In Our Headphones

Figmore - "Rosie," a 2021 single on Fresh Selects. Figmore combines the talents of Renton-raised producer 10.4 Rog (stream his Midnight in a Perfect World mix here) and JUICEB☮X, a rapper, multi-instrumentalist, and producer from Westchester, NY. Now based in Los Angeles, the duo combine psych, R&B, and hip-hop on their debut album Jumbo Street (out now via Fresh Selects).  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Branik - "Monster," a 2020 self-released single. Seattle singer/songwriter Branik says she "writes songs that sometimes make my friends cry." Today's Song of the Day will have them sobbing.  In a statement to the Daily Listening, she explains, "When I wrote ‘Monster’ I felt like I had, yet again, lost everything I had been working so hard to make wonderful. It had been a year and a half of being left by the people that promised to love me and have my back. That December, I was sitting in tears on my cousin’s bedroom floor playing my aunt’s guitar... This song was me making sense of what I was feeling. It took me about 15 minutes to write. I was in crisis for a while after. I can feel my heart break a little bit every time I sing it... My hope in releasing this song is to give my listeners the same comfort that music has given me in times of grief and sorrow. There is something consoling about hearing lyrics that reflect exactly what I feel. I have one song that quite literally saved my life more than once. It gives me hope. It reminds me that I am not alone. I want my music to do that for other people... ‘Monster’ was me breaking through my coffin to claw out of my grave.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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St. Vincent - "Pay Your Way In Pain" from the 2021 album Daddy's Home on Loma Vista Recordings. On her sixth album, Daddy’s Home, St. Vincent (real name: Annie Clark) looks to the past, specifically the ‘70s, to inspire the present.  “There’s something interesting about what the early ‘70s were, and the parallels between then and now – even socially,” Clark told NME. “You had the idealism of the ‘60s come crashing down and the flower child thing had dissipated and made room for a way grittier, more nihilistic, more ‘dirt under the fingernails’ vibe. The economy was crazy, there was a whole [lot] of social unrest and that doesn’t sound too dissimilar from now as we’re watching institutions of power being dismantled and people upset with the status quo. People are trying to navigate what it is to just survive.” Today's Song of the Day captures that theme of endurance. “I feel like we live in a world where we’re often asked to choose between surviving and dignity. Part of it is like blues for 2021. It’s also about how there’s nothing that I’ve done in my life that didn’t involve some sort of struggle. Some of those struggles are really worthy ones to have and something great can come of them.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ora the Molecule - "Creator," a 2021 single on Mute Records. Oslo, Norway-born artist Nora Schjelderup (otherwise known as Ora The Molecule) releases her debut album Human Safari this summer on July 23rd. Today's Song of the Day is the first single from the release, an ebullient anthem for youth, as reflected in the accompanying music video, directed by Tanmay Chowdhary. “The song is all about empowerment in the individual,” Schjelderup says in a press release. “You have to love the creator that is inside of the creature. I know there’s a lot of fear among kids. Greta Thunberg is a great example. She’s such a hero for so many young kids. It’s playing into that a little bit. In the video, my little sister, Tindra, is the adult listening to the news. I am a passive adult. She’s training me and doing all of these things to get us ready for the big day of catastrophe.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anushka Chkheidze - "Move, Move" from the 2021 album Move 20-21 on CES Records. With last year's debut LP Halfie, Anushka Chkheidze landed a nomination for IMPALA’s European Independent Album of The Year Award. Less than a year later, the 23-year-old electronic music artist returns with her second full-length, Move 20 – 21, an album she describes as "a mind journey through space and time without any physical activity." The LP was recorded during lockdown in her hometown of Kharagauli, a village in the Imereti region of western Georgia, and the songs have an inevitable introspection to them. “The album is a reflection of 2020 and 2021 so far, but not because of the situation brought on by COVID-19,” she tells the Calvert Journal. “It has to do with people, home, age. Last year, I realised I need to take better care of others, and of myself.”  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Altin Gün - "Maçka Yollari" from the 2021 album Yol on ATO Records. Amsterdam-based, but globally influenced with Turkish, Indonesian, and Dutch band members, Grammy-nominated band Altin Gün continue to add a psych-touch to traditional Turkish folk songs on their third album, Yol. Today's Song of the Day hails from the Trabzon region near the Black Sea coast, with Altin Gün giving it their usual funk infusion.  Like many recent releases, Yol was created during quarantine. "We couldn’t get together, so we demoed everything from home," vocalist/keyboardist Merve Daşdemir explained to American Songwriter. "We all work on Logic, [so] essentially [this album] sounded a bit electronic. But it wasn’t super intentional. It was more like, pandemic, so we have to do it differently. Which, I really enjoyed. This is the most creative input I put on an Altin Gün album so far, so it’s kind of my personal favorite, in that sense. Because I really like working alone, so this was perfect for me." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Echo of the Low Light - "Afterlife," a 2021 single on Independent. Echo of the Low Light is more than just a band; it's a collective of Pacific Northwest artists taking an experimental approach to song construction. At its core is guitarist/vocalist Kerri Holland and bassist Pam Drago. After years in bands, they wanted to push the boundaries. They explain on their Instagram, "We began to explore more digital elements and effects, blending them with the traditional guitar/bass/drums we’d been used to. This opened things up sonically in ways we couldn’t imagine. Then we thought, ‘what would it be like to create with artists we’ve never worked with before?’ This is when the floodgates flew wide open." Every song features a different line-up of collaborators. On today's Song of the Day, they welcomed guest artists Joy Dunay (The Dirty Slippers, The Way We Were in 1989), Brandon Krebs (All Known Aliases), and John Gibson (Danielli).  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Squid - "Narrator (feat. Martha Skye Murphy)" from the 2021 album Bright Green Field on Warp. After a series of stand-alone singles and an EP, Brighton, England-based band Squid have announced their debut album, Bright Green Field, out May 7th via Warp. Today's Song of the Day features guest vocals from Martha Skye Murphy, to help make "the point that the unreliable narrator is, more often than not, a male who wishes to portray women as submissive characters in their story." The band continue in a press release: "'Narrator' was inspired by the 2019 film A Long Day’s Journey Into Night. The song follows a man who is losing the distinction between memory, dream, and reality, and how you can often mold your memories of people to fit a narrative that benefits your ego. After some discussions with Martha she thought it’d be a good idea that she play the part of the woman wanting to break free from the dominating story the male has set​." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jupiter & Okwess - "You Sold Me a Dream (feat. Ana Tijoux)" from the 2021 album Na Kozonga on Everloving Records. Congolese band Jupiter & Okwess team up with Chilean artist Ana Tijoux for an infectious track with a powerful message, a song Jupiter declared an "anthem of resistance." Against an electronic tribal rhythm, Tijoux states: [Google translated] From Congo to the world From Congo to Latin America and Africa complete Against all racism the music is heard loud, loud, hear it Today's Song of the Day will be released on Jupiter & Okwess' forthcoming full-length, Na Kozonga, out April 23rd. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Team Dreams - "Imaginary Love," a 2021 self-released single. One of the (many) highlights of our 2018 Iceland Airwaves Music Festival broadcast was the appearance of Icelandic supergroup Team Dreams, a project of longtime friends Sin Fang (aka Sindri Már Sigfússon), Sóley, and Örvar Smárason. (We're going to assume they landed on the band name "Team Dreams," even though a couple of years ago they claimed it was just the title of their debut LP, joking they were "too old to come up with a new band name at this point in their careers.") Upon their return, they've announced they'll be releasing a new song every month this year, kicking off the ambitious project with today's Song of the Day. February's track was soon to follow, and we can't wait to see what they launch for March! Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

serpentwithfeet - "Fellowship (feat. Sampha & Lil Silva)" from the 2021 album DEACON on Secretly Canadian. Earlier this year, Los Angeles-via-Baltimore artist serpentwithfeet announced his sophomore album, DEACON, out March 26 via Secretly Canadian. In a press release, he explains that the new LP is "not only imagining but exploring a world wherein Black love is paramount." On today's Song of the Day, he examines the world of friendship, teaming up with guest artists Sampha and Lil Silva, who co-wrote, co-produced, and join serpent on the song’s chorus, chanting “I’m so thankful for my friends/ I’m thankful for the love I share with my friends.” “I dedicate ‘Fellowship’ to anyone who has had a good friend or been a good friend,” serpentwithfeet states simply in a press release. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Corvair - "Sailor Down" from the 2021 album Corvair on Where It’s At Is Where You Are. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one. Donate to our Spring Drive today! Portland duo Corvair made the most of quarantine by turning out their self-titled debut while on lockdown. The two had recorded plenty of times with their previous bands — Ruston Mire, Tube Top, Pop Sickle, The Service Providers for Brian Naubert and Eux Autres for Heather Larimer — but this was a whole new experience for the music veterans. “Recording and writing new music without the benefit of testing ideas in front of a live audience was strange,” said Naubert in a press release. “But ultimately, it gave us the freedom to really play with ideas and explore things we hadn’t ever tried before.” The intimacy of the stay-at-home orders also allowed the couple to express themselves more freely. “These are definitely the most exposed and truthful lyrics we have ever written,” Naubert states, “And musically, we just went for it. We didn’t try to talk ourselves out of weird moves, like laying some Mamas and Papas-style harmonies next to a Cars-esque keyboard solo or aggressive guitar work.” “We are so happy that our first singles have had such an excellent response," Larimer adds, “That our particular cocktail of feelings and sounds is connecting with people.”  Read the full post on KEXP.org KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one. Donate to our Spring Drive today!Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GHLOW - "Not Fit For This" from the 2021 album Slash and Burn on PNKSLM. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one. Donate to our Spring Drive today! When electro-punk project GHLOW named their debut album Slash and Burn, they meant it. The Russian-Swedish duo sought to capture the intensity of their live performances on the new LP. “After the [first] EP, we realised we wanted the album to be harder,” vocalist and bassist Emille de Blanche stated in a press release. “When we play live, it’s a physical experience — in the early days, we blew a lot of sound systems because the loudness was so important to us. There’s an intensity to that — a feeling of just wanting to be this vehicle speeding at 110 kil-ometres per hour — and we think we’ve captured it.” “There’s a rawness and a violence to Slash and Burn, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” adds her partner, multi-instrumentalist Nikolay Evdokimov. “It’s about starting again. You might be chopping things down, or setting fire to something, but that’s a reset — something positive comes out of the flames.”  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Antlers - "Solstice" from the 2021 album Green to Gold on ANTI-. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one. Donate to our Spring Drive today! Brooklyn duo The Antlers return later this month with their first new album in seven years, titled Green to Gold. Frontman Peter Silberman describes the LP in a press release as "Sunday morning music," adding that today's Song of the Day "is a flashback to the infinite days of peak childhood summer, innocent barefoot hikes, staying outside all afternoon and late into the evening, well past it being too dark to see. But it’s remembered from the vantage of a present day that feels unbearably long rather than joyously endless. It’s an invocation of those simpler times, an attempt to conjure the lightness of youth, before life got so damn complicated.” "I think the shift in tone is the result of getting older," he continues. "It doesn’t make sense for me to try to tap into the same energy that I did ten or fifteen years ago, because I continue to grow as a person, as I’m sure our audience does too. Green To Gold is about this idea of gradual change. People changing over time, struggling to accept change in those they love, and struggling to change themselves. And yet despite all our difficulty with this, nature somehow makes it look easy." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

春ねむり (Haru Nemuri) - "bang," a 2021 single on TO3S. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one. Donate to our Spring Drive today! Japanese artist Haru Nemuri (春 ねむり) (real name: Haruna Kimishima) is an alchemist, combining J-Pop with hip-hop, electronica, and noise. She calls today's Song of the Day a "prayer," inspired after the election of Donald Trump four years ago. In a beautifully-written statement on her website, she writes: ...we are divided deeper and deeper because a variety of human beings have used the ways like ones that Donald Trump has done many a time not only during his administration but in his life. We are all different in the point of what we feel and think, and we’re never enable to understand each other. And then, we have the only way to oppose this division getting deeper. It is to engage in dialogue anyway. We should upgrade our thought intermittently by talking each other to make this society by ourselves. In order to do that, we have to imagine others’ sadness, anger and pain existing certainly now, knowing the fact that we can’t understand completely each other. She concludes, "During our life, we might have painful experiences that we wouldn't be able to forget. Though in this world we are losing the subjects to which we should pray because something like the religion, race, gender and blood relation doesn’t decide our identity at all in the present times, I’m now finding hope in ‘prayer’ itself." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bicep - "Sundial" from the 2021 album Isles on Ninja Tune. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one. Donate to our Spring Drive today! London-based electronic duo Bicep dig into their Northern Ireland childhoods on their latest LP Isles, and today's Song of the Day takes us from Ireland to India. Belfast-born producers Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson used a snippet of the song "Jab Andhera Hota Hai" from the 1973 Bollywood film Raja Rani.  “This is probably one of the simplest tracks on the album, it grew from a faulty Jupiter 6 arp recording. Our trigger isn't working properly and the arp skips notes randomly. This was a small segment taken from a recording of Andy just playing the arp live whilst we were just trying to figure out what was going wrong. We actually loved what it had produced and wrote some chords around it, guided by the feeling of this recording.” “In regards to the sampling, Indian music has always fascinated us since the blog days, discovering it was the possible birthplace of Acid house via Charanjit Singh’s Ten Ragas to a disco beat.” “Living in East London, Indian influence and music is everywhere and over the past few years we’ve both become huge fans of Bollywood film scores, particularly the female soprano performances. The haunting melancholic epicness really strikes a chord with both of us. We feel we can relate to how similar it is to the Irish folk we grew up around from the likes of the Clannad.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jessica Manning - "Safe Another Day" from the 2021 self-released You Are Here EP. Raised by a father who loved singing soul, Minneapolis-based R&B artist Jessica Manning grew up with a love for music and would sing Broadway show tunes in the privacy of her childhood bedroom. By the age of 15, she began playing guitar, posting covers (and sometimes an original!) on YouTube.  She's come a long way since then, beginning with the 2013 release of her self-titled EP. On her most recent release, January's EP You Are Here, she teams up with her longtime partner Zach Brose on production and co-writing. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Khingz (Over The World) x Ujjy - "Rainy Morning," a 2021 self-released single. Seattle hip-hop veteran Khingz teams up with Canadian artist Ujjy on this touching track, written during a dark time. Khingz states on his Bandcamp, he "wrote this when I did not know when I would see my son again and the world was heavy on my shoulders."  Khingz broke out as a battle emcee in the early 2000s, named "Best MC Of The Year" in 2009 by the Seattle Weekly readers poll. In 2001, he formed Abyssinian Creole with EARLY host Gabriel Teodros! Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Felicia Douglass - "Continuation," a 2021 self-released single. Felicia Douglass's voice is all around us: not only is she a solo artist, she's also a member of Ava Luna, Gemma, and Dirty Projectors; and she has lent her gorgeous vocals to Lushlife, BAILE, Toro y Moi, Helado Negro, and others. "There was a point a few years ago where I was like, 'Okay, I feel like I'm in too many bands,'" the Brooklyn-based artist jokingly told GARAGE last year.  Thanks to her home studio set-up, Douglass has been able to continue working remotely. ("Casio keyboards are good clutter," she quips.) Today's Song of the Day is one of those at-home creations, released last October.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

