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The Contenders, Vol. 13: Fever Ray, The Beaches and more

By Robin Hilton,
Stephen Thompson
Published June 17, 2025 at 8:17 AM CDT
The Beaches' song, "Last Girls At The Party," from the upcoming album No Hard Feelings is one of the tracks we can't stop listening to this week.
Meg Moon
The Beaches' song, "Last Girls At The Party," from the upcoming album No Hard Feelings is one of the tracks we can't stop listening to this week.

The latest additions to our running list of the year's best songs pose some big questions this week: What do you do when life pulls the rug out from under you or when things don't turn out the way you expected? How do you manage fear? And what really matters most at the end of it all?

We get a lot of possible answers in new music from singer Patrick Watson, the pop group The Beaches and even the twisted dance beats of Fever Ray. We've also got a sprawling (and gorgeous) reflection on young love from Ethel Cain, a glimmer of hope from singer Deb Talan and more.

For our All Songs Considered 25th anniversary segment, we bring you a flashback to the No. 1 songs from 2016, and our weekly reset is "a day at the beach."

NPR Music's Stephen Thompson joins host Robin Hilton.

Enjoy the show? Share it with a friend and leave us a review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts. Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind always welcome: allsongs@npr.org.

Featured artists and songs

  • The Beaches: "Last Girls At The Party," from No Hard Feelings
  • Patrick Watson: "Peter And The Wolf," from Uh Oh
  • Deb Talan: "A Glimmer In The Grass," from I Thought I Saw You
  • Fever Ray: "I'm Not Done (Therapy Session)" (single)
  • Ethel Cain: "Nettles," from Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You

Copyright 2025 NPR
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New Music All Songs Considered
Robin Hilton
Robin Hilton is the Senior Podcast Producer for NPR Music. He also hosts the New Music Friday episodes of All Songs Considered.
Stephen Thompson
Stephen Thompson is a host, writer and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist and guest host on All Songs Considered. Thompson also co-hosts the daily NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created with NPR's Linda Holmes in 2010. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)