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The Poppiest Song I've Loved In Years

Jilian Linklater's single "Break Up With Your Best Friend" is out October 12.
Marissa Roberts
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Courtesy of the artist
Jilian Linklater's single "Break Up With Your Best Friend" is out October 12.

I recently hosted a "pitch session" at the DIY Music Conference hosted by CD Baby in Nashville. It was an opportunity for independent artists to have their music heard and critiqued by a panel of music industry folks including a record producer, a music supervisor and music journalist. Last year I discovered the music of AHI in my batch of a hundred plus submissions and was thrilled to bring him to the Tiny Desk.

This year, Nashville's Jilian Linklater was my favorite discovery.

"Break Up With Your Best Friend" is poppier than any song I've had stuck in my head for a long while. I chalk that up not just to its contagious chorus, but the memories it conjured up of losing an old friend. For the 26-year-old Linklater, it was a song that helped her process a breakup, but became so much more than that. After workshopping the song with fellow songwriters Claire Douglas and Danielle Blakey, she tells NPR Music that "it transformed into a more universal song about the loss of a romantic relationship as well." "Break Up With Your Best Friend" was produced by Dan Agee and makes its premiere today.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.