Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Kevin Cole, host of Drive Time on KEXP, is "Summer Nights" by Hazel English, a 2022 self-released single.
On her forthcoming EP Summer Nights (out June 17th), Hazel English teams up with producer Jackson Phillips (Day Wave) for a "short story"-like collection of songs whose narratives interweave with another. Today's Song of the Day is “about the intoxicating feeling of developing a crush on someone. I thought it would be interesting to explore the buildup of tension sonically because to me, the anticipation is the best part.”
“Jackson and I have such a great flow when it comes to working on music that it was easy to essentially pick up where we had left off,” English said in a press release about the EP. “Our process together is very quick and fun, no second guessing. I also think the pandemic and time at home got me thinking a lot about my past and remembering high school experiences and those kinds of feelings that were so vivid at that time. So I found myself writing lyrics that were inspired by some of those experiences and then I kind of created a whole new story out of it.”
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Host Emily Fox and KEXP’s editorial team talk with artists about the stories behind their songs and the experiences that inform their work. Through each conversation, we uncover the humanity behind the music, allowing us to hear it in a whole new way.