Big Sonic Heaven featured some bands hittin’ the road this year! Tricky is touring North America for the first time in eight years, and his first show is right here in Detroit at El Club on September 16. We heard his latest track “Out of Place” (feat. Marta).

Gene’s first American Tour in 24 years starts this November. The limited tour doesn’t include Detroit, but if you want to travel, they’ll be in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, DC, and NYC. The same goes for The Tear Garden. The closest shows to Detroit are Chicago on September 24 for the Cold Waves festival and Cleveland at the Grog Shop on September 26. 

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Big Sonic Heaven playlist for May 18, 2026

• “Black Metallic” – Catherine Wheel
• “No One’s Listening” – Goodbye Ranger
• “Jovano” – Gergana Dimitrova & Lisa Gerrard
• “Jerusalem” – Sinéad O’Connor
• “Out of Place (feat. Marta)” – Tricky
• “This Far” – Cranes Come
• “wake up (clean version)” – The Haunted Youth
• “Michael” – Beachy Head
• “Next Life” – Mint Julep
• “Just One Kiss” – The Cure
• “Drink the New Wine” – Bauhaus
• “Olympian” – Gene
• “Mon Amour Sauvage” – Dead Can Dance
• “Lovelife” – Lush
• “Alfie” – deary
• “Long Distance Lover” – Locust
• “Souvlaki Space Station” – Slowdive
• “You Are The One” – Kilbey Kennedy
• “Slivered Kisses (feat. Danella Hocevar)” – She Shone
• “Pale Clouded White” – Cocteau Twins
• “Always There” – The Churchhill Garden
• “Floating” – Julee Cruise
• “8th Deadly Sin” – Miki Berenyi Trio
• “Pause The Rain” – Masal & Emma Anderson
• “This Life” – Mandalay
• “Além” – Summer of Hate
• “Ophelia” – The Tear Garden
• “Home” – Depeche Mode
• “One Day” – Future Islands
• “Untitled 8″ – Sigur Rós”

Metro Detroit’s infrastructure is old. Many of the homes people live in, the streets they drive on, and the drainage systems they use were constructed many decades ago. And most of that infrastructure is considered gray — it’s made of concrete, steel, and asphalt. 

That material is sturdy. But it’s less helpful for navigating extreme weather, especially flooding. The good news is that across metro Detroit, green infrastructure projects are cropping up. 

What do those look like? Why do they matter? And, how can more residents create green infrastructure projects to prevent flooding, and beautify their communities? 

Jim Nash is the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner. He spoke with host Robyn Vincent.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro