Abiodun Oyewole - "Harlem" from the 2021 album Gratitude on Fire Records. Abiodun Oyewole ’s legendary history can be traced back to one very important day, May 19, 1968, when he read poetry in Harlem’s Mount Morris Park with David Nelson and Gylan Kain in honor of Malcolm X’s birthday and became what is now considered the first hip hop group - The Last Poets . In honor of this sacred day and Oyewole’s love for the New York neighborhood that gave him life, Oyewole recently released a single expr...
Nov 03, 2021•6 min•Ep. 4092
alt-J - "U&ME," from the 2022 album The Dream on Atlantic. After a surprisingly sunny weekend, a cheery indie pop single about hanging with your friends at a music festival seems most appropriate. Alt-J , Mercury Prize winners and one of the early 2010’s leading festival headliners, are back after four years to provide that ebulliant and light-hearted feeling with their latest single “U&ME.” Their first release since 2017’s Relaxer (if you don’t count the following year’s remix album Red...
Nov 02, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4091
Sneaker Pimps - "So Far Gone (feat. Simonne Jones)" from the 2021 album Squaring The Circle on Unfall. It might have taken almost two decades, but Sneaker Pimps are finally back with their first record since 2002’s Bloodsport . Titled Squaring the Circle , the album is a lengthy 16 tracks that sees founding members Chris Corner and Liam Howe team up with LA-born, Berlin-based musician Simonne Jones on vocals. Our Song of the Day, “So Far Gone” probably best utilizes her emotive voice to haunting...
Nov 01, 2021•5 min•Ep. 4090
Danny Newcomb - "This World," a 2021 single on Rock Candy Mountain. Danny Newcomb’s musical journey goes all the way back to 1981, when the hair was bigger, the music simultaneously messy and glam, and Seattle wasn’t even a footnote in the music zeitgeist. At that time, Newcomb was a member of a KISS-inspired Seattle-area band called Shadow made up of four teens, one with a particularly now-recognizable name - Mike McCready. Since then, Newcomb’s gone on to play in a number of bands including da...
Oct 29, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4089
Makthaverskan - "This Time" from the 2021 album För Allting on Run For Cover. Makthaverskan don’t sound at all like they belong in this era. Heavily inspired by mid ‘80s post punk and baroque pop, they sound like they should be a Factory Records-signee alongside Joy Division rather than their (albeit great) home of Run For Cover. Even the slight crack in their recordings make them sound like a long-lost cassette import your cousin sent you when they went to Sweden for the summer. But, indeed, th...
Oct 28, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4088
Deserta - "Lost in the Weight" from the 2022 album Every Moment, Everything You Need on Felte. Matthew Doty is wasting no time building up a catalogue of work as Deserta. Quick on the heels of releasing his debut album under the moniker last year, Black Aura My Sun , the former Saxon Shore/Midnight Faces plans on releasing the follow-up titled Every Moment, Everything You Need in 2022. The record’s lead single and our Song of the Day is the Herculean track “Lost In the Weight.” At nearly six and...
Oct 27, 2021•6 min•Ep. 4087
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - "The Distance" from the 2021 The Distance EP on Nice Age. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, the musical pseudonym of Orlando Higginbottom, returned last year with his first collection of songs since his 2012’s Trouble, a four-track EP called I Can Hear the Birds . After nearly a decade of releasing singles and collaborating with a horde of others including Amtrac, Bonobo, and Porter Robinson, the London-born producer is finally ready to give us the solo cut...
Oct 26, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4086
Aeon Station - "Queens" from the 2021 album Observatory on Sub Pop. After 18 years of waiting for the Wrens to follow up their beloved 2003 triumph, The Meadowlands , we’ve finally received new music from them. Well, sort of. Frustrated with his bandmate Charles Bissell’s endlessly tinkering with his half of the planned follow-up record alongside a dispute over money cuts, Kevin Whelan is releasing his portion of songs under the name Aeon Station on December 10th. It’s a heartbreaking way to rec...
Oct 25, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4085
J’von - "Blacc Moses" from the 2021 album KING CHEETAH on Empty Planet. “I need something that sounds like a win,” J’Von announces at the beginning of “Blacc Moses.” And, indeed, the story he weaves is one of triumph. Starting at the beginning, with his childhood, the Seattle rapper paints a picture of a mother stricken with grief but keeping it together for her four boys and how that molded him into an empathetic but unassailable human who would look at life with a keen and level-headed lens. T...
Oct 22, 2021•2 min•Ep. 4084
Tiawa - "Life Is Not a Crime" from the 2021 album Moonlit Train on Tru Thoughts. Brighton-based musician Tiawa fuses hip hop, neo-soul, and the Latin folk of her Portuguese heritage for an exploratory yet unhurried experience on her debut album Moonlit Train. Released at the beginning of the summer, the album features production by collaborator and multi-instrumentalist Jack-Chi aka Jack Kingslake and a thematic concept that maps a metaphorical train journey from relationships through to healing...
