[music]

Kousha Navidar: You're listening to All Of It on WNYC. I'm Kousha Navidar in for Alison Stewart. Hey, thanks for spending part of your Thursday with us. I'm so glad you're here. What a great show we've got today. If you're into birds or birding, you'll want to stick around for our conversation with Kenn Kaufman, who will be live in studio to talk about his new book, The Birds That Audubon Missed. If you, like so many producers on this show, are a fan of the TV show Evil, you'll want to stay tuned for Katja Herbers, the star of the show, who will be on to talk about the start of season four.

If you're a fan of Salvadoran food, we're going to have author Karla Tatiana Vasquez come by to talk about her new book, The SalviSoul Cookbook: Salvadoran Recipes and the Women Who Preserve Them. That's all coming up. Let's get this party started with a preview of the music we're excited about this summer.

[music]

Kousha Navidar: The temperature is expected to rise to nearly 90 degrees as we head into the unofficial start of summer this Memorial Day weekend, and there's a lot to look forward to, including beach days, food festivals, outdoor concerts, and new music. Some of this summer's most anticipated releases include albums from folk-pop group Tiny Habits. There's Singer and Composer Arooj Aftab, pop sensation Charli XCX, Afrobeat songstress Tems, and R&B Singer Khelani. Joining us now is All Of It producer Simon Close. Hey, Simon.

Simon Close: Kousha.

Kousha Navidar: Also joining us is All Of It. Producer L. Malik Anderson. Malik, welcome.

1. Malik Anderson: Thanks, Kousha. How's it going?

Kousha Navidar: It's going pretty good. I'm so happy to have you both here, as always. Simon, let's start with you. What are you particularly excited about this year?

Simon Close: Well, I guess I would say so far I feel like pop music fans have been eating really well. They have just been-- summer even feels slow compared to the spring that we've had. We've already gotten albums from Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Maggie Rogers, Dua Lipa, a bunch of other pop musicians, but that's not to say that there's not some good stuff coming up this summer, so I'm excited to talk about them.

Kousha Navidar: Nice. Malik, how about you? What are you excited about for music this summer?

1. Malik Anderson: I've been really excited about the spectacle of it all. Earlier this year we got an album from Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter. I'm interested to see if that wave is going to carry on to the summer. There are a lot of songs from that album that people have enjoyed and that you hear on the radio, you hear in clubs. I'm looking forward to see whether or not we'll continue to just listen to that album and digest it, or if people will start paying attention to the artists that were featured on that album.

Kousha Navidar: Are there artists for you that have stayed on your playlist since it was released a few months ago, let's say, that you think you're really going to still listen to this summer?

1. Malik Anderson: Yes. Shaboozey is definitely one of those artists. He was on Beyoncé's album. He was featured in SPAGHETTII and SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIIN’, which was a really fun song. It's almost like three songs in one. [laughs] He's really fun to listen to, and now he has a new single out. It's called A Bar Song (Tipsy), and it's going to be a part of his new album which is actually coming out this week, so tomorrow.

Simon Close: I think we have that queued up.

Kousha Navidar: Yes, I think we have that queued up. Can we listen to it?

[MUSIC - Shaboozey: A Bar Song (Tipsy)]

Kousha Navidar: Simon, let's talk about some new music on the horizon from your perspective, too. Tiny Habits has a new album coming out tomorrow. It's titled All For Something. How has this band distinguished themselves ahead of their debut?

Simon Close: Well, listeners of the show might already know the answer to that if they tuned in early last month. We actually got Tiny Habits in the studio to perform live. I suggest going straight to the source and listening to them to see how they've distinguished themselves rather than hearing it from me, but if I have to say it, they're just a really talented trio of acoustic folk singer-songwriters.

They met at Berkeley, I believe, so there's a lot of-- they make interesting decisions in the way that they write their music. They definitely have a music education background in how they approach their songwriting. Just impeccable close harmonies in the way they sing together. They only formed, I forget exactly, only a few years ago, but in the last year or so, they've found a bigger audience. Things have been growing for them.

I got to see them at Irving Plaza where they were headlining just last month, and they were on stage reflecting about how they'd been at Irving Plaza, I think only the year before opening for someone else, so just a lot of exciting developments for them.

Kousha Navidar: You brought a clip along with you, I Don't Have The Heart. You want to set it up?

Simon Close: Yes, let's just listen to it. They sound great, so I'm excited to hear it.

