All Songs Considered

On this edition of All Songs Considered, we highlight music that reflects on the passage of time, with special premieres from Jenny Lewis, My Brightest Diamond, Elephant Stone and more.   We open with "Time Forgot," a beautiful and moving cut from Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), who sings about fleeing the past and reinventing yourself. Then we play an equally reflective new song from singer Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley, Jenny & Johnny) called "Just One of the Guys," an ode to growing old and trying to find your place in the world.   Later, we've got a killer new dance track from the Amsterdam electronic producer Shinedoe that features singer Karin Dreijer (The Knife, Fever Ray), as well as a trance-inducing song from classically trained composer and producer Craig Leon. Both songs come courtesy of NPR Music's Sami Yenigun and Otis Hart, curators of our Recommended Dose feature; it's a monthly mix of the best dance and electronic music.   Also on the show: The Canadian psych-rock group Elephant Stone returns with a sitar-powered song that was surely inspired by the 1966 Beatles cut "Tomorrow Never Knows." Plus, My Brightest Diamond, the musical project of singer Shara Worden, returns with "Pressure," a stirring song powered by an incredible drumline.

On this edition of All Songs Considered we roll the windows down with a wind-whipped, sun-dappled mix of rock and pop, starting with an epic jam from the musician Timothy Showalter, who writes and records as Strand Of Oaks. The song, "JM" — a tribute to the late Jason Molina — rumbles and roars, propelled by Showalter's scorched guitar and voice. Next up is singer Laura Pergolizzi, who goes by the name LP. She's made a career out of writing pop hits for other artists such as Rihanna and Christina Aguilera. But LP is about to release a bold new solo album that showcases her own remarkable voice. The album, Forever, For Now, includes the heart-stopping power pop ballad,"Your Town," that you can hear on this week's show.  Also on the show: The Brooklyn-based pop band Bishop Allen returns with an insanely catchy cut from their first new album in five years. Lights Out won't be released until August, but you can hear the first single, "Start Again," here. Plus, the Apache Relay channel the string-driven pop of Electric Light Orchestra, Woozy new rock from Parquet Courts and a moody collaboration between the dance duo Royksopp and pop singer Robyn.

by Bob Boilen There's a stunning new album from Jack White on the way. Lazaretto, out June 10, is his second "solo" record, though the talented musicians who made up the male and female backing bands for Blunderbuss, his first album under his own name, have returned. This time around, the men and women are often part of the same band.   Jack White has been a passionate and gritty guitar player since he was a teenager, and with The White Stripes he excelled at making music that was bold and brash. But in his many projects, both as a musician and as the mind behind the Nashville label Third Man Records, he's demonstrated a love for a range of American styles, and found ways to bring music from the hills and from the distant past into the here and now. On Lazaretto, he puts those influences on full view: old-time fiddle, honky-tonk piano, wailing electronics and his own shimmering guitar.   When I spoke with Jack White last week, I was in Philadelphia and he was in Nashville, in rehearsals with his band to tour the new record this summer. We talked about the composition process behind the new album — including how he crushed writer's block with a little help from his 19-year-old self — as well as the nature of fate and coincidence, and why he rarely writes anything down. When he first sat down he told me his next stop was the studio, to record a B-side for an upcoming single.

Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton kick off this week's All Songs Considered with a song that's 160 years old but still resonates. Guitarist Marisa Anderson offers a transporting, solo electric version of Stephen Foster's "Hard Times Come Again No More," an ever-relevant tune about pausing to enjoy "life's pleasures and count its many tears."   Also on the show, we've got premieres from singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Joe Henry, and the rapturous rock group Nico Vega. Henry's epic new song, "Sparrow," from his upcoming album Invisible Hour, is a deeply moving reflection on a long life filled with awe and wonder, while Nico Vega's "I'm On Fire" is a joyful, fist-pumping pop ode to "funky dance" moves.   Plus, a stunning, mostly a cappella song showcasing the gorgeous voice of Danish singer Majke Voss Romme; the gnarled, shape shifting beats of Dub Thompson; and Priests, a D.C. band making punk rock for the 21st century.

