Episode 119: The Killers

“Rut”

The Killers formed in Las Vegas in 2001. Since then, they’ve released five records. Their newest album, Wonderful Wonderful, came out in September 2017. In this episode, singer Brandon Flowers and drummer Ronnie Vannucci break down the song “Rut” from that album.

You can get “Rut” on iTunes.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
The Desired Effect (Brandon Flowers’ Solo Album)
Jacknife Lee (producer)

· · ·

Episode 118: Lorde

“Sober”

Lorde (aka Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor) is a Grammy-award winning singer, songwriter, and producer. Her second album, Melodrama, debuted at number one on the charts in June 2017 – five months before her 21st birthday. In this episode, Ella breaks down her song “Sober.” You’ll hear how it started, with the original demos she made with her co-producer Jack Antonoff, and how the song changed over the course of working on it for months and months.

You can get “Sober” on iTunes.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Malay (producer)
Kuk Harrell (vocal engineer)
Laura Sisk (engineer)
TNGHT

· · ·

Episode 117: Rostam

“Bike Dream”

Rostam Batmanglij is a songwriter, producer, and composer, who first rose to prominence in 2006 as one of the members of Vampire Weekend. He’s produced songs for Frank Ocean, Solange, Carly Rae Jepsen, and more. But his September 2017 album Half-Light is his first as a solo artist. In this episode, Rostam breaks down his song “Bike Dream.” In this episode, he explains how it was influenced in part by bands like T.Rex and Coldplay. But “Bike Dream” began very differently from how it ended up.

You can get “Bike Dream” on iTunes.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
T.Rex – I Love to Boogie
Dave Fridmann
Korg Trident

Take the Song Exploder listener survey at surveynerds.com/songexploder.

· · ·