In Our Headphones

Billi Free & The Lasso - "Thrive, Despite" from the 2022 album Holy Body Roll on Mello Music Group. Holy Body Roll, released this March, is a collaborative record between New Mexico vocalist A. Billi Free and Michigan producer The Lasso that leans into the duo’s love for funk, pop, hip hop, and R&B for a record that’s free-flowing and boundaryless. Joined by The Lasso’s studio team made up of saxophonist The Saxsquatch, cellist Jordan Hamilton, and pianist Grayson Nye, Holy Body Roll is meant to serve as a “groove-filled guidebook for healing, the soundtrack to help you move from tear-streaming breakdown to full-body boogie.” Our Song of the Day, “Thrive, Despite,” embodies this both in title and spirit. Led by a jazzy piano line from Nye, the song morphs into a downtempo R&B track that has incredible warmth as A. Billi Free croons, “I know you carrying this weight /This thang so deep can’t touch the base /After you take a little break, get up and face another day.” “We’ve been building this project since late 2020,” explained Free in an interview. “We used this record to process difficult personal/collective feelings and embody the celebration of little victories with honest lyrics, layered vocals and a unique sonic homage to R&B, funk, rock and pop using our shared love of hip-hop as a foundation.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Samora Pinderhughes - "Masculinity (feat. Immanuel Wilkins)" from the 2022 album GRIEF on Stretch Music / Ropeadope. GRIEF is more than just an album — it's a third of "The Healing Project," a multimedia effort from composer/artist Samora Pinderhughes, which also includes a forthcoming digital archive and an exhibition, opening on March 24th at the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts in San Francisco. (Watch the accompanying film below, directed by filmmaker Christian Padron, and inspired by the black-and-white photography of Roy DeCarava.) A Juilliard-trained musician, Pinderhughes wrote all the songs on the LP, inspired by artists from the '60's and '70s, like Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, and Curtis Mayfield. He tells Bandcamp, “What I love about Nina’s Pastel Blues, and Dylan’s first three or four records, is that when you listen individually, each song is a whole world about different ideas. But when you put them together, you get a picture of the time period.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

K.ZIA - "JFMB" from the 2022 album Genesis on Groove Attack. Born in Berlin to a father from Martinique and a Belgo-Congolese mother (Marie Daulne, of the acclaimed Zap Mama), K.ZIA brings a worldliness to her debut full-length, Genesis. Not only does she adopt the alter ego of "Zia," a feistier version of her own self, but she sings for the first time in French, like on today's Song of the Day "JFMB" or "J’Fais Mes Bails." "So I’d translate J’fais mes bails into 'I do my thing,'" she told Essentially Pop. "Zia is someone that lives unapologetically. She knows her values and will not bend herself to try to explain or justify her ways to ignorant or close minded people who criticize and downgrade when they don’t understand the other. That’s the vibe of the song “des fois je fais des choses qui ne sont pas trop acceptés, je connais mes valeurs je ne vais pas m’éxcuser” – Sometimes I do things that aren’t quite accepted, I know my values I won’t apologize for it. While growing up in France very often I was perceived as strange, coming from an artistic background and having grown in foreign countries. Younger, i would try so hard to blend in, and detach myself from all these eccentric traits. Today, I no longer do that, this is what 'JFMB' is about." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yugen Blakrok & Kanif The Jhatmaster - "Pedestal," a 2022 single on I.O.T. Records. Hailing from the Eastern Cape, rapper Yugen Blackrok shot to stardom with her 2013 debut album Return of the Astro-Goth, landing three nominations in the South African Hip-Hop Awards for Best Lyricist, Best Newcomer, and Best Female Artist.​ Here in the States, she was a stand-out on 2018's Black Panther: The Album, appearing on the track "Opps" alongside heavy-hitters Kendrick Lamar and Vince Staples. Earlier this year, she returned with the single "Pedestal," which finds her reunited with long-time producer Kanif the Jhatmaster. In a press release, she states:  Concepts. Idols. Civilizations. We build and we destroy. ‘Pedestal’ is about building oneself and breaking the mould. Growing, expanding and still remaining true to the spark. The pedestal is a physical framework for the senses. Civilization after civilization, it carries the weight of great symbols and the foundation of cultural and social edifices. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Arlo Parks - "Softly," a 2022 single on Transgressive. This week's Song of the Day were selected by KEXP DJ Kevin Cole, host of Drive Time, in honor of International Women's Month. Re-listen to our kick-off day of programming, and explore articles and live sessions from some of our favorite female artists here.  Last year, Arlo Parks - the musical nom de plume of Anais Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho - released her highly anticipated debut record Collapsed in Sunbeams. The intimate, compassionate lyricism combined with earworm pop musicality made the album an instant classic that was a KEXP favorite of 2021. Parks recently returned with the single “Softly,” which while bubbly and upbeat in tone, is, in reality, a heartbreaking story of a relationship on the verge of cessation. “‘Softly’ is a song about yearning, about how fragile you feel in the dying days of a relationship when you’re still desperately in love,” the Grammy-nominated singer - who’s up for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album - explained in a statement. “The song is about how it feels to brace yourself before the blow of a break up and reminisce about the days where it all felt luminous.” The song was released alongside a video by Zhang and Knight that sees a cityscape disintegrate behind Parks. The directorial duo had this to say about the video: “For us ‘Softly’ explored the idea of wanting something that was once perfect to end in a gentle way, and we wanted to express this using the world surrounding Arlo. We were instinctively drawn to the warm toned, hazy nostalgia of the 1960s, as we loved the idea of something universally romantic being slowly stripped away throughout the film. We based the colors of the bricks, trims and doors on mid-century painting in order to bake this romanticism into everything. The production itself was a huge challenge, as everything was captured in-camera with each piece of the set built on wheels operated by several production crew. However, we knew it was all worth it when we saw the skyscrapers dancing around Arlo for the first time.” Arlo Parks will be in Seattle on Wednesday, March 23rd to play the Paramount supporting Clairo. The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, April 3rd. Watch the video for “Softly” at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

