All Songs Considered (NPR)

Episode: Big Thief’s Buck Meek, Joji and More of the Week’s Best Songs
Date: January 13, 2026
Hosts: Robin Hilton & Tom Huizenga

Overview

This episode of All Songs Considered kicks off NPR Music's 2026 journey of music discovery with a round-up of their favorite new releases. Hosts Robin Hilton and Tom Huizenga listen to and unpack some of the week's most compelling fresh tracks, spanning indie, pop, classical crossovers, Americana, and experimental music. They trade observations, personal connections, and playful banter as they highlight what makes each song resonate, offering both critical insight and emotional reactions.

Key Discussion Points & Song Highlights

1. Buck Meek – “Gasoline”

From the Upcoming Album: The Mirror (Out Feb 27)
[01:43 – 08:11]

• Background: Buck Meek, well-known as guitarist for Big Thief, shares the first track from his third solo album.
• Musical Impressions:
  • Robin notes a “great rolling, rollicking playfulness” and even “a playground kind of melody or chant” in the song.

    "It almost sounds like some kids voices are in the mix there in the chorus or something." — Robin Hilton (05:14)

  • Tom observes the “gentle vocals,” “childlike vibe,” and the “cosmic but also just kind of goofy and intimate” feel.
• Lyrics:
  • The song explores the giddy, nervous early moments of falling in love, capturing the classic “who’ll say 'I love you' first?” question with cosmic imagery.
  • Tom quotes:

    "In one million years, maybe I'll be a light beam, a lonely laser in the vacuum and maybe she's a photon too and will pass through each other." (06:35)

• Adrianne Lenker’s Role: She sings background vocals and features throughout the album.
• Memorable Moment:

  "It's about those early days of love when you're falling for someone and, you know, maybe they're falling for you, but nobody wants to... You know, you don't want to come in too hot, so you're kind of dancing around it." — Robin Hilton (07:19)

2. Pekka Kuusisto & Sam Amidon – “Way Go Lily”

From the Album: Willows (Out Feb 20)
[08:11 – 15:04]

• Overview: A Finnish violinist known for unconventional performance art (swallowing mics!), collaborating with American folk singer Sam Amidon to bring a Georgia Sea Islands children’s song to lush, pastoral string arrangements.
• Musical Characteristics:
  • Robin: This version feels “just a little bit fuller and richer” compared to Amidon's earlier recording.
  • Tom: The album traverses pastoral violin classics, Pulitzer-winning composers, and pieces marked by Kuusisto’s personal loss.
• Emotional Context:
  • In 2022–25, Kuusisto lost his brother, mother, and father; this ‘Desiderium’ by Ellen Reid is dedicated to his brother.
• Quote:

  "When he was finishing the record in early 2025, his father died. So a lot of loss here." — Tom Huizenga (14:35)

3. Joji – “Love You Less”

From the Upcoming Album (name unairable — out Feb 6)
[16:32 – 22:44]

• Background: Joji’s genre-bending pop-rock is highlighted, with Robin expressing a personal obsession with the artist’s sonic unpredictability.
• Sound Reference:
  • Robin suggests the “opening guitar bit” recalls My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Only Shallow’, blending shoegaze dreaminess with Joji’s pop direction.
  • Tom hears echoes of “80s crooners like Christopher Cross” in Joji’s recent vocals.
• Versatility:

  "Everything sounds different" across Joji's singles, proves his range and willingness to veer into unexpected sonic spaces.

• Notable Quote:

  "If you told me My Bloody Valentine had decided to maybe work with a different singer and lean really more into a more pop direction, and you played this for me, I'd believe it." — Robin Hilton (21:28)

4. Joyce DiDonato & Time for Three, Composer Kevin Puts – “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”

From the Album: Emily No Prisoner Be (Out Jan 3)
[22:58 – 29:11]

• Collaboration: Opera star Joyce DiDonato joins genre-hopping string trio Time for Three for an evocative setting of Emily Dickinson’s famous poem.
• Musical Style:
  • Robin calls the arrangement “arresting,” with “pulsating strumming” and a chant-like vocal quality.
• Interpretation:
  • Robin finds the setting unexpectedly sinister compared to the poem’s bittersweet, existential tone.
  • Tom notes the final lines’ ghostly, unsettling implication: “the speaker… she's looking back on the day death seduced her.”
• Quotes:

  "To me, the poem was always kind of bittersweet and sad, but really, really beautiful... In this context, it just sounds kind of creepy. It's very cool, but it sounds just kind of. Yeah. Sinister." — Robin Hilton (27:59) "You're actually listening to a ghost narrate it to you. Yeah. That is creepy. Creepy." — Tom Huizenga (28:51)

5. Jana Horn – “Don't Think”

From the Album: Jana Horn (Self Titled, Out Jan 16)
[30:03 – 35:30]

• Artist Note: Jana Horn, originally Texas-based and now in New York, crafts minimalist, calming folk with nylon string guitar and delicate vocals.
• Song Analysis:
  • Robin likens Horn’s lyrics to “Rumi poems,” “spare meditations full of wisdom about how to be and live in the world” (33:19).
  • Tom reflects on the mantra “Don’t think, just be,” parsing lyrical ambiguity and existential layering: “It's almost like we're listening in on a late night conversation between friends or possibly lovers.”
• Practical Take:
  • Robin has personally adopted “don't think” as a meditative technique for sleep, inspired by military focus methods.
• Quote:

  "Her words to me are like Rumi poems. Just very spare meditations full of wisdom... There's something that is very centering in her work, like Rumi's work." — Robin Hilton (33:19)

6. Daniel Bjarnason – “Fragile Hope” (Excerpts)

From the Album: The Grotesque and the Sublime (Out Feb 27)
[35:30 – 42:51]

• Profile: Icelandic composer/conductor writing in memory of friend/colleague, composer Johann Johannsson.
• Musical Journey:
  • Tom describes the piece opening “as if it just suddenly emerges from far beneath the earth's surface” with “evocative, sonically arresting” orchestral textures and innovative percussive techniques.
  • Robin is drawn to its “deep and dark and mysterious” world, calling it “kind of unnerving… but I don't want to leave it.”
• Tribute Section:
  • About ten minutes in, Bjarnason quotes a Johannsson melody “as a kind of comforting oasis or maybe... a vista, maybe a view of the great beyond.”
• Composer’s Words:

  “A reflection on the beauty Johann Johansson brought to the world through both light and shadow.” — Tom quoting Bjarnason (42:06)

• Ending:
  • Tom notes the subtle “ticking clock beat” that eventually evaporates, giving a sense of time’s passage and memory.
  • Robin: “It's dark, but it's dark beauty.” (42:05)

Notable Quotes

• "[Gasoline has] a playground kind of melody or chant...kind of nonsensical, right?…It also feels a little out of time. Like it's maybe almost some sort of early 60s folk song." — Robin Hilton (05:14)
• "There's a lot of warmth to this song... Making up words with your brand new lover, humming lullabies, and, you know, the whole idea of who's going to say 'I love you' first." — Tom Huizenga (06:06)
• "His music always has these interesting little sonic touchstones...he weaves throughout his songs. I find myself consistently surprised while I'm listening." — Robin Hilton on Joji (16:32)
• "You’re actually listening to a ghost narrate it to you. Yeah. That is creepy. Creepy." — Tom Huizenga (28:51)
• “Her words to me are like Rumi poems. Just very spare meditations full of wisdom about how to be and live in the world.” — Robin Hilton, on Jana Horn (33:19)
• “It’s dark, but it’s dark beauty.” — Robin Hilton, on Daniel Bjarnason’s “Fragile Hope” (42:05)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Start Time |
|------------------------------------------------|------------| | Buck Meek – “Gasoline” | 01:43 | | Pekka Kuusisto & Sam Amidon – “Way Go Lily” | 08:11 | | Joji – “Love You Less” | 16:32 | | Joyce DiDonato & Time for Three – “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” | 22:58 | | Jana Horn – “Don't Think” | 30:03 | | Daniel Bjarnason – “Fragile Hope” (excerpts) | 35:30 |

Conclusion

Robin and Tom celebrate the eclectic newness bubbling up in 2026, offering intimate reflections and deep dives into the creative choices behind each song. Whether it’s the intimacy of Jana Horn, the cosmic whimsy of Buck Meek, or the somber orchestral depths of Daniel Bjarnason, each pick is presented with genuine affection for discovery and storytelling—inviting listeners to join in the journey of musical curiosity.