Music Features

Music & Culture

Hear A New Song From Phoebe Bridgers, Plus Why She Thinks It's Time To Text Back

2:30pm May 19, 2020

by Phoebe Bridgers

In Our Daily Breather, we ask artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Phoebe Bridgers suggests responding to a message or phone call you've been ignoring.

Music & Culture

Our Daily Breather: Jennifer Koh On Finding Carefree Joy

11:12am May 18, 2020

by Jennifer Koh

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Violinist Jennifer Koh recommends seeking out a source of carefree joy.

Fantastic Damage, El-P's solo debut from his years before Run the Jewels, has come to streaming services after years out of print.

Music & Culture

Thank God For Drugs And Drums: El-P Revisits His Solo Debut

4:44pm May 15, 2020

by Eric Ducker

Fantastic Damage, released a decade before Run the Jewels even existed, is finally streaming. The rapper-producer says the hold-up wasn't a rights issue, but a fear of looking back.

Music & Culture

Hear A New Song From Sarah Jarosz, Plus Her Sourdough Baking Recommendations

10:00am May 15, 2020

by Sarah Jarosz

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Sarah Jarosz has been baking sourdough bread.

Music & Culture

Perfume Genius Expands Rock's Body Language

2:48pm May 14, 2020

Ahead of the release of Perfume Genius' fifth studio album, two NPR Music writers discuss how Mike Hadreas' career has helped set a new standard for the exploration of movement and identity in rock.

Music & Culture

Our Daily Breather: Molly Sarlé On Getting To Know Your Neighbors

10:00am May 14, 2020

by Molly Sarlé

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Molly Sarlé has been spending time with her neighbors (from a safe distance).

Ella O'Connor Williams records and performs as Squirrel Flower.

Music & Culture

Squirrel Flower On Managing Anxiety By Imagining A Better Future

10:00am May 13, 2020

by Ella O'Connor Williams

In Our Daily Breather, we ask artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Ella O'Connor Williams, aka Squirrel Flower, is imagining a more just future.

Music & Culture

Trickster Treat: Bob Dylan's New Song Sounds Awfully Old ... And Familiar

7:47pm May 12, 2020

by Tom Moon

Dylan's latest single, "False Prophet," sits in the same tempo and key as Billy "The Kid" Emerson's 1954 B-side, "If Lovin' Is Believing."

Music & Culture

Our Daily Breather: Jonathan Biss Isn't Taking Music Or Food For Granted

10:02am May 12, 2020

by Jonathan Biss

In Our Daily Breather, we ask artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Pianist Jonathan Biss is focusing on being grateful.

Betty Wright in 1975, when she was 21 years old, stands with a display of some of her album covers. Wright was already a veteran by the time she was out of her teens, having released four studio albums that included multiple songs that would be career sig

Music & Culture

Betty Wright Packed A Career's Worth Of Music Into Her Youthful First Act

4:54pm May 11, 2020

by Oliver Wang

Already a veteran by the time she was out of her teens, the early career of Betty Wright, who died Sunday, produced many R&B hits, including a pair of songs that would become career signatures.