50 Foot Wave - "Staring Into the Sun," a 2022 single on Fire Records. This week's Song of the Day were selected by KEXP DJ Kevin Cole, host of Drive Time, in honor of International Women's Month. Re-listen to our kick-off day of programming, and explore articles and live sessions from some of our favorite female artists here.  Two years after the long-awaited 10th studio album from Throwing Muses, frontwoman Kristin Hersh is back with a new record from her heavier side project 50 Foot Wave. Titled Black Pearl, the record is out April 15th and follows the 2016 EP Bath White. Our Song of the Day is Black Pearl’s lead single “Staring Into the Sun.” Joined by Throwing Muses member Bernard Georges on bass and drummer Rob Ahler, Hersh creates a massively lush and gloomy soundscape for their first new music in six years. Featuring throbbing, droney, distortion-filled riffs, “Staring Into the Sun” is 50 Foot Wave at their most metal. Kristin Hersh is doing a long run of solo shows starting this March at SXSW and then jumping over to the UK and Europe into early Summer. Check out a full list of dates here and watch Hersh’s KEXP in-studio session from 2017 at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adwaith - "ETO," a 2022 single on Libertino Records. This week's Song of the Day were selected by KEXP DJ Kevin Cole, host of Drive Time, in honor of International Women's Month. Re-listen to our kick-off day of programming, and explore articles and live sessions from some of our favorite female artists here.  Post-punk trio Adwaith have announced their sophomore full-length Bato Mato will be out July 1st via Libertino Records, their eagerly-awaited follow-up to their Welsh Music Prize-winning 2019 debut Melyn. The album's first single (and today's Song of the Day) was written the day after performing at the UU.Sound festival in the city of Ulan-Ude, Siberia in 2020. “We really wanted to write a heartfelt song about being infatuated with someone," the band said in a press release. "This isn't something we normally write about and we wanted to approach this song differently to our other ones. We felt inspired to write a big pop song." In fact, the entire album is colored by that impactful trip. Vocalist Hollie Singer shared in a press release, "Our journey through the Siberian and Mongolian wilderness influenced the writing and sound of the album to be as open and big as the limitless sky around us there." Bassist Gwenllian Anthony added, "It was a life changing trip that really inspired us to write this album. The barren landscape and brutalist architecture really seeped into these songs and the use of world instruments was heavily inspired by this journey." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

LOTTA - "Léonard" from the 2021 Seafarer EP on Deadred Records. This week's Song of the Day were selected by KEXP DJ Kevin Cole, host of Drive Time, in honor of International Women's Month. Re-listen to our kick-off day of programming, and explore articles and live sessions from some of our favorite female artists here.  On her debut EP, Seafarer, Slovakian singer/songwriter LOTTA (real name: Dagmar Mišíková) presents four songs inspired by the seasons, with today's Song of the Day capturing the fading days of autumn. The release is a collaboration with producer/multi-instrumentalist STROON (real name: Dalibor Kocián), who says via a press release, "Some moments of cooperation were so inspiring and informative for me that I approach my work even more experimentally... I feel a personality about it. It's not structured pop, it's stories.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clarissa Connelly - "Holler" from the 2020 self-released album The Voyager. This week's Song of the Day were selected by KEXP DJ Kevin Cole, host of Drive Time, in honor of International Women's Month. Re-listen to our kick-off day of programming, and explore articles and live sessions from some of our favorite female artists here.  Combining the technology of her Korg M1 synthesizer with inspiration from ancient lands, Copenhagen-based artist Clarissa Connelly crafts beautiful baroque pop songs, highlighting her diaphanous melodies with lyrics that sow the seeds of Celtic folklore. In fact, the album was released simultaneously with an app named Vandringen that spotlights these foregone Danish locations, not viewable on Google Maps.  "Many of the places are forgotten to some extent, at least when I was there back in 2018," Connelly told The Wire last year. "Since the pandemic, people’s interests have turned back to what’s around them in a really beautiful way. But I’ve always been interested in how the landscape was formed, either by humans or by the ice age pushing the soil back and forth creating mountains, or ice holes that become a lake two ice ages later. Imagining that timespan gives me a huge feeling of wanting to create. I’m fascinated by old buildings in cities – like a church, looking at the stones and wondering who built it – but they’re only maybe a thousand years old. Looking at these more ancient sites, the burial mounds and Viking fortresses, that’s even further back into history. I just get awestruck and want to sing or write about it." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BRoc - "Black Rainbow (feat. Porter Ray)," a 2022 self-released single. Brian Ovalles, AKA BRoc, is a Seattle-based producer and DJ who’s worked extensively with Central District Seattle MC Porter Ray. He is a part of the label/collective called Intratecque, family to the Black Constellation. Read the full post on KEXP.org Take a journey through the Black Constellation on KEXP's new podcast, Fresh off the Spaceship (coming March 18)Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sevdaliza - "High Alone," a 2022 single on Twisted Elegance. It's been two years since her stunning sophomore release Shabrang, but Dutch-Iranian artist Sevdaliza re-emerges on the new EP, Raving Dahlia. On today's Song of the Day, she continues to explore the gothic electronic sound of those earlier releases, adding cinematic elements like the spoken-word piece against an ethereal harp background.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fly Anakin - "Ghost (feat. Nickelus F)" from the 2022 album Frank on Lex Records Ltd. Described by Madlib as "one of the illest MCs," anticipation has been high for the debut full-length from Richmond, VA-based rapper/producer Fly Anakin. On March 11th, that release will drop, titled Frank, via Lex Records. He notes the album draws inspiration from the "classic R&B and Soul" his dad played for him when he was a child.  Today's Song of the Day features guest vocals from his "hero and mentor", as well as a fellow Richmond resident, Nickelus F, a seven-time "Freestyle Friday" champion on BET's weekly hip-hop show 106 & Park. Together, with Grammy-nominated producer Like (of Pac Div), they deliver a somber track befitting of the title "Ghost."  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

High Pulp - "All Roads Lead to Los Angeles" from the 2022 album Pursuit of Ends on ANTI-. With today's Song of the Day, Seattle's experimental jazz septet High Pulp share a sneak preview of their forthcoming full-length Pursuit Of Ends, which will be released April 15th via ANTI- Records. The album draws inspiration from "bebop, punk rock, shoegaze, hip-hop, and electronic music," and came together in spite of the pandemic. “Having to start working remotely actually allowed us to try things that I don’t think we ever would have otherwise,” keyboard player Rob Homan says in a press release. “The process enabled us to walk the line between our more freewheeling, improvisatory jazz instincts and our more highly composed, electronic impulses, and what we ended up with was a really satisfying balance between the individual and the collective.” “We’re a bunch of outsiders who refused to be kept out,” adds drummer Bobby Granfelt. “We’ve never had an academic approach to jazz as most of us grew up playing in DIY bands, so it was the rawness and the energy and the absolute freedom of the music that called to us in the first place.” Check out the video at the link below (directed by Sara Jade Alfaro and starring Zaahira Joseph), and revisit the band's 2020 in-studio performance, filmed before the global shut-down. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blue Lab Beats - "Motherland Journey (feat. Killbeatz & Fela Kuti)" from the 2022 album Motherland Journey on Blue Note / Blue Adventure. London-based duo Blue Lab Beats released their Blue Note Records debut last week with Motherland Journey, an album they described as "extremely special album to us."  “This album took us two-and-a-half years to finish, our longest process to make an album, but it was so worth it," they explain in a press release. "On this album you’ll hear many fusions of genres and inspirations that we gathered throughout that time frame and especially to work on so many of the songs during the first lockdown it was a test in itself. We had to figure out so many different ways to achieve what we exactly wanted sonically and having Blue Note to help us achieve that was an absolute blessing. Many of the vocal features and instrumentalists on this album are great friends of ours and it’s just so amazing to have family on this album.” Today's Song of the Day spotlights one of those amazing finds: the vocals of the late Afrobeat-pioneer Fela Kuti, taken from his song “Everything Scatter.”  “When we got confirmation to have Fela Kuti‘s vocals from his publishers in Nigeria we were honestly blown away that he could really feature on our tracks," they continue. "An absolute dream come true. When we got [collaborators] Poppy [Daniels] and Kaidi [Akinnibi] to play the horn line then we definitely got the song we wanted.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

