In 2002, Sam Beam’s first album as Iron & Wine was released on Sub Pop Records. He’d given them a bunch of demos, and rather than have him re-record these songs, they released the demos themselves. Since then, he’s put out five more full-length albums and been nominated for multiple Grammys.

For this episode, Sam looked back at the making of his song “Flightless Bird, American Mouth,” from his 2007 album The Shepherd’s Dog. A year after that album came out, the song was used prominently in a scene in the movie Twilight, and it’s been one of the most popular Iron & Wine songs ever since. I talked to Sam at Blue Rock Artist Ranch and Studio in Wimberley, Texas, in front of a small audience. You’ll hear the original demo he recorded, and how that transformed into the final version of the song.

You can buy or stream “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Brian Deck
Rob Burger
Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Allen Ginsberg
EBow
Sherman
Beat Poets
Kristen Stewart
Watch the scene from Twilight featuring “Flightless Bird, American Mouth,” here

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Santigold is a singer, songwriter, and producer. She’s put out 4 albums since 2008, and she’s been featured as a collaborator on songs with Jay-Z, Beastie Boys, Diplo, and more.

In this episode, Santi takes apart her song “Ushers of the New World,” from her 2022 album Spirituals.  She made it with collaborators she’s worked with before, including Grammy-winning producer Rostam, and producer Ricky Blaze. She told me about how she tries to channel her gut instincts, and how she wanted to transform some of the darkest feelings of 2020 into something galvanizing.

You can buy or stream “Ushers of the New World” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Psymun, producer
Squamish, British Columbia
Disparate Youth
Nina Simone
Marvin Gaye 
Queen Latifah
Salt’N’Pepa 
Fela Kuti
Vampire Weekend (listen to their episode of Song Exploder here)

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King Princess is the project of Mikaela Straus, a singer, songwriter, and producer from Brooklyn. She’s a platinum-selling artist, and she put out her second album in July, 2022. The last track on the album is the song “Let Us Die.” Rolling Stone called it “the banger of the year.” In this episode, Mikaela breaks down the song, along with two of her collaborators on it: co-producer and co-writer Ethan Gruska, and multi-Grammy winning producer Mark Ronson. You’ll hear the original voice memo that Mikaela recorded, and the demo she made with Ethan. And you’ll hear the drums recorded by the late Taylor Hawkins, the legendary drummer of Foo Fighters and Alanis Morissette, who passed away earlier this year

You can buy or stream “Let Us Die” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Mission Sound, Oliver Straus’ Studio
Shawn Everett (listen to Shawn on the Perfume Genius episode)
Reuben Cox, Old Style Guitar Shop

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