The Best Music Of August: NPR Staff Picks

Every month, we ask the NPR Music staff: What's the one song you couldn't escape? What's the one album to which you'll return all year? In August, we got vulnerable with James Blake, leveled up with Foxing, cooed with PinkPantheress, discovered an obscure Polish composer via pianist Lucas Debargue, memorialized a member of Injury Reserve and went back in time to Lee Morgan's weekend residency at the Lighthouse.
Songs heard on this episode:
• James Blake: "Life is Not the Same" from Friends That Break Your Heart
• Foxing: "Beacons" from Draw Down the Moon
• PinkPantheress, "Just for me"
• Lucas Debargue: "Nostalgie du pays" from Zal — The Music of Miłosz Magin
• Injury Reserve: "Knees" from By the Time I Get to Phoenix
• Lee Morgan: "Absolutions (Friday, Set 2)" from The Complete Live at the Lighthouse
Follow the #NowPlaying blog for the NPR Music staff's favorite new songs.