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Robin Hilton
I'm Robin Hilton. NPR Music's Hazel Sills here. Hazel, welcome.
Hazel Sills
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be on the show for the very first time. I've never been on the show ever.
Robin Hilton
It's been amazing.
Hazel Sills
Can't wait to see what it's up to about.
Robin Hilton
Yeah, it has been a while since you've been on. I don't remember last time you were on.
Hazel Sills
I feel like I've just been booked and busy. It's been a busy summer. But yeah, now I'm back.
Robin Hilton
Well, this is a contenders episode. The NPR Music team we keep a running list of the year's best songs. We add to it every other week or so with the latest tracks we love so much. They're in the running for a spot on our final best of the year lists when we get to that point. So what's going on with your picks this week, Hazel? I'm hearing a lot of ear candy, a lot of dreamy, glitchy stuff to kind of get lost in a lot about letting go, some self reflection. What else?
Hazel Sills
Yeah, I definitely think it's music to get lost into and definitely some artists who are playing with ideas of fantasy and kind of like childlike wonder. Should I just go into the first song?
Robin Hilton
Yeah. What do you want to do?
Hazel Sills
Okay, I want to play this band that I really love, new group this year called Disney Blood. I want to play their song titled Give Upping and it's from their self titled debut album.
Song Lyrics
Sa La.
Robin Hilton
That immediately took me away. I mean that just yanked me out of the world that I am right now and put me right in the middle of its world.
Hazel Sills
Yeah, I think that's a good way of putting it. I mean this song and this is the opening track from this album, this Disney Blood self titled album that came out a few months ago. It is just insanely beautiful to me. It's like so beautiful. It's not, you know, obviously you want music to transport you, right? But this is music that, and I think purposefully so, is like not grounded in reality at all. And Disney Blood is made up of two experimental musicians who I really admire, Nina Keith and Rachika Nayyar. And for this project they were really kind of inspired by this idea of like Reconnecting with their almost, like, inner children, like, their childlike selves and kind of reaching back into time and accessing a version of themselves who could just kind of like, experiment and, like, play around in the studio. And I think they're making music with the innocence and playfulness and fantasy of being a child almost. And I think that's really beautiful. And I don't know. I don't know what you were like as a child. Were you also fantasizing about, like, opening wardrobes and entering Narnia or, like, conjuring up? Were you, like, thinking about, you know? Well, I think I was going into different universes.
Robin Hilton
I mean, a little bit. I think I was maybe moving around in the space that I think this song also inhabits, which is the darker side of your childhood fantasies. And by darker, I just mean terrifying. I mean, it's sort of in the name Disney Blood, which is. We were talking before the show about this and how, like, are there any movies that are more horrifying, really, than a lot of the Disney ones? They're full. I mean, they're very bloody and full of death and loss and grief and, you know, even when they're made for kids. And I think as much as they're trying to be in touch with their childhood fantasies, I do feel like there's a real dark undercurrent to all of this.
Hazel Sills
Yeah, it's like, it's not this sort of, like, oh, I'm just gonna go back in time to this rosier, totally innocent time of being a child where I had no fears and no problems. There's something very. Even for its darkness, there's something kind of, like, comforting or, like, warm to the music that they're making. It's like they are imagining this new world in their music. This album has really stuck with me, and this song in particular, like, as just being one of the most gorgeous pieces of music I've heard this year.
Robin Hilton
Definitely a contender for me as well. Disney Blood, by the way, is spelled D I, S I, N I B L U, D. Avoiding any lawsuits there, I imagine. Disney Blood. Yeah, they clearly have a thing for fairy tales. Have you seen the promo photo where I'm pretty sure they're standing with that creature from the Neverending Story.
Hazel Sills
Yes. I don't think it's exactly the dragon Falkor. I think it's like, it. I think. I'm pretty sure that's his name.
Robin Hilton
I've never seen the movie, but I immediately recognized that, and I thought, that's that flying furry Feathery Animal from, I think, the Neverending Story that they're standing with.
Hazel Sills
Yes, totally. And it's just, like, in the back of a garage somewhere in the suburbs. And that really captures the energy of the album. It's like we are going to unearth these memories or these vibes that you haven't thought about in a while and.
Robin Hilton
Are being stored in some dusty garage somewhere.
