Big Thief’s Buck Meek, Joji and more of the week's best songs

Summary

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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

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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.

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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 |

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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.

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Transcript

[A]

Support for NPR and the following message come from Warby Parker, the One Stop Shop for all your vision needs. They offer expertly crafted prescription eyewear plus contacts, eye exams and more for everything you need to see. Visit your nearest Warby Parker store or.

[B]

Head to warbyparker.com if you want to record the show. Pro tip.

[C]

Microphone.

[B]

Turn the microphone.

[D]

Microphone.

[B]

TOM, I feel like I've been trying to get some time to hang out with you and play and talk about new music for a while now. It's been a minute.

[C]

Well, you know, the holidays kind of.

[D]

Got in the way.

[B]

The holidays. Do you know when the last time was that you were on the show?

[C]

Several months.

[B]

August.

[D]

Oh, wow.

[B]

August. Haven't had you in the hot seat since. Since August.

[C]

That is proof of how time flies.

[B]

It really does get away from you if you're not paying attention.

[C]

Sorry about that. But you just gotta keep calling through, you know, the lines are always busy.

[B]

Well, we start off every year with a blank sheet.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Clean slate. And we start adding songs to this virtual list. It's a list, a running list of all the new tracks that we're loving. And as the year marches on, we'll update it and add to it. It's All Songs Considered. I'm Robin Hilton. NPR Music's Tom Huizenga here. It's obviously very early in the year, but we already have some stuff that we're kind of obsessing over and loving.

[C]

And have on repeat plays very, very interesting stuff already.

[B]

Let's start with the new Buck Meek. Let's Buck Meek from Big Thief. He's the guitarist and Big Thief, also a singer. He's also, though, released a handful of his own right. Solo albums. He's got a new one that he just announced. It's his third solo album. It's called the Mirror. And the first song that we're getting from it is called Gasoline.

[D]

If I could, if I could light it se. Making words of what we made one My fancies in my blood who we are seeing echo Will it be me or will it be her? To say I love you first built a fire with oak and juniper and cypress gasoline I knew she like she drew Orion on my belly with her finger and I asked if I could kiss her. Making words of why we may grow One month and she's in my blood Gluyell how do see me grow? Will it be me or will it be her to say I love? We lay in silence through the morning until language slowly started foaming she found a love I Recognized from when I was a newborn Making words of what we made love Find my fancies in my blood who we are Louder how do able will it be me? Oh, it be heard to say I love you. Maybe I'll be a light beam only laser in the back and maybe she's a photon too and we'll pass through each other Hiding quantum Making words up while we make love One month and she's in my blood Louis, A lot of Clarus in April. Will it be me or will it be hurt to say I love you first?

[B]

Just such a great rolling, rollicking playfulness in the song that I love. It's almost like, like a playground kind of melody or chant or something in a way. And it even, almost sounds like some kids voices are in the mix there in the chorus or something.

[C]

Well, especially because, you know, the opening kind of takes you by surprise. It's like, whoa, wait, wait, what are those words? And it turn out that, you know, they are these lovey dovey words that he and his partner make up while they're making out.

[B]

Kind of nonsensical, right? Yeah, it's.

[D]

I don't know.

[B]

Does it remind you of something? It reminds me of something, but I can't quite place it. It's something in those nonsensical lyrics, something in the playfulness. It also feels a little out of time. Like it's maybe almost some sort of early 60s folk song or something from that period, you know?

[C]

Yeah, I think maybe you're thinking of that, that kind of non stop strumming of the guitar that kind of propels the piece. But for me, you know, there's just a lot of warmth to this song. There's gentle vocals, there's the whole, this whole idea we talked about. 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. And then later in the song there's this really nice image. The line is, in 1 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. And you know, that's a really cool image and it sets up this really cool disjointed guitar solo that comes kind of out of the blue that I just love.

[B]

Yeah, it almost feels out of place, but it works really, really well.

[C]

Very cool.

[B]

I mean, the line that you quote is what is something that really struck me as well, which is the song is kind of vast and cosmic in some ways, but also just kind of goofy and intimate. And intimate and very grounded here on Earth. I reached out to Buck Meek and asked him about the song. And, you know, it's really not more complicated than what we're already getting from our multiple listens, which is just that 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, trying to figure out going to kind of say the first thing or make the first thing.

[C]

Exactly.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Anyway, I was so happy when I saw this one. I kind of think of Buck Meek as the secret weapon of Big Thief. In some ways. You know, that project is very much sort of filtered through the lens of and voice of Adrian Linker, who we love.

[C]

And you can hear her in the background vocals here.

[B]

She appears on this album as well. But I think he's every bit as important to that band. Very much a band band. So this album from Buck Meek, again, it's called the Mirror and It is out February 27th.

[C]

You know, you mentioned a few minutes ago that you felt there's a kind of a childlike vibe to some parts of the song. So I think we should go to this very interesting collaboration between the Finnish violinist Pekka Kousisto and the folk singer Sam Amidon. And they're doing this. This track I'd like to play called Way Go Lily. And it's really a children's song from the Georgia Sea Islands. And the record is by Pekka Kuzisto. It comes out on February 20th. And he's a really interesting violinist, Robin. He's been known to swallow miniature microphones in performance.

[D]

What?

[C]

And he will actually.

[B]

Wait a minute. You mean like actually down, like.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Are they wireless and it's sending a wireless signal? No, the wire is attached.

[C]

The wire's attached. And if you're around in July, when I bring him to the tiny desk, you can witness it because he says he's gonna do it. And he's doing things very differently on this album. And one of them is he invited Sam Amidon to come on the record and sing a set of American folk tunes in brand new arrangements for String orchestra, which Pekka Kuzisto is conducting. It's the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. And again, this song is called Way Go L.

[D]

Way go Lily Way go Lily Way go Lily Way go Lily Gonna rule my ruler Gonna rule my mama Gonna rule all my Gonna rule my ruler way go lily way. Gonna rule my mama gonna rule my papa Gonna rule my. Ruler wa. The Going to rule them where the ha Going to rule them where the rule Going to rule my ruler Going to rule all mysteries Going to rule my papa sometime Going to rule my ruler sometime we go lily way go.

[C]

Lily.

[D]

Way go Lily. Ra.

[B]

It's really lovely. I've heard the original version of this song that Sam Amidon did. I think it was on his 2010 album.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

Yeah, I see the sign. And on the one hand, this version and that original version, they're not that different. But this one does feel just a little bit fuller and richer. It's very lush and sort of pastoral. But this isn't necessarily representative of the whole range of this record because it's kind of all over the place. And I'm wondering what the thread is like. What ties all these different things together.

[C]

Well, you. You mentioned the word pastoral, and that's a really good one to describe kind of the main piece on the album, which is a standard piece for violin and orchestra by Ray Fawn Williams called the Lark Ascending. It's been recorded a bazillion, almost every violinist also on the record, some music by Pulitzer winner Caroline Shaw, and she's arranged some of her string quartet music. Also, one other really interesting thing on the record is a piece for solo violin written for him by another Pulitzer winner, Ellen Reed. And there's kind of a sad backstory behind all of this because when Pekka Ku Sisto was first working on the album in 2022, in quick succession he lost both his brother and his mother. And when he was finishing the record in early 2025, his father died. So a lot of loss here.

[B]

I can't even imagine.

[C]

No. And and then the solo violin piece, which is called Desiderium, which has to do with a feeling of loss, that is by Ellen Reed, and she dedicated it to Pekka's brother.

[B]

So the album Willows that that song is from we sung by Sam Amidon on the album by Peka kuisto, willows that is out on February 20th.

