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Vulture

Listen closer to pop music — hear how it moves us. Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Switched on Pop

The quadrennial soccer (or fútbol, depending who you talk to) competition is upon us again: it's the FIFA World Cup! And while the World Cup is a sporting event, it's still relevant to the folks at Switched On Pop, because every four years a new crop of songs gets commissioned to drum up excitement for the games. 

This year, the official song is by Shakira and Burna Boy, but offerings from IShowSpeed and a madcap collaboration between Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, EJAE, and Megan Thee Stallion also play the field. On this episode, Charlie and Nate explore them all – including the Shakira and Ricky Martin songs of World Cups past.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:

 Shakira, Burna Boy – Dai Dai

 K'NAAN – Wavin' Flag

 Tears For Fears, Lil Baby – The World Is Yours To Take

 Jelly Roll, Carin León – Lighter

 LISA, Anitta, Rema – Goals

 Jung Kook, BTS – Dreamers

 Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, EJAE, Megan Thee Stallion – DNA (More Than A Game)

 IShowSpeed – Champions (WC 26)

 Ed Sheeran – Shape of You

 Shakira, Carlinhos Brown – La La La (Brasil 2014)

 Shakira, Freshlyground – Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)

 Zangalewa – Zangalewa

 Ricky Martin, Pablo Flores – The Cup of Life (La Copa de la Vida)

 Ricky Martin – Livin' La Vida Loca

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Music only the World Cup could make

In case you missed it:

How does a country of 10 million people dominate the global pop charts? From ABBA's Eurovision breakthrough to Max Martin's methodical hit-making, Sweden has quietly engineered a kind of musical Stockholm Syndrome: we've all become captives to their sound without realizing it. Listen to the crystalline vocal production and deceptively simple chord progressions in tracks by Lisa, Childish Gambino, and Addison Rae, and you're hearing Sweden's sonic fingerprint so embedded in pop's DNA that it now defines the genre itself. We sit down with pop star Zara Larsson to explore her love letter to home, "Midnight Sun." As she puts it, "I can't really leave Sweden; it's just something that's like a part of who I am," a sentiment that captures how Swedish pop's unique blend of melancholy and euphoria, mirroring the country's extreme seasons, has made us all willing prisoners of Stockholm's musical empire.

Songs Discussed

 
Lisa ft. Rosalia: "New Woman"

 
Childish Gambino: "Lithonia"

 
Addison Rae: "Fame Is a Gun"

 
Bleachers: "Tiny Moves"

 
Zara Larsson: "Midnight Sun"

 
Robyn: "Show Me Love"

 
Robyn: "Dancing on My Own"

 
Nirvana: "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

 
Brad Mehldau: "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

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Why we can't resist Swedish pop (ft. Zara Larsson) ICYMI

In the last episode of our feral pop miniseries, we take a look at the 22 year old rapper primed to take over the world: 2hollis. Splitting the difference between hardstyle and hip-hop while emanating an aura best described as “vampiric,” he’s been one of the most hyped musicians coming out of the underground. His music is distorted, chaotic, and over the top – literally – but he reflects a larger sentiment from younger audiences: the more sonic chaos the better.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:
 
 Ninajirachi – Fuck My Computer

 underscores – Music

 2hollis – poster boy

 SUICIDAL-IDOL – ecstacy

 2hollis – flash

 2hollis – beginning

 2hollis – sidekick

 underscores, 8485 – your favorite sidekick

 2hollis – crush

 2hollis – 3

 Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

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2hollis is the underground’s genre-hopping vampire

This week on Switched On Pop, we’re looking at all things feral pop, the microgenre that takes pop music to its most wild extremes. And no feral pop artist is more tapped into that ethos than underscores. Her music synthesizes dubstep, trance, and Timbaland with ease, and her latest album ‘U’ is filled with boundless energy. She’s already opened up for 100 gecs, PinkPantheress, and Porter Robinson; this fall, she’ll open up for Charli XCX on her upcoming Music, Fashion, Film tour. She said it best on her debut album, Fishmonger: “it’s the new wave of the future!” 

