Wild Pitches: Wasia Project, SunandMoon, LP, Kareen Lomax, Malia, Nothing But Thieves

It’s baseball playoff season, so Joe and Toby are taking the mound for a different kind of pitch. In this special “Wild Pitches” episode, each host brings three artists they think deserve a bigger audience, whether they’re genuinely under the radar, underappreciated in the U.S., or simply making music too good not to share. Toby makes the case for Kareen Lomax and her adventurous, genre-bending sound; the organic R&B and vintage warmth of sunandmoon; and Malia, whose new project If I’m Being Honest pairs a rich, mature voice with deeply personal songwriting. Joe counters with South London sibling duo Wasia Project and the lush, cinematic Nocturne; longtime favorite LP, whose unmistakable voice and songwriting have built a massive following overseas; and UK rock band Nothing But Thieves, powered by huge songs and the remarkable vocals of Conor Mason. Along the way, the conversation wanders exactly where a Riffs conversation should: Missy Elliott, Stevie Wonder, George Michael, family collaborations, the return of organic musicianship, the virtues of a great EP, Critical Role, overly long fantasy novels, and what makes an artist truly “vinyl worthy.” Six artists. Two hosts. One highly questionable competition. Listen, make your own picks, and then tell us who won. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Riffs on Riffs, Joe and Toby hop aboard Stella Lefty’s “Boston,” a deceptively simple song about what happens when something good shows up and your first instinct is to run the other way. The conversation starts with the noise surrounding Lefty: accusations of nepotism, comparisons to Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season,” questions about borrowed melodies, and the eternal debate over whether any song can truly be original. From Bruno Mars and Stevie Wonder to Tom Petty, the Chili Peppers and J Dilla, Joe and Toby explore the blurry lines between influence, inspiration and imitation, and wonder whether sometimes we’d all be better off turning on airplane mode and simply listening to the music. They also dig into the unusual way “Boston” grew from a short social-media snippet into a finished song after listeners responded to it, sparking a larger conversation about the benefits and dangers of letting audiences shape creative work. But the heart of the episode is the song itself. A lyric about wanting to run when someone is actually treating you well opens the door to self-sabotage, vulnerability and what Toby calls being “scared of success.” From there, “Boston” becomes a launching point for a much bigger conversation about hope as a verb, resilience through struggle, sacrifice, and the things we learn simply by showing up when we’re nowhere near our best. Plus: terrible dates, pineapple on pizza, mysterious arm name tags, childhood book “borrowing,” TV shows that stayed too long at the party, and a surprisingly passionate defense of the word “courting.” Sometimes a song doesn’t have to reinvent music. Sometimes a good song is just a good song. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when R&B, grunge, hip-hop and a healthy disregard for genre boundaries all collide? This week, Joe and Toby dive into Steve Lacy’s “Oh Yeah?,” a track that found new life through the Spider-Man soundtrack and opens the door to a much bigger conversation about where music and culture itself is headed. They unpack Lacy’s stripped-down, almost stream-of-consciousness approach to songwriting, the vulerability running through his music, and why today’s artists seem increasingly comfortable trading polish and perfection for something more immediate and human. From the return of live bands to bedroom production, alternative R&B, retro soul and artists who refuse to stay neatly inside a single genre, the musical map is getting wonderfully messy. But the conversation goes beyond music. Joe and Toby wrestle with the weight younger generations are carrying, the tension between fatalism and hope, and whether the same generation questioning old rules about music is also preparing to rewrite some of the rules about work, culture and society. Plus, they make the case for building your own yearly soundtrack instead of letting Spotify do it for you, and share what they’re listening to now, including Baby Rose, Jungle, Buttered, Nothing But Thieves, LP, Lucky Daye, Leon Thomas and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ariana Grande is going a little feral, but she’s doing it with remarkable restraint. This week, Joe and Toby dig into “Petal” and Ariana’s latest album, exploring how one of pop’s most gifted vocalists is choosing subtlety over fireworks and using her