The Contenders, Vol. 21: Tame Impala, Dominic Fike, Amber Mark, more

Summary

All Songs Considered – "The Contenders, Vol. 21: Tame Impala, Dominic Fike, Amber Mark, more"

Host: Robin Hilton
Guest: Sheldon Pierce
Date: September 30, 2025

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Overview

In this "Contenders" edition of NPR’s All Songs Considered, Robin Hilton and guest Sheldon Pierce share and discuss some of their top song picks from 2025—tracks they feel could make their year-end “best of” list. Their conversation celebrates both seasoned musicians evolving their sound and fresh discoveries breaking through, cutting across genres like electronic, R&B, indie rock, and pop. The episode explores not just the music but the meaning, context, and personal resonance behind these standout songs.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tame Impala – “Dracula” (New Single from Deadbeat)

[00:51–07:27]

• Excitement for Tame Impala’s new direction:
  Robin opens the episode by sharing the new Tame Impala track “Dracula,” praising its energetic, club-oriented sound that distinctively stands apart from previous work.

  • Robin: “I’m not entirely sure what to even make of it because... it’s completely absurd to me.” (04:33)
  • Sheldon emphasizes the shock of the band's pivot to acid house and rave influence, noting Kevin Parker’s embrace of Australian rave culture and describing “Dracula” as “really euphoric, really fun… so much swelling energy.” (04:44, 05:27)

• Discussion of the band's musical evolution:

  • Sheldon: “I am so excited to hear an artist who has shifted the zeitgeist before, who move so deliberately away from that sound to say, I’m going to do something different.” (05:46)

• Tease of upcoming Tiny Desk performance:
  Robin reveals that Tame Impala recently performed a Tiny Desk set with radically different reinterpretations, calling it “hands down one of the best tiny desks we’ve ever had, period.” (07:00)

  • Robin: “All the songs. Totally different… I don’t want to say anything else any more than that.” (06:47)

• Release date revealed:

  • Sheldon: “That album… October 17th.” (07:27)

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2. Discovery of Gabriel Jacoby – “The One”

[07:46–13:06]

• The thrill of finding a rising artist:
  Sheldon introduces soulful R&B artist Gabriel Jacoby, admitting he wasn’t on his radar until hearing “The One”:

  • Sheldon: “I listened to this song on a whim and was just completely blown away.” (08:19)

• Music’s infectious groove:
  Robin loves the song’s length, playfully lamenting: “The only thing wrong with that is it’s not twice as long. So good.” (10:56)
  Sheldon encourages instant replay: “You have to hit replay right when it ends.” (11:02)

• Gabriel Jacoby’s background:

  • Sheldon summarizes Jacoby’s journey from South Carolina to Tampa, working as an audio engineer by day and artist by night, stressing how Jacoby has “come into his own this year.”
  • Comparison to legends: “There are hints of Sly Stone and D’Angelo, but with Macy Gray… a little bit of rasp… so like distinctly like country fried…” (11:25–11:42)

• Describing the song’s effect:

  • Robin: “You could be sitting on the couch not feeling anything. And then second that comes on, you’re moving.” (12:29)
  • Sheldon: “You gotta move.” (12:38)

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3. Modern Fragmentation and Dominic Fike – “Quite the Opposite” (Rocket Mixtape)

[15:03–22:57]

• Reflection on media fragmentation:
  Robin laments the loss of monoculture and attention spans, then pivots: “Then, you know, I hear the music of Dominic Fike and I think, well, maybe great things can come out of this…” (15:04–15:38)

• Dominic Fike’s style and the fragmented era:

  • Robin observes that songs on Fike’s new Rocket mixtape are “little vignettes… broken... like little pieces of ideas and fragments.” (18:27)
  • Sheldon expands: “It is pulling from very different worlds at many different times. And all of his songs can swing pretty dramatically in sound, in tone, in mood.” (18:51)
  • Robin: “I feel like I get entire worlds and movies in these, like, two minutes.” (19:39)

