To celebrate National Album Day, the great Billy Ocean discusses his new album One World, and his classic hits including 'Love Really Hurts Without You', 'Caribbean Queen', 'When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going' and 'Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car'. Billy also explains his approach to melody and vocal performance, and remembers his time collaborating with super-producer Mutt Lange.

World-renowned producer, songwriter and musician Paul Epworth speaks about his debut solo record, the expansive space concept album Voyager. Paul also talks in depth about his creative process, his studio The Church, and co-writing global hits with Adele such as 'Rolling in the Deep' and 'Skyfall'.

Nashville powerhouse Margo Price discusses the many gems on her new album That's How Rumors Get Started. Now on her third long-player, the multi-talented singer-songwriter reflects on the art of writing political songs and the challenges of being a working mother.

Vince Clarke and Andy Bell of Erasure talk about their excellent new album The Neon and how their songwriting process has evolved. In addition to discussing classic hits from their back catalogue like 'Blue Savannah', 'Sometimes' and 'A Little Respect', the pair explain how Andy prepares to find melodies on a track and how Vince makes best use of the analogue and digital domains.

With two recent Emmy nominations under his belt, the multi-talented Labrinth joins us to discuss his work on the critically-acclaimed HBO series Euphoria and his hits from the past decade. During the conversation, Lab talks about his approach to music theory and arranging, co-writing with artists like Sia, and his passion for retro synthesisers.

The legendary Burt Bacharach and his brilliant co-writer Daniel Tashian drop in for a conversation about their stunning new EP, Blue Umbrella, and life as songwriters in the middle of a pandemic. The pair explain how they've continued their collaboration remotely between Los Angeles and Nashville, and how they've drawn on Burt's vast experience as an arranger to bring the songs to life.

Grammy-winning hitmaker Nile Rodgers and legendary manager Merck Mercuriadis join Simon and Brian onstage at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall during the 2019 Meltdown festival. The pair share insights into the art and business of songwriting through their work together on the Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, and Nile takes up his guitar to demonstrate how he wrote classic hits for artists like Sister Sledge, Diana Ross and David Bowie. Nile was also the guest for episode 123 of this podcast.

Songwriter and producer Dave Stewart drops in to discuss the new Stewart/Lindsey album Amitié, his many classic hits with Annie Lennox in Eurythmics, and his storied career in music. Dave also reflects on his collaborations with Aretha Franklin, Shakespeares Sister, and the importance of distraction in the writing process.

The great Rufus Wainwright returns to discuss his new album Unfollow The Rules, becoming part of the Laurel Canyon scene, and how his operas have informed his pop songcraft. Rufus was also the guest for episode 54 of this podcast.

Prolific singer-songwriter Laura Marling discusses the writing of her beautiful new album Song For Our Daughter, collaborating with Blake Mills, Ethan Johns and Mike Lindsay, and the influence of Paul McCartney's acoustic guitar ballads.