NPR Music

This week's must-hear mix includes the long-awaited return of Jónsi and Bright Eyes, some quietude from pianist Nils Frahm and some great unknowns, including Ela MInus and Noveller.

Featured Songs And Artists:
1. Bright Eyes: "Forced Convalescence"
2. Jónsi: "Exhale"
3. Ela Minus: "they told us it was hard, but they were wrong" (Single)
4. Skullcrusher: "Places / Plans" (Single)
5. Nils Frahm: "A Shimmer" from Empty
6. Noveller: "Effektology" from Arrow

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NPR Music's Ann Powers, Bob Boilen and Marissa Lorusso take a deep look at the singer's remarkable new album, Fetch The Bolt Cutters.

On Friday, April 17, Fiona Apple released the stunning collection, which fans had been waiting just over eight years to hear — and it was well worth the wait. To celebrate, NPR Music hosted a live online listening party, playing the full record on our YouTube channel while tens of thousands of people joined in to listen along with us. When it was over, NPR Music's Ann Powers, Bob Boilen and Marissa Lorusso discussed the new songs, what they mean and where they fit within Apple's remarkable career.

Fiona Apple's long-awaited Fetch the Bolt Cutters leads our rundown of the best new albums out this week. Hear that, plus the latest from Shabazz Palaces, Lido Pimienta, Rina Sawayama and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Fiona Apple — Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Featured Song: "I Want You to Love Me"
2. Rina Sawayama — Sawayama
Featured Song: "STFU!"
3. Lido Pimienta — Miss Colombia
Featured Song: "Quiero Que Me Salves"
4. Sarah Siskind — Modern Appalachia
Featured Song: "Punk Rock Girl"
5. Shabazz Palaces — The Don of Diamond Dreams
6. Zelma Stone — Dreamland
Featured Song: "Fly"
7. John Adams — Why Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes
Featured Songs: Excerpts from the 1st and 3rd movements

Other notable albums out on April 17: Bobby Bare — Great American Saturday Night; Brett Newski — Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down; dvsn — A Muse In Her Feelings; EOB — Earth; Girl Skin — Shade is on the Other Side; The Pack A.D. — It Was Fun While It Lasted; Shelby Lynne — Shelby Lynne; RJD2 — The Fun Ones; Ron Sexsmith — Hermitage; Sophie Hutchings — Scattered on the Wind; Soul Asylum — Hurry Up and Wait; Tech N9ne — Enterfear.

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This week's must-hear mix of music to slow the blood includes some delicate and joyful sounds, mostly from artists you likely haven't heard of, including Ben Lukas Boysen and Jerry Paper.

Featured Songs And Artists:
1. The Mountain Goats: "Until Olympius Returns" from Songs for Pierre Chuvin
2. Jerry Paper: "Puppeteer" from Abracadabra
3. Ben Lukas Boysen: "Clarion" from Mirage
4. Avishai Cohen & Big Vicious: "Teardrop" from Big Vicious
5. Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus: "Vespers" from Songs of Yearning

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Our weekly rundown of the best new albums out now includes the latest from Laura Marling, The Strokes' best new release in years, Hamilton Leithauser and more.

Featured Albums:
1. The Strokes — The New Abnormal
Featured Song: "The Adults Are Talking"
2. Laura Marling — Song For Our Daughter
Featured Song: "Only the Strong"
3. Pokey LaFarge — Rock Bottom Rhapsody
Featured Song: "End of My Rope"
4. Midwife — Forever
Featured Songs: "S.W.I.M." and "C.R.F.W."
5. Hamilton Leithauser — The Loves of Your Life
Featured Song: "The Garbage Men"
6. Active Child — In Another Life
Featured Song: "Weightless"
7. Watkins Family Hour — Brother Sister
Featured Song: "Keep It Clean"
8. STRFKR — Future Past Life
Featured Song: "Dear Stranger"

Other notable releases for April 10: ADULT. — Perception is/as/of Deception; The Dream Syndicate — The Universe Inside; Eliza Gilkyson — 2020; Joe Satriani — Shapeshifting; John Anderson — Years; Local H — Lifers; Maddie & Tae — The Way It Feels; Rosie Carney — I Dreamed I Was The Night; Stay Inside — Viewing; Tory Lanez — New Toronto 3; Trace Mountains — Lost in the Country; The Ultimate Fakebook — The Preserving Machine; Webb Wilder — Night Without Love.

On this special edition of All Songs Considered, we look back at the life and legacy of the late John Prine through ten of the defining songs from his nearly 50-year career.

Host Bob Boilen is joined by NPR Music's Ann Powers as they play cuts from across the singer's deep catalog, from his self-titled, 1971 debut to his final album, 2018's The Tree of Forgiveness.

