Songs We Love: Brent Cobb, 'Solving Problems'
The Nashville songwriter's smoke-stained voice conveys calm insight, his words capturing the creative process with no excess romanticism.
Music
First Listen: The Amazing, 'Ambulance'
Playing with an unhurried improvisational spirit, the Swedish band unspools melodies that don't grab you so much as slowly burrow under your skin.
First Listen: Elysia Crampton, 'Presents: Demon City'
A collaborative musical "epic poem," Demon City elaborates on a disorienting and threatening world by amplifying marginalized voices.
David Cameron, Musical Muse?
An odd little tune the outgoing British prime minister sang in front of No. 10 Downing St. has inspired a bit of analysis — and a rash of arrangements and tributes.
Kishi Bashi Announces New Album, Shares Its First Single
In an All Songs Considered interview, the musician discusses and shares highlights from Sonderlust, due out Sept. 16. Watch the conversation and hear the album's first single, "Say Yeah."
The Thistle & Shamrock: World Beat
Hear a world of Celtic music with an hour of Afro-, Balkan-, Latin- and country-influenced songs.
Faith Under Fire: Jay Z's 'Spiritual' Is A Modern Song Of Sorrow
In Jay Z's latest song, released last week after the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, no amount of wealth or prestige allows him to forget that he is a black man, under threat.
Singer Alters Canadian Anthem To Say 'All Lives Matter' At All-Star Game
Remigio Pereira altered two lines to feature the phrase, often used by critics of the Black Lives Matter movement. The other three members of The Tenors called the move "disrespectful" and "shameful."
Songs We Love: Itasca, 'Buddy'
Kayla Cohen brings an airy but mysterious psych-folk feel to the fore, and this fanciful account of alfresco domesticity certainly feels like a slice of vintage Laurel Canyon balladry.
Essence This Time: A Festival Evolving
The familial feeling at the annual New Orleans gathering comes partly from its perennial performers, but now, 22 years in, whose nostalgia is being served?