Sidetracked with Annie and Nick

Harry Styles has had a big week with the release of “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.” and even if he doesn’t pay attention to reviews, there’s a vital one in this episode. Annie and Nick discuss the new album, as well as a myriad of other new releases including War Child Records’ compilation album HELP (2), Yebba, and Eliza. Elsewhere, Timothée Chalamet has made a massive error by dismissing ballet and opera, but one good to come from it is Annie wants to learn how to sing classical music – and she takes some inspiration from Madonna to show how ready she is for the challenge. And Nick recently revealed the song that made him cry as a 10-year-old and now he has some scientific answers as to why music can inspire such intense emotional reactions.
HOMEWORK: Listen to the HELP (2) album and/or get in touch if you think you can teach Annie and Nick to sing opera.
Get in touch with Annie and Nick! You can send a WhatsApp to 07970082700 or email [email protected]
And you can also stay in touch via our Instagram Channel, which you can find in the BBC Sounds Instagram bio.

SONGS
Harry Styles – Are You Listening Yet?

Harry Styles – Coming Up Roses

Harry Styles – Dance No More

Ezra Collective & Green Tea Peng – Helicopters

Wet Leg – Obvious

Fontaine’s D.C. – Black Boys on Mopeds

Arooj Aftab – Lilac Wine

Flying Lotus – Antelope Onigiri

Eliza – Pleasure Boy

Fever Ray – The Lake (Cinematic)

Sylvester – You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

ALBUMS
Harry Styles – Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. (aka KISSTO/KATTDO)

Yebba – Jean

Various Artists for War Child Records – HELP(2)

ELIZA – The Darkening Green

Flying Lotus – BIG MAMA

OPERAS

La Traviata

Carmen

7 Deaths of Maria Callas

Akhnaten

Rigoletto

Tristan und Isolde

So the BRITs was fun...Annie and Nick review the 2026 event, which took place in Manchester for the very first time. How did Nick feel about Rosalía bringing on Björk? Did Annie think it worked as a TV show? And find out why our red-carpet interview with Self Esteem may have secured her a new, unexpected job.
Elsewhere in the world of music, Rihanna has shared footage of her in an actual recording studio, Mitski has a brilliant new album, and Soulseek users are being trolled by an AI Homer Simpson.
Get in touch with Annie and Nick! You can send a WhatsApp to 07970082700 or email [email protected]
And you can also stay in touch via our Instagram Channel, which you can find in the BBC Sounds Instagram bio.

HOMEWORK: The Sidetracked Album Club has officially started and March’s pick is LCD Soundsystem’s self-titled debut album. We’ll discuss it at the end of the month.

SONGS
Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – Rein Me In
Rosalía - Berghain
Harry Styles - Aperture
Hozier – Take Me to Church
Underworld – Born Slippy
Mary J. Blige – I’m Going Down

ALBUMS
Mitski - Nothing's About to Happen to Me
Altin Gün - Garip
Harry Styles – Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem

With just days to go before the 2026 BRIT Awards, Annie and Nick discuss their plans for the night and whether there’s a more optimistic feeling around this year’s event. Plus, Spotify have revealed some stats around the royalties they paid UK artists in 2025 and the number of times global audiences played those artists – breaking news: Olivia Dean is really popular. Elsewhere, Lana Del Rey is back and seems more in control of her art than ever before, Annie is lamenting the decline of rap groups, and Nick has a Mary J Blige update. And one listener has a brilliant idea for people who want to appreciate albums as an artform.
Get in touch with Annie and Nick! You can send a WhatsApp to 07970082700 or email [email protected]
And you can also stay in touch via our Instagram Channel, which you can find in the BBC Sounds Instagram bio.

SONGS
Eminem – My Name Is

Kanye West – I Wonder
Labi Siffre – Cannock Chase

Labi Siffre – Bless the Telephone

Lola Young – Messy

Lana Del Rey – White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter

Yebba – Yellow Eyes
The Scythe – THE SCYTHE
The Scythe – LIT EFFECT

Max Winter – Candlelight

Radiohead – High and Dry

ALBUMS
Yebba – Dawn

Yebba – Jean

A Tribe Called Quest – Beats, Rhymes &Life

cktrl – spirit

The Scythe – Strictly 4 The Scythe

Charli XCX – brat

Charli XCX – Wuthering Heights

Radiohead – The Bends

Annie and Nick are joined by friend, singer, fellow podcaster and icon, Jessie Ware. In between a long overdue catch up, they discuss Jessie’s new music, whether she has any plans to tour and how the album launch has changed since her first record. Plus, they ponder why the majority of songs focus on love or heartbreak, reveal the songs that devastate them the most, and Annie gives Jessie and Nick a necessary Irish vocab lesson.
Get in touch with Annie and Nick! You can send a WhatsApp to 07970082700 or email [email protected]
And you can also stay in touch via our Instagram Channel, which you can find in the BBC Sounds Instagram bio.
Jessie Ware is releasing her 6th studio album ‘Superbloom’ on 10th April.
HOMEWORK: Listen to Jessie’s excellent new single, Ride (out on 20th February)
SONGS
Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah
Taylor Swift - Welcome to New York
Jessie Ware - Ride
Ennio Morricone- Main Theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Kendrick Lamar - Alright
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
Toto – Georgy Porgy
Mary J. Blige - I’m Going Down
Madonna - Justify My Love
Donna Summer - Love to Love You Baby
Pet Shop Boys - What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Jessie Ware – Free Yourself
ALBUMS
Jessie Ware – Superbloom
Charli XCX – brat
Jessie Ware – Devotion
Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure?
Jessie Ware – That! Feels Good!
Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music

Annie and Nick discuss Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time show and have some pretty surprising opinions about it all – but what should other artists take from the performance? In other news, Taylor Swift released her music video for Opalite and some fans aren’t pleased with how she chose to do it; Rosalía is confirmed to perform at the Brit Awards, and Lana Del Rey has promised a new single is imminent.
And in very serious, breaking news: Harry Styles has responded to Nick’s hard-hitting questions about ballet flats.
HOMEWORK: Watch A$AP Rocky and FKA twigs’ on their respective episodes of Celebrity Substitute, and get in touch with details about the craziest thing you’ve done to get tickets to a gig.
Get in touch with Annie and Nick! You can send a WhatsApp to 07970082700 or email [email protected]
And you can also stay in touch via our Instagram Channel, which you can find in the BBC Sounds Instagram bio.
The full 6 Music Festival line up can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0q3zl2wn2xo
SONGS
Sasha Keable – Hold Up
Ezra Collective & Sasha Keable – Body Language
Rosalía - Berghain
Rosalía - Sauvignon Blanc
Rosalía - La Perla
Lana Del Rey - White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter
Lady Gaga – Die With a Smile
Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin – I Like It
Taylor Swift – Opalite

ALBUMS
Lana Del Rey - Stove
Rosalía - LUX