DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Quavo from Migos and Lil Wayne have allied for a new smash hit: “I’m The One.” Despite the star power present, the resulting track is less than the sum of its parts—repetitive, derivative, uninventive. And yet, the lackluster […]
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Two new songs have captured the attention of your hosts—Charlie Puth’s “Attention” and HAIM’s “Want You Back.” On the surface, these two songs appear to have little in common. A closer look, though, reveals the subtle musical architecture undergirding each track, a perfect balance of […]
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Is it true that all pop music sounds the same today? For the past year the “pop-drop” has dominated the airwaves. This new form of EDM infused pop came out of DJ culture and has infused its sound with every mainstream act like Lady Gaga […]
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One Direction wunderkind Harry Styles has just released his first ever single, “Sign of the Times,” and it’s a doozy. Strap in for a discussion of the apocalypse, late Beatles, teen wisdom, and the amen cadence—among other demons exorcised in this most peculiar pop tune. […]
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Songwriter Ross Golan comes over to start up a conversation, encouraging us to follow his lead and give Ed Sheeran’s chart-annihilating record “Shape of You” a chance. Ross, a studio vet with multiple #1 hits (including numbers discussed on this very podcast, such as Ariana […]
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Charlie and Nate sit down with up-and-coming producer duo Grey—fresh off their hit “Starving” with Zedd and Hailee Steinfeld—to uncover the secrets behind Alessia Cara and Zedd’s dramatic dance track “Stay” and Grey’s own deep cut “I Miss You” (ft Bahari). Snare drums as currency, […]
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Two artists who haven’t released new music since 2013 recently remerged into the limelight: Katy Perry, with her dystopian disco banger “Chained to the Rhythm” and Lorde, with the melodramatic-yet-uplifting anthem “Green Light.” Listening carefully, a fact becomes apparent, despite Lorde’s insistence that she “hears […]
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With the Academy Awards around the corner, Charlie and Nate try something new: a break down of the movie musical La La Land through two of its key songs, “City of Stars” and “Start a Fire.” These numbers, one by composer Justin Hurwitz, the other […]
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“I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” the new track from Zayn and Taylor Swift, finds two members of the pop pantheon joining forces with producer Jack Antonoff to craft an inexorable hit song. But this duet—between a former One Direction heartthrob aiming to avert the sophomore […]
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“Into You” was one of the biggest hits of 2016, the stellar production of reclusive legend Max Martin combining with the acrobatic vocals of Ariana Grande to create an undeniable, ubiquitous earworm. With “Into You” still burning up the charts, we dive deep to uncover […]
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