Song Exploder

By Hrishikesh Hirway

Music

What's Song Exploder about?

Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode features an artist discussing a song of theirs, breaking down the sounds and ideas that went into the writing and recording. Hosted and produced by Hrishikesh Hirway.

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LAST EPISODE

Halsey - You Asked for This

12.01.2021

Halsey is an award-winning singer and songwriter from New Jersey. She's been nominated for two Grammys, and sold over a million records. In August, she released her fourth album, If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, which was produced ...

Song Exploder episodes:

12.01.2021 Halsey - You Asked for This Halsey is an award-winning singer and songwriter from New Jersey. She's been nominated for two Grammys, and sold over a million records. In August, she released her fourth album, If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, which was produced ...
11.17.2021 Hans Zimmer - Dune The movie Dune was released on October 21. It's the most recent adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic science fiction novel from 1965. The film was directed by Denis Villeneuve, and the score was written by Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer. Hans ...
11.03.2021 The War On Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore (feat. Lucius) The War on Drugs is a band from Philadelphia who formed in 2005. They won the Grammy for Best Rock Album in 2018. This year, they put out their fifth album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore. Adam Granduciel is the ...
10.20.2021 Willow - Transparent Soul feat. Travis Barker Willow Smith is a singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. She’s also a member of one of the most famous families in the world. From a very young age, she followed in the musical footsteps of her parents, Will Smith ...
10.13.2021 Hrishikesh Hirway TED Talk - What You Learn When You Listen Closely This summer, I gave a TED Talk at the TED Conference. My talk was about what you discover when you really listen. It was based on how making Song Exploder has changed the way I think about conversations and connecting ...
10.06.2021 John Lennon - God Earlier this year, I got an amazing email—the estate of John Lennon said that they have a treasure trove of audio material from his life, and they were wondering if I would be interested in making an episode around the ...
09.22.2021 Lucy Dacus - Thumbs Lucy Dacus is a singer and songwriter from Richmond, Virginia. She put out her first album in 2016, and in 2018 she formed the band boygenius with Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers. In June 2021, she released her third album, ...
09.08.2021 Mustafa - Air Forces Mustafa is a singer, songwriter, and poet from Toronto. He gained national recognition in Canada for his poetry. in 2016, he served on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Youth Advisory Council. Later, as a songwriter, he contributed to the Grammy award-winning ...
08.25.2021 Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers Lykke Li is a singer and songwriter from Sweden. She started releasing music in 2007, and for much of her career, she’s worked with producer Björn Yttling, who’s also a member of the Swedish band Peter Bjorn and John. Her ...
08.11.2021 The Shins - New Slang Singer, songwriter, and producer James Mercer of The Shins wrote “New Slang” when he was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It came out as a single and then he re-recorded it for The Shins’ debut album Oh, Inverted World, which ...
07.28.2021 Cheap Trick - Surrender The song "Surrender" by Cheap Trick was released in 1978. Rolling Stone called it the ultimate 70s teen anthem, and included it in their list of the greatest songs of all time. It’s been in a bunch of movies and ...
07.14.2021 Fousheé - Deep End The story of how the song "Deep End" came into existence and became a hit is kind of wild. One person who really didn’t see it coming is the person who created it, Fousheé. She’s a singer and songwriter from ...
06.30.2021 AURORA - Runaway AURORA is a singer and songwriter from Norway, who released her first EP in 2015, when she was 19 years old. It featured the song, "Runaway" and after it came out Aurora went on to win Norwegian Grammys for Best ...
06.16.2021 Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us Sparks are the brothers Ron and Russell Mael, a legendary duo from Los Angeles. Over the last 50 years, they’ve released 25 albums. They’ve collaborated with Giorgio Moroder and Franz Ferdinand, and they’ve influenced bands like Joy Division, Faith No ...
06.02.2021 Arlo Parks - Black Dog Arlo Parks is a singer and songwriter from London. In January 2021, she released her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams. It hit number three on the UK charts, and she won this year’s BRIT award for Breakthrough Artist. Last year, ...
05.19.2021 Imagine Dragons - Follow You Imagine Dragons are a Grammy-winning band from Las Vegas. They’ve sold over 20 millions albums so far, and they were the most streamed band on Spotify in 2018. In March of this year, they released the song “Follow You." Singer ...
05.05.2021 girl in red - Serotonin Marie Ulven is a singer, songwriter, and producer from Norway, who makes music under the name girl in red. She just released her debut album in April 2021, but she already has a big fanbase and she’s gotten a lot ...
04.21.2021 Porter Robinson - Get Your Wish Porter Robinson is a Grammy-nominated electronic artist and DJ from North Carolina. In 2014, his first album hit #1 on Billboard’s Dance chart, and he was named MTVU’s Artist of the Year, and one of the top DJs in the ...
04.07.2021 Lianne La Havas - Can't Fight Lianne La Havas is a singer and songwriter from London. She’s been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit award, and in 2020, she released her third album. In this episode, she breaks down her song "Can’t Fight," and traces ...
03.24.2021 Jon Batiste - We Are Jon Batiste is a pianist, songwriter, and composer from New Orleans. He’s been nominated for multiple Grammys, and just won the Golden Globe and got an Oscar nomination for the soundtrack to the Pixar film Soul, which he composed along ...
03.10.2021 Glass Animals - Heat Waves Glass Animals is a band from Oxford, England. They’ve released three albums since forming back in 2010. One of their biggest hits is the song "Heat Waves," which came out in June 2020. It was certified Gold in several countries, ...
02.24.2021 Sasha Sloan - Until It Happens To You Sasha Sloan is a singer and songwriter based in Nashville. She put out her debut album, Only Child, last year. Before that, she’d written songs for artists like Katy Perry, John Legend, and Charli XCX, and she’s been a featured ...
02.10.2021 PJ Morton - Say So (feat. JoJo) PJ Morton is a singer, songwriter, and producer. He’s the first artist ever to be nominated for a Grammy for the Best R&B; album three years in a row. In 2020, he won the Grammy for Best R&B; song for ...
01.27.2021 HAIM - Summer Girl HAIM is a band from Los Angeles, made up of the sisters Danielle, Este, and Alana Haim. They’ve released three albums, and they’ve been nominated for three Grammys. Over the years, they’ve worked extensively with Grammy-winning producer Ariel Rechtshaid. Danielle ...
