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A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on Mar 20, 2019 at 10:45am PDT

Nakhane is a singer and songwriter from Johannesburg, South Africa. His first album, Brave Confusion, won the South African Music Award for best alternative album in 2014. He starred in the award-winning film “The Wound,” which was shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Nakhane’s second album was originally released in 2018, and then released in the US in 2019, as a deluxe version. The deluxe version includes this song, “New Brighton,” featuring guest vocals from Anohni. In this episode, as Nakhane breaks the song down, he talks about his complicated relationship with Christianity, why the song wasn’t on the original version of the album, and what it was like to work with one of his musical heroes.

Buy or stream “New Brighton” here, and watch the music video below.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
“Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)” – Hugh Masekela
“The National Anthem” – Radiohead
Port Elizabeth
Fort Frederick
“Hope There’s Someone” – Antony & the Johnsons

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A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on Mar 6, 2019 at 10:05am PST

Mumford & Sons are a Grammy-winning band that formed in London in 2007. They’ve put out four albums, and sold millions of copies. Their last three albums have all debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. The most recent of those albums is Delta, which came out in November 2018. The band is made up of Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall, and Ted Dwane, and in this episode, Marcus and Ben break down a song from Delta called “Beloved.” You’ll how the song went from Marcus’s original raw voice memo to the intricate finished track.

You can buy or stream “Beloved” here, and buy Delta on vinyl here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Hammond Organ
Paul Epworth
“Six Pianos” – Steve Reich
Yamaha DX
Voicelive Harmonizer
Yebba

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A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on Feb 20, 2019 at 1:50pm PST

Phoebe Bridgers is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. In September 2017, she released her debut album, Stranger in the Alps. One of the breakout songs from that album was “Scott Street,” a song Phoebe co-wrote with her drummer, Marshall Vore. In this episode, Phoebe and Marshall break down how the song went from an unfinished cassette demo, to the finished album version.

You can buy or stream “Scott Street” here. You can buy the album Strangers in the Alps on vinyl here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Tony Berg – Producer
Optigan
Rob Moose – String player

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