World Cafe

For his latest album, DJ Shadow turned to a curious eBay purchase: 200 tapes recorded off an 80s radio mix. Those tapes, along with the producer’s massive personal vinyl collection, form the foundation of Action Adventure. On the next World Cafe, DJ Shadow talks about making his seventh album, and how he approaches music curation and collecting during an era of information overload.

Sam Herring of Future Islands thought he was writing a record about being in love. It turned out to be a breakup album in disguise. The Baltimore band’s new album, People Who Aren’t There Anymore, is filled with their signature indie synth-pop sound. Future Islands join us to talk about making it, including having two people co-mix the album, on the next World Cafe.

Nanna, the vocalist from Of Monsters and Men, just released her debut album, How To Start a Garden. It’s a fresh start for the Icelandic singer-songwriter, who took time during the pandemic to craft her own songs, while teaming up with The National’s Aaron Dessner. We’ll catch up with Nanna to hear performances of songs from How to Start a Garden, on the next World Cafe.

In 2022, Yard Act released their debut album, collaborated with Elton John, and the band was nominated for the Mercury Prize. But their sudden success didn’t solve all the band’s problems. On their new album, Where’s My Utopia?, Yard Act grapples with what it means to get everything you wanted, and then to keep on going. That’s on the next World Cafe.

Rhiannon Giddens is a two-time Grammy award winner, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, and Pulitzer Prize winning singer, instrumentalist, and composer. Her album, You’re the One, is a departure from previous material. Featuring all original compositions, it was a chance for Giddens to expand her sonic palette. Rhiannon Giddens talks about her new album and winning a Pulitzer for her opera, Omar, on the next World Cafe.

Billy Porter is known for many things – his Tony award winning Broadway performance in Kinky Boots, his Emmy award winning role in HBO’s Pose, and his head turning red carpet looks. Now he is on a mission to become known for something else – his music! Billy Porter talks about his deeply personal new album, Black Mona Lisa, on the next WorldCafe.

Dance and electronic music in the new millennium has taken turns that few could have anticipated. On the next World Cafe, correspondent John Morrison explains how dance music in the 2000s and beyond has been shaped by rapidly evolving tech and social media. Join us for this final installment of our special Black History Month series on dance music.

On McKinley Dixon’s new album, Beloved! Paradise! Jazz?, he moved to Chicago, looking for a blank canvas to generate ideas for this wildly inventive and sonically lush LP that tackles themes of longing. Dixon will talk about why his sound can be difficult to pin down, his love of animation, and how the author Toni Morrison inspired the album’s title, on the next World Cafe.

We’re revisiting our favorite conversations of 2023, and if you like wordplay and huge dirty guitar riffs that sound like no one else, Queens of the Stone Age are back with their first new album in six years, called In Times New Roman. Frontman Josh Homme joins World Cafe host Raina Douris to discuss self-producing the album, as well as the influence of polka on his music. Then, Oliver Sim of The XX discusses taking inspiration from horror movies for his solo debut, Hideous Bastard. Sim will talk about the album and why he empathizes with the monsters in those films, on the next World Cafe.

2023 marked the long-awaited arrival of De La Soul’s catalog to streaming services. In one of our favorite interviews of the year, De La Soul’s Maseo and Posdnuos join us to look back on their remarkable career, including 1989’s seminal album, 3 Feet High and Rising. Plus, in another highlight conversation, we’ll talk with Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers to find out how they chase emotions through sound on their latest album, For That Beautiful Feeling. That’s coming up on World Cafe.