This is our glass. On This American Life, we tell stories about when things change. Like for this guy, David, whose entire life took a sharp, unexpected, and very unpleasant term. And it did take me a while to realize it's basically because the monkey pressed the button. That's right, because the monkey pressed the button. Surprising stories every week, wherever you get your podcasts. A quick note before the show. This podcast contains explicit language. Happy Friday, everyone from NPR Music. It's New Music Friday. I'm Steven Thompson here with Chloe Kimes from WMOT in Tennessee. Welcome to the show, Chloe. Hi, Steven. Happy Friday. Happy Friday. I'm so glad to have you. What an uneventful week it's been in America and the world. I'm glad to just sit down with you and geek out about some of the things that we've done. I'm glad to have you here. I'm glad to just sit down with you and geek out about some new music, which ultimately that's all we can do. Yeah, I can't think of a better place to be right now. And as a special bonus, the first record we are talking about is the biggest record that is out this week. We don't always get to say that. Sometimes, you know, the big pop record will come out, the big hip hop record, the big R&B record. These records aren't always kind of screened for critics ahead of time. They'll sort of drop them. Maybe we've gotten to hear a single. Maybe we haven't. And so we sit here kind of having to acknowledge like, oh, Harry Styles put out a record. We only know what this one song sounds like. But here we get to talk about the big record of the week in its entirety. I know. I was so excited when I got the call to be your guest this week because I have been so excited to hear this Ella record. Yeah, well, let's kick off the show with Ella Langley. Ella Langley's new album is called Dandelion. Dandelion. Dandelion. So if you're new to Ella Langley, she's originally from Hope Hall, Alabama, and she's been in Nashville for a few years. She put a debut EP out in 2023, but her debut studio album, Hungover, came out in 2024. And that's when I personally became hip to Ella through her song, You Look Like You Love Me. It was like a breakthrough viral song that turned certified platinum with Riley Greene, this really beautiful duet. And she's won so many awards since then, just with that debut album. She was the Academy of Country Music Award, new female artist of the year in 2025, multiple CMAs for that song with Riley Greene, Single of the Year, Video of the Year, Song of the Year. Additionally, this leading single from Dandelion, Choose in Texas, which came out in October of last year, it is making history. It's the longest-running country number one by a female artist on the Billboard Hot 100. Spent four weeks at the top, surpassed. Five this week. Yeah, surpassed Taylor Swift, who previously set that record back in 2012. So it's a very exciting time for Ella Langley, for women in country. Rock on Ella, I'm so excited for her. Yeah, I mean, she's having a colossal year. And I think a good place to start with this record is with the song Choose in Texas, which I think for a lot of people who aren't necessarily steeped in current country music, even though she had these hits that you mentioned, you know, she had a hit with You Look Like You Love Me, she had a hit with Mournt for the Wind. But like this song has crossed over to the point where it's part of pop playlists. It has broken outside of the country music ecosystem to really become, you know, the biggest song. And one of the biggest songs in America this year, country or otherwise. And to listen to that song, it's wild how it has kind of taken on this life of its own to the point where we're, you know, we're not terribly far from summer. We're going to be talking about this song in Song of the Summer Conversations. It has broken out in a big way kind of beyond country music. And I really felt like listening to this record as a whole, you really see her positioning herself as just one of the most approachable artists working today. You know, she has been kind of upfront about her own personal battles with imposter syndrome. And that theme runs through a lot of these songs. Choose in Texas is about, you know, kind of is about being, you know, passed over for another woman. The song Dandelion, you know, the title track from this record is really kind of, to use a cynical term, it's like branding herself as this very approachable every woman. And I think that that makes this record, first of all, it gives it enormous commercial potential. But it also just makes it, you can just wear this record like a blanket. It's really comfortable. Her ability to be sort of this kind of glamorous cowgirl superstar at the same time as the most relatable artist you're hearing on the radio and just sort of, you know, like, I'm just like you. And I have all these same insecurities and feelings and I'm going to be honest about them in these songs. She's got this authenticity that just feels like it is cutting through everything straight to the top. And one of my favorite things about this album is how much she seems to lean on a lot of the traditions of country music from some bygone eras. And I'm just so excited to see so many people being excited about that. Yeah. I mean, you mentioned country music from bygone eras. There's a cover of the song. It wasn't God who made honky tonk angels popularized by Kitty Wells. I mean, you talk about digging into the roots of country music. This isn't necessarily somebody who is just tapping into country traditions that she might have been growing up with, right? Like, she's not