King Khazm - "Superpowerz (feat. Kane Smego & Jessica Care Moore)" from the 2021 album Pangea: Hip Hop Heals on MADK Productions. King Khazm has a long history as an emcee, artist, and community organizer in Seattle's underground hip-hop scene, and with the compilation Pangea: Hip Hop Heals, he gathers 50 emcees, producers, DJs, and artists representing 17 countries to share their perspectives on the coronavirus pandemic. Today's Song of the Day features National Poetry Slam finalist Kane Smego and renowned Detroit-based poet Jessica Care Moore, with additional vocals by A. Billie Free, and production by Moppy.  King Khazm states Pangea: Hip Hop Heals "aims to spread awareness of the larger connection we share," he states on his website. "The project speaks directly to how artists from around the world are coping and banding together in unique and innovative ways to connect. The music carries themes of commonality and how we are all going through similar experiences, demonstrating resilience and optimism through music and art. The core values of Hip Hop is peace, unity, love and overcoming the negative to the positive. There is an undeniable power in storytelling and sharing experiences, and this project seeks to embrace the best in humanity." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Farhot - "Yak Sher" from the 2021 album Kabul Fire Vol. 2 on Kabul Fire Records. “This is one of my goals,” hip-hop producer Farhot (real name: Farhad Samadzada) told Acclaim, “to help make Afghanistan a little bit more seen.” It's been seven years since the release of Kabul Fire Vol. 1, and with the follow-up, he wanted to continue to celebrate his birthplace. "When it was time for Vol 2, I had to do some homework. I was thinking of the title Kabul Fire, and I thought, ‘I need to make a connection to the country’, I watched films and listened to the music and checked out art from Afghanistan, and what I found was just incredible to me and very inspiring, so I dug deeper.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bad Colours - “Feelin' Like (feat. Jarv Dee)” from the 2021 album Pink on Bastard Jazz Recordings. London-born, Maryland-raised, Brooklyn-based DJ, songwriter, producer, and instrumentalist Ibe Soliman (aka Bad Colours) was inspired by lockdown to record a debut album, using rough ideas and samples that friends sent him to spur on new ideas. One of the samples he used was from Seattle's own Jarv Dee. Today's Song of the Day began with a sampled vocal hook, and then after the first draft, Jarv Dee added some original lyrics on Black Power. “Dancey stuff with a message,” Soliman described it in a press release.  PINK will be released digitally and on vinyl on February 26th, and is available for pre-order over at Bandcamp, right now. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeff Parker - "Build a Nest (feat. Ruby Parker)" from the 2020 album Suite for Max Brown on International Anthem. With his 2016 album The New Breed, guitarist Jeff Parker paid tribute to his Dad, who passed away while he was recording it. With his latest release, Suite For Max Brown, he wanted to dedicate something to his Mom while she was still alive to hear it. "Maxine Brown is her maiden name and everybody calls her Max," Parker explained in a press statement. "The picture on the cover is her when she was 19." Today's Song of the Day makes it a family affair as it features guest vocals from Parker's daughter, Ruby. Parker has shown his dexterity as a member of experimental post-rock bands Tortoise and Isotope 217. With Suite For Max Brown, he utilizes a mix of digital and analog instruments. He explains: I used to deejay a lot when I lived in Chicago. I was spinning records one night and for about 10 minutes I was able to perfectly synch up a Nobukazu Takemura record with the first movement of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and it had this free jazz, abstract jazz thing going on with a sequenced beat underneath. It sounded so good. That’s what I’m trying to do with Suite For Max Brown. It’s got a sequenced beat and there are musicians improvising on top or beneath the sequenced drum pattern. That’s what I was going for. Man vs. machine. It’s a lot of experimenting, a lot of trial and error. I like to pursue situations that take me outside myself, where the things I come up with are things I didn’t really know I could do. I always look at this process as patchwork quilting. You take this stuff and stitch it together until a tapestry forms. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Madison McFerrin - "Hindsight," a 2020 single on Mexican Summer. Brooklyn-based artist Madison McFerrin says she wrote today's Song of the Day as “a love letter to Bernie Sanders.” She explained the inspiration for the track to Afropunk.com: It was back in May when it was clear that both A) this pandemic wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and B) Bernie Sanders, the only Democratic Presidential candidate advocating for Medicare for All (something that seems beyond important in the middle of a global pandemic), had officially dropped out of the race. I was feeling like the possibility for true progress had, once again, slipped through our fingers. That’s what’s behind the refrain of “coulda said we went for it.” Regardless, we have to move on and move forward with conviction. The single was released as part of Mexican Summer’s Looking Glass series, a project they launched as a response to the pandemic where all proceeds from the digital singles on Bandcamp are given straight back to the artist or the charity of their choice.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Navy Blue - "224" from the 2020 album Song of Sage: Post Panic! on Freedom Sounds. Skateboarder/graphic designer/streetwear model Sage Elsesser explores his musical side under the alias Navy Blue. Last year's full-length, Àdá Irin, was a confident debut (read KEXP's Martin Douglas' review here), and less than a year later, he returned with his sophomore album, Song of Sage: Post Panic!, another collection of introspective hip-hop. As Martin describes it in the February edition of In Our Headphones, it's "an illuminating tapestry of meditations on self-harm, colonization and ancestral weight, gentrification, anxiety attacks, the grief we carry throughout our lives, and the ties that bind Black people together."  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary Bartz, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Adrian Younge - "Spiritual Ideation" from the 2020 album Gary Bartz JID006 on Jazz is Dead. Last year, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (of A Tribe Called Quest) launched the label and series Jazz Is Dead, where the duo pair up with a legendary jazz musician, recording new music using the vintage studio equipment that artist originally used in their discography. So far, they've collaborated with Roy Ayers, Marcos Valle, Azymuth, and several others, and for the label's first release of 2021, they've recruited legendary saxophonist Gary Bartz.  