New Music Reviews (3/30)

Each week, Music Director Chris Sanley and Associate Music Director Alex Ruder (joined this week by Albina Cabrera, Latin Partnerships and Editorial Manager and co-host of El Sonido) 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 Courtney Barnett, Fcukers, Gladie, and more. 

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Courtney Barnett - Creature of Habit (Mom+Pop/Fiction)
Courtney Barnett may be a creature of habit, but goddamn do we hope this is one she never breaks. The Australian singer-songwriter’s fourth studio album comes amid a sea of change, after moving to LA and shuttering Milk! Records, which she co-founded nearly fifteen years ago. Publicly processing a new season of life and the confusion, self-doubt, and conflict that can accompany it, Barnett matter-of-factly explores these feelings with a vocal delivery that is somehow both nonchalant and deeply expressive. Creature of Habit pairs her unmistakable guitar work and sharp, conversational lyricism with driving indie rock arrangements and subtle melodic turns, featuring a knockout duet with Waxahatchee and stellar production from John Congleton, marking a sensational return for Barnett. –CS

Fcukers - Ö (Ninja Tune)
NYC duo Fcukers bring the party on their debut album Ö. Written and recorded in a fast and furious two-week session in LA with producer Kenneth Blume (fka Kenny Beats), they blend trip hop, club, UK garage, and dub soundscapes to craft infectious, trance inducing bangers. Featuring pulsing beats, technicolour rhythms, and Shanny Wise’s deadpan vocals, Fcukers carve out a unique place in the electronic music ecosystem, delivering transfixing dance music that transcends genre. –CS

Gladie - No Need to be Lonely (Get Better)
Philadelphia outfit Gladie let it rip on their third studio album, marking their first for Get Better. Across No Need to be Lonely, Augusta Koch’s fierce, emphatic vocals keep listeners in a consensual chokehold from first note to last, as scorching guitars, explosive percussion, and infectious hooks swirl straight into the psyche. With production from Jeff Rosenstock, their potent blend of indie rock, punk, and indie pop propels Koch’s deeply personal, intimate lyricism, expressed in a hush, squeal, scream, and everything in between, resulting in an arresting third outing. –CS

Nubiyan Twist - Chasing Shadows (Strut)
The fifth album from this London-based collective led by Tom Excell is another excellent fusion of jazz, neo-soul, Afrobeat, hip-hop, broken beat, funk, and highlife that’s all folded into a colorful, kinetic, and lushly orchestrated sound. Nubiyan Twist’s new lead vocalist eniola is featured on a majority of this “joyous and defiantly human” album, and her gorgeous voice organically shares the spotlight with a stacked roster of talented guest artists that includes Patrice Rushen (!!), Joe Armon-Jones, The Zawose Queens, Fatoumata Diawara, The Pharcyde’s Bootie Brown, Ghanaian MC M.anifest, and London dancehall artist Mr Williamz. –AR

Robyn - Sexistential (Young)
Electropop dynamo and bona fide dancing queen Robyn returns with her ninth studio album, her first in nearly eight years. Featuring absolutely insane production, intoxicating hooks, sparkling synths, and euphoric beats, Sexisistential is a fluid, adventurous exploration of pop, designed to feel “like a spaceship coming through the atmosphere at a really high speed and crash landing,” a sentiment many listeners can relate to right now. But instead of leaning into the inevitable existential dread of modern times, Robyn moves in the opposite direction, honing in on light, love, and joy. –CS

Snail Mail - Ricochet (Matador)
In the five years since Snail Mail released her sophomore album, Valentine, celebrated singer-songwriter Lindsey Jordan has shifted her focus and her home, relocating from NYC to North Carolina. With singular vocals and signature guitar textures, her blend of indie rock and indie pop, accented by flourishes of strings and keys, is undeniable. Ricochet finds Jordan looking inward across eleven riveting tracks that explore anxiety, mortality, and acceptance, showcasing her immense emotional depth and enduring strength as a songwriter. A defining statement from Snail Mail. –CS

Holy Fuck - Event Beat (Satellite Services)
The sixth studio album from Holy Fuck finds the Canadian quartet leaning deeply into improvisation and truly human electronic music. With a blend of organic and synthesized sounds, Event Beat ranges from energetic, dance-forward rockers, including KEXP favorite “Evie,” to meditative jams like “Gold Flakes,” revealing a balanced, artful collection of innovative electronic rock.  –CS

