In Our Headphones

The Budos Band - "Frontier's Edge," a 2023 single on Diamond West Records. After six soulful albums and two EPs on Daptone Records, the New York collective The Budos Band are releasing their new EP Frontier’s Edge via their own label, Diamond West. “It’s just a natural growth,” said guitarist Tom Brenneck in a press release. “We’re going further away from the sound of Daptone and into territory they probably wanted to stay away from.” That territory is still a psych-heavy instrumental one, inspired by old school R&B, as you can hear on today's Song of the Day. “Somehow, we wrote six songs in two days,” says drummer Brian Profilio. “Tom was able to take what we were doing and put it together in a cohesive manner.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

bdrmm - "It's Just a Bit of Blood," a 2023 single on Rock Action Records When post-rock icons Mogwai sign you to their label, Rock Action, you know you gotta be doing something right. Such is the case for Hull-based quartet bdrmm, whose second full-length, titled I Don’t Know, was just released by the label back in June. “After touring with Mogwai and forming such a close relationship with them, we feel blessed to have been invited to work with them and their team," the band said via a press release. "To be on the same label as Arab Strap too? I mean, say no more.” On today's Song of the Day, the band capture a favorite live track. Lead vocalist Ryan Smith shares, “The more we played it, the more it dawned on us it was becoming something special, and an integral part of our set. Lyrically, it stems from my recent mental health awareness. I’d become depressed and very socially anxious, I really felt like I had changed and didn’t know who I was. I am lucky enough to be surrounded by three of my brothers within this band – one literally by blood – and have always been able to be myself with them. It’s about realising what you have and remembering that when you can’t see it.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dengue Fever - "Touch Me Not," from the 2023 album Ting Mong on Tuk Tuk Records. Los Angeles-based Cambodian psych band Dengue Fever return with their sixth studio album Ting Mong, to be released September 15th via their own Tuk Tuk Records. The band explain a "ting mong" is "a decoy or mannequin, similar to a scarecrow, used to fight away evil spirits and plagues." Following the pandemic, couldn't we all use a ting mong to protect us? Today's Song of the Day originated from a melody vocalist Chhom Nimol came up with one day. Her band members built the hypnotic groove around her voice. “We gave ourselves parameters recording Ting Mong, but we smashed the rules we created for ourselves on past albums,” bassist Senon Williams told Flood Magazine. “The songs’ sole purpose was to let Chhom’s voice soar. It was our mood or perhaps the mood of the world that gave us focus on the sublime and the melancholy." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

High Pulp - "Unified Dakotas (feat. Jeff Parker)" from the 2023 album Days In The Desert on ANTI-. Los Angeles-based jazz collective High Pulp team up with Jeff Parker of Tortoise on today's Song of the Day. The track can be found on the band's adventurous new LP Days In The Desert, out now via Anti- Records. “We have been fans of Jeff Parker (both solo and his work with Tortoise) for years, and when thinking about who the right person may be to collaborate with on this song it became abundantly clear once I threw his name out," explained High Pulp's drummer Bobby Granfelt in a press release. "Jeff’s maturity and humility shine throughout this song. It tells a story and feels more like watching someone make a painting than listening to a traditional guitar solo.” “'Unified Dakotas' was one of the last songs that we wrote, and it quickly became one of the band’s favorite songs from Days In The Desert,” he continues. ”If you listen to the trumpet writing you can hear explicit choices and tones inspired by [the 1959 Miles Davis album] Sketches of Spain; we felt this song called for that color palette: playful, tense, and slightly indignant.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sweeping Promises - "You Shatter" from the 2023 album Good Living Is Coming For You on Feel It Records. Sweeping Promises weren't kidding when they titled their second LP Good Living Is Coming for You. The duo of Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug used the advance they received from Sub Pop Records to purchase a home in Lawrence, Kansas. In an interview with Pitchfork, they explain how they used the back of the house to build a recording studio where they crafted their latest album. (They've also recorded 40 other bands there in the past year alone!) Lira and Caufield describe today's Song of the Day as “our ode to being a hammer,” something they surely understand after their renovations. Catch Sweeping Promises on September 15th at Madame Lou’s. And check out Martin Douglas's album review for Good Living is Coming for You here. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Killer Mike - "SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS (feat. André 3000, Future, Eryn Allen Kane)" from the 2023 album MICHAEL on Loma Vista Recordings / Concord It's been 11 years since the last solo album from Killer Mike, and his latest LP, titled Michael, is his most personal yet. Songs reflect on his childhood growing up in Atlanta, and, as he told Zane Lowe in an interview, he was also inspired by "the civil rights movement, the abolitionist movement, which gave us some of the most beautiful music ever." The album features a fantastic collection of collaborators, including CeeLo Green,Young Thug, his Run the Jewels bandmate El-P, and more. Today's Song of the Day features guest vocals from Eryn Allen Kane, and reunites Killer Mike with two members of the Dungeon Family hip-hop collective, Future and André 3000. “I’ve assembled a cast of some of the best artists from Atlanta and beyond,” he wrote on Instagram. “Our collective perspectives will allow you to understand the glorious story and beautiful nuances of what it’s like to be a Black boy growing up in the deeply religious south, specifically the westside of Atlanta.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pozi - "Slightly Shaking Cells" from the 2023 album Smiling Pools on PRAH Recordings On their sophomore full-length Smiling Pools, London-tro Pozi break away from the post-punk sound they demonstrated on their debut LP, PZ1. “It’s not our goal to totally embrace and restrict ourselves within a genre,” says bassist Tom Jones. “I feel that the tracks on Smiling Pools demonstrate that we’re taking our music to a different place and we want to bring the listener along on that journey.” Today's Song of the Day shows shades of krautrock. “This song is inspired by figures such as Boudica, Cleopatra and Xena the Warrior Princess, and the kind of immortality you can create through believing in your own strength," the band state via Bandcamp. "The song then switches to someone admiring another person from afar, zooming into everyday existence away from matters of life and death.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sen Morimoto - "If The Answer Isn't Love" from the 2023 album Diagnosis on City Slang Records. Chicago-based artist Sen Morimoto has signed with City Slang Records, accompanying the announcement with the new single "If The Answer Isn’t Love." The track will appear on his third album, Diagnosis, out November 3rd via City Slang in partnership with his own Sooper Records. “In the face of imminent climate disaster, war and unending sickness it’s natural to start considering what will remain and what might have made it all worth it,” Morimoto says of today's Song of the Day. “I want the sound of my music to reflect that same urgency – instruments warbling and splattered over the beat, melodies tangled and contradicting. I wrote this song about the enduring power of love and the struggle to hang onto that feeling when in crisis.” The song's video was directed by Chicago film production duo New Trash. Morimoto continues, "Up until my first tour in Japan, I washed dishes for a living. I would daydream all day at work about being a full time musician. My fantasies were sweet and naive, mostly just pop culture references glued together, stuff I’d seen in movies and music videos. It wasn’t until I started touring full time that I realized how long the road is from being a working musician to building a life in music that is actually sustainable, which has become even harder as touring proves itself to be a gamble with bad odds, even for more established acts. I wrote this video concept as a kind of tongue-in-cheek visualization of those mid-shift daydreams. I’m dreaming of this big guitar solo in the sky, but even my fantasy is insecure, balancing on a rusted beam with no support." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

RUB - "Contentment," a 2023 single on RUB Sounds. Today's Song of the Day is the debut single from Rub, a Seattle supergroup featuring members of Trick Candles, Salt Lick, Acid Tongue, Killer Workout, Cute Lepers, Panama Gold, and NighTraiN. The group are currently recording their debut full-length. On today's featured track, the band write: "This song is about Contentment. When will it happen, and what to do when you finally get it? It's about remembering that you are in control of your happiness and can choose it anytime. In the video, we wanted to show something mundane like band practice and how you can turn everything into a moment of celebration. You're doing the work by just being." Check out the video for the single, directed by Nina Wasankari, below. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Veldt - "The Everlasting Gobstopper," a 2023 single on 5BC Records. Flashback to 1989. North Carolina-based identical twins Daniel and Danny Chavis had formed The Veldt just a few years before, inspired by soul, Sun Ra, and shoegaze. They began recording the LP The Everlasting Gobstopper with Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie on production, but despite this dream pairing, their label, Capitol Records, shelved the project. Jump back to 2023, and the album will finally see the light of day, via The Veldt’s own 5BC Records. Guthrie has returned to remaster the LP, and the album features backing vocals from his Cocteau Twins bandmate Liz Fraser. While the full album won't be out until the fall, the group has shared the title track as a teaser. “As the benchmark of the new sound we had started to develop, The Everlasting Gobstopper was a throwback to our younger days of our family getting together on holidays, when Willy Wonka would be playing, and the certain atmosphere would be filled with a sense of love and security,” Daniel Chavis shared in a press release. “Upon reminiscing about this, my brother Danny came up with a riff and then called it The Everlasting Gobstopper as a lullaby to put his baby daughter to sleep. Thus was born this sound that would develop into what we have right now. This is significant – the birth of the sound that we have come to develop until present, because back then we were quite a different band. Robin pretty much shaved off all the excess and led us toward the sound we have now, so The Everlasting Gobstopper is the cornerstone that Robin helped us to lay for our own unique sound, which we still have to this day.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Obongjayar - "Just Cool," a 2023 single on September Recordings London-based Nigerian artist Obongjayar shares his first new single in a year, declaring, "Everyone is on edge! How could we not be?” He continues, "Where’s our united humanity? Where is our united love for our brothers and sisters and children looking for safety and opportunity? Where is the love for our planet? We’re constantly being lied to, used and squeezed of whatever energy is left in us. We’re in a pit fighting amongst ourselves while the bloodsuckers incite division and cheer from high above while poking at us continuously. Be cool and let cool." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland - "Africa Calling" from the 2023 album The Ones Ahead on Transgressive Records Late last month, celebrated vocalist/composer Beverly Glenn-Copeland returned with his first new album in 20 years, titled The Ones Ahead. “As the old world crumbles, a new world is waiting to be born," he shared in a press release. "All of our various strengths are needed. The generations of those yet to come are calling us forward.” Today's Song of the Day finds Glenn-Copeland exploring his heritage. “In the ‘80s I had the honor of performing with an incredible artist named Dido, a master of the drums indigenous to West Africa. The beauty of this drumming tradition is explored in ‘Africa Calling,’” he continued. “Over the years, in many conversations, I have come to understand that I share an undefinable, unnamed feeling — a calling — with many other members of the African diaspora, a bone-deep need to explore and express our heritage. Alongside the grief, there is a longing to know our roots, hidden from us as family lines were torn apart in the terrible days of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In a world still caught in the ties of colonialism, I know I am not alone in needing to heed the call of this generations-old longing.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MJ Lenderman - "Rudolph," a 2023 single on ANTI- When not playing guitar in the band Wednesday, Asheville, North Carolina-based singer/songwriter MJ Lenderman has a solo project on the side. Last year, ANTI- Records released his solo LP, Boat Songs. Today's Song of the Day is the first track he's shared since the release of that album. "I had been sitting on the guitar part for a long time and slowly worked out the song whenever I could in between tours in 2022," the busy musician explained in a press release. "I finished the lyrics with my friend one late night after a Wednesday gig in Atlanta." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tomo Nakayama - "Contigo," a 2023 single on Ricebelly Music Long-running Seattle singer/songwriter Tomo Nakayama continues to capture the hearts of his listeners, this time with the swoon-worthy single "Contigo." As he sings in Spanish, "Quiero estar contigo," which translates to "I want to be with you." As Nakayama shares in a Spotify playlist, the song draws inspiration from The Cure to PM Dawn to Caetano Veloso and more. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ghost of Vroom - "Still Getting It Done" from the 2023 album Ghost of Vroom 3 on Mod y Vi Ghost of Vroom — a project of former Soul Coughing-frontman Mike Doughty and his longtime collaborator Andrew “Scrap” Livingston — return with Ghost of Vroom 3, out September 1st via Mod y Vi Records. The LP was produced and mixed by Beastie Boys collaborator Mario Caldado, Jr., who worked with the duo on previous releases. “It’s a dream, and a groove, and its language is an object,” writes author Rick Moody in an essay accompanying the album, “one that leads beyond where Doughty started, into a life of greater improvisation, the aleatory, the migratory, the dilatory, hand signals, dropping in and dropping out the kid goes for broke, and here makes one of the great records of his life, a thing of its time, a thing of another time, a thing that makes dreams out of time, and a thing of great beauty, and, let it be said, acceleration, here it is the third of three, like hypothesis, antithesis, synthesis, GHOST OF VROOM 3.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Upper Wilds - "Short Centuries" from the 2023 album Jupiter on Thrill Jockey Brooklyn trio Upper Wilds continue their exploration of their solar system, following up 2018's Mars and 2020's Venus with their latest LP, Jupiter. Fronted by Dan Friel (formerly of Parts & Labor), the band celebrates the largest planet with a sound just as mighty. Today's Song of the Day brings us back to Earth with a tribute to Ecuadorian couple Julio Mora and Waldramina Quinteros, declared the world's oldest married couple in 2020. The lyrics touch on "love’s ability to echo out through the eons," and the track features gorgeous guest vocals from Katie Eastburn (KATIEE) and Jeff Tobias (Sunwatchers). Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Film School - "Tape Rewind" from the 2023 album Field on felte Long-running west coast shoegazers Film School share a sneak peek at their forthcoming full-length, Field, out August 25th via felte Records. Against their signature sonic waves of guitar, frontman Greg Bertens reflects on regret and internal struggles. The new LP takes its title from the Rumi poem, "A Great Wagon," which states: "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field / I’ll meet you there." Bertens tells us, "This is a poem I’ve returned to over the years, and I love the idea of this place, but getting there is life’s journey," adding, “I think the longing for and elusiveness of this field is a recurring theme in our music.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The newest jam from the Vancouver-based multihyphenate comes with a light touch. Its slowly mutating beat starts with the melancholy peace of its ukelele lick and ends up floating through space carried by the vibrating low end of bass. Kimmortal's gently rapped lyrics about the wall between them and a person they love renders the sadness almost dreamlike on "Get Better," marking a new depth of vulnerability for the often-satirical artist, first explored on their single "K I'M MORTAL." - Martin DouglasSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By your powers combined, Captain Planet has ignited crowds across the world. The ever-world-traveling DJ has picked up steam touring constantly since shows opened up again in the wake of the pandemic. But Captain Planet never slows down. Right after finishing his 2022 tour, he jumped back into the studio to create his latest record Sounds Like Home. For Captain Planet, the goal was to make a record like the ones he reaches for while relaxing or entertaining at home. What results is the perfect house party album, brimming with