Annie Clark moved to New York in the mid-2000s. She started recording and performing under the name St Vincent in 2006. She’s released five albums, and won a Grammy for Best Alternative Album in 2014. Earlier this year, in 2017, St Vincent released this song, called “New York,” partly inspired by the city and neighborhood she calls home, although nowadays, Annie splits her time between coasts, with a studio in Los Angeles. She collaborated on this song with Grammy-winning producer Jack Antonoff.

You can get “New York” on iTunes.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

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

Between 2004 and 2012, Grizzly Bear put out four critically-acclaimed albums. Their newest album is called Painted Ruins, and it features this song, “Four Cypresses.” In this episode, two members of the band, Chris Taylor and Daniel Rossen, tell the story of how the song came together.

You can get “Four Cypresses” on iTunes.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

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

Phoenix is a Grammy-winning band from Versailles, France. They started putting out music in 1999, and in June 2017, they released their sixth album, Ti Amo. In this episode, singer Thomas Mars and guitarist Laurent Brancowitz break down the song “Ti Amo,” the title track from that album.

You can get “Ti Amo” on iTunes.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Ableton Live
Dur Dur Band – “Dooyo”
Lucio Battisti – “Il Tempo Di Morire”
Roman Coppola (Thomas’s brother-in-law)