Bartz just turned 80 years old last year, and Gary Bartz JID006 is his first new album in eight years, to be released April 2 via Jazz is Dead. “Working with Gary Bartz epitomizes the ethos behind Jazz Is Dead,” says Younge via a statement. “He’s a luminary that has contributed so much to music culture, for decades. His musical ability is expanding with age and we’re honored to be a part of his world.” (In fact, Bartz's 1975 album The Shadow Do and his 1977 album Music Is My Sanctuary were produced by the Mizell Brothers, our DJ's Dad and Uncle!)  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dark Time Sunshine - "Familiars" from the 2021 album LORE on Fake Four Inc. Dark Time Sunshine combines the talents of Seattle's own Onry Ozzborn (of Grayskul and Oldominion) and Chicago producer Zavala. It's been nine years since their last album, ANX, but they return this month with Lore.  While the lyrics on the new album mostly reflect on trauma and recovery, today's Song of the Day looks at resilience. In a track-by-track with Flood Magazine, the duo describe the meaning behind today's Song of the Day, stating simply, "ignore the negative voices in your head, and outside of it." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yazmin Lacey & Congi - "Follow Me" from the 2020 self-released Two Takes EP. Nottingham-based duo Congi have teamed up again with vocalist Yazmin Lacey for another soulful set of R&B jams. Their latest EP, titled Two Takes, is the result of just that: the artists did everything from home — "production and songwriting to the recording and mixing." Then, they kept things minimal in the studio, explaining, "by finishing each song in 'two takes' we kept the process as raw and organic as possible."  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grove - "Ur Boyfriend's Wack," a 2021 single on Memorials of Distinction x Spinny Nights. Bristol-based producer Grove celebrates their "queerness" in today's Song of the Day. In a press release, they claim the song is “part satire about wack boyfriends who do The Bare Minimum, part informed by the experience of rejecting my own sexuality when younger. It is a steezy reclaiming of pride in that queerness, and departing the space where shame was part and parcel of my lived experience.” Grove will release a new EP titled QUEER + BLACK on February 23 via Memorials of Distinction/Spinny Nights. The release is described as "an exploration of personal and political identity." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jasik - "Black Sands" from the 2021 album Forest of Spirit on Preference Records. Pianist/producer Jamael Dean is only in his early 20s, but he already boasts a lengthy discography, both as Jira >< and, for his rap/spoken word material, as Jasik, a combination of "jah", the creator, and "seek," as in, a disciple or student. He uses this alias "for writing," he explains, "to pay homage to the students of creation seeking to leave something of service in their wake." The grandson of legendary jazz drummer Donald Dean, Jasik grew up in an environment where music was encouraged, and his parents bought him a keyboard for Christmas when he was just eight-years-old. Since then, he's gone on to collaborate with musicians like Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, and Carlos Niño. (He was also part of Thundercat's touring band for a while.) On his latest album Forest of Spirit, Jasik displays his introspective side, demonstrating a mastery of wordplay against a soothing, jazzy soundtrack. On today's Song of the Day, he seemingly meditates on the preservation of culture. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SPELLLING - "Secret Thread" from the 2019 album Mazy Fly on Sacred Bones Records. Oakland-based artist Tia Cabral, who records under the name Spellling, found inspiration for today's Song of the Day in both a children's book and her dog. She told Culture Collide: I remember reading this book called Brown Angels. It’s a little book of poetry, and it has these old photos of black kids just being joyful. There’s a poem in there called "Secret Thread," about the unspoken bond between people and ideas. This thing that tethers you to someone else, that you don’t need words for. So it’s not weightless, it’s the opposite, really. The secret thread is what tethers me. Even though I’m up in the sky, it’s what keeps me tethered to this world. It’s between both- you’re rooted in the earth and looking up into the sky. Today's featured track is also where the title of her latest album originates from. She continued: This was the last song I wrote for the record. It felt like I was collecting a lot of little treasures from other songs. I was inspired by this idea of what the spirit of this record would look like. Mazy Fly was the name I came up with for the music on this record. It’s a creature-like thing, something with wings, something that can transport you to this world. I got the idea from my dog. At the end of writing sessions, we’d go out to this field and she’d run like a maniac. I was inspired by her being in this state of crazy energy. She was running, and it was like she didn’t even know where she was running. It’s like she was flying. And I just loved that moment of the day. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jason McCue - "First Time," a 2021 single on Fluff and Gravy Records. Back in 2017, Seattle singer/songwriter Jason McCue won the annual Sound Off! competition at MoPop, stunning audiences with his solo performance on acoustic guitar. Since then, he's grown as an artist, evidenced by his most recent releases WASTELAND and PANGAEA. Today, our Song of the Day is his latest single "First Time," his first new music since last year's Apocalypse EP.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lounge Society - "Burn the Heather," a 2020 single on Speedy Wunderground. Last year, Yorkshire-based band The Lounge Society released their debut single, which ended up being the fastest-selling 7” on their label Speedy Wunderground. The teenage quartet returned back in November with today's Song of the Day.  “‘Burn the Heather’ is a song deeply rooted in where we come from,” they say in a press release. “The lyrics are our interpretation of some of the darker aspects of where we live, and our personal reaction to them. Musically, ‘Burn the Heather’ is intended to be an adrenaline shot to the brain. We wanted this to be the second single all along. We don’t want to be just another post-punk band, and we knew Heather would keep people on their toes. Unlike a lot of our tracks, the guitars are quite minimal and the rhythm really carries it, and we think it works really well. We want to make people move.” The single was released alongside a video directed by Nick Farrimond who details the concept: “Born from the sense of injustice surrounding irresponsible land owners who clear heather from the moorland for grouse hunting, (resulting in increased flood risks below in the valley where we all live) we decided to portray caricatured versions of grouse hunters, dressed head to toe in tweed and showing total disregard for the landscape and devoid of any values, morals or ethics. The band play the parts of grouse, making their way across the moors, dressed in fetching red boiler suits and unaware of the impending danger they face. What ensues is general carnage as the grouse are hunted one by one, each meeting a grizzly, untimely end…or do they? You’ll have to watch the video to find out.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cherry Glazerr - "Rabbit Hole," a 2020 single on Secretly Canadian. “‘Tried too hard not to be distasteful but it led me down a rabbit hole’ That line sums it up.” On her latest single “Rabbit Hole,” Cherry Glazerr frontwoman Clementine Creevy reflects on her tendency to be someone she's not. “‘Rabbit Hole’ is about clawing back my identity,” Creevy says in a press release. “I often find myself acting a certain way to get someone else’s approval. Then it’s hard for me to find myself again. I have to climb my way out of that conformity and embrace myself, even if that means not everyone is going to like me. Easier said than done! But it’s what I was meditating on with this song.”  “Change and discomfort are something I thrive in but I’ve come to realize that there’s a futility of doing things just to please other people,” she adds. “You can’t sacrifice your true self, it’s just unsustainable. Realizing this has been a big pill to swallow for me but it has given me a wealth of perspective. I feel like I’m growing into the artist that I’ve always wanted to be, it feels better than anything to do what you want with your own art.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sevdaliza - "Wallflower" from the 2020 album Shabrang on Twisted Elegance. Iranian-born, Dutch-based artist and producer Sevdaliza began her career as a professional basketball player before turning her discipline and talent to music, combining Persian mythology with trip-hop, crafting sensual soundscapes with hypnotic vocals. She describes her second full-length, Shabrang, as "kind of like a letter that I wrote to myself."  She continues to French fashion magazine L'Officiel, "It is my own holy grail. I had to write and record this album in order to regain my trust and belief in life and in love. I always felt like an observer, and I think that with this album I'm materializing my observations of life and love in that particular period of my life — the past few years have been a roller coaster ride. But I think that with the album, I'm always trying to return to my life. With this record, I also hope that it will bring light and hope to the people that are listening to it. My first record was kind of like a very long therapy session and this is more of a jump towards conveying the light that I found in those first few years and always trying to go back to it." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Claud - "Soft Spot" from the 2021 album Super Monster on Saddest Factory. This Friday, February 12th, singer/songwriter Claud Mintz (who records as Claud) will release their debut album Super Monster via Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, and what could be a better endorsement than being the first album released by Bridgers’ new imprint for Dead Oceans?  Today's Song of the Day is a dreamy rumination on a relationship gone. Claud confirms in a press release, stating “‘… Sigh. I have a soft spot for lots of people, places, and things. This song is about knowing I can’t be with this one specific person, but my feelings won’t go away… I still hope I run into them, or they randomly text me about something. It’s just me romanticizing what I can’t have and being like ‘but what if…’”  The accompanying video, directed by Brad Bischoff, captures that wistfulness. "Something I’ve come to realize in the last couple years is that moving away is VERY different than moving on (seems obvious but is really not … ). This video is about the stuff that you can’t seem to leave behind and that comes with you wherever you go, whether they’re good things or not so good things." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gibraltar - "O, Devilish Sailor" from the 2021 self-released album Modern Mischief. It's been a few years since we last heard from Seattle post-rockers Gibraltar, but the trio return this March with the new full-length Modern Mischief. The album's first single features guest horn players Sari Breznau on trumpet, and Nate Henry on tenor sax, adding a soulful touch to the angular guitar and punchy percussion. In a statement to the Big Takeover, frontman and founding member Aaron Starkey shares the story behind the track:  “Lyrically, [“O Devilish Sailor”] is about feeling powerless with the decisions that our bodies make for us. I tried to, lyrically, have a conversation about the frustrations I have with my own body. The generation of the song though, musically, came from a challenge that [drummer] Nick [Biscardi] put forth to me about writing song ideas at home versus jamming in the rehearsal room.” “My approach had always been to just get in a room and sweat it out, and he (strongly) suggested that I play around with ideas and structures on my own… and so the gauntlet was thrown and I dug in over a weekend and tried to compose more of the concept. What we ended up recording became far more than my modest home recording attempt, but I’m grateful for finally getting past the hurdle of how I’d been writing up to that point.” Modern Mischief will be out digitally on March 22nd, with a physical product shipping out on or around March 26th. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mogwai - "Ritchie Sacramento" from the 2021 album As the Love Continues on Temporary Residence Ltd. Today's Song of the Day gets its title from someone's mispronunciation of the name Ryuchi Sakamoto, famed Japanese composer. Scottish post-rock band Mogwai transformed the flub into a tribute for David Berman, the musician behind the Silver Jews who passed away in 2019.  “I was inspired by a story that Bob Nastanovich put online on the anniversary of the death of Dave Berman from Silver Jews,” frontman Stuart Braithwaite told NME. “When they were students, Dave threw a shovel at a sports car. That’s the first line of the song: ‘Rise crystal spear’. Obviously Dave was an amazing poet, songwriter and musician. I took the lead from there. I wouldn’t pretend to be able to write songs as good as him, but he’s definitely a huge inspiration.” Braithwaite continued: “It’s been a hard few years. There are a lot of people that we played with and were friends with that just aren’t around now. This songs is about those people, imagined conversations… and Dave Berman throwing a shovel at a sports car!” Mogwai’s tenth album, As the Love Continues, will be out February 19th via Temporary Residence Ltd./Rock Action.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Barbarossa - "Iris2Iris" from the 2021 album Love Here Listen on Memphis Industries. Barbarossa – aka UK-based musician/producer James Mathé – returns this March with his sixth album, Love Here Listen. Today's Song of the Day gives a first listen to the forthcoming full-length.  In a statement, Mathé explains the track: "I was thinking about how I have moments of clarity more and more as I get older of what is really meaningful in my life and how I can best use my time in this life. The moments are often short-lived though, so I look at ways of accessing this mental state more. My kids bring me into this state and nature too. I jump in icy water now I live by the sea and it brings me into fight or flight, it brings what’s important to the forefront of my mind. The song is about spending more of your life with your eyes open, confronting everything that you are dealt with."  As he did with his 2018 album Lier, Mathé again teamed up with fellow producer Ghost Culture (Daniel Avery, Kelly Lee Owens), using vintage synths to craft their dreamy electronica sound. "It was probably the most stress-free record to date and so much fun just messing around with synth arps," Ghost Culture told The Line of Best Fit. "It’s easy with James as we really understand each other and I trust him totally. He lives five minutes’ walk along the seafront from me. We even jumped in the sea a couple of times after lunch." Love Here Listen will be out March 5th via Memphis Industries. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

El Michels Affair - "Murkit Gem" from the 2021 album Yeti Season on Big Crown Records. Multi-instrumentalist, writer, and producer Leon Michels has a long history in the Brooklyn music scene, with too many credits to list, but a few include being a touring member of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and The Black Keys, a co-founder of the The Menahan Street Band, a co-producer on Aloe Blacc’s album Good Things, and he was even a credited writer on Adele’s blockbuster album, 19. With his current project El Michels Affair, he brings his decades of experience together for a unique instrumental soul sound. His upcoming album, Yeti Season, combines R&B and jazz with Turkish and Persian psych-funk. Today's featured track features guest vocals from artist Piya Malik. "When Piya started singing in Hindi, she had a different voice, a different tone," Michels said in a press release. "I knew we had to do something together." Yeti Season is out on Big Crown Records on March 18th. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nation of Language - "Deliver Me From Wondering Why," a 2021 self-released single. Brooklyn synth-pop duo Nation Of Language sent us swooning with last year's debut full-length, titled Introduction, Presence. Earlier this month, they returned with the new single "Deliver Me From Wondering Why," another new wave-inspired track that sounds straight from a '80s film soundtrack. The band layer video game-esque sounds against the programmed beats, adding soaring out-of-this-world effects. In a press statement, frontman/songwriter Ian Devaney shared more about the song: “Deliver Me From Wondering Why” is a bit of an exploration, rooted in a desire for something repetitious and a bit spacey — something that would make you really want to zone out or go for a long drive on the highway. (Ideally not at the same time.) We worked on it with Nick Millhiser (Holy Ghost!) and it was just a really fun exercise in letting the track carry us wherever it was going to go. The backbone of the steady synth arpeggios and rhythms just leads endlessly forward and lets the mind wander around it. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Toni Banx - "Chanel No. 5" from the 2020 album I Like It Here on Fifth House Media. And you know I get down on myself / I ain’t better that nobody else / But I’m better than what I done been through / Too late to say that I miss you Seattle's Fifth House is both a media outlet, and a duo (as featured in KEXP's October 2020 edition of In Our Headphones). Half of that duo — the richly-voiced Toni Banx — has emerged with the solo EP I Like It Here. Today's Song of the Day is a soulful ode to the loss of a relationship, and the stories, and scents, left behind.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ciscero - "Beautiful Mind (feat. Oddisee)," a 2021 single on We Are Not The Same. They don't give a fuck about us / They're not feeling what we say / “They don’t give no fuck about us / 'cause we come from 'round the way”  On "Beautiful Mind," two emcees from Prince George's County, Maryland team up to reflect on where they're from and how they rise above. The soulful, sun-drenched single features production by Tee-WaTT, Latrell James, J.Robb, with guest violinist April George adding a melancholy touch.   The accompanying music video, directed by Adam Hahn, juxtaposes images of Ciscero and his crew with shots of children playing in the street. Watch now on KEXP.org. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