positive vibes and endless grooves. “Moqueca” features Zuzuka Poderosa and Raphael Futura for an infectious track that sounds primed for a rooftop party and endless refreshments. Throw this one in your home and you’ll feel instantly transported to the soiree of your dreams. – Dusty HenrySupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After spending the last four years finding new approaches to recording, NAVVI's first new music in four years displays the Seattle duo functioning in a new gear. The sleek aesthetic is still there, vocalist Kristin Henry still sounds like she's singing from a different spiritual realm. But the 2023 issue of NAVVI is even more atmospheric than they were when we last heard them. Henry and producer Brad Boettger give "Clemency" more room to breathe. "I wanted to lean into tenderness,” Henry recently told Jas Keimig of the South Seattle Emerald. This (comparatively) delicate approach to their work has made the next phase of NAVVI's body of work one to watch very closely. - Martin DouglasSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jamaican singer Jah9 has built a remarkable career bridging dub music with jazz vocals. Taking inspiration from Nina Simone and Billie Holiday with the dancehall aesthetics of her native Kingston, Jah9 creates a sonic palette uniquely her own. “Open Heart” is a feel-good anthem, or rather an anthem in the pursuit of feeling good. Crossing over with her other career as a yoga teacher, she preaches mindfulness ideas of focusing your mind, embracing the beauty around you, and finding the moments of peace surrounding us. With the danceable rhythm and flourishing horns, Jah9 creates a vision of serenity that feels worth the pursuit. - Dusty HenrySupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

South London’s Yussef Dayes has made a name for himself as one of the most exciting jazz drummers and composers to emerge in recent years. Anticipation has been mounting for a full-length album from Dayes and we’ll finally see it come to fruition with his debut solo album, Black Classical Music, out Sept. 8. Alongside the album’s announcement, Dayes shared this statement: “What is jazz? Where did the word derive from? Birthed in New Orleans, born in the belly of the Mississippi River, rooted in the gumbo pot of the Caribbean, South American culture & African rituals. Continuing a lineage of Miles Davis, Rahssan Roland kirk, Nina Simone, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong ~ music that is forever evolving & limitless in its potential. The groove, it’s feeling, the compositions, the spontaneity, with a love for family, the discipline & dedication in maintaining the very high bar set by the pantheon of Black Classical Musicians. Chasing the rhythm of drums that imitated one’s heartbeat, the melodies for the mind and spirit, the bass for the core. A Regal sound for this body of music.” The single “Rust” finds Dayes teaming up with fellow English jazz wunderkind and frequent collaborator Tom Misch. The instrumental jam finds both musicians at the height of their powers, locking into that cosmic groove Daye speaks of with delectable percussion pastiche, ambient vocals, and a bass line that’ll rumble in your bones for days. - Dusty HenrySupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Love & Pain - “Deep Space (Soft Faith remix),” a 2023 self-released single. Seattle duo Love & Pain — Natalia Czajkiewicz and Brad Clifford — team up with New York City synth-pop duo Soft Faith for today's Song of the Day. The track commemorates the one year anniversary of the release of It Comes In Waves, their second full-length. As they write on Instagram, "Maybe it will make you dance or cry or do both at the same time." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Code Industry - “Crimes Against The People” from the 2023 self-released album Structure. Formed in 1989 after changing their name from Code Assault, Code Industry were among the few Black artists in the EBM genre during that era. On Juneteenth 2023, they resissued their 1991 EP Structure with lyrics and liner notes by band member Pen Jackson aka E.N. Sevy. Their lyrics calling out racism and hypocrisy still ring true today. On today's Song of the Day, they deliver seething lyrics against an intense industrial sound, calling to mind '80s faves like Skinny Puppy and Nitzer Ebb. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Neu-Romancer - “Superposition” from the 2023 EP Neue Romantika on Fleisch. Neu-Romancer is the solo venture of Australian musician Laura Bailey, currently residing in Berlin, Germany. (She's also the bassist for VV & the Void, Ciern, and in the live line-up for Zanias.) Her debut EP Neue Romantika features four tracks of Italo-disco-infused coldwave. "Neue Romantika" translates to "New Romantics" in German, a nod to the '70s/'80s music genre that included bands like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Soft Cell. Today's Song of the Day recalls early Depeche Mode classics with its dark, danceable rhythm. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carlo Onda - “Kette (feat. Blanche Biau)” from the 2023 self-released album EURO89. Swiss darkwave artist Carlo Rainolter composes music as both Carlo Onda and Karl Kave. Both are synth-based, '80s-inspired projects influenced by post-punk and minimal wave. His latest album, Euro89, is described as both "digital and organic," with today's Song of the Day featuring guest vocals and lyrics from Zurich-based artist Blanche Biau. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Escuela de Aviación- “Escalera infinita” from the 2023 album Fabrica de uniformes on Flexidiscos Escuela de Aviación (translated to English: "Aviation School") is the solo project of Jerónimo Martín, formerly the drummer of the krautrock-inspired band Sei Still which relocated from Mexico City to Berlin, Germany. Still embracing the minimal synth sound of his previous band, Escuela de Aviación's latest LP, Fabrica de uniformes, is an introspective meditation on the world, set to an icy darkwave sound. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Roosevelt - "Luna," a 2023 single from Counter Records. Marius Lauber — the German-based producer who records as Roosevelt — shares a funky summertime groove for today's Song of the Day. The track definitely nods to his recent collaborations with artists like Nile Rodgers and Classixx. “'Luna' started as a jam with a bass line two years ago — it was laying on my hard drive already when doing my last album Polydans and it never really developed into a song," he explains in a press statement. "I’ve reconnected with some of my old equipment and a stripped down setup in the last months and finally made it work, turning it into a funk driven dance track.” Roosevelt will be playing Friday, October 6th at the Showbox at the Market. Check out the complete 35+ North American tour schedule here. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nina Kohout - "Little Butterfly," a 2023 single on Deadred Records. Slovakian artist Nina Kohout lands her second KEXP Song of the Day pick with this powerful synth-pop single. Having now graduated from the BRIT School in London, she has been playing live around Europe, with more dates planned for the Fall. "'Little Butterfly' is a song about those who do not understand what ‘no’ means, automatically mistaking it for the words of consent," she writes on her Bandcamp page, adding "'Little Butterfly' is an anthem for the angry ones." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pahua - "Porque Yo (feat. Eva de Marce)," a 2023 single from Nacional Records. As half of the duo Sotomayor, Mexico-based artist Pahua has a rich discography fusing Latin rhythms with electronic music. With her debut solo album, Habita, she spotlights collaborators from across Latin America, like Paz Court, La Perla, and on today's Song of the Day, Eva De Marce. "Well, one of my first interests with this album was to talk about the errancy, about the roots that are connecting us with the Latin American artists," she tells KEXP in this exclusive interview. "So that's why I involved a lot of countries in this album and also to do collaborative and collective music. So I guess it was like one of the most points that I really love to have. They are in there – they're in Chile and Colombia, República Dominicana, Cuba, Mexico. So it's also like something that has like been opening for me the doors in other places and also to connect with people that, for me, are admirable in a lot of levels and to have these connections that they are not also like in a collaborative way, but that right now they are my friends. So I am doing a lot of stuff with them in the present. And I guess that maybe the music, it's the way and it's the tool, but it's also something to do a lot of other stuff, not only in the music but also like socially and with these people to connect also with their materials and with their projects. So that's for me, like maybe the best thing." KEXP presents Pahua on Friday, July 21st, as part of our El Sonido Live concert at Seattle Center, presented in partnership with the Consulate of Mexico in Seattle, BIME, LAMC, and Chilemusica. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who Is She? - “Thursday,” a 2023 single from Father/Daughter Records Seattle supergroup Who Is She? — Robin Edwards (aka Lisa Prank), Bree Mckenna (Tacocat), and Julia Shapiro (Chastity Belt) — have become even more super with the addition of Tacocat’s Emily Nokes. Their sophomore full-length, Goddess Energy, will be out August 25th via Father/Daughter Records, and was produced by Jenn Champion. With today's Song of the Day, the quartet add themselves to the list of bands who've written songs about days of the week. “We are big fans of day of the week songs like ‘Manic Monday’ and ‘Friday I’m in Love,’ and we realized there weren’t enough songs about Thursday,” the band shared in a press release. “So we decided to write one!” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Southern University Jazz Ensemble - “Clean Air” from the 1973 album Goes To Africa With Love from Now-Again Records What was once an incredibly rare record is now re-issued, thanks to Eothen “Egon” Alapatt’s Now-Again Records label. Recorded in 1971, the student-performed album, The Southern University Jazz Ensemble's Goes to Africa With Love, was originally given away as souvenirs at Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA. This reissue marks the first time it has been made available commercially. The group was instructed and led by legendary avant-garde jazz clarinetist Alvin Batiste, and the LP was reissued in his memory. Jazz historian Bret Sjerven provides liner notes for this release, alongside never-before-published photos. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Girl Ray - “Everybody's Saying That” from the 2023 album Prestige on Moshi Moshi London trio Girl Ray turn the beat around on today's Song of the Day with a dance-inspired track produced by Ben H. Allen, who's previously worked with Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley, and Cut Copy, to name a very few. “The lyrics on this single were inspired by the straight-to-the-heart simplicity of the disco greats," vocalist/guitarist Poppy Hankin shared in a press release. "I wrote it while missing my partner while on tour in 2020, and it plays on themes of new love and self-doubt. Musically we took reference from the nu-disco resurgence that seemed to be taking off in 2020, in particular from the likes of Kylie Minogue (Disco), Jessie Ware (What's Your Pleasure?), Dua Lipa (Future Nostalgia), and Róisín Murphy (Róisín Machine). We were really inspired by all of these women re-imagining disco.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fishbone and NOFX - “Estranged Fruit,” a 2023 single from Bottles To The Ground. Today's Song of the Day commemorates the 30-year friendship between ska legends Fishbone and punk group NOFX. The single features NOFX's El Hefe on trumpet and Fat Mike on guest vocals. Fat Mike also produced the band's latest EP — their first new release in nearly a decade — and is releasing it via his new label Bottles to the Ground. “Fishbone is the one band I’ve always wanted to produce ever since NOFX toured with them in 1992," Fat Mike said via a press release. "When I got the chance two years ago… I fucking gave it everything I got! I fucking love this band so much as friends and musicians, but I may like this record even more! I thank all of them for the opportunity.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

