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Vulture

Listen closer to pop music — hear how it moves us. Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Switched on Pop

Every Christmas season, pop stars far and wide throw their Santa hats into the ring to see who has the next "All I Want for Christmas Is You," and this year is no exception. It's a yearly tradition on Switched On Pop to explore the deluge of holiday hits, and 2025 sees formidable entries to the canon from folks like Kylie Minogue, Leon Bridges, and Willie Nelson.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:

 Ariana Grande – Santa Tell Me

 Kelly Clarkson – Underneath the Tree

 Cher – Christmas Is Here

 Cher – Believe

 Kylie Minogue – Hot in December

 Zach Top – For You For Christmas

 Willie Nelson – Christmas Love Song

 Mickey Guyton – Sugar Cookie

 Meghan Trainor – Gifts For Me

 The Ronettes – Sleigh Ride

 Gwen Stefani – Hot Cocoa

 Train – Let's Stay in Tonight

 Brenda Lee – Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

 Leon Bridges, Norah Jones – This Christmas I'm Coming Home

 Elysia Biro – The Christmas Song

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Naughty or nice? The 2025 holiday music round up

From big-ticket albums by Taylor and Gaga, to a revival of the stomp-clap revival – 2025 had it all, for better and for worse. Now that the year has come to a close, it's time to take a look back at the past twelve months: what happened in the zeitgeist, what we loved listening to, and what we missed here on the show. Reanna, Charlie, and Nate talk about it all, including a look back at our predictions from January to check off boxes for Switched On Pop bingo.

Links: Newsletter, YouTube

Songs discussed:

 Taylor Swift – The Fate of Ophelia

 Alex Warren – Ordinary

 HUNTR/X – Golden

 Morgan Wallen – I'm The Problem

 Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga – Die With A Smile

 Bruno Mars – 24K Magic

 ROSÉ, Bruno Mars – APT.

 Olivia Dean – Man I Need

 Ravyn Lenae – Love Me Not

 Justin Bieber, Dijon – DEVOTION

 Bon Iver, Dijon, Flock of Dimes – Day One

 Dijon – Baby!

 Dijon – Yamaha

 CA7RIEL – SHIPEA2

 Paco Amoroso – Viuda Negra

 CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso – EL ÚNICO - Live at NPR MUSIC's Tiny Desk

 CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso – EL DÍA DEL AMIGO

 CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso – #TETAS

 Breaking Rust – Walk My Walk

 Jack Black – Steve's Lava Chicken

 Saja Boys – Soda Pop

 Snocaps – Coast

 Miley Cyrus – Something Beautiful

 Bad Bunny – DtMF

 MOLIY, Shenseea, Silent Addy, Skillibeng – Shake It To The Max (FLY) - Remix

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The year that killed music (best and worst of 2025)

Grammy-winning songwriter Amy Allen joins NYU Steinhardt students live to trace her path from early pitch songs to co-writing some of the decade's defining hits. She explains why Halsey's "Without Me" needed an extended chorus but no pre-made chord loops, how Harry Styles' "Matilda" required character-driven writing for emotional safety, and what made the hypnotic groove of Tate McRae's "Greedy" demand a rare third verse. Allen also unpacks the spoken hook in Rosé and Bruno Mars' "APT" and the three-step key change powering Sabrina Carpenter's recent work. The result is a masterclass in why songs work—and why the rules worth breaking are the ones you've already learned.

SONGS DISCUSSED

 
Halsey "Without Me"

 
Harry Styles "Adore You"

 
Harry Styles "Matilda"

 
Tate McRae "greedy"

 
Rosé and Bruno Mars "ATA"

 
Sabrina Carpenter "Please, please, please"

 
Selena Gomez "Back to You"

 
Justin Timberlake "Cry Me A River" (Interpolated in "Without Me")

 
Olivia Rodrigo "Driver's License"

 
Sabrina Carpenter "Espresso"

 
Sabrina Carpenter Short and Sweet (Album)

 
Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend (Album)

 
Beyoncé "Love on Top"

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Why pop songwriters break the rules (ft. Amy Allen)

Sombr went from crafting raw, reverb soaked songs alone in his Lower East Side bedroom to finding his life shifting in ways he never could have predicted across 2024 and 2025. His biggest tracks kept their imperfections even as world class players at Sound City added new layers, and a disco groove he began as a late night joke transformed into a breakout moment that changed his career’s trajectory. He explains how he writes, why distortion carries emotional weight for him, how he navigates the pull between bedroom recordings and studio polish, and what it felt like to watch childhood dreams come true on national stages. The result is a portrait of an artist whose rise has been so quick and so unlikely that even Sombr is still piecing together how it all happened.