Hazel Sills
Yeah.
Robin Hilton
Yeah, I like that.
Hazel Sills
In the back of your brain yeah.
Robin Hilton
So Disney Blood, Give Upping is the song from the album Disney Blood. I want to play something that I actually thought you might pick this week because it's a band and a song that I totally learned about and heard from you. This is a duo that goes by the name Ear.
Hazel Sills
I have felt kind of insane telling people about this band. I feel like a Portlandia sketch where I'm like, I'm really into this band. I'm really into this band. They're called Ear. You're messing with me.
Robin Hilton
Yeah. Very, very difficult to find anything about online, in no small part because of the name. But, I mean, there just isn't much out there about them right now. They've only released a few songs, but, you know, when you were telling everyone about them, you described their music as having postal service and the books energy. And I could not hit play fast enough on their music. And like I said, they've only got a few singles. The one I want to play is called Fetish.
Song Lyrics
I can touch from the wrong hand I like the distance Seems that I'm sa.
Robin Hilton
Breathing in Right.
Song Lyrics
Out of left field Distracting to violate Pretend it's not that ever not that fire hydrant can't punk here sa. Sam.
Robin Hilton
Yeah. I think the postal service and the books, those are perfect touchstones for this, I think.
Hazel Sills
Okay, I'm glad. Cause when I said that, I was like, am I landing this right? I feel like. Yeah. I mean, I feel like I really like music that sounds like it's being built in real time in a way. Or it sounds like someone is kind of tinkering and cobbling it together, playing with it. Yeah. And this is. This song really scratches that. That itch for me.
Robin Hilton
Oh, yeah. That is so well put. I mean, just all these little sounds flitting around. It does feel like it's kind of being, I don't know, hammered together in a. In a little workshop or something like that. The electronics, the break beats all the little weirdness, but also kind of hooky, you know, and super inviting. You know, it's like, kind of synthetic, but also there's a real warmth to it. I don't know. I've listened to it many times and I've sat with the lyrics for a good bit. I have no clue what this song is about.
Hazel Sills
It's about not being able to park where there's a fire hydrant.
Robin Hilton
I mean, that's the only thing I could kind of hold onto. It's like, yeah, she says at the end, fire hydrant, can't park here. But, you know, that kind of sent me down this rabbit hole of thinking about when you're at a point in your life where nothing's working out, like, is there anything more maddening than trying to find a parking space in the city? You know, it is the worst. And then you think, okay, I'll just park here. And even though you know you're probably breaking 20 laws, and then you get a ticket that you can't afford to pay, I don't know. It feels like it kind of unfolds in this big, anonymous city somewhere. And it just took me back to a time in a place that I'm not entirely sure I really wanted to go to. I mean, it made me think about how when I graduated from college, they wouldn't give me my diploma until I paid all my back parking tickets. And it was several hundred dollars at that point that I built up in all my years in college.
Hazel Sills
No, no, no. There is this kind of, like, anxious energy to it.
Robin Hilton
Right.
Hazel Sills
It's like the thing that I love about this song is like, you're right. It does have this kind of, like, hooky aspect to it, but at a certain point, I have no idea where it's going. It doesn't follow a typical structure.
Robin Hilton
Yeah. So the best I can tell, it's a duo. Yao Avtan and Jonah Paz. I think they go to Bard College or they went to Bard College. Not terribly online. They do have an Instagram account I've started to follow, and I'm pretty sure they have an album coming out on September 8th. They posted a very short note on Instagram, actually, just before we came into the studio here, and it says, the most dear and the future September 8th. So I'm gonna say that's an album.
Hazel Sills
Cool.
Robin Hilton
Yeah. Very much looking forward to it.
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Robin Hilton
Ts and Cs apply all right, just a quick reminder. If you like the show, tell a friend about it. Leave us a review on Apple Music or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also drop us an email. We love any kind of questions, comments, feedback of any kind. Our email address is allsongspr.org I wanna.
Hazel Sills
Play a song that I feel like has been really comforting me lately. It is a song by the artist Emily yeah and it is called Talk Me Down.
