BTS is back. But K Pop is not the same.

BTS is back. But K Pop is not the same.

Author: Switched on Pop April 21, 2026 Duration: 48:50
BTS is back. The best selling K Pop group of all time has been on hiatus for four years. They haven’t released an album in six. They were once the biggest band in the world. Can they regain their throne? Or has the world moved on. Leaning on traditional Korean sounds and a bevy of international producers, from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker to JPEGMafia, is their album Arirang the future or the past of K Pop? Hye Jin Lee, communications professor at USC and K Pop scholar, joins to break down the album's references and ponder how longtime fans will respond. Songs Discussed BTS - Body to Body Koreana - Hand In Hand Lee Chun-Hee - Arirang BTS - Hooligan Michel Magne - Yang Tse Kiang - Bande originale du film "Un singe en hiver" ROSALÍA - MALAMENTE - Cap.1: Augurio Prefuse 73 - The End of Biters - International BTS - Aliens Kim Young-gil and Yoon Ho-Se - Ajaeng sanjo - Jungmori BTS - FYA Junior Sanchez - Lookin 4 Love - Extended Mix BTS - No. 29 BTS - SWIM BTS - Merry Go R...

Ever wondered how a pop song gets its hooks into you? Switched on Pop digs into that question, peeling back the glossy layers of mainstream music to explore the craft and theory that make hits work. Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding, this podcast is a conversation that feels like eavesdropping on two friends who are deeply passionate about the music everyone is hearing. They break down the mechanics of a track, from a surprising chord progression in a Taylor Swift bridge to the rhythmic patterns driving a Dua Lipa anthem, all while keeping the discussion accessible and engaging. Each episode focuses on a specific song, artist, or trend, treating pop not just as entertainment but as a rich subject worthy of serious, playful analysis. You’ll hear audio examples that illustrate their points, making the musical concepts tangible even if you’ve never read a note. It’s for anyone who has ever found themselves humming a tune and then stopped to ask why it’s so compelling. By connecting music theory to cultural impact, Switched on Pop offers a fresh lens on the soundtrack of our daily lives, revealing the intelligence and intention behind the music on the charts. Tune in and you might just find your listening habits forever changed.
Author: Language: en-gb Episodes: 100

Switched on Pop
Podcast Episodes
Learning to love: Tate McRae [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:00
Tate McRae's billions of streams and perfectly crafted hits can feel almost algorithmic, like an AI trained on 20 years of pop music. In anticipation of McRae’s third album So Close to What, out this Friday, we dissect M…
Does It Trance? The Weeknd & FKA Twigs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:33
In last month's episode predicting the coming year in pop, one of the team's predictions was that trance music – the ethereal, dreamy subgenre of electronic music popular around the turn of the century – would make a com…
25 Predictions for 2025: Grammys, J-pop, kazoos and more [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:50
2024 was an unpredictable year, and 2025 seems to be cut from the same cloth. So for this episode of Switched On Pop, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna look into the crystal ball of pop music to create a (playable) bingo card of…
Bad Bunny's love letter to Puerto Rico [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:16
The first great release of 2025 is already here: Bad Bunny's newest album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. Over the course of its 17 tracks, the Puerto Rican reggaetonero crafts an intertextual, anti-colonial tome of a record, inc…
Our theme music sucks. Let’s change it. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:46
What happens when your podcast’s theme song—cobbled together from GarageBand loops—gets called “game show music” and likened to a cereal commercial? You rewrite it. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of Switc…
Have Disney musicals lost their edge? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:44
Critics are not feeling the love tonight when it comes to Disney's latest sequels, Mufasa and Moana 2. They've called the animated films "lifeless and bland." But save some sympathy for the composers behind these blatant…
Going Off Book [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:59
On this very special episode, we join forces with the hilarious podcast OFF BOOK. When our powers combine, Zach and Jess of Off Book, plus their killer backing band of Scott, Dana and Brett create an improvised musical,…
Auto-Tune always and forever [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:34
Popular music changes all the time, but there’s been one consistent element in practically everything released in the last two decades: Auto-Tune is everywhere. What started as a simple audio processing tool in the 1990s…
The many lives of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:25
The first time you hear "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," it probably registers as just another cheery holiday standard. But hiding within this seemingly simple song is a remarkable story of American transformation - musi…