Welcome to the New York Times Popcast, your slow drip of music news and cultural mergers.

I'm your host Ben Ratliff. Line it must be cool. You're listening to Bette Tenache's new record Aquarius, which John Caramonica wrote about last week in Arts and Leisure.

That new ooze. The new ooze.

That ooves. The news.

Yeah, the news.

John, Tanache is part of something that's bigger than her.

Yes.

And what is that something?

Well, she is part of something that's bigger than her,

which is this movement within R&B towards slow tension, Gothic overtones, darkness,

sort of like a pulpy sensuality.

Yeah.

What Tenache does that's different than the other folks who are doing this kind of stuff.

Well, it's two things, really.

One, she's playing on a different feel.

Like she's on a major label, her actual crossover record

that's been really successful, which is too on, which has been a big hit

this past summer, is probably the least typical song on her album Aquarius.

That's right, yes.

Probably one of the two least typical songs.

Yeah. But you can see her vocal tendencies in at play on that song in a way that I think does share

commonality with what she does on the record the rest of the album. So she's playing

...