Why Wet Leg Is The Band We Can’t Stop Talking About

Plus, a Tiny Desk (home) concert from inside Mozart's home

View this email online April 9, 2022 by Marissa Lorusso This week, we’re bringing you a critical roundtable about one of the most intriguing new bands in rock — plus, Tiny Desk (home) concerts from Leif Ove Andsnes and Maren Morris. Hollie Fernando Last summer, we heard a song we couldn’t stop talking about: “Chaise Longue,” the debut single from the Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg. The clever, unwaveringly cool track went on to be named one of our favorite songs of the year, and the band followed it up with a couple other impressive singles. When the band announced its debut self-titled album, it’s safe to say we were looking forward to it. That album came out this week — and, as it turns out, our team had a lot to say about it. So we gathered three of our writers — critic and correspondent Ann Powers and editors Jacob Ganz and Hazel Cills — for a roundtable discussion. “Each of us hears an entire history of music in this band,” Ann says, “but what we’re picking up is slightly different signals” — from the touchstones of ’80s new wave to ’00s garage rock to 2010s woman-led indie rock. (If you’re looking to dig into all those sounds, they also put together a playlist that pulls together these lineages into a cool 69 songs.) The conversation also touches on other pop culture phenomena the album reminds our team of — like the TV show Fleabag and the novels of Sally Rooney — and how genuinely funny these songs can be, a relative rarity among recent indie rock groups. It’s a wide-ranging, deep and delightful conversation about a fascinating new record that’ll keep us talking. Newsletter continues after sponsor message New Music When it rains, it pours: This Friday was a super-packed release day for great new albums, and New Music Friday from All Songs Considered talked about some of the team’s favorites, including new releases from Omar Apollo, Syd and Camila Cabello.  This week on the Viking’s Choice playlist: Otoboke Beaver's bubbly avant-punk, DJ Koze's fizzy remix of Peggy Gou’s nostalgic dance workout, Negative Plane's sidewinding black metal, RLYR's triumph rock, Glenn Jones' gentle fingerstyle guitar and more. This week on All Songs Considered, hear a conversation about some of our team’s favorite music that came out in March — much of which wrestles with the American dream and its broken promises of health, wealth and equality for all. The first new music from Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser in 13 years, a reflection on connection and the cosmos from Florist, a soundtrack to moments of hard-won comfort from Joan Shelley, a warning against false pretenses from EARTHGANG: Read about all this and more on #NowPlaying, our guide to today’s essential songs. Featuring This week, World Cafe shared an interview with blues singer Buffalo Nichols about the path that led him to his solo career and why he's not afraid to call out the music industry for appropriating a genre pioneered by Black artists. Vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Cassandra Wilson was recently given this nation's highest honor for improvising artists, joining the 2022 class of NEA Jazz Masters. In a new episode, Jazz Night in America travels through Wilson's story leading up to that pinnacle. At the Medyka border crossing from Ukraine into Poland, refugees streaming across the border leave behind the air raid sirens and the sounds of war and are welcomed by musician Davide Martello. Tiny Desk NPR Maren Morris, writes my colleague Ann Powers, “is the country artist most gracefully poised at the spot where future thinking meets time-honored ways.” Morris’ Tiny Desk (home) concert features three tracks from her latest album, Humble Quest, plus her chart-topping ballad “The Bones.” We also shared a Tiny Desk (home) concert this week from Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, who performed two works by Mozart from inside Mozart's own home in Vienna. Plus: April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and in celebration the Jazz Night in America team has compiled a playlist of some of its favorite jazz Tiny Desks. One More Thing From Morning Edition: digitizing audio that hasn’t been heard in almost 100 years. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on Spotify and Apple Music What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: nprmusic@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Books, Pop Culture, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to NPR Music emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy