New Music Reviews (2/16)

Each week, Music Director Chris Sanley and Associate Music Director Alex Ruder share 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 Cardinals, Danny L Harle, Jill Scott, and more. 

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Cardinals - Masquerade (So Young)
The debut full-length album from this rising Irish five-piece band hailing from Cork follows through on the promise of their 2024 self-titled EP with a sharp collection of explosive, impassioned, transfixing rock songs. There’s a rugged urgency that seeps throughout Masquerade as frontman Euan Manning and Cardinals blend classic alternative touchstones with the earnest edginess of early 2000s indie rock for a rejuvenating, back-to-basics, guitar-powered sound. –AR

Danny L Harle - Cerulean (XL Recordings)
The long-awaited official debut album from London-based musician, producer, and composer Danny L Harle is a sensational exploration of hyperpop. Featuring a star-studded cast of collaborators, including Dua Lipa, Caroline Polachek, Clairo, PinkPantheress, and Oklou, Cerulean, swirls with dizzying synths, enthralling beats, infectious hooks, and immaculate production, bridging ‘90s and 2000s dance pop with contemporary electronic soundscapes. –CS

Jill Scott - To Whom This May Concern (Blues Babe/Human Re Sources)
21st-century R&B legend Jill Scotkjkmj. t returns with her first new album in 11 years and it’s a consistently strong and super diverse collection of expressive R&B/soul music that’s “equal parts magic, medicine, and mastery.” Splashes of hip-hop, jazz, house, and funk seep into To Whom This May Concern and its fruitful 19-track run, with a pair of can’t-miss highlights in the Tierra Whack-assisted, Philly-representing “Norf Side” and the scintillating R&B/house/club anthem “Right Here Right Now” produced by Sa-Ra’s Om’Mas Keith. Jill’s voice sounds golden throughout, whether tackling horn-accented throwback vocal jazz (“Pay U on Tuesday”), racy and wildly innuendo-heavy slow jams (“Don’t Play”), or getting swaggy alongside Too $hort on the fascinating midpoint tune “BPOTY” (Biggest Pimp of the Year). –AR

Kareen Lomax - ijan EP (music is fun)
The new EP from Atlanta-born, LA-based singer-songwriter Kareen Lomax is a magnetic set of pop-inflected soul and R&B. With infectious rhythms, intimate lyricism, compelling hooks, and dreamy androgynous vocals, ijan is a captivating collection that brilliantly showcases her craft. –CS

Katzin - Buckaroo (Mexican Summer)
The debut album from New York-based singer-songwriter Zion Battle, aka Katzin, has a relaxed, calming presence. Built around acoustic guitars, banjo, keys, synths, delicate percussion, and Battle’s enchanting vocal affectation, Buckaroo was intended to sound like the desert, opening wide into vast, sun-soaked spaces. Speaking about recording in Joshua Tree with his friend, collaborator, and producer Max Morgen, he shares: “By isolating ourselves, we were able to capture this raw creative energy … It feels like we made a love letter to our childhoods." –CS

Remember Sports - The Refrigerator (Get Better)
The fifth studio album from Philadelphia’s Remember Sports is a thrilling set of scrappy, emotive punk-infused indie rock. Led by guitarist and vocalist Carmen Perry, the four-piece tear through twelve raw, melodic tracks filled with excellent guitar riffs, effusive vocals, and punchy percussion. The result is a record that Perry describes as “messy, hard, crazy-making, but ultimately healing. A convergence of all my past selves into one sad adult who needed direction and reassurance and, most of all, safety.” Coming over a decade after their debut album, The Refrigerator showcases a band that has continued to refine its sound with a playful spirit and a heart wide open. –CS

Sotomayor - WABI SABI (Wonderwheel Recordings)
On their first album in six years, almost to the day, the Mexican sibling duo composed of Raúl and Paulina Sotomayor deliver an intoxicating fusion of electronic, global, and dance music that explores resilience and self-discovery. Drenched in vibrant Latin rhythms, live percussion, bright synths, and Paulina’s gripping vocals, the textures across these 11 compelling tracks are palpable. After years spent on solo endeavors, from Paulina’s Pahua project to Raúl’s production work as Tonga Conga, WABI SABI finds the pair coming back together to celebrate ten years of Sotomayor and the many roads that have led them to the present day. –CS

The Olympians - In Search of a Revival (Daptone)
The sophomore album from Toby Pazner’s The Olympians is an irresistible set of expansive instrumental soul. Composed, arranged, and produced by Pazner, In Search of Revival unfolds like a true journey, achieved through ornate orchestrations of horns, strings, keys, and dynamic percussion, transporting listeners with retro soundscapes that are as complex as they are cool and breezy. A crowning achievement for Pazner and the Daptone Records family. –CS