Watch the interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Switched-On-Pop

Songs Discussed

 
Sombr “12 to 12”

 
Sombr “Back to Friends”

 
Sombr “Undressed”

 
Lizzo “About Damn Time”

 
Chic “Good Times”

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How Sombr’s bedroom recordings became his biggest hits

When it comes to improvisational loop jams, few have gone as viral as Marc Rebillet. From his 2020 lockdown-era video “How to Funk in Two Minutes,” which features him wearing nothing but a bathrobe, to unsuspecting New York street corners, and eventually the Coachella main stage, Rebillet has come to be known as “loop daddy” for his gifted ability to harness spontaneous funk.

On this episode of Switched On Pop, Charlie interviews Marc about his process, inspiration, and pandemic success, witnessing his flow state firsthand as he graces us with some live improvisation. 
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"It’s a Hail Mary every time" (ft. Marc Rebillet)

In June 2025, indie veterans Deerhoof scrubbed their entire catalog from the world’s dominant streaming platform. The catalyst wasn't low royalties, but Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek’s investment in AI military technology through his investment firm Prima Materia. Greg Saunier and Satomi Matsuzaki explain why they are prioritizing their ethics over exposure. They argue that the "convenience" of streaming traps us in harmful systems. They’d prefer listeners explore alternative paths to hear their music. That’s why the band premiered their latest single on Craigslist. And it’s they half jokingly say they "would rather our fans steal our music than stream our music at this point."

SONGS DISCUSSED

Deerhoof: Immigrant Song, Scarcity is Manufactured, Life is Suffering, Return of the Return of the Fire Trick Star

MORE

Get Zach Tenorio's synth extraveganza 'Field Trip'
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Quitting Spotify (ft. Deerhoof)

This year, there were a few records that delivered less-than-optimal returns on either the Hot 100 or the Billboard 200 – and they all came from former Disney pop stars. 

Demi Lovato’s latest album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200, where it spent one week and then fell off; Selena Gomez’s record with Benny Blanco peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200, but no songs cracked the top 40; and Miley Cyrus’s album is her shortest charting project to date. On this episode of Switched On Pop, Nate and Reanna try to get to the bottom of the so-called “Disney curse,” and why these artists are unable to recapture their past commercial success.

Songs discussed:

 Demi Lovato – Here All Night

 Selena Gomez, benny blanco – Sunset Blvd

 Miley Cyrus – End of the World

 Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry

 Demi Lovato – Heart Attack

 Demi Lovato – Skin of my Teeth

 Demi Lovato – Fast

 Kesha – JOYRIDE.

 Demi Lovato – Frequency

 Demi Lovato – Kiss

 Todd Terry, Martha Wash – Keep On Jumpin'

 Demi Lovato – Sorry To Myself

 Selena Gomez, A$AP Rocky – Good For You

 Kygo, Selena Gomez – It Ain't Me

 Selena Gomez, Marshmallo – Wolves

 Selena Gomez, benny blanco, Gracie Abrams – Call Me When You Break Up

 benny blanco, Selena Gomez, J Balvin, Tainy – I Can't Get Enough

 J Balvin, Willy William – Mi Gente

 Selena Gomez, benny blanco – Bluest Flame

 Selena Gomez, benny blanco, The Marías – Ojos Tristes

 Miley Cyrus, Big Sean – Love Money Party

 Miley Cyrus – Flowers

 Miley Cyrus – Easy Lover

 Miley Cyrus, Naomi Campbell – Every Girl You've Ever Loved

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Is there a Disney curse?: Demi, Selena, and Miley

Spanish pop star Rosalía is back with her new album, Lux. Over eighteen tracks, she trades in the dembow beats that filled her last record Motomami for maximalist orchestral sounds more in line with Björk than Bad Bunny. 

The album is dense: there's four movements, thirteen languages, arrangements by Caroline Shaw, and a wide breadth of influences – from Benedictine saints to Patti Smith. But despite (or because) all of this, Rosalía has gone on record referring to Lux as, ultimately, a pop album. 

That's where we come in. On this episode of Switched On Pop, Nate and Reanna put on their tour guide hats to talk all things Lux: its sonic genre-bending, Rosalía’s poetic lyricism, and her hyper-local flamenco influence. 

Check out Bella Freud's interview with Rosalia on Fashion Neurosis

Songs discussed:

 Rosalía – Berghain

 Rosalía – Bizcochito

 Rosalía – De Madrugá

 Rosalía – Mio Cristo

 Rosalía – La Yugular

 Björk – Joga

 Caroline Shaw, Roomful of Teeth – Partita for 8 Voices

 Rosalía – Sexo, Violencia y Llantas

 Rosalía – Divinize

 Rosalía – Porcelana

 Rosalía – Dios Es Un Stalker

 The Police – Every Breath You Take

 Rosalía – La Perla

 Johann Strauss II – The Blue Danube

 Drake – Push Ups

 Rosalía – Sauvignon Blanc

 Lady Gaga – Grigio Girls

 Adele – I Drink Wine

 Rosalía – Focu ‘Ranni

 Rosalía – Novia Robot

 Rosalía – La Rumba del Perdón

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Rosalía's 'LUX' brings the symphony to the club

They say the best revenge is living well, but if you’re a pop star going through a break up, that’s false. The best revenge is releasing a searing scorched-earth revenge banger that calls out your ex and, ideally, rides that vengeance to the top of the Billboard charts.

That’s exactly what Tate McRae and Lily Allen have done in the wake of their high profile break ups; McRae with the track “TIT FOR TAT” and Allen with an entire album, West End Girl. On this episode of Switched On Pop, Charlie and Nate use these tracks to explore the art of the revenge song.

Songs Discussed

 Tate McRae – TIT FOR TAT

 The Kid LAROI, Justin Bieber – STAY

 Angelo Badalamenti – Twin Peaks Theme

 Fleetwood Mac – Dreams

 Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way

 Bizarrap, Shakira – Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53

 Lilly Allen — West End Girl, Madeline, 4chanstan

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Lily Allen and Tate McRae revive the revenge anthem

Charlie Puth breaks down his new single "Changes," a maximalist eighties production hiding a melancholy story about drifting friendships. As he prepares for fatherhood, the singer-songwriter reflects on how relationships evolve from deep conversations to small talk, why he listens to lyrics last, and his belief that music should offer a three-minute escape from life's exhaustion. Between demonstrating vocal techniques, championing forgotten producer Rod Temperton, and turning "You Are My Sunshine" into a minor-key lullaby, Puth makes his case for earning the title "Professor," with one simple lesson: stop overthinking and just feel the music.

Songs Discussed

Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth "See You Again"Charlie Puth "Attention"Charlie Puth "Changes"Charlie Puth "Hero"The Weeknd "Blinding Lights"Dua Lipa "Physical"Olivia Newton-John "Physical"Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight"Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"Heatwave "The Groove Line"Tamia "You Put a Move on My Heart"Heatwave "All You Do Is Dial"Michael Jackson "Thriller"Traditional "You Are My Sunshine"
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Can “professor” Charlie Puth pass our qualifying exam?

On October 14th, the visionary musician D’Angelo passed away at 51 years old. Only releasing three albums during his lifetime, he synthesized influences from gospel, jazz, rock, and hip-hop to create a singular and transcendent sound artists still try – and fail – to emulate today. 

On this special episode of Switched On Pop, Charlie and Nate are joined by producer Reanna and engineer Brandon to celebrate D’Angelo through his music, discussing one song from each of his albums and highlighting his musical genius.

Songs Discussed

 D’Angelo – Untitled (How Does It Feel)

 D’Angelo – Brown Sugar

 The Hawkins Family – What Is This?

 D’Angelo – Feel Like Makin’ Love

 Roberta Flack – Feel Like Makin’ Love

 Parliament – Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)

 D’Angelo – Cruisin’

 Smokey Robinson – Cruisin’

 D’Angelo – The Charade

 Curtis Mayfield – (Don’t Worry) If There Is A Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go

 Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower

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How D'Angelo changed music, in three songs

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