Julia Michaels’ Songwriting Superpowers
Switched on Pop4 Mai 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

Episoder(523)

Naughty or nice? The 2025 holiday music round up

Naughty or nice? The 2025 holiday music round up

Every Christmas season, pop stars far and wide throw their Santa hats into the ring to see who has the next "All I Want for Christmas Is You," and this year is no exception. It's a yearly tradition on...

23 Des 202537min

The year that killed music (best and worst of 2025)

The year that killed music (best and worst of 2025)

From big-ticket albums by Taylor and Gaga, to a revival of the stomp-clap revival – 2025 had it all, for better and for worse. Now that the year has come to a close, it's time to take a look back at t...

16 Des 202547min

Why pop songwriters break the rules (ft. Amy Allen)

Why pop songwriters break the rules (ft. Amy Allen)

Grammy-winning songwriter Amy Allen joins NYU Steinhardt students live to trace her path from early pitch songs to co-writing some of the decade's defining hits. She explains why Halsey's "Without Me"...

12 Des 202557min

How Sombr’s bedroom recordings became his biggest hits

How Sombr’s bedroom recordings became his biggest hits

Sombr went from crafting raw, reverb soaked songs alone in his Lower East Side bedroom to finding his life shifting in ways he never could have predicted across 2024 and 2025. His biggest tracks kept ...

9 Des 202539min

"It’s a Hail Mary every time" (ft. Marc Rebillet)

"It’s a Hail Mary every time" (ft. Marc Rebillet)

When it comes to improvisational loop jams, few have gone as viral as Marc Rebillet. From his 2020 lockdown-era video “How to Funk in Two Minutes,” which features him wearing nothing but a bathrobe, t...

2 Des 202551min

Quitting Spotify (ft. Deerhoof)

Quitting Spotify (ft. Deerhoof)

In June 2025, indie veterans Deerhoof scrubbed their entire catalog from the world’s dominant streaming platform. The catalyst wasn't low royalties, but Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek’s investment in AI...

25 Nov 202544min

Is there a Disney curse?: Demi, Selena, and Miley

Is there a Disney curse?: Demi, Selena, and Miley

This year, there were a few records that delivered less-than-optimal returns on either the Hot 100 or the Billboard 200 – and they all came from former Disney pop stars.  Demi Lovato’s latest album p...

18 Nov 202548min

Rosalía's 'LUX' brings the symphony to the club

Rosalía's 'LUX' brings the symphony to the club

Spanish pop star Rosalía is back with her new album, Lux. Over eighteen tracks, she trades in the dembow beats that filled her last record Motomami for maximalist orchestral sounds more in line with B...

11 Nov 202544min

Populært innen Underholdning

papaya
enkel-servering
harm-og-hegseth
storefri-med-mikkel-og-herman
tusvik-tnne
big-5-med-nils-og-harald-2
konspirasjonspodden
folk-flest-med-linn-og-nils
topp-3-med-wold-og-fladseth
tore-og-haralds-podkast
hovla
ma-pa-behandling-med-morten-ramm
kjendiscrush-med-sofie-karlstad
nare-venner
vitnemal
gi-meg-alle-detaljene
rss-gammal-maiden
feedback-med-egon-holstad
christine-dancke
singel