La Fonda - New Mexico from the 2023 self-released album We Are Infinite . Seattle-based quintet La Fonda recently released their sophomore full-length We Are Infinite , a dream pop-indebted elegy to navigating life in a corporation-led city and the financial and mental health struggles that brings and finding the specks of hope within. Led by Filipino-American sisters Valeria and Veronica Topacio, the two have been grinding to make La Fonda into the band it is now since 2016. Playing every venue...
Jun 09, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4509
Miya Folick - So Clear from the 2023 album Roach on Nettwerk. Los Angeles-based musician Miya Folick released her sophomore full-length ROACH in late May, an album that unpacks “trying to get to the core of what life really is,” according to Folick. Following her 2018 debut Premonitions and 2022’s 2007 EP, the album is full of rich, shimmery production with help from Gabe Wax (War on Drugs, Fleet Foxes), Mike Malchicoff (King Princess, Bo Burnham) and Max Hershenow (MS MR), heightening her quart...
Jun 08, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4508
Hallelujah Lilly - "Bunny Rainbow Revolution," a 2023 self-released single DJ Kevin Cole picks another mystery track for this week's Song of the Day: while I can't seem to discern if Hallelujah Lilly is based in Reykjavik, Iceland or Nashville, Tennessee (or Canada?), Kevin was kind enough to share how he discovered her music: I was doing a DJ set at Lucky Records in Reykjavik last year on the Sunday of Iceland Airwaves. She came on and performed a solo acoustic set after me, and I was taken aba...
Jun 07, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4507
Ooh La La - "Life's Too Fast To Feel" a 2023 self-released single. There's not a lot of information out there yet about brand-new Los Angeles-based duo Ooh La La , but sharp-eyed KEXP listeners might recognize the name Kii Arens from the liner notes of past Live at KEXP compilation albums! The long-time artist/director/graphic designer has previously created album covers for us. Now, relocated from his hometown of Minneapolis to Los Angeles, he and partner Jessy Greene (who has played violin for...
Jun 06, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4506
CIEL - "Somebody" a 2023 single on Jazz Life With today's Song of the Day, Brighton-based trio Ciel share a sneak peek at their upcoming EP Make It Better , which will be released July 7th via Jazz Life. “’Somebody’ is a song that came together for most part on the spot in the studio," frontwoman Michelle Hindriks explained in a press release. "It’s about starting to feel a deep urge to socialise, connect with others, party and be more outwards again after a period of needing solitude. Spring ti...
Jun 05, 2023•2 min•Ep. 4505
Telehealth - Taliesin Grid a 2023 single on Very Famous. Telehealth is the Seattle-based project of Alexander Attitude (Deep Sea Diver, Brian John Appleby) and Kendra Cox (Lemolo) that make Devo-esque synthscapes targeting capitalism and the absurdities of our modern world. Their debut album Content Oscillator was released in March and specifically delves into Alexander Attitude's transition from musician to architect and back to musician, after discovering his disillusionment with their utopian...
Jun 02, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4504
Nabihah Iqbal - Dreamer from the 2023 album DREAMER on Ninja Tune. In late April, Nabihah Iqbal dropped her long-awaited sophomore record Dreamer via Ninja Tune. Five years after the release of her debut, Weighing of the Heart , and six since Iqbal’s last EP under her former moniker Throwing Shade, the record is a resplendent re-introduction to the London-born artist, curator, broadcaster and lecturer. Blending elements of early ‘80s electronica, shoegaze, and trance with ruminative lyricism, it...
Jun 01, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4503
mui zyu - "Demon 01" from the 2023 album Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century on Father/Daughter Records With her solo project mui zyu , London-based musician Eva Liu (also of Dama Scout) sought to capture the sounds she heard growing up at her family's Chinese restaurant. As she explains to Talkhouse : My debut record, Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century , is about self-exploration and identity, at times told through a lens inspired by fantasy video-games and Chinese folklore. In the process of pull...
May 31, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4502
Sessa - "Vento a Favor" a 2023 single on Mexican Summer São Paulo-based musician Sessa returns with his first new single since last year's enchanting LP Estrela Acesa . The track is co-produced by Brazilian artist Biel Basile and American musician Mikey Coltun, who also plays bass in Mdou Moctar. "'Vento a Favor' started as a track meant to be on Estrela Acesa," he tells Stereogum . "It was recorded, mixed, and mastered in the same sessions as the whole LP but somewhere along the way, when putti...
May 30, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4501
deary - "Fairground (Saint Etienne Remix)" a 2023 single on Sonic Cathedral. London-based dreampop duo deary couldn't have chosen a better group than long-running UK trio Saint Etienne and composer Augustin Bousfield to remix their debut single, "Fairground." (The mix is formally titled the "Saint Etienne Meet Augustin Bousfield At The Top Of Town Mix.") “It was fun putting the guitars down for once, playing around with different synths instead,” says Ben, co-founder of deary. “I got into [Saint...
