BLK ODYSSY - "COMPLEX OF KILLING A MAN (feat. Baby Rose)" from the 2022 album BLK VINTAGE: THE REPRISE on BLK ODYSSY / EMPIRE. BLK ODYSSY aka Juwan Elcock is a dynamic artist who nixed his former Americana sound for a soul-infused hip hop solo project. The Austin-based musician dropped his debut album BLK VINTAGE under the moniker in August of 2021 and, after the record slowly caught fire for its rich jazzy soundscapes and deeply personal and political lyrics about the plight of Black Americanho...
Aug 11, 2022•3 min•Ep 4293•Transcript available on Metacast CARRTOONS - "Lighta (feat. Rae Khalil)" from the 2022 album Homegrown on Wichita Recordings. Producer/multi-instrumentalist CARRTOONS (real name: Ben Carr) teams up for a second time with Grammy Award-winning artist Rae Khalil , a track from his latest album, Homegrown. Carr provides a soulful groove for Khalil to drop her breezy, speedy rhymes, playing on the song title as both a noun and a feeling: "I feel a lil lighta / where is my lighta." Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See om...
Aug 10, 2022•3 min•Ep 4292•Transcript available on Metacast Ricki Monique - "CEREAL (feat. MMYYKK)" from the 2022 GOOD SEEDS EP on Tangible Records. Minneapolis-based artist Ricki Monique teams up with producer/multi-instrumentalist on today's Song of the Day, a serene, soulful track she wrote to boost her confidence. “This song was created as a sonic affirmation to remind me that I was built to be great," she told Lyrical Lemonade . "I put affirmations from my mother and sisters in the hook and brought up feelings of depression and hardships in the firs...
Aug 09, 2022•4 min•Ep 4291•Transcript available on Metacast Zap Mama - "Dessiné" a 2022 self-released single. A French poem set to song, the latest from Belgian artist Marie Daulne (better known as Zap Mama ) is a vibrant expression of love. "Dessiné" loosely translates to "drawn," and the lyrics capture a person sketching the facial features of the one they love. It's the first single from her forthcoming full-length Odyssée , which will be released this fall. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...
Aug 08, 2022•4 min•Ep 4290•Transcript available on Metacast dsrt flwr - "Of Discernment," a 2022 self-released single. Leave it to Larry Mizell Jr. to scope out a song that’s on the verge of blowing up. While “Of Discernment” may be the sole single from up-and-coming artist dsrt flwr, it’s gotten some movement on Tik Tok which, whether you love or hate the clock app, is fast becoming the new medium for a new artist’s rise. It’s currently the sole place where I can find any information on dsrt flower, who uses her platform to speak on the issues she faces...
Aug 05, 2022•2 min•Ep 4289•Transcript available on Metacast Bruno Berle -" É Preciso Ter Amor" from the 2022 album No Reino Dos Afetos on Far Out Recordings. When Bruno Berle first quietly appeared in 2014, it was with the intimate MPB-folk solo record Arapiraca, Maceió, 2013 , which garnered a decent amount of acclaim for seemingly coming out of nowhere. The Brazilian artist has a long musical history, first cutting his teeth in the soft-rock outfit Troco Em Bala and forming the "supergroup", The Mozões alongside fellow Alagoas artist Ítallo França. Mos...
Aug 04, 2022•3 min•Ep 4288•Transcript available on Metacast Σtella - "Another Nation"from the 2022 album Up and Away on Sub Pop. Greek artist Stella Chronopoulou (who records as Σtella , with a sigma) makes her Sub Pop Records debut with a collection of dreamy electro-pop influenced by her family's music collection of Greek folk-pop from the ‘60s and ‘70s. “Growing up I loved playing ‘Sousourada’ by Nikos Gounaris on my grandfather’s old gramophone. I was thrilled by Greek folk-pop artists like Grigoris Bithikotsis and the great Tzeni Vanou, as well as i...