• On intentionality and the mixtape format:
  Sheldon distinguishes mixtapes as “sketches of ideas,” sharing that these tracks are “not like my fully fleshed out things, even by his standards.” (20:53–21:51)

• Lyrical and generational resonance:

  • Robin: “I think it’s kind of brilliant… a perfectly rendered picture of what youth in that time is like—going out to parties, all of the anxiety and posturing...” (19:39–20:53)

• Robin’s invitation to Dominic Fike:

  • Robin mentions Fike never did a Tiny Desk and warmly invites him: “Dominic, I still want to bring you in for one, so you are welcome here anytime.” (22:12–22:57)

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4. Irish Indie from NewDad – “Misery”

[23:18–30:08]

• NewDad’s atmospheric sound:

  • Sheldon presents “Misery” from NewDad’s album Alter, characterizing the Galway band’s style as blending “lo fi-ness, shoegazing, grunge”—with music that’s “so uneasy… until it explodes on you.” (27:32–27:53)

• Favorite lyric and emotional resonance:

  • Sheldon: “I just really resonated with the idea of ‘feel like I’ve been spit out in a static state of grief.’ I mean, it’s such a great lyric.” (28:21)
  • Robin: “To me, this song is all about the music for me. The production, the guitars, the noise. I love the grit. I’m all in on that. I found the lyrics to be a little… almost like a parody of grunge…” (28:31)

• Intentional dramatism in lyrics:

  • Sheldon defends the lyrics as “intentionally hammy… an intentional dramatism… she is playing up what the experience of being in London for the bit… She’s having fun with this idea of misery.” (29:08–29:30)

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5. Maddie Diaz – “Heavy Metal” (Fatal Optimist Album)

[30:49–36:59]

• Playful wordplay and emotional strength:

  • Robin adores the metaphor: “Such a great play on words…It’s a good thing my heart is so heavy metal. I mean, it could mean I’m tough, right?… Or it could mean I am so cold and broken…” (35:16)
  • Sheldon unpacks its emotional complexity: “The real sort of brilliance of this song is in this idea of hardness… it can be toughness. But… it can be like steeling yourself because you are so vulnerable…” (35:37)

• Family themes and vocal delivery:

  • Robin: “I just love the way that she digs into ideas and feelings around family and love and all the baggage that we carry…” (36:22)

• Album info:

  • Robin: “The album’s called Fatal Optimist… It’s out October 10th.” (36:59)

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6. Amber Mark – “Too Much”

[37:16–End]

• R&B tradition and forward momentum:

  • Sheldon introduces Amber Mark’s new single, noting her “omnidir-ectional sound…” and deep love for R&B history, calling “Too Much” “an effective microcosm of what Amber Mark is, what her work does… a deep love for R&B history, and yet… so decidedly pointed forward.” (37:16–38:15)

• Warm, inviting musical universe:

  • Robin: “She creates this world that I want to live in when I listen to it. There’s so much light and good vibes, even… when she’s talking about cutting somebody off because they’re driving her crazy.” (38:15–38:32)

• Song interpolates Usher & Alicia Keys’ “My Boo.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Robin Hilton on Tame Impala:
  “This song Dracula has been living in my head for quite a while, since before it even came out because they played it at the desk… hands down one of the best tiny desks we’ve ever had, period.” (07:00)

• Sheldon Pierce on Gabriel Jacoby:
  “Honestly, it feels like discovering an artist at the precise moment when he discovers himself instantly addictive.” (12:20)

• Robin Hilton on Dominic Fike’s “Quite the Opposite”:
  “I think it’s kind of brilliant… a perfectly rendered picture of what youth in that time is like—going out to parties, all of the anxiety and posturing and, you know, you’re trying to like, I’ll be cool. I’m not gonna make this about me. But you are 100% making it about you…” (19:39–20:53)

• Sheldon Pierce on NewDad:
  “It feels so uneasy. I think that’s the great part about the way that it builds. It’s unsettling until it explodes on you.” (27:32)

• Robin Hilton on Maddie Diaz:
  “I think we did mention that she has a new album coming. When we… did the fall preview, I think we mentioned that she has one coming up. We didn’t play anything from it, but the album’s called Fatal Optimist.” (31:03)
  “Such a great play on words in this song… could mean I’m tough, right?… Or it could mean I am so cold and broken.” (35:16)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Song | Key Discussion | |-----------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 00:51 | Tame Impala – “Dracula” | New single, rave influences, band’s creative shift | | 07:46 | Gabriel Jacoby – “The One” | Discovering a new R&B artist, song’s infectiousness | | 15:03 | Dominic Fike – “Quite the Opposite” | Modern fragmentation, mixtape format, generational mood| | 23:18 | NewDad – “Misery” | Shoegaze/grunge, playful darkness, generational malaise| | 30:49 | Maddie Diaz – “Heavy Metal” | Wordplay, resilience, love & family | | 37:16 | Amber Mark – “Too Much” | R&B tradition, interpolation, positivity |

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Tone and Flow

The episode pulses with enthusiasm, curiosity, and warmth, as both hosts embrace new musical directions, cherish unexpected discoveries, and revel in emotional resonance. They’re unafraid to challenge each other’s takes—sometimes dissecting lyrics, sometimes just getting lost in the groove. The tone remains approachable, reflective, and at times wryly self-aware.

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Final Note

This “Contenders” episode showcases why All Songs Considered remains an essential space for music lovers: It celebrates both the joy of the familiar and the thrill of the new, recognizing the power of music to soundtrack our internal and external worlds—rainy days and all.

Transcript

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[Robin Hilton]

I haven't been outside in a minute. Is it still dreary as ever?

[Sheldon Pierce]

It is, very much so.

[Robin Hilton]

It's so dreary today. Just been pouring rain. Good time to stay inside and listen to music.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah.

[Robin Hilton]

This is one of our contenders episodes, you know, where we update that long running list of the year's best songs. It's a list we start every January and we keep adding to it throughout the year with the songs that we love so much they could end up on our best of 2025 lists. When we wind the year down, should we start with something that I know that we're both excited about?

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yes.

[Robin Hilton]

Yes, please. This is Tame Impala. Tame Impala. Tame Impala has a new album coming called Deadbeat and we just got a new single from it. It's the third one that dropped so far. It's a song called Dracula.

[Song Lyrics]

The morning light is turning blue the feeling is bizarre the night is almost over I still don't know where you are the shadows, they keep me pretty like a movie star Daylight makes me feel like Dracula in the end I hope it's you and me in the darkness I would never leave you Never see me in the light of day it's far too late the time has come I'm on the verge of Kevin and I run back to the dark now I'm Mr. Charisma fucking Pablo Escobar. My friends are saying shut up, Kevin, just get in the car. I just want to be right where.

You are.

In the end I hope it's you and me in the darkness I would never leave it from the D Coming from afar now here we are Right from the song like Dracula Right from the song of Dracula Right from the song of Dracula but please do you think about what it might mean? Cuz I dream about you in my sleep did you ever love someone like me? Like me?

[Robin Hilton]

I've listened to this song so many times.

[Sheldon Pierce]

So good.

[Robin Hilton]

And I'm not entirely sure what to even make of it because I mean, on the one hand it's super cool, but it's also, it's completely absurd to me.

[Sheldon Pierce]

So absurd. It's such an outlier in the Tame Impala discography. Like, I mean, there's groovy stuff across his discog, funk and disco. But Nothing as club oriented as this. I mean, the lead single, End of Summer is acid house. It sort of. It feels. That felt like a shock to the system. Right. He's very clearly, like, moving in a specific direction and he's talked about this record being inspired by rave culture in Australia, but this one is really euphoric, really fun. So much swelling energy. Those choral. What are those, like, MIDI synth voices that, like, surge into the.

[Robin Hilton]

I think it's really. I mean, maybe it's done with synths. It's got a kind of theatricality to it or something to it that I actually feel some similarities between this and then the third single, it's called Loser. From that I hear some overlap, but regardless, it's got that four on the floor beat. I mean, he's definitely hitting the club, like.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah, like you said. Yeah, yeah. This. I think this one is a little bit dancier. I mean, I am so excited to hear an artist who has shifted the zeitgeist before, who move so deliberately away from that sound to say, I'm going to do something different. I am going to push in a new direction. It's a really exciting place to be as a listener.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, wait until you see the band's tiny desk. Okay, so we don't normally like to reveal who plays the desk until we share the full set. We like it to be a surprise, in fact, for everyone who's lucky enough to be in the room for a performance for a Tiny Desk. We usually tell everyone, don't share it on social media, media or whatever until the set's published. But, Lord, this song Dracula has been living in my head for quite a while, since before it even came out because they played it at the desk. And all I'll say is that it is Tame Impala at the desk. Like you've never seen or heard Tame Impala before. Totally, totally different than what we just heard. All the songs. Totally different. I don't want to say anything else any more than that.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I don't think you need to say anything else. I'm in there.

[Robin Hilton]

But I will tell you that after the Tiny Desk, I turned to Bobby Carter, who brought the band in, right? And I said that was hands down one of the best tiny desks we've ever had, period.

[Song Lyrics]

Ever.

[Robin Hilton]

And that is saying a lot, right?

[Sheldon Pierce]

The high praise.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah. I am not kidding. Coming soon. I'll just say the tiny desk from Tame Impala. This song Dracula from the album Deadbeat. That album. When is that album out?

[Sheldon Pierce]

October 17th.

[Robin Hilton]

Okay, October 17th.

[Sheldon Pierce]

So, Robin, I mean, We've talked about the phenomenon of a well established artist, a game changing artist who has established their style moving dramatically in a new direction. I want to talk about a totally different but equally exciting phenomenon which is.

[Robin Hilton]

Staying completely in your lane.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Not the. Just like plucking an artist out of thin air and discovering them almost like fully formed, being completely introduced to something new on a whim and it satisfying an itch that you didn't even know that you needed. Scratch.

[Robin Hilton]

Right? Yeah.

[Sheldon Pierce]

There's a new song from the R and B artist Gabriel Jacoby who was not on my radar at all.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah, I don't know.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I had never heard of anything that he had put out to this point. I listened to this song on a whim and was just completely blown away. The song is called the one.

[Song Lyrics]

I'm Hanging on to. You baby can't lie, I'm used to letting go Baby, don't stand too far from it now. Come get invasive. I need you right here with me to show you my love for you Girl, I'm waiting on what you gonna say Come tell me something maybe that's all you need someone to love you I've waited on someone like you to move with me darling until the morning arrives I'll be the one that's right baby I'm out.

That's right, Keep leaning on that's right.

Damn it, I'm. Damn it, that's right, I'll be the one that's right Come show me some that's right. Oh man, I'm love that's right, darling, I love it. That's right, I'll be the one. I think I'd hate it to watch you go baby, it's true I don't know what I would do and it's safe to say that it ain't your fault but it ain't mine neither no.

No.

Damn it, I'm. Damn it, that's right I be the one that's right. Show me something I'm love that's right, darling, I love it that's right, I'll be the one.

[Robin Hilton]

The only thing wrong with that is it's not twice as long. So good.

[Sheldon Pierce]

You have to hit replay right when it ends.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah. One more time. Tell. Tell me about Gabriel Jacoby. I mean, it's incredible.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I. I took a crash course in Gabriel Jacoby this week after hearing this song. I mean, the first video on his YouTube channel from 2022 is an intro that explains his background. He was an audio engineer at a studio by day, artist by night. He's a 26 year old South Carolina born artist who learned to play guitar and drums and produce after he moved to Tampa, Florida. And after listening to his music, it sounds like he really has come into his own this year. His last three songs are his best, but the one is literally the one. He has figured out exactly how to get the most out of his vocal tone. I think there are hints of like Sly Stone and d', Angelo, but with Macy Gray. Yes, yes, A little bit of rasp. I was about to say there's a sound about it that is so like distinctly like country fried I think. And when I sent this to you, you noted the sort of stank face inducing nature of it. Oh, it's got my stank face. Oh my goodness. The funk that swells to a crescendo with that digified baseline at the end when it erupts. I mean honestly, it feels like discovering an artist at the precise moment when he discovers himself instantly.

