New Music Reviews (3/31)

Each week, Music Director Chris Sanley and Associate Music Director Alex Ruder share 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 Bria Salmena, Butcher Brown, Great Grandpa, and more. 

Bria Salmena - Big Dog (Sub Pop)
On her debut solo album, LA-based singer-songwriter Bria Salmena showcases her distinctive, bewitching vocals, penchant for writing an excellent hook, and ability to command an audience. The Toronto native’s indie-rock sound weaves undercurrents of shoegaze, dream pop, indie-folk and post-punk, revealing her palpable sonic tapestry. Rife with unbridled emotion, Big Dog is a big moment for Salmena, striking out on her own, firm in her footing as a singular artist with a focused vision. –CS

Butcher Brown - Letters From The Atlantic (Concord Jazz)
The latest from Virginia-bred ensemble Butcher Brown offers listeners a smooth, transportive soundscape with endless grooves, exceptional musicianship, and undeniable flair. Featuring complex arrangements and noteworthy guests, from Yaya Bey to Nicholas Payton, their effortless, kaleidoscopic blend of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, and bossa nova results in an instant classic and one of the quintet’s finest albums to date in an already storied career.  –CS

Great Grandpa - Patience, Moonbeam (Run For Cover)
On their first album in over five years, beloved Seattle outfit Great Grandpa re-emerges as their most fully formed, authentic selves. Ebbing and flowing from peaceful lullabies to triumphant moments of reckless abandon, the sonic spectrum on Patience, Moonbeam is wide, lush, vivid, and inviting. With their intricate arrangements, poetic lyrics, and Al Menne’s dreamy vocals, Great Grandpa feels like home. –CS

Perfume Genius - Glory (Matador)
Mike Hadreas has never disappointed — not once — and his seventh studio album as Perfume Genius is certainly no exception. Whether big, bright, and bombastic ("It’s A Mirror") or delicate and beautifully nuanced ("Clean Heart"), Glory leaves room for these cinematic chamber pop songs to expand and contract as Hadreas’ pristine vocals guide listeners through his deep and heartfelt lyricism, exploring themes of anxiety, grief and connection (or lack thereof). A truly collaborative affair with his partner Alan Wyffels, producer Blake Mills, and players Meg Duffy, Greg Uhlmann, Tim Carr, Jim Keltner, and Pat Kelly, Glory highlights Hadreas’ songwriting prowess, exceptional arrangements, and unwavering commitment to his craft of artful and honest expression, leaving much to discover with each listen. –CS

SPELLLING - Portrait of My Heart (Sacred Bones)
Christia Cabral — aka SPELLLING — has a magical way of reinventing and evolving her sound with each album, always to jaw-dropping results. She’s traversed from haunting experimental electro-pop to sweeping orchestral prog-pop with soulful undertones, and now, with her fourth album, she’s serving up lush, cinematic, melodic rock anthems. With epic hooks, densely layered arrangements, heavy guitar riffs, and her truly spellbinding vocals, Portrait of My Heart is big and bold, while still delivering tender sentiments, serving as yet another crowning achievement for SPELLLING. –CS

Destroyer - Dan’s Boogie (Merge)
Dan Bejar has an uncanny ability to surprise and delight with his sonic shapeshifting from album to album, while staying true to himself and maintaining a common thread of the familiar. With his signature vocals, idiosyncratic lyricism, and lively arrangements featuring piano, synths, organ, sax, guitars, and drum programming, this set of sprightly indie-pop walks the line between futuristic and timeless, with that distinct Destroyer swagger. –CS

Fusilier - Ambush (IS NOT MUSIC.)
Brooklyn’s Fusilier is making a grand entrance with his debut album Ambush. True to its title, these tracks provide a (welcome) auditory assault with a mind-bending fusion of rock, alt-R&B, punk, and alt-pop. Chaotically shifting from high-octane rockers to reflective, soulful meditations, Fusilier has crafted an innovative and memorable collection that demands many repeat listens.  –CS

Hannah Cohen - Earthstar Mountain (Bella Union/Congrats)
The latest album from Catskills, NY-based singer/songwriter Hannah Cohen is a sweet, nostalgia-soaked set of dreamy psych-pop, cosmic folk-pop, and glistening twang-pop with an earthy, low-key groovy charm. –AR