Kousha Navidar: Okay, cool. Yes, here's, I Don't Have The Heart from Tiny Habits.

[MUSIC - Tiny Habits: I Don’t Have The Heart]

Kousha Navidar: This is All Of It on WNYC. We're talking about the music that's getting us excited this summer. We're here with Simon Close, who's the Get Lit and music producer on the show, and L. Malik Anderson, who's another producer on All Of It. Simon, let's talk about Arooj Aftab. The Pakistani American singer also has a new album out on May 31st Night Reign. What's exciting about this release?

Simon Close: I think Arooj just has one of the most enchanting voices that I've heard. She released a breakthrough album called Vulture Prints, 2021 or 2022. It wasn't her first album, it was her third, I think, but it put her on the map in a big way. She got nominated for the Grammy for Best New Artist, and she ended up winning the Grammy for Global Music Performance for a song from that album.

It was the first time that a Pakistani musician had won that award. This is her follow-up to that kind of breakthrough album. It mixes jazz elements. It mixes Pakistani folk traditional elements. She has also, in between those two albums, worked and released an album with a trio that includes Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily, I think is how you pronounce his name, who are both really creative, interesting jazz musicians who also feature on this new album of hers.

She has a really cool group of collaborators around her and is exploring lots of different musical styles and genres and influences, and yes, I'm a big fan.

Kousha Navidar: That's great. Okay, so that's in May. Let's skip to June. Malik, I want to turn to you. Singer-songwriter Tems' first album Born in the Wild is due June 7th. I want to listen to a clip from a single that she has out titled, Love You JeJe. Did I pronounce that right, JeJe?

1. Malik Anderson: Love You JeJe, yes.

Kousha Navidar: JeJe. Let's take a listen to that one.

[MUSIC - Tems: Love Me Jeje]

Kousha Navidar: Malik, can you tell us what's unique about her sound and how she's created a space for herself within the music industry?

1. Malik Anderson: Yes. It's interesting because earlier today there was just a New York Times profile published that called her R&B's Golden Child and talked about how she effortlessly slides between R&B, Pop, and Afrobeats, which I think today makes her so unique in a way. I love that song that we just heard because it's Love Me JeJe. She's really talking about 'loving me gently'.

She's saying, "Love me with care." I like the way that she brings in these different musical traditions and blends them together in a way that you don't really think about it too much. It's just like an easy and smooth listen. You feel softer while listening to it.

Kousha Navidar: Oh, it's such a nice way of saying it. When did you first get introduced to her music?

1. Malik Anderson: I want to say maybe like a year or two ago. She collaborated with Rihanna, Drake, Beyoncé and so it's hard to believe that this is actually her debut, because she's been around for a while with different singles. I think maybe it was her collaboration. The first time I was like, "Okay, I know who Tems is, is a collaboration she had with Drake and Future.

Kousha Navidar: What are you hoping to see her do next or what are you really excited about her sound as it's evolving that you're listening to?

1. Malik Anderson: I heard a lot of Futures and I've heard a lot of her singles, I'm hoping to see what a full cohesive project looks like. She's had an EP already, but I want to see her dive deeper into her unique sound. I want to see how she grows. I wonder if it'll drift further into R&B, Afrobeats or continue to be this like blend of them all?

Kousha Navidar: Simon, I want to turn to you and talk about a new album from the Japanese band Atarashii Gakko. It's out on June 7th. Talk to us about them. Why do you recommend them?

Simon Close: Sure. I want to give a shout-out to our colleague Aki who turned me on to Atarashii Gakko. They're a J-Pop girl group who feel really unique within that world. They play into some of the tropes of being a girl group and J-pop, but also they feel radical in some ways. They dress in school uniforms and that's part of their expression. Also, they do some very almost aggressive style dancing. The choreography is really precise, but primal in certain ways. There's a lot of humor in the way they approach their music. Their lyrics are often funny.

I don't speak Japanese, but I am led to believe that their lyrics are funny. Even if you don't speak the language, I think the creativity with which they approach the music and the pattern of their rapping and all the other musical influences just come through in that way. I got to see them perform at Forest Hills Stadium pretty recently as part of the Head in the Clouds Festival. They're just a girl group of four people on a pretty big stage and they managed to captivate an entire stadium of people without any instruments. It's just the four of them doing this choreography, and that's Atarashii Gakko.

Kousha Navidar: Cool. What are we going to hear from them now?