[Robin Hilton]

Addictive.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah.

[Robin Hilton]

Like you hit play on this, the very first note, you could be sitting on the couch not feeling anything. And then second that comes on, you're moving.

[Sheldon Pierce]

You gotta move.

[Robin Hilton]

You gotta move so good. And his voice is incredible. I did read that he just wanted to make a song that like just to feel good.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah.

[Robin Hilton]

Like make people happy and I thought mission accomplished.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yes.

[Robin Hilton]

So the song, the one from Gabriel Jacoby and that it's just a single no word on a no word on an album.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I hope an album around the corner. The way he's moving.

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[Robin Hilton]

All right, we've got a whole bunch more music coming your way, plus your weekly reset at the end of the show, so be sure to stay tuned for that. Also, if you enjoy listening to all Songs considered, let us know in an email. Allsonspr.org, leave us a review on Apple Music or Spotify. Wherever you listen to the show and share the show with a friend, just tell people about it. It's the best way to support it. So, Sheldon, I've been thinking a lot lately about how we live in just the most fragmented age of all time.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yes.

[Robin Hilton]

Fragmented media, fragmented experiences. You know, there are no more monoculture moments that unify us. You know, certainly fragmented attention spans. And there's so much about all of this that just feels terrible to me. Like it just doesn't feel to me like it bodes well for the future if nobody can get through a book or an entire movie or whatever it may be. But then, you know, I hear the music of Dominic Fike and I think, well, maybe great things can come out of this because Dominic Fike's music feels very much like it grew out of this fragmented era that we live in and that he's grown up in. He's got a new mixtape. Calling it a mixtape, I honest to God, after all these years, I still.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Don'T even know what that is in.

[Robin Hilton]

2025, but it's called Rocket. And the song I want to play from it. I mean, there's so many I could pick. But let's hear a song called Quite the opposite.

[Song Lyrics]

I didn't go to your birthday party and neighbor with everybody I didn't take off my clothes in the pool I wasn't singing like Frank Sinatra not because I was afraid to be center stage it was quite the opposite Because I knew you'd be bummed if I took all your thunder so I did the opposite I never thought it would backfire and I'd make it all about me now you're having a bad time Because I made it all about me Once.

[Robin Hilton]

Again.

[Song Lyrics]

I didn't go to the Grammy parties cause nobody invited me and I don't have any antibodies so I guess it didn't bother me but then I sat on your couch and proceeded to pout so you would acknowledge me and if you want it now could you Tell me now so we can do it by Baby, I know you didn't want a sorry song or a fake party song but it's all that I know how to do I don't know why I made a sorry song when you never wanted one but it's all because I love you I never thought it would backfire and I'd make it all about me now you're having a bad time Because I made it all.

About me Once again.

[Robin Hilton]

It actually just cuts off.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah, that's the ending of it.

[Robin Hilton]

Which is hilarious because the fact that the song just ends like that in mid sentence, that really doesn't even have anything to do with why I feel like his music is very fragmented, right? I mean, they're like little vignettes. They're like little pieces of ideas and fragments. I mean, even the music itself feels kind of broken. The beats, everything feels cracked and off in a way.

