Neko Case is a singer and songwriter. She’s been nominated for multiple Grammys, and in addition to her own music, she’s a member of the band The New Pornographers. In June 2018, she put out her 7th album, Hell-On, which she also co-produced. In this episode, Neko Case breaks down the song “Last Lion of Albion.” Albion’s one of the oldest names for the island of Great Britain, and it was while she was in England that this song first began.

This episode is guest-hosted by Thao Nguyen of Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. It features special intro music by Julien Baker.

Buy or stream “Last Lion of Albion” here. You can buy the album on vinyl here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
k.d. lang
Foreigner – I Want to Know What Love Is
Farfisa
Vocoder

A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on Jul 18, 2018 at 10:45am PDT

Action Bronson is a rapper from Queens who’s been making records since 2011. He also stars as the host of two TV shows about food on Vice’s channel, Viceland. His third album, Blue Chips 7000, came out in 2017, and features this song – “The Chairman’s Intent.” It was produced by his longtime collaborator, producer Harry Fraud. In this episode, Action Bronson and Harry Fraud tell the story of how “The Chairman’s Intent” was made.

Buy or stream “The Chairman’s Intent” here, and watch the music video below. You can buy his album, Blue Chips 7000 on vinyl here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Onuma Singsiri – “Mae Kha Som Tam” (sampled song)
Young Mexico (organist)

Jhené Aiko is a Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter. She released her first album in 2012. In addition to her own records, she’s been a featured guest vocalist on songs by Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Childish Gambino, and many others. In 2017, she released her third album, Trip, which debuted at #5 on the Billboard Charts, and includes the song “Sativa.” The song features guest vocals from Swae Lee, who’s one half of the band Rae Sremmurd. In this episode, Jhené tells the story of how “Sativa” was made, and how it got stuck, and then, how it got unstuck. She’s joined by producer Brian Warfield of the production duo Fisticuffs, who made the beat.

Buy or stream “Sativa” (ft. Swae Lee) here, and watch the music video below. You can buy her album, Trip on vinyl here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
No I.D. (producer)