Friday, Feb 4, 2022 • 27min
New Music Friday: The top 5 albums out on Feb. 4
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NPR Music's picks for the best albums out this week include the final trap album from Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz, '80s-flavored pop from Mitski, Animal Collective's return to form and more.
Featured Albums:
1. 2 Chainz — Dope Don't Sell Itself
Featured tracks: "10 Bracelets" and "Million Dollars Worth Of Game"
2. Mitski — Laurel Hell
Featured track: "Stay Soft"
3. Animal Collective — Time Skiffs
Featured track: "Strung With Everything"
4. Saba — Few Good Things
Featured tracks: "Survivor's Guilt" and "2012"
5. Erin Rae — Lighten Up
Featured track: "California Belongs to You"
Other notable releases for Feb. 4:
Black Country, New Road — Ants From Up There
Cate Le Bon — Pompeii
Lord Kayso — More Chores
Los Bitchos — Let The Festivities Begin!
The Reds, Pinks and Purples — Summer at Land's End
Tank — R&B MONEY
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Robin Hilton
Cyrena Touros
Robin Hilton
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Transcript
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Break
Robin Hilton
00:22
Happy Friday, everyone from
NPR
music and All Songs Considered
. I'm Robin Hilton. I'm here with Christina Lee. Hello Robin. Lars Gotrich. Hi y'all. Cyrena Touros. Hey Robin, Happy Friday! Happy Friday and John Morrison.Share
John Morrison
00:35
Hey, what's up Robin?
Share
Robin Hilton
00:37
It's February 4th and we're looking at the best albums out today, starting with
2 Chainz
. His new one is called Dope Don't Sell itself.Share
01:49
This is
2 Chainz
the record is Dope Don't Sell itself. You can do this Robin, I believe you can say Dope Don't Sell itself.Share
01:59
The song we're hearing from it is called 10 Bracelets. This is one of the lighter cuts from the record. A good bit of the album's a little grittier than this. When
2 Chainz
announced the album earlier this month, he promised it would be something new and exotic for him.Share
John Morrison
02:14
What do y'all think, John. I love
2 Chainz
off top. He's really in my mind one of the slickest, like most clever MCs in the game and at this point it's dope to see just how consistent and enduring he's been in his career has been. This record is Dope Don't Sell itself is just like the title says, you know, he's talking about selling dope and getting money and dress and fly and it's not a menacing record.Share
02:43
It's a fun record and it's kind of absurd, but like in a good fun fly way. This record took me back to
Atlanta
& I have not lived in Atlanta in 15 - 16 years. but this had me back in Atlanta. I
wanted to be in a ridiculously tripped out ride cruising down one of the many Peach tree streets.Share
Cyrena Touros
03:04
But instead I ran errands and went to Target, listening to the album instead. Which is also the lifestyle that
2 Chainz
is about for what it's worth. I feel like I can imagine this right in College Park. It's like there's no self respecting human being that should be able to pull off a line like here at pot their pot everywhere.Share
03:23
A pot pot. It took me a long time figure out like where do I know that? And I was like, oh it is old Macdonald had a farm like. We should play a little bit of another song from the record.
Share
Robin Hilton
03:37
This one's called Million Dollars Worth of Game
Share
04:24
As you say, John it's not menacing, but a completely different tone from 10 Bracelets.
Share
John Morrison
04:29
Yeah, yeah is really good at striking that kind of tension. Before we go to the next record though.
Share
Robin Hilton
04:35
Can we talk about the really big news which is that he was just named Head of Creative Marketing for
Krystal Hamburgers
.Share
Lars Gotrich
04:45
Oh my God, I know.
Share
Robin Hilton
04:47
Lars and Christina. I know you both know about the healing power of
Krystal Hamburgers
. But Cyrena and John? I don't know if you know Krystal
hamburgers.Share
John Morrison
04:55
Not familiar.
