New Music Reviews (2/23)

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 Altin Gün, Gabriela Richardson, Hank Bee, and more. 

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Altin Gün - Garip (ATO/Glitterbeat)
The sixth studio album from Amsterdam-based outfit Altin Gün serves as a touching tribute to the late, beloved Turkish singer, songwriter, and bağlama player Neşet Ertaş. With their signature blend of Anatolian psych rock, Turkish folk, and funk, the quintet reimagines ten of his original compositions with fluid, playful arrangements, shining new light on his melodies. Bassist and founder Jasper Verhulst shares: “It’s our most eclectic album. There’s a little bit of everything … Less in your face, less poppy, less obviously psych-rock. More just vibing.” –CS

Gabriela Richardson - ISOLA (Virgin Music Spain)
The debut album from Barcelona-based singer-songwriter Gabriela Richardson boldly inhabits the liminal spaces between past and present, classic and contemporary. Sung in Spanish, Italian, English, and French, these 14 cinematic, spellbinding tracks transport listeners to a timeless realm without borders, as she blends Latin folk, ‘70s Brazilian sounds, and modern experimental pop to breathtaking effect. –CS

Hank Bee - a sudden hankering (Memorials of Distinction)
Hank Bee is the solo project of Liverpool, UK-based Northumbrian musician Hannah Brown. Her debut EP is a super impressive set of heartfelt indie rock, folky slacker rock, and melodic alt-country that packs quite a nuanced punch of its brief-yet-memorable run. –AR

Hemi Hemingway - Wings of Desire (PNKSLM)
The sophomore album from Wellington, NZ-based singer-songwriter Shaun Blackwell, aka Hemi Hemingway, is a magnetic set of cinematic baroque pop centered on his impassioned, dynamic vocals and heartfelt storytelling. With dark synths, gauzy guitars, theatrical saxophone, and driving drums, both live and programmed, Wings of Desire channels the spirit of ‘80s new wave through sweeping arrangements and emotional depth. Featuring outstanding duets with vocalists Vera Ellen and Georgia Gets By, Blackwell and his collaborators craft a richly textured collection steeped in longing, melancholy, and hope. –CS

Liiek - Living in a Fiction (Adagio830)
The third album from this Berlin-based trio is a thrilling, ripping set of propulsive punk and magnetic post-punk that carries a captivating, relentless, insistent pulse. –AR

Liz Cooper - New Day (Sleepyhead)
The third album from this now Vermont-based musician is a strong set of catchy indie rock with a fuzzy psychedelic streak and an idiosyncratic touch. Often touching upon the absurdities and anxieties of modern-day life with a raw, honest, and refreshing approach, New Day marks a bold shift in Liz’s sound and her “next chapter” as she reflects back upon a transformative few years spent in NYC during the pandemic, coming out, experiencing her first queer relationship, and eventual breakup. With this whirlwind period now in rearview, New Day features smart, confident, deceptively adventurous songs that “represent the most accurate and vulnerable version of me.” –AR

Lucid Express - Instant Comfort (Kanine)
The second full-length album from this Hong Kong band is another strong set of dreamy, shimmery, immersive shoegaze that pairs Kim Ho’s beautiful ethereal vocals with the band’s expansive, gauzy, towering backdrops. –AR

MX LONELY - All Monsters (Julia’s War)
The debut album from Brooklyn-based four-piece MX LONELY is an urgent set of shoegaze-washed indie rock. Featuring emphatic alternating vocals from Jake Harm and Rae Haas and hazy walls of sound built from layered guitars, synths, and drums, All Monsters, unfolds as a fierce manifesto about confronting the forces, internal and external, that stand in the way of becoming your best self. –CS

Angel Du$t - COLD 2 THE TOUCH (Run for Cover)
The latest from Baltimore outfit Angel Du$t is a seething set of high-octane hardcore punk. With punishing guitars, explosive percussion, and even a couple of relaxed, melodic moments for respite (i.e. “Jesus Head”), COLD 2 THE TOUCH demands to be played at loud volumes, offering listeners a collective release.  –CS

Apparat - A Hum Of Maybe (Mute)
On his sixth studio album, Berlin-based Sascha Ring, aka Apparat, showcases a brilliant mix of organic and synthetic instrumentation, layering delicious textures that build A Hum Of Maybe. Thematically, these eleven tracks explore the various states of love in flux as he moves seamlessly between pulsing, melodic electronic soundscapes and beautiful ambient meditations, revealing an intimate, multifaceted collection. –CS

Charm School - Skadenfreude Ploy EP (Surprise Mind)
The new EP from LA-via-Louisville outfit Charm School is an unapologetic set of adventurous, heavy post-punk. With pointed lyricism, dense guitars, and potent percussion, Skadenfreude Ploy feels tailor-made for the current sociopolitical landscape. –CS