Oct 21, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4083
Helixx C. Armageddon - "Rollercoaster," a 2021 single on Creative Juices Music. While “Rollercoaster” might be the sole single one can currently find on streaming platforms by Helixx C. Armageddon, the New York-based artist has a wealth of songs, poems, and beats going back over 20 years. Probably best known as a member of The Anomolies, an all-women hip-hop supergroup founded in the late '90s NYC alongside Invincible, Pri the Honey Dark, Big Tara and DJ Kuttin Kandi, Armageddon is a treasure tr...
Oct 20, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4082
Cleo Sol - "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" from the 2021 album Mother on Forever Living Originals. If her name doesn’t sound familiar, her angelic vocals have been on full display here at KEXP as a contributor to the mysterious UK collective SAULT. But Cleo Sol is a star in her own right, with a penchant for intimate neo-soul that’s both heartwarming and spacious. Her latest record, August’s Mother, is especially personal as its subject matter is grounded in the beautiful yet overwhelming adventu...
Oct 19, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4081
Adeline - "Stages (feat. KAMAUU)" from the 2021 album Adi Oasis on Unity Records. French Caribbean singer and bassist Adeline makes funk-fueled soul that’s as joyful as it is political. The Paris-born, New York-based artist might be best known for fronting the nu-disco band Escort but broke out on her own in 2018 with her debut self-titled album. In it, she tackles difficult subjects that are close to her heart, such as immigration and feminism, while still making your booty bounce. For her thir...
Oct 18, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4080
Guazú & Terror/Cactus - "Almita" from the 2021 EP Botanas: Guazú & Terror Cactus on Shika Shika Collective. “Almita” is one of three tracks on an EP that melds the simpatico genius of two Argentine-born producers living nearly seven thousand miles away from each other. With Lucas Page a.k.a GUAZÚ in Buenos Aires and Martin Selasco aka Terror/Cactus in Seattle, it should have been difficult to find each other. Luckily, with the help of social media, the two recognized their shared histor...
Oct 15, 2021•5 min•Ep. 4079
Xenia Rubinos - "Cógelo Suave," a 2021 single on Anti-. Renowned for forging a sound that’s completely her own, with influences ranging from R&B to punk, you never know what you’re gonna get from Xenia Rubinos. The Brooklyn-based daughter of a Puerto Rican mother and a Cuban father uses her Berklee degree in jazz composition and early influences of classical music and opera to warp modern genres in unique yet timeless fashion. One of the handful of singles the past year, “Cógelo Suave,” is o...
Oct 14, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4078
Quantic & Nidia Góngora - "Macumba de Marea," a 2021 single on Tru Thoughts. Since 2017, British producer Will Holland AKA Quantic and Colombian folk singer-songwriter Nidia Góngora have been joining forces to amplify each other’s respective crafts. Him, as a prolific expert in the art of electronic dance music. Her, as one of the foremost artists of the marimba music of the South Pacific region and a guardian of the oral tradition. Together, they’ve married their skills to offer something u...
Oct 13, 2021•5 min•Ep. 4077
Susana Baca - "Sorongo" from the 2021 album Palabras Urgentes on Real World Records. Singer, musicologist, writer, three-time Latin Grammy winner, and a former Minister of Culture in her native Peru, Susana Baca has been a treasure to the Peruvian people for five decades now. A champion of the revival of Afro-Peruvian music, Baca’s latest album “Palabras Urgentes,” is an enthralling 10 song set that pays homage to the heritage and tradition of those that once fought for a better world and featur...
Oct 12, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4076
Sean Beaver - "TECH-YES" from the 2020 self-released album Electric Turtle Dreams Sean Beaver is an indigenous Canadian electronic artist who is based in Calgary, Alberta. Originally from the Driftpile First Nation in northern Alberta and of Cree descent, Beaver is award-winning in the indigenous communities, with nominations for Best Instrumental Album at the Indigenous Music Awards in 2015 and 2017, Best Instrumental CD at the Aboriginal People’s Choice Awards in 2013, and Rap-Hip Hop-Electron...
Oct 11, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4075
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Oct 08, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4074
Hiatus Kaiyote - "Sip Into Something Soft" from the 2021 album Mood Valiant on Brainfeeder. Two-time Grammy nominated neo-soul quartet Hiatus Kaiyote have returned after a six-year... well... "hiatus." During that time, members of the Australian jazz/funk group explored solo and side projects. Then, in 2018, vocalist/guitarist Nai Palm (real name: Naomi Saalfield) was diagnosed with breast cancer, the same disease she confronted in her childhood when her mother was diagnosed and died from it. Th...
