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New Mix: Lana Del Rey, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Colin Stetson, Penguin Cafe, More

Clockwise from upper left: Lana Del Rey, The Penguin Cafe, Colin Stetson, Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Courtesy of the artists
Clockwise from upper left: Lana Del Rey, The Penguin Cafe, Colin Stetson, Bonnie "Prince" Billy

On this week's show: Music to cleanse the brain! Over the long holiday weekend I made the grave mistake of joking with my five-year old about "Sailing," the '70s soft-rock hit by Christopher Cross. For no apparent reason my son randomly asked me: "How far is paradise?" To which I replied: "Not far... at least not for me... And if the wind is right we can sail away and find tranquility." And that was all it took --this insidious earworm was lodged firmly in my head for the rest of the (long) weekend.

Bob Boilen and I wash all that away this week, starting with a bonkers song by Japanese pop singer Shugo Tokumaru called "Lita-Ruta," from his playful new record Toss. Singer Lana Del Rey is back with a dreamy new ode to the glory of youth; folk artist Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, often accompanied by his friends, has a moody new solo acoustic song about the dangers of losing sight of love; and Bob revisits a band he often used to play between segments on All Things Considered called Penguin Cafe, formerly The Penguin Cafe Orchestra. (You might remember this go-to favorite from any number of films or commercials).

All that, plus British composer, brilliant singer and electronic musician Tom Adams and the creative arts collective of Jeremy Larson known as Violents, featuring the singer Monica Martin of Phox. We close with new music from the mind-blowing — and gigantic — saxophone of Colin Stetson. -- Robin Hilton

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.
In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.