In Our Headphones

Sólveig Matthildur - "Dystopian Boy" from the 2019 album Constantly In Love on Artoffact Records. As a member of Icelandic trio Kælan Mikla, vocalist/keyboardist Sólveig Matthildur knows her way around atmospheric synth-pop. When she relocated from her hometown of Reykjavík to Berlin, she began to produce music on her own, resulting in the 2016 debut LP Unexplained Miseries & the Acceptance of Sorrow, which went on to win the Icelandic Kraumur Award. Her 2019 follow-up album, Constantly in Love, continued to expand on her goth-tinged new wave, adding a little light to the darkness with the single "Dystopian Boy." The track features L.A.-based artist Deb Demure (aka Drab Majesty) on guitar, and together they craft an ethereal, '80s-inspired track that would fit right into a John Hughes movie. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sinead O’Brien - "Taking On Time" from the 2019 album Speedy Wunderground - Year 4 on Speedy Wunderground. Esteemed London-based label Speedy Wunderground celebrated their 30th release with a new track by Irish poet Sinead O’Brien. O’Brien's work has been published for years, including a short story of hers printed in the London Review Of Books. Punk poet John Cooper Clarke invited her to open for him on a spoken word tour, a moment that changed her life. "He actually introduced me to the music of Mark E. Smith – probably one of my most valuable references ever," she recalled in an interview with Loud & Quiet. Like The Fall frontman, O’Brien recites her lines with a stoic cadence, an oratorical delivery, though hers is thick with an Irish brogue.  “I would love people to dance to it,” she continued. “It’s the pace. I always try to do things faster than anyone will let me, then it gets pulled back just a tinge. Runaway, that’s my feeling. Always.” Read the full post at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

L’éclair - "Suite No. 2" from the 2019 album Sauropoda on Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records. It's not surprising to learn that L’Eclair recorded their latest LP Sauropoda from an undisclosed location in the Alps: their music displays an array of influences as vast as the famous European mountain range itself. From krautrock to disco with Afro-Cuban percussion, the Swiss septet managed to capture an atmospheric groove in a 48-hour recording session.  Bassist Elie Ghersinu explained to Popmatters, "We were just thinking of recording the last jams that we had developed during the last year's shows, and I think we just got inspired in the moment and we recorded some new jams, new songs, and it turned out to be an album. It was not meant to be an album." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Balkan Taksim - "Zalina," a 2019 self-released single. True to their name, Balkan Taksim take the traditional folk music of their homeland and combine it with psychedelic electronic beats that their Romanian ancestors never could've imagined. Formed by multi-instrumentalist Sașa-Liviu Stoianovici, producer Alin Zăbrăuțeanu, and percussionist Cosmo, the band thrive on stage, hypnotizing the hips of the audience. In a press release, Stoianovici explains that today's featured track is "about a strong-minded, beautiful girl and a man who is desperately in love with her. Musically, the song epitomises some of the directions we're pursuing, with its Romanian traditional vocals and keyboard stylings and laid-back yet dance floor-oriented trip-hop electronics."  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jesse Markin - “Run” from the 2019 album FOLK on VILD Music.  Finnish rapper Jesse Markin got his start with the group The Megaphone State, building up a cult following with their soulful samples and smooth, versatile rhymes. While you can still these elements in Markin’s solo music, there’s a newfound intensity that’s risen to the surface on his first LP FOLK. It was a conscious decision to begin addressing serious topics, from love and loneliness to xenophobia and greed.  On “Run” you can feel this immediately with a rush of thundering drums, synthesizer droning, and pitched-up chants. The energy only picks up as Markin jumps in, delivering fiery verses over industrial beats. Through the chaos his voice rises as the most dominant force in the music as he exudes his greatness while sneering at those stuck in their prejudices.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tomo Nakayama - "Get To Know You" from the 2020 self-released album Melonday. This week, Tomo Nakayama, master of cinematic indie-folk and former leader of local band Grand Hallway, flipped the script by releasing his very first dancefloor-ready record, Melonday. A massive departure from his tender, tranquil songs of past, the record is chock-full of groovy pop anthems. Our Song of the Day is the album’s lead single, “Get to Know You.”  “Tell me stories, tell me rhymes, tell me anything you like / Tell me all about the good things that could make you feel alive,” croons Nakayama over a propulsive beat that simmers and shakes. Co-produced with Yuuki Matthews, of the Shins and Teardrops, the song is a bright and beautiful synth-filled banger. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sharon Van Etten - "Beaten Down," a 2020 single on Jagjaguwar. Sharon Van Etten is on a roll. Following last year’s masterful studio album Remind Me Tomorrow, the singer-songwriter and actress returned in February with the smoldering single “Beaten Down.” The minimal song is dark and spacious, evoking the dubby trip-hop of the ‘90s.  Produced by John Congleton, the song focuses on “love, patience, and empathy,” Van Etten said in a statement. “It’s about making life-changing choices and remaining strong enough to see them through.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

RINSE - "Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me," a 2020 self-released single. Last month, Brisbane artist Joe Agius, member and co-writer of Hatchie, debuted his first material under the name RINSE. Titled “Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me,” the song is an infectious throwback mashup of post-punk, shoegaze, and new wave and was mixed by Jorge Elbrecht (Ariel Pink, Japanese Breakfast, Wild Nothing, Sky Ferreira) and mastered by Heba Kadry (Bjork, Slowdive, Beach House, Deerhunter). Agius has this to say about the song: “‘Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me' was recorded late last year at Airlock Studios in Brisbane and sonically sits in the middle of a lot of the music I've been getting ready in RINSE so felt like the right place to begin in. The song talks about a time in my life when I was wrapped up in a lifestyle that wasn't doing great things for my mental health and I lived in a place that only really encouraged that behavior. While I still have many things to figure out, I realized leaving this period of my life that a lot of what I was doing to make myself feel better was really making myself feel a lot worse.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andy Shauf - "Try Again" from the 2020 album The Neon Skyline on ANTI- Records. With his latest album, The Neon Skyline, Andy Shauf has crafted his most realized and engrossing work yet. You needn’t look much further than single “Try Again.” Shauf’s songwriting style is all finesse and detail. “Try Again” finds a narrator, presumably Shauf,  trying to salvage a relationship that just won’t stick. And while the heartache of the scenario writes itself, it’s Shauf’s scene setting with drunken gaffes and awkward exchanges that ground his breezy reflection, culminating in the gut punch of a line “I make a silent toast to the things that I do and don’t miss.” With the light light of strumming acoustic guitars and Shauf’s charming croon, it’s a story you can’t help but be invested in despite it’s inevitably tragic ending. Real the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Other Lives - “Lost Day” from the 2020 album For Their Love on ATO Records. In January, Oklahoma-bred indie folk outfit Other Lives announced their first album in nearly five years, following 2015’s Rituals. Titled For Their Love, the new record sees them continue their streak of transcendent indie folk that started in 2006 when they released Flight of the Flynns under the name Kunek. Our Song of the Day is the record’s lead single “Lost Day,” a lush jangly rambler filled with cinematic strings and heavenly choral vocals. Read the full post at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.