New Music Reviews (4/20)

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 Honey Dijon, Jessie Ware, CHROMA, and more. 

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Honey Dijon - The Nightlife (SOS) 
Trailblazing Chicago-born-and-raised DJ and producer Honey Dijon returns with her entrancing third studio album. Flexing her distinct blend of house, club, and techno music, The Nightlife is built for every conceivable moment on the dancefloor, from doors open to the wee hours of the following morning. Featuring a star-studded cast of guest vocalists including Rochelle Jordan, Madison McFerrin, Greentea Peng, and Chlöe, each track pulses with a palpable energy, as seductive beats and infectious hooks draw listeners deeper into her alluring sonic universe. –CS

Jessie Ware - Superbloom (Interscope/EMI) 
The sixth studio album from celebrated British singer-songwriter Jessie Ware is a showstopper. Arriving three years after the explosive That! Feels Good!, this new collection carries forward her dancefloor sensibilities with more nuanced undertones, celebrating the love that surrounds her with an intoxicating fusion of disco, ‘70s soul, and sophisti-pop. Boasting infectious hooks, vibrant arrangements featuring sparkling synths, sweeping strings, and bouncy basslines, along with Ware’s transcendent vocals, the grooves on Superbloom are immaculate. –CS

CHROMA - 25 Forever (Alcopop! Records)
The sophomore album from South Wales trio CHROMA is a fast, furious, and fuzzy feminist manifesto. Across ten captivating tracks, the outfit’s potent blend of indie punk, garage rock, and grunge propels vocalist KT Hall’s fierce, expressive delivery, offering a striking balance between ferocity and melody. Speaking about the new record, Hall shares: “25 Forever is a collection of songs navigating themes of love, loss, heartbreak, friendships and resilience—it reflects on coming of age in a turbulent time for the world, looking inward, and finding yourself when things seem bleak.’ –CS

Eaves Wilder - Little Miss Sunshine (Secretly Canadian)
The debut album from London-based singer, songwriter, and producer Eaves Wilder is an expansive fusion of indie rock, dream pop, and shoegaze with deliciously hazy vocals and meticulous, textured arrangements featuring big, raw guitars, potent percussion, and flourishes of keys. Little Miss Sunshine offers compelling arcs and emotional depth as Wilder explores self-acceptance, anxiety, and turbulent relationships, giving listeners plenty to sink their teeth into from a true one to watch. –CS

GiGi Girls - Greatest Hits (Papercup)
The cheekily-titled debut album from this Cologne-based trio is a strong set of glistening synth-pop with an imaginative '80s-influenced sound. Frontwoman Laura Mancini’s transportive voice and lyrics largely sung in Italian lead the way over sparkling backdrops that blur together elements of dream-pop, City Pop, Italo Disco, New Wave, and a subtle touch post-punk, yielding a cool retro-futuristic global pop record. –AR

La Jungle - An Order Of Things (Hyperjungle Recordings)
Belgian krautrock outfit La Jungle return with their seething seventh studio album. Expanding beyond their core duo, Jim and Roxie welcome friend and second drummer Da to push their blend of noise, garage, trance, and punk to new, intense heights. Featuring punishing percussion, intricate guitars, and the occasional angsty vocal, An Order Of Things offers a riveting, kinetic sense of release across nine enthralling tracks. –CS

Sean Solomon - The World Is Not Good Enough (ANTI-)  
The debut album from LA-based musician and animator Sean Solomon offers a delightful introduction to a promising new singer-songwriter. With memorable hooks, vivid storytelling, and lively arrangements, “these songs are almost coming from a place of childlike expectations,” he shares. There’s an earnest sense of wonder baked into these eight captivating tracks, gently tinged with melancholy for good measure. While The World Is Not Good Enough, the one Solomon paints here is a lovely one to live in for a while. –CS

TOMORA - COME CLOSER (Fontana/Capitol)
Ring the alarm! Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers and Norwegian art-pop sensation AURORA have officially unveiled their debut album as TOMORA. Spanning twelve tracks, COME CLOSER is moody, atmospheric, and urgent, as the duo meld their distinct artistry into a cinematic soundscape that embodies the duality of life. Moving intentionally between light and dark with dynamic arrangements and AURORA’s otherworldly vocals, TOMORA craft a hypnotic electronic escape.  –CS

WU LYF - A Wave That Will Never Break (LYF Recordings) 
Manchester outfit WU LYF return with their sophomore album, arriving fifteen years after their debut. Evolving their “heavy pop” sound into big, anthemic, and deeply atmospheric alt rock, A Wave That Will Never Break pummels from first note to last. Ellery James Roberts’ distinct, gravelly vocals take charge as the band’s dense walls of sound, built from guitars, organ, piano, and propulsive percussion, wash over listeners with urgent theatrics. –CS

Adrian Younge - Younge (Linear Labs)
With a brilliant fusion of cinematic soul, jazz, and hip-hop, visionary producer Adrian Younge delivers an aptly titled tour de force. Transcending time and space, Younge bridges the past, present, and future through intricate, expansive arrangements featuring horns, strings, keys, guitars, and percussion, unfolding into a dynamic, riveting instrumental opus. –CS

AySay - Mal (V2 Records) 
The third studio album from Copenhagen-based trio AySay is a magnetic celebration of Turkish, Kurdish, and Danish culture. With an enticing fusion of psych rock, Anatolian folk, and indie pop, Luna Ersahin’s spellbinding vocals guide listeners through textured, dynamic grooves, resulting in a vibrant and immersive listening experience. –CS

