2025: Top 5 New Albums

 My top 5 albums released in 2024 or 2025 (because I can't listen to EVERYTHING the moment it comes out)

5. Carla Kihlstedt - 26 Little Deaths

Present Music, 03/2025

"a 60-minute set of 26 miniatures for singing violinist and chamber orchestra" Inspired by Edward Gorey's exquisite children's book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies (a favorite at our house). This is a varied orchestral set of compositions, each about a... rather unique ... way to die. Each page brings macabre brilliance. I especially love A (a 30 second crash imitating Amy falling down the stairs), and Z, a cabaret drinking song, for Zillah, who drank too much Gin with her dolly. We caught this live with the Oregon Symphony, on a semi-whim, and fell in love.

 

4. Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More

 

4AD Records, 11/2024

I mentioned last year that I hadn't listened to this album and I wanted to. Well, I did. Nothing else on the album quite matches the brilliance of the song Coast, but this is a great set from Kim Deal.

3. Andi Camp - A Life Less Terrified

 

Grafton Records, 02/2025

Andi's first solo album in 20 years, and maybe my favorite of her solo albums. Andi (formerly of Ribbon Fix) has spent several entries in this list with her bands The Hold Out and Temper and Hold. I listened to this record a bunch when I got it, then put it on the shelf for a few months. I brought it out again later in the year, and felt like I was being wrapped in the warm familiar comfort of these songs. I can't recommend it higher than that.

2. Shellac - To All Trains

Touch and Go Records, 05/2024

R.I.P. Steven Frank Albini. Steve Albini died just around the time Shellac released this record, and I'm sad that I don't get any more Shellac. This album is great, though. A worthy addition to a top-notch rock and roll band's great albums. There's a lot of ink spilled over this album, because of the circumstances of its release. I can't really add anything more to the words about it, but it's great. By turns comical and fun. the song Scabby the Rat makes me giggle every time. Elsewhere, the album is a bit more somber. "I don't fear hell. The floor show would be incredible."

1. Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles

 

Sub Pop Records, 05/2025

This is Alan's second solo album since the untimely 2022 passing of his wife and musical partner, Mimi Parker. His first, White Roses, My God, released in 2024, was densely electronic, difficult, and uneven. Didn't make my top 5 last year. This album fulfills the promise of his songwriting within Low, as well as the heartwrenching performances on his solo tour.

Trampled by Turtles are also from Duluth, and are a pretty famous band in their own sphere (modern Bluegrass). I suspect they may actually be more popular than Low. Alan has shared the stage with them a few times over the years (including this heartwrenching performance less than a month after Mimi's death). They make such a natural backing band for Alan, I want this collaboration to be a permanent thing. 

Two of the songs here are acoustic reimaginings of the digital experiments on White Roses, My God. Several are naked expressions of grief. All are super listenable. 

P.S. You know I'm a Low fan. They keep showing up in this list.

2025: Top 5 New Discoveries

 (5 favorite albums from 2023 or prior that I discovered this year)

5. Eldritch Anisette - Complete Fairytales

Released as a cassette demo and 7" in 1997.
Reissue compilation: Numero Group 08/2025

2025 was the year of the Emo Reissue for me. Eldritch Anisette was one of the brightest spots on the Sequoia box set (more on this later), and I snagged the insanely limited-run LP from Numero. This is great, unheard 90s indie with female vocals. Now that Numero's plugging it, it's going to be all over your spotify just like Everyone Asked About You.

 

4. Brian Eno - Another Green World

   

Island Records, 1975

Yes, it's taken me this long to finally hear this album. And yes, it's exactly as good as you would expect. This is one of Eno's "pop" albums, but about half the songs are instrumental. Recommended if you like Bowie's berlin albums, Talking Heads, or just really good rock music.

3. Cypress Hill

   

Columbia Records, 1991

I don't listen to much rap. But I totally dig this. This is G-funk the way I like it. West coast and silly. Yes, the Insane in the Brain beat gets put in half the movie trailers nowadays, but this is some cool stuff. This, technically, is their first album, before Insane in the Brain... but this album is just as good as Black Sunday. Sounds like they're having a lot of fun making this. OK, so I'm a little bit annoyed that they keep rhyming things with "trigger"... oh well...

