A look ahead at some good music coming out in 2022

A look ahead at some good music coming out in 2022

Transcript¹

What new music is coming out this year that is worth checking out? A preview of two albums that just might make it on to 2022's best of list.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Sure, there's gloom and doom² out there, but let's focus on the good stuff this new year will bring, specifically music. We asked Stephen Thompson of NPR Music what he's heard so far.

STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE³: It's not often that we can sit down in January and speak with any confidence about what we'll be talking about at the end of the year. But in music, I am very confident that when we're talking about the best albums of 2022, we will be talking about the self-titled debut⁴ album by a duo from the Isle⁵ of Wight called Wet Leg. Wet Leg's first album comes out April 8.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CHASE LONGUE")

WET LEG: (Singing) Hey, you over there. I'm a chaise longue in your underwear. What are you doing sitting down? You should be horizontal now.

THOMPSON: Wet Leg just kind of came out of nowhere with this single in 2021 called "Chaise Longue." It's this wildly catchy⁶ song that seems dry and emotionless at first but then reveals these layers of wit and playfulness and sexiness. And there's a droll⁷ quality to it that is so, so charming. Each single that Wet Leg has put out after that song has also been fantastic.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WET DREAM")

WET LEG: (Singing) Baby, do you want to come home with me? I got "Buffalo⁸ '66" on DVD. Beat me up, beat me up, count me in, count me in, three, two, one, three, two, one, let's begin.

THOMPSON: One of the things that's interesting to me about Wet Leg is the way they play around with what seems to be emotionlessness. That is a vehicle for really sly commentary about growing up, finding who you are, coming to terms with your sadness. There's the sadness and playfulness that are orbiting each other like a binary⁹ star throughout these songs. And at the same time, the songs rock. They're catchy. You will crank them out of car windows. And I'm just so excited to see the totality of what they have in mind for their first record.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WET DREAM")

WET LEG: (Singing) Let's begin.

THOMPSON: Another record I'm really excited about in 2022 is called "Laurel Hell" by an artist named Mitski. The record's coming out February 4.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER")

MITSKI: (Singing) If you would just make one mistake, what a relief that would be.

THOMPSON: Mitski spent a bunch of years in the last decade as a next big thing, and then she fully¹⁰ arrived. She put out a couple records in 2016 and 2018 that were just fantastic, a record called "Puberty 2" and a record called "Be The Cowboy." She's fully come into her own as this really ambitious artist and somebody who's not just making catchy pop songs, catchy rock songs, but somebody who's playing around with her own persona. And this record "Laurel Hell" continues in that tradition. You know, they're songs about relationships that aren't just coming at you from one direction. She's a really exploratory songwriter, and so she's constantly looking at herself and the world around her and her place in the world around her. So her music is introspective but also really artistically¹¹ ambitious. And so you can get lost in the feeling of her music, but you can also get lost in the spectacle of it.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER")

MITSKI: (Singing) Only, the only heartbreaker.

MARTIN: That's Stephen Thompson of NPR Music and the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast recommending that we all check out an album by Mitski called "Laurel Hell" and "Wet Leg," their self-titled debut. I'm game.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

5 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

6 catchy   

adj.易记住的，诡诈的，易使人上当的

参考例句：

• We need a new slogan.The old one's not catchy enough.我们需要新的口号，旧的不够吸引人。
• The chorus is very catchy to say the least.副歌部分很容易上口。

7 droll   

adj.古怪的，好笑的

参考例句：

• The band have a droll sense of humour.这个乐队有一种滑稽古怪的幽默感。
• He looked at her with a droll sort of awakening.他用一种古怪的如梦方醒的神情看着她.

8 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

9 binary   

adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星

参考例句：

• Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
• Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 artistically   

adv.艺术性地

参考例句：

• The book is beautifully printed and artistically bound. 这本书印刷精美，装帧高雅。
• The room is artistically decorated. 房间布置得很美观。