Fred again.. & The Blessed Madonna - “Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)” from the 2021 album Actual Life (April 14 - December 17 2020) on Atlantic. When the clubs shut down during the pandemic, London producer Fred again.. wrote today's Song of the Day as a eulogy to the dancefloor, sampling a voice mail message from his dear friend The Blessed Madonna (real name: Marea Stamper). "Marea and I met in Palestine around 5 years ago now. I call her my rave shaman," Fred again.. said in a press release. ...
Jun 21, 2021•5 min•Ep. 3995
Shabazz Palaces - "20 Gear Science," a 2021 self-released single. Seattle's Shabazz Palaces share "20 Gear Science," the first single from their forthcoming LP The Lost Vibes Of Shabazz: The Skrilla Scrolls , a collection of rarities and previously unreleased songs. True to their decade-long career, the song is a spacey, cinematic (or "sinematic", as their video production is called) journey of synths and swagger. Accompanying the track is a video filmed by Stephan Gray and Shabazz vocalist/prod...
Jun 18, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3994
DAM - "Hada Yid’ie Sitna" from the 2019 album Ben Haana Wa Maana on Cooking Vinyl. Formed in the late '90s, DAM have been called "the first Palestinian hip hop crew and among the first to rap in Arabic." Since the very beginning, the group have used their lyrics to speak out about the trials of being Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. On their third and most recent release, Ben Haana Wa Maana (which translates to "Between Both Worlds"), DAM explore the subject of self-love. “We know t...
Jun 17, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3993
Thee Sacred Souls - "Give Us Justice," a 2020 single on Daptone Records. With today's Song of the Day, San Diego-based trio Thee Sacred Souls reflect on the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, singing "there'll be no peace / until there's justice." The Grammy-nominated band The Black Pumas declared it "the song that will define 2020 for me" in Rolling Stone magazine. "The song kind of wrote and spoke for itself," vocalist Josh Lane told KPBS . "I might not have been someone who was murdere...
Jun 16, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3992
Al-Bara’em - "Ishraq" from the 2021 Al-Bara'em EP on SMNTCS. A few years ago, Houston-based music journalist Sama'an Ashrawi found out a surprising fact about his Dad: back in the 1960s-'70s, his father and all but one of his aunts and uncles were the founding members Al-Bara'em ("The Blooms" in Arabic), Palestine's first original rock band, and the first Palestinian rock band to feature women on stage. “At a family gathering — either Thanksgiving or Christmas — one of my uncles told me that rec...
Jun 15, 2021•5 min•Ep. 3991
Mndsgn - "Hope You’re Doin’ Better," a 2021 single on Stones Throw Records. On his latest LP Rare Pleasure , L.A.-based producer Mndsgn (real name: Ringgo Ancheta) finds influence in the soundtracks of the '70s and '80s, stating the repetitions "echo the recurring motifs we experience in life, sometimes being revisited by the same lessons in different shapes and forms." With today's Song of the Day, in particular, he channels an emotional experience into a laid-back summery groove. In a press st...
Jun 14, 2021•5 min•Ep. 3990
Damien Jurado - "Tom" from the 2021 album The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania on Field Painting Music. On his 17th album, The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania , Seattle singer/songwriter Damien Jurado introduces the listener to ten stories filled with characters confronting different stressful scenarios: "hurricanes moving toward town, strained connections, amnesiacs in the front yard," his press release details. He credits his cast-driven songs with his childhood love of films and TV, telling Folk...
Jun 11, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3989
Yee Loi - "Be Like Johnny" from the 2021 self-released album No One Eats For Free. Taking their name from the Cantonese translation of "two girls," Yee Loi is just that: two sisters from Liverpool, England. Guitarist/bassist Rose is 13-years-old, and drummer Matilda just turned 12 last month. The pair credit learning songs by The Ramones with teaching them how to play music, so it's fitting that their debut single is an ode to frontman Johnny Ramone, who they say "inspired us to achieve our musi...
Jun 10, 2021•2 min•Ep. 3988
Split Single - "(Nothing You Can Do) To End This Love" from the 2021 album Amplificado on Inside Outside Records. Jason Narducy can often be found playing bass for Superchunk and Bob Mould’s band; on his own, the Chicago-based musician records as Split Single , and he'll be releasing his third full-length, Amplificado , on June 25th. He continues the high-standard of musicianship he finds in his side projects by recruiting R.E.M.'s Mike Mills on bass and his usual bandmate Jon Wurster on drums. ...
Jun 09, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3987
SPELLLING - "Boys at School" from the 2021 album The Turning Wheel on Sacred Bones. Bay Area-based artist Chrystia Cabral, who records as SPELLLING , returns with her third full-length, The Turning Wheel, out June 25th via Sacred Bones. In a press release, she details that the album has “themes of human unity, the future, divine love, and the enigmatic ups and downs of being a part of this carnival called life.” Today's Song of the Day is a dramatic seven-minute-long piano-led ballad, with Cabra...
