The Gentle Game Design of Tiiva’s Pop Universe
The musician, sound designer, and game maker talks through ‘This Could Be a Start,’ an AI character’s search for a soul, and writing about gender through invented characters.
Indie Pop
The Warm, Cosmic Company of megiapa
On megiapa’s ‘Intentions,’ voice notes from her grandmother, her mother, and her closest friends drift through the synth haze, a family album cut to beats.
Frances Chang Takes a Moral Inventory
The Brooklyn musician, composer, and performer discusses 'been thinking bout confession,' her third album, which she wrote on a century-old baby grand after hitting walls with the guitar, and touches on Sondheim, the pomp of Catholicism, and whether a sound made on a computer counts.
Mother, Father, Daughter, Mother — MuMu's Family Album
Her mother remembers love, her father says there was none, and 'The Brothel: A Musical Memoir' lets both accounts stand before handing the story to the next generation.
sachi's mirror and the Slow Shedding of Layers
On her debut full-length, 'Talking in a Different Way,' the Oakland violinist trades the perfectionism of the conservatory for voice memos, out-of-tune pianos, and a tolerance for the unplanned.
Illegal Art, Myth Math, and the End of Anonymity
Nearly three decades after 'Deconstructing Beck', Matthew S sheds the pseudonyms to release the 'Tongues' EP as Myth Math, discussing his return to sampling, a collaboration with a former student, and the ethical quandaries AI poses to a career built on borrowed sound.
The Long Nostalgia of sundayclub's Manitoban Dream Pop
Courtney Carmichael and Nikki St. Pierre discuss signing to Paper Bag Records, moving from rural Manitoba to Winnipeg, and turning pandemic isolation into sundayclub's self-titled debut album.
Silly by Design — Chinese American Bear's Accidental Path to Indie Pop
The Seattle-based duo of Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten speak about their new album 'Dim Sum & Then Some,' the band that began as a Mandarin lesson, their DIY aesthetic, and the unexpected resonance their music carries for Chinese American audiences.
Tape Hiss and Tenderness — zzzahara's 'Distant Lands'
zzzahara's fourth album trades the romantic preoccupations of earlier releases for something harder-won — a tender, analog meditation on grief, mixed identity, and the strange clarity of sobriety.
From Antwerp, With Reservations — Youniss's 'Good Effort!'
On 'Good Effort!', Youniss turns the city into subject matter, drawing on Burial's London, a shuttered Antwerp venue, and a revolving cast of collaborators to make the most outward-looking record of his career.
Beyond the Bedroom with Special Friend
Erica Ashleson and Guillaume Siracusa discuss 'Clipping', the indie duo's third album, their move from DIY bedroom sessions to a French countryside studio, and why they'd happily redo a vocal take twenty times.
The Lush Detours of Momoko Gill
A fixture in London's jazz and electronic scenes, Momoko Gill discusses her debut album 'Momoko', her years of collaborative work alongside Matthew Herbert and others, and the music she makes as the only home she's found.