her lyrics interweave with the deft melodies and harmonies that reveal the meaning of the record.  Sign up for the Switched On Pop Newsletter Songs Discussed Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine, Bye, Don’t Wanna Break Up

Mar 19, 2024 • 44:52

How to DIY a Music Career (with Amelia Meath and David Gray at SXSW)

In a landscape where the music industry seems designed to stifle creativity and independence, Amelia Meath stands as a beacon of resistance. Through her involvement in bands like Sylvan Esso, Mountain Man, and The A's, and as a founder of label Psychic Hotline, Meath defies the narratives that label success in music. This conversation dives into the systemic challenges musicians face today—from the pitfalls of streaming economics to the trials of touring and beyond. Yet, it's not just a

Mar 15, 2024 • 37:03

Is Beyoncé's music #sponcon? And other mysteries LIVE in Brooklyn

Live from On-Air Fest in Brooklyn, Nate and Charlie investigate listeners’ burning musical mysteries, such as: Is Beyoncé’s reference to Lexus in “Texas Hold ’Em” product placement? And, could we be tuning all our music the wrong way? These stories have twists, turns, and a live parody performance that no asked for.Thanks to Steve Stoute, Lucas Keller, Samer Ghadry, Helen Zaltzman, and Phil Pappas for contributing to this episode.Sign up for the Switched On Pop NewsletterSongs Discussed

Mar 12, 2024 • 44:47

Jacob Collier unites the world

One of the most inventive and gifted musicians working today is none other than Jacob Collier. Maybe you know him from his YouTube videos, or co-writing SZA’s “Good Days,” or even performing alongside Joni Mitchell at this year’s Grammys. Jacob is a musician with thunderous chops, proficient on multiple instruments and with a voice that ranges from bass to soprano. over the past few years, he’s managed to release several records, net collaborations with everyone from Michael McDonald to T-Pain,

Mar 5, 2024 • 1:00:25

Beyoncé's Country

Renaissance Act II truthers, your time has come: There’s new music from Beyoncé, and boy, is it country. Her two new singles dropped two weeks ago, and in the time since, they’ve both climbed up the chart and taken the internet by storm. There’s the barnstorming stomp and holler ditty “TEXAS HOLD 'EM,” which just notched the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and the dark horse “16 CARRIAGES,” a autobiographical work song detailing Beyoncé’s roots in Houston, Texas. Charlie and Nate unpack both

Feb 27, 2024 • 44:00

Adult Contemporary, but make it cool (with CHROMEO)

The Canadian Electro-Funk duo CHROMEO have made consistently funky, highly danceable music for twenty years. They’ve released five studios albums, done the Coachella festival circuit and have been nominated for a Grammy for their sound that’s been compared to Prince, Zapp and Hall and Oates. Now with their latest album, Adult Contemporary, they are challenging preconceptions of adult contemporary music by redefining its whole meaning. Sign up for the Switched On Pop Newsletter Songs discussed

Feb 20, 2024 • 29:54

The Star Spangled Banger!

Who is the biggest Diva of them all? The U.S. National Anthem, which borrows its melody from a historic British drinking song, has undergone enormous musical change in the hands of pop music vocalists. Famously, José Feliciano, Marvin Gaye and Whitney Houston each changed the meaning of "The Star Spangled Banner" by finding new approaches to the performance. Countless others have followed in their footsteps. Now every major sporting event is an excuse for pop divas to make their own cre

Feb 13, 2024 • 53:05

Brittany Howard's Chaos Theory (with Brittany Howard)

When it comes to powerful artistry, few can match the intensity of Brittany Howard. Over the past decade, we’ve seen her bring her signature Southern belt to the Alabama Shakes, her intimate songwriting to her first solo record, and now, her boundary-pushing genre experimentation on her new album What Now. The record, which drops on Friday, February 9th, continues to show Howard’s versatility – the record jumps from disco pop to pared-back R&B to roaring psychedelia. This episode of

Feb 6, 2024 • 35:47

The b*tch of loving musical theater (with Bridger Winegar)

When it comes to musical theater, everyone has an opinion. And Bridger Winegar, host of the very funny podcast I Said No Gifts!, is no exception. In the paradoxical tradition of Bridger's podcast, Charlie and Nate have brought a series of gifts in the form of a sonic smorgasbord: a tour through musical theater's finest offerings, from Les Miserables to Spring Awakening.Check out Bridger's podcast I Said No Gifts! here.For more on movie musicals, check out this episode of Vox's Today Exp

Jan 30, 2024 • 45:25

Kali Uchis takes on the world

Colombian-American singer Kali Uchis has cemented herself as something of a vibe curator; her signature genre fusion has brought forward everything from Latin radio mainstays to Bootsy Collins collaborations. But instead of looking to the genres of the future for her latest record, Orchídeas finds Uchis digging into genres of the past and present, creating a global soundscape across the record’s 14 tracks. On this episode of Switched on Pop, producer Reanna Cruz guides Charlie and Nate

Jan 23, 2024 • 36:05

Soundalikes: Lil Nas X and Ariana Grande

We live in an age of musical nostalgia where artists wear influences on their sleaves. Case in point, two established artists who are drawing from established pop music history: Lil Nas X's "J. Christ" sounds like a Kendrick Lamar "Humble" type beat, and Ariana Grande's "Yes, And?" unabashedly interpolates Madonna's "Vogue." So are these songs mere copies or do they actually say something new with their reference material?Songs Discussed Lil Nas X - J CHRIST Lil Nas X - Old Town Road Li

Jan 16, 2024 • 38:16

The case of the missing vocals, and other listener questions

All throughout the year, Switched on Pop gets a litany of musical questions that need answering. To kick off 2024, hosts Charlie and Nate answer some of these questions live on air! From the renewed interest in Cass Elliot's "Make Your Own Kind of Music" to the lack of multi-part harmonies on the charts, this episode takes a closer look at some listeners' musical maladies – alongside special guest star Joe Treble.Songs Discussed: Eagles - Take It Easy Jack Harlow - Lovin On Me Cadillac

Jan 9, 2024 • 46:04

Too Fast? We’re Curious: The sped-up remix phenomenon - ICYMI

In case you missed it, last January, we published this story on the rising trend of sped-up music. It seems like the tempo-shifting isn't going anywhere, so we're rerunning our history and exploration into the phenomenon. Original description below: Over the past few months, you may have heard your favorite song pop up on the Internet – just slightly faster. You’re not alone: the phenomenon of the “sped-up” remix has taken over social media, with everyone from Lady Gaga to Thundercat getting t

Jan 2, 2024 • 25:52

Wham! Op. 84 “Last Christmas” with Chilly Gonzales - ICYMI

In case you missed it, Wham’s 1984 contribution to the holiday cannon, “Last Christmas,” has surprising staying power. When Grammy-winning pianist Chilly Gonzales set out to record a holiday album, “A Very Chilly Christmas,” most of the selections were over a half century old. That’s because most of our favorite seasonal songs come from the 1960s and earlier. But in addition to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas,” Wham’s “Last Christmas” reliably returns each winter. Despite the cheesy 80s

Dec 25, 2023 • 48:56

"Did I mention that it's Christmas in this club?" (w Matt Rogers)

Holiday album releases sometimes have a sense of pandering to them. "I'm a pop star. Here's me singing the nineteen-millionth cover of 'Jingle Bell Rock.' Please give me money."The comedian and singer Matt Rogers understands this dichotomy of the holiday hit—part grotesque cash-grab, part unfathomably genuine cheer—better than anyone. His new album, Have You Heard of Christmas?, mines that tension for tragicomic gold."Also It's Christmas," the album opener, announces this satirical spir

Dec 19, 2023 • 32:58

Nicki Minaj's Roman Empire

Nicki Minaj is one of the most unique rappers of all time. She’s given us numerous iconic guest verses from “Monster” to “Flawless (Remix),” everlasting hits like “Super Bass” and “Starships,” and legions of loyal fans in the Barbz. She’s also given us over twenty alter-egos in the course of her career. However, no alter-ego of hers has been more impactful than Roman. The voice at the center of Nicki’s most unhinged music, the “Roman” persona serves a conduit for Nicki to put forward a

Dec 12, 2023 • 50:22

Hear the Year: The music we loved in 2023

Sign up for the Switched On Pop NewsletterWhen you make a weekly podcast about pop music, there’s some things that, naturally, slip through the cracks. On this episode of Switched On Pop, our hosts – alongside our editor, Jolie Myers, our engineer, Brandon McFarland, and our producer, Reanna Cruz – try to course correct that by discussing our team’s (and a listener’s) favorite picks of 2023. Whether it’s something we got to in the later months or something we felt still deserved its flo

Dec 5, 2023 • 44:32

Behind the Scenes of Switched on Pop on Harman Audio Talks

Nate and Charlie were recently featured on Harman Audio Talks. While our team takes the week off, we wanted to share that conversation with you as we pull back the curtain on how we make the show and select songs for the podcast.Sign up for the Switched On Pop Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 28, 2023 • 31:21

Noah Kahan’s Folk Pop Revival

Noah Kahan is having a banner year. Between his Best New Artist nomination at the Grammys, his debut SNL performance, and collaborations with everyone from Post Malone to Hozier, the Vermont singer-songwriter has transcended the confines of New England to become one of the harbingers of the 2023 stomp-clap revival. This episode of Switched on Pop, host Charlie Harding sits down in person with Kahan to find some secret magic chords, opine on car commercial music, and talk about all thing

Nov 21, 2023 • 39:54

Why Country Music Dominated 2023's Charts

Country music's had a massive year. Seriously, not since 1958 have we seen so many country tunes topping the Hot 100 in a single year – and it's not been without its share of controversy. Leading this country music revival? Morgan Wallen, for starters. He bounced back from being shunned for dropping a racial slur with his number one single “Last Night.” Then there's Jason Aldean with “Try That in a Small Town,” a song and music video that which unsubtly lynching references. Next up, new

Nov 14, 2023 • 47:55

The Beatles: "Now and Then" and Forever

When Paul McCartney announced that he and Ringo Starr had produced a new Beatles song with the aid of AI, many music pundits were skeptical. Was this new song be another gimmick like the fake Drake hit "Heart on My Sleeve"? No. Instead, the Beatles simply used AI voice separation technology to repair a well-worn John Lennon demo tape.  Back in the '90s, Yoko Ono gave shared a collection of unfinished John Lennon demos with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison (who died in 2001) as p

Nov 7, 2023 • 30:49

Rerecording Taylor Swift's 1989, Dark Side of the Moon, and Demi Lovato

Three big artists have rerecorded their most hallowed musical material. Taylor Swift, Roger Water and Demi Lovato each have different intentions in painstakingly putting their old songs onto new proverbial tape. On 1989 (Taylor's Version), Taylor Swift seeks control of her master recordings. On Dark Side of the Moon Redux Roger Waters explores his most vaunted work from his youth now with from perspective of an octogenarian. And Demi Lovato Revamped pivots their old pop hits into a hard rock aes

Oct 28, 2023 • 42:50

Chartbreakers: Mitski tops the TikTok chart

It’s time for another edition of our series Chartbreakers, where we take a look at the trends and shakeups happening on the Billboard Hot 100. This week, however, the chart has been dominated by Drake and his album For All the Dogs, which takes up a grand total of 23 spots on the Hot 100. So, rather than do a story on that, Charlie and Nate take a look at the brand new TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart, established only last month.This chart – which measures the most popular songs on the pl

Oct 24, 2023 • 43:05

How Talking Heads reinvented the concert film (with Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz)

Talking Head's concert film Stop Making Sense first came out forty years ago, and it’s just been rereleased in theaters in a 4k remaster by A24. The film finds the band — Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, David Byrne and Jerry Harrison — at the height of their powers over three successive nights at the the Hollywood Pantages Theater. As Chris and Tina remembered it when they spoke to producer Reanna Cruz, "We'd reached a state in our career and our lives when we felt, 'we've gotten pretty good at thi

Oct 17, 2023 • 50:56

Feeling Fine with Faye Webster

The past two episodes of the show have been in Atlanta, and this week, we’re staying there with a look at singer-songwriter Faye Webster. Her music defies genre and convention: over the course of four albums, her sound has come to contain both pedal steel and indie rock as well as soft vocals and R&B sensibilities, all the while embodying the city of Atlanta. On this episode of Switched on Pop, we take a look at the work of Webster and how she builds her anomalous sound – even talki

Oct 11, 2023 • 41:55

Metro Boomin Wants Some More

Few producers have had such a demonstrated impact on the the last decade of music as Metro Boomin. Described by GQ as the “architect of Atlanta rap,” Metro has netted collaborations as far-ranging from Coldplay to Gucci Mane, garnered three #1 projects on the Billboard 200, and is credited with bolstering trap music’s presence both in and out of the South. From “Jumpman” to “Bad & Boujee” to “Creepin’,” we’ve been hearing his productions for years – all of which manage to capture th

Oct 6, 2023 • 39:57

In Defense of Crunk

Twenty years ago, the song "Get Low" by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz and Ying Yang Twins was released; in the years since, the song has managed to stand the test of time, becoming the paragon of what we know as crunk music. In this episode of Switched on Pop, we take a look at crunk – from its roots in Memphis and Atlanta to its sonic successors, and give flowers to the man behind it all: Lil Jon himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 3, 2023 • 41:27

Made In America: Jay-Z & Toby Keith ICYMI

In case you missed it rerun from 2016. Back in 2011, two pop songs dropped with the same patriotic title: "Made in America." But the similarities pretty much end there. Toby Keith's country smash and Jay Z, Kanye West and Frank Ocean's soulful hip hop anthem have little in common except a firm conviction that each song knows what it really means to be American. Five years later, these tracks have a lot to tell us about the role music plays in shaping our national identity, and begs the

Sep 28, 2023 • 46:08

The Art of Flow (with DJ Jazzy Jeff) ICYMI

In hip-hop, what draws us to an artist is not just the content of their lyrics but how they deliver them. Along with tapping your foot to the rhythm, understanding something called “flow” is essential to understanding hip-hop as a whole.In this episode of Switched On Pop, we interview genre icon DJ Jazzy Jeff on the concept of flow: what it is, how it applies to all music – not just hip-hop – and how any rapper’s flow can be analyzed under his guidelines. Taking his word for it, we put

Sep 26, 2023 • 35:28

Doja Cat’s Satanic Suite

For the first time in 2023, a rap song is at number one on Billboard's Hot 100: Doja Cat's “Paint the Town Red.” It’s her second number one single after the disco inspired “Say So.” But the ubiquitous and lighthearted bop didn’t accurately reflect Doja’s divisive persona, an extremely online meme lord, and sometimes troll, with a history of riling up internet controversy. Doja Cat recently called out her fans for their parasocial obsessiveness, losing 250k instagram followers in the pro

Sep 19, 2023 • 39:44

Jimmy Buffett: Next Year in Margaritaville

When Jimmy Buffett died on the first day of September, 2023, musicians from Paul McCartney to Pitbull mourned the death of the "Margaritaville" singer. This surprised Nate and Charlie, because frankly, they had never listened deeply to Buffett's work before, and viewed him more as a branding genius than a great musician. How wrong were your faithful podcast hosts. Jimmy Buffett was no novelty act or one-hit wonder. He found a precise combination of yearning lyrics, hip modulations, and

Sep 12, 2023 • 36:55

Beyoncé's 'Renaissance' Era ICYMI

In case you missed it, Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is one of her most ambitious albums yet. On this week’s episode of Switched On Pop, we discuss Renaissance with beloved guest Sam Sanders, host of the new Vulture podcast Into It. In Sanders’ words: “it’s trying to do a lot” – but in the best way. The album incorporates seemingly every decade of contemporary popular dance music from Chic’s “Good Times” to Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.”Much of the early discourse surrounding the a

Sep 5, 2023 • 30:54

Olivia Rodrigo’s Good Ideas

Everyone seems to be getting Olivia Rodrigo wrong. She's one of the few pop stars who has made it big in the current era of fragmented music streaming, but so much of the narrative has been about whose songs she's stealing from, whether it be Taylor Swift, Elvis Costello or Paramore. Rodrigo's new album Guts arrives next Friday: while we wait patiently, we take a close listen to her new singles "vampire" and "bad idea right?" to subvert the narrative. These songs show that she isn't ste

Aug 29, 2023 • 31:35

Wonders: "Stacy's Mom" and Adam Schlesinger

In 2003, amidst a bunch of bleak alternative rock bangers like “Numb” by Linkin Park and “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence, a rock song stood out on the charts for its fantastic hooks and juvenile sense of humor. “Stacy’s Mom” turned the New Jersey band Fountains of Wayne into MTV mainstays and Grammy nominees. But while they continued to release music, tour the country, and maintain a devoted fanbase, they never reached the same level of fame again. Most people never looked further than the rau

Aug 22, 2023 • 30:46

The mid-career crises of Travis Scott and Post Malone

Right now, the two biggest records in the country come to us from two of hip-hop’s biggest superstars: Travis Scott and Post Malone. Both artists have been releasing mainstream records for nearly a decade; their records UTOPIA and AUSTIN, respectfully, sit at number one and two on the Billboard 200. But going further than the numbers, these albums signify a shift in these artists’ sounds, moving them out of their usual genres into previously uncharted territory in both of their careers.

Aug 15, 2023 • 36:11

Song Camp 2: Electric Boogaloo! (with Alex Tumay, Wolftyla, Nicholas Petricca, Grace VanderWaal)

Part two of the secret world of song camps looks at the different roles in a songwriting session. There are producers who sit behind a console desk or computer and record, arrange and craft the instrumental and track the vocal. Often they double as engineers who use their technical knowledge to select mics, set up signal chains, and ensure the best recording. Then there is the topliner, a singer who generates melodies on the fly, throwing ideas at the instrumental, looking for the best

Aug 11, 2023 • 34:55

The secret world of songwriting camps

Beginning in the nineties, pop songwriters have traveled to a 13th-century castle in the south of France for what’s come to be known as a “song camp” – a place where songwriters and collaborators can hunker down and spend a week together writing the next big hits.The castle’s owner Miles Copeland, former manager of The Police, brought songwriters to this far-flung location for a dose of creativity, and yielded massive success through the process: artists like Celine Dion, Britney Spears

Aug 8, 2023 • 34:05

Your cursive singing is tearing this family apart!

Recently while scrolling twitter we saw a clip from American Idol of judge Katy Perry admonishing an auditioner on the show to “Enunciate!” The video went viral because of Perry’s incensed reaction, but also because the contestant’s performance of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” offered a crystalline example of a popular style of singing that has produced reactions of love and—like for Perry—hate.  It’s a style that features elongated vowels, clipped consonants, and runaway phrasing associated with

Aug 1, 2023 • 31:04

Barbie and the plasticity of pop

This past week, the film Barbie opened nationwide to massive success – and with it came a soundtrack, executive produced by Mark Ronson. Functioning as both a companion to the movie and a stand-alone collection of hits, the album features everyone from Dua Lipa to reggaeton star Karol G to K-Pop group FIFTY FIFTY. This episode of Switched on Pop, we take a look at the singles from the soundtrack and see how well they embody the ethos of Barbie: plastic and all.  Check out our 2021 interview w

Jul 25, 2023 • 46:20

How Louis Armstrong invented the modern pop star

In 1964, Louis Armstrong knocked the Beatles off the top of the charts with his recording of “Hello, Dolly!” becoming, at age 62, the oldest artist to ever hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Sixty years later, Louis Armstrong remains a beloved cultural figure, his oft-imitated voice still instantly recognizable. But Armstrong is more than a source of levity — his artistry and innovations when he made his first recordings a century ago in 1923 set the template for the modern pop st

Jul 18, 2023 • 33:13

Speak Now (about Taylor's versions)

Taylor Swift is currently the most streamed artist in the world as she’s commandeered the media as she embarks on her Eras tour around the globe. It's likely to be the highest grossing tour of all time, crossing $1B in sales. What’s more, she’s just released her 6th studio album since 2020, and her 3rd re-recording of her older material called Taylor’s Versions. She famously got in a spat with the new owner of her master recordings. She decided to take back control with her own hands an

Jul 11, 2023 • 46:17

My Beyoncé Ticket Cost $4,000: Why the Touring Industry Might Be Broken – Into It with Sam Sanders

Us at Switched On Pop are off on vacation, but don't fret – this week we're still bringing you an episode, courtesy of the Vulture podcast Into It with Sam Sanders. If you've openly wondered why concert tickets seemingly have gotten more confusing and expensive, this episode's for you.–Content creator and head of the Beyhive Kalen Allen is more than OK spending four thousand dollars on one ticket for Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour. 2023 feels like a big year for huge stadium tours for artis

Jul 4, 2023 • 25:18

What makes a gay anthem?

Vulture might have killed the song of the summer back in 2016, but if you’re a member of the LGBTQ+ community, it’s hard to argue against “Padam Padam” by Kylie Minogue. The track, released this May, has taken the queer community by storm, quickly becoming ubiquitous and inescapable – it's hard to even scroll on Twitter without a well-timed meme about the "padam-ic" popping up on the timeline. However, Minogue's song hasn't even cracked the Billboard Hot 100; instead, its status has mor

Jun 27, 2023 • 35:49

Switches Brew: blink-182, Kate Bush, BewhY, The Pointer Sisters, Saint Levant

Another installment of Switches Brew the show where you get to hear from the larger team Switched On Pop team and community about what we're listening to old and new. With recommendations from editor Jolie Myers, producer Reanna Cruz, and listeners Micah Salkind and JT.Songs Discussed Saint Levant - Nails BewhY - Adaptation The Pointer Sisters - Dare Me, I'm So Excited, Jump Junior Jack - Stupidisco blink-182 - Man Overboard, What's My Age Again? All The Small THings White Poppy - Orch

Jun 20, 2023 • 26:32

Chartbreakers: Mexican regional y más

As summer comes upon us, it’s time for some Billboard shake ups. On this week’s edition of Chartbreakers, we’re looking at the recent iterations of the Hot 100 and a trend that has slowly been creeping up in popularity over the past few months: the influx of regional Mexican music. The past two years have seen many songs by Mexican artists making their way onto Billboard, all managing to highlight different scenes and sounds from the different states in Mexico. We’re joined this week by

Jun 13, 2023 • 44:56

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Random Access Memories

In the song "Touch" from Daft Punk's final studio album, 2013's Random Access Memories, featured artist Paul Williams sings a line that augured the end of an impressive collaboration: "I need something more." With RAM, Daft Punk pulled out all the stops, going the opposite direction of their previous albums, to "give life back to music" and bestow hearts and souls upon their robotic doppelgängers.RAM features almost no samples or programmed digital instruments, instead leaning into exte

Jun 6, 2023 • 36:59

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Human After All / Alive 2007

Throughout their legendary career, Daft Punk continued to prove that the more robotic their music became, the more human they sounded. This dichotomy came to a head on their third album, aptly titled Human After All. Where their past two records wired their circuits and gave the robots a voice, on Human After All, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo gave Daft Punk sentience. On Human After All robots rock, but they also question their rigid programming. The record's ensuing

May 30, 2023 • 39:42

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Discovery

Daft Punk’s first album laid the groundwork for their robot personas, with four to the floor beats, programmed drum machines, and sequenced synthesizers. On their second album Discovery, Daft Punk fully lean into the artificial – singing through robotic vocoders that correspond with their now-iconic robot helmets.But in there is a paradox, explored on episode 2 of Listening to Daft Punk: the more machine the robots become, the more human the music sounds.Songs Discussed Daft Punk - One

May 23, 2023 • 36:51

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Homework

Ten years ago, Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories gave life back to music. The world-beating smash “Get Lucky” broke streaming records, forged a retro sound that still dominates the charts, and paved the way for artists like The Weeknd, Dua Lipa and Lizzo to craft their own throwback hits. How did Daft Punk do it? Switched On Pop’s four part-mini series Listening 2: Daft Punk unlocks the sounds, voices, and stories across all four of the group’s studio albums. On their first album, Home

May 16, 2023 • 37:45

The Jonas Brothers' Yacht Rock Revival

After nearly two decades as a band the Jonas Brothers are staking their claim to a magnum opus by calling their next album, quite simply, The Album (out May 12). The project follows the success of their 2019 comeback project Happiness Begins — which blended polished pop sounds with ‘70s funk breaks and produced the No. 1 single “Sucker” — with a focus on the smooth sounds of yacht rock. Switched On pop co-host Charlie Harding spoke with Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas in March 2023, during th

May 9, 2023 • 39:12

From Westeros-techno to trance metal: Eurovision 2023

It’s May, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time for the Eurovision Song Contest. This year’s edition of the international-but-primarily-in-Europe competition features a uniquely eclectic group of songs (per usual), from a take on electro-flamenco, to Game of Thrones EDM, to a previous winner’s return to the Eurovision stage. On this episode, Charlie and Nate look at the six songs bookmakers are looking at to lead the pack of this year’s entries.Songs Discussed: Alessandra – Queen

May 2, 2023 • 28:34

Who killed the key change in pop music?

When trouble strikes in music town, there’s one guy who gets the call. That’s me, Joe Treble, forensic musicologist. This week, I've got one of the most shocking cases I've ever worked. Someone killed the key change in pop music, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to find the perpetrator.The key change used to be at large on the Billboard charts. From the 1950s to the 1990s, 20-30% of all number one hits featured one. In Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody," the key change

Apr 25, 2023 • 33:07

A.I. Drake has put music in a tailspin

We have an emergency podcast drop because the biggest and fastest moving story on the internet right now is about a song called “Heart On My Sleeve.” The track sounds like it was made by the producer Metro Boomin featuring Drake and The Weeknd. It might be one of the most consequential songs in music history because it was actually a fake, made with artificial intelligence. The blowback from this song has been enormous and a bit confusing. So host Charlie Harding went on The Vergecast p

Apr 21, 2023 • 37:14

BTS goes solo together

The South Korean idol group BTS is one of the biggest musical sensations in history. They're constantly breaking records and they have one of the most dedicated fan bases in the world known as Army. Their hit singles like “Boy With Love,” “Dynamite,” and “Butter” have been discussed on the show in the past for breaking through the US charts. But back in 2022, they decided to take a break from group activities and start releasing solo material because of their obligations to each fulfill

Apr 18, 2023 • 49:00

This Generation's Caroline Polachek

From the first seconds of her latest album Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, Caroline Polachek asserts that she is truly a once-in-a-generation artist. From her work in the indie band Chairlift to years of behind-the-scenes songwriting, she has worked hard over years to build a stellar music career – culminating in the pop opus Desire, already one of the best rated albums of 2023. On this episode of Switched on Pop, we look at Polachek’s career thus far, and talk to her about the intrica

Apr 11, 2023 • 43:52

The Shakira Conspiracy

Shakira is back on the Billboard Hot 100 – thanks to the help of Argentinian producer Bizarrap. Together, their song “Shakira: BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” is layered with musical and lyrical references, from the callbacks to “She Wolf” to the multiple beat switches. It also works to play into something larger: something akin to a pop music conspiracy. On this episode of Switched On Pop, we take a closer look at Shakira’s latest, and how it’s indicative of a larger metatextual shift i

Apr 4, 2023 • 31:05

Reinventing Bach

If you’ve ever learned classical piano, you probably tried to play one of Bach’s Inventions. The composer wrote fifteen pieces containing the most important fifteen keys in order to teach his son the fundamentals of piano and composition. Today, they remain some of the most popular pieces of piano music. Acclaimed jazz pianist Dan Tepfer recently revisited his childhood music books seeing them in a way he’d never realized as a student: the Inventions are much more than novice piano work

Mar 28, 2023 • 40:00

100 gecs and the new sound of hyperpop

Everyone will describe the music of 100 gecs differently. To some, Dylan Brady and Laura Les make deeply satisfying earworms, tracks able to scratch the itches that occupy the deepest memory-holed corners of the brain. To others, though, their music is an "anarchic assault on the ears,” a quilt of all of the genres historically ridiculed in the popular canon: nu-metal, scuzz-rock, ska and 90’s pop punk are all fair game in the world of gecs.On their latest record, aptly titled 10000 gec

Mar 21, 2023 • 39:18

Switches Brew

Every week the Switched On Pop team gets together and everybody shares one song they’re loving right now. It is one of our favorite conversations each week because we hear music that is new and old, on and off the charts. We’re sharing that conversation with you as a new format we’re calling Switches Brew alongside friend of the show Brittany Luse, host of NPR's It's Been A MinuteListen to Brittany Luse on NPR’s It’s Been A Minute: Web, Apple, SpotifySongs Discussed Little Freddie King

Mar 17, 2023 • 24:19

Modern Classics: Seal - Kiss From a Rose

“Kiss From a Rose” is one of the most unusual number one hits of all time. Seal’s song can’t decide if it’s in minor or major, it uses an old-fashioned waltz rhythm, and its lush orchestration and elaborate vocal harmonies support mysterious lyrics about a “greying tower alone on the sea.” Seal himself wasn’t sure about the song, and needed some convincing to include the composition on his 1994 album SEAL II. But once director Joel Schumacher decided to use the track for the end credits

Mar 14, 2023 • 37:12

How John Denver got huge in Asia

“Take Me Home, Country Roads” is a song about West Virginia, but its message of homecoming has resonance far beyond Appalachia. Songwriter and producer Ian Fitchuk found this out when he was requested to perform Denver’s music at a music festival in Tibet. Fitchuk discovered that Denver has a huge following in East and South East Asia, where Denver toured multiple times from the 70s through the 90s. Denver’s songs first came to the region through the US Armed Forces Network radio as wel

Mar 7, 2023 • 33:14

Chartbreakers: Jersey Club, Complicated Country, and 50s Crooners

Currently on Billboard’s hot 100 there is an unexpected UK Garage / Jersey House mashup, a disgraced country star making a questionable comeback, and an out of nowhere fifties ballad all jockeying for their moment on the charts. This week, we take a listen to the FEBRUARY 25, 2023 Hot 100, looking for triumphs, fumbles, and oddities.Songs Discussed PinkPantheress, Ice Spice - Boy's a liar Pt. 2 Ice Spice - Munch (Feelin’ U) Drake - Currents Lil Uzi Vert - Just Wanna Rock Sweet Female At

Feb 28, 2023 • 30:34

Five years later, the legacy of Nipsey Hussle's "Victory Lap"

Five years ago, Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle released Victory Lap, his only full length album. It was the high point of a career stretching back to the mid 2000s, when Hussle started releasing mixtapes on his own record label — mixtapes that brought him respect from artists like Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar, but were not widely heard. Victory Lap brought him both the critical acclaim and commercial success he deserved — It hit #2 on the Billboard 200, and was nominated for a Grammy for

Feb 22, 2023 • 35:37

“Flowers” and the art of the response song

“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus is spending another week on top of the Billboard 100 – quite fitting for Valentine’s Day.The disco-country track has gotten people talking for a few reasons, but most notably, Cyrus invokes Bruno Mars’ classic “When I Was Your Man” in both lyrical and melodic allusions. The connection between the two songs is not one of interpolation, but rather, Miley is responding to Bruno’s hit through her own words: making “Flowers” an answer song. This episode of Switched O

Feb 14, 2023 • 39:47

Rihanna Party! ICYMI

In case you missed it, “Rihanna Is The 21st Century’s Most Influential Musician” according to NPR. Millions and millions of fans the world over agree, and while we try to avoid overt expressions of pop favoritism, we think they’ve got a strong case. It’s for that reason and a dozen others that we were thrilled to welcome Gina Delvac of the hit podcast Call Your Girlfriend back to the show to discuss the legendary career of one Ms. Robyn Rihanna Fenty. As we all await her ninth studio al

Feb 12, 2023 • 54:26

The L.A. guitar shop that reinvented indie folk

In 2010, a photographer named Reuben Cox moved to Los Angeles to start Old Style Guitar Shop. In the years since, the instruments that he continues to repair and sell have come to define the sound of the LA indie folk scene among artists like Blake Mills, Andrew Bird, Madison Cunningham, Ethan Gruska and Phoebe Bridgers.Reuben’s guitars are Frankenstein-esque creations, cobbled together from spare parts and neglected guitar bodies found in flea markets and estate sales. The sounds that

Feb 7, 2023 • 36:05

A History of Whammies at the Grammys - Into It with Sam Sanders

It's Grammys weekend and Sam Sanders, host of Vulture's Into It podcast, is ready for disappointment! Sam is joined by Switched on Pop's Charlie Harding and Reanna Cruz to break down the Grammys' history of tone deafness when it comes to the night's biggest awards. Will Beyoncé lose Album of the Year again... or will the voting body finally give her her due?Subscribe to Into It: https://link.chtbl.com/intoit?sid=stw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Feb 2, 2023 • 24:45

Wonders: Bobby McFerrin

In 1988, Bobby McFerrin recorded a song a cappella with a simple message: not to worry, and just enjoy life. That song, aptly titled “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” topped the charts and become one of the most well known one-hit wonders of all time. In doing so, it also propelled McFerrin into the spotlight, winning him three Grammy awards and an eternal place in pop culture. His career, though, is more than just the Big Mouth Billy Bass: a deep dive reveals an incredible career in jazz, folk,

Jan 31, 2023 • 34:49

The New Wave of Paramore

Six years after their last record, Paramore is back with new music, and their upcoming record seems to have an uncanny connection to the era of new wave. But what is “new wave” anyway? Is it just a period of time in music or something more? In this episode of Switched on Pop, we explore some of the tracks from This is Why, out February 10th, and connect them to the works of everyone from Talking Heads to Joy Division.Songs Discussed Paramore – C’est Comme Ça Olivia Rodrigo – good 4 u Pa

Jan 24, 2023 • 34:23

Taylor Swift and the music industry's next $20

Streaming feels like it's both at its height and on a precipice. Musicians are fed up at getting paid fractions of a penny, and the whole business model seems precarious. Switched On Pop co-host Charlie Harding was talking about the challenges for streaming future with my friend Nilay Patel, editor in chief of The Verge and host the podcast Decoder - a show about big ideas. And they taped a conversation about what’s next for streaming through the case study of Taylor Swift who has deftl

Jan 20, 2023 • 1:22:24

SZA's Endless Melody

Why does SZA's latest album SOS hit different? It's the way her melodies don't repeat where you expect them to, defying all the rules of pop songwriting. We break down how her endless melodies echo the intimate themes of her most recent release, and how they connect to genres ranging from gospel to Wagnerian opera.Songs DiscussedSZA - Kill Bill, SOS, Shirt, Notice Me, Seek & Destroy, Gone Girl, Low, Smoking on My Ex Pack, Ghost in the Machine (ft Phoebe Bridgers), F2FSam Smith &

Jan 18, 2023 • 29:51

Too Fast? We’re Curious: The sped-up remix phenomenon

Over the past few months, you may have heard your favorite song pop up on the Internet – just slightly faster. You’re not alone: the phenomenon of the “sped-up” remix has taken over social media, with everyone from Lady Gaga to Thundercat getting the tempo treatment. The popularity of the craze has led to millions of TikTok videos, Billboard number ones, and songs becoming relevant again, decades after release. Ever since the proliferation of these “remixes,” the big questions remain: w

Jan 10, 2023 • 28:52

ICYMI 90s Music Canon

Matt Daniels, editor of the publication The Pudding, wanted to find out what songs from his youth would last into the future. So he designed a study that would test if Gen-Z had a grip on 90s culture. Hundreds of thousands of participants provided over 3 million data points. Daniels parsed through the data for insights. Sadly, the majority of his most beloved songs have not survived even one generation. Though most had been forgotten, he found that just a few songs had staying power acr

Jan 3, 2023 • 38:04

ICYMI: We *do* talk about Bruno

The number one song on the charts is a bit of a mystery. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is the unlikely hit from Disney’s sleeper animated musical Encanto. Set in a mountainous village in Colombia, the film was a middling commercial success when it was released in Nov 2021. But in recent months it has become a pop culture phenomenon for a confluence of reasons: an expansive discourse on Colombian representation in media, fan videos on TikTok, and of course it's ear-wormy hits. The musical

Dec 27, 2022 • 27:49

Anitta & Rosalía on the borders of Latin pop

When it comes to distinguishing what exactly Latin music is, what makes the cut? To some, it’s simply music from the Latin American region, and to others, it’s any music that is sung in Spanish – but much like the pop canon, the phrase encapsulates so many different eras, styles, and genres.Like any distinction, there’s also music on the periphery: specifically, the music of Brazil, where the sounds are similar but the main language is different, and Spain, where the history of coloniza

Dec 20, 2022 • 27:02

How Bad Bunny won 2022

For Switched On Pop’s end of year coverage, we just have one superlative: who won 2022? The answer, of course, is Bad Bunny. This year alone, the prolific Puerto Rican artist has topped charts worldwide, became Spotify’s most streamed artist globally, and his record Un Verano Sin Ti has obtained many accolades including being the first Spanish-language album nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys.The record itself serves as a textbook to the sounds of Latin America: over the cou

Dec 13, 2022 • 34:57

The soft sounds of Kali Uchis (live from Vulture Fest)

Through crafting a unique, cross-cultural sound, Kali Uchis has emerged as one of indie music’s most promising talents. From playing in jazz band as a kid to collaborating with Bootsy Collins and Kaytranada, the Grammy Award-winning artist has managed to take her bilingual, one-of-a-kind music to the Billboard charts while still keeping her DIY ethos. At this year’s Vulture Fest live in Los Angeles, host Charlie Harding talked with Uchis about her career, her songcraft and her two upcom

Dec 6, 2022 • 32:03

Why do new Christmas songs fail?

In case you missed it last year: why are there no new Christmas songs? One one hand, there's more holiday songs than we’ll ever need. Every year pop stars drop countless holiday-themed album.But despite the annual glut of Christmas releases, few of these new songs join the rotation of holiday classics. On Billboard's Holiday Hot 100 chart right now, there's only four songs from the past ten years that have made it to the top fifty.We listen to each of these holiday hits—from Kelly Clark

Nov 29, 2022 • 27:49

The Art of Flow

In hip-hop, what draws us to an artist is not just the content of their lyrics but how they deliver them. Along with tapping your foot to the rhythm, understanding something called “flow” is essential to understanding hip-hop as a whole.In this episode of Switched On Pop, we interview genre icon DJ Jazzy Jeff on the concept of flow: what it is, how it applies to all music – not just hip-hop – and how any rapper’s flow can be analyzed under his guidelines. Taking his word for it, we put

Nov 22, 2022 • 36:43

Willow Smith rocks harder

Coping Mechanism, Willow's new album, is her heaviest music yet. Charlie and Willow chat about the making of the new record and the many multitudes of rock music.Music Discussed The Anxiety - Meet Me At Our Spot Willow - Maybe It's My Fault, UR Town, Human Leach, PrettyGirlz, Lipstick, Why, Breakout, Hover Like a Goddess, Curious/Furious, Ur A Stranger Yungblood - Memories (with Willow) Deftones - Sextape Radiohead - I Will Straight Line Stitch - What You Do To Me Killswitch Engage - My

Nov 15, 2022 • 26:01

The Sound of Sapphism

Tegan & Sara and King Princess have found themselves placed under the banner, "sapphic pop," a term recently coined referring to music by and/or for sapphics (a.k.a. women or femme folks attracted to other femme folks). Journalist Emma Madden defines the folk-inspired sound as having a “soft tactile approach” that’s “more sensual than it is sexual.” This umbrella folds in everyone from indie pop veterans Tegan & Sara to nonbinary artists like King Princess; even artists like Hoz

Nov 8, 2022 • 33:45

Scary Pockets funkify pop classics (with Lizzy McAlpine)

Scary Pockets is the musical collective that has been transforming pop classics into funk anthems for over half a decade. Each week they release a new cover on YouTube featuring razor-sharp instrumentalists and a rotating cast of virtuosic lead singers. Amazingly, each of their 200-plus covers is arranged on the fly, in a span of about 90 minutes—capturing the talent and spontaneity of a group of musicians at the top of their game. We here at Switched on Pop were struck by the band's ab

Nov 1, 2022 • 33:45

Up late with Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’

A Taylor Swift album is just not a collection of new music, it’s an exploration of a theme. For the last eight years, each release has embodied a single idea. Reputation marked a turn to the dark side, Lover a return to the light, and her pair of albums Folklore and Evermore painted acoustic, fictional landscapes. Each album propels fans to find covert lyrical connections to her personal life, and easter eggs to past compositions.Whereas Swift's pop star contemporaries have focused the

Oct 24, 2022 • 38:17

Steve Lacy brings bedroom pop to the Billboard top

It’s the song that launched a thousand TikTok videos – or over 500,000 to be exact: Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit.” The track is a smooth, psychedelia tinged ode to yearning, currently spending its third week on the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Lacy is an artist dedicated to shifting form and convention, from his records with alternative R&B band The Internet to his productions for artists like Mac Miller and Vampire Weekend. Even in his solo work, his songs are unpredictable, deftly mov

Oct 18, 2022 • 34:51

Why it hurts to release a record (with Sylvan Esso)

Earlier this year, the members of Sylvan Esso took a gamble, making their "most free and wild and strange" album yet: No Rules Sandy. And to add to the overall theme of lawlessness, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn decided to do something equally as free and radical: they decided to forgo the typical multi-year album cycle as well as a standard promo campaign. While wrapped in what Amelia calls a “PR cocoon,” she began to think about the less tangible aspects of the album rollout process,

Oct 11, 2022 • 47:40

Santigold sings Spirituals

After a four-year hiatus – and a name drop on a Beyoncé remix – musical polymath Santigold is back with a brand new album. Known for her signature blend of genre-defying songcraft, the artist’s fourth studio album Spirituals is one of her most artistically challenging projects yet. It’s another venture into what she does best: addressing heavy themes through toe-tapping melodies. From Nate’s personal favorite, 2016’s “Can’t Get Enough of Myself,” to “My Horror,” a pan-genre sonic vision

Oct 4, 2022 • 26:36

The future of music pt I

In part 1 of our Vergecast: Future of Music series, Alex Cranz talks with Switched on Pop's Charlie Harding about the trends in music today that make new songs out of old material, and whether it's foreshadowing the future of pop.Further reading:Selena Quintanilla Will Sound Older on Her New Posthumous AlbumMichael Jackson songs removed from streaming services to 'move beyond' fake vocals controversyShred with Green Day, with some help from AudioShakeInvasion of the Vibe SnatchersMusic

Sep 27, 2022 • 33:53

Lady Gaga & The Pequeños Monstruos

After an enlightening experience at Lady Gaga's Chromatica Ball, producer Reanna Cruz takes a look at the connection between Gaga's music and the Latin sounds she's engaged with over the years, from traditional rancheras to the rhythm of reggaeton.Songs discussed: Lady Gaga, “Alejandro” Ace of Base, “Don’t Turn Around” ABBA, “Chiquitita – Spanish Version” Madonna, “La Isla Bonita” Rihanna, “Te Amo” Vittorio Monti, Sarah Nemtanu, Chilly Gonzales, “Csárdás” Lady Gaga, “Americano” Rosemary

Sep 20, 2022 • 32:40

Invasion of the Vibe Snatchers

Why do so many songs sound familiar? Because the number of chart topping interpolations — songs built off of old hits — has roughly doubled in the five years. It’s everywhere, you can’t escape because many people are embracing it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sep 13, 2022 • 26:55

Into It: Song of Summer 2022

Who had the song of the summer? Sam Sanders chats with Switched on Pop's Charlie Harding and Reanna Cruz about whose song (and album) is in the running: Beyoncé, Bad Bunny, Lizzo, or Kate Bush?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sep 6, 2022 • 17:09

Learning to love the Killers (maybe)

Are you like Nate? Is there one artist that, every time you hear them, you can't help it—you start to grimace, sweat, seethe. You can't explain it, but there's something about them that you just. can't. stand. For Nate, that band is the Killers. Lots of people love this band, they've been around for almost two decades, they're practically an institution! So why can't he get past his hang up? Charlie and Reanna step in to help break down what it is about the Killers that rankles their no

Aug 30, 2022 • 32:47

K-Pop Chartbreakers: BLACKPINK, Girls’ Generation, NewJeans, IVE

A lot has happened in the world of Kpop this summer, from Girls’ Generation sugar coated banger “Forever 1” marking a triumphant return from a five year hiatus, to the ascendance of newcomers NewJeans, whose R&B infused sounds have quickly taken over the charts. But it's the return of BLACKPINK that has lit up the world literally in pink. Get a full deep dive on the songs at the top of the Kpop charts on the latest episode of Switched On Pop, where hosts Charlie Harding and Nate Slo

Aug 23, 2022 • 34:12

Demi Lovato Searches for "Substance" In Pop-Punk Perfection

Demi Lovato has found herself in many avenues over the past few years – from releasing a tell-all documentary to uncovering extraterrestrials – but 2022 finds them traveling back in time to the sound of the late 90’s and early 2000’s: pop-punk. On this episode of Switched On Pop, we check out her two latest singles, “Skin of My Teeth” and “Substance,” and through focusing on the latter, pull out what, exactly, pop-punk is, and how Demi embodies the genre’s ever-evolving sound in their n

Aug 16, 2022 • 25:08

Beyoncé's ‘Renaissance’ Era

Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is one of her most ambitious albums yet. On this week’s episode of Switched On Pop, we discuss Renaissance with beloved guest Sam Sanders, host of the new Vulture podcast Into It. In Sanders’ words: “it’s trying to do a lot” – but in the best way. The album incorporates seemingly every decade of contemporary popular dance music from Chic’s “Good Times” to Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.”Much of the early discourse surrounding the album was marred by a co

Aug 9, 2022 • 31:43

Into It: The Business of Beyoncé

Subscribe to Into It with Sam SandersListen on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3vE4jqfListen on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3bB7VmfListen elsewhere: https://bit.ly/3BI0Nz0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 5, 2022 • 39:08

"It's About Damn Time" for Another Lizzo #1

In the middle of a long, hot summer 2022, the people have spoken, and the people want to dance. Lizzo's "About Damn Time" just replaced Harry Styles's "As It Was" to become the top song on the Billboard Hot 100. Powered by retro instrumentation, a propulsive groove, meme-worthy lyrics, and a generous dose of slash chords (not the Guns 'n Roses guitarist, the harmonic voicing), Lizzo's hit song marks a deepening of the sound she established in past tracks like "Juice." But on other track

Aug 2, 2022 • 30:30

Elvis, Big Mama Thornton, Doja Cat, and the Long Legacy of “Hound Dog”

Baz Luhrmann’s hit box office hit biopic Elvis has spurred new interest in the music of The King. Elvis Presley’s streaming subscribers has grown by two million listeners on Spotify since the film’s release according to ChartMetric, and if you’re hearing a lot more “Hound Dog” these days, it might be partially due to the success of Doja Cat’s hit song “Vegas,” which updates – and interpolates – the song for contemporary listeners. Doja Cat’s version samples from the original 1953 “Hound

Jul 26, 2022 • 23:54

We Won’t Go Back: Pop Music and the Fight For Reproductive Rights (w MILCK and Ann Powers)

On June 24th 2022 the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v Wade and asserting that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion.The decision marked a seismic moment in politics and culture that has affected everyone’s lives, and the world of pop music is no exception. Musicians started responding immediately, from Cher to Olivia Rodrigo: on social media, at their shows, and in their music. Critic Ann Powers has

Jul 19, 2022 • 30:21

Harry Styles and the Sledgehammer Horns

As we hit the dog days of summer, the artist that’s started to soundtrack pool parties across the country is former One Direction bandmate and contemporary sex symbol Harry Styles.In May, Styles released Harry’s House, an album propelled by the number one hit “As It Was.” Despite having critical and commercial success, a barb often thrown at the album is the idea of it being inoffensive: pleasant, “easy listening” music apt for an elevator, grocery store or, perhaps, a sushi restaurant.

Jul 12, 2022 • 24:56

ICYMI: The 90s’ Most Unlikely Hit (with Baz Luhrmann)

In 1999 filmmaker Baz Luhrmann released the song “Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen,” a 7-minute-long graduation speech set to downtempo electronic music. It was a highly unlikely hit that made its way across continents and eventually into the ears of a young Avery Trufelman via the album NOW That’s What I Call Music Volume 2. For over 20 years, Trufelman has applied the song’s advice to her daily life: “wear sunscreen… be nice to your siblings… do one thing every day that scares you.”

Jul 5, 2022 • 53:02

Beyoncé's House

The world stops with a Beyoncé drop. On Monday, June 20th, our prayers were answered with “Break My Soul,” the lead single off of her upcoming album, Renaissance. The song draws from several places of inspiration: lyrically, it’s a cathartic dance-floor ode to liberation, soundtracking the current cultural moment that some have called the “Great Resignation.” Sonically, though, “Break My Soul” is Beyoncé’s foray into house music – a genre that the chair of the Clive Davis Institute of R

Jun 28, 2022 • 32:18

Robert Glasper on jazz, basketball, and his score for "Winning Time"

Robert Glasper is the only artist to have an album debut in the top 10 of 4 different Billboard charts. He's a musical polymath whose resume ranges from Kendrick Lamar to Herbie Hancock. At the piano, he serves up jazz licks worthy of Mary Lou Williams before segueing into a Nirvana cover. Glasper brings his diverse skill set to bear on his latest project, the score for the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, composed in collaboration with "Succession" soundtracker

Jun 21, 2022 • 24:29

Scoring Stranger Things with Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein

We recently deconstructed how Kate Bush’s 1985 song “Running Up That Hill” has found itself at the center of culture due to a placement in the Netflix, eighties, horror, sci-fi show, Stranger Things. For that episode we excerpted an interview with the composers of the show who shared great insights on how they created the iconic theme song and spooky soundscape for the most streamed show of 2022. But we want to share the full conversation with you because they have equally cheeky as wel

Jun 16, 2022 • 21:55

Kate Bush, Stranger Things, and a hit song four decades in the making

Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” enters the latest season of Stranger Things during a brooding high-school hallway scene right out of the John Hughes playbook, and it has since bounded up the charts, hitting No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and performing better now than when it peaked at No. 30 upon release. Stranger Things, whose latest season has logged more viewer minutes for Netflix than any other English-language release to date, has leaned heavily on ’80s nostalgia since its prem

Jun 14, 2022 • 31:13

So your song went viral on TikTok. What’s next?

On TikTok, pop stars — Halsey, FKA Twigs, and Florence Welch among them — have been complaining a lot lately about their labels forcing them to make TikToks. As people spent the early part of the pandemic staring at their phones instead of flocking to concerts, the short-form-video social-media platform upended music discovery. In many cases, it gave unknown musicians a pathway to enormous audiences and allowed them to burst into the mainstream on the backs of their TikTok hits.It’s a s

Jun 7, 2022 • 34:05

The 1980s jam that gave Latto and Mariah Carey Big D*** Energy

If you've heard Latto's swaggering track "Big Energy"—and after 30 weeks on the Hot 100, you probably have—you may have heard a resemblance to Mariah Carey's 1995 hit "Fantasy." That's because both songs borrow a groove from the 1981 hit "Genius of Love," a genre-defying smash made by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. "Genius of Love" was made when Frantz and Weymouth took a break from playing in the band Talking Heads to let loose at the Island Records studio in the Bahamas with the help

May 31, 2022 • 27:24

Kendrick Lamar and the big samples

It’s been five years since Kendrick Lamar released his Pulitzer winning album DAMN. Having established himself as a modern rap virtuoso whose songs have become anthems fueling social movements, expectations run high for his latest release. So when he dropped his new album Mr Morale and the Big Steppers, people tuned in - it is the biggest album drop of 2022 so far. Lamar moves his focus presumably from the societal to the personal on the double LP. His words arrive seemingly from therap

May 24, 2022 • 31:01

Modern Classics: PJ Morton made Nas’s Stevie Wonder dream come true

On all of his projects — Grammy-winning albums, playing keys with Maroon 5, fronting a full string section in his NPR Tiny Desk Concert — PJ Morton evinces his mastery at updating classic soul and R&B with modern sounds. His latest full-length release, Watch the Sun, sees him joined by some of his own sources of inspiration, Stevie Wonder and Nas. The three combined forces on Morton’s track “Be Like Water,” which recites an uplifting mantra over unsettled harmonies. The effect is hy

May 17, 2022 • 29:22

Will Ukraine win Eurovision 2022?

Greece, Spain, UK, Sweden, Italy and Ukraine are the frontrunners in the 2022 Eurovision competition. Switched On Pop analyzes the top six songs as well as some of the more oddball picks.Songs Discussed Amanda Tenfjord - Die Together Chanel - SloMo Britney Spears - Work Bitch Sam Ryder - SPACE MAN Elton John - Rocket Man Cornelia Jakobs - Hold Me Closer Zdob și Zdub - Trenulețul  Citi Zēni - Give The Wolf A Banana Mahmood, BLANCO - Brividi Bad Bunny, Jhay Cortez - DÁKITI Kalush Orchestr

May 10, 2022 • 28:59

Belle and Sebastian on the value of staying "young and stupid"

Belle and Sebastian released the first album Tigermilk in 1996, and they’ve released eight more since—a catalog that helped define the sound of rock and indie in the new millennium through buoyant melodies and verbose lyrics. Their new album, A Bit of Previous, continues to refine their unique sound but also embraces new musical directions. We spoke to Stuart Murdoch, leader of the 7-piece band hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, about their latest project.Songs DiscussedBelle and Sebastian

May 3, 2022 • 28:14

The New Alternative

Last month, Nirvana entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time in nearly two decades — only their fifth time in history — thanks to a comic-book movie. The band’s 1991 track “Something in the Way” was heavily featured in The Batman, whose director, Matt Reeves, said Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain inspired Robert Pattinson’s brooding performance as the caped crusader. Plus, Cobain’s music influenced the film’s score: Michael Giacchino references the dirge-like chords of “Somet

Apr 26, 2022 • 31:18

Jump-starting the creative process with Allison Ponthier

Allison Ponthier knows the hardest part of making anything is getting started. When she was young, she “always wanted to write songs,” fanatically scribbling rhymes in a diary, but gave it up — the prevailing narratives of natural talent, artistic genius, and spontaneous inspiration put the brakes on her songwriting aspirations. She didn’t pick it up again until she turned 19: “It just took me that long to build the confidence.”Now, after a short stint in jazz school, a scholarly approa

Apr 19, 2022 • 20:01

A Higher Power Ballad

The recorded version of Justin Bieber’s “Peaches” opens with a full-blast chorus alongside driving percussion and ringing guitars. But when he performed the song at this year’s Grammys, the song’s instrumentation was stripped down, with Bieber alone at a grand piano, crooning into the mic. Slowly, a band built up, and in came guest verses from Daniel Caesar and Giveon between seven repetitions of the chorus. Each time the chorus returned, the band got louder, the music pointing upward u

Apr 12, 2022 • 27:28

How sound becomes hearing

We love listening to music at a ridiculous level of detail. But the other day we heard a podcast that made us fundamentally question the accuracy and reliability of our own listening skills. In it they played a familiar melody, “Yankee Doodle,” in such a way that we couldn’t recognize it at all. Our brain plays so many auditory tricks on us — some truly spectacular and unexplainable. In fact that’s the name of the show: Unexplainable. It’s hosted by Noam Hassenfeld, who in addition to b

Apr 5, 2022 • 41:46

Listening 2 Britney: Gimme More

There’s no more iconic Britney lyric than the opening of “Gimme More.” It's 2007, four years since her last album In The Zone was released, and Britney is affirmatively back with the uptempo track leading off her album Blackout: “It’s Britney, Bitch.” The song echoes the dance-pop Neptunes sound of “I’m A Slave 4 U.” It's built around a driving riff and off-kilter drums produced by Floyd Nathaniel Hills AKA Danja. Each time Britney sings “more” her voice is pitched down to a devilish gr

Mar 29, 2022 • 27:35

Listening 2 Britney: Toxic

In 2003 Britney Spears released “Toxic,” a song that would make converts out of pop skeptics, be named one of the greatest tracks of the 21st century by multiple publications, and become a personal favorite of Switched on Pop.Despite its success, when “Toxic” was released as the second single from Spears’s fourth album, In the Zone, even the song’s writers thought it was too “weird” to become a hit. But thanks to the new iTunes platform, which was just gaining traction in 2013, audience

Mar 22, 2022 • 28:44

Listening 2 Britney: I'm a Slave 4 U

In the first three years of Britney Spears’ pop music career, she released annual, consecutive albums. In 1999 we got Baby One More Time – its lead single was #5 on the Billboard year-end Hot 100 chart. In 2000, Oops… I Did It Again generated multiple hits. It’s eponymous single reached the #1 spot on Top 40 radio but only ascended to #55 on the year-end chart — the single was only released on vinyl, not CD, to boost album sales. Destiny's Child, Aaliyah and Janet all outperformed “Oops

Mar 15, 2022 • 29:05

Listening 2 Britney: ...Baby One More Time

On a crisp Autumn morning in 1998, the world was introduced to the voice of Britney Spears, and pop would never be the same. Britney’s mix of vocal fry, percussive pronunciations, and timbral play on “...Baby One More Time” hadn't been heard before. As successful as they were, these techniques were derided by critics as parts of her manufactured “baby voice." Listening in 2022, we can hear Britney with more clarity: as a radical new artist."...Baby One More Time" was not Britney's first

Mar 8, 2022 • 29:02

Chartbreakers (ft. Megan Thee Stallion and the Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Presenting Chartbreakers, in which Nate and Charlie listen to the Billboard Hot 100 chart from top to bottom and discover a TikTok controversy, a Nashville music mystery, a rogue duck-billed platypus, and Megan Thee Stallion's debut piano concerto.Songs Discussed Gayle - abcdefuMuni Long - hrs and hrsCkay - Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)Dustin Lynch featuring Lauren Alaina or Mackenzie Porter - Thinking 'Bout YouRed Hot Chili Peppers - Black SummerMegan Thee Stallion - Megan's Piano Learn mor

Mar 1, 2022 • 35:25

Leon Bridges and Khruangbin Sing a Song of Texas

Leon Bridges is the soul singer hailing from Fort Worth, Texas, who burst onto the music scene in 2015 with the album Coming Home. Since then he’s established himself as an adventurous musician whose latest album Gold Diggers Sound combines retro sounds with contemporary production. Khruangbin is the Houston-based power trio——Mark Speer on guitar, Laura Lee on bass, and DJ Johnson on drums—who also debuted in 2015 with the album The Universe Smiles Upon You, which introduced their uniqu

Feb 15, 2022 • 34:05

Shaking Out the Numb with Sylvan Esso

The last proper, blowout concert Charlie attended was devastatingly long ago, back in the winter of 2019. Bringing some funk to buttoned-up Walt Disney Concert Hall, the duo Sylvan Esso rocked Charlie’s world with epic performances of songs like “Die Young.” When live music, and the world, shut down shortly after—well, it was a great note to go out on. Now, that moment comes full circle, as Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn join Charlie to discuss their album, Free Love, one o

Feb 8, 2022 • 30:36

We *do* talk about Bruno

The number one song on the charts is a bit of a mystery. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is the unlikely hit from Disney’s sleeper animated musical Encanto. Set in a mountainous village in Colombia, the film was a middling commercial success when it was released in Nov 2021. But in recent months it has become a pop culture phenomenon for a confluence of reasons: an expansive discourse on Colombian representation in media, fan videos on TikTok, and of course it's ear-wormy hits. The musical

Feb 1, 2022 • 26:34

32 Albums in, Elvis Costello is Just Getting Started

Elvis Costello burst onto the music scene in 1977 with the album My Aim Is True. Songs like “Alison” established him as a powerful new voice in rock. His next album, This Year’s Model, introduced hits like “Pump it Up,” which has resounded through stadiums and arenas across the country ever since. From then on he released album after album, decade after decade, becoming a force to be reckoned with in pop music. Now, Costello has released his 32nd studio album, The Boy Named If, and it's

Jan 25, 2022 • 34:12

Accidental K-pop star Eric Nam risks it all to go his own way

Eric Nam is an accidental K-pop star. Growing up in Atlanta, and graduating from college in Boston, he did not expect that in his twenties he’s sign to a K-pop label, be named 2016 Man of the year by GQ Korea, and become a go-to television personality in South Korea. His music, imbued with his charisma and charm has charted globally. As fun as it is, the K-pop machine can be a real grind — it churns through young people not unlike the NFL draft. Nam is unusually candid about this experi

Jan 19, 2022 • 37:10

The Weeknd drives through purgatory (with a little help from Jim Carrey)

Dawn FM is The Weeknd’s most narratively compelling album yet. More than just a collection of eighties-nostalgia single bait, Dawn FM is a concept album that picks up on a multi-year meta narrative. Abel Tesfaye, seemingly killed off his character at the end of his last album, After Hours. Getting caught up in the “Blinding Lights” of fame and excess, the narrator ends up overdosing in the back of an ambulance. On the final song “Until I Bleed Out” he sings “I can’t move, I’m so paralyz

Jan 11, 2022 • 37:48

Why do new Christmas songs fail?

Why are there no new Christmas songs? One one hand, there's more holiday songs than we’ll ever need. Every year pop stars drop countless holiday-themed album.But despite the annual glut of Christmas releases, few of these new songs join the rotation of holiday classics. On Billboard's Holiday Hot 100 chart right now, there's only four songs from the past ten years that have made it to the top fifty.We listen to each of these holiday hits—from Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber

Dec 21, 2021 • 26:34

Tai Verdes TikTok-ed his way to a breakout hit

Whether you’re a TikTok fanatic, or the app’s K-hole-inducing stream of content has forced you to delete it from your phone, its influence on music is undeniable. In 2020 the platform bragged that over 70 artists on the platform signed with major labels. TikTok’s success was linked to pandemic-related stay-at-home orders -- people were stuck at home and musicians couldn’t tour. And while trending dances and songs on TikTok may turn over weekly, with a billion monthly users, the social m

Dec 14, 2021 • 31:27

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Raise The Roof

Robert Plant is in his own words “cold” and “prickly” while speaking about his new album with Alison Krauss, Raise The Roof. First thing upon joining the Zoom call from London, Plant jovially launches into the much misattributed quote “talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” But he is neither callous, nor coy. For Plant the music is ineffable, a joyous celebration of friendship, and a kindred love of song that he shares with Krauss and producer T-Bone Burnett. Their alb

Dec 7, 2021 • 31:37

The Beatles get back to their roots

2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles’ final album, Let it Be. To commemorate the occasion, the remaining members of the band have remixed the album and unleashed an eight-hour-plus documentary directed by Peter Jackson that lays bare the making of the record. For super-fans this video memoir reveals a lot about the messiness of the creative process: The Beatles nearly broke up while making it! Author Tim Riley says that the band approached Let It Be with an aest

Nov 30, 2021 • 40:47

Taylor, Adele & Silk Sonic’s broken hearts club (with Brittany Luse)

This week we are having a blast feeling really sad. Guest Brittany Luse, cohost of the acclaimed podcast For Colored Nerds, joins Nate and Charlie to dig into this fall's slate of breathtaking breakup albums from Adele, Kacey Musgraves, Summer Walker, and Mitski.Some have been calling this confluence of releases, "sad girl autumn," but the melancholy moment goes beyond gender, with even Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak's leaning into the lachrymose on their album An Evening With Silk Sonic

Nov 23, 2021 • 41:46

Snotty Nose Rez Kids on hip hop and Indigenous protest

Merging hip hop and Indigenous culture, rap duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids are creating a sound that goes hard for a cause. On tracks like “War Club” with DJ Shub, Yung Trybez and Young D connect Indigenous protests to the Black Lives Matter movement, and on “Boujee Natives,” Snotty Nose Rez Kids celebrate traditional culture through a modern lens. But as much as this music has a message, it also bangs, and SNRK’s new album After Life runs the gamut of emotions; from tackling police brutality

Nov 16, 2021 • 26:42

The State of the Pop Union

From time to time, it is our constitutional duty to provide an update to the people on the current state of pop. What are the sounds? Who’s making the hits? What are they singing about? We take the musical temperature by consulting the charts, the platforms, and the people.MORECat Zhang’s review of PinkPantheress’ “Passion” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 9, 2021 • 35:42

Why ABBA songs just hit different

Swedish supergroup ABBA is releasing their first album in forty years, making this the perfect time for Nate and Charlie to investigate what makes their music so beloved and reviled in equal measure. For every ABBA stan, there’s a hater lurking, like legendary pop critic Robert Christgau, who once said of the group: “We have met the enemy, and they are them.” That suspicion was earned through ABBA’s musical catchiness and lyrical earnestness, but regardless of how you feel about their m

Nov 2, 2021 • 34:50

The Healing Power of Pop with Esperanza Spalding

It. Has. Been. A. Year. We’ve felt it; you’ve felt it. Sometimes, it’s comforting to consider how universal that overwhelming sense of blah is. Other days, woof, it can be tough to see the light. That’s the subject of today’s episode, brought to you by our producer Megan Lubin.When Megan hit an especially low point earlier this year, she noticed something in the music she was listening to: Über-popular artists making explicit references to the state of their mental health and the things

Oct 26, 2021 • 35:27

Janet Jackson's Legacy After 'Control' from It's Been A Minute with Sam Sanders

Sam Sanders is one of our favorite friends of the podcast. His NPR show, It's Been A Minute, has released an outstanding three part series exploring crossover in pop music. We want to share with you the 2nd episode form that series on the legacy of Janet Jackson.From It's Been A MinuteOn the 35th anniversary of Janet Jackson's first No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit, we look back at Control, her career-defining album that changed the trajectory of pop music in the late '80s and '90s. In the s

Oct 22, 2021 • 46:21

James Bond's Spycraft Sound

The latest installment of the James Bond franchise, No Time To Die, closes the book on the Daniel Craig era of the international superspy. The film’s theme song, “No Time to Die,” by Billie Eilish, Finneas, and Hans Zimmer, also marks the conclusion of one of the great musical sagas in recent cinema. Monty Norman’s and John Barry’s now-iconic “James Bond Theme,” written for 1962’s Dr. No, has remained a constant across six decades of espionage and one-liners. But every new Bond theme ha

Oct 19, 2021 • 34:53

James Blake & The Return of Harmony

For a decade James Blake has crafted an idiosyncratic sound. His early work as a minimalist electronic producer fused lush R&B chords with lyrical collage and unfiltered synthesizers. He describes his hit 2013 song “Retrograde” as apocalyptic yet also romantic. This single was in stark contrast to the bubblegum pop of the early 2010s. But other artists recruited him to spread his subversive sonics. He produced on three of the most seminal albums in recent history: Beyoncé’s Lemonade

Oct 12, 2021 • 39:50

Sparkle spoke out against R Kelly. It cost her her career.

On this week’s episode we're sharing a story fromThe Cut where senior writer Angelina Chapin and co-host Jazmín Aguilera talk about and talk with Sparkle (born Stephanie Edwards), who first reported R. Kelly to the police for allegedly sexually abusing her 14-year-old niece. Back then, no one believed her, but following the explosive documentary Surviving R. Kelly and the R&B artist’s trial, at the end of which he was found guilty of nine federal sex crimes, she’s been vindicated. A

Oct 7, 2021 • 31:03

ICYMI: The Mystery of Montero AKA Lil Nas X (feat. Take A Daytrip)

Lil Nas X has a talent for creating productive controversy. First with “Old Town Road,” he challenged expectations about blackness in country music. Now with “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” he takes aim at anti LGBTQ+ messages propagated by the religious dogma from his youth (he came out as gay during Pride 2019). The song describes a romantic encounter without innuendo. Sure it’s raunchy, but the song doesn’t especially stand out on Billboard where explicit sexual fantasy is commonpl

Sep 28, 2021 • 35:59

Deja Vu: Why Olivia Rodrigo keeps giving up songwriting credits

In the last few years music copyright claims have skyrocketed. More and more artists are giving songwriting credits away. Frequently, credits are given retroactively to avoid the cost of long jury trials like when Sam Smith credited Tom Petty. Smith’s melody for “Stay With Me” clearly drew from Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” On rare occasions these cases go to court, where music litigation is at an all time high. In the last ten years there have been 190 public cases, up over 350% from th

Sep 21, 2021 • 1:00:35

CHVRCHES and the sound of 80s horror

CHVRCHES is well-known for their comprehensive use of synthesizers and their updated take on “synthpop”, a subgenre of pop we most closely associated with the 1980s. While gearing up to make their second album in 2015, CHVRCHES members Iain Cook and Martin Doherty spent much of the recording budget buying up many of the original synthesizers used to make those iconic 80s dance tracks. Contemporary replicas of those synth sounds are now commonplace with pop acts like Dua Lipa and The Wee

Sep 14, 2021 • 33:38

From Taylor Swift to Bon Iver, Aaron Dessner Finds Meaning in Musical Community

On August 27th Big Red Machine, the joint musical project of Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner - artists known for their work as Bon Iver and in the rock band The National, respectively - returned with new music. You’ve most definitely heard Dessner’s production work elsewhere, like on Taylor Swift’s pandemic albums evermore and folklore. The Big Red Machine album, titled How Long Do You Think it's Going to Last, celebrates the fruits of creative partnership and the importance of family a

Sep 7, 2021 • 27:01

Modern Classics: Carina del Valle Schorske on Cat Power's "Manhattan"

Recently the hosts of Switched on Pop kept seeing the same byline next to their favorite pieces of music writing. A moving profile of Bad Bunny? There was the name. A searing critique of West Side Story? There it was again. An elegy on love, loss, and an Aretha Franklin and Smokey Robinson duet? By now it was committed to memory: writer and translator Carina del Valle Schorske. So we knew we had to invite Carina to participate in our Modern Classics series and learn what this brilliant

Aug 31, 2021 • 29:51

The Joy of Music Festivals

For the past two weeks, our series on summer music festivals has uncovered the interplay of festival fashion and music and examined festival subcultures. But we've so far overlooked an essential reason that people attend music festivals: to experience transformational joy.At the start of summer 2021 it seemed like the pandemic was waning and that live music was coming back. But now, heading into the fall with the Delta variant, the fate of live music is once again in question. Caught in

Aug 24, 2021 • 27:12

The Beauty and Horror of Insane Clown Posse's Summer Festival

The Gathering of the Juggalos is the music festival centered around the rap duo Insane Clown Posse. Their songs are hyper-violent and profane; their stage show features grotesque clown makeup and blasting the audience with their favorite drink, Faygo soda; and their fandom has even been designated by the FBI as a loosely organized gang. Musically, they’ve historically been rejected by critics: The Guardian has called them “a magnet for ignorance;” Allmusic has called them a “third rate

Aug 17, 2021 • 35:16

How Coachella took the Woodstock look

The co-hosts of The Cut, Jazmin Aguilera and B.A. Parker, think deeply and incisively about fashion. For this special episode of Switched on Pop — the first in our three-part miniseries about summer festivals — we invited the hosts of The Cut, Jazmin Aguilera and B.A. Parker, as our honorary co-hosts to help us break down the connections between festival fashion, music, and culture. With the additional help of Dr. Lorynn Divita, Associate Professor of Apparel Merchandising at Baylor Uni

Aug 10, 2021 • 25:58

Modern Classics: Mark Ronson on Ginuwine's "Pony"

Mark Ronson has a CV too long to list here. Suffice to say he’s a musician who’s worked with everyone from Amy Winehouse to Lady Gaga to Dua Lipa, has one of the highest selling singles of all time with Bruno Mars in “Uptown Funk,” and has been making just really good music since the turn of the millennium. He’s also the presenter of one of our all time favorite TED talks on the history of sampling, and he’s been continuing that journey of musical curiosity with the Apple TV show “Watch

Aug 3, 2021 • 38:44

Summer Hits: Jack Antonoff on Bleachers “Stop Making This Hurt”

We’ve been wanting to speak with Jack Antonoff since we started Switched On Pop back in 2014. We've had countless hours of conversation sound tracked to his productions with artists like Taylor Swift, Lorde, Lana Del Ray starting in just our second episode. When we wrote a book about 21st century pop, we devoted a chapter to the song “We Are Young” by his band, Fun. And so we're excited to finally sit down with him to hear about how he approaches his own work. He has a new album out wit

Jul 30, 2021 • 41:33

Modern Classics: Yola on Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” and the Longevity of Soul

In this installment of Modern Classics we speak to the amazing four-time Grammy Nominee musician, singer and songwriter Yola about her new record, Stand For Myself, and how hearing Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” and all its references to 1970s funk encouraged Yola to unlock her own unprecedented mix of symphonic soul and classic pop.As Yola tells it, it’s not just a sound from the past that she’s conjuring, it’s a sense of possibility. The way that progenitors like Funkadelic, Minnie Ripp

Jul 27, 2021 • 33:18

The Appealing Uneasiness of Listening to L’Rain (Live at JBL)

L’Rain is the musical persona of singer and multi-instrumentalist Taja Cheek, whose new album, Fatigue, begins with a lyrical quandary: “What have you done to change?”What follows is a journey of self-discovery, the songs interwoven with home recordings of practicing piano, clapping games, and everyday life. The first full length song, “Find It,” repeats the mantra “Make a way out of no way,” looking for a path out of darkness. An unexpected sample of a preacher at a friend’s funeral se

Jul 23, 2021 • 26:12

Summer Hits: City Girls - Twerkulator (with Kyra Gaunt)

One of the songs we anticipate playing on repeat this summer is “Twerkulator” by Miami rap duo City Girls. It’s a track with enough sonic energy to power a small town, but that’s not all we dig. The song’s music includes a chain of samples that stretch back through pop music history—from 1990s house, to 1980s electro, to 1970s German krautrock—and poses an implicit challenge to some of hip hop’s most problematic figures. Meanwhile, the lyrics celebrate a tradition of movement that’s as

Jul 20, 2021 • 24:25

Summer Hits: Lorde - Solar Power (w Hanif Abdurraqib)

Lorde's new song "Solar Power" set the internet ablaze when it dropped from out of nowhere in June. Some fans found the song to be a buoyant departure from Lorde's last release, Melodrama, while others thought the track felt half-baked. On top of that, listeners questioned the song's provenance — had Lorde cribbed too closely from 90s hitmakers like Primal Scream and George Michael?To listen closely to "Solar Power" and unpack its polarizing sounds, we needed to speak to someone with an

Jul 16, 2021 • 31:05

Summer Hits: Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u (with Jessica Hopper)

Olivia Rodrigo’s summer breakup anthem “good 4 u” is filled with the kind of ebullient angst that makes us want to spontaneously dance around our house and belt the lyrics out with abandon. Whether it’s the creeping baseline that pulls us in, or the cathartic release of the chorus, we can’t get enough of this track. And we’re not alone, it seems. The song debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and like its predecessor “Driver’s License,” has fueled and been fueled by viral TikTok memes

Jul 13, 2021 • 35:01

Modern Classics: Labrinth's "Sexy MF" (with Sam Sanders)

Modern Classics is the new series where Charlie and Nate invite their favorite musicians, journalists, and friends of the show to wax lyrical about a song that's important in their life. In the first installment of Modern Classics, Nate and Charlie sit down with the host of NPR’s hit news and culture program It’s Been a Minute, Sam Sanders. Sam is one of the best people to talk music with, not only because he has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the entertainment world, bu

Jul 6, 2021 • 30:21

Growing Pains with Lucy Dacus

Growing up is never easy. But pop songs about adolescence too often gloss over the complicated moments. The “teenage dream” archetype is just a pop culture fantasy. And no one really wants to be 17 forever. On her new album “Home Video,” Lucy Dacus talks about youthful growing pains. She remembers the uncomfortable moments. Dacus says that “a lot of childhood is crisis mode… you get pushed around by the world and the rules that are set for you.” Her songs examine unequal power relations

Jul 2, 2021 • 32:03

Summer Hits: BTS - Butter (with Jenna Andrews)

In summer 2020, BTS released “Dynamite,” their first single recorded entirely in English. The song shot up the charts, became one of the most successful YouTube videos in history, and won over pop radio, which had stubbornly refused to play their songs in Korean. Now, in summer 2021, BTS have topped themselves again with “Butter,” yet another English-language bop that melts like … well, you get it. BTS member Jimin told Variety that they wanted to make an “easy-listening,” fun song, and

Jun 29, 2021 • 36:10

Pop’s Worst Kept Secret ft. Emily Warren

In 1974 country music, singer songwriter, Dolly Parton got wind that Elvis Presley wanted to record her new song, “I Will Always Love You.“ According to Dolly, the deal fell through when Elvis's manager demanded 50% of the publishing revenue. Dolly refused, released the song herself, and years later arranged a more equitable deal with Whitney Houston, who of course made it a massive hit. It's a juicy bit of industry history that actually speaks more to our current reality than you might

Jun 22, 2021 • 28:33

40 Years Later, Japanese City Pop is Still Crashing the Charts (with Cat Zhang)

If you listen to a lot of music on YouTube, you may have been recommended a video. The thumbnail image is a striking black-and-white photo of a Japanese singer named Mariya Takeuchi. The song, “Plastic Love,” is a lush disco track with deep groove, impeccable string and horn arrangements, and a slow-burn vocal performance from Takeuchi. When the song was released in 1984, it sold 10,000 copies. Today, it’s racked up over 65 million views since its posting in 2017.  How did the relativel

Jun 15, 2021 • 31:06

J Cole’s The Off Season and the Power of the 12/8 Shuffle

J Cole is one of the most successful rappers of his generation, someone who racks up hits while sustaining critical acclaim. But that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Cole’s sixth studio album “The Off Season” finds a musician struggling to stave off complacency and keep his skills sharp. In a short documentary about the album, Cole describes the album as an attempt to “push himself,” a sentiment reflected in a line from the Timbaland-produced track “Amari”: “If you solo these vocals, li

Jun 8, 2021 • 31:10

ICYMI Rina Sawayama Reimagines the 00s

One of our favorites artists right now is Rina Sawayama. She works with her producer Clarence Clarity to make this mash up of sounds from the late 90s and early aughts. She in particular recasts Max Martin pop and Nu Metal — too styles that rarely converged — to make compelling songs with a strong anti-consumerist message. I spoke with Rina Sawayama last summer about her debut eponymous album Sawayama and she shared with me the stories behind her songs XS and STFU. We're rebroadcasting

Jun 1, 2021 • 20:27

Vijay Iyer on why jazz has always been political

When you think of jazz, you might think of La La Land, luxury car commercials, or fancy dinner parties. Cool, sophisticated, complex, jazz today seems to signify the epitome of class and taste. For pianist Vijay Iyer, that view gets the music completely wrong. Jazz isn’t cool. Jazz is countercultural. Jazz is alive and relevant. Jazz fights racism and injustice. And for those reasons, maybe we shouldn’t be calling this music “jazz” at all.With a trio of Linda May Han Oh on bass and Tysh

May 25, 2021 • 31:15

Introducing Galaxy Brains

Today we’re sharing something a little different - a new TV and film show from the Vox Media Podcast Network that we think you’ll like called Galaxy Brains. On Galaxy Brains, entertainment writer Dave Schilling and Mystery Science Theater 3000’s Jonah Ray explore a big, mind-expanding question raised by a TV show or movie, and take it way, way too seriously. In the preview episode we’re sharing today, they explore why the once-panned musical comedy Josie and The Pussycats may have actua

May 18, 2021 • 34:50

Turns out Willow Smith rocks

Willow Smith has a new Paramore-inspired emo-slash-pop punk track with a formidable drum groove powered by Travis Barker. Over churning guitars she sneers at fake friends: "smile in my face, then put your cig out on my back." As Nate and Charlie headbanged along to we found ourselves asking "why did we sleep on Willow Smith?"Maybe because we had not taken Willow seriously, knowing her only as the nine (!) year-old singer behind the precocious hit "Whip My Hair" back in 2010. In the ensu

May 11, 2021 • 32:43

Julia Michaels’ Songwriting Superpowers

For nearly a decade, Julia Michaels has penned hit songs for the biggest acts in pop music. She is adept at turning people’s vulnerabilities into memorable hooks — think Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” or Selena Gomez’s “Lose You to Love Me.” There are countless others, but all of them share distinctive traits. Where many songwriters might turn to the simplest, almost nursery-rhyme-level lyrics to get the message across, Michaels does the opposite. She crams as many words as possible into each

May 4, 2021 • 42:39

How Take A Daytrip took off (full interview)

The story of the hitmakers behind Lil Nas X’s “Montero” Sheck Wes’s “Mo Bamba” and many more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 30, 2021 • 39:49

The Mystery of Montero AKA Lil Nas X (feat. Take A Daytrip)

Lil Nas X has a talent for creating productive controversy. First with “Old Town Road,” he challenged expectations about blackness in country music. Now with “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” he takes aim at anti LGBTQ+ messages propagated by the religious dogma from his youth (he came out as gay during Pride 2019). The song describes a romantic encounter without innuendo. Sure it’s raunchy, but the song doesn’t especially stand out on Billboard where explicit sexual fantasy is commonpl

Apr 27, 2021 • 37:14

Pop On A Perilous Planet (w Kyle Devine)

Earth Day 2021 gives us the chance to pause our usual programming and consider the role pop music plays in our deepening climate emergency. On Side A, we listen to artists who have confronted the climate crisis head-on. Side B considers the environmental cost of streaming music with Kyle Devine, author of Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music.Songs Discussed:George Pope Morris - Woodman, Spare That Tree!Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow TaxiMarvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)Tower

Apr 20, 2021 • 35:16

5 Rules of Great Songwriting Collabs, According to Teddy Geiger and Dan Wilson (On Air Fest 2021)

On Switched on Pop we talk to songwriters and artists about how they make great songs. Most songs are written with two or more people in the room. Something we've never done before is pair two of the best songwriters in the business to explain how they create a successful collaboration.Teddy Geiger is a Grammy nominated songwriter who's written countless number ones. You've likely heard her work with Sean Mendes, Leon Bridges, and Christina Aguilera, among many others. She’s also a crit

Apr 13, 2021 • 32:18

Silk Sonic's Retro Soul (with Tayla Parx)

Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars have joined forces as the duo Silk Sonic, and their first release “Leave the Door Open” suggests that their collab is as natural as peanut butter and jelly. The song exudes throwback vibes through its lush harmonies and sensuous lyrics. But this isn’t any run-of-the-mill exercise in empty nostalgia. Silk Sonic have a very specific sound in mind that they’re reviving for 21st century audiences: Philly Soul, the sophisticated 70s sound that “put a bow tie on f

Apr 6, 2021 • 53:52

AJR Conjure Broadway on 'OK Orchestra'

Adam, Jack and Ryan Met, better known as AJR, started playing gigs on the streets of New York City. The sidewalk hustle taught them how to grab the attention of the least forgiving audience. Now on their fourth studio album, OK Orchestra, they’ve honed an ear-stopping sound that combines modern pop with broadway bombast. Their platinum-certified single “Bang” pairs a carnival-like horns section with skittering trap style hi-hats. This strange pairing worked. Peaking at No. 8 on the Hot

Mar 30, 2021 • 43:18

Return of the Funk Guitar: Cory Wong Breaks Down Dua Lipa, Jessie Ware and Nile Rodgers

Cory Wong is a Minneapolis native and Vulfpeck collaborator known for pushing rhythm guitar from a background instrument to the star of the show. Wong’s a walking encyclopedia of funk guitar, and he takes us through the riffs and styles—from Nile Rodgers to Quincy Jones—that power modern bops such as Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” and Jessie Ware’s “Step Into My Life.” For Cory, rhythm guitar isn’t just a source of propulsive joy, but a sound that’s intimately connected to different regional s

Mar 23, 2021 • 34:02

What the 63rd Grammys say about the state of pop

The 63rd Grammys was as unprecedented and unusual as last year. Backdropped by the pandemic, the show was delayed and had to be taped in multiple locations in front of a bare bones audience. Echoing the public cries against injustice, standout performances by Mickey Guyton, DaBaby, and Lil Baby decried racism to the nation and to the Grammys—the academy made multiple public statements throughout the night promising to do better. The more light hearted performers played best against high

Mar 16, 2021 • 42:45

Kimbra reflects on a song that we used to know

Ten years ago the Australian artist Gotye asked New Zealand musician Kimbra to feature on his song “Somebody I Used To Know.” At the time Kimbra had no idea it was going to be a hit. No wonder—the song lacks the trappings of a conventional pop song. The chorus shows up late and it only repeats once in a track composed of an obscure Brazilian guitar sample and nursery rhyme xylophones.  But this slow burner about opposing sides in a relationship's bitter end found a global audience, asce

Mar 9, 2021 • 49:01

Kaytranada's journey from basement beat-making to the Grammys

Kaytranada has what every producer strives for: an in-demand signature sound. His records glide fluidly between four-to-the-floor house beats, hip-hop sample-flipping, and P-Funk style 808 bass lines. He honed the technique as a teenager, and it has since grabbed the attention of some all-star collaborators: Pharrell Williams, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Anderson .Paak, and Kendrick Lamar. This year, he’s nominated for three Grammys, including Best Dance/Electronica Album for his 2019 s

Mar 2, 2021 • 37:33

JP Saxe Didn’t Mean for His Grammy Hit ‘If the World Was Ending’ to Be So Literal

JP Saxe wrote the song “If the World was Ending” with acclaimed songwriter Julia Michaels in 2019 about a fictional cataclysm. The record was released in the before times in a way that seemed to presage lockdown. In the early months of the actual pandemic the song resonated so widely that it catapulted up the charts. It’s now been nominated for a Grammy for song of the year — an award JP Saxe could share with his grandfather János Starker who was awarded a Grammy in 1997 for a recording

Feb 23, 2021 • 37:43

Adrian Younge's new project sounds like James Baldwin meets Marvin Gaye

Adrian Younge is a producer for entertainment greats ranging from Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar to the Wu Tang clan, a composer for television shows such as Marvel's Luke Cage (with A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Mohammad), and owner of the Linear Labs record label and analog studio. Younge has a new mixed media project that breaks down the evolution of racism in America that he calls his “most important creative accomplishment.” A short film, T.A.N., and podcast, Invisible Blackness, ac

Feb 16, 2021 • 34:41

The Scandalous Sounds of Bridgerton (w Kris Bowers)

The Netflix series Bridgerton has hooked audiences with its bodice-ripping sex scenes, a colorblind approach period drama casting, and a soundtrack featuring recreations of modern bangers from pop stars like Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish arranged in the style of a classical string quartet. By bringing modern melodies into the proper world of Regency England, the show reminds us that classical music wasn’t always so stuffy and solemn. In its time, it trafficked in the same scandal as m

Feb 9, 2021 • 41:14

How The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” used retro sounds and modern bass to break every record

This Sunday, The Weeknd will perform his distinctly dark brand of pop at the Super Bowl halftime show. On the surface, the alter-ego of Abel Tesfaye is a strange pick for the ostensibly family-friendly main-stage — for more than a decade, The Weeknd has fused the sounds of pop, R&B, and trap into a cinematic horror-thriller about drugs, sex and the excess of fame. While his sheer volume of Hot 100 hits have rightly earned him mainstream status, even his most commercial material is h

Feb 2, 2021 • 38:58

Epik High is our gateway into Korean hip hop (with Tablo)

Epik High are elemental to Korean hip hop. DJ Tukutz, Mithra Jin and Tablo’s underground style boom bap beats with dexterous rapping helped bring this music from its underground roots to a global scale. On their latest release, Epik High Is Here Part I, the textures are subdued but paired with heavy drums and aggressive vocals, a contrast that matches our collective anxiety arising from the pandemic. Charlie speaks with Tablo about the creation of the album, but first first ethnomusicol

Jan 26, 2021 • 53:12

Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” is a full throttle power ballad

Power ballads used to top the charts regularly, from 80s rock to 90s R&B. But then in the 2000s, the formula of constant escalation gradually fell off the Billboard. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, Olivia Rodrigo’s single “Drivers License” is breaking streaming records as listeners yearn for the emotional catharsis from this contemporary power ballad. With the help of David Metzer, professor of music history at the University of British Columbia, we break down how “Drivers License” s

Jan 19, 2021 • 40:20

D.O.C. (Death of the Chorus) with Emily Warren

Listen to Top 40 pop over the last decade and you’ll notice something weird is happening. The chorus—the emotional apotheosis of a pop song, its dizzying high, its cathartic sing-along center—is disappearing. In its place, artists from Bad Bunny to Taylor Swift are toying with new, chorus-lite song forms that introduce a new musical grammar to the sound of contemporary pop. We may not think much about pop structure when listening to our favorite songs, but this is a big deal—the last time pop ex

Jan 12, 2021 • 41:09

ICYMI: The End Of Pop Music As We Know It: Fall Out Boy & Charli XCX

Is it true that all pop music sounds the same today? For the past year the “pop-drop” has dominated the airwaves. This new form of EDM infused pop came out of DJ culture and has infused its sound with every mainstream act like Lady Gaga and Coldplay. Tiring of this sound, some artists are finding creative ways to parody this pop trope. The rock outfit Fall Out Boy’s “Young And Menace” demonstrates equal parts mastery and mockery of the pop-drop. And PC Music, a rising art-music label ou

Jan 5, 2021 • 48:27

ICYMI: Do You Believe in Life After Autotune?

Auto-Tune may be the most divisive effect in music. Artists have protested it publicly at the Grammys, and critics have derided the effects for its inauthentic reproduction of the voice. And yet, nearly a decade since Jay-Z prophesied the death of Auto-Tune, the sound is alive and thriving in contemporary pop and hip-hop. Journalist Simon Reynolds has written a definitive history of Auto-Tune for Pitchfork that fundamentally changed how we hear this sound. This deep dive criss crosses g

Dec 29, 2020 • 49:05

Wham! Op. 84 “Last Christmas” with Chilly Gonzales

Wham’s 1984 contribution to the holiday cannon, “Last Christmas,” has surprising staying power. When Grammy-winning pianist Chilly Gonzales set out to record a holiday album, “A Very Chilly Christmas,” most of the selections were over a half century old. That’s because most of our favorite seasonal songs come from the 1960s and earlier. But in addition to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas,” Wham’s “Last Christmas” reliably returns each winter. Despite the cheesy 80s synths and dr

Dec 21, 2020 • 53:20

Taylor Swift has "evermore" of a good thing

Just five months after releasing her Grammy-nominated album “folklore,” Taylor Swift surprised fans with a continuation of sorts — her ninth studio album “evermore.” Working with many of her “folklore” collaborators, Swift says that the team “couldn’t stop writing songs.” Like its sister album, “evermore” shies away from over-the-top pop production, and leans into Swift’s craft. Stripped of the highly produced synth layers from her “Lover” and “Reputation” era, Swift’s lyrics and vocal

Dec 15, 2020 • 45:01

Women's Rap Renaissance

Producer Bridget Armstrong shares her top tracks from women who are running hip-hop in 2020: Megan Thee Stallion, Tierra Whack, Rico Nasty, Flo Milli, and CHIKAMoreListen to the Drake episode on In My Feelings: https://switchedonpop.com/episodes/93-drake-vs-drake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 8, 2020 • 42:18

Red Hot + Blue with Meshell Ndegeocello

In 1990 John Carlin and Leigh Blake pioneered a new kind of charity album. Together they co-founded Red Hot, a non-profit music label that uses music to raise money and awareness to for the fight against AIDS. This year is the 30th anniversary of their record: Red Hot + Blue, a platinum tribute album to Cole Porter, featuring artists like U2, Jody Watley, David Byrne, k.d. lang and Annie Lennox. Having released 20 projects and raised over $15M for AIDS charities, Carlin reflects back on

Dec 1, 2020 • 43:26

The Cyndi Lauper Conspiracy (with Sam Sanders)

Every song Cyndi Lauper writes is pop perfection according to Sam Sanders, host of NPR’s “It’s Been A Minute.” Many fall for “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” but Sanders's favorite song is the slow burner “All Through The Night,” save for one moment: the synthesizer solo. For Sanders, this solo never fit in. Charlie investigates the source of his musical malady and uncovers how the 80s got its groove. Songs DiscussedCyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have FunCyndi Lauper - Time After TimeC

Nov 24, 2020 • 36:30

ANTHEMS: Missy Elliott — Work It

Cultural critic Ivie Ani breaks down how Missy Elliott broke into the pantheon of anthems, and how she changed the scope of who could belong.Songs DiscussedMissy Elliott - Work ItBlondie - Heart of GlassRUN-DMC - Peter PiperRock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three - Request LineSnoop Dogg - Y'All Gone Miss MeVanilla Ice - Ice Ice BabyJustin Timberlake - Sexy BackTrace Adkins - Honky Tonk BadonkadonkMissy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)Lil Kim - Not Tonight (Remix)Missy Elliott - Los

Nov 17, 2020 • 37:54

ANTHEMS: Smash Mouth — All Star

When Smash Mouth wrote "All Star,” they knew that it was going to change their lives. But they never expected it would become an anthem played in sports arenas, soundtracked by Hollywood, and embedded into seemingly every internet meme. Darryn King joins the show to break down "The Never-ending Life of Smash Mouth's 'All Star.'" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 10, 2020 • 34:28

ANTHEMS: Jock Jams — Get Ready For This

In 1995, ESPN launched Jock Jams Volume 1, a compilation record that would define the sound of sports for the next quarter century. We listen to the album's biggest songs to define what makes a "Jock Jam," and tell the story of how this record came to define the sound of the stadium.MORERead Emily VanDerWerff's article: “The Jock Jam” megamix inadvertently plays out ESPN’s inner tensions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 3, 2020 • 35:00

ANTHEMS: Queen — We Are The Champions

Freddie Mercury and team made one of the most unusual anthems of all time. “We Are The Champions” has a somber beginning, an uncertain ending and a sprinkling of operatic allusions. Yet more than 40 years after this slow burners debut, it continues to be a staple at sporting events. In the first episode in a four part series, ANTHEMS, Nate and Charlie break down the song’s fundamental elements that place this song in the anthemic pantheon.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcas

Oct 27, 2020 • 36:17

Cory Henry has Something to Say

Cory Henry is a remarkably gifted multi-instrumentalist. Growing up in the church, he started playing the Hammond B3 organ at age 2 and played his first gig at Apollo theater in NYC at age 6. As a professional musician he’s played along side Bruce Springsteen, Boyz II Men, The Roots, Kirk Franklin and many others including the acclaimed group Snarky Puppy which earned 3 Grammys during his tenure playing keys. Now he leads his band Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles who are releasing an

Oct 20, 2020 • 31:32

The Pop Music Forecast (with Lauren Michele Jackson)

Shawn Mendes, BTS, Alicia Keys, 24kGoldn, Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber & Chance The Rapper are all in the Hot 100 with songs that attempt to cope with the state of the world. What do they tell us about the sound of popular music and our collective psyche? Charlie is joined by writer, critic and friend of the podcast, Lauren Michele Jackson to offer a meteorological reading of music in late 2020.MORERead Aja Romano's article "With 'Dynamite,' BTS beat the US music industry at its own chea

Oct 14, 2020 • 41:43

Brandy Clark's Life Is A Record

There is a type of country song that loves flawed characters lost on a winding journey ... likely down a dit road. One of the best songwriters in this style is acclaimed artist Brandy Clark. Her credits include a whose-who of country music—Kacey Musgraves, Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker, Lean Rimes—and her albums have received overwhelming critical acclaim. And her debut record, 12 Stories, earned her a 2015 Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.We spoke with Brandy about her new album Yo

Oct 7, 2020 • 31:48

Keith Urban on The Speed of Now Part 1

Keith Urban is a legend of country. He’s been releasing hit records for two decades now. Each album he describes as a portrait of his life in that moment. On his latest work, The Speed Of Now Part 1, has Urban disregarding country convention (as he’s known to do), and collaborating with a diverse roster of musicians who contribute an eclectic array of sounds funk guitar, breakbeat drums and even EDM style programming. The result is less straight ahead country and more the unique sound o

Oct 2, 2020 • 43:27

Mickey Guyton sings truth to Country Music

Mickey Guyton spent a decade of fits and starts trying to make a career in country music. But now in recent months she’s having a country music moment releasing vulnerable songs that use her experiences of rejection, exclusion and racism as inspiration. Charlie speaks with Guyton about her breakout songs “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” and “Black Like Me,” as well as what it took for her to make it onto one of country musics most beloved stages, the American Country Music Awards.Songs Di

Sep 29, 2020 • 55:13

Disclosure: Where Energy Flows

Howard and Guy Lawrence, the brothers behind Disclosure, found global acclaim in 2012 with their song “Latch” ft. Sam Smith which blended house and dubstep in a doo-wop time signature. Since, they have collaborated with many of pop’s most sought after vocalists (The Weeknd, Lore and Khalid to name a few) in an ever evolving vision of dance music. On their latest album release, “Energy,” Disclosure channels sounds and samples from the global south. Listen to find out how they make the en

Sep 22, 2020 • 40:46

THE 5TH — MOVEMENT IV, What Beethoven Would Have Wanted

When we listen closely to the Fifth, we hear a testament to self-expression and determination. Which means that we get to decide how to honor this symphony today, whether that means taking a break from Beethoven to commission new works from underrepresented composers, bringing new audiences into the fold by staging concerts in communities outside of the concert hall, or re-writing Beethoven’s works to make them reflect our present moment. Featuring:Anthony McGill, ClarinetAndrea Moore,