José González - Against The Dying Of The Light (Mute/City Slang)
The fifth studio album from Sweden-based Argentine singer-songwriter José González is a breathtaking, intimate collection of acoustic guitar-driven indie folk. With his signature, entrancing vocals front and center, delivered in English, Spanish, and Swedish, Against The Dying Of The Light delicately and thoughtfully examines the unknown. He shares: “As a concerned world citizen, I wrote these songs as a reflection of our times. Times of amazing progress, but also worrying backslides to dogmatic tribal ideologies and an extremely uncertain future. These are songs about how we can navigate humanity towards flourishing on an individual and a collective level. They can be listened to just for the sounds, harmonies, and rhythms, but the lyrics are meant to inspire people to engage and take action by collaborating to solve collective problems. For humanism and enlightenment values and against the dying of the light.”  –CS

Margaritas Podridas - Metales Pesados (Hopeless Records)
EN: We had been waiting for the return of Margaritas Podridas for quite some time, though we couldn’t have anticipated just how far their sound would evolve. Following significant lineup changes, Carolina Enríquez — the creative force behind the former project Rotten Daisies — ushered in a new phase for the Hermosillo, Sonora-based band with the release of Metales Pesados, their new twelve-track album. From the opening cut “Tornillo” to its closing counterpart “Sierra,” the record unfolds like the eye of a storm, where industrial textures, dense atmospheres, and the darkest edges of their signature grunge and punk influences collide. Without a doubt, “Quema los Recuerdos” stands out as one of the album’s most powerful moments — a sonic confession charged with pain, intensity, and emotional turbulence. –AC

ES: Hacía tiempo que esperábamos el regreso de Margaritas Podridas, aunque no imaginábamos hasta qué extremo llegaría la evolución de su sonido. Tras importantes cambios de formación, la mente detrás de la ex Rotten Daisies, Carolina Enríquez, dio el paso hacia una nueva etapa de la banda de Hermosillo, Sonora, con el lanzamiento de Metales Pesados, su nuevo álbum de doce canciones. Desde el track de apertura, “Tornillo”, hasta su cierre con “Sierra”, el disco funciona como un verdadero ojo de la tormenta donde confluyen texturas industriales, atmósferas densas y el costado más oscuro de sus ya reconocidas influencias grunge y punk. Sin dudas, “Quema los Recuerdos” se posiciona como uno de los puntos más altos del álbum: una confesión sonora cargada de dolor, intensidad y tormento. –AC

MEMORIALS - All Clouds Bring Not Rain (Fire)
The sophomore album from MEMORIALS, the collaborative project of Electrelane’s Verity Susman and Wire’s Matthew Simms, is a dreamy, transportive collection of experimental psych pop. With densely layered arrangements composed of dynamic keys (including piano, Wurlitzer, harpsichord, and synths), horns, woodwinds, vibraphone, autoharp, guitars, and propulsive percussion, All Clouds Bring Not Rain is bursting with deliciously textured grooves that reward repeated listens. –CS

The New Pornographers - The Former Site Of (Merge)
“The heart is always here” with The New Pornographers. Showcasing their signature maximalist indie pop sound fueled by guitars, keys, horns, pedal steel, strings, and percussion, The Former Site Of transports listeners back to the first time they heard the sweet harmonies between A.C. Newman and Neko Case. With tender lyricism, compelling hooks, lively rhythms, and a heavy dose of nostalgia, these ten tracks stand as a strong addition to the band’s extensive catalogue. –CS

THE TWILIGHT SAD - IT'S THE LONG GOODBYE (Rock Action)
The sixth album (and first in seven years) from this Scottish band is a strong set of towering post-punk and enveloping shoegaze that carries an urgent, cathartic, and hefty emotional punch. Written while lead singer James Graham’s mother was declining, and ultimately passing away, due to early onset dementia, and he was navigating his own mental health struggles, IT’S THE LONG GOODBYE grapples with life’s seismic moments through dense, soaring, intense, and downright massive-sounding songs that warrant the album’s all-caps stylization. Robert Smith, a longtime friend and champion of the band who’s invited them to open up for The Cure on multiple tours, contributes on a few tracks. –AR

Ana Tijoux - 97 EP (Victoria Producciones)
EN: “Depoliticized became fashionable and attractive,” sings the always politically incorrect Ana Tijoux on her new EP 97, a set of four songs created alongside her longtime friend, DJ Dacel. The new project from the Franco-Chilean artist was recorded between Barcelona and Santiago, Chile, blending introspective rap, soulful samples, and laid-back grooves that celebrate friendship, memory, and emotional freedom. Without a doubt, “Vinos y Vinilos” and “Desapego” stand out as the defining moments of an EP that feels both brief and deeply compelling. –AC