 

2. Blow It Out Your Ass It's Veruca Salt

 

DGC, 1996

Major label EPs seem to get lost in the hype machine. I missed this EP the first time around, and I haven't run into it since. After being the overhyped alterna-next-big-thing with their 1995 debut American Thighs, Veruca Salt pulled a Nirvana and recorded with Steve Albini (yay! lots of Albini love in this list, always). This EP is what I always wanted from Veruca Salt. Shimmer and grit. More than just a Breeders rip-off, but a snarling, layered, melodic treat. This is 4 GREAT songs from Veruca.

1. Sequoia / Sycamore box set

 

Numero Group, 2025

A big square box that will forever sit in my living room-- This is an ambitious 25 7" box set (plus bonus 2x7" Sycamore comp) reissuing a whole bunch of late-80s/early-90s emotive indie rock. Everything here has been released before, but surprisingly, given my collection, I only owned one of the 7"s. Many of the others, I had on other formats, but also, many of the rest were new to me. I could nit-pick and say that this collection over-represents 1993 and California. It tends to get a bit repetetive in the middle, but there are some real gems. Top notch include some Hated, Unwound, and I think my favorite 7" (At least today) is The Lazarus Plot. I also really dig the Rye Coalition song -- how did they turn from that into their later AC/DC phase?

Anyway, I am going to paste the tracklist here because it's lengthy:

Carpe Diem - No Merge
Carpe Diem - Carpe Diem
Carpe Diem - Turning Over
The Hated - Underground 
The Hated - Not Mine
The Hated - Damned Heart
The Hated - Psalm
Wind of Change - Rain
Wind of Change - How I Feel
The Vagrants - Open Book
The Vagrants - Gone
The Vagrants - Alone
Chino Horde - Merit
Chino Horde - Racket
Unwound - You Bite My Tongue
Unwound - Kid Is Gone (Chant of Vengeance)
Unwound - Understand and Forget
Native Nod - Bread
Native Nod - High Tide in Alaska
Native Node - Back to Mimsey
Universal Order of Armageddon - Sympton
Universal Order of Armageddon - Visible Distance
Universal Order of Armageddon - Flux
Clikatat Ikatowi - Saxby's Gail
Clikatat Ikatowi - Off to Here
Pot Valiant - Volar
Pot Valiant - Low Dexterity Points
Boys Life - Lister
Boys Life - Without Doubt
Thumbnail - Parallels
Thumbnail - Split Decision
Thumbnail - Shirts and Skins
Thumbnail - Burning Bridges
Mohinder - The Mission
Mohinder - Alien
Mohinder - Division
Mohinder - Acceptance
Mohinder - The Static Cult
Mohinder - Beautiful
Mohinder - One Warrior
Mohinder - Expiration
Indian Summer - Aren't You Angel
Indian Summer - mm.
Indian Summer - Woolworm
Boilermaker - Used to Be
Boilermaker - Besame Mucho You Fucker
Allure - Little Engine
Allure - Rise and Run
Patterns Make Sunrise - Silo Concordance
Patterns Make Sunrise - Quilceda Creek
Patterns Make Sunrise - So As To
Patterns Make Sunrise - Light to Your Heart
Don Martin Three - Katahdn
Don Martin Three- Inefficient Engine
Current - Basis
Current - Repetition
Current - Continued Rantings
Current - Overbearing
Karate - Cherry Coke
Karate - The Schwinn
Bells on Trike - I Drive
Bells on Trike - The Old Adam
The Lazarus Plot - Friday the Thirteenth
The Lazarus Plot - Confessions to An Early Summer Nightmare
The Lazarus Plot - Dissolving Substance
The Lazarus Plot - Sleepwalker
The Lazarus Plot - Ending Time
The Lazarus Plot - Goodbye, Again
Eldritch Anisette - Suckerpunch
Eldritch Anisette - Pessimism Goes to Work
Eldritch Anisette - Dissection of Silence
Everyone Asked About You - Paper Airplanes, Paper Hearts
Everyone Asked About You - Me Vs. You
Everyone Asked About You - It's Days Like This That Make Me Wish the Summer Lasted Forever
Everyone Asked About You - Everyone Asked About You
Cars Get Crushed - Warped Speed
Cars Get Crushed - Hey Sister Vampire

Frail - Drought
Rye Coalition - Don T. Nils
Endive - 10,000 Dead Roses
Ethel Meserve - Calba's Last

2025: Top 5 Miscellaneous Songs

 

 (generally, the best five songs not on the other two lists. Either new in 2025, or new to me)

5. Storey Littleton - At a Diner

single release
Don Giovanni, 5/2025

Passing the torch to the next generation. This is the debut single from Storey, who is the daughter of Dan and Liz from Ida. Storey played guitar for Ida on this year's reunion tour, and they played this new song of hers, which is sweet and beautiful. Storey got her start as a kid singing on her mom's children's albums. Looking forward to hearing more from Storey.