[Sheldon Pierce]

It's also fragmented in the sense that it is pulling from very different worlds at many different times. And all of his songs can swing pretty dramatically in sound, in tone, in mood. It's funny that he says on this one, I know you didn't want a sorry song or a fake party song, but that's all I know how to do. I mean, I think you're selling yourself short, Dominic. You know how to do a good many things. If you scan his discography, you will find him going a lot of different places with his music. But to your point, like, a lot of them feel like they're just, like, broken off pieces of something. Like, he just grabbed a little bit of this or a little bit of that, and he's honed in on just that little tiny bit of it. But a lot of his music can be so fascinating because of that.

[Robin Hilton]

But that's. Yeah, I was gonna. That's the thing. I just keep coming back, though, right? It's not like it's unsatisfying or whatever for me, you know, like. Like, it leaves me feeling like, well, that's kind of half baked. Because I feel like I get entire worlds and movies in these, like, two minutes. I mean, what is there? There's something like a dozen songs on. On this mixtape, and I think the whole thing is 26 minutes because a lot of them are barely clock in at over a minute, right? But, you know, I will swing wildly while I'm listening, I'll swing wildly from thinking, all right, this is ridiculous, too. He is a genius. And I feel like it's like, lyrically too, you know, there are Parts of this song, quite the opposite, where I feel like that's pretty cute and clever. But then I think, no, actually, this song is. It is like a perfectly rendered picture of what youth in that time is like going out to parties, all of the anxiety and posturing and, you know, you're trying to like, I'll be cool. I'm not gonna make this about me. But you are 100% making it about you and all the conflicts that come out of that. I don't know. I think it's kind of brilliant.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah. I mean, he clearly contains multitudes. There is a sort of like, rawness to the way that he creates music. Obviously, that sort of would like you to believe he's not taking this whole thing very seriously. He's. It's. It's emotional. It's like straight from the heart. There's not much thought going into it. But on the other hand, there is a lot of it that is carefully intentioned, very purposeful. The decisions he's making, the way that he's moving in his music are also very considered. I think about the mixtape distinction, especially in this context, as maybe being like sketches of ideas. Being like, hey, these were things that I was working on. I wasn't taking them too seriously. So you also don't. Cause it's not an album, it's a mixtape. These are good things that I like, but they're not like my fully fleshed out things, even by his standards.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah, I get that. I think as someone speaking to myself, as someone who's brain goes in a million different directions all at the same time at a million miles an hour, I listen to this and I feel like that's him. Like he's his creative spirit. And like, yeah, it's intentional, but I feel like this is just pouring out of him pretty effortlessly.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah, there's definitely an impulse there.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, I heard on the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard, if anybody listens to that, Dominic Fike was on, and they asked Dominic if he'd ever done a tiny desk, and Dominic said no. He said he came close but missed it for reasons that I will say are probably better explained by Dominic. If you want to listen to that podcast, you'll hear him explain how and why he missed his tiny desk. But if you're listening, Dominic, I still want to bring you in for one, so you are welcome here anytime. I would love to make it happen. Dominic Fike, Quite the Opposite is the song from his new mixtape, Rocket.

[Sheldon Pierce]

There's something that I was listening to recently that really Seemed to encapsulate the way that everything feels.

[Robin Hilton]

You mean fragmented and terrible?

[Sheldon Pierce]

Exactly those things.

[Robin Hilton]

You were saying it in such an understated way.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I was trying to be subtle.

[Robin Hilton]

Okay. All right.

[Sheldon Pierce]

But I know you wanted to beat it out of me. It's a song from the Irish band New Dad's new album Alter, which was released a few weeks ago. It's called Misery.

[Robin Hilton]

An altar is altar like the altar at a church A L T A R misery like an altar of worship There you go.

[Song Lyrics]

Left the gates of my heart open in hopes yours would be too but with too much wishful thought Thinking bit off more than I could chew I fear my love's been stolen by this city and its thieves Feel like I've been spit out In a static state of grief and it kills me quickly the knife moves swiftly Is it a strange obstacle? She has sort of addiction A bit of lacking for self affliction Said a.

Bit of lustful misery because her and.

I have history Resting in the coffin I just let the soil fall and I could cry out Save me But I don't bother to call I fear it's my own doing for rotting the decay Cause I forced to I forced myself to take it When I didn't need to stay Now I can slumber the truth stay so full Is it.

A strange obsession Outside of addiction A bit of a kid for self affliction Is it a bit lost for misery because her and I have history Is it strange obsession? Yes. Rid of addiction A bit of a king for self affection Is it a bit of lustrous misery Because Heaven Rat had history.

[Robin Hilton]

Man, the turn. This song takes about a minute in. It kind of starts off kind of a little quiet. First time I heard it, I literally yelled, let's go. It was perfect.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Like, yes, it takes off at just the right moment.

[Robin Hilton]

Let's do this.

[Sheldon Pierce]

It's so satisfying. I mean, this Galway indie band, this is their second go at it. Pretty much every review of the album has said that this record is popular than its predecessor. And I suppose that's kind of true, depending on your definition of poppy. But I mean, listening to this straight away, you feel the lo fi ness of it, the shoe gazing of it, grunge. And it feels so uneasy. I think that's the great part about the way that it builds. It's unsettling until it explodes on you. I just really resonated with the idea of feel like I've been spit out In a static state of grief. I mean, it's such a great Lyric.

[Robin Hilton]

Do you want to talk about it?

[Sheldon Pierce]

Well, it's more a general state of the world kind of malaise than a personal malaise.

[Robin Hilton]

I mean, to me, this song is all about the music for me. The production, the guitars, the noise. I love the grit. I'm all in on that. I found the lyrics to be a little. I don't know, the lyrics didn't quite do it for me. It almost felt a little bit at times like. Almost like a parody of grunge and that era. Like lines like, resting in the coffin, I let the soil fall. Or the rotting, the decay, the lust for misery. It almost felt like a playbook for. If you want to write a really depressing, dark, sad song.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Well, it's intentionally hammy, like she has said.

[Robin Hilton]

That's a little bit.

[Sheldon Pierce]

There is an intentional dramatism to the lyrics.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Like she is. She is playing up this. What the experience of being in London for. For the bit. Like that's part of the bit. I mean, and. And I love that about it. She's having fun with this idea of misery.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah.

[Sheldon Pierce]

And. And that to me is part of the draw of the idea. Like she sees the other end of the spectrum. Like this is not a. A thing that she is still like, sinking in. She has found her way to the other side of it. And now the misery doesn't feel as all consuming and sort of like doom and gloom as it did before.

[Robin Hilton]

No shade against the band with, you know, what I said about the lyrics. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't. I. I'm not opposed to being in a coffin rotting with the soil falling on me. And I too often lust for misery.

[Sheldon Pierce]

But.

[Robin Hilton]

No, it's good stuff. New dad Misery from Altar Alter from the album Alter.

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[Robin Hilton]

Well, Sheldon, I don't want you to think that I was going to let you get out of here without hearing Matty Diaz one more time.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I was anticipating this from the moment I said, hey, you wanted the show. I knew this song was coming.

[Robin Hilton]

Maddie. Dia. Oh, Let me count the ways I. I think we did mention that she has a new album coming. When we were did the fall preview, I think we mentioned that she has one coming up. We didn't play anything from it, but the album's called Fatal Optimist. There's a song on it that I want to play for everyone. It's called Heavy Metal. Heavy Metal.

[Song Lyrics]

I'm starting to look just like my mother in this photograph. We're the same age of course I rage I'm her daughter when shake it's hard I go harder I wouldn't want to be any different My idealism makes me self defensive don't make me take off my gloves I'll show you what I'm made of it's not gold it's not platinum it's not silver it's not special I've been running so hard lately don't know how it does doesn't break me It's a good thing my heart is so heavy metal Passing fallen in to love is a miracle in some religions repetition is spiritual I had to go through a meltdown Let go of everything but what I have Ah it's not gold it's not platinum it's not silver it's not special I've been running so hard lately don't know how it doesn't break me It's a good thing my heart heart is so heavy metal.

