Robyn Hitchcock & They Might Be Giants

The New Wave Music Podcast

Hosts Steve and Don dive into two new albums from veteran alternative artists, Robyn Hitchcock's The Confuser and They Might Be Giants' The

Key takeaways

• Robyn Hitchcock's 25th solo album The Confuser features collaborations with Emma Swift, Kimberly Rue, and Gillian Welch, blending psychedelic rock with absurdist lyrics.
• They Might Be Giants' The World Is To Dig marks a creative resurgence after several lackluster recent releases, showcasing renewed energy and whimsical songwriting.

Main topics

• Album reviews
• New Wave music news

Notable quotes

The album's consistent theme, contemplating life and death with humor rather than dread, gives the record a cohesive, emotional through line.

Conclusion

The episode offers a thoughtful, track-by-track appreciation of two en

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) Hi, this is Pete Byrne from Naked Eyes, and you're Speaker 4 (0:02) listening to the New Wave Music Podcast. Oh, Speaker 3 (0:05) is something there to remind me? Speaker 3 (0:10) You're tuned into the new wave music podcast. Speaker 3 (0:15) Your go-to destination for exclusive interviews, album reviews, and the latest music news. Speaker 3 (0:24) And now, here are your hosts, Steve and Don. Speaker 1 (0:29) Well, welcome back to another episode of the New Wave Music Podcast. Don, it's great to be having you here and talking some New Wave. Thanks for having me, Steve. Always a pleasure. Well, Don, today we're going to be diving into two very eclectic bands of the New Wave era. The first one we're going to be jumping into is Robin Hitchcock. And if you need a reminder or if you need a refresher of Robin's work, you may remember such hits as Balloon Man. Speaker 4 (0:57) slow Speaker 4 (1:06) balloons Speaker 1 (1:14) So you think you're in love? Speaker 1 (1:38) and Madonna of the Wasps. Speaker 4 (1:41) No. Speaker 1 (2:03) Robin Hitchcock just released his 25th solo studio album, The Confuser. It was released just recently in July of 2026. And on some things I found out about this album that I thought was interesting is Robin Hitchcock and his partner, Emma Swift, originally were working on a collection of duets in Los Angeles, but they decided to put that project aside. Emma then suggested that Robin make a straight up rock album. And most of these songs were written during a three month period. why his wife Emma Swift was away touring. And they even found out two of these songs he wrote, and they didn't even rehearse. They just went in and recorded them right away. Speaker 2 (2:39) Yeah, and I think he also ended up sending a bunch of them to his old soft boys bandmate, Kimberly Rue. Speaker 1 (2:47) And so he appears on a few of these tracks. Speaker 2 (2:50) On this album, Robin is working with Jeremy Fetzer on guitar, Tom Bolden on bass, and Eric Slick on drums. And also the co-producer Brad Jones supplies some keyboards. As I said before, we've got some guitar work from Kimberly Rue, and also guest backing vocals from Gillian Welch. Well, Speaker 1 (3:15) Don, let's go ahead and give this album a spin. Let's start off with the first track, I Am This Thing. Speaker 1 (3:49) The album gets off to a great start with this song. Right away, you get that classic Robin Hitchcock combination of catchy rock music and lyrics that make you stop and wonder exactly what he's talking about. Musically, there's a great energy to it. And the guitar gives the song a slightly gritty, almost garage rock feel. It's one of those songs that immediately establishes the personality of the album. I really enjoyed this one. It's short, energetic, and gets right to the point. Definitely one of the album highlights for me. Speaker 2 (4:19) Yeah, I think in rock history, there's been a lot of audacious opening lines, but I think I owe a lot to a dead man's cock. It's got to maybe take the cake, I think. But yeah. you know, hits you in the face with his sense of humor right away. But the song seems to be, you know, kind of a meditation on identity and existence. Some other, you know, kind of absurd things. I come at a price like egg fried rice every Sunday morning. It's ever so nice. I grew from seed, a fleshy seed. Just, you know, typical sort of nonsensical, but somehow, I don't know. I don't even know how to put it, but, you know, somehow the lyrics make some sense in this odd Robin Hitchcock world. Also, you know, kind of shouts out his love for the music of the birds, which is nice. As an opening track, I think it really sets the tone for the whole record. You know, definitely rocky for Hitchcock and cheeky. So good start. Speaker 1 (5:25) Moving on to the next track, My Dead Astronaut. Speaker 1 (6:03) This song keeps the momentum going, but takes things into a much stranger lyrical direction. And that's not exactly surprising when you're listening to Robin Hitchcock. There's such a playful, almost theatrical quality to the song. With vivid imagery and the slightly off-kilter feel, it's catchy, but there's also something wonderfully weird about it. I enjoyed this track. Though it didn't grab me as much as the opening song, it does a good job of showing you that this isn't going to be a completely straightforward rock album. Speaker 2 (6:33) Yeah, it's a confusing song. I feel like he's kind of eulogizing a fallen hero, maybe of the space race, with some tenderness, but also some humor. Again, interesting lyrics. You know, you were the last one off the moon. You cast a shadow like a spoon. I used to hang my shirt on you just for something to do. You know, I always feel like with Robin, there's like an inside joke that nobody's in on other than him. But it's still, you know, just very charming and whimsical. Hitchcock described the song as a rock and party song for a new dystopia. Yeah, just another fun one, but still, you know, keeping the rock edge of the first track. Edgy opening to the album. Let's Speaker 1 (7:18) move on to the next track, Yesterday's Rain. Speaker 1 (7:48) This was another major highlight for me. This track has a great classic rock feel, but still sounds unmistakably like Hitchcock. The guitars and rhythm section give it a nice straightforward motion, while the lyrics have that combination of surrealism and reflection that he does so well. But the real highlight for me on this song was the chorus. Both the lyrics and the melody really pulled me in. There's something about that chorus that immediately caught my attention, and I found myself wanting to hear it again. It's catchy without feeling like Hitchcock's trying too hard to write a catchy song. It's one of those tracks that where everything just comes together for me. The lyrics, the melody, the guitars, definitely another one of the album highlights for me. Speaker 2 (8:28) Yeah, this one is definitely catchy. You know, I love the line, you know, yesterday's rain falls on tomorrow's parade. And then at some point it's falls in tomorrow's champagne, falls on tomorrow's campaign. So it's almost like he's linking personal history to political and social decay. Hitchcock described the track's premise as the sins of the past call the shots for the future. Definitely, you know, one of the great tracks on this record. Speaker 1 (8:59) Let's move on to the next track, Breathless. Speaker 1 (9:37) This one changes the mood considerably. It's more atmospheric and laid back with a dreamy quality that gives the album some breathing room after the first three tracks. I like the guitar work here. There's something almost hypnotic about the song. Hitchcock has always been good at creating these slightly surreal musical environments, and this one fits nicely into that tradition. This one's not one of my top tracks on the album, but I appreciate what it brings to the record. It slows things down without completely killing the momentum. Speaker 2 (10:06) Yeah, it's a slower, more solemn and atmospheric track, I'd say. I actually saw somebody describe it as genteel psychedelia. You've got these shimmering layered guitars, which I believe is Kimberly Rue. from the Soft Boys, also from famously of Katrina and the Waves. It seems to be, you know, another meditation on desire, anxiety, and disconnection. I really like Robin when he, you know, sings in this, you know, this softer tone. It's a come down moment for sure, a tonal shift. But, you know, and I kind of think sets up some of the more reflective back half of the record. Speaker 1 (10:47) That's going to take us to the next track. Ghost in Sunlight. Speaker 4 (11:05) She went Speaker 4 (11:12) You cling to what you know. Speaker 4 (11:18) Like a ghost in sunlight Speaker 1 (11:25) This is actually a really interesting recording. It's atmospheric, somewhat haunting, and has some beautiful textures. Gillian Wedge contributes backing vocals, and Kimberly Rue is also part of the musical picture. Hitchcock himself described this song as being about transparent or invisible. I can appreciate what he's doing here, but this song kind of didn't really connect with me as much as the other tracks. For whatever reason, I just couldn't find myself getting pulled into this song the way I did with the first four. Interestingly, though, Hitchcock has said that this is his favorite track on the album. But for me, this is probably the album's low point. Speaker 2 (12:00) Interesting. Yeah, I agree with Mr. Hitchcock on this one. It didn't grab me at first, but after listening to this quite a bit, it has become my favorite track on the record. Maybe Speaker 1 (12:14) it Speaker 2 (12:14) has the most serious tone, despite his sense of humor, I think. Hitchcock can still deliver a more serious lyric and a more serious atmosphere. But the backing vocals by Welch, I think, add a nice touch. I think there's more guitar there from Rue. It sounds like there's some Mellotron or some cello in there. Sometimes Hitchcock sounds a bit John Lennon-ish, and he definitely has that on this track. Just the imagery of the lyrics interest me. Something about like in the middle of a sentence on a Friday afternoon, you disappear like a ghost in sunlight. I think it's supposed to be kind of a metaphor for loss or maybe the loss of memory or something. So very interesting. He always gives me – it's like a puzzle I'm trying to work out with his lyrics, but it's a fun puzzle. Speaker 1 (13:11) Well, Don, maybe I've got to go back and give this one another listen. Speaker 2 (13:14) So the next track is Building from the Ruins. Speaker 2 (13:51) So yeah, this is, so the tempo is picking up again. You've got like a wah-wah driven guitar track here. You know, it's mostly, I think, just like a single chord, but you know, the wah effect is interesting. Kind of reminded me of Stone Roses a little bit. Again, just weird stuff. I met an ugly man, his face was raw. He said demolition is nine-tenths of the law. Not sure exactly what that's about. There's another fun line in there. I miss democracy like my wisdom teeth. Yeah, I would say it's the most overtly funky track and, you know, kind of a groove oriented detour for the album. And one of the sharpest examples, I think, of Hitchcock folding political and existential dread into kind of deadpan, surreal humor. Speaker 1 (14:42) Well, this was the longest song on the album, and unfortunately, this one was the other song on the album that just didn't connect with me or that didn't really do much for me. There's definitely some interesting stuff going on musically. Like you said, the wah-wah guitar gives it a funky, slightly psychedelic feel, and the lyrics have plenty of Hitchcock's trademark surrealism. Hitchcock describes this track as a celebration of collapse and restoration, and it certainly has the feeling of chaos running through it. Speaker 2 (15:10) All right. So things slow down again with The Vanishing Kind. Speaker 2 (15:48) So this is a gentle, repetitive love song built around the simple, insistent request, hold me. You know, kind of, you know, for Hitchcock, it's kind of sweet and tender and, you know, a very straightforward romantic moment, I think. You never know because, you know, I think his tongue is always in his cheek. But yeah, it seems to be like a litany of ways to be held. Hold me for an hour. Hold me for a minute. Hold me for a week. Hold me like a flower. Yeah, it's unusual, but yeah, kind of touching, I think, for a Hitchcock song. I think the phrase, we are the vanishing kind, kind of sets the backdrop of maybe a couple's affection against mortality, which is kind of a cool thing. Musically, it's understated, featuring kind of a wandering bass line and some layered vocal harmonies. I think this was a nice... you know, change of pace after the, you know, the wah-wah of, you know, building Speaker 1 (16:52) from the ruins. Yeah, I found this song to bring the album back into a more relaxed and melodic space. There's a sweetness to this one that I really like. The guitar work here is understated, and this song has a slightly dreamy quality that fits Hitchcock very well. It's almost like he's taking all the weirdness surrounding the previous tracks and stepping back for a moment. I think this song works well within the album. Speaker 2 (17:14) Okay, next Speaker 1 (17:15) up we