just tapping into what Garth Brooks did or what Brooks and Dunn did or, you know, what Reba McIntyre did. She's going all the way back to Kitty Wells. And I think that is part of what really made this record resonate for me. When I saw it wasn't God who made honky tonk angels on the track list, I thought, you know, it feels like a statement where she wants her listeners who are not familiar with country music from, you know, older eras. She's bringing that to the foreground in this really cool way. Her cover of it is also very different than, you know, the Kitty Wells version that a lot of people, if you know that song, you know, in love, she's making it totally her own and bringing it to a completely new audience. And I'm so excited about that. That is Ella Langley. Her new record is called Dandelion. Next up, Tenille Towns. Tenille Towns new album is called The Acrobat. So for those who don't know Tenille Towns, she's a Canadian country singer. She's from Alberta. This is her fourth album. In 2013, she moved from Alberta to Nashville. She had somewhat of a journey with kind of the country music star making machinery. She opened for Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town on their kind of joint headlining tour in 2018. She kind of had like a somewhat of a country breakthrough with a song called Somebody's Daughter in 2018. But she's kind of on the other side of that now. And this particular record, The Acrobat, it's her fourth album. And it's a solo effort in the truest sense. It's self-released. It's self-produced. It's self-recorded. She played every instrument. Her voice is really front and center. Yes, she has, you know, it's not that no guests ever pop up, but it is really like a complete statement from an artist whose music I just found beautiful. The first thing that kind of struck me when I started listening to this record was how stripped this production is. People have always loved Tenille Towns because she is this songwriter who's always been very honest and speaks, you know, very true to herself. And she's doing that in this album in this way that feels like she wants, you know, you to know how personal it is and how exposed these recordings are. They're just her with her guitar and, you know, some harmonies and the occasional tambourine. These songs are so vulnerable in their subject matter. I love the production choice she made. It feels so confident and stunning. Yeah, I mean, there really is a tendency in this mix. It just pulls you in. You hang on not only every word, but every vocal inflection. You take a song like The Acrobat, which is a duet with Laurie McKenna, you know, another country music treasure who doesn't get enough kind of commercial shine. That song kind of uses the circus as this sturdy metaphor for twisting yourself into knots just to move through the world. And I think, you know, that's a song where there are moments in that song where the air just leaves the room listening to it. And my first pass through this record, I remember kind of getting through it and thinking, man, these songs are so stripped, they're so exposed. The stories she's telling are quite heavy. And it wasn't until I got to the last track, if you're hearing this, where it almost sort of changed my whole perspective of the album. It's kind of like this perfect caboose. It's a nod to what Tenille says is this whole record is based on this period of profound transition professionally and personally with the change and ending of some relationships romantically and in her work. And, you know, you definitely hear that throughout the album and all of these different songs, but then you get to if you're hearing this, and it offers this almost like this cheeky moment where, you know, it made me feel like Tenille wants you to listen to this album and she wants to leave you on this positive note where your takeaway should be that this record is so vulnerable, but she doesn't feel alone. And she hopes that you don't feel alone because those are literally the last lyrics of that song. That's how the record ends. And I remember listening through to that final tune and it almost, it added just this breath of life into everything before it too, where, you know, it doesn't have, she's giving you these heavy songs and she has so much to say, but in this way that's like, I'm okay, you're okay, we're all in this together. I loved that song at the end of the record if you're hearing this. Thank you for giving all these rhymes a place to land. That is Tenille Towns. Her new album is called The Acrobat. We've got more records we're going to discuss in depth, but first let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Chloe Kimes from WMOT in middle Tennessee. Chloe, tell us what's going on at the station. Yes, Stephen. It's a big year at WMOT because we're celebrating our 10th year as Roots Radio. So in 2016, WMOT adopted an all-americana format and we've been Roots Radio ever since. And I joined the station in 2019. So I've gotten to see a lot of what has been some really immense growth in the last few years as a radio station, but specifically in the way that WMOT has become this cornerstone of the local music scene in Nashville. We've also been working really hard on our video content archive, which a lot of that can be found on NPR Music's live sessions page. But we have this new studio in East Nashville and we've really been doing a lot of live session video content artists coming into the studio. You can find all of that. We're really building out our YouTube channel and working with NPR Music and live sessions. So we've got a lot going on and we're really excited