Aug 03, 2022•3 min•Ep 4287•Transcript available on Metacast Daphni - "Cloudy" from the 2022 album on Jiaolong. Canadian composer Dan Snaith is perhaps best known as Caribou, but he shakes off his old " Daphni " moniker for today's Song of the Day. The title track from his forthcoming full-length is a joyful seven-minute hypnosis. He said in a press release, "The essence of this one is keeping it aloft — like occasionally nudging a balloon that’s only just heavier than air to keep it afloat. For something so buoyant, I’m surprised how much it bangs in a c...
Aug 02, 2022•7 min•Ep 4286•Transcript available on Metacast George Riley - "Sacrifice," a 2022 single on PLZ Make It Ruins. West London-based artist George Riley teams up with DJ/producer Vegyn for today's Song of the Day. Vegyn is best known for his work on Frank Ocean's Blonde and Endless , and brings that soulful sensibility to this dreamy slow jam. (He's also released it on his own PLZ Make It Ruins label.) The track serves as a sneak peek at her forthcoming full-length, Running In Waves , to be released on September 9th via Vegyn's aforementioned la...
Aug 01, 2022•5 min•Ep 4285•Transcript available on Metacast Bryson The Alien - "I'm Out (feat. Signe Baburin)," a 2022 single on PNKSLM. Portland-based rapper/producer Bryson the Alien is about to break out in a big way with his forthcoming record The Great Adventures of Bryson the Alien . His debut with lauded Stockholm label PNKSLM is due out September 16th and sees the prolific artist and member of the SUMALIENZ and Unexplained Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) collectives utilize a long list of genres for one-of-a-kind sounds and textures. Our Song of the Day,...
Jul 29, 2022•3 min•Ep 4284•Transcript available on Metacast Elizabeth M. Drummond - "Crisis," a 2022 single on Young Poet. While the idea of starting a band with your childhood friends that almost immediately breaks it big, tours the world, and even works with Aaron Dessner sounds like an absolute dream, the pressure can take a toll. That’s the simplified backstory behind Elizabeth M. Drummond's new path as a solo artist, after leaving the popular Australian indie folk band Little May. Her experiences and the overwhelming feelings that accompanied leavin...
Jul 28, 2022•4 min•Ep 4283•Transcript available on Metacast Brimheim - “can't hate myself into a different shape” from the 2022 album can't hate myself into a different shape on W.A.S. Entertainment. Copenhagen-based artist Helena Heinesen Rebensdorff chose Brimheim as her recording name, as a tribute to her roots in the Faroe Islands. The word translates to "home of the breaking waves," which gives a visual reference to her emotionally-rich alt-pop, and the musical rise-and-fall on today's dramatic Song of the Day. On her debut LP can’t hate myself into...
Jul 27, 2022•4 min•Ep 4282•Transcript available on Metacast Alvvays - "Pharmacist" from the 2022 album Blue Rev on Polyvinyl. Canadian indie-pop quintet Alvvays return this fall with Blue Rev , despite numerous misfortunes that came before it. A thief stole a recorder full of demos from frontwoman Molly Rankin's apartment. The very next day, a basement flood nearly ruined all the band’s gear. On the plus side, they recruited two new band members — drummer Sheridan Riley and bassist Abbey Blackwell — but, on the bummer side, COVID-related border closures ...
Jul 26, 2022•2 min•Ep 4281•Transcript available on Metacast Stone Gossard and Ani DiFranco - "Disorders," a 2022 single on Loosegroove/Righteous Babe. With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard unearthed a six-year-old demo and teamed up with alt-folk icon Ani DiFranco for an anthem for abortion access. The music was composed by Gossard, along with Josh Evans, Skerik and Stanton Moore, with vocals and lyrics by DiFranco. All proceeds will be donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds , which aims "to remove financial and logist...
Jul 25, 2022•5 min•Ep 4280•Transcript available on Metacast Mt Fog - "Behind a Silent Door" from the 2022 self-released album Spells of Silence . KEXP's own Jasmine Albertson spotlighted today's Song of the Day in her recent segment of Living Singles , introducing us to the gorgeous, melodic synth-pop of Mt. Fog , a project of local artist Carolyn B. During a lonely time in Olympia, WA, living in a house with no internet, she began experimenting with making loops on her sister's old keyboard with a pirated version of Reason, she says in this interview wi...