May 29, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4500
Corvair - Right Hook from the 2023 self-released album Bound to Be . Portland duo Corvair describe themselves as “Scorpio weirdo power duo serving up lush guitar pop w/ sharp incisors,” which this fellow Scorpio can certainly appreciate. Made up of Brian Naubert (Ruston Mire, Tube Top, Pop Sickle, The Service Providers) and Heather Larimer (Eux Autres), the romantic, as well as musical, duo are veterans of the Portland music scene. They released their debut self-titled album in 2021 and are foll...
May 26, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4499
Feeble Little Horse - Tin Man from the 2023 album Girl with Fish on Saddle Creek. Pittsburgh quartet Feeble Little Horse formed three years ago during the pandemic lull but have exploded since dropping their 2021 debut full-length Hayday . They’re on the verge of releasing its follow-up, Girl With Fish, via Saddle Creek, a perfect home for their slowcore brand of noise pop. Out June 9th, we’ve so far gotten three tastes of Girl With Fish , “Steamroller,” “Pocket,” and our Song of the Day “Tin Ma...
May 25, 2023•2 min•Ep. 4498
ĠENN - "A Reprise (That Girl)" a 2023 single on Liminal Collective On today's Song of the Day, Anglo-Maltese quartet ĠENN team up with guest vocalist John Newton (of fellow four-letters-all-caps duo JOHN ) for this stylistically sinister slice of post-punk. On their Bandcamp page, vocalist Leona Farrugia speaks to the track's themes: “Naturally I’ve always felt like there’s a pressure to compare myself, be that through the lens of present technologies or within the creative industry. It’s someth...
May 24, 2023•2 min•Ep. 4497
MAN ON MAN - "Showgirls" from the 2023 album Provincetown on Polyvinyl. “ As we lean into what Man on Man is and will be, two things immediately come up. Energy and community. ’Showgirls’ is all that. ” — Roddy Bottum, Man on Man As co-founder Roddy Bottum puts it, today's Song of the Day embodies the fun-loving duo's ethos. The track is a sneak peek at their sophomore LP Provincetown , out June 16th via Polyvinyl Records and named for the town in Massachusetts where Bottum and his partner/bandm...
May 23, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4496
Caroline Polachek - "Fly To You (feat. Grimes and Dido)" from the 2023 album Desire, I Want to Turn Into You on Perpetual Novice. New music from Caroline Polachek is exciting enough, but when it features collaborations with both Grimes and Dido , it's a mind-blower. In an interview with Vulture , Polachek says he wrote part of the song in Grimes' bedroom at 6 AM — "Just the two of us, in this very sweet session," she details. As for Dido, Polachek wrote her a fan letter, asking for her involveme...
May 22, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4495
Puerta Negra - Caida al Mal from the 2023 album Playa Sola on SYNTHICIDE. Portland-based Puerta Negra have been an immense amount of buzz for only just releasing their debut EP in 2022. They make 80’s-infused EBM that’s somehow both slick and grimy, making for the perfect edge. Berlin label Detriti dropped their debut Costa Humano and their upcoming follow-up Playa Sola is being released through Brooklyn-based darkwave label/monthly dance party hosts SYNTHICIDE. “Caida al Mal” is the lead single...
May 19, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4494
Kurs Valüt - Kurs Valüt from the 2021 album Kurs Valüt on No Emb Blanc. Kurs Valüt is an electronic duo formed in 2017 by Eugene Gordeev in Dnipro to popularize the Minimal Wave in Ukraine. “The very appearance of Kurs Valüt is partly caused by the underdevelopment of the dark underground in Ukraine,” the duo explained in an interview with Post-Punk in 2021. “The moment of the absence of the subculture itself, thematic festivals, events for Gothic or Post Punk music fans…this is the result of a ...
May 18, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4493
Prospexx - "Punya Siapa" from the 2021 album A Quiet World on Symphony of Distruction. On today's Song of the Day, Singaporean synth-pop duo PROSPEXX take us back to the '80s with their darkwave dance tracks. In an interview with Unite Asia, vocalist Vanessa explains that she and her bandmate Hafiz have always been into synthwave. "Both of us are super into 80s music, and the dystopian-esque vibe from the pandemic just happened to give us that huge push to actually do something about it," she ex...
May 17, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4492
RATPAJAMA - "Violence" from the 2023 album The Drunken Lost Tapes on Deepland Records With the release of her latest EP The Drunken Lost Tapes , Ratpajama — the solo darkwave project of Kyara Jereissati (aka Kyro Coma) — seeks to embrace imperfection. (Although today's Song of the Day is a goth-tinged piece of perfection to these ears, with a driving industrial beat that will take you to the Batcave, punctuated by Coma's solemn, beautifully detached vocals.) "Because of my unhealthy perfectionis...
May 16, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4491
Zanias - "Burial" from the 2023 album Chrysalis on Fleisch Records. Chrysalis , the third album from Zanias (aka Alison Lewis), finds the ethereal darkwave artist undergoing a metamorphosis. The songs on this release were written and recorded between her current home of Berlin and her original home of Australia during a period of self-protection, as Lewis processed feelings of burnout, trauma, and, on today's Song of the Day, grief. "That one is about burying someone you love," she revealed to L...
