New Music Reviews (9/14)

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 Bonobo, Ibibio Sound Machine, Czarface & Frankie Pulitzer, and more. 

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Bonobo - Distance In Static (Ninja Tune)  
British-born, LA-based musician, DJ, producer, and overall sonic shapeshifter Simon Green, aka Bonobo, unveils his sublime eighth studio album, ‘Distance In Static.’ Green’s innovative sound design shines through lush arrangements of synths, strings, piano, guitars, horns, and woodwinds, alongside masterful beatwork and stellar guest vocalists including Arooj Aftab, Nicole Miglis, Nilüfer Yanya, and Ichiko Aoba. What unfolds across fourteen captivating tracks is a bewitching set of dynamic, deeply human electronic music. –CS

Ibibio Sound Machine - Chopping Mountain (Merge)  
The ever-scintillating London-based outfit led by dynamo Eno Williams returns with their sixth full-length. Boasting spacey synths, vibrant horns, intricate guitar lines, syncopated percussion, and Williams’ intoxicating vocal prowess, this ten-track collection showcases Ibibio Sound Machine at their most free and fluid. With an unwavering commitment to the groove and messages of resistance, love, and unity, their fusion of Afrobeat, disco, funk, and electropop soars to new magnetic heights on Chopping Mountain.  –CS

Czarface & Frankie Pulitzer - Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer (Silver Age)
The latest album from Czarface, the long-running collaborative project between Wu-Tang Clan’s Inspectah Deck and veteran Boston-bred hip-hop duo 7L & Esoteric, finds them teaming up with English actor/rapper Tom Hardy (aka Frankie Pulitzer) for a top-notch set of underground hip-hop infused with a deep love of comic books and hard-nosed boom-bap rap. Tom Hardy’s ability to confidently and seamlessly coast alongside Inspectah Deck, Esoteric, and marquee guests like El-P, Method Man, and Busta Rhymes is undoubtedly impressive, and he adds his own charismatic talents to this consistently entertaining ride from a hip-hop heavyweight crew.  –AR

Dottie Andersson - Andersson Funeral Home (Royal Mountain)
The debut album from Swedish singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Dottie Andersson is a charming set of intimate, soul-baring indie pop. With vivid arrangements featuring guitars, keys, percussion, field recordings, hand claps, horns, strings, accordion, banjo, and her evocative vocals, Andersson Funeral Home is an immersive, richly textured collection of melancholic ruminations that transports listeners wherever their emotions guide them. –CS

Ezra Collective - Here Because of Hope (Partisan)  
UK ensemble Ezra Collective are bringing that "Jubilee Feeling” on their sensational fourth studio album. Clocking in at over an hour, Here Because of Hope finds the outfit asking the question: “Why does so much Black music born out of pain sound so joyful?” Through 17 vibrant, elaborate tracks, Ezra Collective paint their vivid picture of the global African diaspora, pairing an irresistible blend of jazz, Afrobeat, hip-hop, and highlife with immaculate musicianship with unmatched depth, all to answer that question with, “hope: the belief, carried across generations and oceans, that something better is possible.” –CS 

Liana Flores - And so it goes… EP (Verve)
The new EP from British-Brazilian singer-songwriter Liana Flores is a warm, inviting breath of fresh air. Her fusion of bossa nova, jazz, folk, and MPB is intoxicating from the first note to the last, as she flexes her dreamy, commanding vocals and explores “the people, relationships and glamour of city life.” With one foot in the past, and another firmly in the present, And so it goes… bridges Brazilian musical traditions and contemporary sounds with effortless grace. –CS

pitschouse - Nothing New (Den Tapes)
This is not a drill. Hometown heroes pitschouse are BACK with their first new music in over a decade. Fans of quintessential Pacific Northwest vibes and densely layered atmospheric rock, rejoice! With shimmering guitars, bright keys, textural percussion, and Kyle Burnett’s dreamy vocals, Nothing New is an immersive, nuanced set of shoegaze-washed indie rock. –CS

Sylvan Esso - Ow ∞ (Psychic Hotline)
For nearly fifteen years, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn have artfully crafted a sound that is distinctly Sylvan Esso while always allowing space for growth and evolution. On first listen, Ow ∞, their first album in four years and first full-length on their own label, is decidedly a shift from the “classic Sylvan Esso” sound, finding the duo moving into more fluid, adventurous territory. With much of the album taking shape through hours of improvisation, a spellbinding fusion of electropop, trip-hop, experimental, and art-pop soundscapes unfurls as Meath’s signature expressive vocal acrobatics guide listeners through this exciting new era for Sylvan Esso. Can you feel it? Can you feel it??? –CS

Thandii x Regalado - Coco Okayo (Sama Sama)
Following a brilliant and prolific run of self-released, largely guest-free albums since emerging in 2023, Margate, UK-based duo Thandii – aka vocalist Jessica Berry and multi-instrumentalist/producer Graham Godfrey (also of Pigeon) – traveled to Manila to channel Graham’s Filipino heritage and connect with Jun Regaldo aka “the most recorded drummer in the Philippines." Now in his late 70s, Regalado has seen a resurgence after the reissue of his 1977 track "Pinoy Funk" on Soundway Records 2024 compilation Ayo Ke Disco, and he brings his own rhythmic vibrance to this stellar collaborative album that glides through timeless soul grooves, spaced-out funk, luxurious art-pop, and slinky, sophisticated disco while simultaneously connecting the dots from Regalado’s influential role in forging the Phillipines’ Manila Sound of the 1970s to Thandii’s contemporary genre-melding, beat-driven, nostalgia-soaked vibe. –AR

