close
Accessibility links
All Songs Considered Robin Hilton spins new music from emerging bands and musical icons.

All Songs Considered

Upgrade Your Playlist
Beck’s ‘Odelay’ at 30, Mitski covers One Direction, more

Mitski Lexie Alley/Dead Oceans hide caption

toggle caption
Lexie Alley/Dead Oceans

Our Show

Beck’s ‘Odelay’ at 30, Mitski covers One Direction, more

by  , 

We share our picks for the best new tracks of the week, including Mitski’s surprising cover of One Direction’s “Fireproof.” But first, we remember Beck’s still mind-blowing Odelay, which just celebrated its 30th anniversary. 

Beck’s ‘Odelay’ at 30, Mitski covers One Direction, more

Listen · 46:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5866735/nx-s1-mx-5866735-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
New Music Friday: The best albums out June 19

Tierra Whack hide caption

toggle caption

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out June 19

by  , 

Tierra Whack. The War and Treaty. A plethora of new jazz releases. Host Stephen Thompson chats with Nate Chinen from WRTI in Philadelphia about their favorite new albums out Friday, June 19. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out June 19

Listen · 40:10
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5830356/nx-s1-mx-5830356-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Eddie Cochran on stage holding a guitar.

Musician Eddie Cochran performing onstage with his guitar circa 1958. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Bonus

All Songs+

NPR Music+: “Summertime Blues” by Eddie Cochran

by  , 

With the summer solstice upon us, we’re looking back at a song that really nails the season in the opposite way that you’d expect. It’s a song about how summer is not always fun and why that's the case—and it’s since inspired dozens of high-profile covers and influenced a trove of other summer bummer songs.  

NPR Music+: “Summertime Blues” by Eddie Cochran

New Music Friday: The best albums out June 12

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out June 12

by  , 

Olivia Rodrigo. Pussy Riot. Hayley Kiyoko. Host Stephen Thompson chats with Nastia Voynovskaya from KQED in San Francisco about their favorite albums out Friday, June 12. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out June 12

Listen · 41:56
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5830354/nx-s1-mx-5830354-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
NPR listeners share the songs that help reset their mood

Bill Withers Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

Our Show

NPR listeners share the songs that help reset their mood

by  , 

NPR listeners share the songs they reach for when they need to reset the mood, their day or even their life.

Need (another) reset?

Listen · 36:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5850296/nx-s1-mx-5850296-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
New Music Friday: The best albums out June 5

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out June 5

by  , 

Vince Staples. Zoh Amba. Death Cab for Cutie. Host Stephen Thompson chats with Laura Grant from WEXT in New York about their favorite albums out Friday, June 5. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out June 5

Listen · 40:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5830347/nx-s1-mx-5830347-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
NPR Music+: “Time Warp” from ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’

From right to left, actors Richard O'Brien, Tim Curry and Patricia Quinn as Riff Raff, Dr Frank-N-Furter and Magenta respectively, on a lobby card from the 1975 musical comedy 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show', produced by 20th Century Fox. Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images

Bonus

All Songs+

NPR Music+: “Time Warp” from ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’

by  , 

The latest revival of “The Rocky Horror Show,” which first appeared on stage in London in 1973 and later became a cult movie classic, is nominated for nine Tony Awards this year. The show's continued resonance is no surprise—after all, its most popular song is one that’s exceeded the frame of the musical and captured the hearts of countercultural weirdos all over. 

NPR Music+: “Time Warp” from ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’

All Songs Considered: Wet Leg, Vince Staples, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien

Wet Leg Alice Backham hide caption

toggle caption
Alice Backham

Our Show

All Songs Considered: Wet Leg, Vince Staples, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien

by  , 

The best new tracks of the week include a raging, dance floor remix of Wet Leg’s “Catch These Fists,” a touch of vintage soul from rapper Vince Staples, Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien and more.

All Songs Considered: Wet Leg, Vince Staples, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien

Listen · 44:02
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5843271/nx-s1-mx-5843271-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Electronic music icons Boards of Canada — the Scottish sibling duo of Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin — return with their first LP since 2013.

Electronic music icons Boards of Canada — the Scottish sibling duo of Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin — return with their first LP since 2013. Warp Records hide caption

toggle caption
Warp Records

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 29

by  , 

Boards of Canada. Kurt Vile. Iceage. Host Stephen Thompson chats with Andrew Brown of KUTX in Austin about their favorite albums out Friday, May 29. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out June 5

Listen · 41:25
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5830351/nx-s1-mx-5830351-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
What’s the defining Millennial song?

Myspace Music, an early staple for Millennial music lovers. Anna Webber/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Anna Webber/Getty Images

Our Show

What’s the defining Millennial song?

by  ,  , 

We weigh the options and attempt to pick the one song that best captures the Millennial experience, from the dizzying highs of the dot-com boom, when anything seemed possible, to the post-9-11 bust, the "hope and change" of the Obama years, and prolonged period of generational disillusionment.

What’s the defining Millennial song?

Listen · 1:04:18
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5833796/nx-s1-mx-5833796-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
New Music Friday: The best albums out May 22

Bleachers hide caption

toggle caption

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 22

by  , 

Aja Monet. Jack Antonoff's Bleachers. Radiohead's Ed O'Brien. Guest host Ann Powers chats with Aurora McGuckin of MVY Radio in Massachusetts about their favorite albums out Friday, May 22. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 22

Listen · 39:08
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5830344/nx-s1-mx-5830344-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Trent Reznor singing into a microphone on stage.