music to say some things she may have been too polite to say before. The image of a flower pushing through concrete becomes the perfect metaphor: resilience isn’t always about becoming harder. Sometimes it’s about staying soft, authentic, and unmistakably yourself despite everything pushing against you. From there, the riffs go where the riffs go. The guys wrestle with the price of fame, our strange sense of ownership over artists, the pressure to constantly achieve more, and why walking away can sometimes be as courageous as pushing forward. They get into work-life balance, artists like André 3000 and Fiona Apple who chose different paths, handwritten letters, looksmaxxing, aging, beauty standards, and the exhausting pursuit of external validation. Ultimately, it all comes back to boundaries: knowing what belongs to the world, what belongs to you, and when it’s time to put up the stop sign. Plus: Earl Grey, Doctor Doom, gym mirrors, gray beards, terrible tours, and a surprisingly useful theory involving speed bumps. How are you growing through the concrete? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prepare for an intergalactic funk transmission as Joe and Toby explore “Fabiano” by Quebec duo Angine de Poitrine. Armed with masks, polka dots, microtonal guitars, dizzying rhythms, and enough looping pedals to frighten a Guitar Hero champion, these two musicians create a sound that is equal parts math rock, funk, jazz, and delightful absurdity. But the riffs quickly launch a much bigger conversation. What does anonymity allow an artist to create? Can limitations actually make us more inventive? Who should be trusted with an unfinished idea, and how do we keep one careless opinion from crushing the creative cake before it has finished baking? Joe and Toby also dig into the power of long-term creative partnerships, the confidence born from struggle, the tension between artistic freedom and the desire for recognition, and the identities that remain underneath our everyday careers. Plus, they consider what their 13-year-old selves would think of them today and share some of the artists currently filling their headphones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are you willing to die on a hill for? For rising British singer-songwriter Sienna Spiro, the question becomes a haunting exploration of loyalty, stubbornness, and the moment you realize you may be fighting for someone who would never fight for you. In this episode, Joe and Toby dig into Spiro’s breathtaking single “Die on This Hill,” from its stripped-back piano opening and sweeping string arrangement to the audible sigh that closes the track. They explore how a failed attempt to learn “Bohemian Rhapsody” sparked the song, why it took countless versions to uncover its true form, and how Spiro learned that restraint can sometimes reveal more than vocal fireworks. The conversation also traces the influences behind her timeless sound, including Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Nina Simone, Adele, Lana Del Rey, and Amy Winehouse, along with the remarkable praise she has received from Sir Elton John. Along the way, Joe and Toby wrestle with artistic vulnerability, stage personas, the value of creative repetition, and why listeners may be craving unmistakably human music in the age of AI. Plus, the guys share what they have been listening to lately, champion artists still bubbling beneath the algorithm, and make the case for why Sienna Spiro is unquestionably vinyl worthy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe and Toby dive into Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drop Dead,” unpacking the emotional precision, lyrical sharpness, and intimate vocal delivery that make her music feel like an inner monologue. The conversation explores how Rodrigo’s songwriting connects across generations, pulling younger listeners into the immediacy of heartbreak while transporting older listeners back to their own formative relationships. The hosts also trace the song’s sonic and cultural echoes, from The Cure and ’80s/’90s alternative textures to the cinematic potential of Rodrigo’s catalog as the soundtrack for teen romance, obsession, horror, or beautifully awkward coming-of-age stories. Along the way, they discuss Amy Allen’s songwriting influence, Dan Nigro’s production, the strange experience of celebrity in the wild, and why great songs can bridge age, memory, and emotional time travel. As always, the episode wanders joyfully into side quests, including New York celebrity sightings, Helena Bonham Carter near-collisions, Dash & Lily, Spider-Verse, PM Dawn, and a recommendation for Australian artist Ethan French. It’s a conversation about Rodrigo’s artistry, but also about why certain songs don’t just get heard. They follow you around. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Riffs on Riffs, we tackle one of the most polarizing artists of the modern era: Drake, his track “Janice STFU,” and the massive cultural machine surrounding the release of Iceman. Alonog the way, Toby and Joe discuss celebrity, marketing, authenticity, attention spans, social media, AI, and whether modern culture has become addicted to constant stimulation. We break down Drake’s ambitious album rollout, from elaborate promotional stunts and livestreams to the strategy of dominating conversation through sheer volume. Joe compares Drake to KISS as a case study in marketing genius. The result is a fascinating discussion about what makes an artist culturally unavoidable, even when critics and fans can’t agree on the music itself. The conversation also revisits the lingering shadow of Drake’s legendary feud with Kendrick Lamar. Was it genuine animosity, performance art, or some combination of both? And what does it say about modern audiences that conflict itself has become part of the product? From meditation and dopamine addiction to birds nesting outside Joe’s front door, the episode becomes a reflection on what many of us seem to be craving right now: something real. We explore how technology, algorithms, and endless content have left us exhausted, and why artists like Leon Thomas, Olivia Dean, and others are finding success by returning to more organic, human forms of music-making. Come for the Drake debate. Stay for the philosophy, birds, blues, and unexpected reflections on what it means to truly listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Riffs on Riffs, we dive into “Fallin” by Chris Brown featuring Leon Thomas, and what starts as a conversation about one song quickly turns into a full-blown exploration of modern R&B, blues revivalism, AI music culture, performance authenticity, and why pain sometimes translates into great art. We unpack the cinematic weight of the song and its visual parallels to Sinners, asking whether the video is homage, influence, or something in between. We also explore how artists like Leon Thomas are helping Usher (pun intended) R&B back toward its blues roots, trading glossy perfection for something more raw, intimate, and emotionally honest. Along the way, we tackle the complicated reality of Chris Brown’s legacy. Can you separate the art from the artist? Why do some public figures become permanently polarizing while others seem to escape scrutiny entirely? Rather than offering easy answers, we sit with the tension and focus on the music itself: the harmonies, the live performance chops, the emotional weight, and the undeniable impact Chris Brown has had on modern R&B over the last two decades. The episode also veers into conversations about AI-generated music, disappearing physical media, underground mixtape culture, the return of vinyl and CDs, and why younger generations may be losing spaces where they can simply exist without being recorded. And somewhere in the middle of all that? Buddy Guy, Bruno Mars, Usher, Japanese vinyl pressings, Entourage, and the possibility that the blues are making a massive comeback. This one sprawls like a late-night jam session in a smoke-filled juke joint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Riffs on Riffs, we unpack “Folded” by Kehlani—a song that’s equal parts breakup, late-night temptation, and emotional tug-of-war. Inspired by a shoutout from Olivia Dean, we dive into why this track has resonated so widely—and why it might not be as straightforward as it sounds. Along the way, we trace Kehlani’s journey from a turbulent childhood and early industry struggles to Grammy-winning recognition, reminding us that “overnight success” is often years in the making. We also explore the song’s musical DNA—from subtle nods to classic R&B textures reminiscent of Brandy to the orchestral flourishes that elevate it beyond a typical slow jam. But the heart of this episode lives in the tension of the lyrics: Is “Folded” a breakup song… or an invitation? A moment of closure… or the beginning of another cycle? We wrestle with the emotional reality behind lines like “come pick up your clothes,” and what they reveal about attachment, chemistry, and the stories we tell ourselves to stay connected. We also zoom out to talk about performance versus production—why live sessions (Colors, Tiny Desk, Spotify Sessions) hit differently in an AI-saturated world—and how music continues to be one of the most human forms of expression we have. And if you’ve ever considered going back to “pick up your clothes”… you might want to listen first. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices