The year’s best songs (so far)

Summary

NPR Music: The Year's Best Songs (So Far)

Podcast: NPR Music – All Songs Considered
Date: June 30, 2026
Hosts: Bob Boilen, Sheldon Pierce

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Overview

This episode of All Songs Considered is a deep dive into the hosts’ personal picks for the best songs of 2026 — so far. Rather than definitive rankings, Bob Boilen and Sheldon Pierce curate a rich, eclectic list reflecting the current moment in music: from industrial post-punk to soulful duets, psychedelic folk to free jazz. The conversation is lively, opinionated, and often playful, exploring not only what makes a song stand out but also how the year’s crop resists consensus and rewards open ears.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Nature of “Best Of” Lists (00:43–01:42)

• Lack of Consensus: The hosts note that, this year, critics and fans are more fragmented than ever. “No, literally, like everyone’s got a different top 10, different number one. And that’s true for us here too.” (Bob Boilen, 01:43)
• Purpose of Midyear Lists: Rather than “definitive” rankings, the point is to spark conversation and discovery:

  "I think the real point of mid year lists is to get the conversation going."
  (Sheldon Pierce, 01:26)

2. Song & Album Highlights

Each pick is discussed in depth for its sound, impact, and artistry.

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Mandy, Indiana – “Try Saying Honey. Is That You. Is That You. Is That You?”

• [02:07]
• Discussion: UK band with noise, industrial, and twitchy soundscapes; picked for accessibility and infectious energy even within abrasiveness.
• Notable quote:

  “I think that’s one thing that I really love when a band can take noise like this and somehow make it feel really hooked, like, really get its hooks into you… think Sleigh Bells, Hundred Gecks, Death Grips, Model Actress.”
  (Bob Boilen, 04:02)

• Sheldon notes its ability to serve as a “gateway” track for adventurous music fans.

---

Aldous Harding – "Coats"

• [05:26]
• Discussion: New Zealand indie folk, praised for world-building, ambiguity, and character-driven songwriting.
• Notable quote:

  “Every single one of her songs feels like she is performing a specific kind of person… all of her songs are little worlds that I’m just getting stuck in.”
  (Sheldon Pierce, 07:39)

• The cryptic, surreal lyric “Big thick coats on the dogs of people just trying to help” is dissected for its mystery.

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Vince Staples – “White Flag”

• [09:30]
• Discussion: Staple’s sonically ambitious album (“Crybaby”) marks a shift toward more clarity and intentionality in lyricism, though Sheldon finds it less lyrically pointed.
• Notable quote:

  “This album is a very clear, intentional shift into here is what I’m saying, and you need to hear what I’m saying. But with all that said… even the worst Vince Staples album for me is a great Vince Staples album.”
  (Sheldon Pierce, 12:33)

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Yebba – “Yellow Eyes”

• [16:03]
• Discussion: Singer re-emerges with a minimal, restrained album “Jean,” displaying a new depth and focus.
• Notable quote:

  “It is a music of small gestures compared to what she was doing before. This is so detailed in its minimalism, in her show of control...”
  (Sheldon Pierce, 18:14)

• Bob compliments the intentionality of production:

  “When you go this route, everything has to be so intentional… every decision matters. And I think she pulls it off beautifully.”
  (Bob Boilen, 18:56)

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FRIKO – “Seven Degrees”

• [19:55]
• Discussion: Chicago band with a lush “psych folk glam rock” sound reminiscent of T. Rex and Marc Bolan. The song plays on the "six degrees of separation" concept, albeit by accident (band member thought it was seven).
• Notable quote:

  “I think of this song as sort of building its way through these connections to this big we-are-the-world kind of conclusion. Right? Like, we are all connected.”
  (Sheldon Pierce, 22:28)

---

Charlie Crockett – “Kentucky Too Long”

• [23:54]
• Discussion: Classic outlaw country narrative; memorable for witty storytelling and authentic “grifter” character writing.
• Notable quote:

  “This is not pretend outlaw, cross country or dress up, dress up country music or whatever… I never get that from his stuff.”
  (Bob Boilen, 26:39)

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Lana Del Rey – “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter”

• [27:52]
• Discussion: Lana’s latest is labeled both surreal and “trad wife coded”—but in a subversive way. The hosts discuss the ambiguity, shifting ground, and perpetual Lana mystique.
• Notable quotes:

  “With Lana, you never really know what you’re gonna get. But this is my favorite Lana Del Rey. The very narrative driven, sort of surreal, kind of David Lynchian sort of universe of Lana Del Rey. Kind of creepy, unsettling and out of time.”
  (Bob Boilen, 30:00)
  "There is, like, something bittersweet about all of this. There’s a fog pressing in from the edge of the frame even as she is talking about living this dream romance."
  (Sheldon Pierce, 32:14)

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Baby Rose & Leon Thomas – “Friends Again”

• [34:15]
• Discussion: Classic soul duet, driven by two powerhouse vocalists; praised for immediate emotional impact and old-school feel that feels vivid and present.
• Notable quote:

  “Is there any other singer who can deliver a knockout punch faster than Baby Rose? …The second, the first note out, you’re like, yeah, you’re like. You swoon and fall over.”
  (Bob Boilen, 35:41)

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Mumford & Sons – “Rubber Band Man”