Jul 22, 2022•4 min•Ep 4279•Transcript available on Metacast Courting - "Tennis" a 2022 single on Play It Again Sam. UK band Courting set the course with their 2020 single "Football" and the title track off last year's EP, Grand National. Now they return with another sporting track, the playful post-punk ode "Tennis," featuring frontman Sean Murphy-O’Neill talk-singing over a Krautrock beat. “‘Tennis’ is a paypig’s personal redemption narrative, set in “the city”, and told in two parts,” the band in a press release. “A twisted tale of two lovers’ back and...
Jul 21, 2022•4 min•Ep 4278•Transcript available on Metacast Hello Mary - "Looking Right Into the Sun" from the 2022 album Looking Right Into the Sun on Frenchkiss Records Brooklyn trio Hello Mary continue their ascent with a recent signing to Frenchkiss Records. They followed the announcement with a melodically gritty new single, today's Song of the Day, which they say touches on the "general themes of feeling stuck and restricted by circumstances out of one’s control." "For us specifically it relates to us having to practice as a band during COVID, not ...
Jul 20, 2022•3 min•Ep 4277•Transcript available on Metacast Jasmyn - "Crystal Ball" from the 2022 album In the Wild on ANTI- Having unraveled herself from the band Weaves, Toronto singer/songwriter Jasmyn Burke was ready to slow down. She moved from the city to the quiet of Hamilton, soaking in the outdoors and the serenity of Lake Ontario. Inspired by her surroundings, she decided to embark on a solo career under the name Jasmyn . She speaks to the experience in today's Song of the Day. "“I was writing about being afraid of moving into the future but al...
Jul 19, 2022•4 min•Ep 4276•Transcript available on Metacast Xenia Rubinos & El Individuo - "Madrugada" a 2022 single on ANTI-. Last year's album, Una Rosa , was so fantastic, artist Xenia Rubinos is revisiting it with reimagined versions of those tracks. Last year's single "What Is This Voice?” has been reworked into today's Song of the Day, "Madrugada," adding guest vocalist, Cuban rapper El Individuo . She told Stereogum : El Individuo had just arrived to NYC from Habana for the first time and came straight into this session without us ever having ...
Jul 18, 2022•3 min•Ep 4275•Transcript available on Metacast Alec Shaw - "Spinning" from the 2022 self-released album Quantity . Seattle-based singer/songwriter Alec Shaw splashed onto the local scene in 2016 with the record Car Town , landing him a gig at famed venue Neumos and perking ears of those in the know as an artist to watch. Since then, Shaw’s subsequent records 2017's Uh Oh and the Oh Wells and 2019's Thinking Place led to KEXP’s own Marco Collins dubbing him one of the “Top 3 PNW artists he would sign immediately.” Earlier this year, Shaw drop...
Jul 15, 2022•4 min•Ep 4274•Transcript available on Metacast Banditos - "Here Tonight" from the 2022 album Right On on Egghunt Records. Birmingham-born, now Nashville-based six-piece Banditos initially started over a decade ago as a searing honky tonk band that bled only the most American of sounds integrating pedal steel, bango, upright bass, and even kazoo for a delightfully scrappy sound. With nearly seven years since their self-titled sophomore record and 2022’s Right On , the country rock band has refined their sound for something decidedly adult and...
Jul 14, 2022•3 min•Ep 4273•Transcript available on Metacast Kevin Morby - "A Random Act of Kindness," from the 2022 album This is a Photograph on Dead Oceans With today's Song of the Day, Kevin Morby aims to explore the duality of language on this impassioned piece of Americana. He explains in a press release: In ‘A Random Act Of Kindness’ I set out to write a song where each line could be interpreted in two completely different ways. For example; when I sing the words ’out of trust…’ it could be heard as either I have lost my sense of trust in something...
Jul 13, 2022•4 min•Ep 4272•Transcript available on Metacast Wild Pink - "Q. Degraw," a 2022 single on Royal Mountain. Wild Pink – a New York-based group led by John Ross – reflect on the experience of burnout in today's Song of the Day. He's joined by guest vocalist Catherine Vianale of Winded on this six-minute long, heavy, expansive — yet ultimately uplifting — track. “This song is about my experiences with some health problems and how an extremely stressful situation can sharpen your focus on what’s important in life," he shared in a press release. "I...
Jul 12, 2022•6 min•Ep 4271•Transcript available on Metacast Panda Riot - "Extra Cosmic" from the 2022 self-released album Extra Cosmic . Not only do Chicago quartet Panda Riot tap into My Bloody Valentine's Loveless by sharing the same hot pink color on the album artwork to their fourth LP, Extra Cosmic , they also capture that dreamy shoegaze sound with their soaring, swooning guitars. (I'm also detecting a nod to the Cocteau Twins' Heaven or Las Vegas with the purple/pink theme.) Frontwoman Rebecca Scott's girlish voice is way higher in the mix than MB...
Jul 11, 2022•5 min•Ep 4270•Transcript available on Metacast Khingz - "Fort Cash Money" from the 2022 album Over The World on OTOW/ freshcutflowers. Khingz has long been an influential force in the Seattle hip hop scene, with the crowning achievement of Best MC of the Year in 2009 according to Seattle Weekly for his groundbreaking record From Slaveships to Spaceships . A powerful collaborator, Khingz has worked with Geologic of Blue Scholars, Macklemore, and KEXP’s own Gabriel Teodros in the hip-hop supergroup Good Medicine, with B-Flat and Crispy of Gods...
Jul 08, 2022•3 min•Ep 4269•Transcript available on Metacast Mejiwahn - "Heart String Special (feat. Liv.e)" from the 2022 album BEANNA on Hot Record Societe. Mejiwahn, who previously recorded under the name Art Vandelay (which personally I love greatly as someone finally watching Seinfeld in whole), is a bit of a mystery. Like the fictional character that George makes up in a job interview, there are few photos, quotes, or general living artifacts to prove that Mejiwahn exists. And yet, the producer is a very real and influential musician in the Oakland ...
Jul 07, 2022•3 min•Ep 4268•Transcript available on Metacast FKJ - "Greener (feat. Santana)" from the 2022 album V I N C E N T on Mom + Pop. How do you get legendary guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana to perform on one of your songs? Well, according to multi-instrumentalist FKJ (that's short for French Kiwi Juice, but his real name is Vincent Fenton), you just need to ask nicely. As he explains in a press release, "I told him I would listen to the radio as a young boy, in the days before Spotify, waiting for his song 'Smooth' to come on so I could tape it, an...
Jul 06, 2022•4 min•Ep 4267•Transcript available on Metacast Xênia França - "Ancestral Infinito" from the 2022 self-released album Em Nome da Estrela. Straight out of the gate, Brazilian artist Xênia França scored two Latin Grammy nominations for her 2018 debut album, Xênia , and the single “Pra Que Me Chamas?” She returns with her self-released sophomore effort, Em Nome da Estrela , which translates to "in the name of the star." França expands on the rich influence of her homeland (she even covers a song by tropicália pioneer Gilberto Gil), bringing a su...
Jul 05, 2022•4 min•Ep 4266•Transcript available on Metacast Coco Peila - "Remember" from the 2022 Whose World? (The New Normal) EP on Miss Behave Records/La Vida Diosa Publishing. With her latest EP, Whose World? (The New Normal) , Bay Area-based MC, singer-songwriter, and producer Coco Peila continues to use music as a platform to speak on causes she feels passionately about. (Her last KEXP Song of the Day spoke out against outdated beauty norms.) This new release is described as a "Hip Hop and Climate Justice audio-visual initiative," presented by Blac...
Jul 04, 2022•3 min•Ep 4265•Transcript available on Metacast Supercrush - Perfect Smile - from the 2022 self-released Melody Maker EP. While Seattle power pop band Supercrush have technically been a band since 2013, they only just released their debut LP Debt Offensive in 2019. With time to makeup, the band, led by veteran hardcore, punk, and metal musician Mark Palm, quickly followed that up with SODO Pop in 2020 and just dropped the EP Melody Maker in early June via Supercrush’s own KR Records. Made up of five soaringly sweet hook-laden songs, the EP is...
Jul 01, 2022•4 min•Ep 4264•Transcript available on Metacast 
