In Our Headphones

Courtney Barnett - "Rae Street" from the 2021 album Things Take Time, Take Time on Mom+Pop/Marathon Records. Long-time KEXP fave Courtney Barnett has announced her third album, titled Things Take Time, Take Time, out November 12th on Mom+Pop Music / Marathon Artists. Today's Song of the Day features the opening track, the languid rocker "Rae Street." Things Take Time, Take Time was written over a two-year period, marking what's called "a particularly joyful time in her life." It was recorded towards the end of 2020 and early 2021 with producer / drummer Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint, and the comfort can be heard in the resulting intimate songs.  Courtney will be stopping by Seattle on Tuesday, December 14th with Bartees Strange at the Paramount. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nox Novacula - "Victim" from the 2021 album Ascension on Manic Depression. Seattle's Nox Novacula has brought a goth presence to the local music scene since 2017. On their debut full-length, Ascension, they combine electronic and post-punk sounds into a genre they call "Death Rock." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ash Code - "Fear (Forever Grey Remix)" from the 2021 self-released EP Fear. Throughout the pandemic, the predominant feeling has been "fear," which is what inspired the new EP from Italian darkwave trio Ash Code. Twin brothers Alessando and Adriano Belluccio and Claudia Nottebella had an album almost finished, but the lockdown just changed the mood.  "We had a lot of songs almost finished and the plan was to release them in late summer 2020 as part of a US and Latin America tour," Adriano told German website RTL, "But everything was canceled, we spent the first half of the year planning live streams like 'Ash Code vs COVID-19' and the Gothicat festivals in order to generate donations. And then we realized that most of the songs no longer suited us and we decided to write something new. Somehow the pandemic changed us." The Fear EP features three remixes of the title track from Molchat Doma, Clan Of Xymox, and Forever Grey. Today's Song of the Day features the latter. "We met Forever Gray in Los Angeles in 2019," Alessandro explains. "Ever since we knew her we wanted to ask her if she would remix something for us. The track is very dark with an incredible bassline!" Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Balvanera - "¿Cuánto resiste el cuerpo?" from the 2021 album Courses of Action on DKA Records. Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the duo of Balvanera bring an EBM aesthetic to their dark electronic music. Vocalist Agustina and multi-instrumentalist Lucas both came from the DIY punk and hardcore scene before moving into electronics.  "For some reason, electronic music feels like a continuation of punk to me," Agustina explained in an interview with Brutal Resonance. "Like in the '80s a lot of ex punks and industrial musicians were drawn to raving. In that sense I feel there’s a lot of similarities in the communal experience, ethics, DIY, etc." Their latest album, Courses of Action, draws from the political fury of punk. "It’s a record that invites you to action, to movement; to gain consciousness of one's acts," Lucas said of the title. "We felt the record sounded and demanded 'action',"  Agustina continued, "And since last year was so hard, time itself put everything in perspective, demanding also to make choices in our own personal lives." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NNHMN - "Tomorrow's Heroine" from the 2021 EP Tomorrow's Heroine on K Dream's. Berlin-based darkwave duo NNHMN (pronounced Non-Human) released the EP Tomorrow's Heroine earlier this year, a mini-album they describe as "five songs of hope, desire, and sheer electronic magic." Band members Lee Margot and Michal Laudarg (who's a techno DJ on the side) take a minimal approach to their sensual synth sound, drawing influence from "New Brutalists theatre, experimental electronic music, and techno culture," as they state on their website.   Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Camlann - "Metropolitan Boy" from the 2021 album Circa 1983 on Cold Transmission. It's fitting that the Jakarta-based darkwave trio Camlann named their latest album Circa 1983, because they easily channel the sounds of Depeche Mode and Soft Cell, despite the fact that its members weren't even born at the time. The self-described "dark disco" group consists of Ony Godfrey (17) on vocals and guitar, Bayu Triyudanto (17) on bass, and Fauzan Pratama (16) on synths. (There's also Chariszan (17), their producer and music collaborator.) As they declare on their Bandcamp page, the new LP is a "statement to the world that they are here to bring you their own version of modern nostalgia." Check out the lyric video for today's Song of the Day below, directed by band member Pratama.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tycho & Benjamin Gibbard - "Only Love," a 2021 single on Mom + Pop. Step aside, Jimmy Tamborello. Death Cab for Cutie frontman Benjamin Gibbard is lending his distinctive voice to a new electronic producer, Tycho (real name: Scott Hansen).  In a press release, Hansen explained how the two came to collaborate: I had been a fan of Ben’s work for a long time when, in 2016, I had the chance to do a remix for Death Cab for Cutie’s track “The Ghosts of Beverly Drive.” Ben’s voice was a very inspiring element to work with from a production standpoint, I felt it really meshed well with the kinds of sounds and instrumentation I gravitate towards. ‘Only Love’ started life as an instrumental, but something was missing. I sent a rough demo to Ben and he recorded some vocals over it. The first time I heard the rough vocals the whole song suddenly made sense and the arrangement flowed out of that. After my early experimentations with vocals on Weather this felt like a great opportunity to put everything I had learned during that process into practice. It was certainly an honor to be able to work with such an iconic voice. Gibbard described how his lyrics came together: In 2014, while reading This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein, I came across a quote from Montanan goat rancher and environmentalist Alexis Bonogofsky that moved me immensely. Speaking about the fight to protect public lands in southeastern Montana from the mining company Arch Coal, she said: ‘(The) connection to this place and the love people have for it, that’s what Arch Coal doesn’t get. They underestimate that. They don’t understand it so they disregard it. And that’s what in the end will save that place. It’s not the hatred for the coal companies or anger, but love will save this place. When Scott sent me the music for ‘Only Love,’ it seemed perfect for this statement. Since reading Alexis’ words, I’ve carried them as a universal truth; that the only way we preserve the people, places or things we care for is with love, not hatred. This is often easier said than done, of course. But I find myself coming back to her statement as if it were a mantra. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mac McCaughan - "Dawn Bends" from the 2021 album The Sound of Yourself on Merge. Superchunk frontman and Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan returns this fall with his second solo album, The Sound of Yourself. The release features a slew of guests including Mary Lattimore, Sabrina Ellis (A Giant Dog), TORRES' Mackenzie Scott, Telekinesis' Michael Benjamin Lerner, Annie Hayden, his brother Matt McCaughan, and on today's Song of the Day, drummer Jon Wurster and Yo La Tengo. ("I am aware of the irony of an album called The Sound Of Yourself with this many guests on it!," he shares in a press release.)  Like many great albums coming out right now, The Sound Of Yourself came out of the lockdown. "Each day is blurring into the next, so what are we doing today?” he would ask himself during the pandemic. “How can I disrupt this? I think what resulted was a theme of subdued… ‘joy’ is the wrong word, but it’s at least comforting if not propulsive to have something open-ended to work on every day without any kind of structure or deadline or rules.” The Sound of Yourself will be out September 24th via Merge Records (of course).  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Penelope Isles - "Sailing Still," a 2021 single on Bella Union. UK duo Penelope Isles — a project of siblings Lily and Jack Wolter — were able to use the pandemic lockdown to recover from the heavy touring they did for their 2018 debut album When The Tide Creeps In.  “Before the enforced break due to COVID we spent pretty much all of 2019 driving ourselves around Europe and America having some incredible adventures as a band and it seems that everything since then has been falling apart," Jack explained in a press release. Today's Song of the Day finds the Wolters reconnecting during the break. “I wrote the music for this song at my brother’s flat, on a really crappy electric piano, but always envisioned the whole thing as something widescreen, with a big sound to match," Lily remembers. "The lyrics took me a few months to finish, by which point the song had taken on many different meanings. Then I took it to band practice, where Jack and I wrote the end section together. It’s one of our favourite sounding songs on the record. We played around with pitch-shifting instruments to get it sonically sweet. Plus, it was the first time we ever heard strings with our music. That’s one tick off the bucket list.” For the video, Jack wanted to travel again, at least visually. "Writing and recording the new album was a huge part of the recovery process and making this film for 'Sailing Still' I wanted Lily and I to get back on the road somehow, as travelling has been such a massive part of our band ever since we began. So I had this idea of filming Lily in a myriad of places and scenarios, both urban and rural, coastal and inland. Mountains and rivers, council flats and tunnels, cafes and bridges. We drove up and down the country for a week, sleeping in the van, and waking up at the crack of dawn to start filming again. Reconnecting as a ‘band’ again but also spending time together as brother and sister was special for filming this real heartbreaker of a song.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Film School - "Superperfection" from the 2021 album We Weren’t Here on Sonic Ritual. Long-running west coast shoegaze group Film School return this fall with the full-length We Weren’t Here, a nod to pandemic-related conditions in which they recorded the album. Band members — bassist Justin LaBo, guitarist Nyles Lannon, frontman Greg Bertens, and keyboardist Jason Ruck — were divided between the Bay Area and Los Angeles, recording their parts from their respective home studios and then emailing files back and forth.  We Weren’t Here will be released September 24th via Sonic Ritual.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jarv Dee & Bad Colours - "Black Skin (feat. Stas THEE Boss)," a 2021 self-released single.   Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Skyzoo - "Bed-Stuy Is Burning" from the 2021 album All the Brilliant Things on Mello. New York has long been embedded in the work of rapper Skyzoo. Born Gregory Skyler Taylor in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, he cites his hometown as an influence, telling The Living Room, "There’s certain values and morals that come with the neighborhood and era that I grew up in. Those are important musically and just in life." However, he laments the gentrification of his city on today's Song of the Day and the album it comes from, the new LP All The Brilliant Things. He explains in a press release: With All The Brilliant Things, the idea was truly to try and tackle the realities of gentrification and this new era of cultural appropriation, commonly known as “culture vulturing”. The way they intertwine with one another, parallel at times, and how us as the residents of our long-standing homes and creators of these cultures have been stripped of it, or at times let it happen, all for what we assumed was our best interest. The irony of it all is, despite how it all makes us feel in hindsight, one would have to admit that the orchestration of it was truly brilliant. Brutal, and heinous, but somehow pretty brilliant. Hence the title of the album. The cover art, illustrated by Matt Rockefeller, shows my 3 year-old-son and I on the corner of Fulton St. and Franklin Ave. in Brooklyn, and I’m showing him a condo being built in our neighborhood, a neighborhood that’s rapidly dying, explaining it to him and trying to make sense of it all. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

K.ZIA - "Sanctuary," a 2021 single on Groove Attack. Brussels-born, Berlin-based artist K.ZIA unveils a "place beyond the physical" in today's KEXP Song of the Day. Born to a Martinican father and a Belgo-Congolese mother, she weaves the influence of her upbringing into this soulful single.  “I am building a realm for the unheard," she explained in a press release. "For the ones that never found boxes to fit in because of their differences. To be able to exist freely, we will have our own boundless space. A Sanctuary where together we rise around authenticity, depth and love. This song is about a special place where we can disconnect, connect, and reconnect with a special person, a spirit, a community, a divinity and re center around the essentials of Love.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

George Riley - "say yes (feat. Joe Armon-Jones)" from the 2021 self-released album interest rates, a tape. She may only be 23-years-old, but West London-based artist George Riley draws on her lifetime of influences on her latest release, interest rates, a tape. Her Jewish mother and Jamaican father would play R&B icons like Stevie Wonder, Aretha, and Sade in the house, and her dad was briefly a drummer and backing vocalist in '70s reggae group Steel Pulse. She channels all of that into interest rates, a tape, explaining to Crack Magazine, “This is me wanting to show the breadth of sounds that have inspired me, because I don’t subscribe to just one thing.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Khrysis - "The Disrespect (feat. Rapsody & Sa-Roc)" from the 2021 album The Hour of Khrysis on Jamla. It's no surprise it took Khrysis 12 years to return with his fifth full-length, The Hour of Khrysis. The Durham, NC producer/rapper/engineer also serves on Jamla Records' in-house production team, The Soul Council; crafted beats for the Netflix dramedy The Forty-Year-Old Version; and has worked with Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, De La Soul, Redman, Problem, Bad Lucc, and more. The work has built connections with the star-studded line-up of guests on The Hour of Khrysis, including Busta Rhymes, Pharoahe Monch, De La Soul, and on today's Song of the Day, Rapsody and Sa-Roc.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mia Day - "Rosie," a 2021 self-released single. A self-described "groovy, fairy, cowgirl witch," Seattle singer/songwriter Mia Day recorded today's featured track in a barn outside of Seattle, with some of her closest friends. "It's a reverse perspective song that is a deeper exploration into my mental health," she explains via her Soundcloud. "I wrote it as an assignment for one of my college songwriting classes. I knew that I wanted to create a sad song that I could dance to. I was inspired by Oasis and Waxahatchee while recording it." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Suburbs - "Summertime" from the 2021 album Poet’s Party on Suburbs Music. The Suburbs have been crafting their unique brand of pop-punk joy since 1977. They've been credited as one of the godfathers of the "Minneapolis Sound,” a scene including bands like The Suicide Commandos, The Replacements, and Hüsker Dü.  While vocalist Chan Poling and drummer Hugo Klaers are the only remaining original members, they're accompanied by longtime saxophonist Max Ray, and new additions Stevie Brantseg and Jeremy Ylvisaker on guitars, Steve Price on bass, Janey Winterbauer on backup vocals, Rochelle Becker on baritone sax, and Stephen Kung on horns and keys. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Vega Bodegas - "All My Fish Are Dead," a 2021 self-released single. Cardiff post-punk band The Vega Bodegas is led by Jimmy Watkins, formerly of Future Of The Left and Strange News From Another Star. They've been laying low since the 2018 release of their debut full-length, A Complete History of Witchcraft, but have re-emerged to share the single "All My Fish Are Dead." Watkins described to Birthday Cake Breakfast how today's featured track was inspired by two books: At the time I was reading a book called Strangers by Rebecca Tamás, and it was changing the way I thought about the modern world. It was terrifying, but at the same time it had answers about how we could change things like capitalism and the destruction of the planet. It introduced me to panpsychism and I was fascinated by this idea that our surroundings influence how we think. I was also reading a book called American Cosmic by D.W Pasulka. In that book she meets people who believe their great ideas have come from aliens. I used that for the lines about “operating on a whole other level… outside on my mile high decking” and about our body parts being full of galaxies. Together, those two books painted a picture of humans destroying the planet whilst also receiving messages of hope and innovation from outer space. That was a pretty surreal combo for me, so I went for it lyrically and described a modern world full of chaos and weird beauty. I wanted to paint a dreamlike landscape which was driven by capitalism and greed, but had a soft middle where it talks about how magical the human body can be. I have no idea if I succeeded, but for the first time in my life I can listen to a song we’ve recorded and think to myself that I’d put everything I could into the lyrics. Read the full behind-the-scenes story of the making of today's Song of the Day here. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Polar Noir - "If Everybody Listened," a 2021 single on Polarness. June 8th marked World Oceans Day, a day designated to "inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean." German radio show host Sandra Gern seized the moment to unveil her recording project Polar Noir, sharing her love of water on her debut single.  "I‘ve learned that the music you make is never really complete as long as you don‘t share it," she stated on Facebook. "That‘s why I‘ve started this project. Some of the music I am sharing is brand new, some was written or started somewhen within the last 10 years. So you‘re warmly invited to keep me company making these songs complete." In the accompanying video for today's featured track, Polar Noir shares links to organizations working to preserving the ocean. She shares that in the month and a half since the video has been released, "the ocean caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, a sunken container ship loaded with chemicals, oil and plastic pellets polluted the ocean and coast around Sri Lanka, and just recently some tourists held and petted one of the strictly protected whales in the Baltic Sea for pictures. Shortly after it died." "These are the things many of us have heard of because they sounded lurid enough to be put into a headline. But the ocean is much more at risk than we hear and see in the media. That’s why I put these words including different organisations at the end of my music video. You can support them, follow them, check their websites and read about their (actually our) topics." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chicano Batman - "Pastel Sunrise," a 2021 single on ATO. Psych/funk/soul band Chicano Batman return with a new single, featuring the powerful track "Dark Star" on the A-Side, and today's Song of the Day on the B-Side. It's the L.A. four-piece's first new music since their 2020 album Invisible People. Like last year's release, the new single finds them pairing up with Grammy-nominated producer John Hill (Portugal. The Man, Santigold, M.I.A.).  “The music got here collectively in John Hill’s studio,” frontman Bardo Martinez told Fader over email. “The band met up and instantly we began riffing on concepts.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hallows - "All That Is True Dies" from the 2021 album All That Is True on Cold Transmission Music. Formed in Minneapolis in 2018, and now based in Seattle, darkwave duo HALLOWS incorporate post-punk influences into their atmospheric synthpop on their latest album, All That Is True. Founding members Vanee D. and Dom R. wrote the songs during what they call "times of unrest in Seattle (and the world)," They explain in a press statement, "though the album is not explicitly political, it explores the emotional journey of existing in an unjust world." On today's Song of the Day, they explore impermanence. “The song is about the past and how it follows you around but, in the end, everything is temporary,” Dom told Post-Punk.com. “We really wanted this track to evoke a duality where the first part is tense and somewhat dark, with the second part being more hopeful and dancey.”  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yves Tumor - "Jackie," a 2021 single on Warp. Enigmatic, experimental artist Yves Tumor returns with their new single "Jackie," a fierce glam-rock stomp with squalling guitars and an '80s dance beat. It's their first new solo work since their 2020 album Heaven To A Tortured Mind.  The track is accompanied by a psychedelic video clip created by Los Angeles-based visual artists Rick Farin and Claire Cochran from the studio Actual Objects. "We loved collaborating with Yves Tumor on 'Jackie' — we've been massive fans for years," they said in a press release. "Their work is always so forward-looking, and has always been a major inspiration for us. 'Jackie' was a chance for us to dig deep into our toolkit and work with some of our most experimental techniques." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ric Wilson - "Fight Like Ida B & Marsha P," a 2020 single on Free Disco / EMPIRE. On his latest single, released days before Juneteenth 2020, Chicago rapper Ric Wilson pays tribute to civil rights leader Ida B. Wells and LGBTQ+ activist Marsha P. Johnson.  He wrote on Twitter [sic]: “when I think about next level courage to ball your fist up & look Patriarchy, racist,sexism, homophobia & transphobia right in the eye & fight against it, I feel like blk folk like Ida B Well and Marsha P Johnson are of the bravest of us all and if ima fight any injustice I wanna have the courage of blk queer & femme freedom fighters like them. I believe the liberation of black womxn and black trans womxn lead to the liberation of all black people." He adds [sic]: "I encourage people to also study the History of policing and prisons here in the US & the laws made to keep Blk and Queer folk suppressed in this country for over 450 years. If we focus and start understanding the 'why', we will longer waste time arguing on the 'what.'" Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pixel Grip - "Pursuit," a 2021 single on Feeltrip Records. Chicago darkwave trio Pixel Grip return with their sophomore full-length ARENA, a soundtrack for the misfits out there. “Being in an audience of freaks, queers, fetish people, all in the same room sweating together,” is how vocalist Rita Lukea puts it, “and we all knew our purpose, and we were manic and arrogant.”  Lukea explains that today's Song of the Day has a specific feeling to her: "the feeling of surrendering power, the feeling of having your love chewed up and spit out, the feeling of getting toyed with. Sometimes love isn’t empowering; in fact it can be humiliating and disabling. The only way I can take my power back is to pretend like it’s my decision. This song is designed to be screamed along with by an audience who understands the pain." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emma-Jean Thackray - "Say Something," a 2021 single on Movementt. An active artist and producer in South London’s nu-jazz scene, multi-instrumentalist Emma-Jean Thackray has just shared her latest LP Yellow on July 2nd via her own Movementt imprint. “It’s a record about togetherness, the oneness of all things in the universe, showing love and kindness, human connection," she explains via a press release. “I approached the record by trying to simulate a life-changing psychedelic experience, an hour where we see behind the curtain to a hidden dimension, where the physical realm melts away and we finally see that we are all one.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ya Tseen - "Knives (feat. Portugal. The Man)" from the 2021 album Indian Yard on Sub Pop. Originally from Sheet’ka (Sitka, Alaska), artist Nicholas Galanin brings the influence of his Tlingit and Unangax̂ heritage to his spacey dance pop. Under the name Ya Tseen (which simultaneously translates to “be alive” and references his Tlingit name Yeil Ya Tseen), he uses his music to advocate for "Indigenous sovereignty, racial, social, and environmental justice, for present, and future generations." Today's Song of the Day is not about weaponry, but surrender. In a press release, Galanin shares, "“Knives is a love song about softening a calloused heart and experiencing the edge of magnetic desire, romantic connection, vulnerability, and risk that love opens us up to.” The song features guest vocals from John Baldwin Gourley of fellow Alaska-formed band Portugal. the Man, who he considers "friends and allies for social and environmental justice." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Joy Formidable - "Into the Blue" from the 2021 album Into The Blue on Enci Records. Welsh band The Joy Formidable return with their first new music in three years. Today's Song of the Day is the title track from their forthcoming fifth album, Into The Blue, out August 20th. While the song was written in their hometown of Wales, it was completed in their new adopted home of Utah, which is also where the accompanying music video was filmed.  “I am always daydreaming in the bathtub between recordings," frontwoman Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan says of the watery clip. “That diffuse thinking where your mind wanders freely — I always finish songs when I’m in that state. The idea that your imagination, that escape into another, deeper world can sometimes create a stronger connection with yourself.” She describes today's Song of the Day as being "about surrendering to love and magic," adding, “Having the courage to enjoy a new journey and the mystery and excitement of something unexpected. It’s about opening your eyes to beauty and love again. Making it to the other side. Whilst not conceived as a metaphor for the times we all live in now, it certainly turned out that way.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Glüme - "The Internet" from the 2021 album The Internet on Italians Do It Better. When Glüme first heard the Chromatics come up on Spotify Shuffle, she knew that frontman Johnny Jewel was her sonic soulmate. It was destiny that she'd be signed to Jewel's record label Italians Do It Better for her debut album The Internet.  An artist/musician/actor and trained tap dancer, Glüme was diagnosed with Prinzmetal Angina, a rare heart disease. Confined to bed, she went online to escape, and to eventually reinvent herself as the ‘Wal-Mart Marilyn Monroe’ she calls herself. “I didn’t like the vision of myself as a sick person. So I went on The Internet," she shares in a press release. “My online presence was my truth even though it was a lie. I have this self at home who is sick & then this self on The Internet that’s doing amazing. The world wasn’t working for me. But online, I could live the life I wanted to live.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lightning Bug - "The Right Thing Is Hard To Do" from the 2021 album A Color of the Sky on Fat Possum Records. On today's Song of the Day, Audrey Kang — lead vocalist for shoegaze sensations Lightning Bug — shares her personal battle with self-worth against a delicate wash of guitars.  "Here I wanted to connect how the struggles and flaws within the individual are mirrored in the greater problems of society," she reveals in a press release. "How do we as individuals know we are on the right path? How do we as a society, as a species, know we are on the right path? So I started with myself, and my own struggles, touching on how I hide myself away from other people, on my stage fright, on my inability to be vulnerable, on this feeling I used to have that I needed to prove I was worthy of being alive. Then I tried to connect these struggles outward to global issues like xenophobia, arbitrary borders, the lines we draw between ourselves and the environment, and the ways we sacrifice the health of the planet for human convenience." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mochipet - "Godzilla League of Legends" from the 2021 self-released album Godzilla Resurgence. David Wang has long had an obsession with dinosaurs, from wearing a purple costume of the prehistoric creatures in his musical alias of Mochipet, to the recent release of his EP Godzilla Resurgence, named for the mythical kaiju who has starred in films since the 1950s.  “I saw my first Godzilla movie when I was around 10 years old in Taiwan. I think my cousin showed it to me or something," Wang told MixMag Asia late last year. “I actually didn’t like it at first. I didn’t understand why Godzilla was destroying Japan and I didn’t like that it was in black and white. It was not till later in my life I began to appreciate Godzilla for its representation of the human need for control and the Atomic Bomb that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki and destroyed many lives during World War II. Godzilla is a constant reminder of man’s need for control which usually ends in death and destruction." The new EP is dedicated to the memory of Wang's father, who passed away as this release was nearing completion. Proceeds are going towards the cost of his funeral and burial costs. More information here. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hollis - "Grace Lee," a 2021 self-released single.  Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Essam - "Free Palestine," a 2021 self-released single. South Seattle-based rapper/poet and community organizer Essam wrote his first rap at the age of eight. “I wrote a personal narrative essay – it was the first time it wasn’t research – and I realized that writing is for me,” he told the University of Washington at Bothell.  He's since released two albums: 2018's 12.12 and last year's LP Chapter20six; early last month he shared the powerful new single "Free Palestine," stating, "my grandfather used to say when she calls then we always gotta answer." Check out the video below, shot/edited by Muzammil Siddiqee against a mural by artist Gabril.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Little Simz - "Woman (feat. Cleo Sol)," a 2021 single on AGE 101 MUSIC / AWAL. U.K. rapper Little Simz returns with her fourth full-length this fall, the relatably-titled Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, out September 3rd. In a press release, today's Song of the Day has been called “a soulful love letter to women around the world.” “I love it when I see women doing their thing and looking flawless; I’m here for that!” Simz said. “It’s empowering, it’s inspiring; I wanted to say thank you and I wanted to celebrate them.” The 70s-tinged summer jam reunites Simz with vocalist Cleo Sol, who also guests on the track “Selfish” from Simz's 2019 LP GREY Area. And, the self-directed accompanying video features guest appearances from Jourdan Dunn, Joy Crookes, Denai Moore, two of her cousins (Zeze Millz, Kesewa Aboah), and her best friend of 15 years. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mara TK - "Grew Up Inna Chaos (feat. 2MY)" from the 2021 album Bad Meditation on Extra Soul Perception. Scottish-Māori artist Mara TK has lent his velvety vocals to neo-soul trio Electric Wire Hustle for years, and with his deeply personal debut solo album, Bad Medication, he takes center stage. The album brings him back to his home of Aotearoa (or "long white cloud," the Māori name for New Zealand). He says in a press release, “writing this album has been a form of therapy over the last few years trying to figure out what kind of music I wanted to make next.” He adds, "I was offered what was basically a whole studio worth of gear from a friend who was moving overseas. I took a gamble and bought that gear and have spent the last five years learning how to use this shit. I had to bet on my own ability to learn new things so it was scary, but also keep in mind that music, like any other creative form doesn’t have to be perfect — the brush strokes don’t have to be exactly straight.”Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Children of Zeus - "No Love Song" from the 2021 album Balance on First Word Records. Manchester duo Children Of Zeus return with their first new music in three years, since the release of their acclaimed debut Travel Light.  Today's Song of the Day reunites band members Tyler Daley and Konny Kon with producer Beat Butcha (Jay-Z, Beyonce, Nipsey Hussle) who worked on their earlier album. The lush production adds a lush, soulful vibe to the smooth slow jam, providing a velvety platform for Daley's vocals and Kon's riffs.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seattle shoegaze band Shine combines the talents of band members from Regional Justice Center and Seattle’s New Gods. This new project, they say, "channels the noise and driving aggression of these bands, but through a more playful, Britpop-tinged lens." Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Darkwave duo Cold Cave deliver their distinctive synth-driven psychedelic sound on their latest EP, Fate In Seven Lessons. Today's Song of the Day finds the long-running project of Wesley Eisold drawing influence from their former tour mates The Jesus and Mary Chain and Nine Inch Nails. The accompanying video was directed by Travis Shinn and Jeremy Danger, and finds the group encircled by 23 candles given to Eisold from his friend and collaborator Mark Lanegan.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With her sophomore LP Stand For Myself, Grammy-nominated artist Yola reclaims her crown as the self-described "queen of country soul." She teams up again with producer Dan Auerbach in his studio and on his record label, both named Easy Eye Sound.  On the album's title track, Yola finds her footing again. As she says in a press statement: "The song’s protagonist “token,” has been shrinking themselves to fit into the narrative of another’s making, but it becomes clear that shrinking is pointless. This song is about a celebration of being awake from the nightmare supremacist paradigm. Truly alive, awake and eyes finally wide open and trained on your path to self actualisation. You are thinking freely and working on undoing the mental programming that has made you live in fear. It is about standing for ourselves throughout our lives and real change coming when we challenge our thinking. This is who I’ve always been in music and in life. There was a little hiatus where I got brainwashed out of my own majesty, but a bitch is back." Stand For Myself will be released 7/30 on Easy Eye Sound.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On their new album Golden Doubt, Melbourne-via-Tasmanian quartet Quivers honor their resilience. Vocalist Sam Nicholson breaks down the LP title. “Golden, because musically we daydream with the guitars of Teenage Fanclub and The Cure, the singing of The Roches’ sisters, the basslines of Another Sunny Day, and the drums of Lower Dens or Car Seat Headrest,” he says. “Golden Doubt, because hitting your thirties after losing people knocks you off balance for a while, but no longer caring what the world thinks is always a breakthrough feeling.” On today's Song of the Day, the band reflects on the beauty in the world. They explain in a press statement, “It is a song about being overwhelmed by someone, and somewhere, but also overwhelmed by the beauty of those strange, new experiences we used to have when travel was possible.”Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After six years, Swedish singer-songwriter José González will return with his new album Local Valley, recorded in his home studio outside Gothenburg during quarantine. On today's Song of the Day, González taps into his hardcore past from the '90s. "I wrote 'Head On' as a combat song or a list of instructions…a manual," he explains in a press release. "I mean both 'straight ahead' and head ON — as in switching on your mind. It was inspired by Fela Kuti’s 'Zombie' and the way I used to write lyrics for my hardcore band. It’s also in the vein of my song “What Will” from 2015. That one and this one are both anti-dogma, pro-reason songs. Some of the terms I use, like 'rent seeker' or 'value extractor,' are from books on economics that I’ve been reading, like The Value Of Everything by Mariana Mazzucato." Local Valley will be released 9/17 on Mute.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sleater-Kinney - "Worry With You" from the 2021 album Path of Wellness on Mom + Pop. Iconic Northwest duo Sleater-Kinney returned with the album Path of Wellness earlier this month, their tenth album overall, but their first that they've produced themselves. "The entire process relied upon taking stock of who and what was nearby, upon generosity of time, spirit, and input, but mostly upon a mutual love, need, and gratitude for making music," they shared on Facebook.  The album was written last Spring and Summer during the pandemic, and recorded in late Summer and early Fall. As such, the video for today's Song of the Day hints at the lockdown, with director Karen Murphy capturing a young couple (portrayed by Megan Watson and Fabi Reyna, editor-in-chief of She Shreds magazine) struggling with sheltering in place.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elohim - "Strut (feat. Big Freedia)," a 2021 self-released single. Los Angeles-based producer Elohim has spoken publicly in the past about her struggles with anxiety. On today's Song of the Day, she encourages herself and others to confront those feelings, teaming up with the Queen of Confidence, New Orleans artist Big Freedia. “Her music and story have inspired and continues to inspire humans all over the world. I am moved by anyone who is true to who they are,” Elohim declared in a press release. She continues, “‘Strut’ is a daily reminder to all of us, myself included, that the power we hold within ourselves is infinite. It’s a story of self-discovery and I feel proud, excited, and empowered to share a record like this. I want to inspire others to own who they are, celebrate their uniqueness, and shine their wonderful light to the world!”  Big Freedia adds, "Elohim is something else. I was so excited to get to work with her. ‘Strut’ is about owning your attitude, no matter who you are!” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mykki Blanco - "Free Ride," a 2021 self-released single. Innovative rapper Mykki Blanco returned last week with the EP Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep, their first new release in five years and their first for Transgressive Records. On today's Song of the Day, they looked back to road trips with their mother.   "Some of the most intimate moments and conversations I have ever shared were with my mother on long drives in the Southern countryside when I was a teenager," they related in a press release. "The music that soundtracked these memories on our daily journey’s was the stuff of my mothers generation. I would find myself daydreaming, reflecting and envisioning the kind of life I would like to create for myself. These memories and the music of Luther Vandross were the first inspirations behind the creation of my new song 'Free Ride.'" In the accompanying video, director Hannah Rosselin captured footage in Paris over two days.  “It was one of my most enjoyable shooting experiences so far," Rosselin shared. "The collaboration with Mykki was based on trust and respect since day one. I met them by chance, and, as we like to say together, it had to happen. If I had to describe some of my intentions with this video, I think I would say that I wanted to picture my representation of the family experience: mixed, unstructured, messy, and yet full of love. I also aimed to break the traditional codes affiliated with a religious gathering like a christening, obviously to try to make it more fun. And finally, with humility and some derision, I wanted to overlap my idea of 'the world from before' and hopefully the world that will come after.” Mykki continued, “Seeing the first edit of this video for was actually very emotional for me personally. I’m at a place in my life now where I know I want to have a family of my own one day and that I have entered a more mature phase of my life where this is a kind of thing I think about now. And on a professional level, I know videos have been such a key part of my journey and this truly feels like a video which is showing the world something new from me. Especially in light of the year we have all been through with the pandemic with limited engagement in person with those we love, this just feels like such a warm and positive visual to be sharing with the world to recall the joy we’ve been missing from gatherings like this and an encouragement to remain optimistic in looking forward to be able to return to engaging like this with those who we love. I am so grateful and impressed by Hannah and Division and the rest of the team involved with bringing this video to life, the video has such a beautiful cinematic feel to it and really captured what I’d hoped we would be able to show with the video for this song.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MAN ON MAN - "It's So Fun (To Be Gay)" from the 2021 album MAN ON MAN on Polyvinyl. While others were baking banana bread or binging shows on Netflix, Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum and his boyfriend Joey Holman started the music project Man on Man during the pandemic.  “Roddy was just like, ‘We’re both musicians, let’s just do it to pass time.’ At first, we were just going to share with our friends,” Holman told Rolling Stone, but the online response to their debut single, "Daddy", was so enthusiastic. “They were like, ‘Thank you, I see myself in this. This is me.’ Which is so cool! People have never seen two gay guys who are a couple making the kind of music we’re making, writing about what we’re writing about, displaying it in the way we’re displaying it.” Today's Song of the Day is a charming pop tune with a heartwarming accompanying video. "We wanted 'It's So Fun (To Be Gay)' to feel organic and warm with a strong, universal message," the band shared via a press statement. "For the video we aimed to focus on our community. Getting through the hardships of the past year, we leaned heavily on what we mean to each other in terms of support and understanding. We were in the middle of launching our Chosen Family project and had just finished linking people up for our penpal program and sourcing art for our quarterly zine. We thought the best way to exhibit the joy in the song would be to have a video full of our chosen family — friends, peers, and heros. So, we asked friends to share their love and lives and these queer testimonials are what make up the bulk of the video. Our togetherness and bond is key to moving forward in these times especially and we aimed to capture that bond and essence, particularly with Gay Pride 2021 on the horizon. It felt fitting to donate the launch-day's sales to Born Perfect, which is a non-profit whose mission is to end conversion therapy." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fred again.. & The Blessed Madonna - “Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)” from the 2021 album Actual Life (April 14 - December 17 2020) on Atlantic. When the clubs shut down during the pandemic, London producer Fred again.. wrote today's Song of the Day as a eulogy to the dancefloor, sampling a voice mail message from his dear friend The Blessed Madonna (real name: Marea Stamper).  "Marea and I met in Palestine around 5 years ago now. I call her my rave shaman," Fred again.. said in a press release. "I think she’s that for a lot of other people too to be honest! Her ability to tell stories and share things has always been a particularly beautiful part of her beautiful mind so I guess it makes sense that I ended up making a song out of sampling one of our conversations! She's a real hug of a human." Stamper continues, "Right from the second I met Fred there was a real closeness and even though I didn’t know him at all, I always felt like 'this is gonna be a person in my life.' On this particular night in lockdown, Fred asked how I was feeling and I just talked to him like I normally would. Somehow he digs in all my babble and makes it into something beautiful and personal. Fred is a singular artist. He had such a tender way of looking at sound. You can’t fake it. You gotta have real heart. No one has a heart like that." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shabazz Palaces - "20 Gear Science," a 2021 self-released single. Seattle's Shabazz Palaces share "20 Gear Science," the first single from their forthcoming LP The Lost Vibes Of Shabazz: The Skrilla Scrolls, a collection of rarities and previously unreleased songs. True to their decade-long career, the song is a spacey, cinematic (or "sinematic", as their video production is called) journey of synths and swagger.  Accompanying the track is a video filmed by Stephan Gray and Shabazz vocalist/producer Ishmael Butler. As they explain in the YouTube description, "While on vacation at their Baška hideaway retired Cantù basketball star Capricio "Prici" Drogba and his girlfriend Glo Moonlit must deal with the strange interloper that has appeared down by the pool." (Both Drogba and the pool boy are portrayed by Butler.)  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DAM - "Hada Yid’ie Sitna" from the 2019 album Ben Haana Wa Maana on Cooking Vinyl. Formed in the late '90s, DAM have been called "the first Palestinian hip hop crew and among the first to rap in Arabic." Since the very beginning, the group have used their lyrics to speak out about the trials of being Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. On their third and most recent release, Ben Haana Wa Maana (which translates to "Between Both Worlds"), DAM explore the subject of self-love.  “We know that we had hit hard times. We always talked about the darkness we live in,” founding member Tamer Nafar said in a press release. “But this time we changed our attitude. As we say in one of our songs 'Hada Yidi’e Sitna'; This is not a darkness of a tomb, we are in a darkness of a womb.” In an interview with The National, they explain that today's Song of the Day is "the story of kids fighting on the streets before somebody calls their mothers." Songwriter and rapper Maysa Daw (who joined the collective in 2012) explains, "In that song, we’re calling for women to take the leadership and guide us in a better way." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thee Sacred Souls - "Give Us Justice," a 2020 single on Daptone Records. With today's Song of the Day, San Diego-based trio Thee Sacred Souls reflect on the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, singing "there'll be no peace / until there's justice." The Grammy-nominated band The Black Pumas declared it "the song that will define 2020 for me" in Rolling Stone magazine.  "The song kind of wrote and spoke for itself," vocalist Josh Lane told KPBS. "I might not have been someone who was murdered... but in a certain situation I could've been any other people who lost their lives to police brutality or brutality in general."  As the band states on their Bandcamp page, "proceeds from this single will go to promoting the freedoms, rights, and wellbeing of black people, spread across various organizations which they will continue to research over time, starting with The Movement for Black Lives." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Al-Bara’em - "Ishraq" from the 2021 Al-Bara'em EP on SMNTCS. A few years ago, Houston-based music journalist Sama'an Ashrawi found out a surprising fact about his Dad: back in the 1960s-'70s, his father and all but one of his aunts and uncles were the founding members Al-Bara'em ("The Blooms" in Arabic), Palestine's first original rock band, and the first Palestinian rock band to feature women on stage.  “At a family gathering — either Thanksgiving or Christmas — one of my uncles told me that recordings of the band existed,” Ashrawi told The Arab News. “In that moment it became something very sacred to me. It was bigger than our family history; it became immediately clear that it was Palestinian cultural history. People needed to know about this.” After the revelation, Ashrawi headed to Palestine on a research trip, unearthing recordings and photographs, including the live shot seen above, from a sold-out performance at the Jerusalem YMCA in December 1973. He's currently filming a documentary of his discoveries, and hopes to recruit younger musicians under supervision of his uncles to record some previously unrecorded songs. “I’m so grateful, mashallah, that all the members of the band are still alive, and that’s what makes it even more urgent to get the full story of the band out as soon as possible.” Of today’s Song of the Day, Ashrawi explains to KEXP, “During Al-Bara’em member Samir’s recording of the demo in the early 1980s, a gospel choir happened to be just outside in the studio lobby while Samir was recording; when he stepped outside to take a break, he found that the choir were harmonizing to his melodies and was quite touched. He told them he’s from the same place as Jesus and asked if they’d like to record their harmonies, which you can now hear over the end of ‘Ishraq.’” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mndsgn - "Hope You’re Doin’ Better," a 2021 single on Stones Throw Records. On his latest LP Rare Pleasure, L.A.-based producer Mndsgn (real name: Ringgo Ancheta) finds influence in the soundtracks of the '70s and '80s, stating the repetitions "echo the recurring motifs we experience in life, sometimes being revisited by the same lessons in different shapes and forms."  With today's Song of the Day, in particular, he channels an emotional experience into a laid-back summery groove. In a press statement, he shares: “During the holidays in 2018, my father had a complete mental breakdown. It was during a family party which made it all the more dramatic and equally traumatic for everyone that was there.  I stayed in LA that year so I received the news remotely.  It was heartbreaking to say the least. In the following months, he plunged into a deep downward spiral that involved him quitting his job, isolating himself from family, including myself & giving us an alarming concern that he could potentially end his life if he continued down the path he was on.   It was a desperate cry for help.” He adds, "Although communication between each other was severed, it allowed the opportunity to truly acquaint myself with the concept of loving from afar... a song I think many can relate to when we feel communication is still sought after even when we feel it isn’t available.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.