Kaidi Tatham - Miles Away (First Word)
The sixth solo album from veteran Belfast-based British multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and keyboard wizard Kaidi Tatham – also a former member of influential UK production outfit Bugz in the Attic and The Herbaliser Band – is yet another sweet set of groove-driven broken beat, jazz, house, soul, hip-hop, bruk, funk, bossa nova, and other rhythmic flavors. Aptly billed as “forward-thinking eclectic electronic jazz,” Kaidi’s swiftness on the Rhodes, pianos, synths, strings, horns, flute, and hypnotic drums shines bright once again, and gets a sweet vocal assist from rapper UHMEER (aka Jazzy Jeff’s son) on “Wave.” –AR

Kinlaw - gut ccheck (Bayonet)
NYC multidisciplinary artist Kinlaw unveiled quite the stunner with her sophomore studio album, as her dizzying blend of electropop, industrial, trap, and experimental elements yields a wholly unique and compelling art-pop sound. Showcasing her theatrical vocals, sinister beats, unsettling glitches, and infectious hooks, gut ccheck is a triumph that welcomes listeners to step outside of their comfort zones and embrace the endless possibilities of true innovation. –CS

Lucy Dacus - Forever Is A Feeling (Geffen)
The fourth studio album from Richmond, VA native Lucy Dacus is a warm, ornate, and tenderhearted collection of indie-pop gems. Lucy’s rich, buttery vocals effortlessly glide atop the lush instrumentation throughout Forever Is A Feeling as she reveals her most intimate and poetic lyricism to date. These intricate arrangements, featuring shimmering keys, enchanting strings, distorted guitars and propelling drums, are often subtle, allowing Lucy’s voice to rightfully remain in the spotlight. –CS

Mandrake Handshake - Earth-Sized Worlds (Tip Top Recordings)
The debut album from London/Oxford outfit Mandrake Handshake is an exhilarating fusion of psych, pop, jazz, krautrock, and post-punk, resulting in a vibrant collection that displays their masterful craft in full technicolor. This deep, dynamic ensemble boasts horns, keys, guitars, flutes, maracas, bongos, tambourine, tingsha, and SO much more to create sweeping, larger than life soundscapes with mesmerizing harmonies, hypnotic percussion, and irresistible grooves. Earth-Sized Worlds is compelling as hell, and one of the year’s strongest debuts. –CS

Sunbathe - Myself To You (Time Release)
The new album from Portland’s Sunbathe is a warm, infectious set of guitar-driven dream pop. Fronted and formed by singer-songwriter Maggie Morris, the band’s irresistible blend of garage, indie rock, doo-wop, and indie pop features vulnerable lyricism, undeniable hooks, and sweet melodies. Myself To You sounds equal parts familiar and original, resulting in an outstanding new collection from this Pacific Northwest outfit on the rise. –CS

Yukimi - For You (Ninja Tune)
For her debut solo album, Yukimi presents twelve expansive, all-consuming alternative soul treasures. Co-produced with her long-time collaborator, friend, and Little Dragon bandmate Erik Bodin, For You is a brilliant exercise in restraint. Delicate and hushed, but not withholding, and certainly not lacking in meticulous, ornate instrumentation, Yukimi and Bodin have achieved a transfixing blend of jazz, pop, psych, and soul, centered around Yukimi’s signature vocals and intimate lyricism. Speaking about the album, she shares: “I want this music to really be a force to connect people to each other, and step away from the madness of everything on the planet right now. And I’m excited about embarking on that journey on my own – the expression really feels pure.” –CS

Choses Sauvages - Choses Sauvages III (Audiogram)
Montreal’s Choses Sauvages return with their explosive third studio album. Fusing together rock, psych, nu-disco, and prog, their swirling guitars, shimmering synths, funky basslines, and driving percussion yield an electrifying set of genre blended wizardry. –CS