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

Let'S go to this song by Joji that I'm really loving right now. We're Joji J O J I He is an artist whose music I think crisscrosses a handful of different genres. If I had to pick one thing, I don't know, maybe it's no more complicated than pop rock. It's just pop rock. But he always has these interesting little sonic touchstones and sounds and things that he weaves throughout his songs. I find myself consistently surprised while I'm listening. I think it's going to go in one direction and it'll go in another direction. He's got a new album coming out. It's not out until February, but he shared a few singles from it that I've really been loving, including this one. It's called Love you less.

[D]

Keep getting less of you when I give you the best I need Baby my love is just too much can't get enough of you no no but you won't set me free you love me the more I don't show When I'm ready you're not ready. Trying to carry this love when it's heavier by my side you my if I love you less will you love me more? I come back come for if I love you to us love me more. Wasting my breath cuz you like it better when there's no love When I'm not in your bed Only time you want me there don't want you slow down to give you everything that I have this is all you should love me. If I love you less will you love me more? I come back you could find if I love you less will you love me more? Sam Ra.

[B]

So I have to ask you, does that opening guitar bit, that little intro at the top of this song, does it remind you of anything?

[D]

Anything?

[C]

Well, it is kind of a, you know, psych anthem. Guitar intro a la Flaming Lips, maybe.

[B]

Oh, Flaming Lips is a good little name check, but I was actually thinking of My Bloody Valentine of all bands. Listen, here's the Joji and here's My Bloody Valentine, the song Only Shallow, which is. I mean, the. There's very little about this Joji song that I would call shoegaze.

[C]

Right, but you nailed that. You nailed it, didn't it?

[B]

Yeah, but this is something in the guitars that remind me a little bit of, you know, maybe the haziness, the fuzziness, the dreaminess of My Bloody Valentine. But that's kind of the full extent of the similarities. But, I mean, if you told me that 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.

[C]

Well, and speaking of pop, and at least to me, in Joji's other work, even in a song like Past Won't Leave My Bed from the singles that he's been releasing, the voice to me is slightly reminiscent of these wonderfully smooth pop 80s crooners like Christopher Cross or.

[B]

Glenn Sharrock of Chris Cross.

[C]

Christopher Cross or Glenn Shark of Little River Band. I mean, but. But here in this song, you know, love me Less, there's a patina over it. So.

[D]

Wow.

[B]

I think when I think a Little River Band and Christopher Cross, I think quintessential yacht rock, soft yacht rock. And I'm not hearing this, but.

[C]

But listen to Pass Won't Leave My Bed. And I think you'll know a little bit more what I'm talking about. But I guess what I'm. The point I'm also trying to make is that there's a versatility here. And the single, the music that he's released from the new record so far, I mean, everything sounds different.

[B]

Well, I love everything that I've heard from this album so far. And the song love you less from this upcoming ALB that astoundingly, it has a name that we are not allowed to say on the radio.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

I'll just say it has something to do with what you should not do, while maybe facing a very strong wind, staring into the wind. And the album from Joji, you can look it up is out on February 6th.

[C]

Well, earlier we had this interesting collaboration between a classical violinist and Sam Amidon, the folk singer. Something kind of similar happening with this next song. Astonishing collaboration between the opera star Joyce Didonato and the super agile string trio called Time for Three. They're a band that kind of embraces Everything from bluegrass and jazz to classical. The composer is Kevin Putz is his name. He's a Pulitzer winner, probably best known for his adaptation of the novel and then the movie the Hours that premiered at the Metropolitan Opera a few years ago. And that production at the Met starred Joyce Didonato, the mezzo soprano for whom Kevin Puts has written this cycle of poems by Emily Dickinson. He set them to music. And the best known of Emily Dickinson's poems is arguably Because I Could Not Stop for Death. And that's what we're gonna hear now. And really just a fascinating version. Listen for the pulsating strumming of the stringed instruments. Just two violins and a double bass. And I like how they've divvied up the singing here with Time for three. They're also very good singers, trading lines in the first couple verses with Joyce Didonato. And the words are kind of chanted like an incantation. You know, a lot of composers have set Emily Dickinson's poems to music, but this is really one of my favorites. It's really arresting.

