In Our Headphones

Knox Fortune - "Come Over" from the 2020 album Stock Child Wonder on Nice Work. Chicago-bred artist Knox Fortune (real name: Kevin Rhomberg) broke out of the Windy City's hip-hop scene after guest appearances on tracks by Chance the Rapper and Kami. Now based in Brooklyn, Knox returns with his genre-jumping sophomore release Stock Child Wonder . In an interview with Document , he explains the gene...

Oneohtrix Point Never - "Long Road Home" from the 2020 album Magic Oneohtrix Point Never on Warp. After scoring the soundtrack to the 2019 Adam Sandler film Uncut Gems , Oneohtrix Point Never (real name: Daniel Lopatin) returns to his roots with his ninth full length, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never , a nod to the Boston-based FM radio station Magic 106.7 that inspired his own band name. “I want...

Yung - "Such A Man" from the 2021 album Ongoing Dispute on PNKSLM. Danish indie rock quartet Yung return later this month with their sophomore full-length Ongoing Dispute , the highly anticipated follow-up to 2016's A Youthful Dream .  The band describe today's featured track as "a songwriting potluck of sorts, written in roughly an hour whilst Mikkel [Holm Silkjær, frontman] franticall...

Despite the perils of 2020, Seattle’s Tomo Nakayama had a momentous musical year. Alongside his excellent synth-pop turn with his third solo LP, Melonday, Nakayama released some stirring singles, including a December release of “Paper Snowflakes.” The song finds Nakayama back in the familiar territory of the acoustic guitar, providing the perfect foundation for his pristine, effo...

It’s the last day of 2020 and a new year is ahead of us. To bring on the transition, we get a little bit of something familiar and something new with The Hold Steady’s “Family Farm.” The indie rock legends make a momentous return with the first single from their upcoming album ‘Open Door Policy.’ A barrage of guitars and horns underscore Craig Finn’s impas...

With all of our top albums of 2020 lists behind us, it’s already time to start looking forward to the records that will consume our ear canals in 2021. Pom Poko give us an early frontrunner for future obsession with “Like a Lady’ from their upcoming album ‘Cheater.’  “The lyrics for the song slowly grew out from just jamming together, and are about what mak...

We’re in the final days of 2020, a year that’s been physically and emotionally taxing for the world at large. While there’s been much tragedy and desperation throughout this year, KOKOROKO urges us to look ahead and celebrate life with their single “Baby Ayoola.” The group – which blends together Afrobeat, Highline, and Jazz music – wrote the track in trib...

Christmas may be just behind us (and thankfully 2020 will be following suit soon), but DJ John Richards is keeping the holiday spirit alive with today’s Song of the Day, “Goin’ Broke for Christmas” by duo Lost Under Heaven. The song is the perfect salve for the post Christmas blues, with the festive sounds of jingle bells crashing the dirge-like marching rhythm and the duo&...

Michelle David & The Gospel Sessions - "It's a Soulful Christmas" from the 2020 album It's a Soulful Christmas on MDGS Records. This week, we are featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss , one of the hosts of KEXPs punk show Sonic Reducer , lover of off-brand holiday tunes, and owner of pants. Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004 and has been...

Professor and The Madman - "Christmas Eve" from the 2018 album Disintegrate Me on Fullertone Records. This week, we are featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss , one of the hosts of KEXPs punk show Sonic Reducer , lover of off-brand holiday tunes, and owner of pants. Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004 and has been a Christmas Day on-air DJ sinc...

David King Jones - "The Covid19 Christmas Song," a 2020 self-released single. This week, we are featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss , one of the hosts of KEXPs punk show Sonic Reducer , lover of off-brand holiday tunes, and owner of pants. Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004 and has been a Christmas Day on-air DJ since 2012. No standards are...

Kelly Finnigan - "Santa's Watching You" from the 2020 album A Joyful Sound on Colemine Records. This week, we are featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss , one of the hosts of KEXPs punk show Sonic Reducer , lover of off-brand holiday tunes, and owner of pants. Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004 and has been a Christmas Day on-air DJ since 2012...

Michael M - "Humans Are Not Worth Saving (Merry Christmas)" from the 2020 self-released album A Digital Christmas Gift For You. This week, we are featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss , one of the hosts of KEXPs punk show Sonic Reducer , lover of off-brand holiday tunes, and owner of pants. Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004 and has been a Ch...