Sep 18, 2020 • 31:23

THE 5TH — MOVEMENT III, Putting the Classism in Classical

Before Beethoven’s time, classical music culture looked and sounded quite different. When Mozart premiered his Symphony 31 in the late 1700s, it was standard for audiences to clap, cheer, and yell “da capo!” (Italian for “from the beginning!”) in the middle of a performance. After Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony debuted in the early 1800s, these norms changed — both because the rising industrial merchant class took ownership of concert halls and because of shifts in the music itself.As we ex

Sep 15, 2020 • 32:22

THE 5TH — MOVEMENT II, From Struggle to Victory

In the first movement of his famous symphony, Beethoven sets up a battle between hope and despair. The dark side of that spectrum is represented by the anguished opening notes of the first movement: DUN DUN DUNNN. Over the course of the next three movements, Beethoven keeps trying to overcome his dark fate with bright major melodies, and keeps getting defeated.With each high and low, we begin to understand that this battle isn't just about major and minor keys, it's about the will to li

Sep 11, 2020 • 28:04

THE 5TH — MOVEMENT I, A Battle Brewing

You know Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. You’ve heard it in films, advertisements, parodied in Saturday morning cartoons and disco-ized in Saturday Night Fever. The Fifth Symphony is a given, so much so that it blends into the background. You know this piece, but how well? Of all the symphonies of the bewigged classical "greats," why is this one still stuck in our heads over two centuries later?To answer these questions, we’re giving Beethoven’s famous symphony the same treatment we give to

Sep 8, 2020 • 27:48

Announcing THE 5TH with The New York Philharmonic

A podcast mini-series in IV movements explaining and reconsidering Beethoven’s game-changing symphony. Episodes air Tuesdays & Fridays starting Sept 8th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 4, 2020 • 1:26

The Resistance is Dancing in the Streets (ICYMI)

Our Switched on Summer Throwback Series continues with “Dancing in the Street,” the 1964 Motown hit by Martha and the Vandellas that was co-written by none other than Marvin Gaye. Over 50 years and countless covers later, we explore how this song still manages to get people off their feet and onto the streets—not just to dance, but also to raise their voices in joy, catharsis, and protest.SPONSORWe use Reason Studios to make music on Switched On Pop. You can use Reason too free for 30 d

Sep 1, 2020 • 32:13

Benee and the Art of the Sad Banger 

How does it feel to become a global pop star under lockdown? Benee’s “Supalonely” had been out for over 5 months when in March of 2020, it quickly became the second most popular song on TikTok. The song’s hook “I’ve been lonely… Supalonely” clearly reflected a global collective malaise about the pandemic—and people wanted to dance to it. She wrote this “sad banger” to help get over a breakup. And now the song changed her life. Not along before she’d dropped out of college to make music

Aug 26, 2020 • 28:56

90s Music Canon

Matt Daniels, editor of the publication The Pudding, wanted to find out what songs from his youth would last into the future. So he designed a study that would test if Gen-Z had a grip on 90s culture. Hundreds of thousands of participants provided over 3 million data points. Daniels parsed through the data for insights. Sadly, the majority of his most beloved songs have not survived even one generation. Though most had been forgotten, he found that just a few songs had staying power acr

Aug 18, 2020 • 38:04

Bruno Major restyles the Great American Songbook

Bruno Major blends old song structures from The Great American Songbook with contemporary production on his new album “To Let A Good Thing Die.” The result is a nostalgic, yet contemporary collection of love songs for the Netflix and chill generation. We speak with Bruno Major about how he draws inspiration from the past to craft something new. He breaks down his songs "Nothing," "To Let A Good Thing Die," and "The Most Beautiful Thing," which he wrote with Finneas. And we unpack how Br

Aug 11, 2020 • 47:00

Black Is King (ICYMI Beyoncé's Gift To Africa ft. Ivie Ani)

Beyoncé' has released "Black Is King," a visual album based off of music that she released last year. We're rerunning that piece so that you can place the visual component of "Black Is King" in context to the music. For the live action remake of the Lion King, Beyoncé, (who voices Nala in the film), recorded and curated a companion soundtrack called The Gift. She worked with leading Afropop stars to expose the music of the continent to a global audience. In her piece, “Diversity Is in t

Aug 4, 2020 • 39:00

folklore: taylor swift's quarantine dream

Taylor Swift has released folklore, her unexpected eighth studio album. It is an understated work that firmly puts celebrity gossip behind her (there are no who's-dating-who easter eggs to be found). Instead we're gifted Swift's greatest strength: songwriting. The lyrics blur "fantasy and reality." There are imagined teenage love trysts, recreated dynasties and intimate reflections on modern love. We break down the sounds and lyrics that make up Swift's strongest album yet.SONGS DISCUSS

Jul 28, 2020 • 40:48

The Women Reclaiming Nu-Metal ft. Rina Sawayama

Nu-Metal, the mid 90s creation that blended metal, rap and pop, is one of the most critically derided pop genres. So it is strange that this genre is having a comeback. But whereas its first incarnation was dominated by men, now women are leading the way. Artists like Poppy, Grimes and Rina Sawayama have recast the heavy guitars, sung-rap lyrics and gaudy aesthetic to fight back the patriarchy.CORRECTION: Charlie does not play pinch harmonics, but rather natural harmonicsSONGS DISCUSSED

Jul 21, 2020 • 42:03

Rosie: Investigating a Crime at the Heart of the Music Industry

Listen closely to the start of the 2015 hit "Hey Mama" by David Guetta, Nicki Minaj, Afrojack, and Bebe Rexha and you'll hear voices intoning a chant: "Be my woman, girl, I'll be your man." It's sample from a 1948 recording called "Rosie," and it's the propulsive hook of "Hey Mama," driving the song to over a billion views on YouTube. The voices in the sample belong to CB Cook and ten other unidentified prisoners at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, aka Parchman Farm. These men never

Jul 14, 2020 • 28:04

Song of Summer 2020: TikTok Jams, Protest Anthems, Breezy Bops & Bummer Bangers

The 2020 song of summer competition is underway. We asked you for your favorite songs and put them in a head-to-head tournament. Find out which is the song for this very unusual summer. ROUND 1 - TikTok JamsSAINt JHN - "Roses" Imanbek Remix Megan Thee Stallion - Savage Remix (Feat. Beyoncé)The Weeknd - Blinding LightsROUND 2 - Protest AnthemsBeyoncé - Black ParadeAnderson .Paak - Lockdown YG - FTPROUND 3 - Breezy BopsDua Lipa - PhysicalChloe x Halle - Do ItHarry Styles - Watermelon Suga

Jul 7, 2020 • 41:48

The Many Colors of Lady Gaga’s ‘Chromatica’

Lady Gaga’s 6th album is a conceptual release about a future that is neither utopian nor dystopian. Despite its sci-fi visuals, the album looks more to the past and present than the future. Chromatica gives us a world that sounds like 90s house music made for this summer’s cancelled Pride parties. It is lyrically somber, but musically upbeat, a productive tension that inspires hope. Gaga shared that she made this album to help her and her ‘little monsters’ dance through the pain. So we

Jun 30, 2020 • 35:32

I Am America (w Shea Diamond and Justin Tranter)

Shea Diamond has experienced so many facets of America as a black trans woman, and with songwriter Justin Tranter, she's woven those experiences into "I Am America," a blistering, funky anthem about community and belonging. Her track is also the theme song for the new HBO show "We're Here," which follows a team of a drag queens bringing drag shows to small towns across the country, challenging our assumptions about who makes up the "real America."We sit down with Diamond and Tranter to

Jun 30, 2020 • 22:22

Baz Luhrmann’s “Sunscreen Song” — The 90s’ Most Unlikely Hit (with Avery Trufelman)

In 1999 filmmaker Baz Luhrmann released the song “Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen,” a 7-minute-long graduation speech set to downtempo electronic music. It was a highly unlikely hit that made its way across continents and eventually into the ears of a young Avery Trufelman via the album NOW That’s What I Call Music Volume 2. For over 20 years, Trufelman has applied the song’s advice to her daily life: “wear sunscreen… be nice to your siblings… do one thing every day that scares you.”

Jun 23, 2020 • 52:54

Jacob Collier on staying creative and his 646 track song “All I Need”

Quarantined in his family’s music room, musician Jacob Collier has been remarkably productive. Known for his polymathic musical talents, Collier has used this time to reflect on, and release new music. His latest song “All I Need,” was created with new technology that let him record remotely with his collaborators Mahalia and Ty Dolla $ign. The song is uplifting. It modulates into arcane keys that evoke the euphoria of newfound love. Collier’s also been convening live streams with artis

Jun 19, 2020 • 35:48

What it means to make music in 2020

The pandemic has upended the art and business of making music. Producing, performing and releasing — every aspect is new and uncharted. The need for social distancing means that it’s unsafe to collaborate in small studios or perform for large crowds — not to mention finding the right thing to sing about in such a charged moment. We’re telling three stories about how artists are working within these constraints: Ricky Reed and John-Robert have found a way to generate a creative spark rem

Jun 16, 2020 • 35:33

Big Floyd And The Influence Of Houston Chopped N Screwed Music

In a Rolling Stone article titled “He Shook The World: George Floyd’s Legendary Houston Legacy”, writer Charles Holmes reveals the musical past of the man who has become an international symbol for justice since his murder. Known as “Big Floyd” in his Houston community, he was part of the city’s Screwed Up Click, a hip-hop collective centered around the now-legendary producer DJ Screw. This underground scene created a style of slowed-down “chopped and screwed” hip-hop that seeped into m

Jun 9, 2020 • 32:07

Carly Rae Jepsen: Meeting The Muse

They say you should never meet your idols, that you’ll only be disappointed. We had this possibility in mind going into our first interview with Carly Rae Jepsen, the pop star who inspired us to start our podcast Switched on Pop when Nate taught “Call Me Maybe” as a case study in music theory. Six years later and hundreds of pleading emails later, the time had come to meet the muse and unpack her latest offering, Dedicated Side B. In the course of composing her last two albums, E•MO•TIO

May 26, 2020 • 42:14

Why lo-fi is the perfect background music

Lo-Fi hip-hop has emerged as a hugely popular genre and internet subculture. Its millions of loyal fans rely on curated lo-fi playlists and live-streams to write to, study to and even fall asleep to. Heck, we even wrote a good chunk of our book to Spotify’s lo-fi beats playlists. There’s just something about those ambient, spacey, plodding beats that place us in a state of determined zen. But what of its musical roots? Who are its stars? And why, despite its mass following on YouTube, S

May 19, 2020 • 37:42

Eurovision Lives! (with Netta)

Like many events, the international song competition Eurovision 2020 has been canceled. Sadly, there will be no champion crowned this year... or will there?! Charlie and Nate comb through the emotional, the catchy, and the downright bizarre entries, then—with some help from our audience and 2018 Eurovision winner Netta—pick the best song in all the land. Come for the Lithuanian moose dance, stay for the unshakeable power of pop glory in a world gone mad.Songs discussedNetta - ToyNetta -

May 12, 2020 • 42:20

How To Soundtrack A Villain: Killing Eve

When BBC America reached out to do a piece about the music of Killing Eve, we jumped at the opportunity. The series antagonist, Villanelle, is an unpredictable assassin. On a dime she shifts from cold and calculating to child-like and jocular. Her personality swings are accompanied by a captivating psychedelic pop soundtrack. Whether you are familiar with the series or not, this no spoilers episode breaks down music from the 1960s that has earned its place on primetime. SPONSORED BY BBC

May 5, 2020 • 39:36

Did Fiona Apple Just Release a Perfect Album?

Since 1996, Fiona Apple has only ever had one hit, “Criminal.” Nonetheless, every album she’s released has been nominated for a Grammy. Her newest work, Fetch The Bolt Cutters, has received near universal acclaim. Apple’s songs are simultaneously idiosyncratic and relatable, tackling unusual themes for pop songs: middle school bullies, uncomfortable dinner conversation, toxic masculinity and female friendship. Apple accompanies her idiosyncratic lyrics with homemade percussion and only

Apr 28, 2020 • 35:24

Doja Cat’s “Say So” is a Masterclass in Good Times

Doja Cat has gatecrashed the Top 40 with her effervescent hit “Say So.” How did this Internet personality best known for a song whose chorus is “B***h, I’m a cow!” join the ranks of Dua Lipa, Drake, and The Weeknd? The answer involves a voice that careens from gentle soul to fierce rapping, a catchy chorus that grabs you from the first measure, and most importantly, interpolating the guitar patterns of Nile Rodgers, the secret sauce behind four decades of smash hits. Songs featured:Doja

Apr 21, 2020 • 30:46

Were We Wrong About Kanye West?

A lot of people miss the old Kanye. The last time we reviewed his music was back in 2016 when he released the work-in-progress album “The Life Of Pablo.” Since then, Kanye has put out four albums: Ye, Kids See Ghost (with Kid Cudi), Jesus Is King, and Jesus Is Born (with the Sunday Service Choir). In the same period he’s also caused a media ruckus with his union to the Kardashian family and his foray into political punditry. His public persona has largely overshadowed his musical offeri

Apr 14, 2020 • 47:50

Aussie2Aussie: 5SOS on Tame Impala (with Luke Hemmings & Calum Hood)

The band 5 Seconds Of Summer have just released their fourth studio album, Calm. Lead vocalist Luke Hemmings and bassist Calum Hood join us to talk about some of Australia’s biggest hits. In the first half of our conversation we discuss the catchy rhythms and vocals in Tame Impala’s song “Borderline,” a song driven more by vibe than conventional structures. Then on side B, 5SOS break down their new single single “Wildflower” and its countless 80s references. One sound in particular, the “stab” o

Apr 7, 2020 • 37:16

The (murder) Ballad of Joe Exotic “Tiger King” (with Robert Moor)

Scandal and intrigue surround Joe Exotic, the central character of the new Netflix documentary Tiger King. Among the many bizarre traits of this zoo keeper, Exotic tries his hand at country music. Interspersed throughout the series, Joe sings about his love of big cats as well as his hatred for his nemesis in a gruesome murder ballad. But it turns out that amongst his many lies, Exotic’s country career may be yet another fabrication. Charlie speaks with journalist Robert Moor, host of t

Apr 5, 2020 • 37:11

D’Angelo and the Legacy of Voodoo (with Faith Pennick)

In the year 2000, D'Angelo released Voodoo—with some help from Questlove, Angie Stone, Raphael Saadiq, and a band of jazz veterans—an album that has cast a long shadow with its unique sound of stripped-down soul, Faith Pennick, who literally wrote the book on the record, joins to break how D'Angelo broke the "shiny suit" regime of R&B, explore how he conjured the spirits of J Dilla, Prince, and Roberta Flack, and consider how one video almost derailed his career.Check out D'Angelo's

Mar 31, 2020 • 44:44

"Happy Birthday" is the Worst (with Anne-Marie)

With Nate’s birthday around the corner, it’s time to admit that our go-to birthday song is actually the worst to sing to someone. There are reasons both musicological and cultural why this wooden celebratory number needs to go, ranging from funereal rhythms to Wagnerian opera to the Wizard of Oz. Tune in to uncover the horror of “Happy Birthday” and consider some of the alternatives on offer, including a recent Anne-Marie hit that takes birthday wishes and turns them around 180º.Songs D

Mar 24, 2020 • 34:24

Bad Bunny Has A Message For Your Mom

Latin Trap megastar Bad Bunny may be best known to American audiences for his feature on Cardi B’s #1 “I Like It’, but the Puerto Rican native is known to music-lovers worldwide for more than just those few bars. Bunny started off as a student in Universidad de Puerto Rico studying audio visual communications. He was bagging groceries at a supermarket in PR when he posted his song ‘Diles’ on SoundCloud. That moody, 808-fueled track turned into a record deal, as well as huge feature oppo

Mar 17, 2020 • 35:50

The Fire & Fury Of Overcoats

Gone are the days of a clear dividing line between “mainstream pop” and “conscious” music. Many of the world’s highest-grossing pop stars are climbing the charts with lyrics that seem to get right at the very weight of human existence. They’re tackling climate change, and drug addiction, crippling anxiety, inequality, sexism and racism. It’s a fascinating shift to witness.That’s why this week, we’re especially thrilled to be chatting with folk-pop duo Overcoats. JJ Mitchell and Hana Eli

Mar 10, 2020 • 38:33

Can't Help Falling in Lauv (the interview)

This week, Charlie talks to Lauv, the singer, songwriter and producer behind unfailingly catchy tracks such as “Mean It” and “I Like Me Better.” Lauv’s a master at making the sad feel fun—masking themes of anxiety and betrayal with upbeat, percussive production. He even does a bit of the opposite, too, by infusing his joyful songs with vulnerability and emotional complexity. You’ll soon be able to hear all of that and more on his debut studio album, ~how I’m feeling~, out later this wee

Mar 3, 2020 • 33:56

What Happens When Justin Bieber Samples Your Music

When Bristol-based producer Laxcity logged onto Twitter to find out that Justin Bieber sampled his music, he was at first unphased. The sampled material came from a royalty-free sample pack on Splice.com, free for Splice users to add to their track. Then accusations of theft started rolling in. Another artist, Asher Monroe, had used the same sample just a few weeks earlier and he accused Bieber of copying the idea. Laxcity inserted himself into the argument to show that the so-called of

Feb 25, 2020 • 35:06

Return Of The Guitar: Halsey, 5 Seconds of Summer, Joji

In 2019 guitar made a comeback in the top 10. According to analysis from Hit Songs Deconstructed, about a third of all songs featured the electric guitar, a nearly 10% jump from the year before. In 2020 this trend isn’t stopping. Recent releases by Halsey, 5 Seconds of Summer and Joji all prominently feature electric guitars tones. They reference 90s nu-metal, grunge and metal genres. More than a nostalgic nod, these songs draw from an era that was self-consciously “alternative” to conv

Feb 18, 2020 • 27:44

Look At Selena Gomez Now with Justin Tranter & Ian Kirkpatrick

Selena Gomez has her first #1 song on the Hot 100. “Lose You To Love Me” is a confessional look at her past five years of heartbreak and health challenges. By contrast, her single “Look At Her Now” is a testament to moving on and moving up. Each of these songs inhabits a different musical and lyrical world and we were lucky to get to speak with her collaborators on the songs to take us behind the scenes of how they came to be. Justin Tranter and Ian Kirkpatrick are two of today’s most i

Feb 11, 2020 • 37:56

Five Directions: How do the solo efforts of One Direction stack up?

The boy band One Direction has been on hiatus for nearly five years, yet only now have all of the members of the group released a solo album. But how do these efforts from Niall, Liam, Harry, Louis and Zayn stack up? Vox Writer (and One Direction fan) Alexa Lee compares albums as a challenge for each member to rise to their greatest artistic potential.SONGS DISCUSSED Zayn - Let Me Zayn - Entertainer Niall Horan - Nice To Meet You Niall Horan - Put A Little Love On Me Liam Payne - Strip

Feb 4, 2020 • 36:40

Post Malone has us Running in Circles

Post Malone has confounded your hosts since he emerged on the scene, so this week we sit down to try and get to the bottom of our cycles of attraction and repulsion through deep analysis of his current hit, "Circles." Along the way, we discuss trenchant questions such as: How is the minor IV always the saddest of all chords? Why does Posty tend to sound like a certain ruminant mammal? And, what happens when you plug Tchaikovsky into a Wu Tang name generator?Songs Discussed: Post Malone

Jan 28, 2020 • 40:14

Hopes and Fears of Mac Miller, Future, Drake, and Billie Eilish

Mac Miller, Future and Billie Eilish all have good and bad news to share. On Miller’s posthumous album, Circles, he exposes personal struggles with fame, addiction, and mental illness — sobering topics given his unintentional drug overdose last year. Yet at the same time we hear him searching for “good news,” practicing self care and accepting that “there's a whole lot more” waiting. Future & Drake’s celebration of material excess also finds them “working on the weekend” just to kee

Jan 21, 2020 • 44:07

Dua Lipa’s Disco Fever

Dua Lipa remembers the disco era in her hit “Don’t Start Now.” What may sound like just another dance floor track, upon deeper listening unfolds as a celebration of the genre. References to Gloria Gaynor, Chic, Giorgio Moroder and The Bee Gees are all waiting here for the curious listener to uncover. But so are the Italian and Daft Punk inspired bass lines. Yet the song is more than just one big disco ball cliché. It is brilliantly written too. We asked our listeners to help us highligh

Jan 14, 2020 • 38:54

ICYMI: Chance The Rapper, Kehlani, & The Shifting Sound of R&B — with Oak Felder

The sound of R&B is difficult to pin down. Since the 1950s, the label has been used both as a genre and as a catch-all for the entirety of black popular music. Soul, funk, disco and even hip-hop have at times been covered by this "R&B" umbrella. On Chance The Rapper's new album, The Big Day, all of these influences come through—and he's not alone. On recent Kehlani records, 90s R&B and 2000s trap both play a role. But both these artists are a far cry from the 50s R&B sou

Jan 7, 2020 • 55:53

ICYMI: Billie Eilish is a Different Kind of Pop Star (ft. FINNEAS)

On a trajectory to be one of the biggest pop stars for this generation, seventeen year old Billie Eilish is not, however, your typical pop star. Her music speaks to the real anxieties of young people without any veneer. She sings from the perspective of monsters and villains. Her hushed voice, baggy style, and direct demeanor subvert the norms of the pop princess. And her music is dark, but still catchy. Billie co-writes and produces her sound with her older brother Finneas O’Connell. T

Dec 31, 2019 • 46:49

Dolly Parton's America (with Jad Abumrad)

There are icons, and then there’s Dolly Parton. The country singer-turned-actress-turned-cultural phenomenon has produced a nearly unparalleled body of work, in both quantity (Parton is the sole or co-author of more than three thousand songs) and in legacy. Despite releasing her first album over 60 years ago, Parton’s songs are still covered and performed live by today’s pop artists. Presidential candidates are still selecting her songs as official walk-on music. So what is it exactly t

Dec 24, 2019 • 40:50

Who's Afraid of the Sound of TikTok? (w Cat Zhang)

Bass distorted to the edge of audibility; voices croaking out dark and violent lyrics; a hacked-together DIY aesthetic. This isn't a fringe musical movement, this is the sound of TikTok, the video app used by millions in Generation Z. And soon enough it might also be the sound of pop as we know it. Cat Zhang from Pitchfork stops by to clue us into the sonic reality of music's newest platform, from Gordon Ramsay to pumpkins screaming in the dead of night.Songs Discussed Savage Ga$p, 93FE

Dec 17, 2019 • 36:08

Paper Planes, Chandelier & What the #@%! is Timbre? (with Constance Grady)

We hand over the hosting duties to Constance Grady, book reviewer for Vox.com, to discuss our new book/baby - Switched on Pop: How Popular Music Works and Why it Matters, and go deep on two specific concepts we haven’t touched nearly enough on the show: timbre (with the help of Sia’s “Chandelier) and sampling (via M.I.A.’s iconic “Paper Planes). The book of course goes further, devoting a full chapter each to sixteen different concepts we’ve explored on the show (think harmony, modulati

Dec 10, 2019 • 39:43

Prelude & Feud on a 'G' Thang: Biggie vs Tupac

The East Coast / West Coast hip hop feud between Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls is full of tragedy and conspiracy, but what did it really sound like? For the third season of of the hit podcast Slow Burn, host Joel Anderson and producer Christopher Johnson dig up untold stories about this infamous rivalry, and they join Nate and Charlie to break down boom bap, G Funk, and the surprising points of overlap between two titans of rap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.co

Dec 3, 2019 • 45:11

Pop is the Sound We Need Right Now (with Electric Guest)

Electric Guest (Asa Taccone and Matthew Compton) take a left turn towards pop on “Dollar" — a song about making more out of less, something too many people find themselves to do right now. The music follows the same principle, turning cheap synths and canned horns into a symphony of sound. We chat with Asa about how the track — equally inspired by Stevie Wonder and Bertolt Brecht —came to be and why pop can be a balm in dark times.Songs FeaturedElectric Guest - DollarStevie Wonder - Upt

Nov 26, 2019 • 41:32

The Past, Present, and Future of EMO (with Allegra Frank)

Nate doesn’t know much about the musical style known as emo. Sadly, he was too busy nerding out on jazz during his youthful years to catch the moment. That’s a shame, because emo is experiencing a revival right now - most surprisingly within the world of hip hop. All of which leaves Nate in the awkward position of not really having any idea what’s going on, so thank goodness for some schooling by Vox culture reporter Allegra Frank, who spent her teenage years the right way: getting emot

