© 2021 KOSU
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations

#NowPlaying

nprmusic_horiz.jpg

#NowPlaying

Today's essential songs, picked by NPR Music and NPR member stations. Listen and find your new favorite song.
  • The K-pop girl group's gratitude is the sort that arises in the year's final days, when we reflect on those who've made our lives a little brighter.
  • An addictive Ab-Soul track featuring a remix of a beloved soul sample, a philosophical premise and an energetic, did-I-even-stutter type of flow.
  • On the fun and bouncy "Conceited," SZA isn't letting circumstances beyond her control — naysayers; who her ex is currently seeing — dictate her worth, even if only briefly.
  • Serving as both an inner monologue and a PSA for anyone thinking they're about to get the 2017 version of Solana, "Gone Girl" fully faces the realization that SZA isn't that person anymore.
  • On "Special," a wounded pop-folk ballad, SZA staggers out of a failed relationship like a soldier out of a warzone, her words weary and her senses frazzled.
  • "Gorilla" is a declaration — Little Simz is here and she wants you to feel it.
  • SZA invokes the angst, anarchy and audacity of pop-punk predecessors like Fefe Dobson and Avril Lavigne on "F2F," relishing her role as the toxic ex.
  • On the rhapsodic opener to its sixth album, the Japanese dream-pop outfit looks to the cosmos.
  • As is often the case with inner monologues, "Kill Bill" finds SZA bouncing her more toxic and rational thoughts off of each other — indulging particularly in the former.
  • Absent any pining or angst, SZA's rapping on "Smoking on my Ex Pack" is matter of fact, leaving no room for questions, letting you know up top she's that girl.