Trent Renzor of Nine Inch Nails performs at 106.7 KROQ's "Almost Acoustic Christmas" at Gibson Ampitheater at Universal Studios on December 10, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. Karl Walter/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Karl Walter/Getty Images

Bonus

All Songs+

NPR Music+: "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails

by  , 

It’s a song that contains one of the most notorious F-bombs ever committed to tape, but if you scrub underneath its grimy surface, you can find the influences of industrial music, transgressive art, and even Prince. You may also find the seeds that led to Trent Reznor’s perhaps surprising, multifaceted career today.

NPR Music+: "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails

All Songs Considered: Gracie Abrams hits a wall, more best new songs

Gracie Abrams Julie Greve hide caption

toggle caption
Julie Greve

Our Show

All Songs Considered: Gracie Abrams hits a wall, more best new songs

by  , 

Our latest mix of the week’s best new songs includes a moody reflection on burnout from Gracie Abrams, rising L.A. duo Evening Elephants, the elusive electronic collagists Ear and more.  

All Songs Considered: Gracie Abrams hits a wall, more best new songs

Listen · 39:23
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5825933/nx-s1-mx-5825933-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Interview: Isaiah Rashad is ready to bare his soul

Isaiah Rashad's new album is called It's Been Awful Quil Lemons/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Quil Lemons/Courtesy of the artist

Our Show

Interview: Isaiah Rashad is ready to bare his soul

by 

It’s been five years since we last heard music from Isaiah Rashad. And four years since he largely disappeared from the public eye after two leaked sex tapes, featuring Rashad with other men, upended his life. Now, he's back. On his album, 'It's Been Awful,' he reaches new levels of clarity and intimacy. Having survived hypervisibility, this new music encapsulates what it means to truly be seen. 

Interview: Isaiah Rashad is ready to bare his soul

Listen · 47:26
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5823887/nx-s1-mx-5823887-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Dua Saleh

Dua Saleh Ghostly International hide caption

toggle caption
Ghostly International

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 15

by  , 

Jobi Riccio. Dua Saleh. Tank and the Bangas. Plus, others not named Drake! NPR Music's Stephen Thompson chats with Joe Kendrick of WNCW in North Carolina about their favorite albums out Friday, May 15. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 15

Listen · 42:57
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5778473/nx-s1-mx-5778473-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Charli xcx, Beastie Boys' Mike D, Boards of Canada and the week's best new songs

Charli xcx Tyrell Hampton hide caption

toggle caption
Tyrell Hampton

Our Show

Charli xcx, Beastie Boys' Mike D, Boards of Canada and the week's best new songs

by  , 

Our latest mix of the best new tracks this week includes a massive eye-roll from Charli xcx, the first-ever solo music from Mike D of the Beastie Boys, another surprise drop from electronic music icons Boards of Canada, and more.

All Songs Considered: Charli XCX, Mike D, more Boards of Canada

Listen · 39:02
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5818597/nx-s1-mx-5818597-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
MUNA

MUNA Dean Bradshaw hide caption

toggle caption
Dean Bradshaw

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 8

by  , 

MUNA. Stephen Sanchez. Lykke Li. NPR Music's Stephen Thompson chats with Celia Gregory from WNXP in Nashville about their favorite albums out Friday, May 8. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer personal picks in our lightning round. 

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 8

Listen · 42:53
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5778471/nx-s1-mx-5778471-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Salt-N-Pepa standing in front of a green wall, holding Grammy Awards.

Salt-N-Pepa pose with their Grammys for Best Rap Performance by a Group on March 1, 1995, at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Philippe AIMAR / AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Philippe AIMAR / AFP via Getty Images

Bonus

All Songs+

NPR Music+: "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa

by  , 

On paper, “Push It” seems incredibly simple. But once you dig into the details—the vocal expressivity, the creative interpolations, the clever innuendos—you can see why this song became the moment when two girls from Queens found their sound, made it their own, and soon became one of the most revered and respected rap groups in history.  

NPR Music+: "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa

NPR listeners share the songs that remind them of Mom
Jackie Lay

Our Show

NPR listeners share the songs that remind them of Mom

by  , 

With Mother’s Day nearing, listeners share songs that remind them of their moms and the deeply moving stories behind them.

Call your mom

Listen · 36:11
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5810492/nx-s1-mx-5810492-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
American Football

American Football Alexa Viscius/Polyvinyl hide caption

toggle caption
Alexa Viscius/Polyvinyl

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 1

by  , 

Kacey Musgraves. American Football. Tori Amos. NPR Music's Stephen Thompson chats with Jewly Hight from WPLN in Nashville about their favorite albums out Friday, May 1. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer personal picks in our lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 1

Listen · 40:44
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5778469/nx-s1-mx-5778469-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
All Songs Considered: Peter Gabriel goes pop, Olivia Rodrigo might 'drop dead'

Rosalía Columbia hide caption

toggle caption
Columbia

Our Show

All Songs Considered: Peter Gabriel goes pop, Olivia Rodrigo might 'drop dead'

by  , 

Our latest picks for the week’s best new songs include Olivia Rodrigo’s head-over-heels earworm “drop dead,” a stunning bonus cut from Rosalía’s LUX album, a surprising pop turn from Peter Gabriel, twisted dance beats from Nine Inch Nails and more.

All Songs Considered: Olivia Rodrigo might drop dead, Peter Gabriel goes pop

Listen · 51:22
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5801627/nx-s1-mx-5801627-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Browse archive or search npr.org

All Songs Considered

Upgrade Your Playlist

About

Subscribe