F!RES - "The Lonely Sea" from the 2021 self-released album High Tide. Ballard-based band F!RES pay tribute to the late Shawn Smith on today's Song of the Day. The local legend had lent his distinctive vocals to bands like Brad, Satchel, Pigeonhed, and The Twilight Singers, as well as his solo material. And he also appears on the new F!RES full-length High Tide. "High Tide really is a love letter to Seattle and to the memory of our friend @shawnsmithsinger," the band wrote on their Instagram account. "Shawn was so giving of his talent and we were honored that he wanted to join us in the studio on some of the tracks." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cloud Cult - "One Way Out of a Hole," a 2022 single on Earthology Records. After a six-year hiatus, Cloud Cult return with the album Metamorphosis, to be released March 4th via their own Earthology Records. Like all albums from this orchestral-folk-rock group, nature plays a big role in the LP. Founding member/frontman Craig Minowa wrote and recorded the new album in the remote woods of Wisconsin, tracking the album from an old Amish cabin he converted to a recording studio. The sounds from outdoors can be heard throughout the songs on Metamorphosis. Cloud Cult return to Seattle on Saturday, August 27th at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral. Check out the video for today's Song of the Day at the link below, and enjoy a Throwback Thursday to the band's 2014 KEXP in-studio session.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yard Act - "The Overload" from the 2022 album The Overload on Zen F.C. This might be the debut album from Leeds band Yard Act, but its members have been kicking around the scene for a while — frontman James Smith in Post War Glamour Girls, and bassist Ryan Needham as a member of Menace Beach. They're hardly the latest post-punk band to come out of the UK, but Smith brings a sarcastic sense of humor and gift for lyrics that sets them ahead of the pack.  "‘The Overload’ serves as an overture to the album," he says of today's Song of the Day to NME. "It’s written from the perspective of someone sitting in a pub overhearing snippets of all these different conversations from different characters and acting as a vessel, a medium even, for their own thoughts and opinions. That cut and paste approach means it’s hard to decipher where one person’s musings end and another’s statement begins, and that feels like a fairer representation of why human existence is at the point it is right now. Society doesn’t prevail because of the absolute, it struggles on in spite of it. It’s our ability to compromise which helps us to coexist." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dehd - "Bad Love" from the 2022 album Blue Skies on Fat Possum. Post-punk trio Dehd return this spring with Blue Skies, their fourth album overall, but their first for Fat Possum Records. Today's featured track finds the Chicago-based band channeling an '80s new wave vibe, calling to mind The Jesus & Mary Chain led by Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons.  “‘Bad Love’ is about recovering from love addiction and making a decision to stop choosing and aligning with people who aren’t your energetic match,” said vocalist Emily Kempf in a press release. “I wrote it for myself and for everyone who needed to hear a song about choosing new forms of love. It’s about chasing a relationship with oneself rather than an unhealthy one, one that just doesn’t quite fit, or a codependent one. Everyone experiences loneliness and everyone needs connection. I wished to reclaim loneliness for myself and others as something not embarrassing or to be a kept dark secret. I wanted to embrace loneliness and being alone, alchemizing it with friendship and behaviors with self that don’t involve romance or sex.” Blue Skies hits store shelves on May 27th, preceded by a May 5th appearance at Neumos in Seattle. Check out the video for the song at the link below, and revisit their Live on KEXP at Home session from 2020. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Head and the Heart - "Virginia (Wind in the Night)" from the 2022 album Every Shade of Blue on Warner. Beloved local band The Head and the Heart return this spring with their fifth full-length, Every Shade of Blue, recorded at Studio Litho here in Seattle, where they made their first two albums back in 2011 and 2013. “It was almost like coming back home,” guitarist/vocalist Jonathan Russell told Consequence of Sound. “We used the same engineer, Shawn Simmons. There was this balance of old and new, being familiar with the studio but bringing somebody much newer in his relationship with us.” On today's Song of the Day, Russell pays tribute to his home state. "Being from Virginia, for me this song represents a long and winding relationship to place – a place that is grounding. I’m often drawing on my life through symbolism as a way into someone else’s psyche,” he said via a press statement. “It’s part of my search for a deeper connection without having to compare our experiences directly. There is a reason this song has two titles. One is literal and one is symbolic. Not everyone is from Virginia, I know that. But I bet you have walked home and heard the wind in the night.” The Head and the Heart perform two nights – August 12th and 13th – at Marymoor Park. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Weep Wave - "Synthetic Dreams," a 2022 self-released single. Over the five years since we first covered Weep Wave, a lot has changed for the Seattle band. They went on to release their debut album, S.A.D., in 2019, a concept album based on the changing seasons and corresponding moods that take place over the course of a year in the Pacific Northwest, that KEXP’s Martin Douglas had a lot to say about. Since then, a series of lineup changes have occurred but the band, led by Dylan Fuentes, continues to constantly churn out a new single at least every six months or so. One of Weep Wave, currently a quartet,’s most recent singles is the synth-fueled, “Synthetic Dreams.” Putting aside their signature Modest Mousian guitar riffs for this one, the song is a stripped-down version of the band, utilizing ‘80s style synthesizers and a thrumming analog drum machine for a haunting and altogether different sound for the band. “It was interesting to write and record a style of song that’s pretty different from what we would normally do,” explains Fuentes. “With the synth there’s a lot of textures and tones that I can’t do with the guitar.” Weep Wave has big plans for 2022 including releasing a new EP and going on tour. Keep up with release dates and tour announcements here. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Warpaint - "Champion" from the 2022 album Radiate Like This on Heirlooms/Virgin. After six long years, Los Angeles quartet Warpaint are set to release a new album. Due out on May 6th, the heavily anticipated Radiate Like This follows 2016’s Heads Up. Alongside the announcement, the band shared the lead single “Champion,” which is just too good to not be our Song of the Day. “Champion” continues Warpaint’s penchant for brooding anthems, with a slow-burning smooth groove leading the way with angelic harmonies floating amongst the thrumming beats for a haunting soundscape. The final minute builds the groove into a slightly rollicking post-rock instrumental for a cinematic ending. “Being a champion to oneself and for others,” is the band’s description of the meaning of the song. “We are all in this together, life is too short not to strive for excellence in all that we do.