L'Rain - “New Years UnResolution,” a 2023 single from Mexican Summer Records. Brooklyn-based artist Taja Cheek — who records as L'Rain — reflects on a relationship in this atmospheric electronic track. The single was co-produced by Cheek's longtime collaborators Andrew Lappin and Ben Chapoteau-Katz, and marks her first new music since her outstanding 2021 full-length Fatigue. “The words of this song were written at different periods of time to give a sense of what it’s like to think through the trajectory of a relationship at different points of my life–right after a breakup, and many moons later,” L’Rain said in a press release. “I wonder: What is it like to feel like you’ve forgotten a part of yourself?; how does time pass differently at different moments in your life? (like molasses, like water, like air); how do you set new terms of engagement with someone you’ve interacted with in a very specific way for a long time?; how do you deal with the turmoil of stepping into a distant unknown after a period of fierce intimacy?” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ollella - "Head in the Clouds" from the 2023 self-released album Back Back Back Seattle musician Ellie Barber has trained as a classical cellist since the age of nine. She integrates these studies into her project Ollella (pronounced oh-lel-uh), crafting a jazzy, folktronica style that calls to mind Beth Orton. “As someone who grew up playing classical cello but listening to indie music, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what direction I want to take my music as a new solo artist," she tells Glide Magazine. "I wrote 'Head in the Clouds' during a particularly exploratory period, playing with different effects on my loop pedal and not attaching judgment to what came out. The bones of this song immediately felt so genuine to the type of sound that I was seeking – so much so that I left it untouched for six months because I was afraid I would ruin it.” “The verses speak to my own pivot towards music: how I kept feeling unsettled where I was in life because I wasn’t following the little voice in my gut to pursue full-time artistry,” she continues in a press release. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

RVG - "Squid" from the 2023 album Brain Worms from Fire Records Travel back in time with Melbourne-quartet RVG on today's Song of the Day. “'Squid' is a song about going back in time and stepping on a Tiktaalik and then going back to the present but you have the same job, the same problems you had before except you’re a squid,” vocalist Romy Vager explained to Rolling Stone Australia. “We jammed it on a whim and it ended up coming out really well. I left a large chunk of the lyrics till the last minute, finishing them off in Finsbury Park at 6 in the morning before I could get into the studio and record my vocals.” The track can be found on the band's third LP, Brain Worms, released last month via Fire Records. The band says the new album captures them at their most confident yet. “Hype is scary. After two years of COVID, it felt like the hype had gone down so we were able to just do stuff,” says Vager in a press statement. “This time around we were like, this is what we’re doing, we’re taking control, we’re taking risks, and we’re going to make an album that sounds big so that when we hear it on the radio we want to hear it again.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yeule - "sulky baby" a 2023 single from Ninja Tune For today's Song of the Day, Singapore-born, London-based artist Yeule turns to the pages of their journals, or "scars," as they call their collection of writings. They describe the track as "a conversation with a younger version of themselves." "'sulky baby' was like a 2000s alt-rock shoegaze hybrid tinted in sad satire," they share in a press statement. "I felt like I was talking to a younger version of me, stopping her from crying, looking back at the ways I betrayed and neglected that innocence from myself. I failed to protect her and I felt like I needed to go back in time and fulfill what she was starved of. So that she could return to my side. So that I can smile like a little kid again." "The song gives quite vivid descriptions of a depression I felt with almost a burning passion, yet I tried to give it a light-hearted tone. I think romanticizing is not always that bad. It helps to do it sometimes when you're dealing with a repressed memory. I think it is called an advantaged delusion? Sometimes, that's the only way I can remember parts of me I don't want to remember, so that I can lay her to rest and heal. My mother used to tell me as a child, not to sulk all the time. I guess that's why sulking is so special to me." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kara Jackson - "pawnshop" from the 2023 album Why Does The Earth Give People To Love? from September Recordings. As the 2019 National Youth Poet Laureate, Chicago-based singer/songwriter Kara Jackson has a demonstrated command of words, showcased on her debut full-length album, Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love?. “There’s so many words on this project," Kara says via a press statement, "it’s important for me that people know I can write things, maybe in ways they aren’t used to seeing.” Jackson wrote and recorded the demos for her first LP in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic, reaching out to NNAMDÏ, Kaina, and Sen Morimoto to help record and produce. Today's Song of the Day sets her thoughts against slide guitar in this country-tinged track. She says the song is “about uncovering how worth is subjective,” adding, “It’s taking ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ and reveling in that sentiment, taking pride in the fact that even if people can’t understand your value, only you know how priceless you are.