Sudan Archives is a singer, songwriter, producer, and violinist. She grew up in Cincinnati before moving to LA. Her music has been called “viscerally gorgeous” by The Guardian, and “stunning” by Pitchfork, who gave her in ‘Best New Music.’ This year, she’s releasing her second album, and one of the tracks on it is “Selfish Soul.” She told me the idea for this song started when she asked her boyfriend, James (who is the rapper Nocando) to shave her head. Cutting off her hair made her reflect on her whole hair story, from experiences she had as a kid, to the cultural and racial issues that have historically surrounded Black women’s hair.

You can buy or stream “Selfish Soul” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Ween Ya Habaayeb by Aisha Al-Falatiya
Nocando
Lafemmebear
Ben Dickey, manager and co-producer
Dexter Story

Maia from mxmtoon released her first EP in 2018. She was 18 and recorded it in her bedroom, and self-released it. It went on to be streamed over 100 million times. This year, she put out her second album, Rising. And in this episode, she breaks down her song “Mona Lisa.” She told me about how different it is from the songs she used to write when she was teenager. And how she found something authentic and honest by connecting with a part of herself from even earlier in her life.

You can buy or stream “Mona Lisa” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Rosie, co-writer
Pom Pom, producer and co-writer
Luke Niccoli, executive producer (and guitars)
“Disney Princess bird vibes”

Monica Martin is a singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Before that, she was based in Madison, Wisconsin, where she was part of the indie rock band Phox. She’s been a featured guest vocalist on songs by James Blake and Vulfpeck. In this episode, Monica breaks down her song “Go Easy, Kid,” along with the tracks’s producer, Khushi. It’s a pretty meta story, as she talks about making a song that’s in part about how hard it can be to make a song. And more generally, how hard it can be to let go of things we get hung up on.

You can buy or stream “Go Easy, Kid” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Theo Katzman
Jacob Jeffries
Jason Goldstein
Matteo Roberts
James Blake
The Caribou, bar
Splice
Fiverr
Portal, plugin
Ásgeir
Carole King
Burt Bacharach
Amar Chadha-Patel