Jehnny Beth first emerged in public consciousness as the charismatic lead singer and co-writer of UK Mercury Prize nominated post-punk band Savages. As a solo artist she’s worked with artists like PJ Harvey, Anna Calvi, Gorillaz and The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas. She recorded the XY Chelsea documentary soundtrack with her longtime producer Johnny Hostile, with whom she runs the French Pop Noire record label; and she also hosts the Beats 1 radio program “Start Making Sense” and the Arte music TV series “Echoes with Jehnny Beth.” Her startling 2020 solo debut album To Love is to Live is a dark cinematic meditation on the strange business of being alive—the result of collaborating with producers like Atticus Ross and Flood, and songwriters like Romy Madley Croft of The xx.

Photo credit: Maxime La

Ann Powers is a critic and correspondent for NPR Music. She is the author of several books, most recently Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music (Dey Street, 2017).

She lives in Nashville and is currently working on a critical biography of Joni Mitchell.

Pop Conference is the premier music writing and popular music studies conference, held annually at Seattle's Museum of Popular Culture. This year's conference will be held online in September.

For more information, visit mopop.org/popcon @mopopseattle @popconorg