Song Lyrics
It's my problem it's me being real like sugar girl Talk me down Talk me down Talk me down Talk me down Talk me down Talk me down I wish I was more overnight I want to open up highway Talk me down I'll hold you in my arms not for long I'm cold water I'm the crate that's ridden by down talk me down Talk me down Talk me down I want to open up out the bed all my limits press defense I be spending a run into the hills again Something familiar the way you love me I'm salty sour till you pour the sugar on me I'm faster than a bullet on it I want to be lovely I go faster than a faster than a discover I Talk me down Talk me down Talk me down Talk me down Talk me down.
Robin Hilton
I think this song's really fascinating. There's so much going on in it. I'm really curious to hear what you think about it and what you have to say because yeah, it's doing a lot of things.
Hazel Sills
Yeah, you Know, I said it's a. The song has been a comfort to me lately. It does to me sound like a song about someone who wants to be comforted. And maybe that's why I find it comforting, you know. Emily Yasina is a singer songwriter who I feel like I've kept tabs on for a minute now. She's worked a lot with Alex G. You've probably heard her sing on songs like Treehouse with him. And this song, it's very almost like simple in a way, but it kind of like there's something about the piano to it. And just the way that she sings it, it feels like it's kind of carrying me with her. Like there's just this movement to it. And to your point about it being complicated, there's so much imagery in this song. She's peeking over a ledge and she wants someone to talk her down. And immediately I sort of read that, as, you know, I need someone to be there for me and to help me through something. And what did you think about it, Lisa?
Robin Hilton
Well, I guess I think the thing that's really interesting about that is she's very clearly reaching out and saying, talk me down. Right. But it's also very inward looking. And I feel like she's simultaneously trying to find the solution within herself to whatever her problem is. She keeps saying, it's my problem, whatever it is, you know, so it's very inward looking. I mean, I think you can have both things where you can take responsibility and look for a solution inside yourself, but at the same time lean on the ones you love. And I feel like maybe that's kind of what she's doing here.
Hazel Sills
No, I think you're right. I hear that kind of push and pull, you know, wanting to outstretch an arm and get some help, but then also wanting to feel self resilient. I mean, there's that part in the song where she sings, you know, I wish I was more of a natural. Like I want to open up. Like I get the sense in the song of wanting to bring other people into what you're going through and not necessarily just go through it alone.
Robin Hilton
Yeah, I read that the whole album is about the fear of being vulnerable, which makes sense because, I mean, I don't think you can be afraid of something or be vulnerable without being acutely aware of what your problems are. I mean, you've got to be very self aware to start off with. And yeah, great song. And lots of other ear candy in this one too. Even though it's doing a Lot with very little. I mean, it's like you said, it's very simple in a lot of ways, but so many little sounds and stuff to get lost in. So again, Emily Yasina Y A C I N A Yasina Emily Yasina Talk Me down and the album that's Veil Fall, right? Veil Fall. V E I L F A L L Vail Fall. And that is due out September 26th. Have you heard the new Onomanoguchi album yet? Are you a fan of theirs?
Hazel Sills
You know, I never really was a fan. I was kind of a little familiar with them, but I'm not super deep into their work.
Robin Hilton
Well, they're probably best known for making chiptune music, you know, very lo fi electronics. Almost like early video game sounds and stuff. You know, very synth heavy pop music. Very glitchy. This new album that they've got, it's totally different. I mean it still sounds like Anamanaguchi. I think at its heart it's. It's pretty glitchy in parts, but really it's more of a full on rock album. Very guitar heavy, really rips in places. The album is called anyway, and the song I want to play from it is called Rage Kitchen Sink in parentheses Rage Kitchen S.
Song Lyrics
What are you so mad about? Have you figured out? Built your heart down? Annoyed, annoyed so annoyed you got to the point Smother all your joy and jumped into the void the kitchen sink, the kitchen sin the kitchen sink, it's getting no fun the kitchen sink, it's flooding out if you thought you had a choice then breathe more voice Kill screens making noise Prepare, prepare I don't care brat in a cage we're in a newer age machine built by Rage the kitchen sink, the one we're leaving on the kitchen sink Black mole the kitchen sink pouring out your door the kitchen sink to the world to an.
Ocean flow Where I'm gonna come out.
After D Starbucks on your block someone called the cops Alone, alone, lonely for the night you don't sleep but you try was peace without the pie.
The.
Kids Chasten one words turn them down the kitchen sink.
Robin Hilton
Yeah, I could have picked any number of songs from this album. So much of it really, like I said, just absolutely rips. I wanted to play this song because the whole kitchen sink metaphor I think is really brilliant, specifically in the context of rage. So again, the song is called Rage Kitchen Sink. I mean, first off, I think this song is about how everyone is just so outraged right now by everything. Just apoplectic about everything and how everything is A trigger. We are living through the kitchen sink of Rage. You know, we use the phrase kitchen sink as sort of a catch all when we want to say everything is included. Like, everything. And the kitchen size sink, I mean, that's what's happening. I think right now. Everything is setting everybody off. And what happens to us when we allow everything to set us off like that? What happens when you let the kitchen sink fill up? It overflows and it spills out everywhere? I think over time, black mold starts to grow on everything. You know, that can make you really sick. I've put a lot of thought into this.
Hazel Sills
No, it's just like, something keeps getting added to the pile and added to the pile. And I don't know if I hear rage so much as I hear, like, weariness. Like, there's this sense of, like, it sounds tired, I hear tiredness. Like, all these. And then it really picks up. There's that moment where, you know, it's like, where are we gonna go now? And there's just even more to the laundry list of, like, problems. And I was really on board when the song kind of picks up in that way because I felt connected to that rage. And maybe I'm just too easily triggered. I don't know. There's a line in the song where he sings, you know, starbucks on your block, Someone called the cops. And it's like, you don't really need to know everything about what those two images, you know, evoke or the entire story behind them. But I feel where he's coming from.
Robin Hilton
Well, I mean, rage is. Is very exhausting.
Hazel Sills
Yeah.
Robin Hilton
And, you know, I think there's also a real undercurrent of fear and anxiety and paranoia all wrapped up in all of those little, simple little images that you're talking about. This whole album is so good. I think one of my favorites of the year so far. Multiple tracks that could end up on my best of the year list. Again, the album is called Anyway, not really sure what. What's the best way to say that anyway? Or anyway, maybe that's the point.
Hazel Sills
It's like a Rorschach, Texas. It's like, come as you are and figure it out on your own.
Robin Hilton
Yeah, it says more about me than the album title or band. Yeah. And that song again, was called Rage Kitchen Sink.
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Robin Hilton
Got your weekly reset coming up. Be sure to listen for that at the end of the show. But Hazel, you've got one more that you want to play for us?
Hazel Sills
Yeah, I do. It's funny to play this song after Rage Kitchen Sink, which is, you know, sort of has like a little video game sound, you know, being based in chiptune. Cause I want to play a song that makes me feel like I'm in a video game, but it's maybe not filled with rage, filled with playfulness. It is a song called Play by a very cool kind of avant pop artist named James K.
Song Lyrics
Sam. Want to be alone and I doubt that you f wrote down the rules you want to play Won't try to fight for the last time Won't fight to stay just alive Right now I feel that I am found right where I know that I feel the ground who will be the scene I'm going to I know what they see how I like to dream Now I know I believe that I really want to be your girl do you want to beat me up on your side Whole world is on the whole world like that and hold on to words that you pre they battle me up in mind they better be a fight I cannot forget no matter what you say I cannot forget hold on for life you made it to a certain, you know, sa what you're going to be alone and I doubt that you down those you want Now I feel that I am found right where I know where I feel the ground.
Robin Hilton
Yeah Take me back to the video game idea that you had. Because when the song first starts, I definitely was feeling it right. Like you're in this maybe like an early 90s video game. And not like you're not going around shooting up stuff. It's more of those world exploring games, you know, like where you're discovering worlds and puzzle solving. But then, man, that guitar kicks in about halfway through and it totally changes.
Hazel Sills
Yeah, totally. Yeah.
Song Lyrics
I Think.
Hazel Sills
When I think of a video game, like, there. There's an element of, like, battle to this song, right? Like, it's like, I don't. I don't totally know what the song is about, you know, but there is. There's this, like, frenetic energy to this song. There's something kind of futuristic about it. I feel like I'm like, trapped in a video game where I'm, like, trapped in the technology or something. And, you know, this song is interesting. Cause there's been so much music this year that feels like it could have been period.
Robin Hilton
There's been so much music.
Sponsor/Announcer
There's been period.