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Widowspeak - "Everything is Simple" from the 2022 album The Jacket on Captured Tracks. Brooklyn-based duo Widowspeak are gearing up to release their sixth studio album, The Jacket, on March 11th via longtime label Captured Tracks. Initially intended to be a concept album based on a fictional band, The Jacket morphed into a more personal and biographical meditation on performance and past lives. The record’s lead single, “Everything is Simple,” is a gentle alt-folk strummer that sees frontwoman Molly Hamilton wistfully ruminate on constantly shifting perspectives. “Everything is simple 'til it's not,” is the phrase that Hamilton hauntingly bookends the song with, describing a whole variety of possible situations. She had this to say about the meaning behind the “Everything is Simple”: “At the beginning of something (a relationship, a project, a job, a new place) you have this very pure feeling toward it. Everything feels less complicated because you’re oriented wholly toward that potential. It’s undefined, and that makes it easier to understand, because you can’t see the problems yet. As time goes on, you learn more, you experience more, and you see where the limitations exist: not even necessarily ones imposed upon you, but where you draw your own lines. Maybe you can’t see what was holding you back until it’s in the past, and by then others’ perspectives contradict your own. Everyone is constructing their own versions of reality. The song was originally going to feed into the drama of the imaginary band, but it’s about our own band too. I was thinking about how I’m an inherently unreliable narrator about my own life, and at the same time maybe there are no ‘true’ stories.” The song comes with a bullriding-themed video directed by OTIUM. Watch it at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Devil and Her Chauffeur - "Never Let Me Go," a 2021 self-released single. Seattle-based duo The Devil and Her Chauffeur was a project born out of the pandemic and the necessity of creative projects to stay sane. Jacqueline Kasbohm was in-between recording with her proper band Echodrone and brought in a revolving door of collaborators to flesh out her ideas. Now two years into the band, the string of singles released show a strong affinity for ‘90s indebted shoegaze and atmospheric post-rock. Our Song of the Day, “Never Let Me Go,” is dreampop gold, with densely interwoven vocal layers, spacious synths, and dreamy guitars. Kasbohm’s Rachel Goswellian vocals are light and airy, initially leading the song but then settling amongst the instruments as just an additional layer in the thick wall of sounds. The track was initially recorded with Daniel Dieters handing guitars and percussion but now has Virginia-born, Bay Area-based musician Tosh Enders handling that load. The Devil and Her Chauffeur are currently working on their first full-length album with producer and fellow musician, Fran Lora from the Saville, Spain band Flu Flu and is set to be released by end of summer 2022. Watch the video for “Never Let Me Go” at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pom Pom Squad - "Popular (feat. Matthew Caws of Nada Surf)," a 2021 single on City Slang. Back in December, Pom Pom Squad turned a joke tweet into reality when they covered Nada Surf’s “Popular” and remade the classic video shot by shot. “I’m gonna recreate the video for “Popular” by Nada Surf but I’m gonna play every character,” Mia Berrin tweeted in March 2021. Nine months later, that dream was realized. It’s a fitting tribute for a band that’s built their imagery around cheer parody. Their latest album Death of a Cheerleader saw Berrin explore the coming-of-age high school stories that Matthew Caws was subversing on Nada Surf’s 1996 hit. There are different implications or meanings, though, hearing some of these lines from the voice of a queer woman of color rather than a straight white man. “Being attractive is the most important thing there is,” goes one the more iconic spoken-word lines from the song. “If you wanna catch the biggest fish in your pond, you have to be as attractive as possible.” For the video, Pom Pom Squad journeyed back to the same high school the original video was shot and enlisted real students to star alongside Berrin, who plays the teacher, football star, coach, and, of course, cheerleader. For an extra boost of authenticity, Caws joins the band on the football field to play guitar and sing backing vocals. Watch the video for “Popular” at the link below and catch Pom Pom Squad at Neumos on Friday, March 11th. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greg Cypher & Def Dee - "Right On (feat. 10isee Williams)" from the 2021 album Third Stone on Nine Six Intl. For over a decade Greg Cypher climbed the ranks of Seattle hip hop as one-half of Kung Foo Grip alongside fellow rapper Eff Is H. Never disappointing with their live show, the duo concocted a hip hop, trap rap, and punk cocktail that saw them looking beyond a single genre for influences. Everyone from Pink Floyd to Nirvana had a hand in shaping their sound. Since releasing their celebrated 2018 record 2KFG, it’s been quiet on the KFG front. Cypher, on the other hand, has been busy releasing his debut solo material. In 2020, he dropped the vibey EP Homebass featuring contributions from Aaron King, Dex Amora, Rick Rude, and even Mr. Hentvii aka Eff is H himself. A year later, his debut album Third Stone was unveiled. A collaboration with producer Def Dee, the record once again sees a number of names hop on the mic over its seven tracks. Our Song of the Day, “Right On,” features the very clever yet possibly not yet recognizable name 10isee Williams. The Seattle-based artist joins Cypher on the loungey track for effortless flows about ignoring what others say and focusing on elevating yourself. On February 25th Cypher is throwing a cassette release/birthday show at Vermillion featuring performances by AJ Suede, Blake Anthony, Edibles, and Mile. Watch Kung Foo Grip’s KEXP in-studio performance from 2018 at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A La Una - "On My Way (feat. Kimmortal)," a 2022 single on Palms High Records. A La Una is the just the latest iteration of a long-running collaboration between Lex Junior and Romeo Candido. Formerly known as DATU, the duo has progressed from focusing on contemporizing traditional Filipino music to a vast landscape of various tempos, stories, and textures as A La Una. Our Song of the Day, “On My Way,” represents just one side or facet of the sounds A La Una is making and sees the duo put Vancouver rapper Kimmortal to the front. Over a ferocious beat, Kimmortal spits a story of resilience in the face of hardship with an allegory for being considered too short to play basketball. Written for the NBA, the song is the lead track in a short film directed by Candido called “Shorty.” Kimmortal said this about the song on Instagram: “Wagkang Mahiya!” - my parents would say this to my siblings and i growing up. It would jolt me up and forward to just do it, to not be shy, to use my voice. Don’t hesitate, don’t hold back, Go in! i wish you all fearlessness, courage and bravery when navigating this terrain. Practise being in your power because you are not powerless, you are powerful, divine and whole.