 

4. I Is Another - Queen of Swords

 

From "I Is Another"
Siren Records, 2013

I saw a pair of fun Jonah Matranga shows this year, and learned about this 2013 project from Jonah (also of Far, Onelinedrawing, and New End Original). This is a rocker that stacks up to the best of Jonah's songs. I like the guitar textures in this song.

3. U2 - The Fool

 

Recorded circa 1979. Released online as "Early Demos"
Island Records, 2004

U2 seem to be sheepish about their early stuff, but I think they were a top notch new wave / post punk band. This is a song that had disappeared from their setlist by the time their first album Boy was released. Apparently Island slipped three demo songs in some massive $200 download package back in 2004. I missed it. Fans of early early u2 should also check out the recording of their National Stadium gig in 1980.

2. Catherine Wheel - Dead Girl Friend

From the I Want to Touch You EP
Fontana Records, 1992

Speaking of pre-first-album songs, this is an early early B-side from one of Catherine Wheel's first EPs. This song is creepy. I love it. Not sure what the lyrics mean exactly, but I'm a bit scared to know. All I know is this is great gaze-pop.

  1. Samuel - Evergreen

From Pohgoh / Samuel Split 10"
New Granada Records, 10/2025

Samuel was a 90s band that released a handful of great songs, including a split 7" with Texas Is the Reason. They reunited a few years ago, reissued their old stuff, and rechristened their band Samuel S.C. (South Carolina? Santa Claus?) -- In the discogs age, I guess that beats Samuel (8), but I'm not calling them SC. I guess they released a new album, too, which I have not heard yet, but now I want to very badly. Anyway, this song is a stompin' good time with hooks galore. I love it. The story's getting old, we're just getting old with it.

2024: Top 5 New Albums

2024 was a good year for music. Some very good albums and songs didn't make these lists.

5. Eyelids - No Jigsaw

Jealous Butcher Records, 03/2024

The Eyelids are something pretty special. This Portland-based supergroup has been churning out the powerpop hits for 10 years. This 2-LP compilation of singles, one-offs, covers, and oddities is my favorite release by them. And it's a testament to how musically good 2024 was that this comes in at #5. This would probably be #1 in other years. 

Many of these songs have been covered in past years on this blog. Among the slices of pure power-pop goodness, there are also some really strange things here. A cover of The Fall sounding... just like The Fall. Peter Buck (R.E.M.'s famously silent guitar player) singing? This is a super fun album and worth your time.

 

4. Suburban Eyes

 

Spartan Records, 08/2024

A new album and band from Eric Richter of Christie Front Drive (and Antarctica), Jeremy Gomez from Mineral, and John Anderson from Boys Life. Does not sound much like Christie Front Drive, Mineral, or Boys Life.

What it does sound like, however, is a less electronic Antarctica, and if you are a fan (like I am), this one is great.

Good solid rock songs. Nothing flashy or intrusive, but good solid tunes. I don't have a lot of words about this. Instead, you should just listen to it.

3. Bonnie Prince Billy, Nathan Salsburg, and Tyler Trotter - Hear the Children Sing the Evidence

 

No Quarter Records, 05/2024

Viva la Lungfish.

I collect Lungfish covers, because I love Lungfish songs. Lungfish songs are so interesting-- It's as if they're songs turned on their side. If most music is horizontal, Lungfish songs are vertical.

This fun record is two typical one-chord Lungfish covers, but presented in an atypical manner. These songs are stretched to their absolute logical conclusion, clocking in at over 20 minutes apiece. That's one song per side of the LP. Bonnie Prince Billy's voice is well-suited for these mantra-songs. The music is hypnotic. It grooves. It's vastly wide and deep.

