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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Selena Gomez - Lose You to ...

09.23.2020

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 ...

Song Exploder episodes:

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 ...
01.29.2020 Vagabon - Water Me Down When Laetitia Tamko started making the second Vagabon album, she really wanted to produce the entire thing on her own. It would be a new sound, and producing was still a relatively new skill to her, but she wanted to ...
01.15.2020 Semisonic - Closing Time The song “Closing Time” by the American rock band Semisonic came out in March 1998. It hit #1 on the Alternative charts, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Song. It gets played in stadiums, Weird Al covered ...
12.25.2019 Vampire Weekend - Harmony Hall The band Vampire Weekend started in 2006, in New York. Their third album came out in 2013, and was named one of the best albums of the year all over the place, and it won a Grammy. But it took ...
12.17.2019 Intro Theme and Thao's Farewell Thao Nguyen has been guest hosting Song Exploder this year, with Christian Koons producing, to give Hrishikesh a little room to daydream. That’s all been possible because of the support of Radiotopia listeners. In this bonus episode, Thao says goodbye, ...
12.11.2019 Meek Mill - Trauma Meek Mill is a rapper from Philadelphia. He’s put out five albums. His most recent, Championships, debuted at #1 on the charts, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Album. Back in 2007, He was arrested on a ...
11.27.2019 Bat for Lashes - Kids in the Dark Natasha Khan makes music under the name Bat for Lashes. She’s released five albums, including Lost Girls, which came out in September 2019. In this episode, she breaks down the making of the lead single from that album, called “Kids ...
11.13.2019 Jay Som - Tenderness Melina Duterte goes by the name Jay Som. She’s a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She’s released three albums as Jay Som, and has produced, engineered, and mixed each one. Her third album, Anak Ko, came out in August 2019. And ...
10.30.2019 Slipknot - Unsainted Slipknot is a Grammy-winning metal band from Des Moines, Iowa, who first formed in 1995. They’ve sold over 30 million records. In this episode, guitarist Jim Root breaks down how Slipknot made the song, “Unsainted,” from their 2019 album We ...
10.16.2019 Raphael Saadiq - Kings Fall Raphael Saadiq is a Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and artist from Oakland, California. He was the lead singer of the legendary ‘90s R&B; group Tony! Toni! Tone!. As a producer, he’s worked with D’Angelo, TLC, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Solange ...
10.02.2019 Clairo - Alewife Claire Cotrill is a singer, songwriter, and producer who goes by the name Clairo. She started releasing music in 2014 as a teenager. A few years later, songs she had uploaded to YouTube had racked up over 40 million views. ...
09.18.2019 Brittany Howard - Stay High Brittany Howard is the guitarist and lead singer of the four-time Grammy-winning band Alabama Shakes. This month, she’s releasing her first solo album, called Jaime. In this episode, Brittany breaks down the song “Stay High,” which was the album’s first ...
09.04.2019 Robyn - Honey Robyn is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Her first album came out in 1995, when she was 16 years old. It went platinum in the US, double-platinum in Sweden. Since then, she’s been nominated for five Grammys and started her ...
08.21.2019 Bon Iver - Holyfields, Justin Vernon founded the band Bon Iver in 2006. Bon Iver’s released four albums, and won two Grammys, including Best New Artist. The most recent album, i,i, came out in August 2019, and in this episode, Justin breaks down a ...
08.07.2019 Sleater-Kinney - The Future Is Here Sleater-Kinney was formed in 1994 by Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein. Drummer Janet Weiss was a member of the band from 1997 until 2019. In Time Magazine in 2001, author and critic Greil Marcus named Sleater-Kinney “America’s Best Band.” Over ...
07.24.2019 Denzel Curry - RICKY Denzel Curry is a rapper from Miami. He started his career at age 16 as part of the hip hop collective Raider Klan. He released his first solo album while still in high school. In May 2019 Denzel released his ...
07.10.2019 Jamila Woods - BALDWIN Jamila Woods is a singer, songwriter, and poet from Chicago. She’s released two albums, and she’s collaborated with artists like Chance the Rapper, Noname, and Macklemore. In May 2019, she put out her second album, LEGACY! LEGACY!, to critical acclaim. ...
06.26.2019 Big Thief - Cattails Big Thief is a four piece folk-rock band from Brooklyn, New York. In May 2019, they released their third album, U.F.O.F., to critical acclaim. Pitchfork named it “Best New Music.” In this episode, singer Adrianne Lenker and drummer James Krivchenia ...
06.12.2019 Sheryl Crow - Redemption Day (feat. Johnny Cash) Sheryl Crow is a singer-songwriter from Missouri. She’s released ten studio albums, sold over 50 million records, and has won nine Grammys. In April 2019, Sheryl Crow released a new version of her song “Redemption Day,” which was first released ...
05.29.2019 Raleigh Ritchie - Time in a Tree Raleigh Ritchie is the musical alias of Jacob Anderson, a musician and actor who’s probably best known for playing the character Grey Worm on Game of Thrones. Raleigh Ritchie released his first album in 2016, and he’s put out a ...
05.15.2019 The Mountain Goats - Cadaver Sniffing Dog John Darnielle has been writing and recording songs as the Mountain Goats since 1991. He’s released 17 studio albums, and also written two books of fiction. In April 2019, the Mountain Goats released the album In League with Dragons, and ...
05.01.2019 The Cranberries - All Over Now The Cranberries formed in Limerick, Ireland in 1989. Singer Dolores O’Riordan joined a year later, and the group went on to become one of the defining bands on the ‘90s, eventually selling over 40 million records worldwide. In January 2018, ...
04.17.2019 Panda Bear - Dolphin Panda Bear is musician Noah Lennox. He’s a founding member of the experimental, genre-defying band Animal Collective, and as a solo artists, he’s released six albums. In February 2019, Panda Bear released the album Buoys, and in this episode, he ...
04.03.2019 Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen Sharon Van Etten is a singer and songwriter who’s put out five albums. She's also an actress—she’s in The OA and Twin Peaks. Her most recent album, Remind Me Tomorrow, came out in January 2019. In this episode, Sharon breaks ...
03.20.2019 Nakhane - New Brighton (feat. Anohni) Nakhane is a singer and songwriter from Johannesburg, South Africa. His first album, Brave Confusion, won the South African Music Award for best alternative album in 2014. He starred in the award-winning film “The Wound,” which was shortlisted for the ...
03.06.2019 Mumford & Sons - Beloved Mumford & Sons are a Grammy-winning band that formed in London in 2007. They’ve put out four albums, and sold millions of copies. Their last three albums have all debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. The most recent ...
02.20.2019 Phoebe Bridgers - Scott Street Phoebe Bridgers is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. In September 2017, she released her debut album, Stranger in the Alps. One of the breakout songs from that album was “Scott Street,” a song Phoebe cowrote with her drummer, Marshall Vore. ...
02.06.2019 Wonderly - The Daily (Theme) The Daily is a hit podcast from The New York Times, hosted by Michael Barbaro. Every weekday, over 1.7 million people download the show. It launched in February 2017, and in honor of its two-year anniversary, we’re publishing a bonus ...
01.23.2019 Japanese Breakfast - Boyish Japanese Breakfast is the musical project of Michelle Zauner, who’s been making music under that name since 2013. In July 2017, she released her second album, Soft Sounds from Another Planet, to critical acclaim. In this episode, Michelle breaks down ...
01.09.2019 Hozier - Nina Cried Power (feat. Mavis Staples) Andrew Hozier-Byrne is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter from Ireland. His debut single from 2013, “Take Me to Church,” was a massive, multi-platinum hit. In September 2018, Hozier released the song “Nina Cried Power,” which features the legendary gospel singer Mavis Staples. ...
12.20.2018 Yo-Yo Ma - Prelude, Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major Yo-Yo Ma is perhaps the most famous and well-loved cellist in the world. He was born in Paris in 1955; his family moved to the U.S. when he was seven. He played for President Kennedy that year. He played at ...
12.13.2018 Reissue: Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - Astonished Man Thao Nguyen is taking over as the new host of Song Exploder in 2019. This is a reissue of an episode from 2016 in which she was the guest. Thao & the Get Down Stay Down released the album A ...
12.05.2018 Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way Lindsey Buckingham is a singer-songwriter, a guitarist, and a producer. In 1974, he joined the band Fleetwood Mac, along with Stevie Nicks, his girlfriend at the time. A few year later, in 1977, Fleetwood Mac released the album Rumours, which ...

Older episodes

Song Exploder

What's Song Exploder about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Song Exploder episodes:

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

Vagabon - Water Me Down

Semisonic - Closing Time

Vampire Weekend - Harmony Hall

Intro Theme and Thao's Farewell

Meek Mill - Trauma

Bat for Lashes - Kids in the Dark

Jay Som - Tenderness

Slipknot - Unsainted

Raphael Saadiq - Kings Fall

Clairo - Alewife

Brittany Howard - Stay High

Robyn - Honey

Bon Iver - Holyfields,

Sleater-Kinney - The Future Is Here

Denzel Curry - RICKY

Jamila Woods - BALDWIN

Big Thief - Cattails

Sheryl Crow - Redemption Day (feat. Johnny Cash)

Raleigh Ritchie - Time in a Tree

The Mountain Goats - Cadaver Sniffing Dog

The Cranberries - All Over Now

Panda Bear - Dolphin

Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen

Nakhane - New Brighton (feat. Anohni)

Mumford & Sons - Beloved

Phoebe Bridgers - Scott Street

Wonderly - The Daily (Theme)

Japanese Breakfast - Boyish

Hozier - Nina Cried Power (feat. Mavis Staples)

Yo-Yo Ma - Prelude, Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major

Reissue: Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - Astonished Man

Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way

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