• [40:35]
• Discussion: A pop-folk anthem that Bob claims is “undeniably” one of the best of the year, though Sheldon is more cynical about its earnestness.
• Notable exchange:

  “People have a knee jerk reaction to this band … They say, ‘oh, it’s stomp clap.’ And as soon as they hear stomp clap, they think, I’m out not having it... but it’s so joyful. There’s so much community in it. … There’s real heart to it.”
  (Bob Boilen, 41:42)

• Sheldon:

  “To a cynic like me, feels a bit corny, honestly.”
  (42:45) Bob responds:
  “Cynicism is poison... I am an earnest person... I can be kind of cynical… I think, oh, this is kind of corny. And I don’t want to, but I can’t help it. It’s just too good.”
  (43:49)

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Irreversible Entanglements – “Don’t Lose Your Head”

• [45:05]
• Discussion: Free jazz collective led by More Mother. Sheldon describes the song as “about liberation and fighting the good fight,” praising its groove-forward energy and experimental edge.
• Notable quote:

  “Even for the most skeptical jazz cynic, there is almost like a groove forward funk energy to this song that can probably be appreciated.”
  (Sheldon Pierce, 46:54)

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3. Honorable Mentions (39:03)

• Quick-fire shoutouts include:
  • Olivia Rodrigo (“the Cure”)
  • Robyn (“Talk to Me”)
  • Gia Margaret (“Moon Not Mine,” “Everyone Around Me is Dancing”)
  • Francis of Delirium (“It’s a Beautiful Life”)
  • U2 (“American Obituary”)
  • Isaiah Rashad (“Supoficial”)
  • Noah Kahan (“Porch Light”)
  • Jungle (“Carry On”)
  • James Blake (“I Had a Dream She Took My Hand”)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Appeal of Earnest Music:
  “Cynicism is poison.” (Bob Boilen, 43:03)

• On Lana Del Rey’s Elusiveness:
  “There’s something about her narratives that I never entirely trust. Which is great. I like that. It kind of keeps me on my toes. The ground is always sort of shifting beneath me.” (Bob Boilen, 31:49)

• On the State of Mid-Year Lists:
  “It’s a deep field. Have you seen other lists?... zero consensus.” (Bob Boilen, 00:58–01:42)

• On Genre-Blurring Trends:
  “There’s just such a love of classic old school vintage [sounds]... but also, at the same time, very forward looking, sonically adventurous, lots of really cool production things going on. In all of these cases, they really make it come alive again in really fresh ways, I think.”
  (Bob Boilen, 36:48)

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Structure & Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Main Segment / Song | |------------|--------------------------------------------------| | 00:43–01:42| Intro: The challenge—and point—of “best of” lists| | 02:07 | Mandy, Indiana – “Try Saying Honey. Is That You…”| | 05:26 | Aldous Harding – “Coats” | | 09:30 | Vince Staples – “White Flag” | | 16:03 | Yebba – “Yellow Eyes” | | 19:55 | FRIKO – “Seven Degrees” | | 23:54 | Charlie Crockett – “Kentucky Too Long” | | 27:52 | Lana Del Rey – “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter”| | 34:15 | Baby Rose & Leon Thomas – “Friends Again” | | 40:35 | Mumford & Sons – “Rubber Band Man” | | 45:05 | Irreversible Entanglements – “Don’t Lose Your Head”| | 39:03 | Honorable mentions, rapid-fire |

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Language & Tone

• Conversational, opinionated, playful.
• Honest disagreements: Example – Bob’s love of Mumford & Sons versus Sheldon’s skepticism.
• Excitement about new discoveries and nuanced analysis of why a song feels special.
• Frequent discussion of lyrics, sound design, and production choices.

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Takeaways

• There’s no universal “best”—and that’s cause for celebration. The episode champions musical variety and rewards open-mindedness to everything from alt-country and experimental jazz to pop, rap, and outsider folk.
• Authenticity, intention, and surprises resonate: Even when driven by nostalgia, the best songs create new spaces or turn familiar forms inside out.
• The best songs stay with you, challenge you, or make you dance—sometimes all at once. Whether ambiguous, earnest, or just undeniably catchy, this year’s standout tracks invite both deep thought and big feelings.

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For anyone who hasn’t heard the episode, this recap captures the passionate debate, the sonic journey, and the sense of discovery at the heart of NPR Music’s “best of the year (so far).”

Transcript

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[Bob Boilen]

This episode of All Songs Considered comes to you from the NPR Music podcast. We've got new drops, new episodes of the show for you in the feed every Tuesday. You will also find Alt Latino every Wednesday. And we close out every week with New Music Friday and NPR Music. Also, where you will find Sheldon Pierce. Hello, Sheldon. Are you ready to say what the definitive, unimpeachable best songs of the year are so far?

[Sheldon Pierce]

I'm running to do something like that, I guess maybe something a little less definitive. A little less definitive.

[Bob Boilen]

That's what we're gonna attempt to do anyway. Well, maybe not so definitive. We're gonna at least share what our picks are.

[Interjecting Guest]

We're gonna.

[Bob Boilen]

We're doing the best we can.

[Sheldon Pierce]

It's a deep field.

[Bob Boilen]

It is a very deep field. Have you seen other lists? Have you been spending any time with like all the others?

