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New Mix: Björk, Torres, Boots, More

Clockwise from upper left: Panda Bear, Björk, Lowland Hum, Torres
Courtesy of the artists
Clockwise from upper left: Panda Bear, Björk, Lowland Hum, Torres

This week on All Songs Considered, we get heavy — heavy lyrics, heavy themes — as hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton explore the meaning of life, even breaking it down to the atomic level, with existential music from English folk singer Bill Fay, Björk and more.

Bill Fay disappeared from the music scene after releasing a couple of records more than 40 years ago. He returned with the stellar Life Is People in 2012, and is back again with another gorgeous, contemplative collection of songs called Who Is The Sender?

Also on the show: We imagine the apocalypse with Beyoncé and Run The Jewels collaborator Boots, a musician and filmmaker who's turned a handful of his songs into a short movie called Motorcycle Jesus. We find darkness at the end of the tunnel with Andy Stott's twisted remix of Panda Bear's "Boys Latin." And NPR's Stephen Thompson crashes the show to tell us about this year's Austin 100, a downloadable playlist of 100 songs by the artists we're most excited to see at this year's South By Southwest festival. Stephen shares a song by Torres, one of his favorite discoveries from the list. Plus, the Brooklyn-based dystopian funk super group Lá-Bas, Björk's mind-blowing breakup album Vulnicura, and the joyful sounds of husband-wife duo Lowland Hum.

But first, hear a taste of the album Bob wrote and recorded for this year's RPM Challenge, his seventh with his band the Danger Painters.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.
In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.