New Music Reviews (8/14)

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 The Hives, Jungle, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and more. 

The Hives – The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (Disques Hives)
This Swedish band’s first album in 11 years (and sixth overall) is a strong return to form of visceral garage-punk with buzzing guitars, energetic rhythms, irreverent lyrics and an abundance of catchy song hooks.

Jungle – Volcano (Caiola/AWAL)
This London-based songwriting/production duo’s fourth album is a potent set of buoyant dance grooves inflected with funk, disco, R&B and other styles, combining propulsive rhythms, bright synths, woodwinds and more with a variety of vocals (particularly from regular collaborator Lydia Kitto) and breezy melodies.

(Various) – Tell Everybody! 21st Century Juke Joint Blues from Easy Eye Sound (Easy Eye Sound)
The Black Keys frontman (and Easy Eye Sound label owner) Dan Auerbach produced this excellent compilation of gritty blues featuring mostly obscure artists he recorded at his Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You (Drag City)
The latest Bonnie “Prince” Billy album from Louisville artist Will Oldham is a well-crafted set of bittersweet folk-pop with an often-spare sound combining atmospheric keyboards, violin, mandolin, saxophone and ethereal backing vocals with his quavering vocals and lyrics of love, nature, connection and mortality.

Hurry – Don’t Look Back (Lame-O)
The fifth album from this Philadelphia band led by Matt Scottoline is a well-crafted set of hook-filled power-pop with jangly guitars, occasional horns, buoyant rhythms, layered harmonies, wistful melodies and lyrics of love, heartache and renewal.

Hollie Cook – Happy Hour in Dub (Merge)
This London-based artist’s latest release is a dub version of her previous album (2022’s Happy Hour), aided by a few special guests including Rosie Turton, Josh Skints, Jah9 and Kiko Bun.

JayWood – Grow On EP (Captured Tracks)
The latest JayWood release from Winnipeg, MB artist Jeremy Haywood-Smith is a potent 4-song EP blending R&B, psych-pop, funk, electro-pop and other styles, combining a variety of buoyant, rhythm-driven grooves with sunny melodies.

Lost Under Heaven – Something is Announced by Your Life! (LUH.international)
The third album from this Manchester-based project featuring WU LYF’s Elllery James Roberts along with Ebony Hoorn is a well-crafted blend of psych-tinged indie-rock and majestic chamber-pop, combining atmospheric guitars and keyboards and cinematic strings with soaring melodies.

Ryan Bingham – Watch Out for the Wolf (The Bingham Recording Co./Thirty Tigers)
The latest release from this Texas-bred, LA-based artist is a well-crafted seven-song mini-album of moody folk-rock recorded at a cabin in Montana, combining acoustic and electric guitars and atmospheric keyboards with his gravelly vocals and hypnotic song hooks.

Night Hikes – Keeper of Reality (self-released)
This San Francisco-based duo’s second album is a well-crafted set of shoegazerish dream-pop. Produced by Erik Blood, the album combines fuzzy guitars and shimmering keyboards with ethereal vocals and sparkling song hooks.

Activity – Spirit in the Room (Western Vinyl)
This Brooklyn band’s second album is a well-crafted set of dark, brooding dream-pop combining moody synths, atmospheric guitars and hypnotic rhythms with eerie, hushed vocals and lyrics of loss, grief and mortality.