Nov 19, 2019 • 53:13

When Pop and Classical Collide (with James Bennett II)

Once upon a time, classical music was pop, so today it's worth stepping back and asking: where does one genre stop and the other begin? Can classical ever be popular again? And why do only some classical tracks makes for good samples? Luckily James Bennett II of classical station WQXR is on hand to break down these and other musical conundrums, including but not limited to: killer opera clowns, Bach hip hop hybrids, and the namesake album of this very podcast.Songs discussed:Dessa and t

Nov 12, 2019 • 1:00:01

Unlocking the Rhythms of Rosalía

Back in the fall of 2017, our producer Megan Lubin went for a stroll near her house, popped in earbuds, and heard a song that’s stuck with her ever since: “Si Tú Supieras Compañero” (“If you only knew, my friend”), by the Spanish pop star Rosalía. Since then, Rosalía’s star has continued, especially after the 2018 release of “El Mal Querer,” Rosalía’s genre-blending album of R&B and flamenco. On this episode, we dig into Rosalía’s sound to try and figure out what stopped Megan in he

Nov 5, 2019 • 49:39

Rihanna Party! (with Gina Delvac)

Last year, NPR Music ran an audacious headline: "Rihanna Is The 21st Century's Most Influential Musician." Millions and millions of fans the world over agree, and while we try to avoid overt expressions of pop favoritism, we think they’ve got a strong case. It’s for that reason and a dozen others that we were thrilled to welcome Gina Delvac of the hit podcast Call Your Girlfriend back to the show to discuss the legendary career of one Ms. Robyn Rihanna Fenty. As we all await her ninth s

Oct 29, 2019 • 55:15

Why U Love 2 Listen 2 Prince (with Anil Dash)

Anil Dash is obsessed with Prince. Since he’s the host of the tech podcast Function, he has a unique perspective on the Purple One’s complicated relationship with technology. Anil joins the show to break down the many ways that Prince predicted the sound and science of modern pop, from drum machines to online distribution to internet culture. We’ll discuss how Michael Jackson jacked Prince’s electronic experimentation for Thriller, why Prince liked to lurk in fan chat rooms, and how he

Oct 22, 2019 • 34:29

A Brief History of Men Singing Really High

Men singing high is so ubiquitous in modern pop that we might take it granted, never pausing to ask: has it always been this way? Estelle Caswell, who makes the Emmy-winning Earworm series for Vox, decided to find out, and she stops by to share results from her painstaking study of male falsetto in pop music from 1958 to today. Some of her findings may surprise, like 1996 was the peak year for falsetto, Justin Timberlake doesn't sing as you high at might think, and falsetto has been aro

Oct 15, 2019 • 46:56

Total Request Live! Taylor, Lana, Kim, and More (with Sam Sanders)

NPR's Sam Sanders stops by to break down the tracks that Switched On listeners have been loving. Swedish dancefloor confessionals, songs that stop time, the specificity of Lana Del Rey, and the awkwardness of descending fourths: it's all on the table in this freewheeling conversation of deep musical nerdiness.Songs DiscussedTove Lo ft Kylie Minogue - Really don’t like uCamila Cabello - LiarAce of Base - All That She WantsTyler the Creator - EARFQUAKETaylor Swift - Cruel SummerLana Del R

Oct 7, 2019 • 42:48

Mastering Music (with Dallas Taylor of Twenty Thousand Hertz)

Dallas Taylor, host of the stellar sound design series Twenty Thousand Hertz, stops by to fill Nate in on the science and style of mastering: the subtle art that explains why Metallica had to re-release a controversial album, Kanye sounds so crisp, and why the best pop really pops. Songs DiscussedLizzo - JuiceKanye West - HeartlessLed Zeppelin - Stairway to heavenPink Floyd - MoneyDaft Punk - Get LuckyMetallica - The Day That Never ComesDJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - He's the DJ

Oct 1, 2019 • 56:38

Jazz 1959

Charlie's out on parental leave, which means no one is here to stop Nate from going off the rails. And you know what means... JAZZ! As soon as dad left the room, Nate enlisted his favorite journalist, jazz and sports writer Natalie Weiner, to come on the show and discuss her incredible 1959 Project — a day-by-day chronicle of jazz during one of its most pivotal years. We listen to classic 1959 albums Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and Dave Brubeck's Take Out, discuss the complex legacy of B

Sep 24, 2019 • 49:09

BONUS: Charli XCX and The Future of Music (with Dani Deahl)

The pace of new music releases these days is dizzying. Sometimes it’s like watching someone do a magic trick--we *swear* those songs weren’t there a second ago! But then, there they are, popping up in batches right out of thin air. Of course, behind each individual release sits months of decision-making by the artist: who to collaborate with and when, how to structure the musical product of that collaboration, what to call it, how to release it, when, and on what platform. The list is l

Sep 22, 2019 • 34:46

The “Baby Shark” Phenomenon (with Andrea Silenzi)

For most parents, “Baby Shark” is the nightmare that will not end. Ever since the South Korean educational company Pinkfong released the song earlier this year, it’s almost impossible to avoid.The infectious children’s tune has more than 2.3 billion views on YouTube and made it onto the Billboard Top 40 list. So what makes this song so catchy and irresistible to children? And how do the rest of us cope with the unavoidable hit while keeping our sanity?Andrea Silenz, host of the parentin

Sep 17, 2019 • 36:52

BONUS: Who are the Picassos of pop? (with Ross Golan)

Ross Golan is no stranger to Switched on Pop. This week, the songwriter and host of the hit podcast And The Writer Is… joins Charlie for a BONUS episode (cue siren) about the surprising lessons learned from a collective seven years behind the interview mic. Tune in as Ross and Charlie discuss the infinite shelf-life of classic songwriting techniques, the happy accidents behind some of your favorite hit songs, and the essential qualities of a good listener.Find more Ross on Switched on P

Sep 13, 2019 • 47:24

Switched Off Book the Improvised Musical (with Jess McKenna and Zach Reino)

On this very special episode, we join forces with the hilarious podcast OFF BOOK. When our powers combine, Zach and Jess of Off Book, plus their killer backing band of Scott, Dana and Brett create an improvised musical, while Nate and Charlie break down the sound and structure of a Broadway show. Stay tuned for deep thoughts about what separates pop music from musicals, wild speculation about the origin of the word “vamp,” and an ENTIRE FREAKING MUSICAL COMPOSED FROM SCRATCH that will m

Sep 10, 2019 • 1:31:41

ICYMI: How to 'Make Me Feel' with Lizzo

"Make Me Feel," is the first hit from Janelle Monáe's 2018 album Dirty Computer,  and a sensual song about the fluidity of desire. In the pre-chorus, the singer proudly expresses that she is a "sexual bender." Fans have embraced the song for breaking free of normative sexual expectations. But these non-binary statements aren't limited to the lyrics. The message is reinforced with musical concepts drawn from the blues, Prince and Michael Jackson. To help break down this track, Nate and C

Sep 3, 2019 • 52:16

ICYMI: Why is 90s Pop so Bizarre?

Today we're revisiting an episode inspired by a pair of classic VH1 shows: “Behind the Music” and “Where Are They Now?”Our subjects are two songs representing the lunatic fringe of 90s culture, “Cotton Eyed Joe” and “How Bizarre.”In the course of our musicological investigation, we uncover dark truths about these seemingly anodyne hits that will make you question everything you know about pop music.And in the end, we reach a definitive answer to a perennially vexing question: “WTF was 9

Aug 27, 2019 • 48:30

Songs of Summer Call-in Special

Every year, critics and media outlets the world over put out definitive song-of-summer guides based on... well, we’re not always entirely sure. Certainly popularity, as measured by streams and radio play; not to mention that bewildering feeling that creeps up some time mid-July, prompting whispered exclamations of: “man, this song is everywhere.” But the most ubiquitous track isn’t necessarily the one you’ll have on repeat on those steamy summer commutes to work, nor is it the song you’

Aug 20, 2019 • 53:59

Chance The Rapper, Kehlani, & The Shifting Sound of R&B — with Oak Felder

The sound of R&B is difficult to pin down. Since the 1950s, the label has been used both as a genre and as a catch-all for the entirety of black popular music. Soul, funk, disco and even hip-hop have at times been covered by this "R&B" umbrella. On Chance The Rapper's new album, The Big Day, all of these influences come through—and he's not alone. On recent Kehlani records, 90s R&B and 2000s trap both play a role. But both these artists are a far cry from the 50s R&B sou

Aug 13, 2019 • 55:19

Beyoncé's Gift To Africa (with Ivie Ani)

For the live action remake of the Lion King, Beyoncé, (who voices Nala in the film), recorded and curated a companion soundtrack called The Gift. She worked with leading Afropop stars to expose the music of the continent to a global audience. In her piece, “Diversity Is in the Details: What Beyoncé’s 'The Lion King: The Gift' Gets Right and Wrong,” Okayplayer music editor Ivie Ani argues that the album highlights music while unintentionally treating the continent as a monolith. Ani join

Aug 6, 2019 • 38:45

LCD Soundsystem and the Unbearable Sameness of Restaurant Playlists

Why is it that every hip restaurant plays the same music? When Eater restaurant editor Hillary Dixler Canavan kept hearing similar songs while dining for work assignments, she compiled a playlist of what she heard. It included songs by LCD Soundsystem, M83, Grimes, Biggie, Beck and the like. Her subsequent article about this music, “This Is Every Generically Cool Restaurant’s Playlist,” went viral.She’d captured the elusive sound of small plate dining. But what left her guessing was why

Jul 30, 2019 • 35:54

The $50M Beat Marketplace That Broke the Billboard

Lil Nas X licensed the beat for “Old Town Road” from an e-commerce platform. He originally bought a non-exclusive copy of the backing track for just $29.99 from a 19 year old Dutch record producer called YoungKio. And he’s not the first hitmaker to do so. Desiigner, Bryson Tiller and Queen Naija have all made hit songs from internet beats. These beats are big business. The arguable market leader, BeatStars, has paid its producers over $50M since its inception in 2008. The platform allow

Jul 23, 2019 • 30:38

Shawn Mendes and the Rhythm of Rhyme

Shawn Mendes’ hit song “If I Can’t Have You” is so ridiculously catchy that Charlie had it stuck in his head after the first chorus. How is that possible?! Declamation, or the way that text is set to music, is a big part of the song’s appeal—every word that Mendes sings is perfectly in rhythm. In this episode we use Mendes’ latest track to explore creative declamation throughout history. How do artists from Whitney Houston to Queen to Taylor Swift keep finding new ways to sing the word

Jul 16, 2019 • 33:49

Space, The Final Frontier: Madonna, Stephen Puth and Street Studios

Find out how music creates a feeling of space in this three part episode. First, we may not realize it when we listen to Madonna's new record, but the location of her music is essential. In exploring her catalogue we hear the sound of different eras by just the space evoked in a song. Second, the same is true for Stephen Puth who uses spacial effects for brilliant creative purposes on his song "Look Away." When music is recorded in a studio with perfect acoustics, engineers manipulate t

Jul 9, 2019 • 59:28

What BTS's "Boy With Love" ft. Halsey Can Teach Us About K-pop

How should we listen to K-pop? This music has become a global phenomenon, charting on the Billboard Hot 100, taking over social media feeds, and touring the world. In particular, the group BTS has captured the ears of millions, building an Army of fans along the way. As uninitiated listeners, the language and culture barrier left us uncertain about how to approach listening to, let alone breaking down their music. So we sought out the support of Dr, Suk-Young Kim, Professor of Critical

Jul 2, 2019 • 40:53

"Prince Ali" and Why We're All Music Theorists

Fans are not happy with Will Smith's update of the classic Disney song "Prince Ali" in the live-action Aladdin. Their complaint? The new "Prince Ali" is slow, sluggish, and dull. Indeed, the Smith version is 8 BPM (beats per minute) slower than Robin Williams's 1992 original—a subtle musical detail. We dig into the properties of tempo and key to understand why people have such a visceral reaction to a relatively small change and consider whether it suggests that we—meaning all of us hum

Jun 25, 2019 • 30:15

Why Does Every Intro Sound Like It's Underwater? (Live)

Ever notice that wobbly, drunken and underwater sound common in so many contemporary pop songs? In an era of pristine recording quality, music producers are referencing old and impure technologies to add character to their recordings. Digital cassette hiss, tape wobble, and vinyl crackle are intentionally added to productions as a facsimile of "authentic" recording technology. Why the sudden nostalgia? Where does this underwater sound come from? What does it mean? How is it made? Find o

Jun 18, 2019 • 26:35

The Man Behind the Rocketman with Giles Martin

Rocketman is a spectacle the size of Elton John, four films in one. It contains a biopic, jukebox musical, addiction recovery story and a romance between friends. The soundtrack ties the story together by taking historical liberties to tell a fantastical story about one of the best living songwriters. Charlie is joined by Vox’s film critic, Alissa Wilkinson to breakdown the film and deconstruct how its melodic themes create an emotional arc. He also speaks with Giles Martin (son of 5th

Jun 11, 2019 • 52:51

The Greatest Pop Stories Never Told (with Jessica Hopper)

On the KRCW series Lost Notes, Jessica Hopper plumbs pop music history for the most important stories never told. She brings us a bevy of lost gems, from Fanny, an all-female quartet of rockers that was one of David Bowie's favorite bands, to the Freeze a late-70s punk outfit now coming to terms with the offensive lyrics of their youth. Tune in to discover another side of pop, one that's rarely been heard. Songs Discussed:Fanny - Charity Ball (Live Version)Fanny - Ain't that PeculiarThe

Jun 4, 2019 • 42:50

Should You Care About Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber?

A pop star collaboration is a foolproof way to grab the attention of two audiences at once. But do more collaborators actually make a better song? Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber put this question to the test in their new song "I Don't Care." The track takes us inside the head of an antisocial party hopper, who'd rather be back home with his lover. Nate and Charlie investigate how the songwriters works that message into their music and speak with Ross Golan about Ed Sheeran's songwriting b

May 28, 2019 • 53:29

The Smooth Sound of NPR Morning News

What do Bach and smooth jazz have in common? Both score the unmistakable theme song for NPR's flagship show Morning Edition, listened to by millions across the country every day since 1979. This is undeniably pop music, a daily soundtrack to the lives of many. So why does it sound the way it does? And why, after forty years, why does NPR want to change it?Featuring:BJ Leiderman - Morning Edition Chuck Mangione - Feels So GoodHerbie Hancock - ChameleonGeorge Benson - Breezin'Kenny G - So

May 21, 2019 • 41:25

Is There An Indie Rock Conspiracy? (Featuring Joywave)

Many people write us with musical maladies and conspiracies. A recent one caught our attention. Daniel Armbruster, lead vocalist of indie band Joywave, has been hearing the same melody in tracks across the Alternative Songs charts. He believes that this hook could be the secret to securing a spot on the Billboard 100. Nate and Charlie investigate this issue, traveling from the contemporary charts all the way back to a fundamental musical scale. The stakes are high: is it possible to hac

May 15, 2019 • 31:15

Lizzo And The End of Genre (with Sam Harris of X Ambassadors)

On her new album, Cuz I Love You, Lizzo shows off her genre bending musicality. We speak with X Ambassadors lead singer, Sam Harris, who helped co-write three songs on the album, including its eponymous track. We discuss how Lizzo's songs glide across sixties soul, seventies rock rock, eighties new wave, and nineties hip-hop. But we find that her music is much more than a history lesson in genre. Lizzo's writes vulnerable and courageous lyrics about self love, body positivity, female em

May 7, 2019 • 51:16

Taylor Swift Causes a PANIC!

When a listener asked us about the "sorcery" behind Taylor Swift's new song "ME!" we knew we had to investigate. And because the track features Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco, we couldn't resist digging into their concurrent hit "High Hopes." Along the way we cover baby talk, dreamy augmented chords, drumlines, and songs with exclamation points in their titles — all to explain why you can't get these two out of your head.Featuring:Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie - ME!Swift - Sh

Apr 30, 2019 • 41:35

Sounds Like Teen Spirit (with Elle Fanning)

Pop is inseparable from reality TV singing competitions. From Eurovision to American Idol, scores of stars got their start in singing competitions. We’ve long overlooked this influence on pop, but were inspired to look into the phenomenon by the release of Teen Spirit, a pop-musical film about a fictional singing competition . What is the history of these shows? Who got their big break on one? Is there a singing show musical aesthetic? We hit the books and records to find out, and the a

Apr 23, 2019 • 55:58

Lil Nas X: Country at the Crossroads

Lil Nas X currently holds the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his surprise hit “Old Town Road.” But though the song is dripping with country twang, you won’t find it anywhere on the country charts. That’s because Billboard removed it, on the grounds of not having enough “musical elements” of country—a move that in turn left many wondering if the vanishing had something to do with Lil Nas X, a black artist, venturing into a field dominated by white musicians. We dig deep into

Apr 16, 2019 • 42:39

Billie Eilish is a Different Kind of Pop Star (ft. FINNEAS)

On a trajectory to be one of the biggest pop stars for this generation, seventeen year old Billie Eilish is not, however, your typical pop star. Her music speaks to the real anxieties of young people without any veneer. She sings from the perspective of monsters and villains. Her hushed voice, baggy style, and direct demeanor subvert the norms of the pop princess. And her music is dark, but still catchy. Billie co-writes and produces her sound with her older brother Finneas O’Connell. Together t

Apr 9, 2019 • 46:49

BONUS: Bhi Bhiman's 'Peace of Mind' Episode 1

Switched on Pop is pleased to present Episode 1 of Peace of Mind --the new album (released as a podcast) by singer/songwriter Bhi Bhiman.In this episode Bhi digs into the fear and madness that characterizesso much of this crazy time in America. Guests include author DaveEggers, Snap Judgement's Glynn Washington and renowned socialpsychologist, Lee Ross. The song for this episode is “Brother Can YouSpare Some Peace of Mind?” Subscribe to Peace of Mind here:https://fanlink.to/PeaceofMind

Apr 8, 2019 • 29:22

Bhi Bhiman Puts the Music Before the Message

Bhi Bhiman joins to explain the "nerd punk rock" behind releasing his new album Peace of Mind with an accompanying podcast. Since Bhiman explores issues like deportation on the track "Beyond the Border," there's a lot to say about each song. Even though he tackles tough topics, Bhiman make sure he puts music before the message. "Beyond the Border" summons a vast range of funky influences, from Van Halen to the Allman Brothers, to ask what America really means. Featuring•Bhi Bhiman:Beyon

Apr 2, 2019 • 46:53

Comeback Kids: The Jonas Brothers are Back

After a six year hiatus, Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas are back with a new single and the stakes couldn't be higher. With each brother attaining a higher plane of celebrity during their time off, the three must achieve pop success or face public humiliation. How do they do it? With three ingredients that ensure a hit song in 2019: 1) whistle while you work, 2) Homer the funky drummer, and 3) tune in, turn in, drop out. Songs Featured: Jonas Brothers – SuckerEdward Sharpe and the Magnetic Z

Mar 25, 2019 • 34:27

Lost & Found: The Drama of Pop Form with Emily King

Live from SXSW: Grammy nominee songwriter Emily King didn’t set out to write a perfect pop song with “Remind Me.” Instead, she bent the rules of song structure to fit her message: the magical feeling when you find something you’ve been long missing. Mirroring this theme, the chorus doesn’t come when you expect it. The climax arrives late, after an “aha” moment that fills in the forgotten details. Each instrument fits perfectly together like a lost memory coming into focus. Even after sh

Mar 19, 2019 • 30:42

How Streaming Changed the Sound of Pop

Streaming hasn't just changed the way we listen to music, it's changed the way that pop music sounds. After years of losses due to the death of the CD and the rise of file sharing, the music industry has finally found a profitable business in streaming services. Streaming has overtaken all other music sales. Digital music platforms are the new Virgin megastore. But these services are more than just a distribution mechanism, they have created a whole new music economy. Album sales have b

Mar 12, 2019 • 36:15

Top 40 Activism with Justin Tranter

Can political protest exist within the confines of commercial popular music? Songwriter Justin Tranter is equal parts songwriter and activist. You've likely heard his contributions to songs by Britney Spears, Julia Michaels, Selena Gomez, Janelle Monae and Ariana Grande, but unless you were paying close attention, you may have missed the essential subtext in his work. As an LGBTQ activist and board member of GLAAD, Justin brings his activism into Top 40 pop music lyrically and otherwise

Mar 5, 2019 • 47:08

What Makes An Award Winning Song?

What if music awards were given out for only musical qualities? It may seem like celebrity and spectacle are more important than ever at the 61st Grammy Awards, but we believe many of this years winners earned their accolades with noteworthy music. Still, we thought the winners should be heralded by new, more musical categories. Find out howAnd The Awards Go To:Best Chord Progression: H.E.R. - "Hard Place" & "Focus"Best Throwback: Silk City & Dua Lipa ft. Diplo & Mark Ronson

Feb 20, 2019 • 41:43

What Makes a Song Sexy?

Author Courtney Smith joins to offer her expertise on an urgent topic in advance of Valentine's Day: Can we abstract the sexiest songs of all time into a universal list of arousing musical qualities? We try our best by examining five decades of pop sexiness, discovering lyrical lingerie, and consider the most (and least) seductive instruments.Featuring:Nina Simone - I Want Some Sugar in My BowlDonna Summer - Love to Love You BabyINXS - Need You TonightPortishead - Glory BoxKings of Leon

Feb 5, 2019 • 34:44

The Deep History of '7 Rings'

"7 Rings" is Ariana Grande's latest smash, a glittering banger that owes much to Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 classic "My Favorite Things." 60 years later, Grande updates the track for a modern audience, making her the latest artist to repurpose this anthem from the "Sound of Music." When it comes to Ari's flow, however, questions of appropriation arise. Author Lauren Michele Jackson joins to break down who has the right to repurpose sonic history.Featuring:• Ariana Grande - 7 Rings•

Jan 29, 2019 • 39:03

Do You Believe in Life After Autotune?