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lucius - "Next To Normal" from the 2022 album Second Nature on Mom + Pop Records. After spending the past few years lending their voices to their friends’ records such as The War on Drugs’ I Don’t Live Here Anymore and Brandi Carlile’s In These Silent Days, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe are finally unveiling their latest album as Lucius. Titled Second Nature, the record is due out April 8th and features contributions from Drew Erickson, Rob Moose, and Gabriel Cabezas, plus backing vocals from Carlile and Sheryl Crow. Our Song of the Day is the album's lead single “Next to Normal.” An absolute banger of a track, the song is a groovy disco earworm that sees the duo channel the Bee Gees to great effect. If this is what the whole album sounds like then there’s no way it doesn’t end up on all the year-end lists! “It is a record that begs you not to sit in the difficult moments, but to dance through them,” Wolfe said of Second Nature in a statement. “It touches upon all these stages of grief—and some of that is breakthrough, by the way. Being able to have the full spectrum of the experience that we have had, or that I’ve had in my divorce, or that we had in lockdown, having our careers come to a halt, so to speak. I think you can really hear and feel the spectrum of emotion and hopefully find the joy in the darkness. It does exist. That’s why we made Second Nature and why we wanted it to sound the way it did: our focus was on dancing our way through the darkness.” Watch the appropriately kaleidoscopic video for “Next to Normal” at the link below and check out Lucius’ upcoming tour dates here (unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a Seattle show). Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lady Wray - "Melody (feat. Melody Bloom Bacote)" from the 2021 album Piece of Me on Big Crown Records. Nicole Wray’s musical career is a long and winding one, with a series of highs like collaborating with Missy Elliot and then getting signed to her label, a certified gold single with 1998’s “Make It Hot,” and doing background vocals for The Black Keys and Lee Fields. Her lows, on the other hand, were devastating. A series of re-signings to various labels from Goldmind to Roc-A-Fella to Def Jam to Dame Dash Music Group led to album pushback after album pushback, stalling her career in a massive way. In truth, she should’ve been an R&B superstar. Thankfully, Wray didn’t give up because her latest record under the name Lady Wray, January’s Piece of Me, is a brilliant blend of soul, R&B and hip hop that feels like an instant classic. Our Song of the Day, “Melody,” is a touching ode to the profound love she’s come to feel from her daughter. A stripped-down guitar ballad, Wray exudes raw emotion over the finger-picked melody. The voice of her daughter sweetly asking, “Is that a star?’ comingles with her sometimes strained, cracked voice for a moment that feels intimate and very real. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

JusMoni - "Reckoning," a 2021 self-released single. Here at KEXP, we’ve long been fans of JusMoni aka Moni Tep. Back in 2018, alongside the release of her latest album Sweet to Me, she curated a Midnight in a Perfect World set, the track “Characters” was chosen as Song of the Day, and she played her first KEXP in-studio. Finally, after three years, she’s ready to release something new. Released in November, “Reckoning” appears to be the first taste of an upcoming album titled your body, your skin tone. While a release date has yet to be revealed, this single is great enough to tide us over until she decides to deliver. Typically vibey and celestial, the track is led by a downtempo beat by frequent collaborator Martín Saucelíto that pairs perfectly with JusMoni’s heavenly hums about the effort it takes to heal. “I remember laying on my living room floor, high as hell, piecing all these words together,” JusMoni said in an Instagram post about the song. “I hadn’t started therapy yet. My triggers were creepin up on all sides of me and I was just trying to make way. Sitting in grief, swallowing me full. But for whatever reason, all the reasons- I seen somethin better for me.” Watched the video for “Reckoning,” directed by Abdul Kassamali, at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chastity Belt - "Fear," a 2021 self-released single. Local faves Chastity Belt recently returned with the limited 7” ‘Fake/Fear,’ the quartet’s first release since 2020’s “The Process,” a digital split release with Melbourne trio Loose Tooth. “Fear” was the first of the two to be shared and is an anxiously dreamy slow-burner about going through life with uneasy trepidation. Lead guitarist Lydia Lund penned this one and had this to say about the song: “I wrote the song a few summers ago based around a dream I had. At one point in the dream, I was opening door after door, noticing the fear build, then dissipate upon opening, then build again when I realized there was yet another door. It felt like my dream was giving me practice in noticing my fear as something separate from the thing causing the fear, as something potentially more harmful and unbearable. About a year later I was recording vocals out at my parents’ place. My mom knocked on the door – ‘is there anything you want to talk to me about? Is there something you’re afraid of?’ At that point I’d become so detached from the lyrics of the song it took me a minute to realize she thought I was doing some kind of primal scream therapy. And I guess in a way I am.” The song came with a medieval-themed video directed by Eleanor Petry, who chatted with KEXP about her relationship with Chastity Belt and the making of the videos for both “Fear” and “Fake” back in December. Watch the video at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Boy Harsher - "Give Me a Reason" from the 2022 album The Runner on NUDE CLUB. The Northampton, MA-via-Savannah, GA duo Boy Harsher recently added filmmaker to their resume with the release of their debut feature film The Runner. Obviously, any arthouse horror film wouldn’t be complete without a killer soundtrack and vocalist/lyricist Jae Matthews and producer Augustus Muller have been readying themselves since 2013 by making cold darkwave that makes for a perfect backdrop to horrifying tension. Our Song of the Day, “Give Me a Reason,” is the second track on the original soundtrack for the film and strikes a perfect balance of spooky and sensual with its throbbing, droney ambiance. “Did you mean to touch me that way?” asks Matthews with a gruff. “Come and tell me /I'm the only one /Speak of the devil /And she will appear.” “With ‘Give Me a Reason,’ we wanted to write something that encapsulates that feeling of yearning — the way we feel when we catch eyes from across the room,” said Matthews in a statement. “Our music can be flirty and crushable, and it’s fun to play with that.” Boy Harsher is taking The Runner on tour this spring, with a date in Seattle on April 15th at the Crocodile. Watch the trailer for The Runner at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dijon - "Talk Down" from the 2021 album Absolutely on Warner. LA-based artist and former half of the alt R&B duo Abhi//Dijon, Dijon released his debut album Absolutely back in November, perhaps just a smidge too late in the year for listeners to spend the appropriate time cozying up with it for the album to end up on the 2021 year-end lists that it absolutely should have been on. A home-run of a first record, Absolutely is a brilliant blend of smooth R&B and downtempo pop, with flourishes of Americana. Our Song of the Day, “Talk Down,” is just one of the many highlights on Absolutely. Built upon a shuffling breakbeat, Dijon huskily croons out an arresting story of a couple on a road trip, where landscapes change, arguments ensue, and the radio is constantly playing music in the background. Gillian Welch, the Band, and Liz Phair soundtrack their journey, often distracting the narrator from their conversation who pleads to turn the music down. Dijon will be on tour starting late April 2022, with a stop in Seattle on May 22nd at the Crocodile. Watch an abbreviated live version of “Talk Down” at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Parris - "Skater's World (feat. Eden Samara)" from the 2021 album Soaked In Indigo Moonlight on Can You Feel The Sun. Parris is a London-born-and-raised producer who has been using his grime, drum 'n' bass, and pop influences to weave diverse soundscapes since his 2017 split single release Burr / Blue. 2021 saw him finally unveil his debut full-length, Soaked in Indigo Moonlight, which intertwines stripped-down, airy compositions, jittery experiments, and club-rooted pop for a dynamic, exciting listen. Our Song of the Day, “Skater’s World,” is one of the poppiest, upbeat, and carefree tracks on the record. Featuring upcoming London-via-Toronto singer/producer Eden Samara, the track is a frenetic eulogy to friendship and skateboarding. Parris aka Dwayne Parris-Robinson says this about the album: “The only constant truth is change. This is a record about understanding yourself. This is a record about finding the support you trust so you can have the confidence to start building. It is a record about friendship. About hanging out, about skating. This is an album built on Pop, then torn into my thing. Charli XCX, Lana Del Rey, Frank Ocean, Kewngface, Digga D, SL, Unknown T, Vince Staples, Lil Peep, Denzel Curry and Emmy the Great: if you’ve known me then you’ve known these are the reverberations in my head. I write music in blue, this album is my indigo. They say only moonlight shows your true reflection, that is the light of this record.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

