New Mix: Fred again.. and Brian Eno, Youth Lagoon, dodie, more
Top row, left to right: Youth Lagoon, African Head Charge, Fred again..; Bottom row, left to right: This Is The Kit, dodie performing at the Tiny Desk Courtesy of the artists hide caption
I begin this week's All Songs Considered with a stark piano ballad from Youth Lagoon. "The Sling" is from their first album in eight years, titled Heaven Is a Junkyard. This Is The Kit is the project of Kate Stables and her friends. I play the song "More Change," which reflects friendships' time and evolution. It comes from their sixth album, Careful Of Your Keepers, which is out June 9.
When the British singer dodie played a Tiny Desk concert in 2022, she went all out to make it special. She flew in backup singers from Los Angeles, a bass-playing fan from Canada and Dublin's Orla Gartland, while she and her band flew in from England and rearranged her music just for this performance. dodie has released her Tiny Desk performance as an EP. From that Tiny Desk concert, we hear "Special Girl."
African Head Charge have been making dubbed-out psychedelic beats since the early 1980s. Two of the primary driving forces in African Head Charge are Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah and dub master Adrian Sherwood. The music is steeped in the echoing sounds of Jamaica and Ghanaian rhythms. Their first new album in 12 years is titled A Trip To Bolgatanga, and from that, I play the song "Microdosing." Brian Eno and producer Fred again.. have just made a record together. They've known each other since Fred was a teenager. On their album Secret Life, there's a magical rendering of John Prine's "Summer's End," which they call "Come On Home."
Our final song is from the German-Swiss duo Grandbrothers. They make music that channels both classical music, EDM, and ambient sounds. Their new album was recorded in the iconic Cologne Cathedral in Germany. From the album Late Reflections, I take us out on a more ambient track, "Adrift."