about 10 years. Nice. And Chloe, we should note, one of those artists I'm assuming gets played on Roots Radio every now and then would be Chloe Kimes. Oh yeah. Definitely. You are yourself an Americana musician working out of Nashville, correct? I am. That's sort of my first job and I found my way into radio because of the amazing people at WMOT and I love getting to do both. But no, I'm a songwriter and an Americana artist and I'm so excited that my boss is here at the station. I get to spend it. We all play each other's music because I'm not the only musician here. And so it's a lot of fun. I'm really thankful. Nice. All right. Well, let's move on with the show. Next up, new album by Wesley Joseph. It's called Forever Ends Someday. So Wesley Joseph is a singer, songwriter and producer based in London. He kind of works in a somewhat genre-less space. It's informed by R&B, hip hop, electronic music, but also rock and psychedelia and funk. He's kind of been coming up slowly over the last few years, putting out a couple of EPs. But this is his first full-length album. And it's wild to spend time with these songs and just constantly be getting pulled in multiple genre directions at once, even as the songs incorporate these very high-profile guests. He is childhood friends with the R&B singer, George Smyth. He has the rapper Danny Brown comes on and kind of provides this jolt of energy. And it's just, it's a really impressive debut. It is. And I'm new to Wesley Joseph, but listening to the record is kind of an experience. It really takes you through many different soundscapes. And it's really cinematic. My favorite quote that I read from Wesley, he said, I looked in the mirror more than I ever have with this record. And he also talks about how, you know, each song is meant to just sort of be like a color or an emotion or a feeling from his own life and taking that and, you know, kind of intensifying it to create these songs. That's sort of where it came from. And I think you feel that when you listen, and it really does take you all over the place, really enjoyable. Yeah, there are so many kind of genre paths you can take into this record. You take a track like White Tee, which is this big kind of thundering song kind of alternative R&B with this psychedelic churn and kind of alt rock vibes. And then at the same time, Wesley Joseph is kind of rapping over this arrangement. It feels like your dial is set to four different radio stations simultaneously, but in a good way. Like, how is that a compliment? And yet it's a compliment. His shift from like really soulful singing to rapping throughout these tracks is kind of wild. I've found myself, you know, being like, man, this is really all him. And it is. I love how much different vocal production is happening on this album, too. Like in mind games, where it sort of starts with just, you know, the track is basically just a bunch of different vocal tracks, building the beat and building the feel. And then it sort of goes into the rest of the song. But I think you get that through this whole album. It's just really creative in that way. I also love the song July with Georgia Smith. It's just like another one of those beautiful vocal soundscapes that they're creating. It's also got, you know, some acoustic instrumentation going on. It's really like one of the more emotional songs. There's so much to be found in this album. I wanted to call out Shadow Puppet, which is this kind of late album banger. At times, the vibe of the production is giving James Blake, right? Like these kind of warped and slightly distorted, ethereal, beautiful kind of voice echoing through the din. And then at other points in the song, it's a hard charging rap song. And like he is not a tourist in either setting. He does not sound out of place in either setting. He is a commanding rapper. He is a very talented singer. And he is willing to kind of, as you said, play with his voice in ways that allow it to just never kind of sit still in the same place for too long. That is Wesley Joseph. His new album is called Forever Ends Someday. Next up, a band called Brown Horse. Brown Horse's new album is called Total Dives. Cause my sister still speaks to her cousin sometimes. I don't know how much of it is true. But I guess it's more than that. I was wondering, is there a pain in love sometimes? Thunder right over the edge of time under the darkness on the runcaps. So that is Brown Horse. They are a Norwich based band in the UK. Sort of country rock band rooted in this collaborative approach to their songwriting. Among the four main songwriters, the record is a lot of trading off between all of their ideas and collaborations. And it's this really guitar driven 90s alt rock thing with this folk country sounds of the 70s almost. Their debut album, Reservoir, came out in 2024 and it was pretty highly praised. They've put out a record since between this new one now, Total Divots, their third album. They compare themselves with the country rock of Uncle Tupelo mixed with the intimacy of Cat Power and some Magnolia Electric company in there. And I definitely felt reminiscent of some 90s records that I loved. Yeah, absolutely. And I don't want to spend this entire segment just listing comparisons and reference points, but the temptation is really great in this case. And in part because I love some of these bands so much. You mentioned Magnolia Electric company and kind of the collected works of Jason Molina who was doing a lot of work in that blues rock space but still finding like great, great emotional depth there. That comparison I think is really valid. I mean, certainly Neil