Julia Michaels’ Songwriting Superpowers
Switched on Pop4 Touko 2021

Julia Michaels’ Songwriting Superpowers

For nearly a decade, Julia Michaels has penned hit songs for the biggest acts in pop music. She is adept at turning people’s vulnerabilities into memorable hooks — think Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” or Selena Gomez’s “Lose You to Love Me.” There are countless others, but all of them share distinctive traits. Where many songwriters might turn to the simplest, almost nursery-rhyme-level lyrics to get the message across, Michaels does the opposite. She crams as many words as possible into each phrase. Her lyrics sound spoken. On her own hit song, her 2017 debut solo single “Issues,” she sings, “Bask in the glory, of all our problems / ’Cause we got the kind of love it takes to solve ’em”; it earned her a Song of the Year nomination at the 2018 Grammys, along with a Best New Artist nod. Her rhyming may sound accidental, but that’s the pop-song illusion. Michaels’s idiosyncratic phrasing has symmetry and her rhyming is indeed purposeful, all to illuminate her primary subject: the infinite recursions of human relationships. After releasing three EPs and countless singles of her own, Michaels has just released her first full-length album, Not in Chronological Order. On this week’s episode of Switched on Pop, Nate and Charlie try to identify Julias Michaels songwriting superpowers and then Charlie speaks with Michaels about how the vagaries of the heart inspire an endless stream of songs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jaksot(523)

Hozier’s Waffling of Faith in Take Me To Church

Hozier’s Waffling of Faith in Take Me To Church

Written in the Hozier family basement, Take Me To Church has risen up to be one of the biggest pop hits of the year. But this is not a typical pop song. The unsettling music and provocative lyrics abo...

2 Huhti 201517min

Taylor Swift’s Beethovian Blank Space

Taylor Swift’s Beethovian Blank Space

Taylor Swift’s Blank Space is about emptiness of the heart. This motif of Blank Space is contained through the entire piece: from the drums, to the melody, to the lyrics. We pull away the sonic struct...

26 Maalis 201515min

A Cappella Dreams

A Cappella Dreams

A cappella, Italian for in the style of the church, refers to music for unaccompanied voices. Just a decade ago it was nowhere near the radio dial. Now it’s everywhere: college campuses, Hollywood blo...

16 Maalis 201547min

Radio Africa

Radio Africa

Reporting live from Kenya, we search for African pop that is making its way into global dance music. The barriers to producing high quality audio are reduced to merely owning a laptop. Now, regional a...

19 Helmi 201530min

Star Spangled

Star Spangled

Did you know the melody to the Star Spangled Banner was once a British drinking song? In preparation for the Super Bowl, we uncover how the national anthem has been co-opted and reinterpreted by mega ...

28 Tammi 201527min

Mark Ronson: Funk Politics

Mark Ronson: Funk Politics

Did you know the melody to the Star Spangled Banner was once a British drinking song? In preparation for the Super Bowl, we uncover how the national anthem has been co-opted and reinterpreted by mega ...

15 Tammi 201533min

The Imperative Jingle Bells

The Imperative Jingle Bells

You’ve heard it a million times, you know how to sing it, its ubiquitous during the holiday season, but you’ve never heard a definitive recording. Where does it come from, why is it so catchy, and why...

20 Joulu 201431min

To Be Young

To Be Young

Pop music and youth go together like peanut butter and pickles. The music we hear when we’re young shapes our identities forevermore. In this episode we take three songs that promise an eternal adoles...

11 Joulu 201431min

Suosittua kategoriassa Viihde

anni-jaajo
tuplakaak
grekovit
hei-baby-3
terveisia-perheesta
the-harlin-show
antin-palautepalvelu
dear-shirly
bella-table
antin-elokuvakerho
dear-shirly-ja-arttu
verhon-takaa
nonsensepodi
get-jassud
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
tahtitehdas
hollywood-love-stories-2
tervo-halme
everypodi
rss-wivolinin-viisukevat