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 Beach House, Hurray For the Riff Raff, Alice Glass, and more.
Beach House – Once Twice Melody (Sub Pop)
This Baltimore duo's eighth full-length is an impressive double album of cinematic, psych-tinged dream-pop with a majestic, atmospheric sound combining celestial keyboards, soaring strings, gauzy guitars, occasional other instrumentation and slow-moving rhythms with Victoria Legrand's serene vocals and bittersweet lyrics of love and heartache. — DY
Hurray For the Riff Raff – Life on Earth (Nonesuch)
The eighth Hurray For the Riff Raff album from New Orleans artist Alynda Segarra continues the evolution from the rootsy folk-pop of their earlier releases to a more expansive, indie pop-oriented sound incorporating elements of propulsive post-punk, trip hop, the Velvet Underground, tropical-tinged pop and more on songs ranging from searing depictions of injustice and our damaged planet to more personal songs of heartache, struggle and survival. — DY
(Various) – Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono (Atlantic)
Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard curated this tribute album to the legendary Japanese avant-garde artist, which features an impressive lineup interpreting Ono's songs, ranging from Sharon Van Etten, Japanese Breakfast , the Flaming Lips and Yo La Tengo to Sudan Archives, Jay Som, US Girls and We Are King. — DY
Alice Glass – PREY//IV (Eating Glass)
The debut full-length from the LA-based former vocalist with Toronto duo Crystal Castles is a potent set of dark electro-pop with a cavernous sound combining eerie synths and distorted, techno and industrial -influenced rhythms with her dynamic, effects-laden vocals and lyrics of trauma and resilience. — DY
Nneka – Love Supreme (Bushqueen Music)
This Nigerian-born, Hamburg, Germany-based artist's fourth album is an expansive blend of R&B, Afrobeats, reggae, electro-pop and more, combining moody keyboards and propulsive rhythms with her high, airy vocals and lyrics of love, loss, betrayal and healing. — DY
Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – Texas Moon EP (Dead Oceans)
The second collaborative EP from Houston band Khruangbin and Fort Worth singer-songwriter Leon Bridges features a darker, more lowkey and atmospheric sound than their initial Texas Sun EP, blending soul, psych-rock and blues, along with a bit of funk on EP highlight “B-Side.” — DY
K.ZIA – Genesis (Groove Attack)
The debut album from this Brussels-born, Berlin-based artist (and daughter of Zap Mama's Marie Daulne) is a well-crafted set of atmospheric R&B influenced with hip hop, Afrobeats and other styles, with pillowy synths and gently propulsive beats accompanying her dynamic vocals and bilingual lyrics of love and resilience. — DY
Jana Horn – Optimism (No Quarter)
The debut album from this Austin, TX-based singer-songwriter is an assured set of stark minimal folk-pop distinguished by sparse instrumentation, Horn's intimate vocals, and her vivid and slightly cryptic storytelling that have garnered comparisons to Phil Elverum's Mount Eerie project. — AR
MAITA – I Just Want to Be Wild For You (Kill Rock Stars)
The second album from this Portland artist (aka Maria Maita-Keppeler) is a well-crafted set ranging from driving, hook-filled indie-rock to moody folk-pop , with many of the songs revolving around overcommunication and disconnection. — DY
Andy Bell – Flicker (Sonic Cathedral)
The second solo album from the veteran Ride guitarist is a well-crafted 18-song set of expansive psych-pop ranging from fuzzy, glam-inflected rockers to baroque chamber-pop and delicate, acoustic-oriented songs. — DY
Shout Out Louds – House (Bud Fox/Integral)
This Swedish band's sixth album is a solid set of hook-filled indie-pop with jangly/fuzzy guitars, moody synths, soaring harmonies, wistful melodies and lyrics of love, anxiety and the passage of time. — DY
Metronomy – Small World (Because Music)
The seventh album from this British band led by Joseph Mount finds them shifting away from synth-heavy pop to a warmer, more organic sound with jangly guitars, piano, strings and other instrumentation along with buoyant harmonies, sunny melodies and hopeful lyrics. — DY
Carson McHone – Still Life (Merge)
This Austin artist's third album is a well-crafted set of often-poignant folk-rock with a warm sound combining acoustic and electric guitars, piano, organ, accordion, strings and sax with her dulcet vocals and lyrics of personal struggle and resilience. — DY
Garcia Peoples – Dodging Dues (No Quarter)
This New Jersey band's fifth studio album is their most concise and song-focused set to date of '60s/'70s-steeped psych-rock, with the sound this time around ranging from muscular boogie- rock to chiming folk-rock and easy-rolling psych reminiscent of the Grateful Dead. — DY
Deserta – Every Moment, Everything You Need (felte)
The second Deserta album from LA-based artist (and former Saxon Shore/Midnight Faces member) Matthew Doty is a solid set of shoegazer psych-rock and dream-pop, combining fuzzy, skyscraping guitars, atmospheric keyboards, gently driving rhythms, gauzy vocals and hypnotic song hooks. — DY
Shovels & Rope – Manticore (Dualtone)
This Charleston, SC duo's latest album is a well-crafted set of songs revolving around pandemic life, ranging from brooding folk-pop to some driving, spiky rock. — DY
Beverly Glenn-Copeland – Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined (Transgressive)
Pioneering transgender musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland's late-career renaissance continues with his marvelous reimagining of their seminal 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies featuring contributions by artists who have been widely influenced by Beverly's music and legacy including Bon Iver, Flock of Dimes, Blood Orange, Julia Holter, Arca, Ana Roxanne, Joseph Shabason, Kelsey Lu, and Jeremy Dutcher. — AR
Methyl Ethel – Are You Haunted? (Future Classic)
The fourth Methyl Ethel album from Perth, Australia artist Jake Webbs is a solid set of arty indie-pop ranging from bouncy, hook-filled pop to dramatic ballads, combining often-densely layered keyboards and guitars with falsetto-laden vocals and lyrics of anxiety, mortality and loss. — DY
Blutch – Terre Promise (Astropolis)
The debut album from this French electronic producer is an impressive set of expansive electronic grooves with a strong cinematic streak that taps into techno, house, breaks, IDM, big beat, ambient, and more throughout its widescreen journey . At times reminiscent of ODESZA, Rone, and Bicep, Terre Promise peaks on its penultimate early single, the euphoric breaks-infused anthem "River." — AR
Each week, Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP's rotation. See what we added this week below (and on our Charts page), including new releases from Big Thief, Spoon, Raveena, and more.
Each week, Music Director Don Yates (joined this week by DJ Alex) shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP's rotation. See what we added this week below (and on our Charts page), including new releases from Saba, Black Country, New Road, Ivy Sole, and more.
Each week, Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP's rotation. See what we added this week below (and on our Charts page), including new releases from Amber Mark, Samm Henshaw, Imarhan, and more.
