Each week, Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP's rotation. These reviews help our DJs decide on what they want to play. See what we added this week below (and on our Charts page), including new releases from Chris Farren, Girl Ray, MMYYKK, and more.
Chris Farren – Doom Singer (Polyvinyl)
The fourth solo album from this LA-based member of Antarctigo Vespucci and former member of Fake Problems is a potent set of hook-filled power-pop. Produced by Melina Duterte (aka Jay Som), the album combines crunchy guitars, occasional sax (courtesy of former bandmate Jeff Rosenstock) and punchy rhythms with soaring choruses and lyrics of anxiety, uncertainty and resilience.
Girl Ray – Prestige (Moshi Moshi)
This British trio’s third album is a strong set of dance-friendly electro-pop inflected with disco, funk and other styles, combining shimmering synths, glittering guitars and propulsive rhythms with buttery vocals and lyrics of love, desire and celebration.
MMYYKK – The Midst of Things (Sway Heavy)
The debut full-length from this Minneapolis artist (aka Mychael Fisher) is a potent set of neo-soul inflected with funk, hip hop, jazz and other styles, combining a variety of blunted beats and warm keyboards with lyrics of trauma, alienation and resilience.
Florry – The Holey Bible (Dear Life)
The third album from this Philly band led by Francie Medosch is a strong set of raw country-rock combining twangy guitars, fiddle, pedal steel, harmonica and more with ramshackle harmonies and lyrics of love, hope, joy and celebration.
BAMBII – INFINITY CLUB EP (Innovative Leisure)
This Toronto-based DJ/producer’s debut EP is a vibrant blend of dancehall, jungle, R&B and other styles, combining hard-hitting club beats with a variety of guest vocalists including Aluna, Ragz Originale, Lady Lykez, Sydanie and Lamsi.
Homeboy Sandman – Rich (Dirty Looks)
This Brooklyn rapper’s latest album is a potent set of underground hip hop combining a variety of adventurous beats courtesy of New York producer Mono En Stereo with his liquid flow and rhymes of personal growth.
Brad – In the Moment That You’re Born (LooseGroove)
This Seattle band’s sixth and final album features some of the last recordings made by lead vocalist Shawn Smith (who passed away in 2019). It’s a potent set of moody rock inflected at times with gospel, funk and other styles, combining swirling guitars, piano, occasional sax and more with Smith soulful vocals.
Aphex Twin – Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760 EP (Warp)
The latest Aphex Twin release (and first in five years) from British producer/musician Richard D. James is a four-song EP of adventurous electronic grooves with skittering breakbeats and atmospheric synths.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland – The Ones Ahead (Transgressive)
The first studio album in 19 years from this Philly-bred, New Brunswick-based trans artist is a well-crafted set of ballad-heavy chamber-pop inflected at times with jazz, West African pop and other styles, featuring an often-spare sound combining piano, strings and more with his rich vocals and lyrics of love, identity and climate change.
William Matheny – That Grand, Old Feeling (Hickman Holler/Thirty Tigers)
The second solo album from this West Virginia artist is a well-crafted set of roots-tinged rock combining acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, occasional pedal steel and other instrumentation with often-wistful melodies and lyrics revolving around life on the road.
Annie Hart – The Weight of a Wave (Uninhabitable Mansions)
The fourth solo album from this member of Brooklyn trio Au Revoir Simone is her most energetic solo release, featuring a mostly uptempo blend of New Wave, motorik prog and other styles. The album combines bright vintage synths and atmospheric guitars with often-sunny melodies and backing vocals from Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, The Antlers, Madeline Kenney and Beverly’s Drew Citron.
Mikaela Davis – And Southern Star (Kill Rock Stars)
This Hudson Valley, NY-based vocalist/harpist’s second album is a well-crafted set of folk-pop inflected at times with country, psych-pop and other styles, combining harp, guitar, pedal steel and more with her breathy vocals and lyrics of isolation, connection and renewal.
Stag – We Got It All EP (Pop Maelstrom)
This Seattle band’s latest release is a strong four-song EP blending power-pop, glam-rock and other styles, combining crunchy guitars, punchy rhythms and an abundance of catchy song hooks.
Current Joys – Love + Pop (Secretly Canadian)
The latest Current Joys album from Reno-bred, LA-based artist Nick Rattigan radically transforms his post-punk sound through an adventurous blend of hyperpop, hip hop, lo-fi bedroom pop, house and other styles.
Holy Wave – Five of Cups (Suicide Squeeze)
This Austin band’s fifth album is a solid set of nocturnal psych-rock with atmospheric guitars, spacy synths, bittersweet melodies and lyrics of loss, grief and rebirth.
Water Machine – Raw Liquid Power EP (Upset the Rhythm)
This Scottish band’s debut EP is a solid set of scrappy, playful post-punk with taut guitar riffs, atmospheric synths, spiky rhythms and catchy song hooks.
Vinyl Williams – Aeterna (Harmony)
The seventh Vinyl Williams album from LA-based artist Lionel Williams is a solid set of atmospheric psych-pop with shimmering synths, hushed vocals and dreamy melodies.
Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP's rotation, including this week's new releases from Anohni and the Johnsons, Palehound, Haviah Mighty, and more.
Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP's rotation, including this week's new releases from Geese, Militarie Gun, Cory Hanson, and more.
Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP's rotation, including this week's new releases from Janelle Monae, Squid, Feeble Little Horse, and more.