[Sheldon Pierce]

I've browsed some. I generally don't like to look at mid year lists. I like to go to end of year lists to really see what like stuck with people over the course of the year. I find that historically a lot of stuff that ends up on mid year lists will fall off towards the end of the year. Maybe some of that is like recency bias.

[Bob Boilen]

Should we not do this? Was this a mistake?

[Sheldon Pierce]

No. I think the real point of mid year lists is to get the conversation going.

[Bob Boilen]

Yeah. Yeah. I just think it's good to stop, hit the stop button for a minute and just stop down and try to appraise. Yeah. Where are we? I've gone through lots of lists and I will say the one thing I have noticed is zero consensus.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

No, literally, like everyone's got a different top 10, different number one. And that's true for us here too. We're not ranking these. We each brought some stuff and we'll share what we're loving. But I think that's why I'm not going to sweat starting with a band that very few people have even heard of. Probably It's a band called Mandy Indiana and they dropped an album that one of my favorite albums of the year so far. It's called Erg.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

Mandy Indiana. Not a real place. This is a band from the uk. Super noisy, almost industrial kind of sound that I don't know. It's the Kind of sonic thrill ride I'm always happy to take. The song that I want to play is called Try saying Honey. Is that you, Is that you, is that you? When that bass hits and that backbeat hits. This song is so cool. This is one that Dora Levitted Impure Music, turned me on to. Played it on the show back in February when it came out. This is actually one of the tamer songs on the whole album. Yeah, they love dissonance, Obliterated noise. Very twitchy. Yeah, Love it.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I was going to ask, is the clarity the reason that this one has stuck with you? Of the other songs on this record?

[Bob Boilen]

Yeah, it's the most infectious to me. I mean, it's kind of hooky. I mean. And I think that's one thing that I really love when. When a band can take noise like this and somehow make it feel really hooked, like, really get its hooks into you, and you're just grooving and you want to move. I think Sleigh Bells, the band Sleigh Bells, Hundred Gecks, Death Grips, some somewhat. You know, a little bit of Death Grips, like Model Actress, those kinds of bands.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting because I was curious to hear why this song in particular. The album is one of the defining albums of the year for me.

[Bob Boilen]

Oh, okay.

[Sheldon Pierce]

And I wouldn't have thought to grab a particular song from it. It sounds like such a crazy soundscape that is constantly shifting. It feels like everything is of a larger piece. But now hearing you talk about it, honestly, it rips. I think everything on this record rips, but to the point of accessibility. If you were going to try to play something from this record, to try to draw somebody into it, it would be this song. There is something about it that just really grabs you.

[Bob Boilen]

So this song from Mandy, Indiana, and the album Urgh, which is up there for our album title of the year,

[Sheldon Pierce]

maybe for me, Urgh.

[Bob Boilen]

The song is Try Sane, and that came out on February 6th.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Yeah.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I'm gonna take it in a bit of a different direction and go to another one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums of the year so far. The New Zealand indie folk singer songwriter Aldous Harding returned with a album. It's called Train on the Island. There's so much great music on this record. It goes so many different directions. It might be my album of the year so far. What an incredible piece of music. But I want to play what I feel is the standout song from the record. It's called Coats.

[Bob Boilen]

Can Spread My Waves.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Hot.

[Bob Boilen]

All right. In the summer way Walking by the

[Guest Singer or Musician]

remedy I lead if you're next to

[Bob Boilen]

me I am Waves down Bring back my brother if he wants Tune up

[Guest Singer or Musician]

my instrument Realize where I'm coming from

[Bob Boilen]

Big thick coats on the dogs of people just trying to help Big thick coats on the dogs of people just trying to help. The shifts in this song just blow me away. I mean, it starts off so weird and alien, and you're kind of content to camp out in this space. I mean, I'll go anywhere Aldous Harding wants to go, but. And then it just takes a sudden shift into this almost conventional, sort of ballady kind of. And then it shifts back again with all these weird little voc going on in the background. I think she's a genius.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah. Aldous Harding I think of as one of music's great character actors.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Oh.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Every single one of her songs feels like she is performing a specific kind of person in a. Like, I feel like all of her songs are little worlds that I'm just getting stuck in. This one is such. It's so maze, like, in the ways in which it draws you deeper into this world. And then even the hook, this strange turn of phrase that just, like, kind of wriggles around in your brain. Big thick coats on the dogs of people just trying to help.

[Bob Boilen]

So what do you.

[Interjecting Guest]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

What do you make of this?

[Sheldon Pierce]

Trying to puzzle out what is happening in this song. I still do not have any sense of what is happening. I think that is one of the joys of her music. There's a crypticness to it. So much of it feels, like, surreal.

[Bob Boilen]

When I go see a movie, I want some sort of completely unsatisfying, ambiguous ending that everyone else hates, because I'm gonna think about it for days afterwards. And that's what her music is, in a way. It's the kind of, like, all right, I hear this, and it's just gonna make my brain hum along for days, just trying to consider.

[Interjecting Guest]

I think.

[Bob Boilen]

I think it maybe has something to do with, like, These are broad strokes here, but, like, something about misplaced values, misplaced intentions, a misunderstanding of what a person needs in their life. I don't know. Something about, like, people just trying to help, and they're.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

They.

[Bob Boilen]

I guess they're putting big, thick coats on their dogs or something. Like, I don't. I don't know.