Simon Close: The song we're going to hear is called Toryanse. Toryanse is a Japanese children's rhymes. They've taken the words from this rhyme and a little bit of the melody and repurposed it into a wild all-over-the-place pop song. It also includes elements of rap, all of these different things that is about finding your own path.

Kousha Navidar: Oh, awesome. Let's hear it. Here it is.

[MUSIC - Atarashii Gakko: Toryanse]

Kousha Navidar: That was Toryanse from Atarashii Gakko. We just got some extra info that I want to read from our producer Aki. Atarashii Gakko means new school in Japanese and their uniform is high school girl public school uniforms, so really cool. Be sure to check that out. Let's go on a little bit later in June. Let's talk about Meghan Trainor. Malik, earlier this year, Meghan Trainor announced that her sixth studio album Timeless is set to arrive June 14th. What should fans expect from the sound of this album?

1. Malik Anderson: It's funny that you've mentioned Meghan Trainor's album announcement Timeless, because the week before Kaytranada is also coming out with an album called Timeless, which he just announced earlier this week [laughs]. I'm wondering if one of them knew, or if they thought about like, "Maybe I should change my album name," or if it was just too far in the process to do anything about it?

Simon Close: I also just want to say this is breaking news. As far as we're aware, no one has written about this yet.

Kousha Navidar: Oh, wow.

Simon Close: I'm fascinated how something like this happens and whether their teams are trying to do something about it.

[laughter]

Kousha Navidar: That's funny. We got the scoop, so Malik, what can we expect to hear for Meghan Trainor fans.

1. Malik Anderson: I think it's going to be a little bit more of that same doo-wop pop sound that she's known for. In the first single that she released, Been Like This, which features T-Pain, which I'm excited for it. It's someone that she's talked about, who she's been inspired by and looked up to. That song is fun because it has a little bass along with To The Moon, which she released also recently. I'm excited for a album with doo-wop in bass. She's known for being all about that bass.

Kousha Navidar: By the way, that's right, yes, of course. We're looking at the clock right now. I want to be sure that I get to two more clips. The first, Lake Street Dive, Good Together, Simon, give us a quick synopsis of this. Let's listen to it.

Simon Close: Lake Street Dive, New York City-based band originally formed in Boston, they were also musical school students so you hear that in the way they approach their music. Once again, Rachael Price just has an unbeatable voice. I think the music speaks for itself. Let's play the clip.

Kousha Navidar: Okay, well, here's Lake Street Dive, Good Together. Here you go.

[MUSIC - Lake Street Dive: Good Together]

Kousha Navidar: That was Lake Street Dive, Good Together, coming out June 21st. We're wrapping up here so both of you, what are your predictions for the song of the summer? Malik, let's start with you. What do you think?

1. Malik Anderson: This is tough because we've had this conversation. Right now at this point, it doesn't feel like there's big contenders for song of the summer. It feels like maybe we might have to wait a few weeks to see, but right now, what I find interesting is Tinashe is having a viral moment right now with her song Nasty, which is funny because I remember back in 2014, her song 2 On dominated the summer. Now, she's back because there is this TikTok video of this British Soca dancer who's like dancing and whining, not to that song, to a Soca song that someone put in her song Nasty instead. Now, it's become this big revisiting of Tinashe's music.

Kousha Navidar: Wow. Okay, and Simon real quick. What's your prediction?

Simon Close: I've got a 'could be' and a 'should be'. My could be is Sabrina Carpenter's, Espresso, which is a really fun song. Doesn't need more air play, everyone's heard it at this point, I think. My should be is a song I came across on Twitter recently, X, whatever you want to call it these days. That is from the Kabin Studio in Ireland, Cork, and Lisdoonvarna, I don't know how to say the name of the town. It's all children. It answers the question, "What if Kidz Bop was good?". It's a rap song done by all Irish children. The song is called The Spark and it's about finding your spark and not letting other people take your spark away from you.

Kousha Navidar: Wonderful. Well, I want to listen to that, but before we get to it, I just want to say thank you to our producers L. Malik Anderson, Simon Close for coming on and telling us what to be excited about for music this summer. I cannot wait to hear all that. Thank you.

Simon Close: Thank you very much, Kousha.

Kousha Navidar: Here is The Spark from Kabin Crew and Lisdoonvarna. The Crew, here it is.

[MUSIC - Kabin Crew: The Spark]

 

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