KAMAUU - "MANGO (feat. Adeline)," a 2021 single on Atlantic Records. Born in D.C. and raised in Maryland, the parents of Kamau Mbonisi Kwame Agyeman sought to introduce him and his brother to African music, history, and culture at a young age. Now based in Brooklyn, rapper/artist KAMAUU incorporates those lessons into his genre-defying music. (His brother also grew up to pursue music, recording under the name Nkō Khélí.) On one of his most recent singles, "MANGO," he teams up with vocalist Adeline (who is also half of the production duo Nightshade). In an interview with Ladygunn, he explains the inspiration behind the song: “MANGO” was inspired by the realization that in relationships, many of us think we want what’s best for our partners, though we often, more accurately, want to be with our partners in the way that feels the best or most right to us. I found this to be dangerous for many reasons. One being that how things feel can be deceptive. When you have a fever, you feel cold even though your body may very well be a human torch (hot). It’s also dangerous because most of us have trouble figuring out what best for ourselves. To know what’s best for another, to me, especially in situations where I/we can be massively emotionally biased, seems unlikely.  This led me to build more relationships with people who thoroughly studied themselves. If I can trust that someone has really studied and worked on and with themselves, I can trust they have a good grasp on what’s best for them. If what’s best is someone else, who am I to block a blessing.  Now I’m not saying go and cheat, but what I am saying is that, it’s better to be fully transparent about what we want from our partners, and what we can and cannot, and/or will and will not offer. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mumu Fresh - "A Healing," a 2021 self-released single. Maimouna Youssef (aka Mumu Fresh) is a GRAMMY-Nominated singer, songwriter, and activist, who mines her rich heritage for inspiration. She grew up singing gospel and jazz in an African-American Muslim household in Baltimore, and learned traditional songs from her Choctaw and Muscogee grandparents. Lately, she has been collaborating with "everyone from Salaam Remi to Tobe Nwigwe" as DJ Gabriel Teodros reports, and today's featured track is "her first solo single in a minute." Teodros adds, "She did this amazing NPR Tiny Desk concert a few years ago here. Hopefully we'll have a KEXP Live at Home with her soon!"  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I Self Devine - "The Disruptor Suite," a 2021 single on Improvised Weaponry. Born Chaka Mkali in Minneapolis, I Self Devine has been called "one of the most influential voices in Minnesota hip hop" by alt-weekly City Pages. In addition to being a talented musician and MC, he is also a "community organizer, racial justice trainer, graffiti artist, muralist, program coordinator and director of organizing and community building at Hope Community Center in Minneapolis," as detailed in his artist bio. (Learn more about I Self Devine in this Sound & Vision interview by Gabriel Teodros.) Today's Song of the Day is a six-part song, produced and engineered by Medium Zach. On his SoundCloud page, he explains: "The Disruptor Suite" is one of many creative reflections from democracy TBD, a series of scenario planning working groups designed to help the Democracy Fund keep pace with the rapid and unpredictable changes to social, political, and economic systems. Democracy Fund wanted to start thinking through how the current pandemic, racial unrest, and election concerns might spark a cycle of disruption and reorganization. Which aspects of our democratic system might prove more resilient, and which might be fundamentally altered. This working group consisting of architects, professors, journalist, organizers, urban planners, strategists, futurists, artists, policy directors, and researchers were led by Democracy Fund, Dot Connector studio, and 8 bridges workshop in two facilitated discussion sessions. The first session was around events that could trigger systems level disruptions. Participants picked a disruptor to think and imagine across the STEEP+C sectors which is looking at the possible intended/ unintended negative and positive impacts of a disruptor from a Societal, Technological, Environmental, Economic, Political, and Creative lens.  In the second session there was reflection on the potential impact of a given disruptive event using the Democracy Funds Healthy Democracy Framework. The disruptor chosen for this song was defunding the police state. The soundscape created by Medium Zach is a suite consisting of six parts capturing all of the elements of the STEEP+C sectors. This song was done in the spirit of Gang Starr’s “I’m the Man”, and “Speak Ya Clout” . Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Erik Blood - "Rent is Due (feat. Gary V)," a 2020 self-released single. Currently based in Los Angeles, but forever a local artist in KEXP's heart, Erik Blood teams up with Anti- Records recording artist Gary V for today's Song of the Day. (Born Garett van der Spek in Durban, South Africa, Gary V is also a former Seattleite residing in the City of Angels.) Using an original instrumental track that Blood created for The Stranger's SPLIFF film festival trailer, Gary V implores the listener to "Take time / Slow down." Via Twitter, Blood confirmed that "all of the money from the purchase of 'Rent is Due' will be going to our mutual friend [Garek Druss]," who was diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma located in his esophagus and stomach. Blood adds, "Rent can wait." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SHYGIRL - "SLIME" from the 2020 ALIAS EP on Because Music. London-based artist SHYGIRL is anything but. Born Blane Muise, she avoided using her real name – “which would come with its own set of implications and prejudices,” she explained to London in Stereo – and adopted the new moniker, explaining "like Picasso had his blue period, this is my Shygirl period." Her latest release – a 7-song EP appropriately titled ALIAS – she continues to explore her other identities, crafting four sub-personalities she calls Baddie, Bovine, Bonk, and Bae. She told Stereogum, "For me, it accentuates different sides of myself and I wanted to explain that better in giving them a whole entire life.” She adds, "At some point the lines are really blurry about what came before, and what exists now, I’m very much in Shygirl — that is my everyday. I’m still learning about what is wholly real for me. That’s the journey I’m on. I don’t know what other parts of myself are yet to rear their heads, but right now these are the most prominent.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blu & Exile - "The American Dream" from the 2020 album Miles on Dirty Science Records. Rapper Blu and hip hop producer Exile returned last year for their first new full-length in eight years: Miles: From An Interlude Called Life (or just Miles for short), an expansive 20-track double LP. “We planted the seeds of creativity and grew about 40 plants,” Exile said in a press release. “We picked the ones that we thought were the best for an album, but that didn’t mean that the other flowers weren’t beautiful.” Today's Song of the Day is a reflective, yearning track features guest vocals from The Last, Artful Dodger, and Blu‘s childhood friend Miguel, now a Grammy Award winning artist in his own right.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.