In Our Headphones

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 pr...

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 wi...

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: "Ou...

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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 vul...

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 reco...

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 B...

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...

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 di...

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 d...

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 h...

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 Roman...

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 ...

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...

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...

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, automati...

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 interest...

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 Cha...

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 South...

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 grea...

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 Bo...

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...

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...

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 jamme...

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 st...