2. Symmetry/Symmetry - Interference

self-released, 10/2024

Oregon's answer to Radiohead. Symmetry/Symmetry surprised us with a new LP this year (It's been 10 years since their last EP). This one is in heavy rotation on my turntable right now, and I can't say enough good things about the band. Fantastic musicianship. Great songs. Hints of prog and white-boy-blues, but more interesting and tuneful than either. "All We Know" would make a decent James Bond theme. Do yourself a favor and check this whole album out. 

I also can't stop talking about Symmetry/Symmetry's Christmas/Christmas album, which gets tons of play at our house each December, and is in my top-3-of-all-time Christmas records.

1. The Cure - Songs of a Lost World

 

Fiction Records, 11/2024

The last time The Cure released an album, I was childless. Now, I have teenagers that can listen to this. (Not that they would want to. Hating your parents' music is part of growing up.)

This album is very very good. Of course, nothing can match The Cure's creative peak in the 1980s, but I attempted the pointless exercise of ranking my top 10 favorite Cure albums, and this album surprisingly made it into the top 10. In my (admittedly biased and limited) experience, I don't know of any other artist producing work this good into their 60s. Heck, most artists aren't this good in their 30s.

Among other things, this album is a testament to brevity and editing. I'm sure Robert Smith &co wrote many many songs over the past 16 years, but they edited it down to these 8. These 8 songs are very, very good. Contrast this to all the mediocre late-career albums put out by so many bands. This is a great coda to a band I saw described as "The Led Zeppelin of Alternative Rock"

This isn't the album that would convince anyone to be a new Cure fan, but if you can see past the makeup and hear the gorgeous songwriting, the inventive guitar, the driving bass, the cascading rhythms, this is a great Cure album. These songs were great live, too.

2024: Top 5 New Discoveries

(5 favorite albums from 2022 or prior that I discovered this year)

5. Purplene

Spunk Records, 2004

I don't listen to enough music from Australia. According to Wikipedia, Purplene were "one of Australia's most respected rock groups". I hadn't heard of them until 20 years after this LP was released. This is great American Football-influenced twinkle indie, with some interesting math-rock undercurrents. They recorded this in the US with Steve Albini (RIP), whose crystal-clear production makes this record shine. (Albini's band Shellac made last year's #1 before he died)

 

4. The Apples in Stereo - The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone

   

SpinART Records, 04/2000

Perfect turn-of-the-millenium indie pop. I'm ashamed and embarrassed that it took me so long to listen to this album. I had Stream Running Over on one of my favorite mixtapes back in 2000. I even saw the Apples on this tour back in early 2001, and they were fantastic. The Apples in Stereo opened for Man or Astro-man. I sadly bought a Man or Astro-man T-shirt instead of the Apples in Stereo album. I still have the T-shirt, but I wore holes in the armpits. I wish I'd bought the Moone instead.

3. Harry Belafonte - Calypso

   

RCA Victor, 1956

A neighbor had an estate sale, and I rummaged through the old old records, and I found this one. I bought it as a Beetlejuice soundtrack.

(the scene, for reference :)

...and it does make a fine Beetlejuice soundtrack, but this album is so much more. Belafonte holds this whole thing together by force of personality, and it makes a fun listen regardless. I get a bit tired of the weird little flute that happens in half the songs, but that's a small nit-pick. This album is thoroughly enjoyable, start to finish.

 

2. Hot Snakes - Suicide Invoice

 

Sub Pop, 06/2002

Hard hitting rock and roll from Swami John Reis of Drive Like Jehu and Rocket from the Crypt. Hits all the right rocknroll buttons that bands like Q and Not U hit. This one rocks.

1. Wild Tchoupitoulas

 

Mango Records, 1976

Say "Chop-it-too-luz".

Mardi Gras Indians. I have no cultural connection to this. I've never been to New Orleans, never celebrated Mardi Gras, and I am generally ignorant about all the cultural things going on there. Now that I've discovered this, I'm fascinated, and I've gone down a few youtube rabbit holes, but I'm sure I'm getting a lot wrong.

Anyway, here's the situation as I understand it: Every Mardi Gras, these New Orleans street gangs go out parading. They spend a lot of money and effort to dress like caricatures of native americans, but with way more spangles, color, and glitter. They posture and get into knife fights. There's a hierarchy, with a Chief, as well as Flag Boys and Spy Boys, which are somehow ranks within the gang. They also...sing?