ES: ‘Despolitizado se puso de moda y atractivo’, canta la siempre políticamente incorrecta Ana Tijoux en su nuevo EP 97, un puñado de cuatro canciones compuestas junto a su amigo de larga data, DJ Dacel. Lo nuevo de la artista franco-chilena fue grabado entre Barcelona y Santiago de Chile y mezcla rap introspectivo, samples soul y grooves relajados que celebran la amistad, la memoria y la libertad emocional. Sin dudas, “Vinos y Vinilos” y “Desapego” son los grandes momentos de un EP que se siente breve y profundamente interesante. –AC

Art School Girlfriend - Lean In (Fiction)
The third album from London-based Welsh producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter Polly Mackey (aka Art School Girlfriend) is a glistening set of dreamy, intimate, melancholic synth-pop. Her ethereal vocals float gracefully over fuzzy, cinematic, expansive productions that touch upon brooding dream-pop, pulsating techno-pop, and romantic trip-hop. –AR

Charlotte Cornfield - Hurts Like Hell (Merge)
The sixth studio album and Merge Records debut from Toronto-based singer-songwriter Charlotte Cornfield is a stunning set of classic singer-songwriter gems. Showcasing her skill as an exceptional storyteller, these songs arrive at a pivotal moment in her life following the birth of her daughter. She shares: “That experience has pulled me out of myself and given me a different outlook on things. The vulnerability and fragility and wildness of it all has made me less focused on self, more zoomed out.” The result is an intimate, touching collection of indie folk magic.  –CS

King Tuff - MOO (MUP Records/Thirty Tigers)
Kyle Thomas, the acclaimed singer-songwriter known as King Tuff, returns with his raucous seventh studio album. After years in LA experimenting with different sounds, a return to his home state of Vermont led him back to the outlet that brings him the most joy: raw, rugged rock’n’roll. MOO is 100% King Tuff, self-recorded and self-produced, putting his “43 year old punk weirdo” self on full display. These ten tracks prove it pays to return to your roots, delivering garage rock gems that are fun, playful, and catchy as hell.  –CS

Nuevos Rios - Nuevos Rios (ZZK)
Nuevos Rios is a new collaborative project between the Colombian band Canalón de Timbiquí led by vocalist Nidia Góngora (who’s collaborated with Quantic, Bosq, Ondatrópica, The Bongo Hop, and more) and the Toulouse-based trio Reco Reco, the latter known for their explorations of trance-driven rhythms from South America and beyond. Their debut album is a vibrant and rhythmically rich exploration of Afro-Colombian Pacific Coast music with an expansive, colorful, cross-cultural vision that finds Nidia’s powerhouse voice soaring over both acoustic-heavy folk songs and propulsive electronic-accented jams. –AR

Parlor Greens - Emeralds (Colemine)
The second full-length album from this Loveland, Ohio-based trio – Adam Scone on the organ, longtime Seattleite Jimmy James (of True Loves, formerly of Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio) on guitar, and Tim Carman on drums – is another sharp set of locked-in instrumental grooves that navigate a nostalgic hybrid of soul, funk, blues, and jazz. A relatively more somber affair than their 2024 debut album, as all three members were dealing with personal tragedies in their individual lives, Emeralds closes out with “Queen of My Heart,” a touching tribute Jimmy wrote for his mother shortly after she passed away and it includes a little conversation between him and his mother towards the end, which are the only voices heard on the album  –AR

Pick a Piper - Dandelion (Halocline Trance)
The fourth album from this Toronto-based duo composed of Caribou drummer Brad Weber and vocalist/songwriter Sophia Alexandra dives into a club-minded synth-pop sound that fuses Weber’s skittering UK-influenced rhythms heavy on UKG, breaks, and bass with Sophia’s ethereal vocal melodies and glistening vocal samples. Mabe Fratti appears on a pair of tracks. –AR

Twisted Teens - Blame the Clown (Jazz Life)
The second album from this New Orleans duo led by the charismatic raspy voice of Caspian Hollywell is an awesome set of rugged Southern garage rock with a loose yet visceral DIY punk swagger and a charming country-rooted twang. With Caspian’s co-pilot RJ Santos adding his beautiful pedal steel guitar lines to their rough, propulsive, and often frenetic productions, Blame the Clown serves up a standout 2026 album from the underground rock scene. –AR

Verito Asprilla - 11:11 (Discos Pacífico)
The debut album from this Tumaco, Colombia-based musician/rapper is a vibrant and often thrilling fusion of dancehall, reggaetón, amapiano, dembow, and hip-hop that celebrates “feminine power, Afro identity, and unapologetic joy.”  –AR