1. "Sam Stone" from John Prine (1971)
2. "Angel From Montgomery" from John Prine (1971)
3. "Hello In There" from John Prine (1971)
4. "Yes I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You" from Diamonds in the Rough (1972)
5. "Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone" from Bruised Orange (1978)
6. "Unwed Fathers" from Aimless Love (1984)
7. "Lake Marie" from Lost Dogs + Mixed Blessings (1995)
8. "In Spite of Ourselves" from In Spite of Ourselves (1999)
9. "She Is My Everything" from Fair & Square (2005)
10. "When I Get To Heaven" from The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

In a conversation with All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen, Ed O'Brien reveals how he made Earth, an album that's both boldly colorful and intimate.

Earth is an album that feels both boldly colorful and intimate — one that reflects the two landscapes that underlie this record: Brazil and Wales.

Mark Ellis, who works under the name Flood, largely produced this album. He has not only a long history of working on big productions from U2 to PJ Harvey, but also has a child in the same school as Ed O'Brien's and so the two have become close friends.

That friendship accounts for the warmth on this record. There are also some extraordinary players, including Radiohead bandmate Colin Greenwood, guitarist Adrian Utley from what Ed calls the other "head" band, Portishead, drums from Omar Hakim and Wilco's Glenn Kotche, bassist Nathan East, singer and guitarist Laura Marling and the list goes on.

On March 23, Ed O'Brien posted on social media that he most likely had the coronavirus but was expecting a full recovery. Our conversation on April 2 begins with an update on his health.

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Our picks for this week's best new albums include the latest from Thundercat, M. Ward, country singers Ashley McBryde and Sam Hunt, ambient cello tunes from Clarice Jensen and more.

Featured Albums:
1. M. Ward — Migration Stories
Featured Song: "Unreal City"
2. Ashley McBryde — Never Will
Featured Song: "Martha Divine"
3. NNAMDÏ — BRAT
Featured Song: "Salut"
4. Wilma Archer — A Western Circular
Featured Songs: "Last Sniff" and "Killing Crab"
5. Thundercat — It Is What It Is
Featured Song: "Fair Chance"
6. Clarice Jensen — The Experience of Repetition as Death
Featured Song: "Day Tonight:
7. Anna Burch — If You're Dreaming
Featured Song: "Can't Sleep"
8. Sam Hunt — Southside
Featured Song: "Hard to Forget"

Other notable albums out on April 3: All Time Low — Wake Up Sunshine; Born Ruffians — JUICE; Caleb Caudle — Better Hurry Up; Ellis — Born Again; The Lovely Eggs — I Am Moron; Nina Simone — Fodder On My Wings; Peel Dream Magazine — Agitprop Alterna; Purity Ring — Womb; Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn — Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn; Yves Tumor — Heaven to a Tortured Mind.

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Listening to music during this pandemic has cast new light on old familiar tunes. Here's a listener-curated mix-tape of songs whose lyrics have an eerie — or comforting — connection to our current crisis.

It's another super-packed release week, with stellar new albums from Pearl Jam, Sufjan Stevens, the producer Knxwledge, Little Dragon and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Pearl Jam — Gigaton
Featured Song: "Quick Escape"
2. Clem Snide — Forever Just Beyond
Featured Song: "Roger Ebert"
3. Little Dragon — New Me, Same Us
Featured Song: "Are You Feeling Sad?"
4. Sufjan Stevens and Lowell Brams — Aporia
Featured Songs: "Ousia," "Agathon" and "Misology"
5. Somni — Home
Featured Song: "Home"
6. Lilly Hiatt — Walking Proof
Featured Song: "P-Town"
7. Knxwledge — 1988
Featured Song: "Don't Be Afraid"
8. Orion Sun — Hold Space for Me
Featured Song: "Grim Reaper"
9. Jacaszek — Music for Film
Featured Song: "The Iron Bridge"

Other notable releases for March 27: 5 Seconds of Summer — Calm; Basia Bulat — Are You In Love?; Bon Iver — Blood Bank 10th Anniversary Edition; Brian Fallon — Local Honey; Brooklyn Rider — Healing Modes; Cable Ties — Far Enough; Catholic Action — Celebrated by Strangers; Gold Cage — Social Crutch; Half Waif — The Caretaker; In this Moment — Mother; Jim Lauderdale — When Carolina Comes Home Again; Jessie Reyez — Before Love Came to Kill Us; Joyner Lucas — ADHD, Lakecia Benjamin — Pursuance: The Coltranes; Margaret Glaspy — Devotion; The Orb — Abolition of the Royal Familia; San Fermin — The Cormorant I & II; Vanessa Carlton — Love is an Art; Vikingur Olafsson — Debussy - Rameau; Waxahatchee — Saint Cloud.