All Songs Considered

All Songs Considered

Since launching in 2000, All Songs Considered has been NPR's flagship program for music discovery, artist interviews and conversations with friends and fellow music lovers about the really big questions, like what was the best decade for music, are there albums everyone can agree on, and what do you put on when you need a good cry? Weekly, with host Robin Hilton and the NPR Music family.

Episodes

New Music Friday: The best albums out Jan. 16

January 16, 2026 • 38 mins
Ya Tseen. The Sha La Das. A mesmerizing collaboration between Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore. Stephen Thompson from NPR Music is joined by Alex Newman from KMHD in Portland to chat about the best albums out Friday, January 16.


The Starting 5

(00:00) Intro & A$AP Rocky, 'Don't Be Dumb'
(02:36) Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore, 'Tragic Magic'
(07:43) The Sha La Das, 'Your Picture'
(15:33) Ya Tseen...
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Alt.Latino: Our Love Letter to Bob Weir

January 14, 2026 • 28 mins
Over the weekend, we lost a musician who shaped the lives of countless people: the late, great Bob Weir. He was a founding member of the Grateful Dead who played guitar, wrote and sang in the band for 30 years. After Jerry Garcia died and the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir kept the spirit of the music alive for three more decades, creating new Deadheads for generations to come — he brought John Mayer, Billy Strings and even ...
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Big Thief’s Buck Meek, Joji and more of the week's best songs

January 13, 2026 • 42 mins
NPR’s classical critic Tom Huizenga joins host Robin Hilton for our first spin of the best songs we’re hearing in 2026, including new ones from Big Thief’s Buck Meek, the genre-hopping artist Joji, “fragile hope” from composer Daníel Bjarnason and more.


Featured artists and songs:

1. Buck Meek: “Gasoline,” from ‘The Mirror’

2. Pekka Kuusisto & Sam Amidon: "Way Go, Lily" (Arr. by Nico Muhly / Adapted ...
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New Music Friday: The best albums out Jan. 9

January 9, 2026 • 38 mins
Dry Cleaning. Jenny on Holiday. An introspective debut from Mon Rovîa. Stephen Thompson from NPR Music is joined by Celia Gregory from WNXP in Nashville to talk about their favorite new albums out Friday, January 9.

The Starting 5

(00:00) Intro
(00:31) Dry Cleaning, 'Secret Love'
(06:53) Jenny on Holiday, 'Quicksand Heart'
(15:12) Mon Rovîa, 'Bloodline'
(21:22) Home Star, 'A Binding Life'
(27:07) Kr...
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Alt.Latino: Music as protest in Venezuela

January 8, 2026 • 26 mins
Venezuela has a deep tradition of reflecting political change through music. This week, as the country reels from the seizure of its president by American forces, we explore the recent history of Venezuelan protest music, and from the Nineties right up until the present. First, we share an excerpt of an episode we made at another moment of political turmoil in Venezuela, in the summer of 2024. Then, we'll walk up to the present and...
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The best 2026 albums we've heard so far

January 6, 2026 • 37 mins
We look ahead to some of the albums we’re most excited about for the new year, from sure bets like Dry Cleaning and Beverly Glenn-Copeland to rumored releases from some pretty big names.

(00:00) Intro

(01:26) Dry Cleaning: “Cruise Ship Designer,” from ‘Secret Love’

(05:03) Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: “Perpetual Adoration,” from ‘Tragic Magic’

(07:48) Ásgeir: “Smoke,” from ‘Julia’

...
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New Music Friday: A roundup of December albums

January 2, 2026 • 7 mins
It's a slow release day to start the new year, so this week NPR Music's Stephen Thompson brings us an abbreviated episode highlighting a few of the new albums you might have missed in December. 

Artists and albums featured in this episode:

- Pink Floyd, 'Wish You Were Here 50'
- Fred Again.., 'USB002'
- This Is Lorelei, 'Holo Boy'
- HEALTH, 'CONFLICT DLC'
- Juliana Hatfield, 'Lightning Might Strike'
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Viking's Choice 2025: The Guitar

December 30, 2025 • 40 mins
On the last episode of All Songs Considered for 2025, NPR Music producer Lars Gotrich takes host Robin Hilton through an exceptional year in guitar music. From Gwenifer Raymond's beautiful and brash fingerstyle to Rafael Toral's stretched-out jazz standards, not to mention William Tyler's glitched hymns and Vernon Reid's ecstatic shred, there's so much diversity to be found in six strings.


Featured songs and artists: <...
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Our no. 1 songs: 2024

December 29, 2025 • 16 mins
In our final look back at our number one songs from the past 25 years, we visit Modesto, take an existential stroll through Petco, and find it all so confusing.


Note: This is a recurring series in celebration of All Songs Considered’s 25th anniversary. A shorter version of this episode ran earlier in the year.


Leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode w...
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A very tolerable Christmas, 2025

December 23, 2025 • 49 mins
We take a motorcycle road trip to Wisconsin in our annual search for the true spirit of the season. And, of course, we meet some special guests along the way.

Thanks for another amazing year, and happy holidays!

Listen to the songs featured on this episode and more in our holiday playlist in Apple Music and Spotify.

Tell a friend about the show and leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you list...
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Our No. 1 songs: 2023

December 22, 2025 • 16 mins

We get in our fast car, drive like a red wine supernova, and run into Kristine from the 7th grade.  Bad idea, right?

Enjoy the show? Share it with a friend and leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 
Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any...

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Listener Poll: Your Favorite Albums of 2025

December 19, 2025 • 42 mins
We asked and you answered. Earlier this month, we opened the polls and invited All Songs Considered's listeners to tell us their top 5 records of the year. We tabulated all of the ballots, determined the top 10, and gave the results a proper countdown in this episode of All Songs. And while we usually include the albums we discuss in our episode notes, this time you'll have to listen to find out what made the list. (OK, fine, you c...
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Alt.Latino: What We Missed In 2025

December 17, 2025 • 31 mins
The sheer volume and variety of Spanish-language music released every year is breathtaking. Even those of us with our ears to the ground are bound to miss things. So, in this episode we travel back through the year to resurface some of the remarkable albums that somehow didn't make it on the show. Catch Afro-Caribbean jazz, a history-spanning classical strings project, the return of Juana Molina and much, much more.

Artist...
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Songs that hit hard in 2025

December 16, 2025 • 39 mins
NPR listeners share the one song that hit them the hardest this year, and tell us why they laughed, cried, or simply couldn’t stop listening to it.


Featured songs and artists:
1. Annie DiRusso: "Back In Town," from Super Pedestrian

2. Tunde Adebimpe: "Drop," from Thee Black Boltz

3. Brandi Carlile: "You Without Me," from Returning To Myself

4. Bad Bunny: "DtMF," from DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
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Our No. 1 songs: 2022

December 14, 2025 • 14 mins
We go to college and get the “big D,” hit the dance floor and do what we want, then head back to the radio. Is this a life filled with every possibility, or is it all just devastatingly mediocre?


Note: This is a recurring series in celebration of All Songs Considered’s 25th anniversary. A shorter version of this episode ran earlier in the year.


Enjoy the show? Share it with a friend and leave us a review o...
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The Best Albums of 2025

December 12, 2025 • 56 mins
If we needed any more proof that the album isn't dead, 2025 was it. On this episode, Stephen Thompson is joined by Ann Powers and Daoud Tyler-Ameen to run through 12 dazzling albums that stuck with the NPR Music team this year. And for an even deeper exploration, check out the full lists of our critics' best albums of 2025 here.

Artists and albums featured on this episode:

- Rosalía, 'LUX'
- Wednesday, 'Bleeds'...
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Alt.Latino: What Were Felix and Ana's 2025 Favorites?

December 10, 2025 • 34 mins
This year was bookended by two major statements in Latin music. In January, Bad Bunny released DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, and followed that up with a 31-show residency in Puerto Rico over the summer. Then, in November, the Spanish vocalist Rosalía released her genre-defying masterpiece LUX, which sent legions of music lovers scrambling to try to grasp the magnitude of an album performed in 13 different languages.

But they were ...
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The Best Songs of 2025

December 9, 2025 • 42 mins
When the dust settles on 2025, what songs will remain in heavy rotation? We look back at a dizzying amount of music and share some of our picks for the best tracks of the year.

What you'll hear in this episode is an incredibly incomplete list that obviously just scratches the surface of all the incredible music that came out this year. For a more comprehensive breakdown of what we loved in 2025, check out NPR Music’s list ...
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Our No. 1 songs: 2021

December 8, 2025 • 14 mins
We’ve got a funny feeling about the times, stay indoors (together alone), and dream about life on the other side.

Note: This is a recurring series in celebration of All Songs Considered’s 25th anniversary. A shorter version of this episode ran earlier in the year.

Enjoy the show? Share it with a friend and leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Questions, comments, sugge...
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New Music Friday: The best albums out Dec. 5

December 5, 2025 • 38 mins
Dove Ellis. Melody's Echo Chamber. Editors' Tom Smith. Erin Wolf of Radio Milwaukee joins Stephen Thompson to discuss those albums and more on our last episode of New Music Friday this year.


The Starting 5:

Dove Ellis, Blizzard

Melody's Echo Chamber, Unclouded

Tom Smith, There Is Nothing In The Dark That Isn’t There In The Light

TEED, Always With Me

Voices from the Lake, II<...
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