Each week, KEXP’s Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases. See what's coming up this week below, including reviews for new releases from Arlo Parks, The Weather Station, TV Priest, and more.
Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams (Transgressive)
This young London artist’s promising debut full-length is a dreamy blend of R&B, trip-hop and dream-pop inflected with folk, jazz and other styles, combining acoustic guitars, atmospheric synths and gentle downtempo beats with her honeyed vocals and lyrical reflections on the emotional challenges of transitioning to adulthood while offering solace and hope to those similarly struggling.
The Weather Station – Ignorance (Fat Possum)
The fifth album from this Toronto-based project spearheaded by Tamara Lindeman brilliantly recasts her former folk-rock sound into jazz-tinged, beat-driven indie-pop, with a rich sound combining guitars, synths, piano, organ, strings, sax, flute, clarinet and often-propulsive, dance-friendly rhythms with her melodic, conversational vocals and anxiety-filled lyrics revolving around climate change.
TV Priest – Uppers (Sub Pop)
This London band’s debut album is a potent set of acerbic post-punk with clanging guitars, pulsing rhythms, sneering vocals and cutting lyrics aimed at social media, celebrity culture, consumerism, nationalism and more.
Tamar Aphek – All Bets Are Off (Kill Rock Stars)
This Tel Aviv guitarist’s solo debut album is a promising blend of haunting, blues-tinged psych-rock, jazzy prog and moody post-punk, combining her adventurous guitar work with intricate rhythms and coolly detached vocals.
Langhorne Slim – Strawberry Mansion (Dualtone)
This Nashville-based artist’s seventh album is a well-crafted, often-poignant set of wistful folk-pop with a warm sound combining guitars, piano, banjo and more with deeply personal lyrics revolving around anxiety, depression, hope and healing.
The Notwist – Vertigo Days (Morr Music)
This veteran German band’s ninth regular studio album (and first in six years) is an often-dark blend of hazy, folk-tinged electro-pop and driving prog, combining buzzing synths and guitars and hypnotic, sometimes motorik rhythms with serene vocals and haunting melodies. A few special guests contribute, including Juana Molina, Tenniscoats’ Saya, Ben LaMar Gay, Angel Bat Dawid and Japanese band Zayaendo.
Rhye – Home (Loma Vista)
The fourth Rhye album from Toronto-bred, LA-based artist Michael Milosh is a well-crafted set of smooth, R&B-tinged electro-pop combining a lush, gentle sound with Milosh’s airy, soothing vocals and intimate lyrics.
Tobe Nwigwe – Cincoriginals (self-released)
This Houston-based Nigerian American rapper’s latest release is a potent set of Southern hip hop combining a variety of banging, bass-heavy beats with his liquid flow and an impressive guest lineup including Black Thought, Bun B, Big K.R.I.T., EARTHGANG, DUCKWRTH and other notables.
Lucero – When You Found Me (Liberty & Lament/Thirty Tigers)
This Memphis band’s 10th studio album features a more ‘80s-influenced sound for a well-crafted set of brooding rock, combining guitars, synths, piano, organ and more with Ben Nichols’ gravelly vocals and lyrics revolving around family.
Typhoon – Sympathetic Magic (Roll Call)
This Portland band’s fifth album is a surprise release of orchestral folk-pop, featuring an often-dark sound with acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, horns, strings, kalimba, ukulele, glockenspiel and more accompanying Kyle Morton’s tremulous vocals and politically charged lyrics reflecting these troubled times.
Bicep – Isles (Ninja Tune)
This Northern Irish duo’s second album is a well-crafted set of bright electronic grooves inflected with house, UK garage and other styles, combining propulsive rhythms and moody synths with occasional sampled and guest vocals.
Los Mundos – La Fortaleza del Sonido (Abstrakt Muzak/Little Cloud)
This Monterrey, Mexico band’s seventh album is a potent set of heavy stoner-rock, fuzzy shoegazer psych-rock and doom metal featuring a variety of sludgy guitar riffs, fuzzy bass, hypnotic rhythms and haunting melodies.
Brites – Rent to Own (self-released)
This Seattle band’s latest release is a solid EP of folk-tinged indie-pop with jangly guitars, bright synths, buoyant harmonies and sunny melodies.
Martin Gore – The Third Chimpanzee EP (Mute)
The latest solo release from this founding member of Depeche Mode is a solid set of dark, industrial-leaning electronic grooves.
Each week, KEXP’s Music Director Don Yates (joined this week by DJ Alex) shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases. See what's coming up this week below, including reviews for new releases from Kiwi Jr., Shame, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, and more.
Each week, KEXP’s Music Director Don Yates (joined this week by DJ Alex) shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases. See what's coming up this week below, including reviews for new releases from Navy Blue, Off The Meds, Viagra Boys, and more.
Each week, KEXP’s Music Director Don Yates (joined this week by DJ Alex) shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases. See what's coming up this week below, including reviews for new releases from Il Quadro di Troisi, Steve Earle & The Dukes, Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands, and more.
