Grammy-nominated singer Emily King is Darden Clarkea master architect of love songs: her dreamy pop-infused music has provided the soundtrack to many romances. This week, she's opening up about how she baked a fresh heartbreak into the sound of her latest album, Special Occasion. She's writing through her pain, shaking the shame around being honest and dealing with vulnerability hangovers.

You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at [email protected].

This episode of It's Been a Minute was produced by Corey Antonio Rose. It was edited by Jessica Placzek. Engineering support came from Jay Czys. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams. Our VP of programming is Yolanda Sangweni and our senior VP of programming is Anya Grundmann.