NPR Music

Composer and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda has written and recorded a new song to help raise money for hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. Sales of the track, "Almost Like Praying," will go to the Hispanic Federation's Hurricane Relief Fund. It features an all-star cast of Latinx artists, including Jenifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Fat Joe, Ruben Blades, Luis Fonsi, Rita Moreno and many others. In a conversation with NPR Music's Felix Contreras, Miranda explains why he chose to sing the song in Spanish, how he assembled the vast cast of contributors and why he borrowed the song's title and instantly recognizable hook from a line in the West Side Story classic, "Maria."

It's hard to record a show like ours in the wake of a tragedy as profound as what happened in Las Vegas this past Sunday. But we hope the music we're sharing this week gives you time to reflect and, if needed, escape. One thing we know: Songs, in times like this, often take on new meaning. We open with "Blue Mountain Road," a track by the band Florist about the death of lead singer Emily Sprague's mother; it's a song of healing for anyone struggling to get through a difficult time. Full playlist: 1. Florist: "Blue Mountain Road," 2. Amber Mark: "S P A C E," 3. Ibeyi: "Deathless (ft. Kamasi Washington)," 4. bed.: "Fine," 5. Torres: "Tongue Slap Your Brain Out," 6. The Breeders: "Wait In The Car," 7. Tom Petty: "American Girl"

Actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg has a long history of making provocative art that stretches back to her teen years, when she recorded the 1984 song "Lemon Incest" with her father, the French pop singer Serge Gainsbourg. Over the past four decades she's starred in the films Nymphomaniac and The Antichrist (among many others) and released several albums of foreboding pop. Her latest full-length, and first in six years, is called REST. On this week's show we feature the cut "Deadly Valentine," a love song that fixates on the fact that all stories ultimately end in death. Full playlist: 1. Chad VanGaalen: "Static Shape," 2. M.R. Bennett: "Sorry," 3. Blis. "Old Man," 4. Högni: "Crash," 5. Charlotte Gainsbourg: "Deadly Valentine," 6. Laura Cannell: "Persuasion," 7. Lean Year: "Come And See"

We hit "play" on the Los Angeles-based singer's entire new album while he shares the stories and inspiration behind each track. He says Aromanticism is about lovelessness as a sonic dreamscape.

The last full-length album from Björk, 2015's Vulnicurna, was a dark, brooding breakup record documenting the end of a longtime relationship. Now the enigmatic Icelandic singer is back with a new song of healing and hope from an album she'll release in November. "The Gate" finds Björk emerging from the other side of loss and heartache and searching for the utopian idea of perfect love. Full playlist for this episode: 1. Lisa LeBlanc: "5748 km," 2. Björk: "The Gate," 3. Burial: "Rodent," 4. Neil Young: "Powderfinger," 5. Kelela: "Frontline," 6. Brand New: "Can't Get It Out"

Billy Corgan, as frontman for The Smashing Pumpkins, made twisted, abrasive rock. But within that project he always had a soft side, expressed in quieter, acoustic songs sprinkled throughout the Pumpkins' catalog. Now the singer is back with a new solo album of beautiful ballads made entirely of piano, acoustic guitar and strings. He's calling it Ogilala and releasing it under the name William Patrick Corgan later this fall. We've got the first single from the album on this week's show, the gorgeously orchestrated "Aeronaut." Full playlist: 1. Loney Dear: "Sum," 2. Flikka: "Ellington," 3. Wolf Alice: "Don't Delete The Kisses," 4. William Patrick Corgan: "Aeronaut," 5. Mavis Staples: "If All I Was Was Black," 6. Jackie Shane: "Cruel Cruel World"

How contributors are credited on albums can lead to fierce, behind-the-scenes battles. Reporter Peter Robinson from The Guardian helps us make sense of this funny little corner of the music business.

The National is about to release its seventh studio album, Sleep Well Beast, on September 8. But days before it comes out, on September 5, the band is going to play that record in its entirety live for NPR.The new songs revolve around the fears and struggles within relationships, particularly that of singer and lyricist Matt Berninger and his wife, the writer Carin Besser, who co-wrote some of the lyrics on this album. Sleep Well Beast is characteristically dark and sonically rich — and some of the best music this band has made.Today we're sharing a conversation between Matt, myself (All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen) and Talia Schlanger, host of World Cafe.

After three years of trickling out singles, Beck has finally announced Colors, a new full-length due out this fall. His latest track, "Dear Life," channels Beach Boys harmonies and the barrel-house piano of classic Beatles songs like "Martha My Dear" or "Lady Madonna."S. Carey, percussionist for Bon Iver, also returns, with a gorgeous new single he wrote for the Netflix series Flaked; English singer and rapper King Krule has a profoundly warped new sound in the song "Czech One;" Atlanta singer Curtis Harding just announced his second full-length record the melts together the worlds of soul, psychedelic rock and R&B; The Canadian band Weaves delivers a bold shot of guitar rock on its new song, "#53;" And AHI, a Toronto-based singer with a memorable voice Bob Boilen discovered at the DIY Musicians Conference in Nashville. Complete Playlist: 1. AHI: "Ol' Sweet Day," 2. S. Carey: "Brassy Sun," 3. Weaves: "#53," 4. Beck: "Dear Life," 5. King Krule: "Czech One," 6. Curtis Harding: "Wednesday Morning Atonement"

It's been a little over a month since hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton sat together and shared some essential tunes, but they're back with some keepers, including a new, swoon-worthy song from singer Julien Baker and a beautifully infectious track from The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. "My Only" finds Pains frontman Kip Berman reflecting on a new chapter in his life: "I'm married, with a young daughter," he says, "and an old Volvo." Full playlist: 1. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: "My Only," 2. Robert Plant: "The May Queen," 3. Liars: "No Help Pamphlet," 4. Daughter: "Burn It Down," 5. METZ: "Mess of Wires," 6. Julien Baker: "Appointments"