The One Who Digs (feat. Björk)

Explicit content warning

09/30/22 • 30 min

“It’s like digging a hole and moving into it, and listening to a lot of bass, and loving it.” So says Björk of the meaning behind the word ‘Fossora’—the title of her tenth studio album, just released today. On this episode, Hanif and Björk break Fossora down concept-by-concept, from the sextet of bass clarinets that shape the album’s grounded, sonic world, to the album’s themes of digging deeply into our ancestral roots, and the pleasures of setting down new ones. To close the show, Hanif riffs on Fossora’s autumnal vibes with a playlist of music for the coming season. For the playlist of songs curated for this episode head over to radio.sonos.com.

Music In This Week’s Episode:
Sorrowful Soil - Björk
God In Wilson - Dijon
let it be me - Joy Oladokun
ACTING NORMAL - BLACKSTARKIDS
I Don’t Know How To Love - The Drums
Longing To Hold You - Black Harmony
Pulling Leaves Off Trees - Wallows
Sowing Seeds - The Jesus and Mary Chain

Show Notes:

Björk’s album Fossora is out now.

Credits:
This show is produced by work by work: Scott Newman, Jemma Rose Brown, Kathleen Ottinger, Rhiannon Corby, and by Hanif Abdurraqib. The show is mixed by Sam Bair. Extra gratitude to Joe Dawson and Saidah Blount at Sonos.

Show Notes:

Björk’s album Fossora is out now.

Previous Episode

Storytelling Through Song (feat. Danielle Ponder)

“When I'm onstage, it's the happiest I feel. It's the most in love with myself I feel,” says Danielle Ponder. “I know that’s my purpose.” On this episode of Object of Sound, Danielle and Hanif talk about how Danielle left her successful career as a public defender to follow her purpose and become a musician full time—and how Danielle sees storytelling as a vital skill for both professions. Hanif and Danielle dig into the making of her debut album ‘Some Of Us Are Brave,’ and Danielle reveals how connecting with other people through the stories in her songs helps her feel more alive, and less alone. At the end of the episode, Hanif creates a playlist of some of the very first songs he fell in love with. For the playlist of songs curated for this episode head over to radio.sonos.com.

Music In This Week’s Episode:
Some Of Us Are Brave- Danielle Ponder
Pirate Jenny (Live at Carnegie Hall) - Nina Simone
The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This - Love
Rich - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Call the Doctor - Sleater-Kinney
Banquet - Bloc Party
Here Lies the Man That Never Changed - Jacob Banks
Flirted With You All My Life - Vic Chesnutt

Show Notes:

Danielle Ponder’s debut album, Some of Us Are Brave, is out now.

The album takes its title from the book, All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave, a groundbreaking collection of black feminist scholarship published in 1982.

Catch Danielle Ponder on tour across the US through November.

Next Episode

The Wonders of Songwriting, Pt. One (feat. Ravyn Lenae)

“I came into my own and I was able to find my voice through my writing,” says artist Ravyn Lenae. The making of her album, HYPNOS, was a four-year-long journey of blood, sweat and tears—but the result is a meticulously crafted debut, a collection of songs on which Ravyn herself has curated every element, right down to individual snares and bass lines. In this episode, the first in our three part mini-series, “The Wonders of Songwriting,” Hanif and Ravyn dig into the editing process that produced the many sonic moods and colors on HYPNOS. And, in an Object of Sound exclusive, Ravyn walks Hanif through the earlier mixes of her song, ‘Inside Out,’ and explains why this track in particular needed over 2,000 vocal recordings before it was just right. For the playlist of songs curated for this episode, including ‘Inside Out, head over to radio.sonos.com.

Music In This Week’s Episode:
Inside Out - Ravyn Lenae
We’re So Good - Kids On A Crime Spree
Hold On - The Internet
One For the Griot - J-Live
Don’t Go Near The Water - The Beach Boys
Migratory Birds - Earth From The Moon
Let’s Pretend We’re Not In Love - The Reds, Pinks, and Purples
Tender Falls the Rain - Randy Crawford

Show Notes:
This episode is part of our mini series, “The Wonders of Songwriting,” three special episodes on Object of Sound devoted to the art of how songs become songs. Hanif talks to artists Ravyn Lenae, Nick Hakim, and Carly Rae Jepsen to understand where their love of language comes from, how words become images become music, where the ideas begin, and how they morph as they move from the page into the intangible space of melody and vibration.