On the surface, Tove Lo's new hit "Cool Girl" boasts a snappy, earworm chorus and an empowering message of self-reliance. Beneath its chill exterior, though, Lo's song burns with a passion bordering on rage, and sinister sonic undertones suggest an unreliable narrator who doesn't always mean what she says. The more layers one pulls back from this song, the m ... Show More
Oct 7
Taylor Swift’s Showgirl Sound: How to actually listen to the album
Taylor Swift's twelfth album has sparked endless speculation about who each song is "really about," but that might be the wrong question entirely. The Life of a Showgirl isn’t biography, it’s polyphonic auto-fiction, where Swift writes from multiple character perspectives while b ... Show More
1h 9m
Oct 3
The Power of the Trio (ft. Trousdale live at USC)
There's no lead singer in Trousdale. The trio of Quinn D'Andrea, Georgia Greene, and Lauren Jones, has shared vocal duties equally since they started singing together as students at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. Since then, they've touring the ... Show More
48m 39s
Apr 2019
How To Write a Hit Song: The Love Junkies
Lori McKenna, Liz Rose and Hillary Lidnsey—known as the Love Junkies—write some of the best songs in Nashville today. Between the three of them, they've helped launch Taylor Swift, pushed Lady Gaga into country music—with her album "Joanne"—and gave country music one of its more ... Show More
41m 30s
Sep 2023
The Nostalgic, Messy Fun of Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS
Puja Patel, Jeremy Larson, and Cat Zhang talk about the pop darling’s highly anticipated sophomore album, which is packed with hilarious one-liners, cross-generational music references, and the spectacular drama of being a girl in the world. Read Cat’s review here. Learn more abo ... Show More
37m 55s
Jun 2023
Can "Cruel Summer" Still Be the Song of the Summer? | Every Single Album: Taylor Swift
Nora and Nathan talk about the news that "Cruel Summer," from Taylor Swift's 2019 album, 'Lover,' was released this week as a single. They talk about whether the move could bump the song to the top of the charts (1:00) and why she might have decided to make "ME!" the first single ... Show More
37m 54s