[D]

Because I could not stop for death he kindly stopped. He kindly stopped for we anxious ourselves and immortality. For he sieved. We pass the school where children stroll that recess in glory we passed the fields of gazing grain we passed the sacred hippostoles the dews drew quivering and cheers for only the summer my gown my tippet Only two repose before us that seemed the swelling of the ground the roof was scarcely visible the cornice in the groom since 20 centuries and yet he shin in a day I first surmised the horses heads which would return. Kindly stopped for me. He kindly stopped for me.

[B]

Well, right off the bat, I mean, first of all, love it. Second of all, I would say that to me, it makes the poetry of Emily Dickinson sound a lot more sinister than I ever think of it. I mean, for people who don't know the poem, because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson, death personified, pulls up in a carriage and takes her away, driving off into eternity. And along the way, they pass buildings she recognizes, a schoolyard where kids are playing and the sun is setting in a field that she notices.

[D]

And.

[B]

And to me, the poem was always kind of bittersweet and sad, but really, really beautiful and with a very deep understanding of the cycle of life and appreciation for that in this context. It just sounds kind of creepy. It's very cool, but it sounds just kind of. Yeah. Sinister. I don't know. What do you think?

[C]

Well, I think it's actually a pretty dark poem to begin with because the last line is what really kind of creeps me out. And that is since then tis centuries and yet feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses heads were toward eternity. So the speaker, this is centuries later, she's looking back on the day that death seduced her.

[B]

So she's been a ghost this entire time.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

And you're actually listening to a ghost narrate it to you. Yeah. That is creepy. Creepy.

[C]

And the scoring here really works for me. Just pairing an opera singer with this unorthodox string trio that has a penchant for Americana anyway, you know, very simple but dramatically effective, I think, and an intimate feel to it that that sticks with you.

[B]

So the name of the album is called Emily no Prisoner Be, which is another Emily Dickinson poem, no prisoner be Emily no prisoner be. And that is out on January 3rd. Support for this podcast and the following message come from the NPR Wine Club, which has generated over $1.75 million to support NPR programming, whether buying a few bottles or joining the club. You can learn [e-mail] podcast must be 21 or older. To purchase. I want to go to Jayna Horne. Jayna Horne, a singer who I think is maybe originally from Texas but is in New York now, based out of New, just makes the most beautiful music, very calming music, usually very spare, often just her, her voice and a nylon string guitar. I think you're a fan of.

[C]

Oh yeah, definitely.

[B]

Gorgeous, gorgeous music. She has a new album coming out. It's a self titled album and we actually have a song that is not out yet. Another exclusive.

[D]

Whoa.

[C]

Ding ding ding ding ding.

[B]

All Songs Considered could have gone with really any number of tracks on this, but I wanted to play this one, it's cool. Called Don't Think.

[D]

Don't think, Don't think. Different. Just to be. Just because it is different Nothing. Feels the same. Coming back the way that I came will be different. Don't think, Don't think it is easy just be. Just because it is easy to love. I don't take it lightly. That I think set in stone. Can begin to. The ground that you are is different.

[B]

Her words to me are like roomy poems. I bet you you like the poetry of Rumi. You strike me as a Rumi kind of guy.

[C]

Rumi Hafez. Yes, yes.

[B]

Ancient Sufi poet. Look him up. You'll love him. If you don't know Rumi. R U M I just very spare meditations full of wisdom about how to be and Live in the world almost always. Very calming. There's something that is very centering in her work, like Rumi's work. I don't know. No skips for me on this album. I went with don't think because don't think is my go to mantra.

[C]

I was wondering about don't think and what she really meant by it. She says, don't think, just be. And I'm wondering if she's thinking like, well, don't overthink things. Just be here in the moment. There's a line that says, I don't take it lightly that a thing set in stone can begin to roll when the ground that you're on is different, different. So to me, the lyrics are a little enigmatic. I feel like they're almost like we're listening in on a late night conversation between friends or possibly lovers. I'm not sure exactly what it means.

