In Our Headphones

Jackie Venson - "Flying #evolution" from the 2023 self-released album Evolution of Joy . When  Jackie Venson named her latest LP  Evolution of Joy , she meant it in more ways than one. Not only is this a re-working of her 2019 album Joy , but it's also reflective of the evolution she's seen in the music industry since the pandemic struck.  “I released more music than I ever have before,” she told...

Taylar Elizza Beth & WD4D - "THE BEAST / DAY 117" from the 2023 self-released album UNDERCOVER LOVERGIRL . On her new album  UNDERCOVER LOVERGIRL , Seattle-based rapper Taylar Elizza Beth  [aka Taylar White] reunites with producer and DJ WD4D (Blue Scholars, Abyssinian Creole, Common Market). The pair previously worked together on last year's EP,  NINETY THREE .  “I want to have more say in wh...

Lalalar - Yalniz Olu Baliklar Akintiyi Takip Eder from the 2022 album Bi Cinnete Bakar on Bongo Joe Switzerland. Lalalar are currently Turkey’s buzziest band and for good reason. The trio’s fusion of 70’s Anatolian rock and 80’s dark wave with a punk attitude make for an intoxicatingly fierce and innovative sound. While the band has only been around since 2018, Ali Güçlü Şimşek, Barlas Tan Özemek...

Ill Considered - Dawn Lit Metropolis from the 2020 album Band Selects on Ill Considered / New Soil. Ill Considered are a UK-based improvisational jazz outfit that’s become a cult favorite after releasing nine albums between 2017-2019 of deep grooves made up completely on the spot. Led by Idris Rahman on sax, Leon Brichard on bass, Emre Ramazanoglu on drums, and Yahael Camara-Onono on percussion, t...

Dame Area - "Esto me pertenece" from the 2022 album Esto me pertenece on Humo Internacional & BFE Records. Barcelona-based duo Dame Area deliver their most dance-oriented release to date with Esto me pertenece. The post-industrial twosome of Silvia Konstance Costan and Victor Hurtado met in 2014 via Màgia Roja, a cultural center and record label. Combining their loves of krautrock, industrial,...

Inês Malheiro - "Overflowing" from the 2022 album Deusa N​á​usea on Lovers & Lollypops / Inês Malheiro. The debut album from Portuguese artist  Inês Malheiro went through a few iterations before finally landing at Deusa N​áusea , released late last year. The songs evolved throughout the lockdown, "polarized, reversed, perplexed, epithelialized by espectral processes and beleza pura," as it sta...

Grove - "Feed My Desire" a 2022 single on Memorials of Distinction x Grove. Bristol-based artist  Grove returns with a pulsating, gritty dancehall track, expanding on the club-inspired sound introduced on their 2021 debut release  QUEER + BLACK . Today's Song of the Day finds Grove teaming up with fellow Bristol producer Kursa, as well as their partner EJ:AKIN.  “After getting this beautifully dar...

Cherry Ferrari - Call Me Up a 2023 self-released single. Cherry Ferrari is the project of teenagers Emma Wang and Oliver Crosby. While they’ve been in existence for roughly a year and currently have just two singles in their discography, those pair of songs are exciting enough to warrant paying attention to the young Seattle band. And people certainly have, if their slots on beloved local stages l...

JusMoni & Nappy Nina - Henny Lavender a 2023 self-released single. If you feel like you just saw a Song of the Day feature from Seattle-based singer/songwriter JusMoni and Oakland-born/Brooklyn-based emcee Nappy Nina , it’s because you did. Earlier this week, we shared the song “Prayer Hands” off Nappy Nina’s latest album Morning Due and today we’re sharing another collaboration between the tw...

Rahill - "I Smile for E" from the 2023 album Flowers At Your Feet on Big Dada. With today's Song of the Day, Iranian-American artist Rahill shares a sneak peek at her forthcoming debut album, Flowers At Your Feet , out May 12th via Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada.  The track is a tribute to her late Aunt Elaheh. As Rahill writes on Instagram, "The rock of my fathers family. A beloved mother, daughter,...

Nappy Nina - "Prayer Posture (feat. JusMoni)" from the 2023 album Mourning Due on LucidHaus. On her latest LP Mourning Due ,  Nappy Nina , as she puts it , "considers grief a currency and questions who is owed what." The Oakland-born/Brooklyn-based artist delivers vulnerable lyrics in her distinctive rapid-fire style, like a conversation with a friend who's had too many cups of coffee.  Mourning D...

Lavarr the Starr & Shabazz Palaces - "Glass Top Roof (The One)" from the 2023 album Illusions Ago on Glass Cane Records. Like many of  Ishmael Butler 's projects, this collaboration between  Lavarr the Starr & Shabazz Palaces is shrouded in mystery. Their Bandcamp tells us they're based in Lagos, Nigeria, and that today's Song of the Day features "Lavarr sings of blissing, riding around wi...