[Sheldon Pierce]

It's everything layered on top of one another that really just creates an atmosphere that is kind of undeniable.

[Bob Boilen]

So that was the song Coats. We featured One Stop. That was another song on the record. We featured that one on the show earlier, before the album came out. It came out on May 8th. The album train on the island from Aldous Harding. I got one that just came out. Well, relatively. It's a relatively recent release, and I think for me is a solid contender for album of the year. Vince Staples, the album Crybaby, the song I want to play, we featured on the show. I guess it's been about a month ago, but it's my favorite on the record and I think definitely one of the best songs of the year so far. The song is called White Flag.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Sometimes love can turn to war I seen the dog before not far from part of course Try not to get too lost it ain't no coming back soon as you're back against the wall Light as a rock ref is a hard place out of the box because of God's grace Hard them on from any casket Stars are born in the galactic when the pigs see I'm black man in traffic why they treat me like I'm in the UFO Cuff me in the backseat so I came from home how does it feel to all along quite familiar Freeway rock live familiar Good life folks got too high Now I feel like I'm flying.

[Bob Boilen]

There's so many songs that I'd love to play from this album that I honestly just cannot play because a lot of people don't know that this show airs on the radio as well as on the podcast, and there are some language issues. But I feel this whole album is just. He takes such a huge swing across this album. And this song in particular, I think maybe is my favorite, maybe for similar reasons to the Mandy Indiana song, in that it's sort of the hookiest on it. You know, I think it's a great entry point for what he's doing on the record thematically, musically. I don't know. We were kind of talking a little bit before the show about it, and you weren't feeling the Staples album as much as I thought you. You might.

[Sheldon Pierce]

But yeah, I'm a big time Vince Staples fan. There are few artists that I've written about more than him. And this record, while I do appreciate it as a sort of like, sonically ambitious swing for him, this is his first record off Def Jam on Loma Vista, so there is a clear intention to do something big, to do something different. I think lyrically it feels a bit less sharp, less pointed than some of my favorite stuff of his. But, I mean, you think he's sort

[Bob Boilen]

of softening some of his critiques and

[Sheldon Pierce]

I don't even think it's that he's softening. I think there is, in an appeal to be heard, a bit more of a broadening of the scope of his songs. He has been known to be a sort of, like, evasive character in his songs who was kind of eluding any sort of outside definition of his music. And for many years, he was like, my albums are whatever you want them to be like. You can decide what they are. I don't really care. This album is a very clear, intentional shift into here is what I'm saying, and you need to hear what I'm saying. But with all that said, I think even the worst Vince Staples album for me is a great Vince Staples album. I think he's like one of the defining rappers of his journey. This is so clearly like an auteur vehicle for him. Like, you hear this and you're like, oh, he's really ready to embrace being one of the great sort of visionary thinkers in rap music.

[Bob Boilen]

Yeah, I mean, it's a flex. He travels through so many different eras of music. You know, there's kind of punk rock elements and psych rock, and there's this song called the Big Bad Wolf that It kind of sounds like this 80s era sort of rap, hip hop. It's a little goofy. And then you got the song White Flag, which is very. Has this old school soul, almost kind of Motown sound to it.

[Sheldon Pierce]

He very clearly wants to be viewed as a serious artist now. Before, he was just like. He would say it all the time. Music was just a thing that he was doing to get his bills paid. And now he is like, no, I want to make my mark. And I think you can't deny that. That is very clear in this record.

[Bob Boilen]

You know, it won me over on a personal level with him. I saw an interview one time, and whoever was interviewing him said, why don't you ever have anybody over? He's like, why would I have anybody over?

[Interjecting Guest]

I was like.

[Bob Boilen]

I'm like, thank you.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Deeply, deeply relatable to you.

[Bob Boilen]

I don't want anybody over at my house. Why would I do that? So Crybaby, the album from Vince Staples that came out June 5, just at the top of June.

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[Guest Singer or Musician]

Hello.

Hello.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

I'm Malcolm Gladwell, host of Smart Talks with IBM. I sat down with Alon Cohen, who leads research and development at ufc, to discuss the complexity of using technology to

[Bob Boilen]

analyze fight data with kick to the

[Interjecting Guest]

head, it makes contact with the outside of my arm, which I brought up. In our world, that's a blocked strike. Yeah, but teaching a computer what exactly that means and when and how. Like when my arm is up, that's a block. When my arm is down and hits my shoulder, that's not. It's those nuances that proved incredibly difficult for machines to be able to handle for a very, very long time.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

That is, until IBM entered the octagon.

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[Bob Boilen]

All right, Sheldon, we're back to you. What do you. What do you got?

[Sheldon Pierce]

Similar vein. It's a song by the singer Yeba from her album Gene, which came out back in March. A really beautiful record named after her grandmother that is sort of all about control and restraint and sort of finding yourself in the wake of tragedy. Yeba, if you know nothing about her, was for a long time known as like a singer's singer. She has a very big, beautiful, powerful voice. And on this record, she decided to pare it way down.

[Bob Boilen]

I'm making the dial move here. I'm miming, turning the dial down.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Pared it way down. But in so doing, I think found a new, enriched quality in her song craft. And I want to hear the single from this record. It's called Yellow Eyes.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

How many more will it take to surprise?