01.13.2021 Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Father and Son The legendary singer/songwriter Yusuf / Cat Stevens released his first album in 1967. He’s a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and his albums have sold millions. In 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman², a re-imagining ...
12.16.2020 Common - A Riot In My Mind Common is a Grammy- and Oscar-winning rapper, actor, and activist from Chicago. He’s been making records since 1992, and in October, he released his thirteenth album, A Beautiful Revolution. In this episode, he breaks down how he made the song ...
12.02.2020 Jewel - You Were Meant For Me Jewel is a singer-songwriter from Homer, Alaska, who’s received four Grammy nominations and sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Her debut album, Pieces of You, came out in 1995, and a 25th anniversary edition was released in November 2020. That ...
11.18.2020 Billie Eilish - Everything I Wanted Billie Eilish started releasing music when she was 14 years old. Her debut album came out last year, when she was 17. It debuted at Number 1 on Billboard, went triple platinum, and won five Grammys. Billie made that record ...
11.11.2020 Re-issue: Phoebe Bridgers - Scott Street This episode is a little different. It’s a re-issue of Phoebe Bridgers’ Song Exploder episode from January 2019, along with a brand new segment where she and I talk about dealing with writer’s block. Phoebe Bridgers is a singer-songwriter from ...
11.04.2020 Deftones - Ohms Deftones are a Grammy-winning band from Sacramento who’ve sold over ten million albums. Their ninth album, Ohms, came out this year, on September 25th, 2020. In this episode, singer Chino Moreno breaks down how the title track came together, and ...
10.21.2020 Run the Jewels - JU$T Rapper Killer Mike and rapper/producer El-P first met in 2011. They both had established rap careers, but they entered a new era when they started making music together as Run the Jewels in 2013. They’ve been nominated for a Grammy, ...
10.07.2020 Dua Lipa - Levitating Dua Lipa is a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter from London. Her second album, Future Nostalgia, came out in March 2020. It hit #1 on the charts in thirteen countries, and it was shortlisted for the UK’s Mercury Prize. Dua co-wrote ...
09.23.2020 Selena Gomez - Lose You to Love Me Selena Gomez is a singer, songwriter, and actress, who’s spent most of her life in the public eye. She started her acting career as a child, and put out her first albums as a teenager. She’s had three number one ...
09.16.2020 Reissue: Ludwig Göransson - Black Panther On August 28, 2020, actor Chadwick Boseman died. He was only 43 years old. Unbeknownst to many, even some of his closest collaborators, he’d been battling colon cancer since 2016. His family released a statement, and in it, they said, ...
09.09.2020 Kelly Lee Owens - On Kelly Lee Owens is an electronic music producer and songwriter originally from Wales. She’s released two critically acclaimed albums and done remixes for Björk and St. Vincent. Her most recent album is is called Inner Song. It came out in ...
08.26.2020 Black Pumas - Colors Black Pumas formed in Austin, Texas in 2017, when singer Eric Burton met producer Adrian Quesada. Their self-titled debut was released in June 2019, and got them a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. In this episode, they break down ...
08.12.2020 The 1975 - The Birthday Party The 1975 are a band from Manchester, England, made up of Matty Healy, Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald, and George Daniel. They started playing music together in 2002, when they were teenagers. Since then, they’ve released four albums, won three Brit ...
07.29.2020 Waxahatchee - Fire Katie Crutchfield is a singer and songwriter from Birmingham, Alabama. She’s been making music under the name Waxahatchee since 2010. Her fifth album, Saint Cloud, came out this past March. Pitchfork named it Best New Music, and The Guardian called ...
07.15.2020 Khruangbin - So We Won't Forget Khruangbin is a band from Houston, Texas, who first formed in 2010. NME called them the "low key superstars" of psychedelic music. They’ve released three albums. The most recent, which came out in June 2020, is called Mordechai. In the ...
07.01.2020 Apparat - Goodbye (Theme from "Dark") The Netflix original series Dark debuted in December 2017. It’s a really mysterious, mind-bending German science fiction show with a unique tone. A big part of that tone is announced every episode with the music in the show’s opening title ...
06.17.2020 Mobb Deep - Shook Ones, Pt. II The rappers Prodigy and Havoc met when they were still in high school in New York. Havoc grew up in Queensbridge, the biggest public housing projects in the country, and as a teenager, Prodigy lived there for a while, too. ...
06.04.2020 Reissue: Michael Kiwanuka - Black Man in a White World Instead of a new episode this week, revisiting this episode originally published in May 2017. Please consider donating to local and national organizations engaged in the work of racial equality. Here are some links: American Civil Liberties Union NAACP Legal ...
05.20.2020 100 gecs - Money Machine 100 gecs is a duo, made up of Laura Les and Dylan Brady. In 2016, they put out an EP called 100 gecs, and three years later, they released their first album, called 1000 gecs. It was named the Best ...
05.06.2020 Laura Marling - Song for Our Daughter Laura Marling is a singer and songwriter from London. She won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist—she’s been nominated five times for that, along with the Mercury Prize, and the Grammy for Best Folk Album. Since 2008, ...
04.22.2020 Tame Impala - It Might Be Time Tame Impala is the project of Kevin Parker, a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer from Perth, Australia. Since putting his first EP in 2008, Tame Impala has been nominated for two Grammys and won eight of Australia’s ARIA Awards. Multiple albums ...
04.08.2020 FKA twigs - Mirrored Heart FKA twigs is a singer, songwriter, and producer from London. She’s released three EPs and two albums. Her most album, Magdalene, came out in November, 2019, and was named one of the best albums of the year by Rolling Stone, ...
03.25.2020 Nathaniel Rateliff - And It's Still Alright Nathaniel Rateliff is a singer and songwriter from Colorado. He’s released four solo albums, and two with his band, the Night Sweats. Those two Night Sweats albums were produced by Richard Swift, who passed away in 2018. In a statement, ...
03.11.2020 Eric Nam - Love Die Young Eric Nam is a Korean-American pop singer from Atlanta. He’s currently lives in Seoul, South Korea, where he found fame as a K-pop star. He was named “2016 Man of the Year” by GQ Korea, and Forbes named him one ...
02.26.2020 Soccer Mommy - Circle the Drain Sophie Allison makes music under the name Soccer Mommy. Her debut album came out in 2018, when she was 20 years old, and the New York Times named it one of the best album of the year. Her second album, ...
02.12.2020 Caribou - Home Dan Snaith has been making Caribou records since 2001. He won Canada’s Polaris music prize in 2007, and this month, he’s releasing the seventh Caribou album, Suddenly. In this episode, Dan breaks down the song “Home.” He talks about how ...