serpentwithfeet - "Down Nuh River" from the 2021 EP DEACON'S Grove on Secretly Canadian. In March of 2021, Los Angeles-via-Baltimore experimental soul artist serpentwithfeet released his sophomore album DEACON, which ended up on both KEXP’s Larry Rose and Larry Mizell Jr.’s top albums of 2021. While that one incredible record would’ve been quite sufficient for one year’s release, the artist who’s legally known as Josiah Wise quickly followed that up with a companion EP this past October titled DEACON'S Grove featuring reinterpretations of two DEACON songs, a remix of “Fellowship” featuring Ambre and Alex Isley, and the new songs “Down Nuh River” and “Shoot Ya Shot.” Our Song of the Day, “Down Nuh River,” is characteristically hushed but playful in its sing-song manner. “When working on ‘Down Nuh River’ I was thinking of all the songs that me, my friends and cousins made up as kids," serpentwithfeet said of the song. "We had so much fun creating and reinventing songs on the playground and the porch. I wanted to channel that energy in this track." The song comes with a video that channels that youthful spirit. Directed by Keith Nedd, the video sees Wise a few friends performing a choreographed dance routine on a school football field, dressed in matching outfits made for the playfield. Watch the video for “Down Nuh River” as well as serpentwithfeet’s Live on KEXP at Home session with Larry Mizell Jr. from 2020 at the link below and catch serpentwithfeet in Seattle on Saturday, February 26th at Neumos. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Friedberg - "Yeah" from the 2021 album YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH on Marathon Artists. Indie pop quartet Friedberg is named after frontwoman Anna F.’s Austrian hometown and is just the latest project from the musician, who had a successful solo career in her native country that included two chart-topping records and four Amadeus Austrian Music Awards, before joining forces with Emily Linden, Laura Williams and Cheryl Pinero as Friedberg. One could say that Anna F.’s prestigious history is the reason Friedberg has been making major waves despite only having a string of singles and one five-song EP out but that would be extremely reductive to the incredible music the band is making. Our Song of the Day, the abridged title track off 2021’s Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, is pure, unadulterated fun. What the song lacks in depth, it makes up for in spades with its catchy dance groove and joyful exuberance. Anna F. had this to say about the song: “‘Yeah’ is my personal anthem for letting go – of everything and anything. From voices in your head, pictures popping up and patterns you have learnt. When we wrote the song we were just dancing to the groove in the studio until all those voices and things disappeared and basically only the yeahs, the beat and bassline remained. Dancing yourself clean I suppose.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Qlowski - "Folk Song" from the 2021 album Quale Futuro? on Maple Death Records. London-by-way-of-Italy art-punk outfit Qlowski is led by Michele Tellarini and Cecilia Corapi. Friends since the age of 16, the duo have dabbled with a number of sounds and influences over the past decade, which is apparent on their debut full-length Quale Futuro? which eccentrically fuses new wave and post-punk with just a flourish of twee for a sound that’s both nostalgic and refreshing. Our Song of the Day, “Folk Song,” is deceptive in its titling because, for all the genres the band meshes together, folk is not one of them. Abrasive rhythms coincide with motorik guitar strums while Tellarini mumble-roars nearly imperceptible lyrics, sounding like a fusion of Robert Smith, Joe Talbot, and Hamish Kilgour. The song comes with a video directed by Eli Hart. The band had this to say about it: "The original idea was to recreate a late 70s/early 80s Top of the Pops scenario - but given the nature of the song we opted for a more dreamy/nightmarish vibe. The presenter is struggling pronouncing our name and no one in the crowd is even slightly touched by our performance and music. Everyone is actually frozen in time, as if our music wasn’t even reaching their reality. For once we wanted to be ironic and funny, but it turned out quite Lynchian I'm afraid!" Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amelie Siba - "hold on to me" from the 2021 self-released EP when is our time. Prague-based singer-songwriter Amelie Siba makes quiet, intimate songs that are simple in instrumentation so as to focus on Siba’s childlike falsetto which belies the maturity of her songwriting. Following 2019’s introductory EP titled It Was Nice to Meet You, Siba’s 2020 debut full-length Dye My Hair arrived when the musician was just 17 years old and went on to earn her the critics’ choice Apollo award for the Czech album of the year. 2021 saw Siba release both the EP when is our time and the full-length Love Cowboys. Our Song of the Day, “hold on to me,” comes from the latter release. While the EP continues Siba’s penchant for gentle melodies and airy vocals, she sets aside the guitar to incorporate electronic beats for just the smallest hint of danceability over the EP’s four songs. “hold on to me” closes out the EP with spacious, layered vocals with the wistful sentiment of yearning to be loved and held. Amelie Siba played the Netherlands-based non-profit showcase for European artists Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) this past weekend. At the link below, watch Siba’s video for “New Normal,” a song off the Czech film of the same name from the Laterna for Camera series. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meskerem Mees - "Joe" from the 2021 album Julius on Mayway Records. Belgium-based singer-songwriter Meskerem Mees first appeared on the scene in 2020 with her debut single, “Joe.” A sweet and simple guitar ballad, Mees’ soft, clear voice takes center stage and pulls listeners in with her saccharine coos, making it an easy choice for Song of the Day. “Joe” went on to become a massive commercial and critical success in Belgium and its neighboring countries and set Mees up to release her debut album Julius in November 2021. At only 22 years old, the 13 songs that make up Julius show an artist fully formed in her timeless delivery of catchy, well-crafted folk-pop gems. With just her voice, an acoustic guitar, and the cello of her sister-in-arms Febe Lazou, the sparse songs carry so much more weight than their simplicity belies. Meskerem Mees played the Netherlands-based non-profit showcase for European artists Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) this past weekend, where they were also awarded with the Grand Jury MME Award for the Music Moves Europe Awards. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