My heart.

It'S not gold it's not platinum it's not silver it's not special I've been running so hard lately don't know how it doesn't break me It's a good thing my heart is so heavy Heavy, heavy heavy metal.

[Robin Hilton]

Such a great play on words in this song. You know, the invoking heavy metal. You know, it's. It's a good thing my heart is so heavy metal I mean, it could mean I'm tough, right? I can handle this, I'm so heavy metal. Or it could mean I am so cold and broken. Because if your heart is literally made of a heavy metal, it's probably not gonna work very well.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure anyone has ever uttered the words, don't make me take my gloves off. I'll show you what I'm made of. More sweetly than Matty Diaz does on this song, it makes you go, oh, okay, okay, okay. All right. Well, maybe I do think that the real sort of brilliance of this song is in this idea of hardness, like what it means to be hard in a certain sense. It can be toughness. But in a certain sense, it can be like steeling yourself because you are so vulnerable, because you are a thing that needs protecting and is sensitive. And there is no object more sensitive than a heart, especially in the emotional context.

[Robin Hilton]

I just love the way that she digs into ideas and feelings around family.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah.

[Robin Hilton]

And love and all the baggage that we carry that can come with family and love and the ways that love can break you and. And her voice just sends me, too. It's so. So plain spoken. Yeah, in a way. But also it's. It's like it's reachable. It's like you can connect with it, but just also so beautiful. The new song again is called Heavy Metal. And the album, it's from Fatal Optimist. That is me. Fatal Optimist.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Put that on your business card, Robin.

[Robin Hilton]

That's so perfect. I had frustrated Genius on my business card for the longest time. But, yeah, Fatal Optimist is even better. It's out October 10th. But, Sheldon, you've got one more song that I know you want to play.

[Sheldon Pierce]

The artist Amber Mark is releasing pretty idea on October 10, and she shared the lead single. It's called Too Much. Amber Mark's last album, three Dimensions Deep, was an NPR Music fave. She is so talented at creating this sort of, like, omnidirectional sound that moves as far as, like, bossa nova at times, but is very true to her R and B heart, which she's like, very clearly a classicist in a lot of ways. This song is emblematic of that. It interpolates Usher and Alicia Keys classic duet My Boo. In recent years, a lot of R and B has been obsessed with the past, some of it to such a great extent that it doesn't really have its own identity. But Too Much is such an effective microcosm of what Amber Mark is, what her work does. It has such a deep love for R and B history, and yet it is so decidedly pointed forward.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah, I'm glad you picked this, because I almost picked it to play on an earlier episode. She creates this world that I want to live in when I listen to it. There's so much light and good vibes, even, like, on this song. Too much. Even when she's talking about cutting somebody off because they're driving her crazy.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Right.

[Robin Hilton]

Right. It's still like, it just feels so good. So we'll go out on this. And as always, Sheldon Pierce. Thanks for the good hang.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Thanks so much for having me, Rob.

[Robin Hilton]

And for NPR Music, I'm Robin Hilton. It's all songs considered.

[Song Lyrics]

That'S not complicated all you gotta say it is a so much I got to let you go tension is giving me let's got the back and forth you know that it's only you I need you're loving on me and I just can't fight the feeling so get up to my speed it's like it's like it started when we were younger you were my mine there was only one thing we needed it was ti I had dreams of the biggest diamond A kingsize bed that we never lighted and look at what you did boy you brought the titan and now I want to know is it too much if I'm thinking about today it isn't too much like me stop playing you know I'm your favorite that's not complicated boy you got to say it isn't too much what what I what I need now well is it too much to ask for you to tell me maybe cuz this type shit drive me crazy and I don't need you to play me but it's not like you're running off to fight another lady it's like it started when we were younger you were mine there was only one thing we needed it was tight I had dreams of the biggest diamond A king size bed that we never lighted and look at what you did while you brought the title and now I wanna know is it too much if I'm thinking about you Stop playing you know you gotta say it it Sam.

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