Hazel Sills
There's been a lot of music this year that sounds like it could have been released in the late 90s, like early 2000s. Like, I hear a little bit ray of light in this. I hear a little, like, sneaker pimps and like that kind of, like breakbeat, you know, electronica. And, you know, there's a music video for this song where it's like everyone in the video is using transparent CD players and, like, watching VHS tapes. So I feel like there's an element of, like, technological nostalgia at work in this song. Like, just the way that it sounds and.
Robin Hilton
Well, that's interesting. I think that tracks a little bit. Bit with one of the things that it made me think about, which is the idea of nostalgia and romanticizing the past. Maybe when things were simpler, maybe when you were a kid and felt more connected to your world. I don't know, but it feels to me like this song is. And this is something I heard in a lot of your picks, that it's seeking some sort of real, meaningful human connection in some way. This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately, and maybe that's why this popped into my head as I was listening to it. But it just feels like this is something that is becoming more and more critical for us to stay connected, you know, like face to face in person, real time with others. I don't know. Everything I read about AI and how people would rather date chatbots and, you know, watch porn than navigate the complexities of actual human relationships. You know, it's just like. I don't know, it seems like all the things that make us living, breathing human beings with real feelings are at risk. If that's where people are headed.
Hazel Sills
Absolutely. Yeah. I think people are very. I think a lot of artists are fatigued by how artificial everything can be. And, you know, for all the reasons that you just mentioned. And, yeah, I feel like I hear more and more artists who are trying to kind of like tunnel through all of those complications and like technological advances and like you say, like, find something real and human.
Robin Hilton
So that song again from James K is called Play, and it's from the album friend that's out September 5th, I believe. Yeah.
Hazel Sills
Yes, it is.
Robin Hilton
All right, well, that'll do it for this installment of the contenders. Hazel Sills, thanks as always for hanging out and sharing some great tunes.
Hazel Sills
Thank you for having me.
Robin Hilton
Okay, and here's your weekly reset. Be well, everyone. I'm Robin Hilton. It's all songs considered it.
Song Lyrics
Sam.
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Host: Robin Hilton
Guest: Hazel Sills
Release Date: August 26, 2025
In this "Contenders" edition of All Songs Considered, host Robin Hilton and first-time guest Hazel Sills (NPR Music) highlight some of the year's standout new music—tracks in consideration for NPR's best-of-the-year lists. Together, they explore a mix of dreamy, experimental, and ear-catching songs from emerging and established artists, focusing on themes like escapism, nostalgia, fantasy, self-reflection, and our modern need for authentic connection. Their conversation is steeped in warmth, playfulness, and moments of vulnerability, offering music both to get lost in and to reflect with.
Featured Track: "Give Upping" by Disney Blood (Disiniblud)
Memorable Quote:
“This is music that, and I think purposefully so, is not grounded in reality at all… They’re making music with the innocence and playfulness and fantasy of being a child almost.”
—Hazel Sills [06:16]
Visual Imagery:
Featured Track: "Fetish" by Ear
Memorable Quote:
“I really like music that sounds like it’s being built in real time… tinkering, cobbling it together, playing with it.”
—Hazel Sills [13:34]
Featured Track: "Talk Me Down" by Emily Yacina
Notable Lyrics:
Notable Insight:
“I think you can have both things where you can take responsibility and look for a solution inside yourself, but at the same time lean on the ones you love.”
—Robin Hilton [22:27]
Featured Track: "Rage Kitchen Sink" by Anamanaguchi
Memorable Quote:
“Rage is very exhausting. And, you know, I think there’s also a real undercurrent of fear and anxiety and paranoia…”
—Robin Hilton [31:10]
Featured Track: "Play" by James K
Memorable Quote:
“I feel like I hear more and more artists who are trying to kind of like tunnel through all of those complications and like technological advances and… find something real and human.”
—Hazel Sills [40:32]
This episode of All Songs Considered’s "Contenders" captures a vibrant cross-section of the year’s most inventive, emotionally resonant tracks. Robin and Hazel’s natural chemistry and thoughtful analysis provide insight not only into the music itself, but into larger currents—escapism, memory, fatigue, and our perennial search for meaning and connection in a wired world. The episode is rich with shimmering, experimental pop and honest, relatable conversation, making it a must-listen for anyone exploring 2025’s emergent sounds.