Desire - Games People Play (Italians Do It Better)
The third album from this long-running collaboration between vocalist Megan Louise and multi-instrumentalist/producer Johnny Jewel is another sweet, dreamy, brooding set of futuristic synth-pop and moody Italo disco jams. An epic 21-track album “recorded in the Key of Love,” Games People Play is a conceptual double album with two distinctive sides, “half Dancefloor Pop & half Film Noir.” –AR

girlpuppy - Sweetness (Captured Tracks)
The sophomore album from Atlanta-based Becca Harvey — aka girlpuppy — is a charming set of emotionally charged indie rock and indie pop, infused with elements of shoegaze and punk. Featuring her expressive vocals and enticing hooks, Harvey explores themes of loss and growth throughout these ten infectious tracks. –CS

Pierre Kwenders - Tears on the Dancefloor (Moonshine)
The latest EP from Congolese-born, Montreal-based artist Pierre Kwenders is a “heartfelt ode to the dancefloor” as he fuses his expansive, evocative, multicultural R&B-pop vision with sultry, slinky, pulsating Afrobeat/house rhythms. –AR

Population II - Maintenant Jamais (Bonsound)
The third album from this Montreal trio is a cerebral blast of experimental rock that explores prog, psych, Krautrock, punk, and art-rock styles with groovy intensity and explosive creativity. Their adventurous, ambitious instrumental compositions consistently shine bright, with frontman Pierre-Luc Gratton singing entirely in French and adding his own distinctive energy and enveloping tone. –AR

Private Lives - Salt of the Earth (Feel It)
The second album from this Montreal four-piece band fronted by vocalist Jackie Blenkarn is a fun, ripping, hook-heavy set of garage punk jams that’s a “bumper-to-bumper sprawl of charging vocals, searing guitar lines, and a bolting rhythm section that proves sheer rock ‘n’ roll is still very much alive.” –AR

Sacred Paws - Jump Into Life (Merge Records)
The long-awaited third studio album from Glasgow/London duo Sacred Paws serves as a welcome reminder of why listeners first fell in love with their craft. Featuring deliciously bright guitars and Afrobeat rhythms, with flourishes of sax, trombone, trumpet, violin, viola, cello, and banjo, Jump Into Life makes one want to do exactly that. Each track shines as their distinct fusion of jangle pop, post-punk and indie rock hits the sweet spot from start to finish. –CS

Sam Akpro - Evenfall (Anti-)
The debut full-length album from South East London’s Sam Akpro is a captivating set of gritty, murky, intoxicating soul music infused with heavy doses of post-punk, trip-hop, alternative, psych, and dub. Reminiscent of soul/rock hybrid practitioners such as Yves Tumor, Tricky, Dean Blunt, and Benjamin Booker, Evenfall serves as a bold and exciting introduction to Sam’s heady sonic brew that’s “as influenced by Sonic Youth as it is by J Dilla.” –AR

Snapped Ankles - Hard Times Furious Dancing (The Leaf Label)
Is there a more apt title for an album in this year of our lord, 2025? Probably not. Enigmatic London outfit Snapped Ankles has distilled the fractured, tumultuous nature of modern existence into a challenging, heavy set of electronic-infused post-punk and art-rock. Hard Times Furious Dancing is unrelenting, completely captivating, and sure to be an essential tool for surviving this year and many more to come. –CS

The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble - Gemini (Colemine)
The fifth album from this San Diego-based nine-piece instrumental collective mines a sweet spot between funk, jazz, soul, and hip-hop that’s defined by their crisp, in-the-pocket grooves and accented by their robust instrumental flourishes including punchy horns, soaring flute, and even tablas on distinctive album closer "Corporatocracy.” –AR

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - IC-02 Bogotá (Jagjaguwar)
In the latest installment of their IC (short for Improvisation, Collaboration) series, Unknown Mortal Orchestra are inspired by the sounds of Colombia. In what feels like one flawless, endless groove, IC-02 Bogotá features spacy, psychedelic synths, enchanting polyrhythms, and an undeniable jazz sensibility, providing tunes that will burn bright from the late night into early morning. –CS

War Room - Please Don’t Fight In Here (self-released)
The debut album from Adelaide’s War Room is delightfully dizzying, joyfully jarring, and intoxicatingly innovative. Their distinct post-punk sound draws influences from bossa nova, math rock, post-rock, and experimental elements, creating unique, complex, and mesmerizing soundscapes with swirling guitars, violin, and sax, paired with intricate drum work. Please Don’t Fight In Here is a challenging and essential listen, marking an exciting arrival for this enthralling new outfit. –CS