Somehow, everyone in New Orleans (or at least Chief Jolly, who is lead singer for the Tchoupitoulas) all talk like Ray the Firefly from Princess and the Frog, and spit all these strange creole-isms. Hey too-way-pocky-way! Jock-a-mo fina ney! Koona-hoona! etc.

This particular Mardi Gras tribe wasn't the first to record their music, but this tribe contains all 4 Neville brothers and most of The Meters, who later became very important to jazz and funk music, but again, this is way outside my realm of knowledge. (It's true. I don't know much).

This music, though. It's SO GOOD. It's a weird amalgamation of almost every american genre (Soul, Funk, Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Rock), with some west-african and caribbean thrown in there as well. It's almost as if this is the absolute geographical center of music. I dunno, but it's good. I guess I'm a sucker for the funky rhythmic bounce and the call-and-response vocals.

I feel like this is what the Talking Heads must have been listening to from 1980 through the end of their run. If you take Remain in Light, and add ever-increasing doses of Wild Tchoupitoulas, you get Speaking in Tongues, Little Creatures, True Stories, and Naked.

I also find it odd that the Tchoupitoulas didn't record what is apparently the most popular Mardi Gras Indian song, the oft-covered Iko Iko. (original version, most popular version, hippie version, 80s version from my childhood).

I truly love this album, and these Wild Tchoupitoulas songs keep popping up at random into my head. Indians coming-- get out de way!

 

2024: Top 5 Miscellaneous Songs

 (generally, the best five songs not on the other two lists. Either new in 2024, or new to me. 2024 was such a bumper crop of good new music, that this year's list is 100% newly released songs.)

5. Kim Deal - Coast

from "Nobody Loves You More"
4AD, 11/2024

A new Kim Deal solo album. I haven't heard the whole album yet, but I want to. This song was released in advance of the new album, and it's really good.

I believe "Nobody Loves You More" was the last thing Steve Albini worked on before his untimely passing this past May. Albini's sound always surprises me because it's not always harsh noise-rock. He recorded Low and Bedhead, for goodness sakes. This recording has horns! But it clearly sounds really good.

This song was apparently inspired by a bad cover of Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville". Like him or hate him, you have to admit, that song is a vibe. This song is also a vibe-- not the same vibe as Margaritaville, maybe a mirror image.

Now, if somebody could just tell me what "Someone must've checked the WAM" means...

 

4. The Decemberists - Oh No!

 

From "As It Ever Was, So It Shall Be Again"
YABB Records, 06/2024

The Decemberists return with this fun ... uhh ... tango? foxtrot? whiskey? I'm not so up on my dance beats. Anyway, this song is certainly Decemberists. You almost need a thesaurus to decode the lyrics, but it's just a lot of fun. The new album is great, and there are several classic classic songs on there. This is one of them.

3. Mary Timony - Untame the Tiger

 

Title track of the album "Untame the Tiger"
Merge Records 02/2024

Sometimes the simple ones are the best. This song starts with 100 seconds of Mary Timony's usual alternate-tuning guitar playing a typically atmospheric, off-kilter Mary Timony melody. All of a sudden, the drums kick in with a 4/4 beat and the song turns into a simple, catchy I-IV-V pop song. The chorus is instrumental-- just a guitar hook. Super simple, and it works. Reminds me of "Hey Ya!".

2. Jack White - Archbishop Harold Holmes

From "No Name"
Third Man Records, 08/2024

Jack White should write a Broadway show. He's got the patter-song down cold. This stomper is from his new album No Name, which, in my (not very expert) opinion, is the best Jack White material since Get Behind Me Satan back in 2008. This whole album rocks hard, and this rapid-fire song is the best on there.

  1. Sunny Day Real Estate - Novum Vetus

From Diary Live at London Bridge Studios
Sub Pop Records 05/2024

I sure didn't expect a new Sunny Day song in 2024. This album is... meh. Diary is a classic. Rerecording Diary produced an inferior copy. But THIS SONG. 

So, this song was apparently started (or written) during the How It Feels sessions (circa '98), and it would fit well on that album. Live, it stretched out and breathed, and was a highlight of the show. This song is epic, sweeping, and beautiful. Doesn't overstay its 7 minutes. Long live Sunny Day. They have released 2 songs since 2000, but each song is worth 12 years of wait.

P.S. -- apparently, Novum Vetus rhymes with Diabeetus.

2023: Top 5 New Albums

Here we are with my annual tradition of top-5 albums.

A reminder about methodology: Top 5 albums were released in 2022 or 2023 (I sometimes don't buy music fast enough, OK?) . Then I rank 5 best new-to-me albums I encountered in the past year, and 5 miscellaneous songs that don't fit in the first two top-5 lists.

5. Built to Spill - When the Wind Forgets Your Name

Sub Pop, 09/2022

This was heavily promoted when it came out. I saw targeted facebook ads, silly youtube spots, etc. It's Built to Spill's 12th-ish album. Took me a bit to pick it up (I'd say the cover art is a bit off-putting). It's ... okay. It's the okayest Built to Spill album. They haven't made a bad album (although I don't really dig their Daniel Johnston collab too much). It's just that lately, every album seems a bit... less. 

In the mid-2000s, Built to Spill had settled into a stable 5-piece lineup: Martsch/Roth/Nelson/Netson/Plouf. Their live shows sounded fantastic. Live versions of old songs seemed perfect. Doug Martsch teased that the 5 of them had written songs as a group and they were great, but they were working through Doug Martsch solo compositions, and the next album would be a group effort. Then, the next one wasn't (more old songs), but the next one... and these songs never materialized. (I also remember similar rumors in the early 2000s about a 4th Halo Benders album. 

Then, lineup changes, pandemic, politics... and only Doug remains. I have a friend who insists the new 3-piece lineup of Built to Spill is the tightest, best yet. I skipped the show, so I couldn't say.

I will say that an OK Built to Spill album beats out some other bands at their peak. That's the amount of love I have for Built to Spill. (And I always think Idahoans, not Koreans, when someone mentions BTS.)

 

 

4. Brainiac - The Predator Nominate EP

 

Touch and Go Records, 05/2022

Tim Taylor died in 1997, leaving behind a band that was so far ahead of its time, we could dig up a cassette demo 25 years later and it would sound fresh. This is not peak Brainiac, it's about 8 not-fleshed-out song ideas, but it's great. For a while there, the Brainiac documentary was free to watch on Youtube. Sadly, no longer, although you may have luck on Tubi or Pluto for free.

3. Eyelids - A Colossal Waste of Light

 

Jealous Butcher Records, 03/2023

Portland's own Eyelids are on a hot streak. All their music is fantastic. Their live shows rip. They collaborate with everyone across the indie world (This album has Peter Buck from R.E.M. recording and playing on it). I can't say enough great things about Eyelids. They've shown up in this list before.

Why is this album not #1? Maybe because they set such a high bar with their previous albums? Maybe because two of the best songs on this album were released on a 7" a year before, so I'm less excited about them? I don't know. Prediction for 2023, though: their 2-LP singles collection "No Jigsaw" is due out in March, and I bet it's tops.

2. Casey Neill and the Norway Rats - Sending Up Flares

Fluff and Gravy Records, 09/2023

Casey Neill apparently started his career playing irish folk music. Any stray into indie pop was purely coincidental. Now, Casey Neill is a veteran, has an established combo filled with talented Portlanders (including a Decemberist), and makes world weary, Springsteenian (is that a word?) catchy musical stories about interesting characters. This is a solid album and good listen start to finish. My only complaint is that it doesn't have "Siphoners" on it, which has been stuck in my head since 2018.

1. The Van Pelt - Artisans and Merchants

 

La Castanya Records, 03/2023

WARNING: not as good as The Van Pelt's two classic 1990s albums. Somehow, those two albums have remained timeless. "Talk Rock" still sounds as vital in the 2020s as it did back then.

BUT... this is still pretty cool stuff from those same kids, now very much adults. There's some fun 90s reminiscence underpinning "Punk House" and "Grid", and there's something so catchy about shouting "Incredible Kegstands!" along with the music. But there's also some growth. Several songs ("We Gotta Leave", "Love Is Brutal") shed the talk-rock entirely for mellow, lightly-sung, less high-strung narrative. And it's great. take a listen.