Song of the Day: Ra Ra Riot - Water

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Midday Show with Cheryl Waters, is “Water” by Ra Ra Riot, from the 2016 album Need Your Light out February 19th on Barsuk.

Ra Ra Riot - Water (MP3)

It was only a matter of time before New York-based band Ra Ra Riot reunited with Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend. Not only did Batmanglij produce a track on their 2009 EP Can You Tell, but he and Ra Ra Riot vocalist Wesley Miles record together under the name Discovery. Ra Ra Riot's forthcoming fourth full-length, Need Your Light, brings the kindred spirits back together.

Today's Song of the Day was co-written by Batmanglij during a five-day period with Miles. In a press release, he explains, "In January of this year, Wes came to stay with me, and we set out to write songs again. We didn't know where it would take us. There was something I'd heard in Wes's singing in the earliest days of seeing Ra Ra Riot live that I felt had never quite been captured on record. There was our shared love of U2's Achtung Baby, something that having listened to the music we've recorded in our lives thus far you might not know about. And also this obsession with writing songs that tell stories." He adds, "I think we found that same freedom in making these songs that we had found years ago making the Discovery record, not knowing where it would take us."

The upcoming release Need Your Light will take Ra Ra Riot all over North America through 2016, including a stop in Seattle on Wednesday, March 30th at Neumos. In the meantime, keep an eye on the band via Twitter and Facebook, and check out the video below, co-directed by Batmanglij and starring Miles as an ambitious hiker: