In Our Headphones

Fugazi - "Burning Too" from the 1989 album 13 Songs on Dischord Records. We have a responsibility / To use our abilities to keep this place alive / Right here right now / Do it. Now. Do it. Since forming in 1986, DC punk band Fugazi have become synonymous with DIY ethics and progressive political perspectives. “I was born in 1962 and I was here in Washington right through the civil rights st...

Stella Donnelly - "Beware of the Dogs" from the 2019 album Beware of the Dogs on Secretly Canadian. Following the breakout success of her debut EP Thrush Metal , Australian artist Stella Donnelly knew she wanted to use her first full-length, Beware of the Dogs , to address larger issues in the world. "My generation had this 'enough is enough' kind of feeling and a lot of the women I was working wi...

Noname - "Song 33," a 2020 self-released single. With her first single of 2020, Chicago artist Noname works with producer Madlib to craft a track referencing the murder of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter activist Oluwatoyin Salau, and to, well, call out fellow rapper J. Cole, whose own single “Snow on Tha Bluff” seemed to criticize her social media presence.  "i've been thinking...

Sango - "Eu Vou Passando (feat. Jé Santiago)" from the 2020 album Da Rocinha 4 on Soulection Records. Former Seattleite, current Michigander, Kai " Sango " Wright continues his Da Rocinha series, described as his "love letter to Rio De Janeiro Funk Carioca.”  “I’ve always been a person of culture through connecting dots and bridging gaps,” Sango says via a press...

Working Men's Club - A.A.A.A. from the 2020 album Working Men's Club on Heavenly Recordings. Yorkshire band Working Mens Club was formed by a bunch of Working Teens last year. Eighteen-year-old frontman Sydney Minsky-Sargeant explains in a press release, "We grew up in northern towns trying to get in to pubs in social clubs because that's all we had. The name is an ode to that. Our surroundings an...

Jessica Winter - "Sad Music" from the 2020 Sad Music EP on Roya Records. Brixton-based artist Jessica Winter stuns with her debut EP Sad Music , a perfect blend of introspective lyrics and infectious synth beats. “Music helps me realise that you are not alone that every one of us is capable of the best and worst feelings and actions in this world," Winter said via a press release. "This song...

Dark Tropics - "Moroccan Sun," a 2020 single on Quiet Arch. Self-described "pop-noir" duo Dark Tropics return with their second single "Moroccan Sun," just in time to stretch out summer just a little bit longer. While the musicians, Rio and Gerard, reside in Belfast, Ireland, they first met in Morocco, and bring a sultry, sunny Mediterranean feel to today's featured track. In a press release, Rio...

Adia Victoria - "South Gotta Change," a 2020 single on Atlantic Records. 'Cause I love you, I won't leave you Won't let you slip away Come what may We're gonna find a way Nashville-based artist Adia Victoria takes an introspective look at her city on her latest single, "South Gotta Change." The song, executive produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett, is not only a love letter to her town, but a p...

Of Mexican Descent - "All Turn Native" from the 2006 self-released album Exitos Y Mas Exitos (Edicion De Lujo). Of Mexican Descent is a collaboration between Los Angeles-based artists, rapper 2Mex (real name: Alejandro Ocana) and Xololanxinxo (real name: Daniel Rodriguez). They began the project in 1991, and quickly became an elemental part of the rising Los Angeles underground hip hop movement. T...

Dioganhdih - "Native New Yorker," a 2019 self-released single. A self-described "queer, non-binary, indigenous rapper, activist, and diversity consultant", Dioganhdih uses their music to celebrate the Haudenosaunee culture. On their latest single, they explain, "this single release details the life of a water protector living in a constant state of emergency and being propelled into action while l...

Ill-ēsha - "Como la Chicha (feat. Fabian Arias & Dakota Camacho)" from the 2020 self-released album Songs from the Sweat Shed. Last year, veteran DJ/producer Ill-ēsha helped create the Tribal Gathering Festival Recording Studio in the middle of the jungle in Panama, using the new space to record indigenous tribes and artists from all over the world. On her new double EP, Songs from the Sweat S...

DJ Shub - "The Social (feat. pHoenix Pagliacci)," a 2020 single on Shub Music. Award-winning producer DJ Shub has teamed up with Toronto-based artist Phoenix for a powerful new track, with proceeds going to organizations benefiting Black Lives Matter and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. In an interview with Billboard , DJ Shub (who is a Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River, Canada's la...

