Music Interviews

Where is 'Harry's House' anyway? Harry Styles explains

5:09am May 20, 2022

The pop star has spent a life on the go, so the pandemic offered him a rare chance for reflection, to separate the person from the pop star. Also, of course, to record a new album.

Jakub Orlinski, the breakdancing countertenor, explores his Polish roots

1:13pm May 19, 2022

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with rising opera star and break dancer Jakub Jozef Orlinski, whose new album "Farewells" is a collection of Polish opera classics, little known to the rest of the world.

Queue Listen Now

Alisa Amador is the winner of the 2022 Tiny Desk Contest

Music & Culture

Meet Alisa Amador, the winner of the 2022 Tiny Desk Contest

6:40pm May 17, 2022

by Mary Louise Kelly

This year's winner is a songwriter from Boston, Mass., whose winning song is an ode to feeling like she doesn't fit neatly into any one box.

Queue Listen Now

Leikeli47 (left) speaks with NPR's Sidney Madden about how Shape Up tracks the rapper's learning process to embody the confidence she so often preaches onstage to others.

Music & Culture

Leikeli47 wants you to look and listen deeper

6:13am May 16, 2022

by Sidney Madden

Cozy and coiffed in a Brooklyn studio, watch the masked rapper break down essential tracks from Shape Up with host Sidney Madden.

"I have been the architect of my creativity and my life in such a specific and obsessive way," Florence Welch tells NPR.

Music & Culture

On 'Dance Fever,' Florence + the Machine explores her fractured desires

5:39pm May 15, 2022

The singer-songwriter talks about her new album Dance Fever, her creative process and her influences.

Music & Culture

Mallrat's first full album 'Butterfly Blue' is an arrival more than a metamorphosis

7:58am May 15, 2022

by Ayesha Rascoe

Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Australian musician Grace Shaw, who performs as Mallrat, about her new album, "Butterfly Blue."

Music & Culture

Back from a touring hiatus, Coldplay pledges to make performances more sustainable

5:04pm May 14, 2022

Coldplay is pledging to make the band's current tour "as sustainable and low carbon as possible."

Music & Culture

Lyle Lovett feels all of fatherhood on first album in a decade, '12th of June'

9:51am May 14, 2022

by Scott Simon

Lyle Lovett is feeling fatherhood in silly and tender ways. Scott Simon talks with the Texas musician about family life and how it inspired his first album in a decade, "12th of June."

The members of Kalush Orchestra were granted special permission to leave Ukraine, and will return immediately after Eurovision ends. One stayed behind to help defend Kyiv.

Ukraine's Eurovision act wants to bring home some good news

8:06pm May 13, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

Kalush Orchestra's Oleh Psiuk tells NPR that representing Ukraine on the world stage is a huge responsibility. He hopes people will continue to support his country even after Eurovision ends.

Anthony Roth Costanzo nearly lost his voice to cancer. Now he's back as 'Akhnaten'

3:51pm May 13, 2022

by Terry Gross

A decade ago, Costanzo had surgery that threatened to destroy his singing voice. Now he stars as a gender-fluid Egyptian pharaoh in the Met Opera's production. Originally broadcast Oct. 7, 2019.

Queue Listen Now