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blondes - "Beautiful World" from the 2023 EP In Separation from Lab Records. For today's Song of the Day, Nottingham-based quartet Blondes share an early listen to their forthcoming EP, titled In Separation, with the dreamy pop track "Beautiful World." "'Beautiful World' feels like our first proper pop song," shares guitarist Alex Davison. "It’s my favourite that we’ve written so far. It’s about our relationship with our environment and each other. We wrote it to speak not just for ourselves but to anyone that finds themselves looking around at our world and wondering just how we’ve become so disconnected from one another and the planet. We hope you like it.” In Separation will be released July 14th via C3 Records / LAB Records. "In Separation is a collection of songs written and recorded over the past two years," they say via a press release. "It’s a project that explores the ways in which we become disconnected from one another, taking you on an emotional journey through separation to reconciliation. It speaks to the ways we live with, and without, each other." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Smokey Brights - "Long Goodbye" from the 2023 album Levitator from Nine Mile. For over a decade, Seattle natives Smokey Brights have been building a loyal fanbase with their high-energy shows and emotionally resonant music. In early June, the quartet, led by husband-and-wife duo Kim West and Ryan Devlin, unveiled their fourth full-length Levitation. The record is touted as, “A motivational mix-tape for our collective crisis of confidence,” and a “musical, magical incantation cast to lift off and dance with the cosmos, to dig deep where the diamonds shine, to laugh away our self-pity.” Our Song of the Day is the early single “Long Goodbye” which features a rambling guitar line and belted harmonies, as West and Devlin examine the complex feelings left in the aftermath of a decayed relationship. The band describes the song like this: “Long Goodbye reflects on how some relationships only find their meaning in how they end. At the conclusion of an ill fated romance, a tumultuous friendship, or even a bad job, there’s a moment you realize that all that pain, all that uncertainty you felt surrounding the other person was a long goodbye.” Catch Smokey Brights at the Crocodile opening for Neal Francis on Saturday, July 8th, watch their KEXP in-studio session from 2018, and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Strange Ranger - "She's On Fire" from the 2023 album Pure Music from Fire Talk. New York-via-Philly-via Portland quartet Strange Ranger are have been making genre-bending indie rock since 2016, when they were just the duo of Isaac Eiger and Fred Nixon and went under the name Sioux Falls. A lot’s changed for them besides relocation. On their upcoming album Pure Music, due out July 21st via Fire Talk, they’re leaning heavier into the shoegaze-inspired sounds they dabbled with on their 2021 mixtape No Light In Heaven. Our Song of the Day “She’s On Fire” proves this evolution was a wise one. Wistful ‘80s synths set the dreamscape while hard-hitting drums keep us tethered to the ground throughout the percussive track. Swirls of sound bring constantly unfolding dynamics, giving listeners something new to gleam from the track with each repeated listen. “And I could die in pure music /Ringing from the sky, I won't refuse it,” bellows Eiger with backing vocals from co-vocalist and synth player Fiona Woodman. “Just let me slip away, yeah /Tonight (tonight) it all goes live /No more solutions.” “When you’re young, it feels like life has a kind of arc to it and up ahead in the future, there’s some point where all your experiences converge and this fog of confusion will lift and you will have arrived,” says Eiger of “She’s On Fire.” “This is definitely not true and increasingly, music is the steadying hand I lean on when looking for meaning. It provides a spiritualism that feels absent from much of life and I want to be as close to that feeling as possible.” Watch the video for “She’s On Fire" and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grian Chatten - "Fairlies" from the 2023 album Chaos for the Fly from Partisan Records This Friday, Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten will release his debut solo album, titled Chaos for the Fly, via Partisan. He says he knew from the start that he wanted to tackle these tracks on his own. “I just thought: I want to do this myself. I know where we as a band are going next and that’s not where I want to go with this. I’ve got a couple of exaggerated aspects of my soul that I wanted to express,” he stated in a press release. “The rest of the band are all creative and songwriters in their own right, too. I didn’t want to go to them and be like, ‘No, every single thing has to be like this.’ I didn’t want to compromise with these songs in that way.” He adds that today's Song of the Day was written "in intense heat," explaining, "Partly in Jerez, Spain, partly in LA a couple of days before a Fontaines D.C. tour kicked off. It was a quick write, and I believe I celebrated each line with a beer." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Margo Cilker - "Lowland Trail" from the 2023 album Valley of Heart's Delight from Fluff & Gravy For today's Song of the Day, Goldendale, WA-based singer/songwriter Margo Cilker shares an early listen of her sophomore LP Valley Of Heart’s Delight, slated for a September 15th release via Fluff & Gravy Records. The album was produced by long-time KEXP fave Sera Cahoone, and recorded with guest musicians from The Decemberists, Band Of Horses, and Beirut. She says of the new album: I wrote these songs surrounded by the wild landscapes of the Northwest, but I was leaning toward the place I’d come from. I felt cut off from my family and the valley that held them. I spent hours thinking about my sense of belonging. I’d traveled through many places and then, when the travel stopped, I ruminated on where I had ended up. Where were you when the music stopped? I was in Enterprise, OR. And there in Enterprise, my mind drifted back to the Valley of Heart’s Delight. I wrote about family — about death and rebirth, and the arcs of love and art through a family line. There are songs that hint at missteps and redemption. There are songs about trees: in orchard rows, family trees, redwoods. And water: agricultural runoff, wild rivers, dammed rivers, baptismal flows. And there’s a [cover] song about a fish, cause it’s a damn good song and I wanted to record it. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sea Lemon - "Cellar," a 2023 single from Luminelle Records. "Sometimes I imitate / Things that make me afraid" So sings Seattle-based singer/songwriter Natalie Lew — who records as Sea Lemon — in today's dreamy, yet eerie Song of the Day. “‘Cellar’ was inspired by my love of really classic horror and thriller films, like Blow Out and Misery, and how loving scary movies can sometimes feel like something is wrong with you," Lew shares in a press statement. "That idea of the ‘cellar’ in the song is based on the traditional horror trope where the protagonist can’t help but discover what’s lurking in the basement, and that what they find there often represents something really dark and horrifying. In the lyrics, I say ‘the cellar is where I belong’ which is me grappling with this idea that sometimes really terrifying imagery interests me the most.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spoon Benders - Dichotomatic, from the 2023 self-released album How Things Repeat. Spoon Benders are a face-melting band from Portland who are making the pilgrimage that any young band bursting with the kind of energy that their hometown just can’t keep up with - to LA. Since the release of their 2020 debut album Dura Mater, they’ve been blowing minds with their psychedelic spin on hardcore and garage punk and that momentum has continued with the recent release of their sophomore full-length How Things Repeat. Our Song of the Day, “Dichotomatic,” is the slow-burning lead single and opening track off the album. Led by a swirling drum beat from AJ Herald and Velvet’s sludgey bass line, Buffy Pastor adds fiery guitar licks and frontwoman Katy Black growls lines like “I hold hands with the business plan for the guillotine man,” as a final brush stroke to their ominous painting. Watch the Karlee Boon-video for “Dichotomatic" and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vagabon – Can I Talk My Shit?, a 2023 single on Nonesuch Records. Lætitia Tamko recently announced her third full-length as Vagabon, titled Sorry I Haven’t Called. The record sees the Cameroonian-American artist reinvent herself for her most exuberant and bold record yet. While her prior albums, 2017’s Infinite Worlds and her 2019 self-titled saw Vagabon pointed inwards for introspective indie rock, Sorry I Haven’t Called looks outwards, channeling dance music and effervescent pop. This new chapter is on full display with the album’s lead single “Can I Talk My Shit?” Released just in time to become a summer anthem mainstay, the bouncy track is full of sunshine with playful lyricism. “Can I talk my shit?” Tamko asks before admitting, “I got way too high for this.” “I didn't feel like being introspective,” says Tamko of Sorry I Haven’t Called. “I just wanted to have fun. This record feels like what I've been working towards. When I think of this album, I think of playfulness. It's completely euphoric. It's because things were dark that this record is so full of life and energy. It’s a reaction to what I was experiencing at the time, not a document of it.” Vagabon is going on tour this fall, with a date in Seattle on December 8th at Madame Lou’s *Watch the Zac Dov Wiesel-directed video for “Can I Talk My Shit?" and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's Songs of the Day were selected by Kennady Quille as part of KEXP's Pride celebration. Tune in on Saturday, June 24th for a special day of programming from noon to 6 PM, and then join us LIVE from Pride on Capitol Hill at the Wildrose on Sunday from noon to 4 PM Pacific with Riz Rollins and friends; continuing our on-air celebration till 6 PM. More information here. On today's Song of the Day, Seattle power trio Black Ends return with "My Own Dead," the band's first release since 2020's stellar Stay Evil EP. A staple of the "gunk-pop" purveyors' live set, the single was recorded by legendary producer Jack Endino. And the results are typically tremendous: Singer/guitarist Nicolle Swims adds a little twang to their distinctive guitar playing, while the rhythm section of bassist Ben Swanson and drummer Billie Jessica Paine adds the sort of heft to the Machiavellian tone of Swims's lyrics that would feel perfectly in place on a compilation like Sub Pop 100.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Palehound - "The Clutch" from the 2023 album Eye On The Bat from Polyvinyl. El Kempner — the singer/songwriter behind Palehound — found inspiration for today's Song of the Day right after the band's last tour ended. The track will appear on their forthcoming full-length, Eye On The Bat, out July 14th via Polyvinyl Record Co. It'll be Palehound's first new LP since 2019’s Black Friday. “‘The Clutch’ is the very first song I wrote for this album, back in 2020 right when lockdown started,” Kempner says via a press release. “I had been on a tour that was sliced in half by the onset of the pandemic and we had to apocalypse road trip back to New York across the country from Oregon, where our next show had been scheduled for. While that was happening, I was also having a triggering romantic experience with somebody I didn’t know too well, and by the time I got home my whole body seemed to be spinning in turmoil. Writing and producing this song grounded me and helped me process a new future and self that I hadn’t anticipated.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.