Share
Cyrena Touros
04:56
Do not enlighten me. Well, do you know
White Castle?
Yes, the little the little square hamburgers. They are like the White Castle
of the South.Share
Lars Gotrich
05:04
Or you could say that
White Castle
is the Krystal
of the North.Share
Cyrena Touros
05:09
Exactly though.
Share
05:11
Exactly.
Share
Robin Hilton
05:12
All right.
2 Chainz
the record Dope Don't Sell itself out now on February 4th. I can get it out. Dope Don't Sell itself.Share
05:22
Alright, Another big release out today is the new
Mitski
album. It's called Laurel Hell
.Share
06:19
The song is Stay Soft. It's her first new album in four years after she took a break from music. Cyrena she does some really deep soul searching on this record. Yeah. Yeah.
Share
Cyrena Touros
06:55
I think this is more than any album I think this record describes to me what it feels like to grow up and realize that capitalism is a scam. I think
Mitski
has always had this through line in her music about the exhausting dispiriting practice of labor and how awful it is to have to wake up and go to work.Share
07:16
She has a record called Retired from Sad New Career in Business, which I think is a great joke, but I think
Mitski
has evolved to the point now where it's not even a joke for her. She wouldn't joke about that sort of thing. After her tour for Be the Cowboy ended in 2019.Share
07:30
She said that she was taking an indefinite break from music, but really that was just glossing over the fact that she was fully planning to quit music. I think the pressures of how extreme her fans were and the idea of selling your soul for money, which she joked about in a genius music video for her song.
Share
07:49
Nobody, I don't think it was a joke anymore. I think she was genuinely exhausted by the practice of excavating the tough, vulnerable parts of herself and on this album.
Share
08:01
I mean, surprised she came back to music and I think she coined hopefully a new 21st century catchphrase for the capitalist Hellscape we live in which is working for the knife. And I think this album is really fantastic.
Share
08:13
I know a lot of music critics on twitter were kind of, you know, maybe upset that this kind of solidifies that
Mitski
is going in the pop direction and leaving more of her DIY grungy past behind, but this album really sonically reminded me of Bruce Springsteen's
Born In The USA and even some Depeche Mode.
And I think the Bruce Springsteen
connection is stronger than I would have anticipated.Share
08:35
I think this is like an album about working people and what it feels like to wake up and, you know, there's probably a german word for like, the phone on, which, like every day gets worse. But you still have to get up and get used to it. You just have to get used to it.
Share
Robin Hilton
08:50
Yeah, not as much guitar on this record as I think maybe some people would like to hear, but she still finds that space that she likes to occupy, which is partly because she has this way of letting darkness in. In a way that makes you want to embrace it, if that makes sense.
Share
Cyrena Touros
09:07
I mean, even the very first lyric on the album is let's step carefully into the dark. And once we're in, I'll remember my way around. I think
Mitski
is very interested in yeah, working her way through her own dark parts. And now the music is shinier to kind of belie that dichotomy.Share
Robin Hilton
09:23
She revisits that again later on the record on a song called everyone where she says, and I left the Door open to the dark. I said, come in, come in, whatever you are. But it didn't want me yet.
Share
Cyrena Touros
09:35
Yeah, I think
Mitski
has really solidified herself as just a masterful songwriter. I mean, most of these songs are less than 2.5 minutes and I was just bowled away by the end of them. Just fully taken on an emotional journey from start to finish. Mitski
is the artist, her new album Laurel HellShare
Robin Hilton
09:50
And let's talk about one more out today before we take a break. It's from
Animal Collective
Share
09:55
It's called Time Skiffs
Share
John Morrison
10:50
God bless whoever mixes these records, right?
Share
Robin Hilton
10:54
I'd love to see.
Share
10:57
This is the band's first new album in six years. I honestly wondered whether or not they were just done putting out music after their their last one. But they're back.
Share
11:06
And if you've read any early reviews, some are calling this a real return to form for them.
Share
John Morrison
11:11
Yeah, this this was a pleasant surprise for me. You know, as we know,
Animal Collective
were a huge band in the 2000's. I liked a few of their records. I really adored the Panda Bear solo record person pitch. It appealed to my love of stacked vocal harmonies, but also weird shit made on samplers and this one Time Skiffs. It's a gorgeous record.Share
11:38
It has that same big, sweeping, magical feel from their earlier records. And I really loved it. And and had no expectations for this record or any record from
Animal Collective
moving forward. I had also kind of filed in my mind like, okay there, They're not really doing anything, you know, or they may be done. But yeah, this one uh it knocked me out in a good way.Share
Robin Hilton
12:04
I can't believe they've been together and putting out music. It's been almost 20 years now. All these guys are in their 40s and this record feels like a more mature record to me. You know, it's not as wildly experimental, it doesn't feel to me like they're reaching as, as in all these crazy, unpredictable directions sonically and it's it's a lot more inward looking. It's big and there's a lot going on.
Share
John Morrison
12:27
And you know, like I said earlier, like, God bless whoever mixes these records because there there's just a lot of sonic information that's being handled, but it all comes together in a real lovely way. Guys.
Share
Cyrena Touros
12:40
If you want to feel really old, I'll let you know, I took a history of rock class in undergrad and we ended with
Animal Collective
.Share
Christina Lee
12:47
I've never felt as old as I did after that
Share
John Morrison
12:50
That was like, oh my God, did you see that, did everyone see that Mc Sweeney's article that was getting passed around about Dad Rock and what what it said.
Share
Robin Hilton
13:01
Yeah, the most depressing thing to me was that all these bands that I love are now considered Dad rock.
Share
13:07
Animal Collective
is the band, their new album. The first one in six years is called Time Skiffs. We do still have a couple more albums that we want to play for you this week and a quick lightning round of other notable releases out now. But first we need to take a quick break.Share
Break
Robin Hilton
13:54
Its New Music Friday from
NPR
and All Songs Considered
. I'm Robin Hilton and we're taking a quick look at the best albums out now on February 4th. We start the second half of the show off with the rapper Saba, his new album is called Few Good Things.Share
15:16
Sabah, the new album Few Good Things. This cut is called Survivor's guilt. He's a Chicago rapper, we've been following and loving for a minute now his last album in 2018, Care For Me was on our best of the year lists when when that one came out. Christina, Saba has said that, you know, he wanted this album, A Few Good Things to be the complete opposite of Care For Me, but I was totally captivated by this album.
Share
Christina Lee
15:40
It's interesting that we're picking that cut because that is one example on the album where sonically people might be like, wait, this is Saba? Because, you know, even for those who remember The Tiny Desk, I think that was more akin to what people were expecting out of Indy Chicago hip hop at the time. Where there's really lush instrumentation and the music in itself kind of harkens back to the spoken word and the poetry roots that's inherent in hip hop.
Share
16:07
So Saba does branch out a little bit in terms of sound. He also features
G Herbo
and the out later on along with Crazy Bone and Black Thought
. But in terms of subject matter and in terms of how he builds a narrative, he's just as captivating of a storyteller, especially given the subject matter on this album.Share
Lars Gotrich
16:26
Rodney Carmichael has a conversation dropping with Saba today on Friday about this album, and I've already heard the conversation and it's a really deep look at how Saba is thinking about longevity. He was thinking about where he wants to be 10, 20, 30 years from now.
Share
16:45
And so it's like the sounds that it's making the things that he's thinking about are very clear in that push and that drive to make something that is unique to himself, but also speaks to something much larger than himself because the thing that he said that really struck me in this conversation was that I'm telling these stories about myself but these stories have been told for generations and that kind of put this whole record in perspective for me.
