In Our Headphones

Ana Tijoux - "Pa Que" from the 2020 single Antifa on Victoria Producciones Spa. The phrase "Pa Qué?" roughly translates into "So why?", and it's a question French-Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux has been asking herself since the pandemic has begun. On her forthcoming full-length, titled Antifa Dance , Tijoux vents her frustration with the current political climate during such a difficult time. To...

Postcards - Fossilized - from the 2020 album The Good Soldier on T3 Records. Beirut-based trio Postcards continue to expand on the shoegaze sound they shared on their 2018 debut full-length I'll be here in the morning . With their latest LP, titled The Good Soldier , they explore darker post-punk territories while still keeping it dreamy with Julia Sabra's angelic vocals. In an interview with Joy...

Nation of Language - "Rush & Fever" from the 2020 self-released album Introduction, Presence. It will come as no surprise that Brooklyn synth-pop band Nation Of Language found inspiration in early new wave — specifically, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s 1980 single “Electricity.” Their debut LP, titled Introduction, Presence , shimmers with synths and vocalist Ian D...

Desire - "Escape" from the 2020 album Escape on Italians Do It Better. It's been nearly a decade-long wait, but Italians Do It Better outfit Desire return with a new album titled Escape .  Fronted by Montreal-based vocalist Megan Louise, and featuring production by label impresario Johnny Jewel, Desire continue to craft dreamy disco/synth-pop. As they describe it, "Megan Louise sings tales of...

THE NEVERLY BOYS - "Never Come Down" from the 2020 self-released album Dark Side of Everything. THE NEVERLY BOYS finds Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio teaming up with Swedish singer/songwriter Daniel Ledinsky to explore "the unknown, the magic, the heartbreaks, and the aspirations," as they put it, on their debut album Dark Side of Everything . (The two teamed up previously to co-write songs for Blo...

Lomelda - "Wonder" from the 2020 album Hannah on Double Double Whammy. From the swamps of Silsbee, TX emerges singer/songwriter Hannah Read, who records under the name Lomelda , but she re-embraces her birth name for the title of her forthcoming fifth full-length, Hannah , out September 4th via Double Double Whammy. Read recorded the album with her brother Tommy over the span of a year, apparently...

Wye Oak - "AEIOU" from the 2020 No Horizon EP on Merge Records. The duo of Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack — better known to us as Wye Oak — have teamed up with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus for the brand-new five-song EP No Horizon , out now via Merge Records. “There’s this sense of communion of making music with other people in real time and space, and that’s something that...

BRONSON (new ODESZA & Golden Features Project) - "VAULTS" from the 2020 album BRONSON on Foreign Family Collective/Ninja Tune. Northwest electronic duo Odesza have teamed up with Australian producer Golden Features as BRONSON , releasing a self-titled debut album that they say in a press release, reflects "their respective needs to challenge personal struggles, both internal and external." The...

Mexican Institute of Sound & Gaby Moreno - "Yemayá," a 2020 self-released single. For the track "Yemayá," singer/songwriter Gaby Moreno teamed up with Camilo Lara's Mexican Institute Of Sound project for an ode to the Afro-Carribean goddess who represents fertility, water, and self-love. "She's a powerful woman of color taking all forms," Moreno told the Recording Academy . "It's...

Pillow Queens - "Handsome Wife" from the 2020 self-released album In Waiting. Dublin's Pillow Queens were both "resonant and rapturous" during KEXP's Iceland Airwaves Music Festival broadcast last year, and the Irish quartet continue to bring that power to their highly-anticipated debut album In Waiting , out September 25th. For the first single off the forthcoming full-length, they share an upbea...

Crack Cloud - "Tunnel Vision" from the 2020 album Pain Olympics on Meat Machine Records. Through the fog of Vancovuer's opioid crisis, Crack Cloud emerged. “Crack Cloud was an outlet for me during the early days of my rehab,” vocalist and drummer Zach Choy explained to NME . “A way of addressing things I’d internalised over the years, the anxiety and turmoil I used to deal...

Maajo - "Esukey (feat. Ismaila Sané)" from the 2020 album Kuru Kuru on Queen Nanny. Though hailing from Tampere, Finland, Maajo find influence in traditional African music, combining it with modern electronic sounds. They continue to explore this fusion on their second LP Kuru Kuru , released earlier this year on Queen Nanny Records, and on today's Song of the Day, they team up with Senegal...