Behind my eyelids

[Bob Boilen]

temperature change

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Green in the sky. Waiting on me this auto survive I've tried this for so long. Your own furnace it felt like a home and it seems like we've been here before.

[Bob Boilen]

So much great ear candy in this one too, man. I love all the little things. Just these little things kind of flitting around from the left channel and right channel. And, you know, it's not too weird though, right? You know it. There are lots of footholds.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah. I think it's a really beautiful turn for her. It is a music of small gestures compared to what she was doing before. There was a big sort of like showy aspect to her music in, like displaying the raw talent that is very obviously there. This is so detailed in its minimalism, in her show of control, in the ways in which she just tugs on notes the ways in which she navigates this very intricate soundscape that is very hushed but like sort of pulling you towards the center of its sound.

[Bob Boilen]

When you go this route, everything has to be so intentional and so perfectly produced and selected. Every decision matters. And I think she pulls it off beautifully. It's kaleidoscopic. And I love how she camps out in this space too. Like, I kept waiting for some big drop or something, right? And it never happens, but it's not a letdown. I mean, it's great.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah. Yeah. There's this clear. Even releasing this song as the single told me that there was a clear intentionality to telling listeners the Yeba that you knew before is not on this record.

[Bob Boilen]

Well, I love this turn for her. The album Jean, and that's J E A N Jean, that came out March 6th. I've got another one that I. Maybe again, a ton of people don't really know. But again, I'm picking songs, I mean, that I think are unequivocally the best of the year so far.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Robin. Robin, it's your show. Nobody, nobody is gonna stop.

[Bob Boilen]

I listened to this song and I. I think that's fair to say objectively that it is one of the best songs of the year. It's from a band called Freako. F R I K O Freako. And we'll just hit it. It's a song called Seven Degrees.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Dad had said we were young Seven ties between us and anyone we'd ever wish to meet One's your mom Two's your friends Three's the one that broke your heart and then threw you to your knees Falls in war silent disguise and we don't ever speak of 56 is just really mean. But there's one I tell ya Wonder who's gonna help you Anytime you're ever in need 7 degrees just one more for you and me we're so single Waiting to meet Waiting for that summer breeze to thrust through each other's arms Seven souls It's seven More Degrees.

[Bob Boilen]

I wish we were playing full cuts because this one has such a great build to it. It really. It basically it becomes a lighters up. Hey Jude yeah yeah, yeah. You know, big group, sing along song. But you hear like they are so good at this sort of psych folk glam rock, like late 60s, early 70s sound. Very T. Rex, Mark Bolan sort of sound.

[Sheldon Pierce]

It's funny because it's a play. It's supposed to be a play on like the six degrees of separation.

[Bob Boilen]

So Nico Capitan in the band, he always Thought it was seven degrees because of his dad. He just got it wrong.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah, he was just wrong.

[Bob Boilen]

So he wrote seven degrees.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

But it is.

[Bob Boilen]

Yeah, it's about the idea that, that we're all connected within 6 degrees of each other.

[Sheldon Pierce]

And there are just like so many really sweet lines in here about like the ideas of being not so distant from the furthest person on earth.

[Bob Boilen]

Right.

[Sheldon Pierce]

And I think of this song as sort of building its way through these connections to this big we are the world kind of conclusion. Right? Like, we are all connected. We are all one world. And even if you never meet that person, you're not as far from them as you may think.

[Bob Boilen]

I mean, that's a theme that I need to hear over and over again.

[Sheldon Pierce]

That was the other thing. I heard this and I was like, this is a Robin Hilton song if ever I heard.

[Bob Boilen]

We are all in this together not going anywhere let's find a way to get along. And yeah, we're all connected. So this is from Freako. When we featured it on the show, this song on the show back in February, we didn't know whether or not it was going to be a one off or what. But we now know that the band does have a full length album. It came out in April, on April 24. The album is called Something Worth Waiting For. And the song Seven Degrees again from Freako.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I think I'm gonna take it a bit of a different direction. I guess this character from this song could be a kind of person that you are seven degrees away from. The character is Billy McLean, a small time cattle rustler.

[Bob Boilen]

Yes.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Finds himself in the crosshairs of the Santa Fe gang.

[Bob Boilen]

I was so hoping you were gonna play this song.

[Sheldon Pierce]

And he's. He's settled down from the law but he's getting a little itchy. It's my favorite song from the album Age of the Ram, which came out back in April. It's Charlie Crockett's Kentucky. Too long.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Been in Kentucky too long I done come here from Arkansas Ain't running from no john in law Please believe me I ain't in Kentucky for my health I done came here for something else Everybody knows that drive for real it ain't greasy Back in Texas last week that's a winner Things got bleak Be careful of what you speak Might come find you Chalk talk Just this morning they started shooting out without warning if it hadn't been for my woman Let me sleep in, man I really feel it coming on I've been in Kentucky too long Been in Kentucky Making something Out of nothing too long

[Bob Boilen]

Please, please believe me I ain't in Kentucky for my health man, this song is so awesome. I'm so glad you picked this. So we played this on the show back in April and talked about it. Then he's just like, what a great classic outlaw country sound, his storytelling. I mean, this is sort of the exact opposite of the Aldous Harding. Right, Right. It's a very clear narrative that he's unfurling here, but you just want to hear the whole story.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I love this song so much, man. It is so good, so clever, so funny. I love the cut to him being like, I didn't. I'm a bank robber, but I didn't rob this bank, I swear. And then he's in Big Sandy, the federal penitentiary. The next line, it's like, okay, I'm not sure I believe you, but there is just, like, so much happening in this song. It is so groovy as well. So much fun to listen to. Charlie Crockett is so great at writing outlaw characters who are kind of, like, bumbling and a bit. They're grifters, man. They're grifters.

[Bob Boilen]

He's so legit, though, too. Like, this is not pretend outlaw, cross country or dress up, dress up country music or whatever. There are some artists, sometimes when I, I, I hear their stuff or I see them live and they're even like, dressing the part, and they're clearly trying to channel or sort of play homage to a very specific era. And it just feels like cosplay or something. And I, I never get that from his stuff.

[Sheldon Pierce]

There's such a clear reverence from the form. He, like, really lives and breathes this music. And I think that is why the character comes through so vividly in this song.

[Bob Boilen]

Incredible talent. Prolific. I count 16 albums since 2015, so about 16 albums in a decade, along with a couple EPs and some other stuff. This one from Age of the Ram came out in April. On April 3rd. Sheldon, you and I did this exact sort of episode, mid year episode around this time last year. Do you remember what we featured on that episode last summer?

[Sheldon Pierce]

You're talking about Lana.

[Bob Boilen]

You are? Yeah, I am.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Okay.

[Bob Boilen]

I am. Well, we did. Well, first of all, I'll say we featured Pink Panthers, Stateside Perfume. Genius. It's a Mirror. There was a Heim song. Relationships, man. That was everywhere at the time.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

But yes, also we featured last summer Lana Del Rey. And we were speculating on the Any Day now album that has never come. And that song, by the way, was Henry Come On. I think that was one of your picks. Wasn't that one of your favorites from last year? Here we are a year later. At this point. Honestly, I've decided to quit waiting for an album. She seems content to just release these sort of one off singles and I'm happy to get whatever we can get. The song that she released earlier this year that I want to play and is definitely one of my favorites and I think one of the best of the year so far is called White Featherhawk Tailed Deer Hunter.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Here's my white feather hawktail Dear hunter likes to keep me cool in the hot breeze Summer likes to push me on the screen. John Dear Moore, I know you wish you had a man like him it's such a bummer when I met him like an arrow, like a bird in the heart like a sparrow, like a dog Snap, crackle, pop he's just in my bone marrow Everyone knows I had some trouble But I'm home for the summer and I want to know if I could use your stove to cook something up for you Cuz you're positively voodoo Everything that you do did you know exactly how magic you are? Whoopsie daisy, you yelling I love you out to my white feather I build your Take my hand off the snow Fun. Yeah, you dinner's almost done. Oopsy daisy, you who I imagine you do know how absolutely wonderful that you are.

[Bob Boilen]

This is another one that we played earlier in the year. I think you were on that show and I think maybe I said this at the time, but you know, with Lana, you never really know what you're gonna get. But this is my favorite Lana Del Rey. The very narrative driven, sort of surreal, kind of David Lynchian sort of universe of Lana Del Rey. Kind of creepy, unsettling and out of time. You talk about an artist who makes the kind of songs that make me think for a very long time about what is she doing on this song and why this direction and, you know, how seriously should I take her? I mean, she is an artist that invites so much consideration for me. I don't remember. Was the jury kind of out for you at the the time when we.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah, I wasn't really sure about this song at the time. It has really grown on me since out of Time is a good way to put all of her music. But there is something like specifically very like almost charmingly haunted about this song in particular. And I was sort of wrestling with in the midst of, you know, like the emergence of like trad wifery. Well, that's the whole Thing.

[Bob Boilen]

I mean, like, this song is very trad wife coded.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Right.

[Bob Boilen]

But it's very subversive, too.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

I don't think that it's like she's making a statement about how this is the way things should be or whatever, or. I mean, I don't even really know how to take exactly what she's saying.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Where I've settled is there is something kind of curdled about it, like.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Yeah.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I mean, it's very clear in the lyrics that things haven't gone perfect for this relationship. Even where she's like, we've had some trouble, but, like, we're kind of sticking together. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're working through it, though. Yeah. I'm still with him, though.

[Bob Boilen]

I think it's just, like, there's something about her narratives that I never entirely trust.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

Which is great. I like that. It kind of keeps me on my toes. The ground is always sort of shifting beneath me. And at the same time, it's just the production and the music and her voice and the melody and all the different little elements coming in make it all so wondrous. It's just like, I am completely lost in this.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I don't think I can safely make any assumptions about this song. And there is, like, something bittersweet about all of this. There's a fog pressing in from the edge of the frame even as she is talking about living this dream romance of hers.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

You know, there was a lot of, I think, completely unfounded complaints or claims and criticisms of her early on about authenticity or what people saw as, like, a lack of authenticity. I think the exact opposite. I think she doesn't give one iota what people think or whether her music fits into any neat little category or, like, she is just so uniquely Lana Del Rey.

[Sheldon Pierce]

And I think this song sort of exemplifies that. Everything that she is, how she stands alone, how her music is authentically her. Because she is the only person who can make it. Like, there's nobody else who can do this.