Share
Robin Hilton
17:09
I love the range on it. It's really, it's very slick and it's very sly and cool. It hits really hard. But then you know, it's also really sweet at times and and sentimental. I loved hearing his mother leaving voicemails on the cut Make Believe. I thought that was really sweet. I want to play a little bit of another cut. We heard Survivor's guilt. This one's called 2012
Share
18:21
Yeah, it's just a really sweet moment between these two kids, right? I just got pulled into the stories on this whole whole record like that.
Share
Christina Lee
18:29
Yeah, that's a really great example of how I think Saba presents a really full concept with each album, right? So with this particular album, the lyrical thing that I think kept popping up is about generational wealth and I think it's in that last title track to where he has this perfect verse that sort of ties everything in a bow.
Share
18:51
But it's talking specifically about this idea with generational wealth. There's also the generational trauma that sort of proceeds it talking about how his sort of hustle and desire to build up that wealth is based on generational inequality. He's talking about how I think the line is something akin to like we've been drowning here for centuries, black and brown identity.
Share
19:12
So he is a way of, like you said, Lars like just really thinking broadly and conceptually like bringing these deep conversations to the forefront, but at the same time, he also manages to make it seem really conversational. It presents a sort of, talking points that I'd want to have with a really good friend. As we look out to the horizon and consider our own futures
Share
Robin Hilton
19:31
Saba is the artist. His really incredible new record is called Few Good Things and we're gonna play and talk about one more album for this week's show. But let's take a minute to flag some of the other notable releases out today, Lars
Share
Lars Gotrich
19:43
Glenn Donaldson
is a guy who's been making all sorts of different music for decades. He was in a group called The Skygreen Leopards, but in the last few years he started a band called The Reds, Pinks and Purples. He is just mining eighties jangle pop shimmery Shoegaze
sounds all in one place and it's clear that he is absolutely in love with this period of time and music.Share
20:08
And he has a new record out called Summer at Land's End. He puts out a new song like basically every month. So this is like an opportunity to hear a cohesive version of his work. That's The Reds, Pinks and Purples. Christina.
Share
Christina Lee
20:22
So the R&B singer Tank is coming out with an album this week. It's called R&B MONEY. And at first I was really looking forward to this because in the past few years, especially with the song When We he was hitting new commercial strides. I think When We topped the adult R&B songs chart Back when it was released in 2017 and emphasis on the adult to like this wasn't stale or anything. But um you know, sad to say R&B Money is also going to be Tanks final album. He's revealed over the past year, he's going deaf in his right ear and he's also undergoing an extreme case of vertigo which made it challenging to even record this album.
Share
21:05
Um So I was looking forward to the album already, but I am sad to hear that it's going to be a final chapter of sorts.
Share
John Morrison
21:14
Yeah. My absolute favorite record right now is by a Brooklyn rapper named Lord Kayso.
Share
21:23
His album is called More Chores. It's out on the PTP label which I love this album, More Chores, the production is gorgeous. Lord Kayso has a very distinct fly like energy and character on the mic and a lot of the songs talk about family heritage, there's a lot of respect and reverence that he pays to his ancestors.
Share
21:49
It's really already one of my favorites of 2022 and it just came out this week.
Share
Cyrena Touros
21:56
Cyrena. The welsh artist
Cate Le Bon
made one of my favorite records in 2019 with Reward, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize
.Share
22:04
And her new one out today is called Pompeii and I think Cate Le Bon's always doing something sonically unexpected that really catches my ear and she's one of those artists where I just have to replay it over and over and over again. It's it's not even an earworm, it's just a mystery that I have to Unravel. And this one I think is really fantastic, it's called Pompeii
Share
Robin Hilton
22:23
And I'll just mention
Black Country
, New Road
, their new record Ants From Up There, is out now. This comes just as the band's lead singer, Isaac Wood announced earlier this week that he's leaving the band for health reasons and the band has canceled all of its upcoming performances.Share
22:41
They've canceled the tour but the band is not breaking up. Ants From Up There is the name of the new record from Black Country New Road and also there's this band called Los Bitchos. Has anyone heard of them?
Share
22:54
Their their new one is called Let the Festivities Begin! This is their debut record. It's this is a group of women from London and they make this really cool instrumental music that's like surf guitars mixed.
Share
23:08
Yeah its cocktail music is a good way of putting it. It's it's sort of like a more party centered. Debut album from Los Bitchos called Let the Festivities Begin!
Share
23:22
Alright, one more record to hear for this week's New Music Friday. It's from the singer
Erin Rae
, It's called Lighten Up.Share
24:26
Who does she remind me of? Is it
Sharon Van Etten
? Maybe a little bit. I saw her open for Bonny Light Horseman
and I feel like that was the perfect audience for her. Erin Rae
is the singer and her new record is called Lighten Up. The song is California belongs to you kind of appropriate because she has this really early seventies sunny California folk vibe.Share
Christina Lee
24:45
Yeah, she worked with the producer, Jonathan Wilson who's based out of Topanga Canyon, he's worked with artists like
Father John Misty
and Dawes and this project is just so cohesive. I feel like the production reminds me a lot of Kacey Musgraves
Golden Hour where the vocals just really shine and the arrangements are so beautiful and intricate and lush that they just propel everything up upwards. It's really, really beautiful.Share
Lars Gotrich
25:14
The thing about
Erin Rae
is I've seen her a number of times over the years. I absolutely adore Erin Rae
, she has a voice that just kind of floats me up to the clouds. I'm happy to be there with her and every time I see her, the the arrangements of her songs are always different and that I think that has a lot to do with Erin herself, but also her partner in crime Jerry Bernhardt. She digs into like a little bit cosmic country, a little bit of country, funk, she does the Laurel Canyon vibe, she gets a little bit more straightforward, Indie on this, it's, it takes her out of like her comfort zones in Americana and as the title so aptly sums up, lets her lighten up a little bit because the thing I've always appreciated about Erin Rae
is that she's the calm in the eye of the storm.Share
26:02
All of her songs are typically about anxiety and worry in the world. That feels like a little bit too much. But here's this voice that's not coming to tell you that everything's okay. It's just kind of holding your hand is it's probably not going to be okay, but at least we're doing this together. That's nice, Right?
Share
Cyrena Touros
26:21
That's Robin Hilton core right there. That's not going to be okay.
Share
Robin Hilton
26:25
Absolutely will not be okay. But it's okay that it's not okay.
Share
Christina Lee
26:30
Yeah, I love music that's at its core. You know, selling the message be kinder to yourself. And I think that's exactly what this record does.
Share
Lars Gotrich
26:37
To bring it all back to the beginning. This is like the opposite of
2 Chainz
. Like instead of like having these big bangers that are really fun but gritty. Here's Erin Rae
with these light and fluffy songs that will make you consider your your weight in life.Share
Robin Hilton
26:55
Erin Rae
and 2 Chainz
collab? Both of them love California just for very different reasons.Share
27:03
Erin Rae
is the singer, a lovely record to close out this week's New Music Friday. It's called Lighten Up. Thanks so much everybody. Christina Lee.Share
Christina Lee
27:11
Thanks so much everybody. This was fun! Cyrena Touros
Share
Cyrena Touros
27:14
Thanks Robin! Lars Gorich.
Share
Lars Gotrich
27:16
Hey, Thanks guys. and John Morrison.
Share
John Morrison
27:18
Hey, hey, thank you so much.
Share
Robin Hilton
27:21
Thanks for listening to this week's New Music Friday. As always, you can find a list of everything that we talked about in the podcast description for this episode and you can hear full versions of the songs we played and more in our expanded New Music Friday playlists on Apple music, Spotify and on our website at
NPr
. org/all songs and for NPR
music and All Songs Considered
. I'm Robin Hilton. I hope you have a great weekend. Be well and treat yourself to lots of music.Share
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