Draze - "The Main Thing," a 2020 self-released single. Earlier this year, attorney, CNN political commentator, and activist Angela Rye launched a new series for TIDAL titled The Main Thing, where Rye sits down with "high-profile celebrities, entertainers, history makers, athletes, organizers, and more" for candid, intimate conversations. And noneother than Seattle's own Draze has composed the show...

Mystic - "We Are The People (All Around The World)," a 2020 single on Beautifull Soundworks. Bay Area-based hip-hop artist Mystic (real name: Mandolyn Wind Ludlum) is a veteran of the scene, from participating in rap battles in the early '90s to touring with Digital Underground in the late '90s. She was nominated for a Grammy and a BET Award for "Best Female Hip-Hop Artist" in the early 2000s, and...

Astu - "Source of Her (feat. Salami Rose Joe Louis)" from the 2020 album ALTARS on Boyish Records. On her debut full-length ALTARS , Eritrean-American artist ASTU combines soul and synth-pop to craft her confident and thought-provoking grooves.  Astu now resides in Oakland, but arrived there from Oklahoma where she attended seminary college, married a minister, and then became a minister hers...

Ivy Sole - "BITTERSWEET" from the 2020 album SOUTHPAW on Les Fleurs Records. Ivy Sole wasn't even sure she wanted to release a new album this year, but thankfully, she did, with her brand new release SOUTHPAW . "Me and my manager have been hesitant to release any music to distract or make light of what is happening, and this is prior to George Floyd and how that has changed the COVID era," she adm...

Ego Ella May - "Girls Don't Always Sing About Boys" from the 2020 album Honey For Wounds on UpperRoom Records. On her debut album Honey For Wounds , South London-based artist Ego Ella May provides sweet relief from troubling times with her jazzy neo-soul sound. On today's Song of the Day, she asks listeners, "What if I wanna talk about suffering?" “I will, of course, continue to write about...

Byland - "Mine" from the 2020 self-released album Gray. For her latest LP Gray , Albuquerque-based artist Alie Renee Byland (who records under the name Byland ) immersed herself in the Seattle music scene, collaborating with producer and multi-instrumentalist Nathan Yaccino (known for his work with Soundgarden, Noah Gundersen, Brandi Carlile). For today's featured track, she invited local musician...

The Weather Station - "Tried To Tell You" from the 2020 album Ignorance on Fat Possum. The Weather Station (a project of Toronto-based artist Tamara Linderman) returns early next year with her fifth full-length, titled Ignorance , out February 5, 2021 via Fat Possum; today, we get a sneak peek at the new release with today's Song of the Day, "Tried To Tell You." In a press release, Linderman tells...

GDRN - "Vorið" from the 2020 album GDRN on Les Freres Stefson. When GDRN (real name: Guðrún Ýr Eyfjörð Jóhannesdóttir) played KEXP Iceland Airwaves broadcast last year , she had just swept the Iceland Music Awards with her debut Hvað Ef , scoring best female artist, best pop song, best pop album, and music video of the year. With her follow-up full-...

Molchat Doma - "Discoteque" from the 2020 album Monument on Sacred Bones. Belarusian trio Molchat Doma (a phrase that translates to “Houses Are Silent”) formed in 2017, crafting darkwave synth-pop from their hometown of Minsk. Their just-released third full-length Monument was written and recorded in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, but with today's featured track "Discotheque"...

Young Jesus - "Faith" from the 2020 album Welcome to Conceptual Beach on Saddle Creek. Earlier this year, Los Angeles-based quartet Young Jesus released their fifth full-length Welcome to Conceptual Beach ; turns out, it's a sandy shore frontman John Rossiter has visited for years, originally as a physical zine in 2016. He told Uproxx.com :  It became a kind of diary, where I could become a c...

SassyBlack - "Therapy" from the 2020 self-released EP Stuck. Throughout her career, Seattle's own SassyBlack has tackled the topic of mental health, from her 2019 song “Depression” and the accompanying short film released early in 2020. On her latest EP Stuck, and today's featured track, in particular, she continues the conversation around self care, encouraging listeners to reach out...

Nailah Hunter - "Black Valhalla," a 2020 self-released single. With "Black Valhalla", Los Angeles-based composer/harpist Nailah Hunter imagines a place where Black people "are safe and exalted." In this interview with KEXP's Dusty Henry, Hunter explains: I mean, again, Valhalla being the place where the Nordic gods live and the people... Actually just kidding, they don't live there, but it's a pla...