The Pop Pod

Voting has officially closed for the 2027 Grammy Awards, and now we await the nominations. Olivia Rodrigo and Olivia Dean are shaping up to be two of the biggest contenders, but who will make the final cut? On this episode of The Pop Pod, we're predicting the nominations across the Big Four general field categories and all the pop categories. From the obvious frontrunners to the potential surp...

Rebecca Black knows the Pop industry in and out. She’s not only been an active participant in it for well over a decade, she’s also a fan. It feels like, she’s always learning, honing her craft and showing more and more people what she’s capable of. Her latest album Age Of The Exhibitionist is one of the strongest pop projects of the year so far and I had to have her on the pod to discuss it. As e...

Rachel Chinouriri joins the podcast off the back of the release of her second album 'I Think I Spoke Too Soon...' The album comes off the back of a huge period of change for Rachel, including sobriety and touring with pop titans like Sabrina Carpenter. Those experiences are reflected in the album which strikes a balance between vulnerability and confidence. It's a glossy pop record wit...

MNEK has helped shape the sound of modern pop, writing and producing hits for Dua Lipa, Beyoncé, Little Mix, FLO and Zara Larsson. Now, he's stepping back into the spotlight with his second solo album, Bulldozer . Fresh off executive producing Zara Larsson's Midnight Sun , MNEK joins The Pop Pod to talk about making two very different records, finding his own voice as an artist and why the...

We’re uplifting Tinashe today and always. Over the past near 15 years, I’ve watched Tinashe shape pop stardom in her own vision from huge chart hits to cult favourites. In this moment, it feels like both sides of her have synthesised. Her 8th studio album ‘Popstar’ features some of her most unexpected, mind-bending moments but it’s also landed her in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the first t...

Lizzy McAlpine is on The Pop Pod! A huge period of change informed Lizzie’s fourth album ‘Angel’. The adventurous, warm and experimental folk-pop record doesn’t come long after her last album ‘Older’ but plenty happened in between. She starred in Broadway musical ‘Floyd Collins’, found new love after a breakup and found an appreciation for the music of Joni Mitchell. Speaking to her, it feels like...

Lizzie McAlpine is on The Pop Pod! A huge period of change informed Lizzie’s fourth album ‘Angel’. The adventurous, warm and experimental folk-pop record doesn’t come long after her last album ‘Older’ but plenty happened in between. She starred in Broadway musical ‘Floyd Collins’, found new love after a breakup and found an appreciation for the music of Joni Mitchell. Speaking to her, it feels lik...

Tove Lo has had a very interesting career. Her first album 'Queen Of The Clouds' landed her in the mainstream quickly but ever since then she's taken left turns. Rather than attempting to repeat previous success, she's followed her artistic instinct which pulls through stronger than ever on 'Estrus'. I sat down with Tove on the day the album was released to talk about how s...

Carly Rae Jepsen loves pop music but on her own terms. She burst into the spotlight with one of the very early viral moment 'Call Me Maybe' but since then has operated in her own realm, driven by whatever feels good to her. As a result, she's formed a dedicated fanbase that will follow her in whichever direction she chooses. The latest pivot is one of her most ambitious yet. 'Day A...

Asha Banks is the latest guest on The Pop Pod. Banks is one of the most talented slashies around. She's known for her roles on the screen like 'My Fault' and 'Your Fault' but she's also amassing a following for her own music. She's gearing up to release a new EP 'Bottled Up' on 1 October. We talk about what got her to this moment from writing music for her own m...

I asked for controversial pop opinions and you really did deliver. On this episode, we go through some of the best (and worst) ones that we received touching on everything from Ariana Grande being the last big-voiced pop star to Miley Cyrus’ reluctance to go full pop star mode. We also talked about companion albums, imperfect debut albums and the parasocial relationships fans have with artists. Fo...

Shygirl has announced her second album, 'Swallow!'. It's a positive, uplifting and sometimes menacing record that balances desire and contentment. She's dug into UK dance references but also blended it with her love for indie music - a sound that I think will surprise and excite fans. I sat down with Shygirl to discuss the new album at large but also dig into some of the references...

Dua Lipa is back on the charts with ‘Training Season’ getting an unexpected second life which has us thinking about all things Dua. Jono & I decided it was the perfect time to talk about what we expect from her fourth album and revisit whether ‘Radical Optimism’ was a successful era for her. We also ranked the top 10 Dua Lipa songs, discussing everything from her euphoric breakout ‘Be The One’...

Hemlocke Springs is the latest guest on The Pop Pod. When I put together a list of artists that I wanted to speak to this week, Hemlocke was top of my mind. Her debut album 'the apple tree under the sea' is one of the projects that made me truly excited this year. It's an oddball pop record, that chews up so many different inspirations and spits it out in Hemlocke's technicolor vis...

A bonus throwback episode for you today. Jono and I went through all the US number one singles of 2010 and bop'd or flop'd them. As it turns out, 2010 was a pretty groundbreaking year for pop. It was a the debut of Kesha, Katy Perry's golden era and a shapeshifting year for Rihanna. On top of that, it was a gloriously silly year for pop music, driven by songs like 'Like A G6'.

A maker of several pop classics joins The Pop Pod. Natasha Bedingfield is behind some of the biggest pop songs of this millennium including 'These Words' and 'Unwritten'. These songs continue to have comebacks and, acting as millennial anthems but they have also now seeped into the psyche of a Gen Z as well - now the generation that listen to her most. On the pod, we discuss the un...

At the top of last year, I interviewed Ravyn Lenae briefly right as 'Love Me Not' was beginning to bubble. 1.3 billion streams later, it's a rare ubiquitous hit. Now, she joins me on The Pop Pod with another album in the bag. 'Blue Island' shows that she had no interest in trying to imitate the sound of 'Love Me Not'. It's a wild ride that showcases an artist follow...

Flo are, in my opinion, the best girl group on the planet right now. I got to sit down with them in London ahead of the release of their second album 'Therapy At The Club' to talk about taking control, music videos, hangover and pop classics. Their second album really sees them step into their own. It's ambitious, charismatic and loud. You'll hear all about it in this chat plus lot...

Ariana Grande's new album 'Petal' is good because Ariana is too good to make a bad album. There are, however, some frustrations about how polite it is at times. Jono and I have gone through the album track-by-track to make sense of one of her most divisive albums yet. Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ .

Rose Gray is the next princess of pop. Taking inspiration from the legends like Kylie and Madonna as well as underground dance music, she’s forged a new path off the back of her debut album Louder, Please. That album helped her pick up a whole new audience and now she’s headed towards album number two with ‘Club To Your Arms’ and its experimental sister ‘Bodies’. She joined The Pop Pod to talk abo...

It's been a while since Jono and I have checked in on the pod so we though we'd give you an episode on the best and worst of 2026 so far. We talked about what's worked this year and what hasn't as well as listed our top 3 songs and album of the year so far.

Sekou is my favourite new male popstar. He's got the tunes, he's got the look and he's got a superstar mindset. He's just released his debut mixtape 'In A World We Don't Belong' which features 'Catching Bodies' his breakout single. In the past year, he's also featured on Justin Bieber's 'Swag' finding a musical kingship with Biebs. I had the best...

Well, this is a dream. Charli XCX is the latest guest on The Pop Pod. We met up in London to discuss the new album Music Fashion Film and how she got to this point, once again making a creative pivot in the sort of way only Charli knows how.

It is my pleasure to welcome to the podcast Bebe Rexha - a pop music titan who is responsible for some of the biggest hits of the last decade. Freshly independent and with a new record 'Dirty Blonde' in the bag, we talked about her journey to this point and her most cohesive album to date. As always, we also talked pop classics touching on everything from dancefloor bangers to Miley Cyrus....

Olivia Rodrigo released her third album 'you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love' to AOTY allegations last week. I had to get Jono on the line to discuss. We went track-by-track through the songs and reviewed it along the way.