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Switched On Pop

A Vulture podcast about the making and meaning of popular music hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding.

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Noah Kahan Has Homesickness to Thank for His Transition to Folk-Pop

 The singer-songwriter joined Switched on Pop to discuss the influences behind “Stick Season” and his kindred connection to Olivia Rodrigo. By Charlie Harding

More From Switched On Pop

  1. Tai Verdes Started From the Bottom (of His Building, Literally the Basement)Now the TikTok star is here, selling out a tour and performing at Lollapalooza.
  2. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, ‘Beautiful Nugget’ HuntersThe Grammy-decorated duo reflects on the wide array of influences at work on their latest album Raise the Roof.
  3. How Many Let It Be Reissues Does It Take for the Beatles to Get the Vibe Right?Fifty years and two documentaries later, it looks like the answer is “at least four.”
  4. Snotty Nose Rez Kids Revel in a Beautiful Blend of Rap and Indigenous CultureAs Young D from the First Nations hip hop duo explains, “In hip hop, you have the MC. Well, we have our storytellers.”
  5. New ABBA, Just Like the Old ABBA (and Then Some!)Figuring out what makes the band tick on the occasion of Voyage, their first album in 40 years.
  6. The Healing Power of PopWe know that music gets us through hard times, but let’s look a little into the science and craft of why.
  7. The Escapist Male Fantasy of the James Bond Theme SongExploring the superspy’s musical underpinnings as the Daniel Craig era draws to a close.
  8. James Blake Has Come to Terms With His Underrated InfluenceTherapy and reaching his 30s have helped the artist-producer focus on simply having fun.
  9. Why Does Olivia Rodrigo Keep Giving Up Songwriting Credits?Copyright lawsuits are making musical interpretation an increasingly costly endeavor.
  10. John Carpenter’s Influence Is Inescapable on Chvrches’ Screen ViolenceThe synthpop revivalists even got the horror master to remix one of the songs on their new album, which prods the dark depths of online abuse.
  11. The ‘Weird, Swampy Alchemy’ Behind Big Red Machine’s New AlbumAaron Dessner recalls the kinetic energy of working with Taylor Swift, Sharon Van Etten, and Robin Pecknold, among others, all at once.
  12. What Makes Cat Power’s ‘Manhattan’ a Classic NYC AnthemMost songs about New York are pop songs, as the singer’s 2012 track perfectly exemplifies.
  13. What’s Your Best Music-Festival Moment? Switched on Pop Listeners Swap Stories“Suddenly everything coalesces and ratchets up, and everyone’s kind of flying.”
  14. The Beauty and the Horror of Insane Clown Posse’s Gathering of the JuggalosConverted fan Nathan Rabin explains the appeal of a group once derided as a “magnet for ignorance.”
  15. How Coachella Copped the Woodstock LookBreaking down the commercialization of festival fashion with some special guests from The Cut.
  16. Mark Ronson Is Still in Awe of Ginuwine’s ‘Pony’ and Its Influence on MusicHe’s also grateful for the time Paul McCartney snapped him out of his laziness.
  17. How Jack Antonoff Found That Magical Moment of Musical Clarity“One day you wake up and you’re like, Oh my God, we’re in this.”
  18. Childish Gambino’s ‘Redbone’ and the Unending Relevance of ’70s SoulYola discusses the song’s influence on her work as well as “the Mary Poppins philosophy of music.”
  19. The Appealing Uneasiness of Listening to L’RainHow the artist’s album Fatigue “mirrors my interest in illegibility.”
  20. The Misunderstood Cultural History of City Girls’ ‘Twerkulator’One that even the Oxford English Dictionary got wrong, as Dr. Kyra Gaunt explains on this episode of Switched on Pop.
  21. What Makes Lorde’s ‘Solar Power’ So Divisive?On this episode of Switched on Pop, writer Hanif Abdurraqib breaks down Lorde’s greatest skill.
  22. Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘good 4 u’ Continues a Distinct Emo TraditionA history of young women raging on the mic, from the blues to country to Rodrigo’s chart-topping confessional.
  23. Why Labrinth’s ‘Sexy MF’ Is a Modern Classic**According to NPR’s Sam Sanders, who explains his love of the song’s “bespoke, maximalist power pop” vibe.
  24. Remembering Uncomfortable Teen Moments With Lucy DacusOn her new album Home Video, she was able to “exert control over things I didn’t have control over at the time.”
  25. Writing the Summer’s Biggest Song Via WhatsAppHow the creators of BTS’s “Butter” turned out a banger from across the locked-down world.
  26. The Songwriters Who Refuse to Be Bullied Out of Publishing Profits Any LongerAccomplished musician Emily Warren explains how the Pact was formed to fight a longstanding music-industry swindle.
  27. For Vijay Iyer, Jazz Isn’t About Coolness — It’s About DefianceThe pianist’s new improvised album tackles racism and injustice without saying a word.
  28. You Know a Julia Michaels Song When You Hear One — Call It Her Superpower“I’m always trying to push boundaries and see what we can get away with that’s fun and interesting.”
  29. Only Lil Nas X Predicted How Much ‘Montero’ Would Outrage the Machine“Nas would always be like, ‘This is going to be a moment. Like you guys literally do not understand.’ And we didn’t.”
  30. Can Listening to Music Ever Really Be Sustainable?“I think it may be one small place where we could really fundamentally ask: What do we want to sustain in the first place?”
  31. 5 Rules of Great Songwriting Collabs, According to Teddy Geiger and Dan Wilson“I don’t want to just make another one of ‘those.’”
  32. The Secret to Silk Sonic’s SauceSinger-songwriter Tayla Parx breaks down Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s retro hit “Leave the Door Open.”
  33. How AJR’s Broadway-Inspired Banger Took Over the Pop Charts“We absolutely try to write what we think will be a hit.”
  34. Nile Rodgers’s Signature Sound Is Taking Over Pop Again — Cory Wong Knows WhyAllow funk musician Cory Wong to take you on a tour through the history of rhythm guitar, as forever innovated by the Chic legend.
  35. The Most Striking 2021 Grammy Performances Were Bigger Than the MusicMany of them had something to add to the major stories of the last year: pandemic escapism and racial injustice.
  36. Kimbra Reflects on Her and Gotye’s Song That We All Used to Know, 10 Years Later“It’s funny when record label people tell me, ‘I always saw it coming,’ and I’m like, ‘Well damn, you knew more than me ’cause I didn’t.’
  37. Kaytranada’s Decade-Long Journey to Best New ArtistThe Canadian producer on his unexpected career, from his mom’s basement to the Grammys.
  38. JP Saxe Didn’t Mean for Grammy Hit ‘If the World Was Ending’ to Be So Literal“[Julia Michaels and I] started getting a lot of messages on Twitter accusing us of insider information.”
  39. In Adrian Younge’s Ambitious New Project, James Baldwin Meets Marvin Gaye“I wanted to make a What’s Going On, but as if a black scholar hooked up with Marvin Gaye and [it was] produced by David Axelrod.”
  40. The Story Behind Bridgerton’s Sexy Classical Pop Covers“It’s not your mother’s Regency television show.”
  41. How ‘Blinding Lights’ Used Retro Sounds and Modern Bass to Break RecordsA spirited deconstruction of the Weeknd’s ubiquitous, Super Bowl halftime show-closing hit.
  42. Meeting the Greatest Band You’ve (Maybe) Never Heard OfEdgar Wright and the band Sparks talk about making the director’s new documentary, The Sparks Brothers.