This is Lorelei - The Singer in My Band (Matador) 
NYC-based singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist Nate Amos (of Water From Your Eyes) returns with another stunner for his latest This is Lorelei project. Marking his first album for Matador, The Singer in My Band is a gripping set of homespun folk, rock, and jangle pop with delectable guitar riffs and memorable one-liners delivered by his distinct, earnest vocals. Conceived while on tour, these tenderhearted songs were “developed slowly and subconsciously, existing as a sort of intangible thing while looking out the van window,” giving the collection a hazy, weightless feeling of the open road.  –CS

Angela Autumn - Believer (Gar Hole Records)  
The sophomore album from Appalachian-raised, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Angela Autumn feels like her proper arrival; she’s telling listeners exactly who she is. Through a charming twang brought to life through guitars, banjo, lap steel, keys, percussion, cello, organ, and fiddle, Autumn explores her connection with nature, herself, and her roots, culminating in a captivating, revealing set of indie folk to revel in.  –CS

Aquiestoy - Til We Dissolve (self-released)
Aquiestoy is the solo alias of Carlos Snaider, a Seattle-based artist with Nuyorican and Ecuadorian roots. His debut album is a promising set of warm, lush, electro-acoustic soul music that features him singing in both English and Spanish over dreamy beats inflected with Latin, hip-hop, jazz, and bossa nova flavors. Music meant to be felt than necessarily understood, Til We Dissolve rests closely alongside the newer wave of Brazilian soul musicians like Bruno Berle and Nyron Higor.  –AR

Arab Strap - Half-Told Tales (Rock Action)
The ninth album from this veteran Scottish duo (Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton) is another bold, provocative, and frequently captivating set of fiery post-punk and seething alternative rock. Aidan’s distinctive spoken/sung vocals and thick Scottish accent lay out incisive, uncompromising lyrics that often seek out an optimistic perspective during dark, destructive times – “every single song has some element of time or some discussion of its passing and how to use it as best you can while you have it” – over a dynamic range of backdrops dominated by blockbuster productions fueled by soaring guitars, gritty synths, propulsive drum-machine beats, and occasional strings and saxophone, yet balanced out with some tender, melancholic, gentler moments. –AR

FKJ - Tyber (Mom+Pop)
The third album from French multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer and composer FKJ (aka Vincent Fenton, fka French Kiwi Juice) further revels in his lush, amorphous, melodic electronic/soul world. His jazzy, elastic, bass-heavy downtempo beats and exquisite production serve as a cohesive foundation for his own airy vocals as well as guest vocal appearances from R&B/soul singers Baby Rose, Eryn Allen Kane, and Lucy Park, alt-pop artist Labrinth, and rapper Bas. –AR

Hannah Cole - Switchbacks (Tight Knit)  
The debut album from Louisiana-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Hannah Cole is a catchy set of hazy indie rock. Featuring melancholic vocals, fuzzy guitars, raw lyricism, and infectious hooks, this collection, with its captivating ups and downs, “makes my heart soft,” to borrow a phrase from Cole herself. –CS

Jaime Rosso - Keep Stepping! (Domino)
The second EP from this British musician keeps stepping in the same groovy lane as his debut EP Away as he delivers another sweet set of soulful, woozy, infectious dance-pop that blends loose, psych-tinted house rhythms, low-key vocals, and airy melodies in a style reminiscent of Moodymann, Toro y Moi, Joe Goddard, and TEED.  –AR

Soft Loft - Throw A Dice ([PIAS] Recordings)  
The sophomore album from Zurich-based quintet Soft Loft is a beguiling set of hook-laden indie pop infused with elements of folk and indie rock. Guided by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jorina Stamm, Throw A Dice finds the outfit exploring “life at a turning point” through lush, textured arrangements that highlight Stamm’s breathtaking vocals and enchanting vibrato. –CS

Soft Vein - All We’ve Known of Heaven (Artoffact)
Co-produced by Nuovo Testamento’s Andrea Mantione, the third album from this project of California-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Justin Chamberlain finds him moving away from the icy, goth-tinted darkwave of his 2025 sophomore album Through Blinds in favor of a warmer, dreamier, 80s-soaked synth-pop sound with a sweeping, cinematic touch. –AR

The Tubs - Hard Life (Merge)  
The third full-length album from London quartet The Tubs is a nostalgic set of ‘90s soaked jangle pop. Steeped in melancholy and introspection, Hard Life boasts classic song structures, killer hooks, memorable guitar lines, expressive vocals, and flourishes of keys and fiddle, resulting in another stellar collection from these prolific pop stalwarts. –CS

Various Artists - Sergio Mendes Tribute (CROIX Co., Ltd./CROIX JAM)
Spearheaded by Tokyo-based composer, producer, and Ryuichi Sakamoto disciple Bajune Tobeta, this compilation celebrates the vibrant music of legendary Brazilian artist Sergio Mendes and arrives a day before the second anniversary of his passing. The project began with a single wish, to hear Sergio’s widow Gracinha Leporace sing his iconic song “Mas Que Nada” once more, and the tribute blossomed from there, welcoming in artists from both Japan and Brazil to honor Sergio’s timeless, versatile, funky bossa nova music with interpretations ranging from delicate neo-classical arrangements to lively global hip-hop jams. –AR