by Mary Dolan

Episode 287: of Montreal

“Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games”

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Kevin Barnes started of Montreal in 1996 in Athens, Georgia. The Sunlandic Twins came out in 2005; it was their seventh album. And I remember when that album came out, how it felt like they were suddenly everywhere. And the breakout song from that breakout album was “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games.” And so, for this episode, I spoke to Kevin Barnes about how that song came together, and what it meant to them then, and what it means to them now.

You can buy or stream “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Satanic Panic in the Attic – of Montreal’s 2004 album
Reason software, Cubase software
Prince and Duran Duran
Bryan Poole – former of Montreal band member
Ray Davies and The Kinks
Edward Gorey, Tristan and Isolde, Oedipus
Afrobeat and Fela Kuti
Pointillism

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by Mary Dolan

Episode 286: Yola

“Symphony”

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Yola is a singer/songwriter and actress. She released her solo debut album in 2019, which was nominated for 4 Grammys, including Best New Artist and Best Americana Album, and Rolling Stone named it one of the best country albums of the year. But the thing is, Yola’s music career wasn’t new, and her background wasn’t in country music. She’s from Bristol in the UK, and starting back in the early 2000s, she was a vocalist recording tracks for DJs and electronic music producers. And so, in January 2025, Yola put out an EP called My Way. And as you’ll hear her explain in this episode, a lot of her new music is motivated by wanting to assert her identity beyond the Americana and country music boundaries. In addition to her music, she’s also acting – she played Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the 2022 film Elvis, and she starred on Broadway in the musical Hadestown. For this episode, I talked to Yola about her song “Symphony,” along with co-writer and co-producer Sean Douglas. Yola and Sean trace the journey of the song “Symphony,” and, along with it, Yola traces her own journey, too.

You can buy or stream “Symphony” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
The PRVLG – collaborators
Zach Skelton – co-producer
Howard Artis – drummer
Divinity Roxx – bassist
Broken beat
Bugz in the Attic
Shania Twain
Dolly Parton
Hip Hop 50
Parliament-Funkadelic
Rhodes piano
Gold-Diggers
James Brown

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by Mary Dolan

Episode 285: Adrianne Lenker

“Sadness As a Gift”


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Adrianne Lenker is a singer and songwriter. She’s the lead singer of the critically acclaimed and beloved band Big Thief, and her work as a solo artist is also critically acclaimed and beloved. Her most recent solo album, Bright Future, was named one of the best albums of 2024 by the New Yorker, Stereogum, and more, and it was nominated for a Grammy for Best Folk Album. It was co-produced by Adrianne and longtime collaborator Phil Weinrobe. And I talked to the two of them about the making of one of my favorite songs from it, “Sadness As a Gift.”

You can buy or stream “Sadness As a Gift” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here

footnotes:
Nick Hakim – piano
Josefin Runsteen – violin, backing vocals
Mat Davidson – electric guitar, backing vocals

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