Dominique Fils-Aimé - My World Is The Sun (Ensoul Records)
The fifth studio album from Montreal-based singer-songwriter Dominique Fils-Aimé is an awe-inspiring collection of vocal jazz, neo-soul, and R&B. Anchored by her rich, commanding vocals, the bold, intricate arrangements on My World Is The Sun envelop listeners in her warm, inviting soundscapes shaped by lively horns, keys, strings, and percussion. The result is a stunning album that carries the legacy of influences like Nina Simone and Billie Holiday confidently into the present day. –CS

Mirah - Dedication (Double Double Whammy/Absolute Magnitude)
For over a quarter century, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, known simply as Mirah, has consistently delivered tender, earnest pop-tinged indie folk and rock. Her seventh studio album, Dedication, was born in the aftermath of losing her father and becoming a mother, informing the duality of profound loss and deep joy felt across these ten gripping tracks. From heart-wrenching acoustic ballads to ornate pop explorations, the album holds a whole lot of love, brought to life with help from friends and collaborators Jenn Wasner (Flock Of Dimes), Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), and Andrew Maguire. –CS

n3ster - ep2 (Den Tapes)
Den Tapes delivers another local gem with this short-and-sweet 5-song EP of DIY garage rock from Seattle-based four-piece band n3ster. Opener “Gardening w/ Ichiro” blasts off with a captivating energy, steady rhythm, and metal-leaning vocals on the hook that work super well for an immediate highlight, while the rest of the EP impressively filters a hint of melodic slacker rock through a muscular, noisy, sludgy terrain. –AR

Peach Truck Hijackers - Peach Truck Hijackers (self-released)
The debut album from this Seoul-based all-female four-piece band is a ripping set of punk, garage rock, post-punk, and alternative rock music full of big guitars, propulsive tempos, jagged bilingual vocals, and snarling energy. With an “aim to create music driven by raw, powerful sound — filled with anger and frustration toward the absurdities of the world, yet also carrying a will to survive with love despite it all,” Peach Truck Hijackers burst out with a nostalgic blast of heavy rock tunes that, as one Bandcamp user fittingly muses, “Reminds me of the garage punk sound from 90's Seattle.” –AR

Peaches - No Lube So Rude (Kill Rock Stars)
Peaches pulls no punches. On her first new album in over ten years, her tongue-in-cheek (and other places, let’s be honest) lyricism is witty, raunchy, and rowdy as hell, riding atop her signature electropunk alt-pop soundscapes to deliver a high-energy dance-forward escape. She shares: “When the world is friction, lube isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. It’s how you turn that friction into pleasure, into power, into pride.” –CS

Sababa 5 - Ça va Ça va (Batov)
The fifth album from this Paris-via-Tel Aviv group displays another unique shade to their groovy, colorful, psychedelic Middle Eastern-soaked instrumental sound. Billed as the band’s “hafla” album, Ça va Ça va is rooted in the celebratory, communal, traditional songs performed at Middle Eastern weddings and celebrations, and Sababa 5 add their own colorful instrumentation and transportive spin to these jubilant arrangements. –AR

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis - Deface the Currency (Impulse!)
The sophomore collaborative album from D.C.’s The Messthetics and NYC’s James Brandon Lewis is a dizzying, frenetic display of contemporary jazz fusion. Deface the Currency is all about movement, each note dancing its way deeper into the psyche. Blending funk, free jazz, and punk, visionary saxophonist Lewis locks in seamlessly with The Messthetics trio, unveiling a scintillating set of cinematic jazz improvisation.  –CS

Victoryland - My Heart Is A Room With No Cameras In It (Good English)
The label debut from Philly-bred, Brooklyn-based Julian McCamman’s Victoryland is a charming blend of lo-fi indie rock and bedroom pop. With expressive vocals, infectious hooks, delightful textures, and cathartic lyricism, My Heart Is A Room With No Cameras In It carries the allure of early 2000s indie with a distinct contemporary flair.  –CS

Zo! & Tall Black Guy - Expansions (Chapter 3hree, Verse 5ive Music/Tall Black Guy Entertainment)
Detroit-bred, Silver Spring, MD-based producer, multi-instrumentalist and current The Foreign Exchange member Zo! (aka Lorenzo Ferguson) teams up again with Detroit-bred DJ/producer Tall Black Guy (aka Terrel Wallace) for their second collaborative album of expansive, top-shelf, hip-hop-slanted R&B. Consistently fresh and boasting a warm, largely laid-back throughout, Expansions dips towards the dancefloor on soulful gospel-tinted house closer “Find My Way.” –AR