Older episodes

Song Exploder

What's Song Exploder about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Song Exploder episodes:

Halsey - You Asked for This

Hans Zimmer - Dune

The War On Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore (feat. Lucius)

Willow - Transparent Soul feat. Travis Barker

Hrishikesh Hirway TED Talk - What You Learn When You Listen Closely

John Lennon - God

Lucy Dacus - Thumbs

Mustafa - Air Forces

Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers

The Shins - New Slang

Cheap Trick - Surrender

Fousheé - Deep End

AURORA - Runaway

Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us

Arlo Parks - Black Dog

Imagine Dragons - Follow You

girl in red - Serotonin

Porter Robinson - Get Your Wish

Lianne La Havas - Can't Fight

Jon Batiste - We Are

Glass Animals - Heat Waves

Sasha Sloan - Until It Happens To You

PJ Morton - Say So (feat. JoJo)

HAIM - Summer Girl

Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Father and Son

Common - A Riot In My Mind

Jewel - You Were Meant For Me

Billie Eilish - Everything I Wanted

Re-issue: Phoebe Bridgers - Scott Street

Deftones - Ohms

Run the Jewels - JU$T

Dua Lipa - Levitating

Selena Gomez - Lose You to Love Me

Reissue: Ludwig Göransson - Black Panther

Kelly Lee Owens - On

Black Pumas - Colors

The 1975 - The Birthday Party

Waxahatchee - Fire

Khruangbin - So We Won't Forget

Apparat - Goodbye (Theme from "Dark")

Mobb Deep - Shook Ones, Pt. II

Reissue: Michael Kiwanuka - Black Man in a White World

100 gecs - Money Machine

Laura Marling - Song for Our Daughter

Tame Impala - It Might Be Time

FKA twigs - Mirrored Heart

Nathaniel Rateliff - And It's Still Alright

Eric Nam - Love Die Young

Soccer Mommy - Circle the Drain

Caribou - Home

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