May 15, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4490
Of The Heavy Sun - Cosmic Television a 2023 self-released single. Of The Heavy Sun are a psych rock trio from Seattle that has been churning out brooding psychedelic opuses since 2015, with the release of their debut self-titled full-length. They’re due to release their latest record Cosmic Television on June 2nd, after two years of production and “constant setbacks,” according to the band. Our Song of the Day is the album’s title track, a forceful nearly five-and-a-half-minute song that exempli...
May 12, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4489
Acid Arab & Wael Alkak - Ya Mahla from the 2023 album ٣ (Trois) on Crammed Discs. French-Algerian collective Acid Arab recently released their appropriately titled third record ٣ (Trois) (٣ is the symbol for the figure three in Arabic and “trois” means "three" in French) in February via Crammed Discs. The collective, composed of Guido Minisky, Hervé Carvalho, Pierrot Casanova, Nicolas Borne and Kenzi Bourras, is known for their fusion of electronic and North African and Middle Eastern sounds...
May 11, 2023•7 min•Ep. 4488
Shalom - "Happenstance" from the 2023 album Sublimation on Saddle Creek. Brooklyn-based, South Africa-raised artist Shalom had been playing bass in bands while in New Brunswick for college, and working on home-recorded solo songs on the side, when she was discovered by producer Ryan Hemsworth. He invited her to contribute to his collaborative project Quarter-Life Crisis, which led to her being signed with Saddle Creek Records, who released her debut album Sublimation earlier this year. On today'...
May 10, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4487
HÆLOS - "Last Days" from the 2023 album Where We Bring Our Burdens on INDIGO KIN. London-based trio HÆLOS returns with the track "Last Days," a song they describe as "about trying to evade the fears that come from traumatic experiences by constantly reminding oneself to remain present." It's the third single to be shared from the band's forthcoming full-length, titled Where We Bring Our Burdens. No official release date has been announced yet, but if today's Song of the Day is any indication, we...
May 09, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4486
Beach Vacation - "Lay Low" a 2023 single on Z Tapes. Take some time off with the dreamy vibes of Beach Vacation . The latest single from this Seattle-based pop project of songwriter Tabor Rupp will call to mind bands on the Captured Tracks Records roster like Beach Fossils and Wild Nothing. Rupp told the music blog kid with a vinyl that today's Song of the Day is about “wanting to leave behind everything – specifically the things and people that are stressors and forget about them forever.” Soun...
May 08, 2023•2 min•Ep. 4485
Sendai Era - Calamansi dreams from the 2023 self-released album Kalayaan . Sendai Era are a Seattle-based music duo of emcee Era and producer Sendai Mike. They’ve been making music together since 2013 and released their sophomore full-length Kalayaan in January. “Kalayaan” is the Tagalog word for “Liberation,” which is a feeling the duo tried to capture throughout the album. “This album carries the lessons and experiences over the past few years,” explains the duo. “Forming a myriad of songs tha...
May 05, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4484
Lo! Peninsula - Super Glue (Cover) from the 2023 self-released album The Resurrection Of The Princess Of Woe And Her Vampire Hound Posse . Lo! Peninsula is a shoegaze/dreampop trio from Imphal, India that first caught the ears of KEXP’s John Richards and his producer Owen Murphy back in 2018 with their debut full-length AKA Lo Peninsula . Murphy interviewed the band that year about making music in a conflict-torn area and their DIY recording process. Since then, they’ve only released less than a...
May 04, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4483
Drinking Boys and Girls Choir - "City" from the 2023 album Hey, Listen To Me on Damnably The latest release from South Korean trio Drinking Boys and Girls Choir is a collaborative project with three female artists from their hometown of Daegu. (On this EP, they've also invited special guest Jang Young-eun, guitarist and vocalist of the band igloo .) On today's Song of the Day, they've teamed up with artist Kim Seoul, known for her humorous work in printmaking with hand-colored details. As they w...
May 03, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4482
FiFi Zhang - "Nobody" from the 2023 EP So Beautiful So Lonely on Gum Studio. What started as a thesis project at the Parsons School of Design has since become a music career for FiFi Zhang . The Shanghai-born/Brooklyn-based artist was inspired by a sound design class to create her own songs, and submitted the track " Butterfly " and its accompanying music video. Since then, she's continued to evolve her ethereal electro-pop style, culminating in her latest EP, So Beautiful So Lonely (a title Zha...
May 02, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4481
Lionmilk - "anxious thing" from the 2023 album Intergalactic Warp Terminal 222 on Leaving Records. With his latest LP Intergalactic Warp Terminal 222 , Lionmilk continues the theme of using music to heal with another collection of soothing soul-jazz sounds to inspire introspection. Los Angeles-based musician/composer/producer Moki Kawaguchi refers to the new album as "music to feel less whack to." Like on 2021's COVID-response release, I Hope You Are Well , Kawaguchi explores songcraft as a mean...
May 01, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4480
