The Poppiest Song I've Loved In Years

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.

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