The CHAIN⛓️‍💥 Podcast

On episode 12, Ben is joined by Evan to Exchainge music, discuss the avant garde and enigmatic artist Perfume Genius and his 2025 album Glory.

Glory (★★★★☆) continues the beautiful, time-signature experimental David Lynchian work from Mike Haldeas who, with his beautifully soothing voice, grails with themes of being middle aged, aging and death. In delivering a solid piece of art, Haldeas continued to leave one part groove, one part abstract, and one part comedic and bizarre experiment.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The CHAIN ⛓️‍💥 on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to find links to the playlist volumes, listenable on either Spotify or Apple Music.

Exchainge songs:

Patti Smith - Gloria (vol. 16)

Leonard Cohen - Democracy (vol. 18)

Cameron Winter - Try As I May (vol. 20)

John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Sunday Bloody Sunday (vol. 17🍀)

Notes: This was Evan's second appearance on the podcast. ⁠⁠⁠

On episode 11, Ben is joined by Lindsay to Exchainge music, discuss Mumford & Sons and their 2025 album RUSHMERE.

RUSHMERE (★★★★½) is lush and beautifully filled with biblical hymn-like lyrics towing the line between gospel and romance, and despite its short 34 minute runtime, brings the listener on a rollercoaster of pace and very heavy emotions as @marcusmumford continues his battle with religious enigmas and his own trauma. While this may be their strongest work, its only limitation is its length.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The CHAIN ⛓️‍💥 on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to find links to the playlist volumes, listenable on either Spotify or Apple Music.

Exchainge songs:

Suki Waterhouse - Blackout Drunk

Drapht - Jimmy Recard

Conner Smith & Tucker Wetmore - Steal My Thunder

It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Celine Dion

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - Taylor Swift

Notes: This was Lindsay's first appearance on the podcast. ⁠

On episode 10, Ben is joined by Paulette to Exchainge music, discuss Jessie Reyez and her 2025 album Paid in Memories.

PAID IN MEMORIES (★★★★★) is the Canadian-Colombian rapper's third studio album. Since coming onto the scene with her first studio album in 2020, Jessie has been joined by some of rap’s greatest stars and has hung out with them while spitting fire lines and beautiful vocals in both English and Spanish, all while being real in public. On her third and first sober album, she keeps pushing her incredible pace forward, along with her boundaries, while highlighting the 10 stages of a new relationship before love came to kill her. Yessie hasn’t missed yet and shows once again why she is a special artist.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The CHAIN ⛓️‍💥 on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to find links to the playlist volumes, listenable on either Spotify or Apple Music.

Exchainge songs:

Michael Minelli & Johnny 2 Phones - Birds and the Bees (vol. 18)

Post Malone & Mark Morrison - Cooped Up / Return of the Mack mashup from Sickkick (vol. 18)

Kid Laroi - Girls (vol. 18)

Amber Marks - Competition remixed by Starships (vol. 18)

Notes: This was Paulette's first appearance on the podcast. Her jewelry store can be found here.

On episode 9, Ben is joined by Zach to Exchainge music, discuss Lady Gaga and her 2025 album Mayhem.

Mayhem (★★★★½) is a Lady Gaga Greatest Hits album but all of the songs are new. Mother Monster is back and showcasing eras from throughout her career as she duals with herself.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The CHAIN ⛓️‍💥 on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to find links to the playlist volumes, listenable on either Spotify or Apple Music.

Exchainge songs:

Chappell Roan - The Giver (vol. 18)

Chappell Roan - Naked in Manhattan (vol. 3)

Charlie XCX - Apple (vol. 6🚖),

Orville Peck ft. Diplo & Kylie Minogue - Midnight Ride (vol. 3/12)

Noah Cyrus - How Far Will We Take It? (vol. 12).

Notes: This was Zach's first appearance on the podcast.

On episode 8, Ben is joined by Jen to discuss Mdou Moctar and his 2025 album Tears of Injustice.

Tears of Injustice, sung in all Tamasheq, is a more acoustic track-by-track re-arrangement of the political protest prog. rock album Funeral for Justice released lack year. Called the Jimi Hendrix of the desert, Mdou brings his signature shredding in a more accessible form to keep commenting on foreign interference and loss of identity within his homeland of Niger on his 7th studio album.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠The CHAIN ⛓️‍💥 on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ to find links to the playlist volumes, listenable on either Spotify or Apple Music.

Exchainge songs:

The Beatles - Golden Slumbers covered by Elbow (vol. 9😌)

Magdalena Bay - Death & Romance by (vol. 13)

Boygenius - We’re In Love (vol. 15❤️)

The Last Shadow Puppets - Sweet Dreams, TN (vol. 14🎤)

Rachele Chinouriri ft. Sombr - All I Ever Wanted (vol. 16)

Notes: This was the first time there was a returning guest, marking Jen's second appearance. This episode also includes clips recorded from an Mdou Moctar concert.

On episode 7, Ben flies solo and discusses The Weeknd and his 2025 album Hurry Up Tomorrow

Hurry Up Tomorrow (★★★★☆) is the bookend to Abel’s 2nd trilogy, beginning with After Hours and continuing with Dawn FM. His 6th album continues to boast his angelic vocals and while carrying some repetitive themes from the past albums, serves to reflect the cycle he keeps finding himself in while potentially delivering the moniker’s death.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠The CHAIN ⛓️‍💥 on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ to find links to the playlist volumes, listenable on either Spotify or Apple Music.

Ben also discusses:

Dan Mangan - Basket (vol. 9)

Latour - People Are Still Having Sex (vol. 16)

Kalita - Dear Miss (vol. 16)

Notes: This was the first episode without a guest as Ben was abroad. Dan Mangan provided a voice memo.

On episode 6, Ben is joined by Evan to Exchainge music, chat about the amazing polymath FKA Twigs and her 2025 album Eusexua.

Eusexua (★★★★★), a word created by Twigs while in a bathroom in a club in Prague, describes the pinnacle of human experience - the moment of clarity before a rush of inspiration or orgasm - the feeling of community one feels while on the dance floor. This electronic trance album, her third, also blends elements from house and grunge and with its incredible production provides endless potential for remixes to be played throughout clubs worldwide.

Visit ⁠⁠The CHAIN ⛓️‍💥 on Instagram⁠⁠ to find links to the playlist volumes, listenable on either Spotify or Apple Music.

Exchange songs:

Father John Misty - She Cleans Up (vol. 10)

Bob Dylan - Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You (vol. 13)

Gil Scott Heron - New York is Killing Me (vol. 6 🚖)

Grimes - REALiTi (vol. 13)

Sympathy is a Knife - Charlie XCX (vol. 1)

Notes: This was Evan’s first appearance. He can be found on IG at @chips_for_dinner_

On episode 5, Ben is joined by Sarah to Exchainge music, chat about British electronic duo Maribou State, and their 2025 album Hallucinating Love.

Hallucinating Love (★★★★☆) is a dreamy, mature, soulful electronic album that just makes you want to groove and dance in the summer sun. 💃🕺

Visit ⁠The CHAIN ⛓️‍💥 on Instagram⁠ to find links to the playlist volumes, listenable on either Spotify or Apple Music.

Exchange songs:

Tom Fills - Is It Loud Enough (vol. 2 🐌)

Leon - Lift You Up (vol. 9 😌)

Bic Runga - Sway (vol. 15)

Elliot James Reay - I Think They Call This Love (vol. 10)

070 Shake - Guilty Conscience (vol. 13)

070 Shake - Nice to Have (vol. 9)

070 Shake - Elephant (vol. 10)

Notes: This was Sarah’s first appearance. Tom Fills submitted a voice memo.

On episode 4 Ben is joined for the first time by two guests, Aaron and Jordan, to Exchainge music, talk about Central Cee and his 2025 debut album Can’t Rush Greatness.

On Can’t Rush Greatness (★★★½☆) Cench highlights his rags to riches story with his unique and extremely consistent flow, peppers us with a handful of features from fellow UK rappers, but also gets a little introspective. Through 17 tracks the global star takes the flow from TikTok to the airwaves and continues his commercial success.

Visit The CHAIN ⛓️‍💥 on Instagram to find links to the playlist volumes, listenable on either Spotify or Apple Music.

Exchainge songs:

Helado Negro - Colores del Mar (vol. 4)

Caamp - By and By (vol. 9)

Boney M. - Sunny: Remix by Mousse T. (vol. 2)

Dire Straits - Romeo and Juliet: covered by The Killers (vol. 15)

EARFQUAKE by @feliciathegoat (vol. 4)

Cliquot by @northsidebenji (vol. 3)

On episode 3 of the Chain Podcast, Ben is joined by Ryan to Exchainge music, talk about the Life of Mac Miller and his 2025 album ‘Balloonerism’.

Balloonerism (★★★★☆) is a posthumous gift from the heavens, a fully formed lost album recorded in a 2-week span right around when Faces was recorded in 2014. Malcolm grapples with his substance abuse and how his music and fame contributed to that, with a stellar flow, all while he continues to chase euphoria (and sometimes youforia) and offer it back to us along the way. It’s been 5 years since Malcom’s death and he still continues to be far ahead of his time.

Visit The CHAIN ⛓️‍💥 on Instagram to find links to the playlist volumes, listenable on either Spotify or Apple Music.

Exchainge songs:

The Drew Thompson Foundation - Gasoline (vol. 2)

Snail Mail - Second Most Beautiful Girl In the World (vol. 2)

Mitski - My Love All Mine (vol. 9)

Gracie Abrams - I Love You, I’m Sorry (vol. 12)

Notes: This episode had some technical issues at the end. This was Ryan’s 1st appearance. This album was not rated.