A Tribe Called Red - "Land Back (feat. Boogey the Beat & Northern Voice)," a 2020 self-released single. Canadian DJ duo A Tribe Called Red have a long history of using their public platform to amplify the indigenous community, and with today's Song of the Day, they're showing their support for the Wet’suwet’en people, whose sovereign lands are being invaded by the RCMP and the Coas...

Warren Dunes - "Fishbowl," a 2020 self-released single. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one.  Donate now for our Fall Fundraising Drive!  Seattle surf-pop trio Warren Dunes are currently working on their debut full-length, but in the meantime, they've shared the stand-alone single “Fishbowl,” a song frontwoman and...

Slow Pulp - "Falling Apart" from the 2020 album Moveys on Winspear. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one.  Donate now for our Fall Fundraising Drive! Slow Pulp frontwoman Emily Massey's life was truly falling apart. The band had written an album's worth of songs while on tour with Alex G last year, but then Massey was diagnosed wit...

Sufjan Stevens - "Video Game" from the 2020 album The Ascension on Asthmatic Kitty. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one.  Donate now for our Fall Fundraising Drive! As we reported back in August , acclaimed singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens has returned with his eighth solo LP, The Ascension , his first since 2015's Carrie & Lo...

Tomberlin - "Wasted" from the 2020 Projections EP on Saddle Creek. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one.  Donate now for our Fall Fundraising Drive! Sarah Beth Tomberlin (who records under the name Tomberlin ) teams up with lo-fi king Alex G on her forthcoming EP Projections , out October 16th via Saddle Creek. In a press statement...

Lost Horizons - "I Woke Up With An Open Heart (feat. The Hempolics)," from the 2020 album In Quiet Moments on Bella Union. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one.  Donate now for our Fall Fundraising Drive! Lost Horizons unites the talents of Richie Thomas (aka Dif Juz) and Simon Raymonde (bassist of Cocteau Twins and founder of reco...

Left at London - "Do You See Us? (feat. Nobi)" from the 2020 self-released single Jenny Durkan, Resign in Disgrace. With a title like " Jenny Durkan, Resign in Disgrace ", it's pretty obvious Seattle artist Left at London (real name: Nat Puff) does not mince words. And in the verses of today's Song of the Day, she teams up with guest rapper Nobi to sing: Fuck you, and the slavers that you work for...

The Budos Band - "Long in the Tooth" from the 2020 album Long in the Tooth on Daptone Records. Twenty years hardly makes one "long in the tooth," but Brooklyn's Budos Band are celebrating two decades as a musical unit (and 15 years from the release of their debut album) with their sixth LP, Long in the Tooth , out October 9th via Daptone Records. The album continues to expand on their soul-inspire...

Sneaks - "Faith" from the 2020 album Happy Birthday on Merge Records. A new album from Sneaks is definitely 'cause for celebration, and this fourth full-length from Washington, DC’s Eva Moolchan provides a party-perfect groove with electronic dance beats and a Liquid Liquid-influenced bass line.  Like last year's album, Highway Hypnosis , she teams up with mixing engineer Carlos Hernand...

Smokescreens - "I Love Only You" from the 2020 album A Strange Dream on Slumberland Records. With their melodic, jangle-pop sound, you might mistake Smokescreens for a New Zealand band. But it's no surprise this Los Angeles-based band's music is infused with the classic "Flying Nun" sound, when David Kilgour, of legendary Dunedin band The Clean, is behind the production on their latest full-length...

Bully - "Hours and Hours" from the 2020 album SUGAREGG on Sub Pop. On Bully 's third album SUGAREGG , frontwoman/songwriter Alicia Bognanno took a more introspective approach to her '90s-inspired, fuzzed-out grunge-pop. “There was change that needed to happen and it happened on this record,” she said in a press statement. “Derailing my ego and insecurities allowed me to give thes...

Terror/Cactus - "Guanaco" from the 2020 self-released album Confluencia. Local producer Martín Selasco was born in Buenos Aires and raised in Miami, and he brings these influences to Seattle via his electro-cumbia project Terror/Cactus . His latest LP Confluencia is an auditory journey through the spectacular landscapes of South America, combining mesmerizing rhythms and psychedelic guitars...

Yanna - "Marcaperu," a 2020 self-released single. "My friends take care of me / Not the police" On her debut single "Marcaperu," Afro-Peruvian artist Yanna (real name: Brenda Carpio) uses her voice to denounce the injustices she sees around her: racism, discrimination, and violence.  Raised in the San Martín de Porres district of Lima, Peru, Yanna moved to France to study International...