All Songs Considered

On this week's All Songs Considered we premiere new music from Aldous Harding. The artist from New Zealand made Bob Boilen's number two album from 2017 (Party) and her latest song, "The Barrel," indicates that she'll be another year-end favorite of mine in 2019. Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna join Bob as co-host for the first time together and fill out the show with some new, great unknowns, including Sweden's Westkust and an artist who goes by the name Ellis. Ellis is the musical project of Linnea Siggelkow (the name is a play on her initials, L.S.), an Ontario-based singer who recently opened for Snail Mail. She proves to be a perfect musical pairing with Westkust. We've also got new music from a band we all love, Palehound. Marissa describes the new music from Ellen Kempner as suave and spooky. We get loud with the angular and stuttering sounds of Sego, then quiet with Mountain Man's Molly Sarlé. But we start the show off with a surprise you may or not love.

Our list of the best albums out this week includes the first new music from funk and R&B legend Chaka Khan in 12 years, the cinematic, transporting sounds of Yann Tiersen, bubblegum punk from Sir Babygirl and more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Lauren Onkey and Stephen Thompson as they share their top picks for Feb. 15. FEATURED ALBUMS: Chaka Khan: Hello Happiness; RY X: Unfurl; Yann Tiersen: All; Sir Babygirl: Crush on Me; J.S. Ondara: Tales of America; Robert Ellis: Texas Piano Man OTHER NOTABLE ALBUMS FOR FEB. 15: Avril Lavigne: Head Above Water; Betty Who: Betty; Dale Watson: Call Me Lucky; Florida Georgia Line: Can't Say I Ain't Country; Jonny Nash: Make a Wilderness; Ladytron: Ladytron; Natti Natasha: Illuminati; Tedeshi Trucks Band: Signs

This week's show is made possible by a generous amount of existential anxiety. This includes the ego-destroying rock anthem "I Don't Matter At All," from the Toronto band Pkew Pkew Pkew, and an epic life manifesto from Amanda Palmer called "The Ride" – a ten-minute oration about the crippling effects of unbridled and rampant fear.But we've also got some horn-powered instrumental rock from New York's Afro-soul group The Budos Band, and a beautiful, blood-slowing song from the Swedish singer Daniel Norgren, an artist who takes inspiration from the sounds of a creaking floor in an old flour mill.

Our list of the best albums out this week includes delicate piano pieces from Hauschka, the brilliantly burning rock of Bob Mould, songs inspired by the film Roma, Mercury Rev's remake of Bobbie Gentry's country opera The Delta Sweete and much more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Felix Contreras, Tom Huizenga and Stephen Thompson as they sprint through their top picks for Feb. 8. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Bob Mould: Sunshine Rock; 2. Jessica Pratt: Quiet Signs; 3. Hauschka: A Different Forest; 4. Various: Music Inspired by the Film Roma; 5. Said the Whale: Cascadia; 6. Mercury Rev: Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited; 7. Joszef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch: An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR FEB. 8: Ariana Grande: thank u, next; Cass McCombs: Tip of the Sphere; The Lemonheads: Varshons 2; Panda Bear: Buoys; Talos: Far Out Dust

On this week's show, artists battle their inner demons – the kind that come out a night when you're alone in bed, trying to find sleep – speak truth to power, celebrate love, dig into complicated characters with troubled pasts and much more.This includes a kind of demented nursery rhyme from singer Billie Eilish; the London-based duo Tender and their deep reflection on ruinous self-indulgence; and producer T Bone Burnett's new album with a prayer to overcome fear.Also on the show: The artist known as Many Rooms confronts organized religion; New York singer-songwriter Laura Stevenson has a new album inspired by the inevitable end of the universe; Lucy Dacus reimagines the French love song "La Vie En Rose" as a driving anthem to love; and producer and musician John Vanderslice returns from a five-year break from making music with a new solo album called The Cedars and a complicated tale of bent love