It’s natural for people who just discovered podcasts, or who are already ardent fans, to do Google Searches on something like the Best Music Podcasts. The problem is that these “Best Of…Podcast” searches always return podcasts of the most visible, network-supported shows.
For a reason only Google knows (and they are not sharing), independent podcasts are often ignored in these searches. Perhaps Google may have an algorithm for podcasts that states: SUM=Ignore all independent podcasts.
The search results for Best Music podcast On Google will not include The Secret Life Of Songs Podcast.
But it should.
The Secret Life Of Songs podcast is one of the best music podcasts out there, with all due respect to Mr. Google.
Its creator/ host Anthony T Jackson has loved songs his whole life and started writing them at the age of ten. He has released an album, two EPs and several standalone singles under the name Sky Coloured. Following the success of his first podcast series, he was appointed Lecturer at The London College of Contemporary Music in songwriting and the history of popular music.
Jackson plays several instruments as he recreates the songs he is dissecting. He is an immensely talented musician and terrific singer. His voice has a distinct, breathless, soothing quality, and his pipes are versatile enough to sing several different styles. His recreation of SOS by ABBA at the beginning of that episode is inspired, and I would buy that cover.
So, like many independent podcasts, life tends to disrupt the best laid plans for a smooth and unbroken recording and release schedule.
Jackson actually began The Secret Life Of Songs in 2020. He released ten episodes that spring/summer, which shut the doors for five years. He was even the winner of the bronze award in ‘Best Arts & Culture Podcast’ at the British Podcast Awards 2021.
We asked him how life interfered with his indie podcasting passions, and he answered: “First, the sheer amount of work the episodes take to research, write, record, and edit was overwhelming. Secondly, a lot has happened in my life during those years, which meant I was never able to work on it full-time. I started working on the new series almost immediately after the first was released. Still, since then, I’ve moved cities, done a master’s course, written and released an EP of original music, and started a new job as a lecturer at a music college, not to mention personal responsibilities with family, etc. Work on the podcast has had to be squeezed around these other commitments, as I’m sure is the case with many independent podcasters — it’s a great passion but doesn’t pay the bills!”
No truer words were spoken about the plight of the independent podcaster.
Anyway, The Secret Life of Songs has returned with a new series exploring classic songs from the 1970s and '80s. In Jackson’s new season, listeners can hear how the fallout from the disappointed hopes of the 1960s was explored in the works of Sly Stone and Joni Mitchell; how the unearthly new sounds unlocked by radical new music technology was used to express both utopian and dystopian impulses by Giorgio Moroder and the originators of Detroit Techno; and how the era’s most divisive cultural concept — postmodernism — was uncannily reflected in the output of the era’s most divisive pop band — ABBA.
Jackson’s unique style is to deftly weave fine-grained musical analysis, historical context, and philosophical reflection with his own impassioned recreations of the music to produce embodied, thoroughly grounded, and deeply personal insights into these wonderful songs.
As a host, Jackson is superb, with a studied cadence that reflects his intensity and intellectual curiosity about how the songs affect culture and how society impacts them. Jackson isn’t a lightweight, with casual observations about the lyrics, harmony, or melody.
Instead, Jackson discusses how major and minor keys may drift in a song to reflect the lyrics or the mood of the song. His dissection of how harmony, melody, and the lyrics work in tandem, or at times, in opposition to one another, offers listeners new insights into the construction of essential songs in our cultural milieu.
The Secret Life Of Songs is a bit like Song Exploder, yet Jackson brings a more intense level of music analysis.
In the episode on ABBA, Jackson begins the show with a litany of invective heaped by ABBA at the height of their popularity. The band was regularly criticized for its commercialism. Then, Jackson goes on to discuss ABBA’s defenders and the reconsideration of the quality of their music. He discusses musical supporters of the group, ranging from Chrissie Hynde to Elvis Costello. When analyzing SOS, Jackson reminds us how elegantly this song was crafted, beginning in a D-Minor key but then drifting into an inversion using a bluesy-style.
In the Family Affair episode about Sly And The Family Stone, Jackson explains how Sly Stone uses a filter to make his voice sound like that of someone on a landline telephone to make his voice sound flat and distant.
Jackson tells us : “The series is intended for anyone who loves music — musicians and non-musicians alike — who might want to hear a bit more about why songs affect us in the way they do. It’s a personal, reflective journey through some of pop’s greatest songs, but it’s also a celebration of the role song plays in our lives, the way that songs find their way into our deepest experiences and help shape our understanding of the world.”
The first three episodes were released on August 14th, 2025, and every two weeks on Thursdays after that. The series will consist of ten episodes:1. I Feel Love // Donna Summer2. Family Affair // Sly & the Family Stone3. SOS // ABBA4. Good Life // Inner City5. Running Up That Hill // Kate Bush6. 9 to 5 // Dolly Parton7. Time After Time // Cyndi Lauper8. I Wanna Dance with Somebody // Whitney Houston9. Streets of Philadelphia // Bruce Springsteen10. A Case of You // Joni Mitchell
The Secret Life Of Songs is unique because of Anthony Jackson’s genius in breaking down songs, linking the song’s composition to historical music styles, discussing music theory in depth, explaining how technology drives musical innovation, and the tendrils of culture that infect popular music.
Let’s not forget Mr. Jackson’s multi-instrumental, trans-vocal, and creatively interpretative musical talent.
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