Shirley Manson with Constant Follower

On today's Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got one of those episodes pairing an artist you’ve surely heard of, pun intended, with one you likely haven’t, but will. It’s Shirley Manson and Stephen McAll. Manson is of course the singer for the long-running, Grammy-nominated, chart-topping, Bond-theme-performing band Garbage, which hit it big right out of the gate in the mid-1990s. Manson and her bandmates have assembled a varied catalog since, including the biting 2021 album No Gods, No Masters. As you’ll hear in this chat, Garbage is still going strong, working on a new record that goes in kind of a different direction than the last one. Manson has always been a great talker; she even hosted her own podcast for a few years called The Jump, on which she talked with other musicians about the song that provided their breakthrough. She’s a huge fan of music, so it’s no surprise that she was excited to chat with today’s other guest, Stephen McAll. McAll, like Manson, is Scottish—that’s hard to miss—though he hasn’t been making music nearly as long. His debut album under the name Constant Follower came out in 2021 and was met with loads of critical acclaim in Scotland for his quiet, heartfelt, frequently intense songs—think Bon Iver or Low or even McCall’s favorite, Talk Talk. This week sees the release of the second proper Constant Follower album, called The Smile You Send Out Returns To You, another intense set that covers some of McAll’s intense personal journey, including addiction, fatherhood, and the violent attack he suffered that still affects his memory. Check out the song “Almost Time to Go” from The Smile You Send Out right here. In this lively but deep conversation, Manson and McAll talk about that awful attack and how it led, eventually, to Constant Follower. They also talk about longevity in the music business, the creative process—including The Artist’s Way that’s become a frequent topic in Talkhouse chats—and lots more, including the time that Rivers Cuomo laughed in Manson’s face—in a helpful way. Enjoy. Chapters: 0:00 – Intro 2:25 – Start of the chat Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Shirley Manson and Stephen McAll for chatting. If you liked what you heard, check out all the great stuff at Talkhouse.com and on the Talkhouse Podcast Network. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme was composed and performed by The Range. See you next time! Find more illuminating podcasts on the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit talkhouse.com to read essays, reviews, and more. Follow @talkhouse on Instagram, Bluesky, Twitter (X), Threads, and Facebook.