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney unpack the expansive, irresistibly catchy sound of their eighth studio album — featuring new adventures in sampling, falsetto and epic guitar shredding.

Tori Amos has spent the past several years exploring other worlds of music. She released two albums of classical-inspired work, including a collection of her earlier pop songs retooled as orchestral tracks. Most recently she helped write a musical for the London National Theater. But this month Amos is back with Unrepentant Geraldines, a new album filled with her signature piano-driven baroque pop songs. On this week's All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton premiere "16 Shades Of Blue," a new cut from the album, and talk about why it's Amos' best record in 20 years. Also on the show: Malaysian-born singer-songwriter Zee Avi covers The Velvet Underground song "Who Loves The Sun;" A new tribute album showcases some of the music featured in Wes Anderson's films, including a thumping cover of The Kinks' song "Nothing In This World Can Stop Me Worrying 'Bout That Girl;" and the Berlin and New York-based dream pop group Fenster is back with an atmospheric sophomore full-length called The Pink Caves. Plus: The captivating voice of singer Alice Boman and the Led Zeppelin-inspired rock of Milezo.

On this week's All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen kicks things off with "Water Fountain," a breathless cut from the new tUnE-yArDs album Nikki Nack. The video, which you can see on All Songs TV, is a burst of bright colors and childlike joy reminiscent of comedian Paul Reubens' Saturday morning kids show Pee-wee's Playhouse. Robin Hilton follows with a never-before-heard cut from singer Roy Orbison. The legendary crooner died suddenly in 1988, just before his final album Mystery Girl was released. To mark the 25th anniversary of the record, Sony Legacy is releasing a deluxe edition featuring multiple demos and unheard tracks, including "The Way Of Love," a song Orbison recorded on a boombox cassette tape. His sons later discovered the song and recorded new instrumentation to accompany his restored voice track. Also on the show: The hardcore band F—-ed Up returns with a nerve-rattling new album that reflects on family, aging and the responsibilities of adulthood; country-folk singer Jessica Lea Mayfield goes electric on a cut from her new rock-inspired album Make My Head Sing; The group Young Fathers, with members from Scotland, Nigeria and Liberia, mix hip-hop, rock and electronics for a surprising sound; and singer Haley Bonar is back with a new collection of wondrously ornate pop.

On this week's show, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton ask big questions about the world we live in via new music from the singer known as EMA, a head-turning cut from the young country crooner Sturgill Simpson and more.   EMA's beat-heavy "Neruomancer" takes a critical look at the state of humanity in a world dominated by narcissistic social media and virtual realties. Sturgill Simpson's "Turtles All The Way Down" is a strange and transfixing ode to other dimensions, space, time, reptile alien autopsies and other curiosities in his endless search for meaning in the universe. They're probably not the first things you think of when considering contemporary country music.   Not everything on the show is so existential. There's a gorgeous, soaring new song from The Antlers; idiosyncratic folk singer Jolie Holland decides to plug-in her guitar; The San Francisco-based band Papercuts has a sweetly shimmering piano pop song full of hope and wistful melancholy and French orchestra-pop artist Yann Tiersen returns with a batch of broody tunes that start small and dark, but bloom into big and bright wonder.

Music nerds: gather round! This week, our show is dedicated to celebrating one of the most joyous days of the year. No, not Flag Day. Record Store Day! This Saturday, Apr. 19, is the day when masses of music lovers wait in long lines at local independent records stores, hoping to score exclusive releases on vinyl. To mark the occasion, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton share six Record Store Day exclusives, starting with a cut by Bruce Springsteen, from an EP he's releasing called American Beauty. The 12" EP features four unreleased, never-heard songs from The Boss. Three were recorded during sessions for his High Hopes LP. The fourth, and one we've got, is an earlier, electrified cut called "Hurry Up Sundown." Bob follows with a live recording of Devo made during a 1977 concert at Max's Kansas City. The song, "Uncontrollable Urge," shows the punchier side to the band's sound. One of those very music fans who waits in line on Record Store Day, Ben Kessler, shares his meticulously planned list of "needs" and "wants," and explains his unbridled spending habits this time of year. On his list: A live recording from 1991 of The Pogues with Joe Strummer of The Clash (who had temporarily replaced singer Shane MacGowan in the band) on vocals, including "If I Could Fall From Grace With God." Ben then shifts gears and unearths his love for Ke$ha and Lydia Loveless. Loveless is releasing a 7" single with a new original song backed by a surprising cover of Ke$ha's "Blind." We close the show out with a strangely textured Dana Falconberry song produced by Spoon drummer Jim Eno, and "Always N Forever" by Chicago's brash, young rock group The Orwells. Merry Record Store Day, everyone!    

