Switched on Pop

What would it sound like if pop music was reverted to its most wild state of being? It would sound hyper-digital, influenced by the electronic vanguard of the 2010s, and speak to a post-genre audience. And while the charts have been stagnant, Gen-Z has been crafting this exact sound: one that is exciting, unpredictable, and above all else, feral. After bubbling underground for the past few years, the subgenre we’ve coined “feral pop” is finally poised to have a breakout, best exemplified by the popularity of the computer-loving Ninajirachi, pop star underscores, and rave-rapper 2hollis. This week on Switched On Pop, Reanna, Charlie, and Nate are going to tap into all that this dubstep-influenced sound has to offer, starting with the Australian DJ Ninajirachi, and explore why everyone in pop music is finally getting feral. Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠ Songs discussed: Ninajirachi – CSIRAC underscores – Music 2hollis – girl Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites Imogen Heap – Headlock SOPHIE – BIPP Ninajirachi – iPod touch Ninajirachi, Izzy Camina – Ninacamina Skrillex – Rock ’n’ Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain) Skrillex, Sirah – Bangarang Ninajirachi – Fuck My Computer Ninajirachi – London Song LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver Justice – Genesis Justice – Civilization Justice – Stress Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Boys of Dungeon Lane, McCartney's collaboration with producer Andrew Watt, arrived when McCartney was 83 and and he came out swinging: the opening track greets listeners with a dissonant, unresolved guitar chord that sets the album's tone. Harmonic instability runs through the entire record: chromatic mediants, deceptive cadences, and persistent pedal tones prevent even the most nostalgic songs from settling into comfort. The album's lyrics focus on McCartney's pre-Beatles Liverpool youth, territory unfamiliar even to long-time fans. The songs pay deliberate sonic tribute to specific Beatles recordings: Mellotron strings echoing "Strawberry Fields Forever," a backwards laugh tape loop answering "Tomorrow Never Knows," a first-ever McCartney/Starr vocal duet so close in timbre the two voices are nearly indistinguishable. Songs discussed:Paul McCartney – "Mull of Kintyre"Paul McCartney – "As You Lie There"The Beatles – "Blackbird"The Beatles – "Helter Skelter"The Beatles – "You Never Give Me Your Money"Paul McCartney – "Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey"Paul McCartney – "Band on the Run"Paul McCartney – "Live and Let Die"Paul McCartney – "Mountaintop"The Beatles – "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"The Beatles – "For No One"The Beatles – "Because"The Beatles – "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"The Beatles – "Octopus's Garden"Paul McCartney – "Down South"The Beatles – "Two of Us"Paul McCartney – "We Two"The Beatles – "Strawberry Fields Forever"Paul McCartney – "Never Know Those"The Beatles – "Tomorrow Never Knows"Paul McCartney – "Salesman Saint"John Lennon – "Working Class Hero"John Cougar Mellencamp – "Small Town"Paul McCartney – “Home to Us” (with Ringo Starr)Paul McCartney – "The Days We Left Behind"The Beatles – "When I'm Sixty Four" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A culture that rewards easily consumable individual identities produces plenty of pop stars and almost no bands. A significant exception: MUNA, the trio of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson. MUNA treats the band as a structure that grounds identity beyond the ego and makes any success feel shared among the three. Their new album, Dancing on the Wall, wraps that conviction in blaring, unapologetic '80s production: slap bass, brightness pushed to the front, and everything connected in one time and place.Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube MUNA, "It Gets So Hot" MUNA, "Dancing on the Wall" Lionel Richie, "Dancing on the Ceiling" MUNA, "Eastside Girls" Yello, "Oh Yeah" Dead or Alive, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" Pet Shop Boys, "West End Girls" Billy Joel, "We Didn't Start the Fire" Charli XCX, "365" MUNA, "Wannabeher" Bikini Kill, "Rebel Girl" Peaches, "Boys Wanna Be Her" Le Tigre, "Deceptacon" MUNA, "Big Stick" MUNA, "Anything But Me" Flobots, "Handlebars" MUNA, "I Know a Place" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kacey Musgraves' album Middle of Nowhere finds the country outlaw taking a break from exploring her inner life to look outward, back to her roots: the regional stylings of Texas. She says the album was inspired by a sign in her hometown that read “Golden, TX: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere.” The album’s sounds probe this same borderland mentality, encapsulating desert noir, Norteño, tejano, and soft rock. Plus, Willie Nelson. The result is a collection of songs that are funny, moving, and reaching back to the sound Musgraves established in her debut record 13 years ago. But the world of country has changed since then – artists like Ella Langley have taken over the charts, cribbing Musgraves' sound while courting a more conservative audience. Can the genre encompass all these multitudes? Nate and Charlie explore this debate through Middle of Nowhere. Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠ Songs discussed: Kacey Musgraves – I Miss You Kacey Musgraves – Merry Go 'Round Kacey Musgraves – High Horse Kacey Musgraves – justified Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well Kacey Musgraves – Dry Spell Kacey Musgraves, Billy Strings – Everybody Wants To Be A Cowboy Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson – Uncertain, TX Kacey Musgraves – Middle of Nowhere Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert – Horses and Divorces Miranda Lambert – Mama's Broken Heart Ella Langley – Choosin' Texas Dolly Parton, David Hidalgo – Before The Next Teardrop Falls Ella Langley – Be Her Kacey Musgraves – Rhinestoned Neil Young – Harvest Moon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The flowers are blooming and the calendar says May. That can only mean one thing: the Eurovision Song Contest is upon us once again. This year, thirty-five countries face off to determine the best song that Europe and adjacent continents have to offer. However, the competition comes with a big asterisk: while Eurovision prides themselves on being “apolitical,” the inclusion of Israel in the competition has led to a massive boycott, and the nations of Ireland, Spain, Iceland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands all withdrawing their participation. These are very real concerns impacting the general tenor of the competition this year, and are worth deeply considering. Since Eurovision is music news, and proves fundamental in discovering new sounds in global pop, as reporters, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna run down the top contenders according to bookmakers as of this recording. If you’re not watching this year, you’ll still know what’s going on. But if Eurovision isn’t of interest, it’s all good. At the end of the episode, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna also take some time to run down the current state of Switched On Pop bingo. Get your own bingo card here. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube Songs discussed: Céline Dion – Ne partez pas sans moi ABBA – Waterloo Joost – Europapa JJ – Wasted Love Delta Goodrem – Eclipse Søren Torpegaard Lund – Før Vi Går Hjem Ariana Grande – One Last Time Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper – Shallow Akylas – Ferto Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha Linda Lampenius, Pete Parkkonen – Liekinheitin Windows95man – No Rules Erika Vikman – ICH KOMME DARA – Bangaranga Alexandra Cǎpitǎnescu – Choke Me Satoshi – Viva, Moldova! PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson – Stateside Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emerald Fennell's new adaptation of Emily Brontë's 1847 gothic romance "Wuthering Heights" is the most talked-about film of the year. But for pop lovers, the soundtrack is the real event: Charli xcx, asked to write one song, ended up recording an entire album for the movie while in the middle of the BRAT tour. If BRAT gave people permission to be messy on the dance floor, this score gives permission to be messy in your souls. But Charli isn't the first artist to channel "Wuthering Heights" into music. Line up her hyperpop strings and cavernous reverb against Kate Bush's winding harmonies, a Hollywood orchestral score from 1939, and Ryuichi Sakamoto's unsettled piano, and something surprising emerges: the most operatic, passionate, Wuthering Heights-obsessed recording of them all might belong to someone you'd never expect.Songs discussed: Charli xcx “Everything is Romantic” Charli xcx “Always Everywhere” Charli xcx “House” (feat. John Cale) Hans Zimmer “Inception score” Charli xcx “Wall of Sound” Ike & Tina Turner “River Deep, Mountain High” Charli xcx “Chains of Love” Charli xcx “Out of Myself” Charli xcx “Funny Mouth” (co-written with Joe Curie) Alfred Newman “Wuthering Heights score (1939)” Ryuichi Sakamoto “Wuthering Heights score (1992)” Kate Bush “Wuthering Heights” Celine Dion “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A$AP Rocky’s latest album, Don’t Be Dumb, is a wild ride through a cacophony of sounds — punk, industrial, drum ‘n’ bass, indie rock, and of course, hip hop. But on one track, “Robbery,” he and the rising superstar Doechii sample the world of jazz, specifically Thelonious Monk’s 1955 cover of Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.” In the process, Rocky and Doechii don’t just loop and flow, they create a whole narrative of jazz age victors and villains inspired by the rhythms and harmonies of jazz greats. The result is a song, and album, that makes the case for why hip hop matters more than ever in 2026. A$AP Rocky – ROBBERY (feat. Doechii) A$AP Rocky – STOLE YA FLOW A$AP Rocky – ORDER OF PROTECTION A$AP Rocky – PLAYA A$AP Rocky – STFU (feat. Slay Squad) A$AP Rocky – AIR FORCE (BLACK DEMARCO) A$AP Rocky – THE END (feat. will.i.am & Jessica Pratt) Kendrick Lamar - For Free? - Interlude Clairo - Sinking Thelonious Monk - Caravan A$AP Rocky - L$D Lou Donaldson - Ode To Billie Joe Thelonious Monk - Black And Tan Fantasy Wu-Tang Clan - Shame On a N**** Duke Ellington, John Coltrane - My Little Brown Book Ghostface Killah - Malcolm Thundercat - Them Changes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices