Sidetracked with Annie and Nick

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

With the Grammys done and the Super Bowl Half Time show looming, Annie and Nick discuss the monumental week Bad Bunny is having. They also go through their other stand out moments from the emotionally charged ceremony, and what it means to them to see artists like Olivia Dean, FKA twigs, Lola Young and the Cure succeed amongst such fierce competitors.
Elsewhere, the UK version of SNL may not have a launch date just yet, but they do have a confirmed musical director – what could the show mean for music on the TV? Plus, in the name of journalism, Nick sends Harry Styles a very serious text.
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: https://www.instagram.com/channel/AbZ16VG0mPTML0Aa/?igsh=aXdtYzA2czJrenRj
SONGS
Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline
Lola Young - Messy
Kendrick Lamar – Luther
HAAi (feat. Jon Hopkins, Obi Franky, ILĀ, & TRANS VOICES) - Satellite
ILĀ, Nature - Nightingale (feat. Anna Phoebe & Sam Lee)
ALBUMS
Olivia Dean - The Art of Loving
Bad Bunny - Debí Tirar Más Fotos
FKA Twigs - Eusexua
Justin Bieber - Swag
Jacob Alon - In Limerence
Gabriel Jacoby - gutta child

In a week so busy that Nick had to start making notes, he and Annie sit down to attempt to discuss some of the most important music stories, like the return of Arctic Monkeys, Victoria Beckham’s somewhat inappropriate chart success, and Robbie Williams beating a record previously held by the Beatles. In other news, Harry Styles fans are freaking out over Aperture – but what do Annie and Nick make of his new sound? And should we be worried about his feet?
Plus, Pitchfork are opening the reviewing floor to the public, Brandi Carlile is obsessed with CMAT, and music industry insiders are declaring the album dead.
Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16, WhatsApp on 07970082700 or email [email protected]
More information on the HELP(2) album here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4qqdy29d2o
New Yorker Article about the changing relevance of the album drop here:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/why-albums-drop-and-movies-launch
HOMEWORK: Watch Geese on SNL and listen to Robbie Williams’ album Brit Pop.

SONGS
James Blake – Death of Love
James Blake – Limit To Your Love
Arctic Monkeys – Opening Night
Harry Styles – Aperture
Victoria Beckham – Not Such An Innocent Girl
Spice Girls – Viva Forever
Cruz Beckham – LICK THE TOAD
Madonna – Nobody Knows Me

ALBUMS
James Blake - CMYK
Various Artists for War Child Records - HELP(2)
Robbie Williams – BRITPOP
Tyler, The Creator – CHROMAKOPIA
Djo -The Crux
Bad Bunny - Debí Tirar Más Fotos
Perfume Genius – Glory
Wet Leg - moisturizer
Rosalía - LUX
FKA twigs – Eusexua
Madonna – American Life