[Bob Boilen]

So that song, White Feather, Hawktail Deer Hunter from Lana Del Rey, that came out back in February, on February 17. She dropped another single this year that was actually for a big video game, a James Bond video game. Did you hear that one?

[Sheldon Pierce]

I haven't heard that one.

[Bob Boilen]

Yeah, it's called First Light. It's a very James Bondi thing. I think the story that I read at the time was that she always wanted to do a James Bond theme and maybe. I think maybe even came close, and it never happened. So she did it for this this video game.

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[Bob Boilen]

Where do you want to go next, Sheldon?

[Sheldon Pierce]

There is a kind of song that is eternal and a kind of artist who is singular. And when you get those two things that come together, it just makes for a specific kind of magic. It's the singer Baby Rose's duet with Leon Thomas. Friends again.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Mary open up the door I've got the fight with the rain With a matching kerosene Dirt it all on the

flame

why do I feel this way here Let out be the shame why did we have to complicate it? Moment of weakness we can explain Will we ever be friends again? Honor your burning desire it's hard to put out these fire.

[Bob Boilen]

Is there any other singer who can deliver a knockout punch faster than Baby Rose? Like, I mean, the second, the first note out, you're like, yeah, you're like. You swoon and fall over.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I'm sold. I mean, oh my goodness, what a voice. One of the singular voices in music right now.

[Bob Boilen]

It's just this century.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah, it's just, it's so undeniable. The power that it holds, the amount of control that she has over it. I mean, they're not reinventing the wheel on this song.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Right.

[Sheldon Pierce]

This is, this is, this is tried and true. This is soul standards if there ever was one. But I think what really works about this is I can't imagine many people who could go toe to toe with her the way that Leon Thomas does.

[Bob Boilen]

Yeah, no, they're great. Perfect together.

[Sheldon Pierce]

There's is just truly a match made in heaven that is really selling the friction of this song for me. You can feel them pulling together even as they try to push each other away. And it's the magic of that that is really selling the illusion of this song for me.

[Bob Boilen]

You know, we've gotten so much stuff here that we've played that that's very forward looking, sonically adventurous, lots of really cool production things going on. But also, you know, at the same time, there's just such a love of classic old school vintage. It sounds, you know, like certainly this Baby Rose, but the Vince Staples, I think, you know, you've got that very old school soul. The Freako song really looks back to glam rock. Even the Charlie Crockett is channeling a totally different era, but in all of these cases, they really make it come alive again in really fresh ways, I think.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah. There's nothing that feels reductive about it, nothing that feels retroactive. It all feels like a continuation. Right. There is an appreciation for what came before, but it is very. It's all very clearly rooted in the here and now.

[Bob Boilen]

So the song Friends Again from Baby Rose and Leon Thomas is from an album that actually isn't out yet. It's coming up real quick, though. It's called Another great title. Yeah, Urinalism.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Really good.

[Bob Boilen]

It's out July 10th. So we've been assembling, essentially, a top 10 list here. We each brought five things, and I think we each have one more thing that we want to play. Do you have, like, a number one? Is there a number one you'd pick out of all of these before we get to these last two?

[Sheldon Pierce]

I'm not sure I have a number one. Maybe Yeba would be my number one song right now, I think.

[Bob Boilen]

To me, I think it's between Lana and Vince Staples.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Okay.

[Bob Boilen]

I think either of those. I could. I could go either way.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah, you've.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

You've.

[Sheldon Pierce]

You seem really excited about the Vince.

[Bob Boilen]

I. I. Yeah, I am. I'm.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I love that for you.

[Bob Boilen]

I've probably listened to it more than any other full, like, all the way through.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

As an album. Album. Probably more times so far this year than any other album.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Well, I. As. As a member of both of those cults, I'm happy to have and receive you into them.

[Bob Boilen]

Well, we're leaving so much on the table here. As I said, I do have one more that I want to play, but do you have any honorable mentions that you want to just sort of rattle off real quick?

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah, some that really come to mind for me, and I was quibbling over as I was making this list. Olivia Rodrigo, the Cure, Robbins. Talk to Me. There's a great song from the Gia Margaret album singing called Moon Not Mine that I find really moving.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Yeah.

[Sheldon Pierce]

The rapper Isaiah Rashad released a great record called It's Been Awful. And there's a song on there called Supoficial. I mean, the list, it just feels like, goes on and on and on. Like we could do this show 10 more times and have 10 more variations of songs.

[Bob Boilen]

Yeah, I actually had a Gia Margaret song too. Everyone around me is dancing. I really love that one. Francis of Delirium, It's a Beautiful Life. These are songs that we featured on the show. I think that U2 song, American obituary, I thought you were.

[Sheldon Pierce]

You were really feeling that when it came out.

[Bob Boilen]

I think that's a fair contender for one of the year's best so far. I think several Noah Kahn cuts. My favorite's Porch Light, Jungle's Carry On. I like that James Blake song a lot. I had a dream she took My Hand. But the one that I just decided to go with here to play here and again, I just picked because I think you know what I mean. I do love it, but I really think this is undeniably a great song and perfectly executed start to finish. It's infectious, it's thoughtful, it's moving, and it's a very easy song to listen to. It's from Mumford and Sons. It's the song Rubber Band Man.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

When you come heart went for losing and the beggars start choosing the chaos in your head Cause the cracks to start showing all knowing, all glowing with the light of the dying to raise the. And you're a world away but you're still the same I know you by your heart I won't call you by your name It's a long way from the crack to the break. You know that I remember everything.