Ão - Malandra (Mayway Records)
The sophomore album from Belgian quartet Ão is absolutely breathtaking. Blending art pop, saudade, and electronica, these cinematic arrangements carry immense emotional weight, with each track emerging as a distinct character study. Featuring spellbinding polyrhythms, lush instrumentation, and Brenda Corijn’s entrancing vocals in both Portuguese and English, Malandra is a dynamic, all-consuming listen. –CS

Biblioteka - Matryoshka (Pet Wussy Records)
The new album from Seattle’s Biblioteka is a potent brew of punk, grunge, garage, and riot grrrl, hitting all the angsty sweet spots. From the utterly infectious early singles “Delusional” and “Firestarter” to more nuanced moments like “Matryoshka,” vocalist Mary Robins commands listeners’ undivided attention as the trio explores themes of self-empowerment through searing guitars, muscular drums, and fiery vocals. –CS

Bic Runga - Red Sunset (self-released)
Bic Runga is a beloved New Zealand musician who skyrocketed to national acclaim in 1997 with her debut album Drive (7x platinum in NZ!) and consistently debuted at number one on New Zealand’s charts throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. Red Sunset marks her sixth studio album, her first album in 10 years, and her first collection of original material since 2011. Recorded in Paris and co-produced by her husband Kody Nielson, who’s in Unknown Mortal Orchestra (alongside his frontman brother Ruban) and formerly of The Mint Chicks, the luscious 10-track album cruises through a sophisticated, stylish, chameleonic pop lane. The album’s standout title track kicks off a stellar, lively A-side run with a slinky house-pop groove akin to Little Dragon, Chromatics, and NAVVI before easing into a cozy pace that doesn’t shy away from timeless, pillowy R&B (“It’s Like Summertime”) or a sweet soft-pop lullaby written for her child (“Hey Little One”) or closing out with a dreamy psych-tinted jam (“Home Run”). –AR

Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 - Haf (Bubblewrap Collective)
The latest collaborative album from veteran Welsh musician Carwyn Ellis alongside the multi-national collective Rio 18 is another warm, playful, globe-trotting exploration of heartfelt worldly soul music. Produced by Brazilian artist Kassin, Haf is soaked in an expansive Latin-influenced sound, and it gets an enhanced global boost through lyrics sung in Spanish, English, and Welsh. Brazilian singer (and former Smoke City vocalist) Nina Miranda appears on the sultry standout single “Shades of Red.” –AR

Dewey - Summer On A Curb (Howlin’ Banana)
The debut album from this Parisian band is a promising set of fuzzy indie rock that taps into shoegaze, grunge, and alternative styles and pulls inspiration from the late 1990s and early 2000s in a manner reminiscent of contemporaries like Hotline TNT, Silver Liz, Rocket, and Wishy. –AR

elsas - APORIAMOR EP (Lapsus)
elsas is a multi-faceted Barcelona-born, London-based artist who’s been a member of Sampha’s live band for the past three years and collaborated with the likes of Florence + the Machine, Little Simz, Jordan Rakei, Jockstrap, Obongjayar, Black Country New Road, and Duval Timothy. Her second solo EP is a thrilling set of soaring avant-pop that fuses together her stunning operatic vocals, bilingual lyrics, traditional Flamenco accents, and adventurous productions to both dramatic and magnetic effect. –AR

Luke Temple - Hungry Animal (Western Vinyl)
The latest album from California-based musician Luke Temple – aka Art Feynman, also former frontman of Here We Go Magic – continues to tap into his distinctive shade of dreamy, nuanced, freewheeling psych-folk with an art-pop streak. Backed once again by his band The Cascading Moms composed of Kosta Galanopoulos (of RIO KOSTA) on drums and Doug Stuart (of Brijean) on bass, Hungry Animal is another consistently sharp entry within Luke’s gently prolific discography. –AR

Railcard - Railcard (Slumberland/Skep Wax)
Some projects are simply fate. Such was the case for UK-based musicians Rachel Love, Ian Button, and Peter Momtchiloff, who discovered they were born within weeks of each other in 1962, leading to the formation of Railcard, later finalized with Allison Thomson (age minimums be damned). Their new self-titled collection brings together two limited-edition EPs and three new songs, showcasing their mesmerizing psych pop with a timeless, almost time-capsule quality. Boasting sweet harmonies and ornate instrumentation with guitars, cello, trumpet, and drums, these ten transportive tracks wash listeners in a bright, warm glow. –CS