In Our Headphones

Ooh La La - "Life's Too Fast To Feel" a 2023 self-released single. There's not a lot of information out there yet about brand-new Los Angeles-based duo Ooh La La, but sharp-eyed KEXP listeners might recognize the name Kii Arens from the liner notes of past Live at KEXP compilation albums! The long-time artist/director/graphic designer has previously created album covers for us. Now, relocated from his hometown of Minneapolis to Los Angeles, he and partner Jessy Greene (who has played violin for P!nk, Foo Fighters, and others) have launched this new musical project. The band reports on Facebook that today's Song of the Day will be released this summer as a double single via Killer Kern Records. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CIEL - "Somebody" a 2023 single on Jazz Life With today's Song of the Day, Brighton-based trio Ciel share a sneak peek at their upcoming EP Make It Better, which will be released July 7th via Jazz Life.  “’Somebody’ is a song that came together for most part on the spot in the studio," frontwoman Michelle Hindriks explained in a press release. "It’s about starting to feel a deep urge to socialise, connect with others, party and be more outwards again after a period of needing solitude. Spring time is always a time when this naturally happens to me – getting out of my kind of winter hibernation and feeling that urge to be around people.” The track definitely has a '90s-influenced fuzzed-out jubilance that will have you pogo'ing any leftover winter doldrums right off.  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Telehealth - Taliesin Grid a 2023 single on Very Famous. Telehealth is the Seattle-based project of Alexander Attitude (Deep Sea Diver, Brian John Appleby) and Kendra Cox (Lemolo) that make Devo-esque synthscapes targeting capitalism and the absurdities of our modern world. Their debut album Content Oscillator was released in March and specifically delves into Alexander Attitude's transition from musician to architect and back to musician, after discovering his disillusionment with their utopian visions and the aesthetics of sustainability which consequently became a tool for developers to sit comfortably within a political domain that is essentially capitalist and centrist. Our Song of the Day “Taliesin Grid” specifically hones in on this idea. “Straight line, black suit /Just when you see it, start to move /Not made, great men /Stuck in repetition,” Attitude declares in monotone over arpeggiated synths. He continues on, “A name that still survives /Dank Lloyd Wright /Architects they come, yeah /Architects they go /But materials finite.” Content Oscillator features production from Trevor Spencer (Valley Maker, Spirit Award, Deep Sea Diver, Chastity Belt) and mastering by the legendary Ed Brooks. Watch the video for “Taliesin Grid" and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nabihah Iqbal - Dreamer from the 2023 album DREAMER on Ninja Tune. In late April, Nabihah Iqbal dropped her long-awaited sophomore record Dreamer via Ninja Tune. Five years after the release of her debut, Weighing of the Heart, and six since Iqbal’s last EP under her former moniker Throwing Shade, the record is a resplendent re-introduction to the London-born artist, curator, broadcaster and lecturer. Blending elements of early ‘80s electronica, shoegaze, and trance with ruminative lyricism, it’s a record that hits the heart as much as it does the body. The story behind the record starts in agony, as many great records do, with Iqbal’s studio being burglarized in early 2020 and all her work lost, including what was supposed to be her sophomore record. Piling onto the trauma, her grandfather suffered a brain hemorrage leading Iqbal to fly to Pakistan shortly before the pandemic hit and stranding her there as the world shut down. But as all creatives know, what doesn’t kill you, gives you better material for your work. It was there that the first seeds of Dreamer appeared, with just an acoustic guitar and a harmonium. Our Song of the Day is the album’s title track “Dreamer.” One of less trancey songs on the album, the song is a combination of Best Coast breeziness and Cocteau Twinsian dreaminess. The lyricism is pure unadulterated bliss, “Dream of me /And I'II dream of you,” Iqbal coos. “Sun so soft /And sky so blue /This love is happy love.” The song comes with a video shot in 700-year old palace in Old Lahore, Pakistan and directed by Zayan Agha, who said this of the video, “Taking a documentarian's approach to directing the music video, I gave Nabihah the freedom to discover the vibrant chaos of Lahore. I filmed her navigating through the city's mundane cacophony, resulting in a surreal and dreamy visual experience that vividly portrays the city's essence.” Watch the video and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

mui zyu - "Demon 01" from the 2023 album Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century on Father/Daughter Records With her solo project mui zyu, London-based musician Eva Liu (also of Dama Scout) sought to capture the sounds she heard growing up at her family's Chinese restaurant. As she explains to Talkhouse:  My debut record, Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century, is about self-exploration and identity, at times told through a lens inspired by fantasy video-games and Chinese folklore. In the process of pulling together the themes for this collection of songs, I reflected on my own childhood and began to uncover sounds from my memory... Since we worked on this record, I feel even more tuned in to sounds around me all the time. For the most part, this has been a wonderful shift in my consciousness. Abrasive sounds that used to cause me stress are now intriguing — I’ll think about how they are made, what is causing the friction, how the air is moving, and I might even try to find rhythms in the chaos. I have welcomed this newfound relationship with my sonic surroundings and wonder if it’s played a role in my overall wellbeing. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sessa - "Vento a Favor" a 2023 single on Mexican Summer São Paulo-based musician Sessa returns with his first new single since last year's enchanting LP Estrela Acesa. The track is co-produced by Brazilian artist Biel Basile and American musician Mikey Coltun, who also plays bass in Mdou Moctar.  "'Vento a Favor' started as a track meant to be on Estrela Acesa," he tells Stereogum. "It was recorded, mixed, and mastered in the same sessions as the whole LP but somewhere along the way, when putting the pieces together, I started to feel that its energy was different from the story I was trying to tell with the record. The track was a bit too sure of its force and movement forward, outwards, while Estrela Acesa’s gesture was something more of an inward look, a whisper to the soul. But you know, nothing wrong with that, breathing goes both in and out." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

