The Pop Pod

Lizzy McAlpine is on The Pop Pod! A huge period of change informed Lizzie’s fourth album ‘Angel’. The adventurous, warm and experimental folk-pop record doesn’t come long after her last album ‘Older’ but plenty happened in between. She starred in Broadway musical ‘Floyd Collins’, found new love after a breakup and found an appreciation for the music of Joni Mitchell. Speaking to her, it feels like she’s found a new sense of freedom and that’s been poured into the music.

We spoke not only about the album and this period of change but the pop music that has shaped her along the way from Ariana Grande to Joni Mitchell to Britney Spears.

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Lizzie McAlpine is on The Pop Pod! A huge period of change informed Lizzie’s fourth album ‘Angel’. The adventurous, warm and experimental folk-pop record doesn’t come long after her last album ‘Older’ but plenty happened in between. She starred in Broadway musical ‘Floyd Collins’, found new love after a breakup and found an appreciation for the music of Joni Mitchell. Speaking to her, it feels like she’s found a new sense of freedom and that’s been poured into the music.

We spoke not only about the album and this period of change but the pop music that has shaped her along the way from Ariana Grande to Joni Mitchell to Britney Spears.

Tove Lo has had a very interesting career. Her first album 'Queen Of The Clouds' landed her in the mainstream quickly but ever since then she's taken left turns. Rather than attempting to repeat previous success, she's followed her artistic instinct which pulls through stronger than ever on 'Estrus'.

I sat down with Tove on the day the album was released to talk about how she got there after 'Dirt Femme'. This is a career-spanning conversation touching on everything from 'Talking Body' to how she found her freedom as an independent artist. Of course, we also had to talk about fellow Swedish pop icon Robyn.

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Carly Rae Jepsen loves pop music but on her own terms. She burst into the spotlight with one of the very early viral moment 'Call Me Maybe' but since then has operated in her own realm, driven by whatever feels good to her.

As a result, she's formed a dedicated fanbase that will follow her in whichever direction she chooses. The latest pivot is one of her most ambitious yet. 'Day And Night', a double album, sees her take her time traversing new territory as she revels in the euphoria of love. Since 'The Lonliest Time', she's been married and had a baby. It's given her a new perspective by which to approach this new album.

We go into it in depth here and, of course, discuss the classics too.

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Asha Banks is the latest guest on The Pop Pod. Banks is one of the most talented slashies around. She's known for her roles on the screen like 'My Fault' and 'Your Fault' but she's also amassing a following for her own music.She's gearing up to release a new EP 'Bottled Up' on 1 October.

We talk about what got her to this moment from writing music for her own movies to collaborating with Holly Humberstone. We also talk about her own favourites including Bon Iver, Ryan Beatty, The 1975 and so much more.

I asked for controversial pop opinions and you really did deliver. On this episode, we go through some of the best (and worst) ones that we received touching on everything from Ariana Grande being the last big-voiced pop star to Miley Cyrus’ reluctance to go full pop star mode. We also talked about companion albums, imperfect debut albums and the parasocial relationships fans have with artists.

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Shygirl has announced her second album, 'Swallow!'. It's a positive, uplifting and sometimes menacing record that balances desire and contentment. She's dug into UK dance references but also blended it with her love for indie music - a sound that I think will surprise and excite fans.I sat down with Shygirl to discuss the new album at large but also dig into some of the references from The Prodigy to U2. Of course, we also had to get into the pop side of things too and chat Madonna and Britney Spears, amongst others.

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Dua Lipa is back on the charts with ‘Training Season’ getting an unexpected second life which has us thinking about all things Dua. Jono & I decided it was the perfect time to talk about what we expect from her fourth album and revisit whether ‘Radical Optimism’ was a successful era for her.

We also ranked the top 10 Dua Lipa songs, discussing everything from her euphoric breakout ‘Be The One’ to an unexpected deep cut from ‘Radical Optimism’ that has stayed with us.

What are you expecting from this forthcoming Dua era?

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Hemlocke Springs is the latest guest on The Pop Pod. When I put together a list of artists that I wanted to speak to this week, Hemlocke was top of my mind. Her debut album 'the apple tree under the sea' is one of the projects that made me truly excited this year. It's an oddball pop record, that chews up so many different inspirations and spits it out in Hemlocke's technicolor vision.

We sat down to speak about the album and turning a viral moment into something long-lasting. We also discussed plenty of pop classics from Prince, to Katseye's 'Gnarly' to Beyonce & Rihanna.

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A bonus throwback episode for you today. Jono and I went through all the US number one singles of 2010 and bop'd or flop'd them.

As it turns out, 2010 was a pretty groundbreaking year for pop. It was a the debut of Kesha, Katy Perry's golden era and a shapeshifting year for Rihanna. On top of that, it was a gloriously silly year for pop music, driven by songs like 'Like A G6'.