This week, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton come bearing a bunch of song premieres, including a cut from singer-songwriter Mirah's first solo album in five years, Australian electronic artist Chet Faker and power punk rock singer Brody Dalle. We open the show with Dalle's "Blood in Gutters," a gritty blast from her upcoming album Diploid Love. The singer, who previously fronted the band The Distillers, has a voice and sound firmly rooted in '90s grunge and hard rock. We follow with a brand new, strum-filled track from San Francisco's The Fresh & Onlys. "Animal of One" is from the band's upcoming album, House of Spirits. Also on the show: Brooklyn-based singer Mirah returns with her first solo album since 2009's (A)spera; Pharmakon, aka New York singer Margaret Chardiet, covers the Cher song "Bang Bang" for Record Store Day; Veteran guitarist and electronic soundscape artist Fennesz has an abstract, multidimensional cut from his upcoming album Becs; And Bob closes out the show with a wistful, warped song by up-and-coming electronic, R&B artist Chet Faker.

This version of a previously published podcast has been corrected to fix a factual error.  This week on All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton offer up a brand new song by Jack White. The screaming instrumental track "High Ball Stepper" is the first taste of White's second solo album, Lazaretto, which will be out on June 10. The energy stays high from there. Bob shares "Call Me," by the Alabama-based soul band St. Paul & The Broken Bones. The group, whose album, Half The City, came out in February, played a live set over the weekend that knocked Bob's socks off. And Robin announces that the off-beat Canadian pop singer Chad VanGaalen has finally won him over with his fifth album, Shrink Dust, out in April. The bold, loopy song "Where Are You" is a good indication of what VanGaalen has up his sleeve. Also on the show, folkie Ray LaMontagne gets psychedelic on "Lavender" and up-and-coming talent Lyla Foy gets sweet on "Honeymoon." There's also whole-hearted Americana made by Swedes — First Aid Kit's "My Silver Lining — and textured percussion from Southern California native Teebs. Finally, last week's question of the week — "Does the death of an instrument break your heart?" — prompted one listener to share a tragic tale about a guitar, a synthesizer and a snowstorm. Get your hankies ready.

This week on All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton offer up a brand new song by Jack White. The screaming instrumental track "High Ball Stepper" is the first taste of White's second solo album, Lazaretto, which will be out on June 10. The energy stays high from there. Bob shares "Call Me," by the Alabama-based soul band St. Paul & The Broken Bones. The group, whose album, Half The City, came out in February, played a live set over the weekend that knocked Bob's socks off. And Robin announces that the off-beat Canadian pop singer Chad VanGaalen has finally won him over with his fifth album, Shrink Dust, out in April. The bold, loopy song "Where Are You" is a good indication of what VanGaalen has up his sleeve. Also on the show, folkie Ray LaMontagne gets psychedelic on "Lavender" and up-and-coming talent Lyla Foy gets sweet on "Honeymoon." There's also whole-hearted Americana made by Swedes — First Aid Kit's "My Silver Lining — and textured percussion from Southern California native Teebs. Finally, last week's question of the week — "Does the death of an instrument break your heart?" — prompted one listener to share a tragic tale about a guitar, a synthesizer and a snowstorm. Get your hankies ready.