LADANIVA - "Vay Aman" from the 2020 EP Ladaniva on Planete B. Ladaniva is the musical partnership between Armenian singer Jacqueline Baghdasaryan and French multi-instrumentalist Louis Thomas. Founded by the duo in 2019, they went viral in the early days of the pandemic with the release of the video for our Song of the Day, “Vay Aman.” Set in a sunny locale with faces full of joy, it’s hard not to smile while watching their effervescent playing. Ladaniva’s music takes influences from all around the world, from traditional Balkan music to maloya, jazz and reggae, with strong roots in Armenian folk. It reflects Baghdasaryan’s DNA, of Armenian and Belarussian descent while Thomas came from a family of musicians and began to play trumpet at the age of 7. After a jazz course at the conservatory, he traveled with his instruments around Africa and Latin America and got introduced to a long list of musical genres through meetings with traditional musicians. The two fused their backgrounds and styles after meeting in Lille, France, where Baghdasaryan is a vocal teacher at the MusicaLille music school.  Ladaniva played the Netherlands-based non-profit showcase for European artists Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) this past weekend, where they were also awarded with the esteemed prize of Public Choice Award for the Music Moves Europe Awards. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jayomi - "Julia" from the 2021 self-released album Midnight Love Note. Local band Jayomi has been wowing underground audiences with their dreamy take on indiepop for a few years now but didn’t release recorded music until 2019’s Wet Burrito. The album was the band’s attempt to recreate the sad yet beautiful nature of those late romantic composers through the lens of modern day indie pop music. Since the pandemic, the lineup has slimmed to just frontman Jon Wu and his partner Ruka Bleu. Together, they created Jayomi’s latest release midnight love note, released in September 2021. Our Song of the Day, “Julia,” is the opening track off the record and displays a sense of longing. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Parcels - "Somethinggreater" from the 2021 album Day/Night on Because Music. Australia-born, Berlin-based five-piece Parcels make groovy electropop, blending funk and disco in intoxicating fashion. Their 2018 self-titled debut blew up with a little help from Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, better known as Daft Punk, who produced the album’s lead single “Overnight.” But the assist from one of the world’s most popular disco duos hasn’t led Parcels to rest on their laurels. With their latest album, Day/Night, the band created an ambitious double album that plays out like a sweeping movie soundtrack. Our Song of the Day, “Somethinggreater,” is the album’s lead single and proves that the Aussies picked up a thing or two from their French friends. Slinky and sexy, the bouncey track has a natural groove that ebbs between subdued emotional moments and energetic dancefloor bursts. The band had this to say bout the song: “In early 2020, Noah showed us a demo that contained a chorus line that had us all particularly excited. It had an anthem-like quality and felt really fitting to what we were channelling through the albums. We jammed out the track in our rehearsal room in Berlin and fell upon the chorus groove all at once, a special instantaneousness that seems to be only achieved in a live jam, and as a result we proceeded to play it for hours. Anatole began to cry with the tears that usually come from when you are lost in a night-club, alas, we felt we had hit something really special. With the song’s clear message of search and discovery, it felt absolutely right to record ‘Somethinggreater’ first upon entering La Frette studios.” The song comes with a video directed by Carmen Crommelin. Watch it at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bully - "Just For Love," a 2021 single on Sub Pop. If you somehow missed SUGAREGG, the third studio album from Nashville’s Bully, when it was released a year and a half ago then it’s definitely time to circle back. Furious and fiery, Alicia Bognanno put her all into the record, which just finally got to be played on live stages this past December. Ahead of that nine-date east coast tour, Bognanno revealed a new single called “Just For Love.” Co-produced by John Congleton during the SUGAREGG sessions, the song is similarly raw and wiry, with Bognanno’s lyrics half-obscured by her coarse expressions. While it’s not exactly clear, my interpretation of the song is it’s a conversation with one’s self about wanting to grow and change and to do it for yourself this time rather than for a partner (if so, great advice). Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ibibio Sound Machine - "Electricity," a 2021 single on Merge. Just about three years ago, when the world was in a very different place, KEXP celebrated International Clash Day by venturing across the pond to London for a showcase of upcoming artists that radiate the spirit of the Clash in vibrant, diverse ways. One of the most electrifying performances over those four days came from electro Afro-funk ensemble Ibibio Sound Machine. Fusing the polyrhythms of West African funk, highlife, disco, and post-punk, the Nigeria-born, London-based band light stages figuratively on fire with their genre-bending sound. This fall, the band released their first single since their 2019 LP Doko Mien with a title fitting for a band with this much kinetic energy. “Electricity” sees Ibibio Sound Machine team up with Hot Chip for a pulsing electronic track with elements of West African instrumentation. ISM vocalist Eno Williams had this to say about “Electricity”: “Even in trying times, ‘without love, there’s no electricity.’ This one started out as an idea to mix Afrobeat with Giorgio Moroder–style synth vibes. The end section with Alfred’s korego (Ghanaian 2-stringed folk guitar) solo was already there when we got into the studio, but then we added the big kick drum that happens underneath and Owen from Hot Chip’s crazy drum machine percussion at the end, which gave it a futuristic Afro feel when mixed with the more talking drum parts.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Beach House Once - "Twice Melody" from the 2022 album Once Twice Melody on Sub Pop. As longtime fans and champions of Baltimore-based band Beach House, the excitement over the dream pop duo’s partially-released double LP Once Twice Melody is feverish, to say the least. With two of the four chapters already released, it’s clear to see Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have a masterpiece on their hands with their eighth studio record. Our Song of the Day is the album’s title track and the lead single off the album. As also the opening track, “Once Twice Melody” sets the dreamy, cinematic mood that Beach House has made their signature over the past 18(?!) years. For the first time, a live string ensemble is brought in to back the sparkling synths and arpeggiated guitar strums, adding lush texture and drama. Legrand’s lyrics are similarly illusory, telling the story of a girl who lives in her head - preferring romantic daydreams over the dull realities of life. The third chapter of Once Twice Melody is out this Wednesday, January 19th. The full release is Friday, February 18th with an option of a Limited “GOLD” Edition 2xLP in a gold-embossed, hinged box on gold and clear vinyl with full-color booklet and 2 exclusive posters if you want to go all in. Beach House is (hopefully, depending on Covid) heading out on tour this February, with a date in Seattle on Sunday, April 3rd at the Paramount. Watch the lyric video for “Once Twice Melody” at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Floored Faces - "I'd Be Broke" from the 2021 self-released album Kool Hangs. Floored Faces are the latest to emerge from Seattle’s heavy rock scene, drawing influence from Northwest greats like the Melvins, Tad, and the Sonics. Fusing that heavy rock energy with psychedelic and indie, the trio makes songs just as melodic as they are dense. Our Song of the Day, “I’d Be Broke,” is an