[B]

Yeah, I actually don't know if the phrase don't think in this song is a complete thought either.

[C]

Right.

[B]

I don't know if it's don't think, think about something specific or it's just don't think in general. And she's. It's just about letting go completely. But, you know, for me, it's a mantra that honestly, I think I got from reading some article years ago about how the Marines use it for a sort of a way to center their mind and calm their mind when they're trying to fall asleep in extreme circumstances. They just keep repeating the phrase in their head, don't think, don't think.

[C]

Oh, really?

[B]

Don't think, don't think. And I started doing that a number of years ago.

[D]

It works.

[B]

It really works. Like if you wake up in the middle of the night, just keep repeating the phrase, don't think. But Jana Horne, her self titled album is out January 16th. But Tom, you've got one more that I know you want to play.

[C]

I do. And it's some fabulously darkly textured music by Daniel Bjarnason. He's an Icelandic composer and conductor who kind of, you know, little by little he's making a name for himself over here. He's currently posted at the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra that he conducts on this new album of his own work. And I'd like us to hear some excerpts from a piece that's too long to play in its entirety. It's like 15 minutes. It's called Fragile Hope. It's a symphonic work that he wrote in memory of his colleague and friend, the Icelandic composer Johann Johansson, who Passed away tragically in 2018 at the age of 48. I know you're a fan.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

No, that just absolutely gutted me. And when you told me you had a piece that was written in his memory, immediately had to hear it.

[C]

So let's. Let's start with the opening couple of minutes. I love how this opens, like, as if it just suddenly emerges from far beneath the earth's surface. It's all really low pitches, double basses, bass drum, tam, tam. That's like a big gong. And then the horns and trombones are instructed to just blow air through the mouthpiece pieces. There are mallets that are used inside the piano. And the bass drummer uses this giant brush on the skin of the bass drum. And it all makes for just really evocative opening few measures. And it really stays sonically arresting through the entire piece.

[D]

Sam. Sa. Sam sat.

[B]

Tom, you know me well. This is basically everything I love is so deep and dark and mysterious, and it's kind of unnerving, kind of unsettling, but I don't want to leave it. I want to stay in this world that it has created.

[C]

And it's only fitting that later in the work. About 10 minutes in to this piece, Fragile Hope, Bjarneson pays homage to Johann Johansen, whom he dedicated the piece to. He's quoting one of Johansen's melodies that Johansen wrote for the Icelandic play Engleburn. And it. For me at least, it serves as a kind of comforting oasis or maybe. Well, or. Or a vista, maybe a view of the great beyond.

[D]

But it's.

[C]

It's a beautiful little melody.

[B]

I mean, there's such a beautiful arc to this whole piece. It really is worth. People need to just listen to the whole song again. It's like 15 minutes long.

[C]

It's true. It's true.

[B]

Is there another section that we should hear then maybe go out on.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, we could. And you're right about the. About the. It's dark, but it's. It's dark beauty.

[B]

And.

[C]

And Bjarneson himself described the music as, quote, a reflection on the beauty Johann Johansen brought to the world through both light and shadow. And again, this is a piece in memory of Johann Johansen, the Icelandic composer. And I love how this piece ends, Robin, with this kind of subtle ticking clock beat. Very subtle that eventually just evaporates.

[B]

I'll just scooch ahead here to that part, and then we can let this play out.

[C]

Great.

[B]

A really gorgeous piece from. Say the name again.

[C]

Daniel Bjarneson, the composer is Daniel Bjarnason, and he's also the conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in this new recording, which is called the Grotesque and the Sublime. It's out on the 27th of February.

[B]

All right, Tom Huizenga, thanks as always for the great hang. Let's not wait so long until next time.

[D]

Next time.

[C]

Excellent. Always, always happy to be here with you, Robin.

[B]

For NPR Music, I'm Robin Hilton. It's all songs. Consider.

[A]

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