by Mary Dolan

Episode 263: Sampha

“Spirit 2.0”

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Sampha is a singer, songwriter and producer from London. His first album, Process, won the Mercury Prize in 2017. He’s collaborated with artists like the XX, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and Solange. If you saw the Song Exploder Netflix show, Sampha was in the Alicia Keys episode, for the song they did together as a duet. This year, in October 2023, Sampha put out his second album, Lahai. And for this episode, I talked to Sampha about the song “Spirit 2.0.” Coming up, you’ll hear the original demo, and some early voice memos.

Sampha recruited some collaborators for the song, like producer Pablo Díaz-Reixa, aka El Guincho, who won a Grammy for his work on Rosalia’s first album; plus Yaeji; and Lisa Kaindé, from Ibeyi. But the song “Spirit 2.0” first took shape when Sampha was by himself, at home.

You can buy or stream “Spirit 2.0” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
El Guincho – Co-writer, co-producer, programmer
Owen Pallett – Arranger, conductor
Yussef Dayes – Drums
Yaeji – Additional vocals
Lisa Kaindé, from Ibeyi – Additional vocals
Oberheim OB-6
Moog Mother-32
Ngoni and Kora – West African instruments
Wassoulou music
“Sabu” by Oumou Sangaré, from her album Worotan
Kodwo Eshun – Writer on Ghanaian percussion taking architectural form
RAK Studios
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
In Conflict – Owen Pallett album featuring “The Passions”

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by Mary Dolan

Episode 262: Paramore

“Liar”

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I think one of the hardest things there is to do in music is to write a love song that expresses something real. I read that the song “Liar” by Paramore was written by Hayley Williams, the singer of the band, about her longtime bandmate Taylor York, and about the feelings she started to realize she’d had for him. Paramore has been a band for over 20 years, since Hayley and Taylor and Zac Farro, who plays drums, were all young teenagers. Paramore’s won a Grammy for Best Rock Song, and they have multiple platinum albums. But with all that history, Taylor and Hayley only recently became a couple.

“Liar” is a song off of their most recent album, This Is Why, which came out in February 2023. So I talked to Hayley, Taylor and Zac in their studio about how their song first came about, and what it means to them.

You can buy or stream “Liar” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Brian Robert Jones – Bass
Henry Solomon – Flute, alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet
Carlos de la Garza – Engineer
Blonde Redhead
Cocteau Twins

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by Mary Dolan

Episode 261: Kesha

“Eat The Acid”

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Kesha is a singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. She put out her first song in 2009, and it was a huge #1 hit in the US and 13 other countries. She’s had 10 top-ten singles on the Billboard charts, and sold millions of albums. She got famous for songs that were about partying, and breaking the rules, and having fun. But this year, in May 2023, she put out the album Gag Order, which is a lot more raw and vulnerable. She made it with superstar producer Rick Rubin. And for this episode, I talked to Kesha about her song “Eat The Acid,” which she wrote early on in the pandemic. I was really interested in the intense, distorted vocal sound that I’d heard in the track; and as you’ll hear, it turns out most of that was a byproduct of the way she had to write and record when we were all in lockdown.

You can buy or stream “Eat The Acid” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Pebe Sebert – Kesha’s mom and co-writer
Stuart Crichton – Co-writer
Jason Lader – Engineer
Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You – Song written by Kesha’s mom in the 1970s
Rainbow – Kesha’s album from 2017

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