Young and Crazy Horse come through. I would also say built to spill. You know, these kind of circuitous songs that are just kind of built with like guitars layered on guitars, layered on guitars. I think this band does that so confidently and so well. I think at its best, this is just a stellar record. You take the song, Sorrow Reigns, you know, which first of all, great title, opens the record, Total Tone Setter, guitars doing work on top of work on top of work, where like at first just taking in this record, I was just taking in the guitars of it all, taking in the and taking in the comparisons, taking in these reference points, being reminded of bands I've loved. But then you go through it a second time and then the meaning starts to seep in, in these songs about isolation and loneliness and this kind of a search for me. I would say I had the same experience. I didn't really realize like what an emotional record it was until I kind of dug back in after, you know, you kind of get through the all the different layers of the instrumentation, which I do love. You know, I love the the pedal steel. I almost wish you could hear more of the pedal steel because it's so, it's so atmosphere at parts and you know, there's, there's a lot of guitar layers going on, but like the organ and the accordion, it gave for a nostalgic sound that I really loved. Yeah, I think this record worked best for me when the songs were their longest. There are like three different six minute jams on this record and I think those were all my favorites. You know, it closes with the song, watching something burn up, you know, again, extremely evocative title gives you a sense of some of the fatalism that seeps into these lyrics as this kind of low sad rumble of a song gives way to this big booming kind of epic bluster that in its own way just the sound of it is ending it on this kind of triumphant and hopeful note. That is Brown Horse. Brown Horse's new album is called Total Dive. We've got one more record we want to talk about in depth that's out today, April 10th, as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, but first we're going to take one more quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Chloe Kimes from WMOT in Tennessee. Before we get to our lightning round, we've got one more record we want to talk about in depth and Chloe, this record is so beautiful. It is by the artist Junie Hobble. It's called Evergreen in Your Mind. How they go, how they fly, how they slide through the snow, in the forest is color. Let's just swear we would hide, would hide, would hide, would realize in time, in time, in time. Forest, grows tall, you look down on the trail, you are cold to the bone. Holy, I don't want to go back home. I belong in the dark. So Junie Hobble is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. This is her third album. It was recorded kind of around her house, at the school where she works. Man, I talk on this show quite a bit about Sunday morning music. It's something that Bob Boylan, former All Songs host, and I have talked about a lot of like, save this record for when you are sitting in your kitchen table staring into the middle distance with a cup of hot tea. This is a staring into the middle distance record. I was listening to it late last night and I didn't want to go to bed. I just wanted to listen to it over and over again. I spent an extended stretch of time trying to place exactly who she reminded me of because I got these like, wisps of like, Adrian Lenker from Big Thief, you know, all the way back to like, classic UK folk singers. Beautiful, timeless voice and these gorgeous lush, we talked about pedal steel with brown horse. There's pedal steel here. Just a beautiful record. Yeah, it was almost giving like this Nick Drake essence that I really loved. But I was listening to this album on just a walk through my neighborhood. Like whenever I would go for a walk, I'd put it on, you know, because it just made me feel a little more connected to like the green around me, if that makes sense, you know? And it is called Evergreen in Your Mind and she talks about, you know, how the whole thing is sort of a, she's wrestling with the difference, the line between, you know, a dream and reality. I feel like that is so clear in the lyrics throughout this. It's just so whimsical and her guitar playing is like hypnotizing. It's really beautiful instrumentation going on too. Sometimes albums are released at the exact right time of year. And to me, this is a perfect spring record. It is a perfect record for walking around your neighborhood. If you're not, if you're not experiencing horrible allergy attacks, and you'd love to walk through fields of, you know, like the azaleas are in bloom in my backyard and just like kind of walking around and just letting this music turn your surroundings into your own personal Eden. This record is just perfect for that. And that song Evergreen in Your Mind does that really beautifully. But there's also, gosh, this song, Tessa, the first few seconds of that song, I just, like it's all her voice, her voice just floods in and I just gasp. Oh, come lead me to the door. I'm leaving this place before it burns. Leaving in time, oh my lord. Feed trying to tell you where to go. But I don't mind. She's so mysterious and enchanting. I kind of, you know, as much as it feels like this beautiful lullaby at times, it also kind of, you know, felt like she's casting a spell on me with her voice. And the way she speaks. Judy Hopple just tell me what to do. Yeah, exactly. Oh, drifting off to the water's turn. Because I know the time for when to come and go. But