[Bob Boilen]

It takes this song about 30 seconds to go from this quiet, introspective, thoughtful song. We're just total euphoria. We're soaring through the clouds. The look on your face right now says, not a big Mumford and Sons fan.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Sheldon, we talked about this one before. I need you to sell me again.

[Bob Boilen]

Oh, come on, man. I mean, it is. People have a knee jerk reaction to this band. I think they say, oh, it's stomp clap. And as soon as they hear stomp clap, they think, I'm out not having it. And to be fair, there are definitely elements of that in the song and it crosses up. I get it. It's very earnest music, but it's so joyful. There's so much community in it. It's an earworm of a song. There's real heart to it. There's love and passion, and it's an emotional journey. I love the way it rises and falls, but ultimately just takes you into the clouds. Like I said, just soaring. And these are good things. Sheldon. I think I said that the last time we talked. These are good things.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I appreciate how much you love this song.

[Bob Boilen]

Well, I'm sorry you Feel that way or.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

Okay.

[Sheldon Pierce]

There's just something.

[Bob Boilen]

Is it overly earnest? Is that it? It's just too earnest? It's too on the nose.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah. There's too much hard on the sleeve feelings to me in a way that feels almost trite at times. And to a cynic like me, feels a bit corny, honestly.

[Bob Boilen]

Okay, well, cynicism is poison. We were just talking about.

[Sheldon Pierce]

We talked about this before the show.

[Bob Boilen]

Right before we should have been recording that conversation. I am an earnest person. Large. I can be kind of cynical. And I think there, you know, if I'm being totally honest, there is a part of me when I hear songs like this that I think, oh, this is kind of corny. And I don't want to, but I can't help it. It's just too good. It's too good of a song. And that's why I say, you know, I really, really waffled on this one. It was the last one I picked for this episode for the best of the year so far. It was on our preview show back in January as an album that I was excited about. And I think that I had the same reaction then. It's like, you know, I've gotta admit, I can't help it. It's too good. It's too good. Sheldon, what do you want me to do?

[Sheldon Pierce]

And that, if nothing else is what I really like about this and this show is because it was like you were doing everything to try to fight your nature, not to put this song on this list, but you just could not help yourself. You were like, this song is one of my songs, and I think that's great. Honestly, listening to Rubber Band man, it's big, like arms outstretched, embrace. I totally see what you see in it.

[Bob Boilen]

Let's go. That's like, I'm ready for this journey. You can take me there. Let me tell you, they came in for a tiny desk, too. Genuinely, the nicest guys on the planet.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

The kindness just radiated from them. They were just so great to be around. The energy was wonderful. And Marcus Mumford's voice in the tiny desk space was incredible. Everyone should check that out. The Tiny Desk online. They closed with this song, by the way, and I told them afterwards. I smell record of the year.

[Sheldon Pierce]

I wouldn't be surprised.

[Bob Boilen]

100% going to be nominated.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Yeah.

[Bob Boilen]

So Rubber Band man from the album again, prize fighter from Mumford and Sons. But, Sheldon, you get to take us out.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah. I'm going to do a song that is also sort of about community from one of my favorite Albums of the Year. It's by the free jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements, which has been around for about a decade, but has just started releasing albums on impulse. It's led by the spoken word poet and musician Kame iua, also known as More Mother. Pretty much anything that More Mother does, I am on board with. I think she is one of the great experimental artists of the 2010s and 2020s. And the song that I want to play is from the band's new record Future Past, Present. It's called Don't Lose youe Head. It's a mix of atmospheric jazz and global music. And of course, More Mother's signature spoken word. It's about liberation and fighting the good fight, but it's also just so groovy, so rich. There's so many, like, awesome transitions in this song, especially for how short it is, and it's really been one of my standouts.

[Bob Boilen]

Well, I love how we're closing the show out here because, you know, we could have gone with maybe Olivia Rodrigo. You know, Taylor's got a new song out right now. Ella Langley's really been dominating the charts, but we're gonna go out on some free jazz.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Yeah, I, I get the impulse to think big, to think universal, to think about the centrist music fan. I understand that free jazz is not everyone's cup.

[Interjecting Guest]

Go to the mall.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Free jazz may be a bit of a tough sell for some people, but I think even for the most skeptical jazz cynic, there is almost like a groove forward funk energy to this song that can probably be appreciated.

[Bob Boilen]

Well, we'll go out on this irreversible entanglements. The song Don't Lose youe Head. Sheldon Pierce, always a great hang.

[Sheldon Pierce]

Thanks so much for having me.

[Bob Boilen]

It's All Songs Considered from NPR Music.

[Guest Singer or Musician]

Don't lose your head messing with the heart don't lose your head messing with with the gods don't lose your head messing with the gods don't lose your head messing with the gods. Don't lose your head messing with the God don't lose your head messing with the gods.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Foundation for the Generation it's time to organize and plan Inspiration for your creation the people will overstand it's time to stand for liberation they tried to take our land it's time to stand for liberation we know that they got they plan Will they stop the execution? Where will they stop the persecution? We know that they got their plan we know that they got they plan the people will rise and stand the people will be marching on.

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