In Conversation With: Song Exploder's Hrishikesh Hirway
Ahead of his first solo album in over a decade, Hirway talks about turning the lens on himself, collaborating with Iron & Wine, and making In the Last Hour of Light
Good morning!
Today we’re talking to Hrishikesh Hirway about Song Exploder, his new album and more.
The pitch: In the Last Hour of Light is a deeply personal memoir about letting go—of people, of fading memories, of the desire to stop time. Written in the wake of Hirway’s mother’s death and amidst his father’s hospitalization, the album’s eleven tracks reflect on loss, long-shared and fleeting love, and the everyday moments that shape us. Arrangements balance quiet intimacy with spacious, Americana-tinted soundscapes meant to embrace the imperfections and unexpected qualities of being alive.
It was Courtney Barnett who first turned me on to The Go-Betweens. She was discussing how her track “Depreston” came to be, and cited the band’s “Streets of Your Town” as having influenced the guitar part. And it was the Song Exploder podcast that first turned me on to her work.
If you’re reading this, you likely know the Song Exploder podcast. Over the course of 300+ episodes, host Hrishikesh Hirway has invited artists on to distill a song down to its core, explaining the role each element plays in the final version. It’s a rare peek behind the scenes for listeners, who usually only see the finished product. Hirway also took the show to television for a limited-run series.
And now Hirway is on the other side of the table, having just released his first full-length release under his own name, marking his return to making records after more than a decade.
Song Exploder has always struck me as a solo effort, and this is a solo record, so I was happily surprised to see he brought quite a few friends along for the ride, including Iron & Wine (after the duo’s Sam Beam had appeared on the podcast).
“Iron & Wine has been a massive influence on me since I first heard Sam’s music in 2002,” says Hirway. “I remember playing the song ‘Bird Stealing Bread’ for my mother, and it made her cry. I’d never seen music have that effect on her. It means so much to me that I’ve even had the chance to meet Sam and get to know him a little, so for him to play a part in one of my songs, to hear his voice singing along with mine…it’s incredible.”
He also co-wrote with Kevin Morby, Vagabon, and others, including Fenne Lily, Ken Pomeroy, and Uwade, who are also featured guest vocalists on the album. In addition, he enlisted a world-class band—Josh Crumbly on bass, Oliver Hill on piano, Sean Mullins on drums, Ken Pomeroy on acoustic guitar, El Kempner (of Palehound) on electric guitar, Billy Crockett on resonator guitar, and Cole Kamen-Green on trumpet and EVI.
That band appears throughout the album, along with other performers that include Melina Duterte (of Jay Som), Dustin O’Halloran, Mike Haldeman, Shahzad Ismaily, Jon Natchez (of The War on Drugs), Daniel Hart, and Zosha Warpeha.
I recently caught up with Hirway. In our wide-ranging chat, we talk about Song Exploder, his TV series, the new record (natch), and what’s next for him. It’s only been lightly edited for grammar (mine) and flow.
KA—
Congrats on the new record! Can you walk us through how this latest project came together?
After about a decade of writer’s block, I started making songs of my own again in December 2020. I put out an EP in 2022, feeling excited that I had reconnected with a part of myself that I’d been afraid I’d lost. The thing that really got me out of writer’s block was writing with other people, borrowing the kindness and patience they had for my ideas when I didn’t. I wrote for a couple years, then recorded the album in a week with producer Phil Weinrobe in Brooklyn. We recorded it live, with no headphones or click or playback; everyone just sat close together in his small basement studio, listening to one another. Phil moved quickly, to capture first instincts and takes.
How did grief, memory, or time shape the writing on this record?
I wanted to write as honestly as possible about my own life these days. About losing my mother, about almost losing my father, about my childhood and how those experiences shaped who I am now. Time changed my marriage, too. I love the way that it has relaxed into something languid, and suffused into every part of my everyday life.
You’ve hosted the Song Exploder for some time now. After all these years, what still surprises you about how songs get made?
I love that every episode asks the same question—how did you go from nothing, to this song—and every artist’s way of answering that question is unique. Even with only 12 notes in the scale.
Has hosting Song Exploder changed how you write or listen to your own music?
Definitely. At first, it really deepened my writer’s block, because I would listen to my own ideas and judge them immediately for their inability to live up to a standard set by the songs featured on the podcast. But, once I began writing again, I recognized that the episodes in the podcast I responded to the most deeply were the ones where the song told a very personal story. That helped focus me; it’s what I wanted to do, too.
What did the TV version let you do that the podcast never could?
I’d almost frame it the other way—what the TV version not allow me to do? And the answer is: control everything. It was a tremendously collaborative experience, and I was often confronted with smart ideas from smart people who disagreed with me. Often what they were arguing for was to let the episodes feel a little more loose, to let some air into the scenes. And I had to recognize that they were right. And then, some of that carried over to my music in important ways: letting other people in by co-writing, and letting go of control by recording the album live.
What was lost, if anything, when you translated the format to television?
I don’t know if it was ‘lost’ exactly, but the ultimate point of the show, to me, is to listen to music more deeply. With a podcast, I imagine (hopefully) people listening intently, in headphones, hearing all the subtle details of both the music and the story. I don’t know if that actually happens that often, but with audio-only format, at least the only thing to pay attention to is what you’re hearing. With TV, I’m not sure if people pay attention to listening in quite the same way. Then again, it seems like everyone is multitasking all the time anyway, so who knows if that attention would ever be possible!
Back to the record, what do you hope listeners take away from In The Last Hour of the Light?
I’d love it if anyone felt the way about this music the way that I feel when I hear a song that I really love: some ineffable connection to some deep part of me, like a complicated, layered feeling that I’ve been carrying around has suddenly been drawn out like smoke and turned into something tangible.
What’s next for you? What’s the balance of 2026 look like?
I’m getting ready to play a bunch of album release shows over the next few weeks. I hope that I get to play a bunch more shows before the year’s over.
Last one, just for fun: I bump into you leaving a record store. What records are you carrying?
Oh, maybe an album by Sandy Denny. I love Fairport Convention, and I’ve been feeling like I want to spend more time listening to her sing. And a Hermanos Gutiérrez LP, as a gift for my wife, who loves them.
Have you heard In the Last Hour of the Light yet? Are you a fan of Song Exploder? Share your thoughts below!
Thank you again to Hrishikesh Hirway for his time, and thank you for being here.
Kevin—
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Intrguied to give this a listen - thanks for hipping me to it, Kevin.
Song Exploder was the first podcast I ever listened to like 10 years ago! I listen to way more podcasts today, and it's still in my rotation. "Crystalised" by the xx has been lightly stuck in my head since listening to last week's episode about it. Great convo here!