I don't. That is Junie Hopple. Her new record is called Evergreen in Your Mind. Now, Chloe, we could not possibly get to every great record out today, April 10th. So we're going to do a lightning round with some of our other favorite albums. And in doing so, we're going to bring in some voices from around the NPR music team. However, because I'm the host, I'm going to invoke host privileges and I'm going to kick us off with the duo of Gracie Coates and Rachel Ruggles record together under the name Gracie and Rachel. They've spent the last decade or so recording these lush, beautiful chamber pop songs together, tight harmonies, provocative lyrics, arrangements that highlight keyboards and violin. It's a beautiful sound. Check out their Tiny Desk concert from 2017. If you haven't seen it, they also did a home concert during the pandemic. But you'll really want to get lost in their new third full length album. Gracie and Rachel's new one out today is called If We Could, Would We? Oh, how can I get out of this seat? What the f- Chloe, what do you got? Yeah, my lightning round pick is from Melanie Baker. She's an artist out of Newcastle, England. And her debut album came out today. It's Somebody Help Me. I'm Being Spontaneous. I love the album title and I became a fan. I'm new to Melanie, but I was like a fan from the first listen of the first track. Her lyrics are really like zany. It's witty and self-deprecating and kind of absurd sometimes, but it just has this huge dynamic range. Got this 90s alt rock spirit, but just a fresh attitude, a lot of queer joy. These like anthemic choruses and it's just so fun from top to bottom. It's a great record. Melanie Baker, her debut album is Somebody Help Me. I'm Being Spontaneous. Thank you, Chloe. I gotta check that out. You made it sound great. I want to spend some time with it. Let's welcome onto the show the wonderful Hazel Sills, my dear colleague who will be hosting this show next week. Thank you in advance, Hazel. What do you got for us? Yeah, so I really want to shout out a new album. It's a collaborative album and it's by the incredible avant-garde drummer Valentina Magaletti and the electronic artist Upsammy. They made this new album. It's titled Seismo and it is a very out there, extremely freaky, kind of creepy, percussive experimental record. It's the exact kind of music that I love to listen to. And Magaletti in particular, I think, is one of the most exciting unusual drummers working right now. And so basically anything she puts out, I'm really into. The album Seismo by Valentina Magaletti and Upsammy. Thank you so much, Hazel. In the room with me, staring me in the face, my dear colleague Lars Gottrich. Lars, what do you got for us? I have a surprise drop. This is the sixth and final album allegedly by the metal band Spirit Adrift. It's called Infinite Illumination. Actually, I should do that in my metal voice. Infinite Illumination. So this is a band that's been around for a decade. I'm not really sure why Nate Garrett is closing up shop on this band, but the thing with Spirit Adrift, the thing that's always kind of set them apart from a lot of their heavy metal peers is that there's such emotional depth to their songwriting and to their lyrics. Did you say emotional depth or emotional death? Both. Why can't they be the same, Stephen? But they're the kind of band that started out very doomy and over time has gotten more melodically rich. So think about really melody-forward, hard-rockin' songs, but here's the difference. Spirit Adrift doesn't forget that they're a metal band. So there's plenty of breakdowns, there's plenty of blackened metal riffs. It's a little bit doomy, a lot triumphant, and it's a health and note to go out on. That's Infinite Illumination by Spirit Adrift. Thank you so much, Lars Gottrich, and Powers! Welcome back to New Music Friday! How's it going? It is going well. I'm so glad to have you here. I was happy to talk to you, and I'm excited about the record I have this week. So as a West Coast girl, I grew up with my bands, but if you were from the South, you grew up with Driven and Cryin', who are from Atlanta, as one of your core bands, you know? The lyrical, powerful, hooky songs of Kevin Kinney, kind of this shambolic poet type guy. So four years in, Driven and Cryin' is releasing their eleventh studio album and their first since 2019. It's called Crushing Flowers, and it really is such a beautiful and fun and funny set of songs from Kevin Kinney and the core trio of Driven and Cryin'. This is just really a record with so much heart and so much fun and just that kind of expertise that you get after 40 years in the game. Driven and Cryin', Crushing Flowers. Awesome. Thank you so much, Ann Powers. That is our show for this week. Thank you so much, Chloe Kimes, for taking time out of your week at WMOT in Tennessee. Thanks for having me, Steven. This has been such a pleasure. It has been a pleasure to have you. Thanks also to my dear colleagues, Hazel Sills, Lars Gottrich and Ann Powers for coming on and giving us their lightning round picks. If you enjoyed this week's show, we always appreciate a positive review on Apple or Spotify or whatever app you're listening to right now. This episode was produced by Noah Caldwell, Alina Edwards and Almanion, and edited by Otis Hart. Our production assistant is Dora Levitt. The executive producer of NPR Music is Serea Mohamed. Hazel Sills will be back next week to discuss new music with Nastia Voinovskia from KQED in San Francisco. Until then, take a moment to be well, try somehow to shut out the world around you, and treat yourself to lots of great music.
