In Our Headphones

Children of Zeus - "No Love Song" from the 2021 album Balance on First Word Records. Manchester duo Children Of Zeus return with their first new music in three years, since the release of their acclaimed debut Travel Light .  Today's Song of the Day reunites band members Tyler Daley and Konny Kon with producer Beat Butcha (Jay-Z, Beyonce, Nipsey Hussle) who worked on their earlier album. The...

Seattle shoegaze band Shine combines the talents of band members from Regional Justice Center and Seattle’s New Gods. This new project, they say, "channels the noise and driving aggression of these bands, but through a more playful, Britpop-tinged lens."  Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Darkwave duo Cold Cave deliver their distinctive synth-driven psychedelic sound on their latest EP, Fate In Seven Lessons . Today's Song of the Day finds the long-running project of Wesley Eisold drawing influence from their former tour mates The Jesus and Mary Chain and Nine Inch Nails. The accompanying video was directed by Travis Shinn and Jeremy Danger, and finds the group encircled by 23 cand...

With her sophomore LP Stand For Myself , Grammy-nominated artist Yola reclaims her crown as the self-described "queen of country soul." She teams up again with producer Dan Auerbach in his studio and on his record label, both named Easy Eye Sound.  On the album's title track, Yola finds her footing again. As she says in a press statement: "The song’s protagonist “token,” has...

On their new album Golden Doubt , Melbourne-via-Tasmanian quartet Quivers honor their resilience. Vocalist Sam Nicholson breaks down the LP title. “Golden, because musically we daydream with the guitars of Teenage Fanclub and The Cure, the singing of The Roches’ sisters, the basslines of Another Sunny Day, and the drums of Lower Dens or Car Seat Headrest,” he says. “ Golden...

After six years, Swedish singer-songwriter José González will return with his new album Local Valley , recorded in his home studio outside Gothenburg during quarantine. On today's Song of the Day, González taps into his hardcore past from the '90s. "I wrote 'Head On' as a combat song or a list of instructions…a manual," he explains in a press release. "I mean both 'stra...

Sleater-Kinney - "Worry With You" from the 2021 album Path of Wellness on Mom + Pop. Iconic Northwest duo Sleater-Kinney returned with the album Path of Wellness earlier this month, their tenth album overall, but their first that they've produced themselves. "The entire process relied upon taking stock of who and what was nearby, upon generosity of time, spirit, and input, but mostly upon a mutual...

Elohim - "Strut (feat. Big Freedia)," a 2021 self-released single. Los Angeles-based producer Elohim has spoken publicly in the past about her struggles with anxiety. On today's Song of the Day, she encourages herself and others to confront those feelings, teaming up with the Queen of Confidence, New Orleans artist Big Freedia . “Her music and story have inspired and continues to inspire hum...

Mykki Blanco - "Free Ride," a 2021 self-released single. Innovative rapper Mykki Blanco returned last week with the EP Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep , their first new release in five years and their first for Transgressive Records. On today's Song of the Day, they looked back to road trips with their mother.   "Some of the most intimate moments and conversations I have ever shared wer...

MAN ON MAN - "It's So Fun (To Be Gay)" from the 2021 album MAN ON MAN on Polyvinyl. While others were baking banana bread or binging shows on Netflix, Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum and his boyfriend Joey Holman started the music project Man on Man during the pandemic.  “Roddy was just like, ‘We’re both musicians, let’s just do it to pass time.’ At first,...

Fred again.. & The Blessed Madonna - “Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)” from the 2021 album Actual Life (April 14 - December 17 2020) on Atlantic. When the clubs shut down during the pandemic, London producer Fred again.. wrote today's Song of the Day as a eulogy to the dancefloor, sampling a voice mail message from his dear friend The Blessed Madonna (real name: Marea Stamper).&nb...

Shabazz Palaces - "20 Gear Science," a 2021 self-released single. Seattle's Shabazz Palaces share "20 Gear Science," the first single from their forthcoming LP The Lost Vibes Of Shabazz: The Skrilla Scrolls , a collection of rarities and previously unreleased songs. True to their decade-long career, the song is a spacey, cinematic (or "sinematic", as their video production is called) journey of sy...

DAM - "Hada Yid’ie Sitna" from the 2019 album Ben Haana Wa Maana on Cooking Vinyl. Formed in the late '90s, DAM have been called "the first Palestinian hip hop crew and among the first to rap in Arabic." Since the very beginning, the group have used their lyrics to speak out about the trials of being Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. On their third and most recent release, Ben Ha...