deary - "Fairground (Saint Etienne Remix)" a 2023 single on Sonic Cathedral. London-based dreampop duo deary couldn't have chosen a better group than long-running UK trio Saint Etienne and composer Augustin Bousfield to remix their debut single, "Fairground." (The mix is formally titled the "Saint Etienne Meet Augustin Bousfield At The Top Of Town Mix.") “It was fun putting the guitars down for once, playing around with different synths instead,” says Ben, co-founder of deary. “I got into [Saint Etienne's 1991 debut LP] Foxbase Alpha in a big way while studying at Goldsmiths via the Dusty Springfield sample on ‘Nothing Can Stop Us.' I love that record; the drum samples and the pop sensibilities were a real inspiration for both ‘Fairground’ and deary as a whole. We absolutely love their reworking of ‘Fairground,’ it’s really trippy and such a joy to have them work on our stuff. A thousand thank yous to them and Augustin.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Corvair - Right Hook from the 2023 self-released album Bound to Be. Portland duo Corvair describe themselves as “Scorpio weirdo power duo serving up lush guitar pop w/ sharp incisors,” which this fellow Scorpio can certainly appreciate. Made up of Brian Naubert (Ruston Mire, Tube Top, Pop Sickle, The Service Providers) and Heather Larimer (Eux Autres), the romantic, as well as musical, duo are veterans of the Portland music scene. They released their debut self-titled album in 2021 and are following it up with their sophomore full-length Bound to Be on June 23rd. The lead single off the record is “Right Hook,” explores a dark night in a relationship where the protagonist is ready to fight. “On this record, I pushed myself to be more exposed and unfiltered,” explains Larimer of the song. “I can unfortunately be an ugly fighter and I wondered what would happen lyrically if I just owned up to it. The things I do that I am ashamed of and the toll it takes on everyone involved.” “The musical spine of this song was me thinking about Tears for Fears meets King Crimson,” Nuebert says of the instrumentation. “But then Heather wrapped that art rock foundation in a Blondie-meets-Shirelles pop energy. It’s a strange combination that fits the story–out of control emotions that end in shame and regret.” Watch the video for "Right Hook" and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feeble Little Horse - Tin Man from the 2023 album Girl with Fish on Saddle Creek. Pittsburgh quartet Feeble Little Horse formed three years ago during the pandemic lull but have exploded since dropping their 2021 debut full-length Hayday. They’re on the verge of releasing its follow-up, Girl With Fish, via Saddle Creek, a perfect home for their slowcore brand of noise pop. Out June 9th, we’ve so far gotten three tastes of Girl With Fish, “Steamroller,” “Pocket,” and our Song of the Day “Tin Man.” Starting with a mathy guitar line directly inspired by Slint’s incredible “Breadcrumb Trail,” a rush of feedback roars in as frontwoman Lydia Slocum delivers her trademark deadpan vocals about a vapid, emotionless manipulator. “Took him apart and I found nobody/But when I dent you, I end up bruised.” “The song is about people who use sadness to control your actions because they know you will sympathize,” Slocum says of the song. “Oftentimes when these people are investigated there really is not much inside them, they just use emotions to get what they want out of other people. I have my qualms with this sort of person.” “‘Tin Man’ is one of the songs that represents a new style of writing for us as a group,” explains guitarist/co-songwriter Ryan Walchoski. “This song went back and forth through Google Drive links, trying to come up with the best iteration of the song that we were all happy with; vocals recorded, scrapped and re-recorded, drums scrapped and re-recorded, the chorus at one point was completely different.” Feeble Little Horse will be touring the US starting in June, with a date in Seattle on Wednesday, July 5th at Barboza. Watch the video for “Tin Man" and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ĠENN - "A Reprise (That Girl)" a 2023 single on Liminal Collective On today's Song of the Day, Anglo-Maltese quartet ĠENN team up with guest vocalist John Newton (of fellow four-letters-all-caps duo JOHN) for this stylistically sinister slice of post-punk.  On their Bandcamp page, vocalist Leona Farrugia speaks to the track's themes: “Naturally I’ve always felt like there’s a pressure to compare myself, be that through the lens of present technologies or within the creative industry. It’s something that can be very debilitating, especially to young people in a patriarchal society.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.