Black Ends - "Monday Mourning" from the 2020 self-released Stay Evil EP. With today's Song of the Day, Seattle's  Black Ends contend with acceptance against a grunge-y backdrop. Frontperson Nicolle Swims told KEXP when we premiered the track :  “‘Monday Mourning’ is a pretty bleak song although it may not sound that way at first listen. it’s basically about t...

Braids - "Snow Angel" from the 2020 album Shadow Offering on Secret City Records.  Today's Song of the Day was written by Montreal-based band Braids in the wake of the 2016 election, "as our collective conscience took a sharp inhale,” as vocalist Raphaelle Standell-Preston put it in a press release. She elaborates: “It’s a diary entry of sorts – a snapshot of the...

Chong the Nomad - "Take Two" (feat. Hollis), a 2020 self-released single. Seattle-based artist  Chong the Nomad (real name: Alda Agustiano) returns this summer with the soulful jam "Take Two," a collaboration with Grammy-nominated local artist Hollis Wong-Wear (more on her here ). On a trip to Los Angeles, Agustiano connected with Hollis and Grammy-nominated producer Rog&e...

Nick Hakim - "QADIR" from the 2020 album WILL THIS MAKE ME GOOD on ATO Records. On today's KEXP Song of the Day, New York-based artist Nick Hakim shares a deeply personal tribute to his childhood friend Qadir Imhotep West, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 25. (That's a photo of West that adorns the cover of Hakim's latest album, WILL THIS MAKE ME GOOD .)  “He was a little younger t...

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - "Honey," a 2020 single on Flightless Records. Earlier this month, Australian psych-rock royalty King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard shared their first new material of 2020 with the single "Honey."    “I wrote this song a couple of years ago,” frontman Stu Mackenzie revealed on Twitter . “It’s nice to have it out in...

Eggshells - "Unknown," a 2020 self-released single. Seattle trio Eggshells brings together the talents of the Verdoes siblings (Peter of In Praise of Folly, Can the Boy Tell Time, and Benjamin of Iska Dhaaf, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, In Praise of Folly) and songwriter Sera Han, who brings the perspective of a first-generation immigrant queer woman to their moody trip-hop sound. Today’s So...

The Jayhawks - “This Forgotten Town” from the 2020 album XOXO on Sham/Thirty Tigers. On their 11th LP, the members of long-running Americana band The Jayhawks all share songwriting duties for the first time ever. On today's Song of the Day, in particular, lead singer Gary Louris and drummer Tim O’Reagan share vocals on a track co-written by Louris and bassist Marc Perlman. ...

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio - “Inner City Blues,” a 2020 single on Colemine Records. Back in June, Colemine Records launched the Brighter Days Ahead singles series, a response to the stay-at-home orders and the subsequent loss of income from canceling tours, postponing release dates, and ceasing the manufacturing for LPs and 45s. "We wanted to come up with some way to give our fans and ou...

IDLES - “Grounds” from the 2020 album Ultra Mono on Partisan Records. Bristol-based post-punk band IDLES return this fall with their third LP, titled Ultra Mono , out September 25th via Partisan. They've previously shared the singles " A Hymn " and  “ Mr. Motivator ,” and for today's Song of the Day, we're sharing the single "Grounds." Frontman Joe Talbot explained in...

SAULT - “Wildfires” from the 2020 album Untitled (Black Is) on Forever Living Originals. "The bloodshed on your hands Another man Take off your badge We all know it was murder" As we reported last year, not much is known about the mysterious London-based band SAULT , but their feelings on police brutality and systemic racism couldn't be clearer on their third LP titled Untitled (Black...

Akasha System - "Warped Shadow" from the 2019 album Echo Earth on 100% Silk. With his project Akasha System , Portland-based producer Hunter P. Thompson brings the lush nature of the Northwest to his electronic beats. On his Bandcamp page, he says the new album, Echo Earth , was inspired by “days and nights spent in the forests,” “long stretches of back road trails,” and &l...

India Jordan - "For You" from the 2020 album For You on Local Action Records. London-based producer and DJ India Jordan recently released a six-track EP titled For You , a release they call their “largest and most personal” release to date. The album photography was shot in the bathroom of London’s Dalston Superstore venue, a legendary LGBTQ+ venue. In a press release, they expla...

Land of Talk - "Weight of That Weekend" from the 2020 album Indistinct Conversations on Saddle Creek. Montreal-based singer-songwriter Elizabeth Powell revived her Land Of Talk project, releasing the new album Indistinct Conversations earlier this year. As hinted in its title, today's Song of the Day does, indeed, look at heavier topics. In a press release, Powell explained: “Weight of That...