Thee Sacred Souls - "Give Us Justice," a 2020 single on Daptone Records. With today's Song of the Day, San Diego-based trio Thee Sacred Souls reflect on the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, singing "there'll be no peace / until there's justice." The Grammy-nominated band The Black Pumas declared it "the song that will define 2020 for me" in Rolling Stone magazine.  "The song kind of...

Al-Bara’em - "Ishraq" from the 2021 Al-Bara'em EP on SMNTCS. A few years ago, Houston-based music journalist Sama'an Ashrawi found out a surprising fact about his Dad: back in the 1960s-'70s, his father and all but one of his aunts and uncles were the founding members Al-Bara'em ("The Blooms" in Arabic), Palestine's first original rock band, and the first Palestinian rock band to feature wom...

Mndsgn - "Hope You’re Doin’ Better," a 2021 single on Stones Throw Records. On his latest LP Rare Pleasure , L.A.-based producer Mndsgn (real name: Ringgo Ancheta) finds influence in the soundtracks of the '70s and '80s, stating the repetitions "echo the recurring motifs we experience in life, sometimes being revisited by the same lessons in different shapes and forms."  With toda...

Damien Jurado - "Tom" from the 2021 album The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania on Field Painting Music. On his 17th album, The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania , Seattle singer/songwriter Damien Jurado introduces the listener to ten stories filled with characters confronting different stressful scenarios: "hurricanes moving toward town, strained connections, amnesiacs in the front yard," his press rel...

Yee Loi - "Be Like Johnny" from the 2021 self-released album No One Eats For Free. Taking their name from the Cantonese translation of "two girls," Yee Loi is just that: two sisters from Liverpool, England. Guitarist/bassist Rose is 13-years-old, and drummer Matilda just turned 12 last month. The pair credit learning songs by The Ramones with teaching them how to play music, so it's fitting that t...

Split Single - "(Nothing You Can Do) To End This Love" from the 2021 album Amplificado on Inside Outside Records. Jason Narducy can often be found playing bass for Superchunk and Bob Mould’s band; on his own, the Chicago-based musician records as Split Single , and he'll be releasing his third full-length, Amplificado , on June 25th. He continues the high-standard of musicianship he finds in...

SPELLLING - "Boys at School" from the 2021 album The Turning Wheel on Sacred Bones. Bay Area-based artist Chrystia Cabral, who records as SPELLLING , returns with her third full-length, The Turning Wheel, out June 25th via Sacred Bones. In a press release, she details that the album has “themes of human unity, the future, divine love, and the enigmatic ups and downs of being a part of this c...

Nasimiyu - "Watercolor" from the 2021 album P O T I O N S on Figureight. Brooklyn-based musician and dancer Nasimyu Murumba (who records as nasimiYu ) returns with P O T I O N S , her first new solo album in seven years, a joyous release produced during a difficult time. “This album was being made while the world was on fire in all the ways,” she shared in a press statement, “and...

Enumclaw - "Free Drop Billy" from the 2021 album Jimbo Demo on Youth Riot. On their debut EP Jimbo Demo , Tacoma-based quartet Enumclaw channel the '90s Northwest sound, with lyrics addressing growing up and finding your place in the world. On today's Song of the Day, vocalist/guitarist Aramis Johnson reflects on his upbringing, repeating the relatable refrain, “I don’t wanna be a lose...

Curtis Harding - "Hopeful," a 2021 single on Anti-. Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Curtis Harding returns with his first new music in three years with a powerful anthem for these times. “I wrote [“Hopeful”] some time ago but in theory it goes far beyond a time and place,” Harding explained in a press release. “I’ve always tried to carry it (Hope) wherever I am....

Ambar Lucid - "Get Lost in the Music," a 2021 single on 300 Entertainment. Dominican/Mexican artist Ambar Lucid exhibits a worldliness beyond her 20 years of age with her latest single “Get Lost in the Music,” the title track from her forthcoming EP out June 18th. It's her first single since last year's debut full-length, Garden of Lucid , a breakout release examining radical self-love...

Faye Webster - "Cheers" from the 2021 album I Know I'm Funny haha on Secretly Canadian. With today's Song of the Day, Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Faye Webster says she finally gets to feel "like a badass for once.”  “This song has always felt like a standout from the record to me," Webster said in a press release about her fourth full-length, I Know I’m Funny haha , out...