NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Little Dragon (2023x74)

: 11, 2023

The last time Swedish band Little Dragon performed for Tiny Desk, the group wasn't actually at the Desk. Like a number of Tiny Desk alum who played between 2020 and 2022, Little Dragon delivered its debut Tiny Desk as a (home) concert in the band's Gothenburg studio. That performance provided a comforting balm to many during the early and confusing months of the global pandemic. Finally hosting the quartet in our Washington, D.C. office was the ultimate goal, and in this in person Tiny Desk, Little Dragon delivers a performance awash with upbeat and optimistic melodies balanced by a grounded presentation. Since the band's debut album in 2007, Little Dragon created a blend of R&B, soul, electronica and dance pop that pushes the boundaries of simplistic genre classification. The whimsical whistling of drummer Erik Bodin in "Tumbling Dice" is the perfect complement to singer Yukimi Nagano encouraging us to "make it worth every step as we go." The cosmic pop tones of "Ritual Union'' are s