Zari Alexandria - (Gotta Get) Over You from the 2022 self-released Congratulations, I'm Angry EP. 19-year-old Zari Alexandria has been honing her vocal abilities since childhood, performing in choir and musical theater and delving into songwriting at fourteen. After spending the past five years sharpening her skills and finding her sound, she released her debut EP Congratulations, I’m Angry in 202...

Yves Tumor - Echolalia from the 2023 album Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) on Warp. Genre-bending visionary Yves Tumor is set to release their fourth full-length Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) on March 17th and the anticipation couldn’t be higher. After breaking through in a big way with their...

Petite Noir - "Simple Things (feat. Theo Croker)" from the 2023 album MotherFather on Roya. Petite Noir  (real name: Yannick Ilunga) shares a message of empowerment on today's Song of the Day.  “’Simple Things’ is about taking back your power,” the Congolese artist states in a press release. “It’s a song for the people, to embrace harmony, reject division, and recognise that freedom comes from wit...

M83 - "Amnesia" from the 2023 album Fantasy on Mute. Earlier this month,  M83 shared six songs from their forthcoming ninth LP Fantasy , due out March 17th via Mute. In a press release, primary songwriter/frontman Anthony Gonzalez claims it'll be his most intimate release yet. "I wanted to be more present lyrically and vocally even if that was daunting at first. I thought if I could achieve that,...

June McDoom - "On My Way" from the 2022 June McDoom EP on Temporary Residence Ltd. Singer/songwriter June McDoom taps into her family history for her music: her parents relocated from Jamaica to New York City in the 1970s. As an adult, she began listening to folk artists from that era, like Joan Baez and Judee Sill, vintage soul from The Delfonics and The Supremes, and reggae artists her family li...

Pilot Seat - Spinning Circles a 2022 self-released single. The Shoreline, WA-based band Pilot Seat only just started playing together in 2021 and released their first three singles in 2022 but have already made a name for themselves locally with a strong legion of loyal fans huddled closely to the stages they’ve played. The video for their second single “A Place Like Nowhere Else” has already rack...

Spirit Award - Pushing Forward from the 2023 album The Fear on Share It Music. Seattle’s Spirit Award , the project of Daniel Lyon and currently with Chris Jordan of Sunny Day Real Estate on bass, has been fine-tuning his brand of doom-filled psychedelic indie for over seven years now, with his upcoming fourth studio album The Fear destined to be one of his best. While they may only have one singl...

Thrillhouse - "Fatal Flaw," a 2022 self-released single. Brighton duo  Thrillhouse channel the '80s (Echo & the Bunnymen, in particular) on their latest single, "Fatal Flaw." ("Hopefully it’s not toooo similar. Eek," they joked to Analogue Trash .) "We’ve never really settled on a sound," they continued. "Will probably be the cause of our eventual demise down the road. But it’s nice to write d...

Screaming Females - "Brass Bell" from the 2023 album Desire Pathway on Don Giovanni Jersey trio  Screaming Females continue to pave their own punk-rock path on their latest LP  Desire Pathway , out now via Don Giovanni Records. Vocalist/guitarist Marissa Paternoster speaks to the album title, sharing, "Maybe there was one in your neighborhood growing up, a corner where everyone decided it took too...

Eyelids - "Colossal Waste of Light" from the 2023 album A Colossal Waste of Light on Jealous Butcher. Portland supergroup Eyelids  have gotten even more powerful on their fourth LP, A Colossal Waste of Light , which will be released on March 10 via Jealous Butcher Records. Songwriters John Moen (of The Decemberists) and Chris Slusarenko (formerly of Guided by Voices) are now joined by Victor Krumm...

King Zaae - Someplace Somewhere a 2022 self-released single. Seattle-based artist King Zaae may be young at only 17 but he already has a widespread discography of genre-fluid sounds in the six years he’s been making music when he started fiddling with making music on his iPhone at eleven years old. Since 2021, though, his music has really started to take shape, refining his production techniques f...

Oddisee - Try Again from the 2023 album To What End on Outer Note Label. In January, rapper/producer Oddisee dropped his twelfth studio album, To What End , which explores human ambition, posing the question: “How far are you willing to go, and why?” This idea is expressed in our Song of the Day and early single “Try Again.” Backed by a funky groove, the DC-based emcee waxes about growing from the...

Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad - "Fire In Detroit", a 2023 single on Jazz Is Dead. Launched in 2020, the Jazz is Dead series   is an ongoing series from producers Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad , aiming to elevate some legends of the genre with original collaborations. For the latest edition, the guys team up with trombonist Phil Ranelin and saxophonist  Wendell Harrison , founde...