On the Song Exploder podcast, host Hrishikesh Hirway talks to musicians who take apart their songs and, piece by piece, tell the stories of how they were made. Listen below.

In September 2014, Odesza put out their second album In Return. It debuted at Number One on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic charts, and spent 13 weeks in the top 10. But the song "Kusanagi," which comes at the midpoint of the record, isn't a dance track. It slows down the pace, a brief reprieve from the concussive repetition of hard-hitting tracks. In this episode of Song Exploder, Clay Knight and Harrison Mills of Odesza tell the story of how they made the track along with their friend and collaborator Sean Kusanagi, who they named the song after. It started as a way to cut against the grain of most electronic songs the duo heard while performing at big festivals. And the recording process, from early sketches in Kusanagi's apartment in Los Angeles to a home studio on Bainbridge Island outside of Seattle, emphasized that calming tone. This episode was recorded live at Moogfest in Durham, North Carolina.

Buy “Kusanagi” on iTunes.

More at SongExploder.net