Yola's debut solo album, Walk Through Fire, out next Friday, February 22, on Easy Eye Sound, is streaming in full all week as an NPR First Listen. Yola's "sonic palette, which spans country, folk, classic soul and '70s-era Britpop; her emotive songwriting, which oscillates between vulnerability and chest-pounding empowerment; and her truly powerful voice," says NPR Music's Brittney McKenna, "abounds on Walk Through Fire, ... [which] showcases Yola's otherworldly vocals and compelling songwriting." McKenna concludes: "It's the work of an artist sure to stun audiences for years to come."

Mountain Man stopped by NPR to perform a Tiny Desk Concert of songs from its Nonesuch debut album, Magic Ship. You can watch it here. "Mountain Man is the perfect band for a Tiny Desk concert," says host Bob Boilen. "These three women make the most intimate music; and behind the desk, [their] voices were the stars." He goes on to say that "there's a true kinship that happens in this trio ... There's no other band like them." Mountain Man resumes its US tour in March and has just announced several new dates in May and June.

Pianist Jeremy Denk's new album, c. 1300–c. 2000, out next Friday, February 8, is streaming in full till then as an NPR First Listen. The new album presents a centuries-long story of musical expression, an evolution drawn in a single arc by the music of twenty-four different composers, from Guillaume de Machaut to György Ligeti. "Life, of course, runs in cycles," NPR's Tom Huizenga concludes in his First Listen review, "and Denk's c.1300–c.2000 lets us know that music—with its special powers of creation, expiration and restoration—does, too."

To mark last week's return of Steve Reich's Different Trains / Electric Counterpoint on vinyl for the first time in more than twenty-five years, we asked Reich to share a few of his favorite songs and compositions in a new playlist. The eclectic set includes works from across the centuries and genres, by John Coltrane, Jr. Walker & the All Stars, Miles Davis, Stravinsky, Charlie Parker, Pérotin, Radiohead, Bob Dylan, and Bach. You can hear it here.

Punch Brothers are on Spotify's Under Cover podcast, discussing the creative process of taking on someone else's song and making it their own, as they did with Tame Impala's "Let It Happen" for Spotify Singles. You can hear the Under Cover conversation and Punch Brothers' Spotify Singles take on "Let It Happen" and their own song "Jumbo" here.

Mountain Man stopped by WNYC Studios as the guest on New Sounds' Soundcheck. The trio spoke with host John Schaefer about Magic Ship and performed three songs from the new album: "AGT," "Underwear," and "Boat." "Their music features a timeless sound," says Schaefer. "Now they're back with a beautiful new album." Watch the first two performances and listen to the full session here.

Conor Oberst is the guest on the latest two episodes of the LSQ podcast with Jenny Eliscu. Oberst is "one of my favorite artists of all time and a dear friend of mine as well," says Eliscu, and "has released some of my favorite albums of the past couple decades." Listen to both episodes here. Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band are on tour now.

Paul Thomas Anderson's Academy Award–winning film Phantom Thread, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, and Vicky Krieps, will receive its HBO premiere on Saturday, September 29, and will be available to watch via the HBO GO and HBO NOW apps. The Guardian says there is "such pure delicious pleasure in this film"; Financial Times says Anderson "gets everything right here." The soundtrack, featuring Jonny Greenwood's Oscar-nominated score, is out on Nonesuch.

Mountain Man's first album in eight years, Magic Ship, out next Friday, September 21, is streaming in full till then as an NPR First Listen. The new album distills eight years of experience since their 2010 debut album, Made the Harbor, of sights seen, pleasures had, feelings hurt, forgiveness extended. "There's also a precision to these songs—both in harmony and duration—that lend them a sense of purpose," writes NPR's Otis Hart. "Magic Ship is most potent when heard in full, from beginning to end, ideally on a back porch or around a smoldering campfire."

Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes talks with singer-songwriter Nilüfer Yanya, who opened for the band on tour, for the latest episode of Talkhouse Podcast, which you can hear here. The two spoke at the Pitchfork Music Festival about life on the road, writing while touring, and more. 

Gabriel Kahane stopped by WNYC Studios as the guest on New Sounds' Soundcheck. He spoke with host John Schaefer about his new album, Book of Travelers, and performed three songs from it: "November," "Baltimore," and "Little Love." "Terrific story, and a terrific record," says Schaefer. Watch the complete session here.

Rhiannon Giddens's "At The Purchaser's Option," from her 2017 album, Freedom Highway, has made NPR Music's list of The 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+. The song comes in at No. 30 on list, part of NPR Music's Turning the Tables project. "The songs are by artists whose major musical contributions ... have shifted attitudes, defied categories and pushed sound in new directions," says NPR. "Giddens has become a leader in the Americana world by foregrounding her talent for telling black Americans' stories, as she does on her 2017 LP Freedom Highway."