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:

 underscores – Music

 SOPHIE – Ponyboy

 underscores, 8485 – your favorite sidekick

 Nelly – Country Grammar (Hot Shit)

 Madonna – Music

 Madonna – American Life

 underscores – Do It

 Britney Spears – Piece of Me

 PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson – Stateside

 Justin Timberlake – SexyBack

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Pop music for an internet-pilled generation

What would it sound like if pop music was reverted to its most wild state of being? It would sound hyper-digital, influenced by the electronic vanguard of the 2010s, and speak to a post-genre audience. And while the charts have been stagnant, Gen-Z has been crafting this exact sound: one that is exciting, unpredictable, and above all else, feral.

After bubbling underground for the past few years, the subgenre we’ve coined “feral pop” is finally poised to have a breakout, best exemplified by the popularity of the computer-loving Ninajirachi, pop star underscores, and rave-rapper 2hollis. This week on Switched On Pop, Reanna, Charlie, and Nate are going to tap into all that this dubstep-influenced sound has to offer, starting with the Australian DJ Ninajirachi, and explore why everyone in pop music is finally getting feral.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠

Songs discussed:

 Ninajirachi – CSIRAC

 underscores – Music

 2hollis – girl

 Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

 Imogen Heap – Headlock

 SOPHIE – BIPP

 Ninajirachi – iPod touch

 Ninajirachi, Izzy Camina – Ninacamina

 Skrillex – Rock ’n’ Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain)

 Skrillex, Sirah – Bangarang

 Ninajirachi – Fuck My Computer

 Ninajirachi – London Song

 LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver

 Justice – Genesis

 Justice – Civilization

 Justice – Stress

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The new wave of pop is here, and it’s feral

Olivia Rodrigo is back with her third studio album, you seem pretty sad for a girl in love. As the title might suggest, it’s a deeply personal affair, with moody soundscapes supporting hyper-detailed lyrics of soul-wrenching depth. This album is a meditation on desire, and intriguingly, the letdown that can occur when desire is fulfilled. Each track is haunted by a band that basically invented the idea of unfulfilled longing, The Cure, who receive multiple direct shout-outs and numerous subtle references. But the album isn’t a tribute, or a rip-off. It’s a continuation of the voice Rodrigo has been developing ever since she debuted “drivers license” in 2021. It’s a sound distinctly her own, with signature techniques to match. The “re-verse” in “Drop Dead,” which we discussed in a prior episode, and a spiraling structure that keeps listeners waiting and waiting for the final word. Tune in to hear how Olivia channels her gothic predilections and fastidious lyrical craft into a powerful emotional payoff. 

Songs discussed:

Olivia Rodrigo - drop dead, stupid song, u + me = <3, purple, the cure, begged, what’s wrong with me, less, expectations, cigarette smoke, drivers license, vampire

The Cure - Just Like Heaven, Friday I’m in Love

David Byrne - drivers license
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Olivia Rodrigo has The Cure for sadness

Boys of Dungeon Lane, McCartney's collaboration with producer Andrew Watt, arrived when McCartney was 83 and and he came out swinging: the opening track greets listeners with a dissonant, unresolved guitar chord that sets the album's tone. Harmonic instability runs through the entire record: chromatic mediants, deceptive cadences, and persistent pedal tones prevent even the most nostalgic songs from settling into comfort. 

The album's lyrics focus on McCartney's pre-Beatles Liverpool youth, territory unfamiliar even to long-time fans. The songs pay deliberate sonic tribute to specific Beatles recordings: Mellotron strings echoing "Strawberry Fields Forever," a backwards laugh tape loop answering "Tomorrow Never Knows," a first-ever McCartney/Starr vocal duet so close in timbre the two voices are nearly indistinguishable.

Songs discussed:Paul McCartney – "Mull of Kintyre"Paul McCartney – "As You Lie There"The Beatles – "Blackbird"The Beatles – "Helter Skelter"The Beatles – "You Never Give Me Your Money"Paul McCartney – "Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey"Paul McCartney – "Band on the Run"Paul McCartney – "Live and Let Die"Paul McCartney – "Mountaintop"The Beatles – "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"The Beatles – "For No One"The Beatles – "Because"The Beatles – "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"The Beatles – "Octopus's Garden"Paul McCartney – "Down South"The Beatles – "Two of Us"Paul McCartney – "We Two"The Beatles – "Strawberry Fields Forever"Paul McCartney – "Never Know Those"The Beatles – "Tomorrow Never Knows"Paul McCartney – "Salesman Saint"John Lennon – "Working Class Hero"John Cougar Mellencamp – "Small Town"Paul McCartney – “Home to Us” (with Ringo Starr)Paul McCartney – "The Days We Left Behind"The Beatles – "When I'm Sixty Four"
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Paul McCartney went back to Liverpool for something new to say

A sci-fi ballet imagined a 2080 where AI strips people of purpose, and the day before its New York premiere, an actual dystopia arrived.