excellent example of this harmonious fusion. Anchored by a sludgy, throbbing riff, flourishes of bright guitar and harmonic vocals lightens the load for a vibey head-bobber of a track. The song comes off of Floored Faces’ November release, Kool Hangs. Somewhat of a concept album, Kool Hangs “explores the absurd yet tangible fantasy of an apocalyptic world where the only personal belongings that remain are a motocross bike and a cassette copy of Monster Magnet's 'Dopes to Infinity', and a shotgun,” according to Bandcamp. In an interview, the band described “I’d Be Broke” as, “A love song to time and space —fleeting experiences with a flash flood of life always coming at us full steam. It’s about holding people and memories we love close. Dedicated to a close friend who passed away too soon: never spend your time unwisely, never go broke.” The song was released alongside a video that starts out in a winter wonderland starring a very pale girl in red but then makes the stark transition to the complete opposite terrain - sunny beaches and the surfers who ride the waves. Watch the video, directed by Floored Faces, at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Constant Smiles - "Run to Stay" from the 2021 album Paragons on Sacred Bones. Since 2009, Constant Smiles have been churning out roughly an album a year, amassing a pretty enormous discography that’s now 15 records deep. Led by Ben Jones, the band is more of a collective, with more than 50 members providing contributions over the past 13 years. While Constant Smiles have tried out a number of varying sounds over the years, their latest release sees the collective join the Sacred Bones family for a 13-track record of dynamic indie rock titled Paragons. Our Song of the Day is the album’s lead single “Run to Stay,” a mid-tempo strummer with a shimmering, wistful tone. “‘Run To Stay’ is about not being present in the moment, and struggling with antisocial tendencies,” explains Jones. “Like when you’re at a party or talking to someone but you’re only half paying attention to what they’re saying because you can’t stop thinking about other things you need to do. Or when you avoid hanging out with friends because you want to work on music or something, but nothing comes to you so you just end up sitting around all day.” The song comes with a video self-directed by the band that sees its members traveling separately, in various modes of transportation. Says Jones of the video, “We were trying to capture that anxious feeling of always needing to be somewhere or be doing something else but realizing that it isn’t ever that important.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lætitia Sadier - "New Moon," a 2021 single on Drag City. Laetitia Sadier’s heavenly croons became familiar to us via Stereolab back when they appeared on the scene in the early ‘90s. On our Song of the Day, “New Moon,” Sadier proves her vocals have not only remained intact but, like a fine wine, have grown with age. The lead single off her forthcoming, as yet untitled, solo record is founded by a sultry bossa nova beat with dreamy guitar strums and poetic, somewhat esoteric, lyricism. “Dreaming you fall /Into being /Turbulent transition /Evade /Overriding /The feelings,” Sadier calls out. Recorded in London by Sadier and Hannes Plattmeier, she had this to say about "New Moon": "The nature of trauma - by going through a process of feeling the emotions of all of that has stricken or afflicted us, individually. By not avoiding these feelings, it's a way to evolve and cut the ties of the past, that are keeping us down and into the turmoil we are currently experiencing.” The new record follows 2017’s Find Me Finding You, which was released under the name Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble. Stereolab released the compilation album Electrically Possessed, which collected the band's rarities spanning from 1999 to 2008, in early 2021. Watch the video for “New Moon,” directed by Sadier and Tanya Small, at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonobo - "Rosewood" from the 2022 album Fragments on Ninja Tune. Since the late ‘90s, Simon Green has been sharing his sweeping electronic grooves as Bonobo to much acclaim. 2022 will see him unveil his hotly anticipated seventh full-length Fragments. Created during the pandemic, the songs were made out of fragmented pieces of ideas the British-born, LA-based producer put together while on lockdown with the help of some notable names like Jamila Woods, Joji, Kadhja Bonet, and Jordan Rakei. Our Song of the Day is the record’s lead single, “Rosewood.” Customarily warm and woozy, the song has a locked groove with the repeating phrase, “I won’t leave you,” providing emotional resonance until the song’s cathartic dance floor build-up. It’s a lesson in restraint, letting the subtle flourishes of the song shine while never fully releasing or doing too much. Fragments is out this Friday, January 14 via Ninja Tune. It follows up Bonobo’s 2020 collaborative EP with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Heartbreak / 6000 Ft. and his Grammy-nominated 2017 full-length Migration. Watch Bonobo’s KEXP in-studio session from 2017 at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carrie Biell - "Come By" from the 2022 self-released album We Get Along. As one-quarter of Moon Palace, which she founded with her twin sister Cat Biell, Carrie Biell makes warm and rambling indie rock with a hint of desert psychedelia. For her solo work, which she’s been releasing since 2001’s treasured and difficult to find Symphony of Sirens, her music is much more intimate, stripped-down, and nearly always downtempo. Our Song of the Day, “Come By,” sounds like it could easily be a Sharon Van Etten track, with Biell’s gravelly voice leading slow-chugging guitar strums with just the faintest twang. The song comes from Beill’s forthcoming pandemic-made record We Get Along, out in February 2022. The record will be her first solo full-length in 14 years, following 2008’s When Your Feet Hit the Stars. Biell had this to say about “Come By”: “This song means the world to me because it is the first song I wrote in the whole collection for the record. It was after playing a show with my friend, Sera Cahoone. She suggested that we should collaborate on a song and then I ran with it. Sera added harmonies, and also came up with ideas for some of the song’s instrumentation. “‘Come By’ is about the moment a long flirtation crosses over into more between two people who are both healing from long partnerships that ended unexpectedly. It’s a new beginning, that none of them envisioned for themselves. It’s a much-needed leap forward, and although there may be a lot of past relationship baggage hanging over, or seem too soon after a breakup, there is an ask to set that all aside and go for it. To let yourself enjoy the moment and take a leap with a new person.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eternia & Rel McCoy - "Home (feat. Shad & SHEAL)" from the 2021 album FREE on Fat Beats. This past September saw two of Toronto’s hip hop stars team up for a collaborative album titled FREE. Juno-nominated rapper Eternia and Juno-winning producer Rel McCoy put together twelve tracks that flex their skills while shining a light on some of the criminally underrated talent that’s coming out of Canada. Our Song of the Day, “Home,” sees two of those underrated talents join them, Juno-winning rapper Shad and angelic vocalist SHEAL. Inspired by and built off of the latter artist’s 2016 track of the same name, the song samples SHEAL’s emotional hook and is led by Eternia’s opening bars exploring displacement, loneliness, and homelessness. Shad then joins in for an incredible verse about his idea of home and the struggle to plant seeds while Rel’s downtempo instrumental guides them, well, home. The song comes with a video by Noisemaker Media’s Mark Carrenceja, who focuses squarely on the faces of the artists while journeying through two of Eternia’s homes - her former Queens and, now, Toronto. Watch the video at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.