A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on Jun 6, 2018 at 10:03am PDT

Wolf Alice is a band from North London. Their second album, Visions of a Life, was released in September 2017. In this episode, singer Ellie Rowsell and drummer Joel Amey tell the story of how they made the song “Don’t Delete the Kisses.” The album was produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen, and coming up later, you’ll hear some of his thoughts, as well. The song went through a lot of versions. A home demo that Ellie made, another demo with the full band, plus studio versions they recorded in LA with Justin. There were a lot of ideas that were created and then scrapped. In this episode, they trace the path through those ideas, as well how the song was influenced by Father John Misty, PJ Harvey, and the film Frances Ha.

Buy or stream “Don’t Delete the Kisses” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
“True Affection” – Father John Misty
Garageband
Miku Stomp – The “anime” guitar pedal
LinnDrum
“All & Everyone” – PJ Harvey

A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on May 23, 2018 at 10:08am PDT

Jon Hopkins is an electronic music producer whose been nominated twice for the UK’s Mercury Prize. Along with his frequent collaborator, Brian Eno, he co-produced Coldplay‘s Grammy-award winning album, Viva la Vida. In May 2018, Jon Hopkins released his fifth album, Singularity. It was named Best New Music by Pitchfork. In this episode, Jon Hopkins takes apart the song “Luminous Beings,” which was inspired in part by the meditative and therapeutic effects of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms. Jon talks about his own experience with drug, and how it shaped this song. He also details the less magical moments where he hated the music was he making, and had to destroy it as part of the creative process.

Buy or stream “Luminous Beings” here. And click here to try Ableton Live 10 for free.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Korg Trinity synth
Ableton Live
Echo Boy plugin
Korg MS-20 synth
Joshua Tree National Park
Altiverb plugin
Una Chorda plugin

A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on May 9, 2018 at 10:11am PDT

In 1993, Liz Phair released her debut album, Exile in Guyville. It was an instant hit, critically and commercially. It sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Spin and The Village Voice named it album of the year. Soon after, Rolling Stone put her on the cover of their magazine. Now, twenty-five years later, Exile in Guyville is being reissued as a deluxe boxset with photos, essays, and Liz Phair’s original four-track cassette recordings. In this episode, Liz and Exile in Guyville‘s producer, Brad Wood, look back to tell the story of the creation of one of the songs on the album, “Divorce Song.”

Buy or stream “Divorce Song” here. And click here to buy Girly-Sound to Guyville: The 25th Anniversary Boxset.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Oberlin College
Girly-Sound
Exile on Main Street – The Rolling Stones
“Rocks Off” – The Rolling Stones
“Ventilator Blues” – The Rolling Stones
“Honky Tonk Women” – The Rolling Stones
Peavey Backstage amplifier

The Oral History of “Exile in Guyville” by Jessica Hopper – from SPIN, 2013