Arc Iris, the trio of Jocie Adams, Zach Tenorio and Ray Belli, built iTMRW as a concept record set in a future ruled by a mega-corporation that shares its name. In its world, AI has taken most jobs and even the thinking left inside them, so the corporation offers pods where anyone can live any dream in virtual reality. The piece premiered in Cambridge in January 2020, then its New York show collapsed the day before the lockdown.

What follows is the story of a project that outlasted its own premise. When venues closed, they left Providence for Los Angeles, rebuilt a dilapidated house, spent eight months in a 120-square-foot shed, and constructed their own studio and stage. The dystopia they wrote became, in their telling, a personal utopia.
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How a sci-fi dystopia became a personal utopia (ft. Arc Iris)

A culture that rewards easily consumable individual identities produces plenty of pop stars and almost no bands. A significant exception: MUNA, the trio of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson. MUNA treats the band as a structure that grounds identity beyond the ego and makes any success feel shared among the three. Their new album, Dancing on the Wall, wraps that conviction in blaring, unapologetic '80s production: slap bass, brightness pushed to the front, and everything connected in one time and place.Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

 MUNA, "It Gets So Hot"

 MUNA, "Dancing on the Wall"

 Lionel Richie, "Dancing on the Ceiling"

 MUNA, "Eastside Girls"

 Yello, "Oh Yeah"

 Dead or Alive, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"

 Pet Shop Boys, "West End Girls"

 Billy Joel, "We Didn't Start the Fire"

 Charli XCX, "365"

 MUNA, "Wannabeher"

 Bikini Kill, "Rebel Girl"

 Peaches, "Boys Wanna Be Her"

 Le Tigre, "Deceptacon"

 MUNA, "Big Stick"

 MUNA, "Anything But Me"

 Flobots, "Handlebars"

 MUNA, "I Know a Place"

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Why bands give us purpose (ft. MUNA)

Canada’s favorite export Drake is back! This month, the Toronto singer-rapper extraordinaire released three albums simultaneously: the long-anticipated return to form Iceman, the sultry, R&B Habibti and the pop-focused, clubby Maid of Honour. All three albums have much different vibes, and are Drake’s first official solo efforts since his seismic beef with Kendrick Lamar back in 2024.

There’s a lot of music to talk about. As a result, Reanna argues that we are living in an era of “Drake Slop” – low-effort, mass-produced dumps of music, often with confused intentions. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Reanna, Charlie, and Nate explore all that these three albums have to offer, and try to figure out exactly what is going on in the twisted mind of Aubrey Graham. 

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:

 Drake – Shabang

 Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us

 Drake – Circadian Rhythm

 Drake, Central Cee – Which One

 Drake – NOKIA

 Drake – Make Them Cry

 Drake – Janice STFU

 Drake – Make Them Pay

 Drake, Future, Molly Santana – Ran To Atlanta

 Future, Metro Boomin, Kendrick Lamar – Like That

 Drake – 2 Hard 4 The Radio

 YG, Slim 400 – Word Is Bond

 Mac Dre – 2 Hard 4 the Fuckin' Radio

 Drake – Rusty Intro

 Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney – FourFiveSeconds

 Drake – High Fives

 Drake – Tuscan Leather

 Drake – Classic

 Drake – Teenage Fever

 Drake, Sexyy Red – Cheetah Print

 Drake, Sexyy Red, SZA – Rich Baby Daddy

 Afrika Bambaataa, The Soulsonic Force – Planet Rock

 Drake – BBW

 Queen – Fat Bottomed Girls

 Drake – Princess

 A$AP Rocky – PUNK ROCKY

 Drake – Find Your Love

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Why bands give us purpose (ft. MUNA)

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