Jun 08, 2021•7 min•Ep. 3986
Nasimiyu - "Watercolor" from the 2021 album P O T I O N S on Figureight. Brooklyn-based musician and dancer Nasimyu Murumba (who records as nasimiYu ) returns with P O T I O N S , her first new solo album in seven years, a joyous release produced during a difficult time. “This album was being made while the world was on fire in all the ways,” she shared in a press statement, “and some of the most loving ways found their way into these songs because that’s what I was overflowing with throughout t...
Jun 07, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3985
Enumclaw - "Free Drop Billy" from the 2021 album Jimbo Demo on Youth Riot. On their debut EP Jimbo Demo , Tacoma-based quartet Enumclaw channel the '90s Northwest sound, with lyrics addressing growing up and finding your place in the world. On today's Song of the Day, vocalist/guitarist Aramis Johnson reflects on his upbringing, repeating the relatable refrain, “I don’t wanna be a loser.” “Where I grew up, a lot of people are townies, or losers," he shares in a press release. "I sometimes have s...
Jun 04, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3984
Curtis Harding - "Hopeful," a 2021 single on Anti-. Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Curtis Harding returns with his first new music in three years with a powerful anthem for these times. “I wrote [“Hopeful”] some time ago but in theory it goes far beyond a time and place,” Harding explained in a press release. “I’ve always tried to carry it (Hope) wherever I am. Darkness finds us all, hope allows us the fortitude to seek out the light.” The soulful single is accompanied by a video shot by photoj...
Jun 03, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3983
Ambar Lucid - "Get Lost in the Music," a 2021 single on 300 Entertainment. Dominican/Mexican artist Ambar Lucid exhibits a worldliness beyond her 20 years of age with her latest single “Get Lost in the Music,” the title track from her forthcoming EP out June 18th. It's her first single since last year's debut full-length, Garden of Lucid , a breakout release examining radical self-love, with lyrics in both Spanish and English. "A lot of people have their own insecurities and their own battles th...
Jun 02, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3982
Faye Webster - "Cheers" from the 2021 album I Know I'm Funny haha on Secretly Canadian. With today's Song of the Day, Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Faye Webster says she finally gets to feel "like a badass for once.” “This song has always felt like a standout from the record to me," Webster said in a press release about her fourth full-length, I Know I’m Funny haha , out June 25th via Secretly Canadian. "It was the kind of song where you’re like ‘oh yeah, this is the one,' after the first take...
Jun 01, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3981
TORRES - "Don't Go Puttin Wishes in My Head" from the 2021 album Thirstier on Merge Records. On her forthcoming full-length, Thirstier , TORRES (real name: Mackenzie Scott) exudes a newfound happiness. “I’ve been conjuring this deep, deep joy that I honestly didn’t feel for most of my life,” she shares in a press release. “I feel like a rock within myself. And I’ve started to feel that I have what it takes to help other people conjure their joy, too.” She adds, “I wanted to channel my intensity ...
May 31, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3980
Pronoun - "I WANNA DIE BUT I CAN’T (CUZ I GOTTA KEEP LIVING)" from the 2021 OMG I MADE IT EP on Wax Bodega. Brooklyn bedroom pop artist Alyse Vellturo (who records as Pronoun ) follows her 2019 lowercase'd debut album, i'll show you stronger , with the all-cap'ed EP OMG I MADE IT, out June 11th via Wax Bodega. In a press release, Vellturo explains that today's fist-pumping Song of the Day is "about the uncomfortable feeling that everyone around you is growing into their own lives while I feel li...
May 28, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3979
Gary Louris - "Almost Home" from the 2021 album Jump For Joy on Sham/Thirty Tigers. It's been a while since Gary Louris has released a solo album, but The Jayhawks frontman returns on June 4th with the full-length Jump For Joy , his first since 2008's Vagabond . Today's Song of the Day was originally meant to be a jingle for an AT&T commercial. When they turned it down, a friend suggested Quaker. When they changed their mind on using it, he told American Songwriter he "wrote a chorus and a v...
May 27, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3978
A Place to Bury Strangers - "End of the Night" from the 2021 Hologram EP on Dedstrange. Long-running Brooklyn-based psych-rock band A Place To Bury Strangers return this summer with the new EP, Hologram , and a new line-up. Frontman and founding member Oliver Ackermann is now joined by John Fedowitz on bass and Sandra Fedowitz of Ceremony East Coast on drums. Ackermann and his new bassist are childhood friends who formerly played in the shoegaze band Skywave. Today's Song of the Day was the firs...
May 26, 2021•5 min•Ep. 3977
Sofia Kourtesis - "Dear George," a 2020 self-released single. Today's Song of the Day was chosen in honor of It's Still Going on Day , recognizing the one year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, playing songs of hope, justice, and change, songs that affirm Black humanity, classic songs of protest as well as those that came out in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, amid the protests of last summer. One of the songs that came out of this grief was this single from Peruvian-born, Berli...
May 25, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3976
Bachelor - "Stay in the Car" from the 2021 album Doomin' Sun on Polyvinyl. Bachelor — the new project from friends Jay Som (Melina Duterte) and Palehound (Ellen Kempner) — will release their debut album this Friday, titled Doomin’ Sun . The LP was recorded in Topanga, California, over two weeks in January 2020, before the lockdown. Today's Song of the Day dates back to 2019, with Kempner explaining in a press release: “I wrote the lyrics to ‘Stay in the Car’ back in December of 2019 when I was i...
May 24, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3975
Khari Wendell McClelland - "Feels Real Good," a 2021 self-released single. In a way, singer/songwriter Khari Wendell McClelland shares the writing credit for today's Song of the Day with his Facebook followers. The Vancouver-based artist asked them to share the ways they've been finding joy during the otherwise bleak pandemic, and then took their answers and created this beautiful track. "It was probably the most response I ever received for any single post on Facebook," he told The Georgia Stra...
May 21, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3974
Grady & Kiddus - "The Sun (feat. Blake Anthony)" from the 2021 album Don't Think About Me Dying on Empty Planet. London-based producer and vocalist Kiddus was struggling with the death of a close friend when another friend, Seattle hip-hop producer Grady , stepped in with support. Together, they completed the new EP Don't Think About Me Dying . As Kiddus writes on Facebook: Last year I lost a close friend and writing songs seemed like a good, healthy way to process the grief, so I started pr...
May 20, 2021•2 min•Ep. 3973
MALIA - "Deep Blue" from the 2021 self-released album Unpolished. Originally from Seattle, Malia Cunningham moved to California to study political science and sociology. “I just went through the motions. I never did anything with music throughout those years,” she told Buzzbands L.A . “I was so unhappy and realized that everything about my life had to change. That’s when I sat down and had the first, honest conversation I’d had with myself in years. I asked myself, ‘What makes you truly happy, f...
May 19, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3972
Jesse Markin - "Exodus (feat. Akua Naru)," a 2021 single on VILD. Born in Liberia and raised in the 100% white Finnish town of Viljakkala, singer/songwriter Jesse Markin turned to music to find himself. His 2019 debut album, Folk , landed him the "Newcomer of the Year" and the "Critics’ Choice" awards at the Emma Gala (the Finnish equivalent of The Grammys). (And, last fall, he participated in Finland's own version of the TV show Dancing with the Stars , where he placed seventh!) His follow-up f...
May 18, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3971
IAMNOBODI - "Let It Roll Interlude (feat. Phonte & BeMyFiasco)," a 2021 self-released single. West Coast producer IAMNOBODI is hardly a nobody. Born in Düsseldorf, Germany as Dede Ademabua to a father who's a blues and jazz singer and a mother who is described as a music connoisseur, he's been making music almost all his life, starting out as an MC at the age of 13. Now a Grammy-nominated producer, he released a new EP last week titled The Interludes . Today's Song of the Day can be found on...
May 17, 2021•2 min•Ep. 3970
Avi Loud - "Breezy" from the 2021 Flower Chased the Sunshine EP on Heckworld Radio. A photographer and multi-disciplinary artist, Avi Loud aims to use his work to "spotlight and collaborate with underrepresented artists, aligning with like-minded folks interested in uplifting their communities through music, dance, and shared experience." Born and raised in Seattle, he's currently based in Los Angeles which influenced his second EP, Flower Chased the Sunshine . Via Bandcamp , he states, "Inspire...
May 14, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3969
Khana Bierbood - "ลูกรัง / Dusty Lane" from the 2019 album คนแปลกหน้าจากดินแดนบูรพา / Strangers from the Far East on Guruguru Brain. It will come as no surprise that คณะ เบียร์บูด/Khana Bierbood (translated as "Strange Brew" in Thai) is signed to Guruguru Brain, the label founded by Go & Tomo of Kikagaku Moyo. Both bands share a psychedelic surf rock sound, one that Khana Bierbood infuses with traditional Thai influences. Even though the band is 13-years-old now (formed in Bangsaen, Chonb...
May 13, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3968
Empat Lima - "Climbing Clouds," a 2021 self-released single. Australian-based trio Empat Lima were influenced by 1960s girl groups from South East Asia, particularly Surabaya-based 1960s all-female garage rock band Dara Puspita. (They even cover their 1967 single "Au Go Go" on their debut EP Satu BOOM! .) "Although they are amazing musicians, it is the energy and spirit of their sound that captured our attention and continues to inspire us," explained bassist and founding member Sooji Kim in an ...
May 12, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3967
Wastewomxn - "Natural Ones" from the 2020 self-released album Wastewomxn. A self-described "queer transatlantic Afro-Asia band," Wastewomxn was formed by Adedamola Bajomo (London), Tobi Adebajo (Essex), and Kyoko Takenaka (Los Angeles). On their self-titled debut album, they craft soulful songs, infusing R&B, punk, gospel, and hip-hop. In an interview with Color Bloq , Takenaka explains the cultural collaboration: I think both cultures share this return to ancient knowings and practices of h...
May 11, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3966