Cactus Lee - Lee’s Dream (Western Vinyl)
The eighth album from quietly prolific Austin, Texas singer, songwriter, and guitarist Kevin Dehan (aka Cactus Lee) is a nice set of dusty Americana and charming indie folk that embodies a classic country aura. –AR

Croutons - Croutons (Lost Sound Tapes)
The debut album from this West Seattle trio is a solid set of melodic indie pop with touches of twee and jangle-pop and a distinctly Pacific Northwest DIY charm. Led by primary songwriter Cassie Wulff with Amy Anderson on bass and (KEXP’s own!) Shanti Sivadas on drums, Croutons’ introduction is right at home on Lost Sound Tapes, a Vancouver, BC label that’s been “celebrating music full of tenderness and passion since 2005.” –AR

Frog - Frog For Sale (Audio Antihero/tapewormies)
The eighth album from this NY-based duo led by enigmatic frontman Daniel Bateman and joined by his brother Steve on drums is another marvelous display of their endearing, idiosyncratic, and increasingly singular brand of homespun folk-rock. While there’s mention of inspiration stemming from songwriters like Paul McCartney and Buddy Holly, Daniel Bateman’s fascinating auteurial vision, elastic falsetto, earworm melodies, and quirky songwriting shine bright within its own lane throughout Frog For Sale for an album that rests closely alongside their excellent 2025 album 1000 Variations on the Same Song. –AR

Ladytron - Paradises (Nettwerk)
For their eighth studio album, veteran Liverpool, UK band Ladytron continue to unlock new shades within their icy, influential electro-pop world by tapping into a gauzy, smoldering, groovy, and relatively brightly-tinted lane. Their unique take on a retro-futuristic disco-influenced space-age sound is deftly applied over an epic 16-track run that marks their most dancefloor-focused effort since 2002’s Light & Magic and yields a handful of hypnotic, anthemic highlights. –AR

Leven Kali - LK99 (Def Jam)
The latest full-length album from this Dutch-born, LA-raised American artist who has collaborated with Beyoncé, Playboi Carti, Disclosure, Tinashe, Adi Oasis, Syd, Snoh Aalegra, and more is a solid set of smooth, sultry, sleek, and funky R&B often reminiscent of contemporaries like Miguel and Steve Lacy. –AR

media puzzle - New Racehorse (Impressed Recordings)
The fourth album from this Australian band led by Tom Peter is a super fun set of scuzzy art-punk, catchy garage-punk, absurdist post-punk, and charming egg-punk that’s delightfully littered with quirky samples and carried by the band’s dizzying and propulsive DIY aesthetic. –AR

Nine Inch Nails & Boys Noize - Nine Inch Noize (The Null Corporation/Interscope)
Fresh off their acclaimed performance at this year’s opening Coachella weekend, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Boys Noize (aka German-Iraqi DJ/producer Alexander Ridha) officially offer up this “live” album to display the fruits of their recent creative collaborative works. First teaming up in 2024 on the scores for Challengers and TRON before touring together for NIN’s massive 2025/26’s sold-out Peel It Back world tour, both artists bring a visceral intensity to their music, and their combined magnetic force is exemplified throughout Nine Inch Noize. Boys Noize boosts NIN’s industrial/alternative anthems with an enhanced electronic element that thrives in a live setting. They reimagine songs from NIN’s deep catalog dating back to his seminal mid-90s albums, sneak in a sweet foray into How To Destroy Angels’ discography for “Parasite” off their self-titled 2010 EP, before closing out with “AS ALIVE AS YOU NEED ME TO BE” from last year’s TRON: Aries soundtrack. The album is culled from both live and studio sessions, so it’s not quite a “pure” live album, but the crowd noise and reactions accent how consuming their team-up goes live. –AR

Sofia Kourtesis - DJ-Kicks (!K7)
Renowned Berlin-based Peruvian electronic musician, vocalist, and DJ Sofia Kourtesis delivers a sweet body-moving DJ-Kicks mix that culls together exclusive material (including four new Sofia Kourtesis tracks!), some modern-day favorites, a heavy dose of addictive house and techno tunes, a pair of dreamy bookends, and a euphoric peak with “Los Poemas No Siempre Riman,” a brilliant new collaborative track with Peruvian band and longtime KEXP faves Novalima. –AR

Star Moles - Highway to Hell (Historic New Jersey Recordings)
Star Moles is the quietly prolific solo project of Philadelphia-based, New Hampshire-raised musician Emily Moales. Her ninth and latest Star Moles album is a breakout set of quirky, whimsical, homespun bedroom pop that “merges '70s folk-pop aesthetics with 2020s Bandcamp sensibilities” for consistently charming results. Early single “Time” is an addictive entry point and a personal SOTY candidate. –AR

TAURO - Act I (Birthday Cake)
TAURO is a Toronto-based collaborative project between singer, songwriter, and jazz-trained pianist Cynthia Tauro and veteran musician and Broken Social Scene member Brendan Canning. Their debut album is a solid set of dreamy indie pop with touches of shimmering synth-pop, pillowy alt-country, wavy R&B, and nostalgic groove-pop that lyrically explores the trials and tribulations of relationships, domestic life, and “the emotional grey areas of connection: miscommunication, mistrust, self-worth, and the push and pull of intimacy.” “Bad Bad Feeling” taps into a special zone of dusty, kaleidoscopic, retro-futuristic pop for an infectious highlight. –AR