In Our Headphones

Seth Bogart - “Men on the Verge of Nothing” from Men on the Verge of Nothing on Wacky Wacko Records. Inspired in equal measure by Pedro Almodóvar and Poly Styrene, the artist formerly known as Hunx spins the former’s classic 1988 dark comedy (titled Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) into a treatise on the uselessness of male privilege. The album’s title track zeroes in on this concept through the vehicle of lighthearted new wave while Bogart takes Mr. Know-It-Alls to task as they fail upwards.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

STR4TA - "Aspects (Demus Dub)," a 2020 single on Brownswood Recordings. While 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic have kept us from dancing out our sorrows, artists and producers around the globe are still holing up in their studios to give us sensational, future dance floor hits. Case in point, the new Brit-Funk project STR4TA. The project’s debut single ‘Aspects’ was recorded in a London shed just before lockdown went into effect before getting a release this fall. The infectious grooves get even more dazzling with the b-side dub mix by producer Demus. Funk and psychedelia instrumentation collide with raw, dance rhythms for a perfect impromptu at-home dance party to tide us over until we can all return to the clubs. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nubya Garcia - "The Message Continues" from the 2020 album SOURCE on Concord. British jazz wunderkind Nubya Garcia made an awe-inspiring debut this year with her LP, ‘SOURCE.’ Her jazz bona fides and prowess are in full view with “The Message Continues,” a stirring instrumental that sees Garcia’s saxophone taking center stage amongst a wondrous fray of sensational drumming and hypnotic keys and bass lines. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blue Hawaii - "Not My Boss!" from the 2020 EP Under 1 House on Arbutus Records. With one member in Berlin and one in Montreal, Blue Hawaii fuses together a globe-spanning dance party with each new record. “Not My Boss” from their latest release, ‘Under 1 House,’ finds the duo bringing together sultry synth pads with classic house rhythms and battlecry: “You’re not my boss, I’m my own damn woman.” It’s the fuel to dance off frustration and find strength on the dancefloor. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Antonioni - "Malcomer," a 2020 self-released single. Seattle’s Antonioni are on their way up! With a couple EPs under their belt, the indie band recently signed with Lauren Records and are on the verge of releasing their debut album. The latest single to be shared is “Malcomer,” a dark and dreamy odyssey that burns and builds with shimmering textures and showcases frontperson Sarah Pasillas’ haunting voice that brings to mind the unique, quavering tones of Adrianne Lenker and Frances Quinlan. Pasillas had this to say about “Malcomer”: "This song is about the journey of finding validation in the self, in what you love and do, in the face of everything you feel is against you. It’s kind of a peek into how I feel when I think about men in music and men in general: it feels they have automatic permission and authority to be and express. This song is supposed to be a celebration of finding and knowing the self, finding and knowing vulnerability and moving forward with it, even more sure of yourself than before.” The song was shared alongside a video of the band hanging out and playing music. Read the full post and watch the video on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Julia Jacklin - "to Perth, before the border closes," a 2020 single on Sub Pop. For some artists, the idea of being on the road and the constant change is a high unlike any other. Which would make the current situation with Covid-19 a difficult one, to say the least. Julia Jacklin is one of those artists and she expresses the idea of chasing the high of change via locale on last month’s “to Perth, before the border closes,” a 7” release for Sub Pop Singles Club, Vol. 5 alongside the song “CRY.” “I’ve moved around a lot the last 5 years,” explains Jacklin. “Chasing things, love, work, something new, whatever and there’s always this fear that I’m leaving good things behind just to go somewhere else and be lonely. Whispering ‘everything changes’ to myself helps get me to sleep at night. I started writing this song in Melbourne and finished it in Perth. It was like a little song bridge between the two cities to make the change easier.” The song comes with a self-directed video of interesting signs, trinkets, and relics found on a recent road trip that epitomize these “unprecedented times” from an abandoned Dr. Phil book, a news report about Trump testing positive for COVID-19, and a sign reading “We’re all in this together.” Read the full post and watch the video on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MorMor - "Don't Cry," a 2020 single on Don't Guess Inc. For the past couple of years, Toronto’s MorMor (musician Seth Nyquist) has been crafting spellbindingly evocative music that has the power to cut your heart in two. Following up 2018’s Heaven’s Only Wishful EP and last year’s Some Place Else EP comes the single “Don’t Cry.” Pulsating with a feverish darkness, the raw lyrics capture the anxiety of lockdown during which the song was made. “I’m tired of the days/ They came and went/ We were left alone/ Finding it hard to breathe,” warbles Nyquist, who had this to say about the song:  “I had started to write again in December with a few songs underway, but in March the world as we knew it came to a halt. Though I tried to continue writing it didn’t feel right. I was told I was being hard on myself, but I have always used music as a way of making sense of things. Suddenly there were just too many things to make sense of: A Global pandemic, the sudden lockdown, shortly followed by the protests. "Voices were raised around the world because people have had enough. Mourning has become so painful that people are demanding changes. I felt I had to reflect that. Tears have fallen and we can no longer pretend that we’re not all in this together." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nilüfer Yanya - “Crash” from the 2020 Feeling Lucky? EP on ATO Records. After a momentous 2019 with her excellent, critically acclaimed debut ‘Miss Universe,’ Nilüfer Yanya is coming back for more. The English songwriter recently announced the ‘Feeling Lucky?’ EP, due out Dec. 11 through ATO Records. The first offering from the record comes with the anthemic single “Crash.” Co-written by Nick Hakim, “Crash” showcases layers of Yanya enigmatic vocals swirling above some of her most fuzzed-out instrumental arrangements yet. Seemingly pulling influence from noise rock, Yanya still maintains the pop-leanings that made ‘Miss Universe’ such a rousing success. Even while the distortion of the instrumentation seems to shake the room, Yanya sounds steady and unphased, even as she threatens to “crash” if prompted with one more question. We can all only aspire to stay so cool and nonchalant as Yanya does while the world around us crumbles. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Loma - “Half Silences” from the 2020 album Don’t Shy Away on Sub Pop. Loma never anticipated going this far. The project began as an impromptu collaboration with songwriter Emily Cross, recording engineer Dan Duszynski, and Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg, converging to record their 2018 self-titled debut. After releasing the record and touring, each member intended to go back to their own projects. However, it only took a few months away from each other before they realized they wanted to keep Loma going. The trio holed up in Duszynski’s Texas home studio to record their sophomore effort, ‘Don’t Shy Away,’ which was recently released on Sub Pop. “Don’t Shy Away” vindicates the bands decision to keep moving forward. The brooding, slow dirge finds the band at their best. Cross’ voice wields a stark intensity, looming over the restrained but tense instrumentation. It’s a marvel of studio wizardry, with static and eerie distortion and synth drones crashing over the steady pulse of drums and bass. It’s Loma at their best, pushing each other into bold, luminous new sonic territories. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Weep Wave - "Bury the Bones," a 2020 self-released single. If you've been missing the casual acquaintanceship of neighborhood pups during the quarantine, you are not alone. Local psych-rock trio Weep Wave feel your pain.  “I started missing it being socially acceptable to approach strangers with dogs," frontman Dylan Fuentes admitted to Melted Magazine. "I do not have a dog of my own so I have to solely rely on the generous free pets of strangers and their adorable dogs,” said Dylan Fuentes. “I figured I wasn’t alone and this inspired the lyrics to the song. I also felt bad for all the dogs out there who haven't seen their doggy pals in a while and have no idea why.”  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.