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New Mix: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chad VanGaalen, Lean Year, More

Clockwise from upper left: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chad VanGaalen, Lean Year, Högni
Courtesy of the artists
Clockwise from upper left: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chad VanGaalen, Lean Year, Högni

Actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg has a long history of making provocative art that stretches back to her teen years, when she recorded the 1984 song "Lemon Incest" with her father, the French pop singer Serge Gainsbourg. Over the past four decades she's starred in the films Nymphomaniac and The Antichrist (among many others) and released several albums of foreboding pop. Her latest full-length, and first in six years, is called REST. On this week's show we feature the cut "Deadly Valentine," a love song that fixates on the fact that all stories ultimately end in death.

We've also got a bunch of great new discoveries this week, including a remarkable singer that goes by the name M.R. Bennett; the Atlanta, Ga. rock group Blis. (the period is intentional there); and the Icelandic artist Högni, an avant-garde composer who's written a new album inspired by two historic steam engines in Reykjavík, with chugging rhythms and metallic soundscapes.

All of that, plus the arresting sounds of Canadian pop artist Chad VanGaalen; gorgeous, cinematic sounds from the Richmond, VA duo Lean Year; and our resident Viking, Lars Gotrich joins us to share the music of violinist Laura Cannell.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.
In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.