Oct 07, 2021•2 min•Ep. 4073
Moor Mother - "Made A Circle (feat. Nappy Nina, Maassai, Antonia Gabriela & Orion Sun)" from the 2021 album Black Encyclopedia of the Air on Moor Mother / Anti. While she couldn't physically engage with fellow artists during the pandemic, Moor Mother was able to virtually invite them to her latest LP, Black Encyclopedia Of The Air , out now via Anti- Records. The poet, artist, and musician — whose real name is Camae Ayewa — utilized more than 100 instrumentals from long-time collaborator Swe...
Oct 06, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4072
Rochelle Jordan - "LOVE YOU GOOD" from the 2021 album Play With The Changes on UNDRGRND / Young Art Records. Seven years ago, London-born L.A.-based artist Rochelle Jordan released her debut album 1021 , a knockout mix of R&B, hip-hop, and house. Sadly, a toxic business relationship and a moderate form of sickle cell disease delayed this artist-on-the-rise. Thankfully, she's returned, stronger than ever, with a brand new full-length, Play With the Changes , released on TOKiMONSTA’s Young Art...
Oct 05, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4071
Cheekface - "Reward Points" from the 2021 Emphatically Mo' (b-sides) EP on New Professor Music. Los Angeles-based trio Cheekface specialize in quirky, upbeat songs with sharp-as-a-whip, sardonic lyrics delivered in talk-sing by frontman Greg Katz, seemingly (obviously?) influenced by Stephen Malkmus. (Sample line from a different track: "Life is long / like a CVS receipt.") But don't let their buoyant punk-pop and the colorful cover art by bassist/vocalist Amanda Tannen fool you. Cheekface was f...
Oct 04, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4070
The Shivas - "Undone," a 2021 single on Tender Loving Empire. Portland psych-rock band The Shivas return with their fifth full-length, Feels So Good // Feels So Bad , an album they say was inspired by self-acceptance. “I do think it’s about acceptance,” Drummer/vocalist Kristin Leonard says in a press release. “There’s a weird relaxation that comes with being at peace with things you can’t control or have regrets about.” Today's Song of the Day almost serves as the album's manifesto, a song abou...
Oct 01, 2021•5 min•Ep. 4069
Geese - "Low Era" from the 2021 album Projector on Partisan. Brooklyn youths Geese (the oldest band member is 19-years-old) are releasing their debut album, Projector , on October 29th, sharing a first listen with today's Song of the Day, a fun, dance-y post-rock groove, accompanied by a music video from Los Angeles director/designer and artist Fons Schiedon. “We had been trying to get everything to sound super heavy, creepy crawly, and complicated, really because that’s all we knew how to do," ...
Sep 30, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4068
Tom Morello - "Driving To Texas (feat. Phantogram)" from the 2021 album The Atlas Underground Fire on Mom + Pop. Tom Morello has a lot of impressive guests on his forthcoming album, The Atlas Underground Fire , which will be out October 15th: Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, Damian Marley, Sama’ Abdulhadi, and, on today's Song of the Day, Phantogram . “I’d worked with Josh from Phantogram on my first Atlas Underground album and I was thrilled when he and Sarah reached out about collaborating on ...
Sep 29, 2021•5 min•Ep. 4067
EERA - "Ladder" from the 2021 album Speak on Just Dust Recordings. Berlin-based Norwegian artist EERA (real name: Anna Lena Bruland) has announced her sophomore album, Speak , will be out December 3rd via Just Dust Recordings. “ Speak is a search for a balance in life, acknowledging myself, and being proud of who I am,” she said via a press release. “To become braver and more confident, and stop questioning so much. Accept and move on instead. My debut was a little bit timid, like, am I doing th...
Sep 28, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4066
The War On Drugs - "Living Proof" from the 2021 album I Don’t Live Here Anymore on Atlantic. Long-running Philly-based band The War on Drugs have announced their fifth full-length, I Don’t Live Here Anymore , out October 29th via Atlantic Records. It'll be the group's first new album since 2017's A Deeper Understanding , not including last year's live LP, LIVE DRUGS . The new album was constructed over the span of three years, recorded in more than a dozen sessions in seven different studios. To...
Sep 27, 2021•5 min•Ep. 4065
Big Red Machine - "Phoenix (feat. Fleet Foxes & Anaïs Mitchell)" from the 2021 album How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? on 37d03d. Last month, The National’s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon released their second album under the name Big Red Machine , titled How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? . The album features a heavyweight line-up of guests, including Taylor Swift, Sharon Van Etten, This Is The Kit, Ben Howard, Naeem, Lisa Hannigan, My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Nova, an...
Sep 24, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4064
Public Service Broadcasting - "Blue Heaven (feat. Andreya Casablanca)" from the 2021 album Bright Magic on Play It Again Sam. London-based post-prog band Public Service Broadcasting pay tribute to silent-film actress and singer Marlene Dietrich on today's Song of the Day. The inspiration was drawn from bandmember J. Willgoose, Esq.'s recent move to Berlin, which inspired the group's forthcoming full-length Bright Magic , out September 24th via Play It Again Sam. The track features guest vocals f...
Sep 23, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4063
