In Our Headphones

Momma - "Lucky" from the 2022 album Household Name on Polyvinyl. On today's Song of the Day, Brooklyn duo Momma aimed to write "a sappy and sentimental love song." The track is a stand-out on their latest LP Household Name , which is a powerhouse of '90s influences and grunge-y guitars.  “I wrote it after my significant other and I had to spend an unknown amount of time apart from each other on op...

NoSo - "David" from the 2022 album Stay Proud of Me on Partisan. Singer-songwriter Baek Hwong named their musical project NoSo (as in North/South) after being asked one too many times, "which Korea are you from?". The Los Angeles-based artist channels the frustrations stemming from their Asian American heritage into their songs, as well as their experience as a queer non-binary person. Today's Son...

Ambar Lucid - "La Torre" from the 2022 album La Torre on 300 Entertainment. In tarot, the "Tower" card is said to represent sudden upheaval and unexpected change. Today's Song of the Day is based on this Major Arcana card, which the Dominican-Mexican artist Ambar Lucid told Flaunt “reflects the phase of life that I'm currently in the process of trying to transition from. A lot of these songs were...

Smokey Brights - “Ocean Shores,” a 2022 single on Freakout. Husband-and-wife duo and KEXP regulars, Smokey Brights, have been steadily churning out singles since their third record, 2020’s I Love You But Damn . Released in the midst of the pandemic, the album was a bright spot amidst the bleakness of the world in which it was birthed and a sign of perseverance. Their latest single continues the Se...

Young Fathers - “Geronimo,” a 2022 single on Ninja Tune. Scottish genre-benders, Mercury Prize-winners, and KEXP favorites Young Fathers released their third record Cocoa Sugar in what feels like a lifetime ago, 2018. At long last, they finally returned with the single “Geronimo.” In a world where we’re still stretching our legs and feeling out how to get back into the swing of “real life,” the tr...

Beach Bunny - “Entropy” from the 2022 album Emotional Creature on Mom + Pop. From TikTok buzzband to their sophomore album  Emotional Creature , Chicago-based band  Beach Bunny have earned a devoted following, including producer Butch Vig and actor Bob Odenkirk, who even appears in one of their music videos.  A huge part of their appeal is the confessional and, ultimately, relatable lyrics from fr...

Hermanos Gutiérrez - “El Bueno Y El Malo” from the 2022 album El Bueno Y El Malo on Easy Eye Sound Swiss-Ecuadorian siblings Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez bring their love of '50s Latin American music to their musical project  Hermanos Gutiérrez . In fact, their forthcoming full-length,  El Bueno Y El Malo , takes its name from the 1966 Spaghetti Western film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly . wi...

High Vis - “Blending” from the 2022 album Blending on Dais. London-based band High Vis has its roots in the UK hardcore scene, but evolved into a less-shout-y post-punk vibe on their 2019 debut LP, No Sense No Feeling , and now explore a more new wave vibe on their sophomore album, Blending , which comes out September 9th via Dais Records. The album's title track has a softer sound, reminiscent of...

Sango - "Tongue Tied (feat. asante)" from the 2022 album Great Lakes Influence on Wright Music Group. Beloved former-Seattlite Sango recently returned with the mixtape Great Lake Influence in June, two years after the release of SHANGO . Described by the sought-after beatmaker as “A homage to where I’m from,” the collection of songs sees Sango dip his toes in techno-house which is very of the mome...

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...

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 f...

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 fr...

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...

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 whe...

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...

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...

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 jus...

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 fort...

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) c...

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 Australi...

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 t...

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...

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 wi...

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 makin...

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 “th...