This week, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton play brand new cuts from springtime releases by the well-established and widely adored bands The Black Keys and Swans. Both songs are instantly recognizable: The Black Keys for their spare, punchy, guitar-based pop, and Swans for their epic, densely layered orchestrations. Bob shares music by a New Zealand-based band called Tiny Ruins. That song's airy vocals and restrained instrumentation pair well with a pick from Robin: Dylan Shearer, who channels the folky, quiet side of Pink Floyd on a song called "Meadow Mines (Fort Polio)." Also on the program: The strangely alluring electronica of London's Metronomy; and Robin mourns the loss his beloved Jayhawks suffered over the weekend in the NCAA basketball tournament with the soothing sounds of A Winged Victory For The Sullen.   Minuet For A Cheap Piano No. 1 Artist: A Winged Victory for the Sullen Album: Atomos VII   A Little God In My Hands Artist: Swans Album: To Be Kind   Meadow Mines (Fort Polio) Artist: Dylan Shearer Album: Garagearray   Ballad of the Hanging Parcel Artist: Tiny Ruins Album: Brightly Painted One   Boy Racers Artist: Metronomy Album: Love Letters   Fever Artist: The Black Keys Album: Turn Blue

On this week's show, our hosts are joined by Stephen Thompson to discuss their favorite discoveries at SXSW. Everyone had such a swell time at the musical blitzkrieg that they came down with colds. Their respective illnesses cannot dampen the colorful and illuminating memories that they made at SXSW 2014. For Bob, the band that blew him out of the water was a British jazz-punk group called Melt Yourself Down. Robin was impressed by Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl's band, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, because of their shift from sweet ditties to full-on rock. Stephen was surprised by the passion, force and energy from an instrumental, electronic group, Anamanaguchi. As much scheduling that goes into SXSW, our hosts often find that the best shows spread through word of mouth. So, they listened to recommendations and stumbled upon some fantastic gems. The airy soloist Vancouver Sleep Clinic was a notable gem, along with the Korean rock group Jambinai. To hear an array of nuanced sounds, hear the discussion. Also, don't forget to download The Austin 100 which will be available until April 2. Songs Featured On This Episode Artist: The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger Album: Midnight Sun Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl are back with bold, psychedelic-rock. The band's upcoming album Midnight Sun will be released April 29.   Endless Fantasy Artist: Anamanaguchi Album: Endless Fantasy Hear a glorious chip-tune track by the New York-based band, Anamanaguchi. For more information, visit the band's website.   Fix My Life Artist: Melt Yourself Down Album: Melt Yourself Down The London-based sextet melds jazz and punk sounds to create catchy, striking songs. For more, go to the band's website.   Look Out, Look Out Artist: Perfume Genius Album: Learning Mike Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius, hails from Seattle and creates gorgeous, somber, piano-driven music. For more, go to his Facebook page.   Rebirth Artist: Vancouver Sleep Clinic Album: Winter EP Tim Bettinson, who writes and records as Vancouver Sleep Clinic, is a 17-year-old artist who woos listeners with his high voice and impressive guitar segments. To hear more, go to his website.   Hey Mami Artist: Sylvan Esso Album: Sylvan Esso The sounds of the duo known as Sylvan Esso are sleek, experimental and infectious. The North Carolina-based band will release their self-titled album on May 13.   Leaving No Traces Artist: Highasakite Album: Silent Treatment This Five-piece Norwegian band makes music with a hint of pop, powerful vocals and booming percussion. Highasakite's upcoming album Silent Treatment will be released on April 8.   Time of Extinction Artist: Jambinai Album: Difference This instrumental Korean rock band mixes high-pitched oddities with pummeling guitar segments. For updates and more, go to its Facebook page.   Maidenhead Artist: Protomartyr Album: Under Color of Official Right This group from Detroit sounds like a garage rock version of Joy Division, with deadpan poetry and driving guitar noise. Its upcoming album Under Color of Official Right is due for release on April 8.

Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton, Stephen Thompson, and Frannie Kelley gather at the end of day five at the SXSW Music Festival to talk about what they saw on the final day.