Auto-Tune may be the most divisive effect in music. Artists have protested it publicly at the Grammys, and critics have derided the effects for its inauthentic reproduction of the voice. And yet, nearly a decade since Jay-Z prophesied the death of Auto-Tune, the sound is alive and thriving in contemporary pop and hip-hop. Journalist Simon Reynolds has written a definitive history of Auto-Tune for Pitchfork that fundamentally changed how we hear this sound. This deep dive criss crosses g

Jan 23, 2019 • 48:50

Slay Bells, All Year Long

This winter season unwrap a deep dive through a pop subgenre of monumental importance: non-holiday songs that feature sleigh bells, from Bonnie Tyler to Nas, On Side B, we rebroadcast our episode on Mariah Carey's classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You"...and more sleigh bells. Featuring:•The Beach Boys - God Only Knows•Gustav Mahler - 4th Symphony, I•Michael Jackson - Jam•Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart •Miles Davis - On the Corner•Nas - Halftime•Kygo ft. Conrad Sewell - Fi

Dec 26, 2018 • 40:18

Look What You Made Us Do

Four years into Switched On Pop, Charlie and Nate finally reveal what was behind the entire series. We may have not been totally honest with you from the beginning. Back in 2014 we were more pop skeptics than fanatics. The genre was, to some degree, the sugar that made the musical analysis medicine go down. And then something happened. Just as people started to listen to the show, we too began to open our ears. Now, in our 100th episode, Charlie interviews Nate about how transforming th

Dec 11, 2018 • 57:37

Entering Beard Phase with Mike Posner

Mike Posner has written hits for himself like "I Took a Pill in Ibiza," and for stars from Justin Bieber ("Boyfriend") to Maroon 5 ("Sugar"), so he has insights for days on what makes a pop song work.We dig into Mike's excellent new track "Song About You," which leads to an exploration of songs that reuse the same melody for verse and chorus—from Prince to The Boss to Post Malone. Last, we consider "beard phase": a moment of artistic reinvention that every artist has in their career, wh

Nov 27, 2018 • 52:59

How Dirty Projectors Make You Feel Energy (with David Longstreth)

Dirty Projectors are known for their kaleidoscopic soundscapes. They make strange bedfellows of music techniques like 14th vocal harmonies and African guitar rhythms. But in the backdrop of their obscure orchestrations you will hear the indelible marks of pop music. Longstreth has recently collaborated on songs with Solange, Rihanna, Kanye and Paul McCartney. On his new track "I Feel Energy" we can hear that pop influence shine through. Together we break down his unpredictable 808s to s

Nov 13, 2018 • 55:22

Stairway To Hell: Greta Van Fleet’s Scorching Album Review That Went Viral

Classic rock climaxed a half century ago, yet it still survives in two places: FM radio & Greta Van Fleet. The later are an upstart of four boys from Michigan who have found stardom by dusting off the mantle of guitar driven rock. Their latest album, Anthem Of The Peaceful Army, bares an uncanny sonic resemblance to Led Zeppelin. Jeremy D. Larson, senior editor of Pitchfork, gave the album a 1.6 out of 10 calling it "stiff, hackneyed, overly precious retro-fetishism." His vicious an

Oct 30, 2018 • 59:22

Charli XCX and Troye Sivan Love the 90s

Charli XCX and Troye Sivan conjure late 90s nostalgia in their latest banger. "1999" drips with lyrical nostalgia for the last decade of the millennium — but does the music follow suit? We think the pair are missing prime opportunities to bring back some neglected musical tricks from the early oeuvre of Britney Spears.The 90s bug goes beyond Charli and Troye. Anne-Marie and Lauren Alaina also pine for the Clinton era in their millennial bops. Which makes one ask: is the present so bad t

Oct 16, 2018 • 37:36

Sicko Rap and Drunk Country

Four songs on the Hot 100 pop chart reveal the new directions in which music is headed. Travis Scott's "Sicko Mode" boasts an unprecedented formal structure that points to the future of hip hop. Meanwhile, in the world of country, Jason Aldean, Mitchell Tenpenny, and Dan + Shay are putting a modern spin on one of the style's oldest tropes: drinking bourbon. Together these tracks make up the vanguard of their respective genres, but are fans willing to take the plunge?Featuring:Travis Sco

Oct 3, 2018 • 36:13

The Side Effects of Pop Music with Emily Warren

Emily Warren is one of the great rising stars of contemporary songwriting. Her song "Side Effects" with The Chainsmokers is currently rising up the charts. You’ve also heard her writing on Dua Lipa’s "New Rules." She’s collaborated with many of the best performers in music earning her a Grammy and multi-platinum success with “Don’t Let Me Down.” She's also recently released her single "Paranoid." Emily is a real songwriters songwriter. Her process is as much therapy as art. Together we

Sep 18, 2018 • 45:25

Drake vs Drake

Drake, per usual, has been inescapable this summer. "In My Feelings" and "Nice For What" top the charts, but there's depth to these bangers. We argue for hearing one as a meditation on fragile masculinity, the other as a paean to NOLA Bounce.Continue the conversation with us on Instagram and Twitter: @SwitchedOnPopSongs discussed:Drake - In My FeelingsDrake - Nice For WhatLauryn Hill - Ex FactorThe Showboys - Drag Rap (Triggaman)Cameron Paul - Brown BeatCheeky Blakk - Let Me Get That Ou

Sep 6, 2018 • 43:20

Summer Heat of the 2000s: Beyoncé and Black Eyed Peas (Pt. II)

The final episode of our Switched on Summer throwback series finds us deconstructing more early aughts bangers.Under consideration: two of the biggest hits since Y2K, Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" and the Black Eyed Peas' "I Got a Feeling." Tune in to dig how these tracks keeps the temperature rising through harmonic suspension, and to ask if will.i.am cribbed "Chopsticks."Switched On Summer Winner: Slow DanceCongrats to Slow Dance for winning our Switched On Summer contest with their song

Aug 23, 2018 • 27:42

Summer Heat of the 2000s: Nelly + Katy Perry (Pt. 1)

What made summer jams of the aughties like Nelly's "Hot in Herre" and Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" so hot? The answer: big, sweaty, doses of harmonic tension. Specifically, each track relies on the Baroque technique of the ground bass. Wait, we mean: the Baroque technique of PEDAL POINT! When the chords in these songs don't match up with their bass notes, the ratcheting tension adds heat—fueling both dance moves, and controversy.Featuring:Nelly - Hot in HerreKaty Perry - I Kissed a Gi

Aug 9, 2018 • 25:25

Why is 90s Pop so Bizarre?

The Switched on Pop Summer Throwback Series continues! This time, with a deep dive into the musical detritus of the 1990s.In true 90s fashion, our episode is inspired by a pair of classic VH1 shows; "Behind the Music" and "Where Are They Now?"Our subjects are two songs representing the lunatic fringe of 90s culture, "Cotton Eyed Joe" and "How Bizarre."In the course of our musicological investigation, we uncover dark truths about these seemingly anodyne hits that will make you question e

Jul 27, 2018 • 49:41

The Resistance is Dancing in the Streets

Our Switched on Summer Throwback Series continues with "Dancing in the Street," the 1964 Motown hit by Martha and the Vandellas that was co-written by none other than Marvin Gaye.Over 50 years and countless covers later, we explore how this song still manages to get people off their feet and onto the streets—not just to dance, but also to raise their voices in joy, catharsis, and protest.Also, start making your own summer hits with our Switched On Summer repack on Splice at www.splice.c

Jul 12, 2018 • 30:33

Switched on Summer: Getting Around with the Beach Boys

Our Switched on Summer throwback mini-series begins in the heart of the 1960s, with the Beach Boys' perennial school's-out jam "I Get Around."We explore how every aspect of Brian Wilson's two-minute-long masterpiece is perfectly calculated to literally "get around"—harmonically, melodically, and lyrically—creating that unbeatable feeling of cruising all over town with the top down on a hot summer's night.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 28, 2018 • 30:11

The Pure Pop of Charlie Puth + Carly Rae (ft Hanif Abdurraqib)

Part I: The Doctors Are In! We diagnose a listener's musical malady, namely: "why does Charlie Puth's new jam 'BOY' make us feel so weird?!"Part II: Guest Hanif Adburraqib, author of They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, helps break down Carly Rae Jepsen's epic "Cut to the Feeling" to understand why CRJ is a different kind of pop star.Featuring:•Charlie Puth - BOY•Ismael Miranda - Recordando•Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Nobody's Baby•The Beatles - She's a Woman•The Cars - Since Y

Jun 14, 2018 • 46:39

Afrofuturism in Kali Uchis & Clipping (with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes)

Parliament Funkadelic has had waves of influence on popular music. Their Afrofuturist message and infectious grooves built the backbone of 70s funk, was revived in the 90s with Dr. Dre's G-Funk, and is once again in vogue with in the music of Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis. Bootsy Collins, bass player of Parliament Funkadelic, collaborated with Kali Uchis and Tyler the Creator on the track "After The Storm," which draws on the P-Funk sound. Similarly, Clipping pay homag

May 31, 2018 • 49:51

Finding Equanimity In 'No Tears Left To Cry'

Ariana Grande has returned with a track that is jarring yet simultaneously catchy. She uses sophisticated musical techniques to tell a story of healing, resiliency, and hope after the attack at her concert in Manchester. Listeners will learn techniques like tempo rubato, modal interchange and amen breaks, which weave together this equanimous narrative.Songs featured:Ariana Grande - No Tears Left To CryAriana Grande - Into YouAriana Grande - Break Free ft. ZeddThe Winstons - Amen Brother

May 17, 2018 • 38:38

Can AI 'Algorhythms' Write Pop Songs? (With Taryn Southern)

There is a lot of scare about the impending future of artificial intelligence making humans irrelevant. Musician Taryn Southern examines this narrative through her song “Life Support,” written with the aid of AI composition tools. We dispel current myths about AI music and discuss its future opportunities. In the second half of the show we run a musical 'Turing test' to see if you can identify music made by a bot from that composed by the hand of a human.  Learn more about your ad choic

May 3, 2018 • 55:12

Listening Differently to Lorde | with MARIAN HILL

Samantha Gongol and Jeremy Lloyd are songwriting duo Marian Hill and they are here to share their annoyingly sharp insights on music. They come bearing the wistful pop of Lorde's "Ribs," and we deconstruct its primordial roots in classical composers like Scelsi, Beethoven and Haydn. Then, we turn to Marian Hill's new single "Differently" to uncover the subtle musical shifts that outline a complex dialogue lurking among the track's sparse, funky textures.Songs Discussed:Lorde - RibsBroke

Apr 19, 2018 • 45:42

Kacey Musgraves Gives Us Butterflies

On her single 'Butterflies,' Kacey Musgraves demonstrates a tour de force of songwriting. This song is a wild success because it incessantly reinforces one core emotional concept: that queasy anxious feeling in your stomach. No we're not talking about your leftover lunch, we're talking about love. But this is not just a simple little love song. It is a masterclass of creativity. Musgraves uses every element of music to reinforce her core idea. The lyrics fold back onto themselves with d

Apr 5, 2018 • 29:18

Gucci Gang and the Neural Substrate of Subjective Time Dilation

In which Nate tries to convince Charlie that Lil Pump's SoundCloud Rap hit "Gucci Gang" warps the perceptual present.Featuring:Lil Pump - Gucci GangGustav Mahler - Der Abschied / Das Lied von der ErdeFranz Schubert - String Quintet / AdagioConlon Nancarrow - Study for Prepared Piano 21Check out Jonathan Berger's article on musical time in Nautilus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 22, 2018 • 27:23

How to 'Make Me Feel' with Lizzo

"Make Me Feel," is the first hit from Janelle Monáe's upcoming album Dirty Computer. It is a sensual song about the fluidity of desire. In the pre-chorus, the singer proudly expresses that she is a "sexual bender." Fans have embraced the song for breaking free of normative sexual expectations. But these non-binary statements aren't limited to the lyrics. The message is reinforced with musical concepts drawn from the blues, Prince and Michael Jackson. To help break down this track, Nate

Mar 8, 2018 • 52:08

808s & Havana Heartbreak

In Camila Cabello's "Havana" we hear both her Cuban roots and the modern sounds of Atlanta. Though the singer and featured guest Young Thug reference these two geographic identities, the song says so much more through its core musical elements. A Roland TR-808 kick drum evokes an entire repertoire of Atlanta Hip Hop, while the track's supporting piano montuno descends from a Cuban style lamenting the loss of one's traditional home. Also in this episode, we discuss Camila's unlikely path

Feb 22, 2018 • 57:41

My My My! Troye Sivan + Queer Pop (w Gina Delvac, Darryl Bullock)

Gina Delvac of the Call Your Girlfriend podcast and Darryl W Bullock, author of David Bowie Made Me Gay, join Nate and Charlie to dig into the poetry of Troye Sivan's "My My My!", the history of LGBT pop music, and the songs we love to hate.And also be sure to check out:Darryl Bullock's playlist of LGBT pop, from his book David Bowie Made Me Gayand the brilliant Call Your Girlfriend podcast, produced by Gina. Featuring:•Troye Sivan - My My My!•Taylor Swift - Style•West Side Story - Cool

Feb 8, 2018 • 58:32

90s Nostalgia in Bruno Mars and Charlie Puth

The 90s are back. It is as if pop music entered a black hole and came out 25 years in the past. Today's artists are reviving the new jack swing and vocal R&B, creating a wave of 90s nostalgia. Uncover how they trick us into somehow loving those days when we got beat up in the middle school parking lot.Spotify 90s Nostalgia playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/switchedonpop/playlist/3beUwxOxzbTZ8M3aymZlg5Featuring:Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B - FinesseCharlie Puth ft. Boyz II Men - If Y

Jan 25, 2018 • 35:47

Justin Timberlake's Identity Crisis

What's up with Justin Timberlake? Two years ago he gifted us the ebullient family-friendly jam "Can't Stop the Feeling," now he's on the cusp of a deeply serious new record called "Man of the Woods," whose first single, strangely, is a bit of electro-funk snarl expertly produced by long-time collaborators Timbaland and Danja. What's going on here—who is JT trying to be? We listen deep to his latest, "Filthy," to try and understand its creator's conflicting musical worlds. Featuring:Just

Jan 11, 2018 • 37:23

Dua Lipa's Minor Mantra (w Emily Bootle)

Charlie talks laments, Baroque opera, and gender politics in Dua Lipa's sleeper hit "New Rules" with writer Emily Bootle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 28, 2017 • 18:59

All I Want for Xmas is a Year in Review Episode

Charlie and Nate breakdown Mariah Carey's classic "All I Want for Christmas is You" and revisit their favorite tracks of 2017. Sleigh bells abound.Featuring• Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas• Laura Marling - Semper Femina• Lorde - Melodrama• Khalid - Location• Dua Lipa - New Rules• Logic - Everybody / 1-800-273-8255• Childish Gambino - Redbone• Sampha - (No One Knows Me) Like the piano in my mothers house• Father John Misty - Pure Comedy• Jay-Z: 4:44• Perfume Genius - No Shape• A

Dec 14, 2017 • 41:55

Björk's Emotional Landscapes

Björk is uniquely both a pop star and avant-garde composer. Though her music often challenges our ears, underneath her records you'll find more in common with today's pop music than you'd expect. Pieced together, you'll hear that she paints emotional landscapes composed of all the complexities of human experience. We give you a way to enjoy listening to her music. Using this hybrid pop/modernist method, we deconstruct her latest album Utopia. Plus Nate & Charlie fall in love all ove

Nov 30, 2017 • 39:27

Taylor Constructs A Darker Reputation

Taylor Swift unveils a new, darker identity on her latest album "Reputation," and many have read the lyrics on her latest as not-so-subtle volleys in an ongoing celebrity feud. Still, a question remains: how does Swift cast this dark personality in music? Two songs offer evidence. Melodic drops and temporal gaps in "I Did Something Bad" signal the album's themes of descent and decay. On "Getaway Car," however, some of Swift's old songwriting tricks may betray her new persona.We also dug

Nov 16, 2017 • 39:07

Unlikely Mashups: Taylor + Cardi B | Clean Bandit + Berlioz

At the top of the pop charts, Taylor Swift and Cardi B, two artists with seemingly little in common, exploit the same compositional technique to hook listeners in. Meanwhile, across time and space, electro producers Clean Bandit ft. Julia Michaels, channel the thematic tricks of French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz in his 1830 Symphonie Fantastique.FeaturingTaylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do Cardi B - Bodak YellowRight Said Fred - I'm Too SexyClean Bandit ft. Julia Michaels - I

Nov 2, 2017 • 47:10

Kendrick Lamar's HUMBLE deconstructed w. guest Amber Mark

With Charlie off the grid, Nate sits down with singer/producer Amber Mark to explore the different levels of Kendrick's hit HUMBLE.. Then, they turn to the diverse influences (including house music, Carnatic samples, and autodidactic piano chords) behind Mark's own track "Lose My Cool."Featuring:Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.Amber Mark - Lose My CoolAmber Mark - SPACE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 19, 2017 • 31:58

Demi Lovato is Not Sorry

Demi Lovato's latest, "Sorry Not Sorry" is at once an unapologetic anthem of defiance and a super catchy mashup of multiple genres. As we'll see, every small musical choice is here for a reason, together fostering Lovato's message of ascension—or even, transcendence. And as we pick apart "Sorry Not Sorry," we'll go to some surprising places ourselves including: Klezmer melodies, spiritual pretzels and musical dementors. Featuring:•Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry•Cardi B - Bodak Yellow•Dav

Oct 6, 2017 • 37:58

How to 'Feels' the Groove

How does a song with nonsense lyrics capture our attention, making us want to move? It is called the groove. Enter Calvin Harris' "Feels" (ft. Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams and Big Sean). Known for mainstreaming EDM, Harris throws out the software and picks up hardware instruments on this track. Upon first listen, this might seem like a sleeper hit, but as the loop repeats, you're going to want to move your feet. With intricate rhythmic interplay, the bass, drums, keys and guitar seem t

Sep 22, 2017 • 33:16

Anthems of Resilience - Kesha and Imagine Dragons [LIVE]

This episode of Switched on Pop comes at you live from Block Island, RI, recoded in front of an audience of friends and family following a solar eclipse. Fittingly, the two songs discussed that day formed their own kind of syzygy. Kesha's "Praying" and Imagine Dragon's "Believer" are inverse anthems of resilience. Both tracks seek catharsis - one through prayer, the other through pain.FeaturingKesha - Tik TokKesha - PrayingMozart - The Queen of the Night AriaWhitney Houston - I Will Alw

Sep 7, 2017 • 43:38

The Many Worlds of "Despacito"

What has catapulted Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" to the top spot on the Billboard charts? Sorry, typo—to its status as the biggest song in the world? Your hosts explore the many worlds of "Despacito" in search of an answer.Featuring:Lusi Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee - DespacitoLuis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee y Justin Bieber - Despacito (Remix)Luis Fonsi y Juan Luis Guerra - Llegaste TúMajor Lazer ft Justin Bieber - Cold WaterLos Del Rio - MacarenaDaddy Yankee - GasolinaAvril Lavigne -

Aug 10, 2017 • 31:39

Selena Gomez: Bad Liar, Psycho Songwriter

Selena Gomez's "Bad Liar" stands out on the charts by doing things a little differently: it's a subtle, at times even awkward, summer surprise. Breaking down this pop morsel reveals it has teeth, though—and not just because it borrows a bass line from the Talking Heads' macabre "Psycho Killer." This is a fun one. Come along for the ride. Featuring:• Selena Gomez - Bad Liar• Julia Michaels - Issues• Selena Gomez - Same Old Love• Talking Heads - Psycho Killer Learn more about your ad choi

Jul 13, 2017 • 44:09

Breaking Down Alanis Morissette (and our own Preconceptions) with guest Andrea Warner

Author, critic and podcaster Andrea Warner joins for a throwback episode exploring politics in Lilith Fair, harmonic anger in Alanis Morissette's iconic "You Oughta Know," and the blind spots in your host's assessment of women in rock. Featuring:•Alanis Morissette - You Oughta KnowArtists mentioned by Andrea Warner:SZAIbeyiThe OvercoatsLizzo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 29, 2017 • 33:00

Morgan Page Reveals the Rule of 3 in Julia Michaels and Maroon 5

Your brain can only hear three things at the same time. What you may not know is that musicians use this cognitive limitation to guide your listening all the time. Charlie and Nate are joined by Grammy Nominee music producer Morgan Page to reveal the secrets of this ubiquitous technique. Listening to Julia Michaels' hit "Issues," we unveil how the rule of three is used to draw our attention and keep us free from sonic distraction. And we look at how Maroon 5's "Cold" uses the same techn

Jun 16, 2017 • 46:16

DJ Khaled - I'm The One... six... four... five

DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Quavo from Migos and Lil Wayne have allied for a new smash hit: "I'm The One." Despite the star power present, the resulting track is less than the sum of its parts—repetitive, derivative, uninventive. And yet, the lackluster "I'm The One" sits comfortably at the top of the charts, which raises the question: why?? Our answer: because Khaled and company understand the bewitching power of tonal harmony, and they've utilized the most surefire ch

Jun 1, 2017 • 38:11

Musical Architecture in Charlie Puth + HAIM

Two new songs have captured the attention of your hosts—Charlie Puth's "Attention" and HAIM's "Want You Back." On the surface, these two songs appear to have little in common. A closer look, though, reveals the subtle musical architecture undergirding each track, a perfect balance of symmetry and asymmetry that keeps reeling us in for more. Featuring:• Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor - Marvin Gaye• Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - See You Again• Charlie Puth ft. Selene Gomez - We Don't Ta

May 18, 2017 • 41:34

The End Of Pop Music As We Know It: Fall Out Boy & Charli XCX

Is it true that all pop music sounds the same today? For the past year the “pop-drop” has dominated the airwaves. This new form of EDM infused pop came out of DJ culture and has infused its sound with every mainstream act like Lady Gaga and Coldplay. Tiring of this sound, some artists are finding creative ways to parody this pop trope. The rock outfit Fall Out Boy’s “Young And Menace” demonstrates equal parts mastery and mockery of the pop-drop. And PC Music, a rising art-music label ou

May 4, 2017 • 48:31

Harry Styles, Eschatology and Teen Girl Fandom

One Direction wunderkind Harry Styles has just released his first ever single, "Sign of the Times," and it's a doozy. Strap in for a discussion of the apocalypse, late Beatles, teen wisdom, and the amen cadence—among other demons exorcised in this most peculiar pop tune. Featuring:•Beethoven 5th Symphony - Scherzo•Harry Styles - Sign of the Times•Prince - Sign o' the Times•David Bowie - Space Oddity•Zayn Malik - Pillowtalk•Steve Aoki + Louis Tomlinson - Just Hold On•John Lennon - #9 Dre

Apr 20, 2017 • 44:47

What's to Love About Ed Sheeran? (guest Ross Golan)

Songwriter Ross Golan comes over to start up a conversation, encouraging us to follow his lead and give Ed Sheeran's chart-annihilating record "Shape of You" a chance. Ross, a studio vet with multiple #1 hits (including numbers discussed on this very podcast, such as Ariana Grande's "Dangerous Woman" and Selena Gomez's "Same Old Love") is the ideal guest to convince a skeptical Charlie and Nate that Sheeran might have a song handmade for somebodies like them. Plus, Ross takes us behind

Apr 6, 2017 • 42:32

Zedd + Alessia Cara - Stay (w special guest Grey)

Charlie and Nate sit down with up-and-coming producer duo Grey—fresh off their hit "Starving" with Zedd and Hailee Steinfeld—to uncover the secrets behind Alessia Cara and Zedd's dramatic dance track "Stay" and Grey's own deep cut "I Miss You" (ft Bahari). Snare drums as currency, Game of Thrones samples and screaming into the void are all discussed in this deep dive into the world of pop orchestration and 21st century songwriting.  Featuring:Zedd + Alessia Cara - StayHailee Steinfeld +

Mar 23, 2017 • 45:46

Chained to the Green Light: Katy Perry + Lorde

Two artists who haven't released new music since 2013 recently remerged into the limelight: Katy Perry, with her dystopian disco banger "Chained to the Rhythm" and Lorde, with the melodramatic-yet-uplifting anthem "Green Light." Listening carefully, a fact becomes apparent, despite Lorde's insistence that she "hears new sounds" in her mind: there's something familiar lurking beneath both these tracks. And indeed, both were co-written and produced by key figures of the modern pop music f

Mar 10, 2017 • 40:28

Oscar Week!: La La Land ft. Genevieve Koski

With the Academy Awards around the corner, Charlie and Nate try something new: a break down of the movie musical La La Land through two of its key songs, "City of Stars" and "Start a Fire." These numbers, one by composer Justin Hurwitz, the other by Hurwitz and John Legend, might represent the two poles of the film's dramatic structure. But a deep dive into their musical construction reveals leitmotifs and left turns that leave us staggered at the different levels to La La Land's score.

Feb 24, 2017 • 52:38

Zayn, Taylor Swift & The Grammys

"I Don't Wanna Live Forever," the new track from Zayn and Taylor Swift, finds two members of the pop pantheon joining forces with producer Jack Antonoff to craft an inexorable hit song. But this duet—between a former One Direction heartthrob aiming to avert the sophomore slump and a megastar returning to the limelight—is far from triumphant. Instead, "Forever" delves into themes of loss and separation—emotions in turn embedded in the very structure and melody of this most unusual duet.

Feb 9, 2017 • 33:21

The Puzzle of Ariana Grande's "Into You" (with K. Flay)

"Into You" was one of the biggest hits of 2016, the stellar production of reclusive legend Max Martin combining with the acrobatic vocals of Ariana Grande to create an undeniable, ubiquitous earworm. With "Into You" still burning up the charts, we dive deep to uncover the insane puzzles, Trompe-l'oiel tricks and Baroque games that lie under the surface of this morsel of pop perfection.PLUS, brilliant rocker and rapper K. Flay joins to discuss the mysteries of Ariana Grande and takes us

Jan 27, 2017 • 49:50

Seduced by the Sound: The Weeknd + Daft Punk

"I Feel it Coming" might be the slowest burning jam to hit the charts in ages, in which the Weeknd enlists the robotic hum of Daft Punk to help craft a perfectly calibrated climate of desire. Brilliant, sexy songs don't just appear out of thin air, though, so we reveal how this song's perpetual excitement is hard-won through references to past stars of sultriness like Michael and Marvin while employing its own bag of tricks to turn up the heat. Featuring:•The Weeknd + Daft Punk - I Feel

Jan 12, 2017 • 25:08

Dreaming Of A White Christmas

White Christmas holds the Guinness World Record for most singles sold and has been covered over 500 times. Pop stars from Elvis to Ella have recorded it, with interpretations from doo-wop to country to punk rock. With new covers each year, it seems listeners have not grown tired of this Tin Pan Alley chestnut. We use our scientific formula for holiday hit success to break down what makes this song so timeless.FeaturingBing Crosby - White ChristmasThe Beatles - Christmas Time Is HereWhit

Dec 16, 2016 • 41:15

How to Listen to Music in 4 Easy Steps

50 episodes in, hosts Charlie and Nate take a step back to think about how they listen to music and try to define what might be called The Switched on Method™. "Hallelujah," by the late, great Leonard Cohen, acts as a perfect test case for breaking down listening into four key layers: 1) The Liner Notes, 2) The Needle Drop, 3) The Scratch, and 4) The Remix. Through this patented process, artistic revelations are all but guaranteed, with Cohen's opus no exception — his modern classic is

Dec 1, 2016 • 47:25

Playing it Cool: How Tove Lo Aims High

On the surface, Tove Lo's new hit "Cool Girl" boasts a snappy, earworm chorus and an empowering message of self-reliance. Beneath its chill exterior, though, Lo's song burns with a passion bordering on rage, and sinister sonic undertones suggest an unreliable narrator who doesn't always mean what she says. The more layers one pulls back from this song, the more Lo's source material—the novel and film "Gone Girl"—comes to the fore, turning "Cool Girl" into the kind of pop smash that stic

Nov 17, 2016 • 30:56

Made In America: Toby Keith & Jay-Z

Back in 2011, two pop songs dropped with the same patriotic title: "Made in America." But the similarities pretty much end there. Toby Keith's country smash and Jay Z, Kanye West and Frank Ocean's soulful hip hop anthem have little in common except a firm conviction that each song knows what it really means to be American. Five years later, these tracks have a lot to tell us about the role music plays in shaping our national identity, and begs the question: does music truly bring us tog

Nov 3, 2016 • 48:15

Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal

Host Charlie spent the last two weeks listening to every song on the Billboard Hot 100. What did he discover? That the sonic similarities of most chart-toppers sound closer than ever. Except for the #1 song in America, as of this episode's release - "Closer" by The Chainsmokers, ft. Halsey. This one is different than the rest...or is it? We dive into the styles of the moment to re-learn the old maxim that "great artists steal" - whether that artist is a 2016 DJ duo or an 18th century Cl

Oct 20, 2016 • 45:50

The Most Popular Song In The World

The Nokia ringtone used to be heard more than a billion times per day, making it one of the most popular songs in the world. We tend to consider cellphone rings as somewhat antithetical to music. There is a whole subset of YouTube videos dedicated to the perverse thrill of watching a delicately beautiful musical moment ruined by the harsh cry of a default ringtone. In this episode, we zoom in on one of these annoying melodies to see if there's not some hidden musical craft present in th

Oct 6, 2016 • 40:46

Lady Gaga Is A Perfect Illusion

Lady Gaga's new single "Perfect Illusion" is the apotheosis of her artistic statement. She is well known for her visual style that too often overshadows her music. But when taken together, it is evident that Lady Gaga is playing all of us because the non-conformity of her outward appearance is reflected back in her compositions. On first listen, her songs may sound like just another catchy pop tune and this is intentional. Gaga lures us close with the sound of pop fame and then hooks us

Sep 22, 2016 • 1:03:53

How Beyoncé to The Beatles Modulate Your Emotions

Certain pop songs have that moment, when everything seems to change but still remain the same, when the drama gets ratcheted up, when the tension increases and our emotions take an elevator ride to the heavens. From Beyoncé to Johnny Cash, savvy pop songwriters know a well-placed harmonic modulation can leave listeners reeling. But what is this mysterious musical trick, and how does it work? Tune in and let us take you higher, and higher, and higher, as we explore the wild world of modu

Sep 9, 2016 • 38:07

Pop Drops and Chipmunk Soul

A strange syndrome is wreaking havoc on the voices of our biggest pop stars. From Rihanna to Justin Bieber, no one is safe from having their beautiful vocals chopped up, screwed down, repitched and repurposed. As dance music takes over the charts and new software grants vocal manipulation at the click of a button, this uncanny production technique has become nearly ubiquitous. But is this ultramodern sound really that new? We dig deep into the roots of the sound of the moment.Featuring:

Aug 25, 2016 • 41:39

The Gideon and Hubcap Show

This episode marks something of a departure from the norm. With Charlie away, host Nate, aka "Hubcap," takes us on a home-show tour of the Scottish Highlands with his traveling minstrel act, The Gideon and Hubcap Show. It's an entirely different kind of summer music spectacle. Featuring:•13,000 Miles - Gideon Irving•Oh Wow - Gideon Irving•Ida Done - Gideon and Hubcap•Safe Word - Gideon and Hubcap•Hebrides Overture – Felix Mendelssohn•Mouth Music - From the Smithsonian Folkways Collectio

Aug 15, 2016 • 27:05

Breaking Down The House

The fingerprints of house music are all over mainstream pop, but much of its sound has been whitewashed. That ubiquitous four-to-the-floor kick and synth bass sound draws from Chicago's queer, black and latinx warehouse club culture. Micah Salkind is working on a book on the history of these communities. Together we break down the sonic origins of this music through a modern track that fully embraces its cultural nexus: "Hideaway" by Kiesza. Micah takes us back to Chicago in the 1980s,

Aug 1, 2016 • 40:35

Around The World With Drake

How do you create a hit that both breaks sound barriers and chart records? Drake has done this with a unique mix of international sounds from Africa, the Caribbean, the U.K. and Canada. But is his chart topping success musical appropriation or celebration? A deep listening reveals diverse influences and musical rhythms that have crossed oceans centuries before "One Dance" was even conceived. Plus, we debut Blinky Bill's "So Strong," his first single off his upcoming solo album.FEATURING

Jul 14, 2016 • 43:46

When Good Music Happens To Bad People

We have more information about pop stars lives than ever before, but this transparency is not always uplifting for music lovers. Just as we may enjoy following the intimate lives of celebrities on Instagram, we simultaneously uncover how stars abuse their power to marginalize others, commit heinous crimes and inspire mass atrocity. Sometimes skeletons in the closet turn our to be literal skeletons. As listeners, this undoubtedly colors the way we hear our old favorite songs. Join us as

Jun 30, 2016 • 39:26

Justin Timberlake Goes Medieval

Summer heat is upon us and so are the jams. Our ears are hooked on Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop The Feeling." What you may not know is that this song leans on the success of mononymous giants: Pharrell, Michael and Handel. If you think that pop is a modern phenomenon, you may be surprised by medieval references and techniques comped by JT. Join us as we break down the hidden hooks and musical tricks that make this song an ear worm.FeaturingJustin Timberlake - Can't Stop The Feeling!P

Jun 16, 2016 • 36:07

All About Those Baseline Assumptions About Femini$m in Pop

With Meghan Trainor's new singles "No" and "Me Too" ubiquitous on the radio dial, a larger discussion about the uneasy relationship between social movements and selling records takes a feminist bent. Memories of the polarizing 2014 hit "All About that Bass" come to the surface, reigniting debates over whether Trainor's songs express radical thought or package it for mass consumption. Or is that distinction a distraction, forgetting that manufactured pop can still pack a political punch?

Jun 6, 2016 • 34:44

Jonas vs. Jonas: Or How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love a Boy Band

A battle between brothers is playing out on the pop charts, a sibling rivalry the likes of which the music industry hasn't seen since 1987, when Michael and Janet Jackson's 1987 "Bad" and "Let's Wait Awhile" jockeyed for peak position on the Hot 100. Today, Nick, the youngest of the Jonas Brothers, looks for redemption from their boy band past in the moody, adult love song "Close" ft. Tove Lo, while middle brother Joe and his band DNCE use the explosive, retro "Cake By the Ocean" to rep

May 19, 2016 • 36:07

Purple Lemonade: Prince & Beyoncé

It has been a period of musical loss and celebration. On the same week we lost Prince, the world was gifted Beyoncé’s Lemonade. Both artists contain multitudes of musical traditions, collaborators and themes that weave throughout their song. In the first half of the show, we break down Beyoncé's “Hold Up,” an exemplary piece about Lemonade's main theme of marital distress. But the song is not as simple as it may seem. Its compositional restraint suggests more complex ideas about love. S

May 5, 2016 • 45:15

Pablo And The Wolves

The Life Of Pablo is Kanye West’s latest album. Despite its lack of hits, it has been at the fulcrum of pop music for months. With its gradual online release and its changing track lists, this shapeshifting album is difficult to grasp. We recruit Andrew Marantz from The New Yorker Magazine to break down Pablo and the “Wolves,” a song that embodies the multiplicities of West’s larger project and connects his work to the classical past of Bach and Prokofiev. Featuring: - Kanye West: Wolve

Apr 22, 2016 • 37:44

The Populist Pop of Twenty One Pilots

Out of nowhere, Twenty One Pilots has rocketed to the top of the charts with their surprise hit "Stressed Out." Charlie and Nate pull this millennial anthem apart to discover a deep political resonance, the kind that rarely hits the Hot 100. Tracing this sound back in time reveals further connections, to Compton, Motown, and the alternate universe of Parliament/Funkadelic. And, a trip further down the chart suggests that political pop still has no party affiliation. Featuring: •Twenty O

Apr 6, 2016 • 33:15

American Oxygen

How do you collaborate with five people to write a song that captures that national temperature? The stakes may seem high with stars like Alex Da Kid, Candice Pillay, Kanye West and Rihanna, but Sam Harris from X Ambassadors has unlocked the secret. Having penned much of Rihanna's hit American Oxygen, Sam gives an honest account of his process to create a hit and capture the American Dream. And we also get an exclusive peak at X Ambassador's version of the song. Featuring X Ambassadors

Mar 23, 2016 • 26:08

Say Hey

Listen carefully to almost any hit song these days and you’ll hear musicians screaming “Hey!” What’s the matter with them? Do they really need our attention? We uncover the reason and history behind this phenomenon with guest host Alex Kapelman, producer of the narrative music podcast Pitch. We also listen to new music by Aoife O’Donovan in a new segment called Off The Charts. And we have the fourth and final installment of Nate’s journey back into the popular music of the 20s and 30s.

Mar 10, 2016 • 44:58

Now I Sia, Now I Don't

One of the biggest voices in pop music has no face: Sia. She started her career as a ghostwriter for stars like Rihanna and Beyoncé. Recently she found pop star success with her hit "Chandelier." So with her new album, "This Is Acting," you'd expect to see her front and center. Instead, she hides her face from the media spotlight, covered by wigs, hats and other foreign objects. Lindsay Zoladz from NYMag joins us to discuss Sia's the musician and Sia the media spectacle. Featuring: Sia

Feb 26, 2016 • 39:13

B Side: Singing With Mama Jan

What do Usher, The Band Perry and Bieber have in common? They all sing with Mama Jan, one of the best vocal coaches and producers in the music business. On this mini episode, Mama Jan talks about what happens backstage before the biggest performance of a lifetime.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Feb 18, 2016 • 7:40

Call Your Girlfriend

Is it a love song or is it a breakup song? Charlie joins the women of the Call Your Girlfriend podcast to break down their namesake song by Robyn. Also, advice on how to build the perfect wedding playlist. And we check back in with Nate to listen to Cab Calloway on a time traveling adventure back to the 1930s. Featuring Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend Whitney Houston - Dance With Somebody (cappella) Eddie Johns - More Spell On You TLC - Waterfall (Bixel Boy's Remix) Village People - YMCA T

Feb 12, 2016 • 39:29

Click With Dick And Other Campaign Anthems

What do presidential candidates, professional wrestlers and improv comics have in common? Walk on theme music. As the primary season heats up we dig into the history, meaning and controversies of campaign anthems. Also, comedian and guest co-host Chris Duffy shares some of his favorite lyrics with hidden humor. And we time travel with Nate to 1931 to visit late night Harlem jazz clubs. FEATURING Baha Men - Who Let The Dogs Out? String Quartet No. 19 in C Major K 465 IV Ride Of The Valky

Jan 29, 2016 • 1:01:34

The Life Changing Magic of Music in 2015

Charlie and Nate reveal the life changing magic of how to tidy up the music you missed from last year. Annually, hundreds of publications release best of lists. These lists are supposed to make it easier to discover and celebrate the year in music. But with so many lists how can we know what is truly the best? Well we’ve found the definite source what’s great: Rob Mitchum’s Top Albums in 2015. Also, the major trends you might have missed and Jake Birch’s Mixed On Pop about The Weeknd’s

Jan 17, 2016 • 32:45

Linus & Lucy

Celebrate 50 years of A Charlie Brown Christmas and his eponymous holiday album. If you’re feeling worn out on holiday music, this one never wears old. Its gone triple platinum and charts almost every year on the holiday Billboard. Join us as we dive deep into the brilliance of Vince Guaraldi, the pianist and composer behind Linus and Lucy. We bet you might be hearing the song all wrong. Featuring Vince Guaraldi – What Child Is This, Christmas Is Coming, Linus and Lucy, O Tannenbaum, Ch

Dec 17, 2015 • 33:30

Same Here

Two unlikely anthems of individuality are rocketing up the charts: Selena Gomez’s “Same Old Love” and Alessia Cara’s “Here.” One is from an established star, the other from a total unknown, but both use similar musical techniques to make their voices heard against the madding crowd. Tune in to hear how the radio dial is richer for the presence of such non-conformist and anti-social jams. Featuring: Lady Gaga – Just Dance Selena Gomez – Same Old Love Alessia Cara – Here Michael Jackson –

Dec 2, 2015 • 32:44

Searching for Max Martin

The most omnipresent figure in pop music is also the most elusive: Karl Sandberg, AKA Max Martin, the mad Swedish genius who’s ruled the charts for 20 years. With the help of New Yorker writer John Seabrook, author of The Song Machine, and comedian Chris Duffy, host of You’re The Expert, we go deep into a 21st century pop classic to try and locate the secret formula behind Max Martin’s success. FEATURING Taylor Swift – Blank Space The Weeknd – Can’t Feel My Face Backstreet Boys – I Want

Nov 19, 2015 • 44:44

Hotline Hello: Drake and Adele

Drake and Adele are two megastars who may not seem to share much in common on the surface, but their recent hits exhibit some surprising parallels. Both revisit past relationships over the phone and both conceal inner anguish beneath subtle musical shifts. Featuring special appearances by the game Snake, Lord Byron and Drake and Adele themselves*, you don’t want to miss this episode. Plus, we check in with Justin Bieber as he completes his epic existential pop suite. For more songs abou

Nov 4, 2015 • 34:05

Can’t Get You Out Of My Head

As much as we might have crazy love for pop music, pop music also loves to drive us crazy. Earworms that grab you and won’t let go; cookie-cutter compositions that bedevil in their unoriginality; strange new sounds that vex, rankle, confound. How does pop music possess the unique ability to get under our skin? We pull apart some of the stickiest songs to try and find out. And listen to our playlist of songs that drive you mad on Spotify. FEATURING The Fine Young Cannibals – She Drives M

Oct 22, 2015 • 36:47

Justin Bieber’s Existential Suite

Bieber’s two new hits, “Where Are Ü Now” and “What Do You Mean,” showcase the prodigal pop star’s soberer side. In each, his realization of the fictive nature of relationships is musicalized through slippery piano chords and disembodied voices. But just two songs does not make a true existential suite, so we collaborated with the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder to propose a third stanza for Bieber’s epic poem of love and loss. FEATURING Jack Ü – Where Are Ü Now (ft. Justin Bieber) Justi

Oct 7, 2015 • 32:57

The Weeknd: Dance of Deception

The Weeknd’s deliriously funky chart topper “Can’t Feel My Face” has sparked sweat-soaked dance sessions across the country, but dark notes lurk at the outskirts of this ebullient jam. Chromatic intrusions and Classical laments crowd the scene and invite more clandestine interpretations. What’s this song really about? The secret lies in the scale. FEATURING The Weeknd – Wicked Games The Weeknd – Earned It The Weeknd – Can’t Feel My Face L’Arpeggiata – Monteverdi ‘s Amor (Lamento Della N

Sep 23, 2015 • 26:54

Let’s Talk About Sax

The sax is back. This surprisingly funky reed keeps popping up in pop hits from Derulo to Grande. But where did the sax come from? And where did it go? Tighten your embouchure, because we journey to the center of sax in this week’s episode. Also, songs featured in this episode and other great sax tracks are in our Spotify Playlist. *In this episode we incorrectly identified Mr. Sax’s home country as Germany (face palm). He was a native of Belgium. Our apologies to the Sax family. FEATUR

Sep 9, 2015 • 36:16

Kacey Musgraves: Transgressing Country

Can you be a country star and critical of the country at the same time? Grammy Award Winner, Kacey Musgraves, has two hit albums that challenge the small-town clichés of modern country music. Is she bucking the trend of big trucks and dirt roads, or embracing an old tradition of transgressing social norms? To answer […]  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 14, 2015 • 27:11

Song of Summer: LIVE!

In the first-ever LIVE edition of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate enter an epic debate over what track should be crowned 2015’s definitive Song of Summer. Charlie’s candidate is the retro anthem “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon, while Nate argues for Jason Derulo’s hot and heavy “Want to Want Me.” Meanwhile, the studio audience on Block Island has their own ideas about what makes a true Song of Summer, raising the stakes even higher. Who will emerge victorious? Only one song can b

Jul 30, 2015 • 30:37

The Dual Meaning of Fetty Wap’s Trap Queen

Fetty Wap’s Trap Queen is an unlikely contender for the top 10. It straddles genres between hip-hop and pop in subtle yet mesmerizing ways. Is it a drug song? Is it a love song? Or is it both at the same time? Join us to find out why you can’t get this ear worm out of your head. FEATURING Fetty Wap – Trap Queen Dr. Dre – Still Dre Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 15, 2015 • 21:49

One Direction: Our Modern Day Castrati

One Direction is one of the biggest bands in pop, but unless you’re a preteen or the parent of one, like us you’ve probably never heard a second of their music. Until now. Let’s see if we’ve been missing out, on the latest from Switched on Pop. FEATURING One Direction – Story Of My Life One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful One Direction – Live While We’re Young One Direction – You And I One Direction – Night Changes The Wanted – Glad You Came Alessandro Moreschi (The Last Castrato)

May 29, 2015 • 24:32

The Final Dropout

How does a good pop song end? With a bang, right? As it turns out, explosive endings are kinda over. Songwriters are instead opting to end with a final dropout. Even the biggest pop anthems close with a quiet final moment. In this musical short, Nate, our resident musicologist, offers some theories as to why. FEATURING Taylor Swift – Blank Space One Republic – Counting Stars One Direction – Kiss You Rihanna – Don’t Stop the Music Mozart – Symphony No.41 in C K.551 “Jupiter” 4. Motto All

May 15, 2015 • 8:58

Hidden Sounds in FourFiveSeconds

FourFiveSeconds is one of the more surprising collaborations in recent pop history. Rhianna, Kanye, Sir Paul McCartney. The motley lineup doesn’t dissapoint, serving up one of the most unexpected songs of the year—though not for the reason you’d think. Tune in and wile out while we wax on this whale of a power ballad. FEATURING Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney – FourFiveSeconds Kanye West – Gone Rihanna – We Found Love Rihanna – Don’t Stop the Music The Beatles – Revolution 9 &a

May 6, 2015 • 22:09

Carly Rae Jepsen – I Really Like You

Carly Rae Jepsen might be the patron saint of Switched on Pop, the show first hatched by Charlie and Nate on a trip down CA-1 while the stereo blasted “Call Me Maybe.” So when we heard she had a new single out we knew we had to stop everything, put off our taxes for one more day, and dig into “I Really Like You” to see if Saint Jepsen could ward off the beguiling sophomore slump. You’ll really really really really really really like this one. Special thanks to the high school students f

Apr 15, 2015 • 22:57

Hozier’s Waffling of Faith in Take Me To Church

Written in the Hozier family basement, Take Me To Church has risen up to be one of the biggest pop hits of the year. But this is not a typical pop song. The unsettling music and provocative lyrics about faith and relationships irk many listeners. But this marriage of form and content also strikes a chord with our own foibles of faith. FEATURING Hozier – Take Me to Church Wintley Phipps – Amen  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 2, 2015 • 18:23

Taylor Swift’s Beethovian Blank Space

Taylor Swift’s Blank Space is about emptiness of the heart. This motif of Blank Space is contained through the entire piece: from the drums, to the melody, to the lyrics. We pull away the sonic structures to show how Taylor recreates that empty feeling and explores the predictable devolution of fiery romance.FEATURINGTaylor Swift – Blank SpaceNY Magazine – Why You Keep Mishearing That Taylor Swift LyricThis episode first broadcast on the Very Loose Women podcast on Resonance 104.4FM Lea

Mar 26, 2015 • 16:40

A Cappella Dreams

A cappella, Italian for in the style of the church, refers to music for unaccompanied voices. Just a decade ago it was nowhere near the radio dial. Now it’s everywhere: college campuses, Hollywood blockbusters, prime time reality television, and the Grammys. A cappella hasn’t been this big since Gregorian chant. Why has a cappella returned with such a vengeance? We try to find out why in this four part episode. [Introduction] The Tallis Scholars – Missa Brevis: Kyrie Middlesex A Cappell

Mar 16, 2015 • 48:27

Radio Africa

Reporting live from Kenya, we search for African pop that is making its way into global dance music. The barriers to producing high quality audio are reduced to merely owning a laptop. Now, regional artists are reaching a global audience. We speak to Blinky Bill, leader of the dance/pop/hip-hop group Just A Band, about their unique sound that attracts fans from Tokyo to Nairobi. And we also speak to Jeff Maina, lead designer at Waabeh, the Spotify for African content. FEATURING Fuse ODG

Feb 19, 2015 • 31:06

Star Spangled

Did you know the melody to the Star Spangled Banner was once a British drinking song? In preparation for the Super Bowl, we uncover how the national anthem has been co-opted and reinterpreted by mega pop-stars. Our understanding of how this song sounds has been shaped by sporting events and the spin pop artists put on it has altered our conception of the national song. FEATURING Beyoncé, Jose Feliciano, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston – The Star Spangled Banner Iceland Sympho

Jan 28, 2015 • 28:44

Mark Ronson: Funk Politics

Did you know the melody to the Star Spangled Banner was once a British drinking song? In preparation for the Super Bowl, we uncover how the national anthem has been co-opted and reinterpreted by mega pop-stars. Our understanding of how this song sounds has been shaped by sporting events and the spin pop artists put on it has altered our conception of the national song. FEATURING Beyoncé, Jose Feliciano, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston – The Star Spangled Banner Iceland Sympho

Jan 15, 2015 • 34:37

The Imperative Jingle Bells

You’ve heard it a million times, you know how to sing it, its ubiquitous during the holiday season, but you’ve never heard a definitive recording. Where does it come from, why is it so catchy, and why of all holiday songs is Jingle Bells the most widely played song? FEATURING She & Him The Cast of Glee Nate Sloan’s Madrigal Singers  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 20, 2014 • 32:05

To Be Young

Pop music and youth go together like peanut butter and pickles. The music we hear when we’re young shapes our identities forevermore. In this episode we take three songs that promise an eternal adolescence and put them under microscope to see what makes them tick. Featuring Kesha – Die Young Fun – We Are Young Wiz Khalifa – Young, Wild and Free  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 11, 2014 • 32:50

Boom Bang Pow

We look at the Rhythms that make us dance, those primal beats, the “Boom Bang Pow” that make us want to move. We’ll ask what makes them work and why is that we’re hearing that untz untz everywhere we go from the dance floor, to the coffee shop, to the insides of our minds? FEATURING Charli XCX – Boom Clap Vengaboys – Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! Jessie J – Bang Bang The Blacked Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow Little Richard – Tutti Frutti John Lee Hooker – Boom Boom Cher – Bang Bang Richard Savin

Nov 14, 2014 • 29:51

The Oeuvre of Taylor Swift

We uncover the common songwriting techniques and chart the musical evolution of Taylor Swift. Featuring songs from her early country period, transitional indie period and her latest pop album, 1989.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 28, 2014 • 34:21

Heartbreak

Why do we love listening to heartbreak songs? What do songwriters do to emote such strong feelings?FEATURINGAdele – Someone Like YouKacey Musgraves – I Miss YouCeeLo Green – F*** You! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 28, 2014 • 27:05