Kexp Song Of The Day

Ukhoikhoi - “Abathembu” from the 2022 Nongqawuse EP on Next Movement More than just a musical duo, uKhoiKhoi call themselves a "a live looping, musical performance art showpiece." Hailing from Johannesburg, South Africa, the group is comprised of musician/composer Yogin Sullaphen and vocalist Anelisa Stuurman. Their band name pays tribute to their shared KhoiSan heritage, an indigenous tribe said to be the first inhabitants of southern Africa. By combining operatic elements with chanting and poetry, they create a unique Afro-Futuristic sound they call "indigenous-electro." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Little Simz - “Angel” from the 2022 album NO THANK YOU on Forever Living Originals. With her latest single "Angel," London-based artist Little Simz continues to pay tribute to her friend Harry Uzoka, who was murdered in 2018. "Harry listenin’ from Heaven on repeat/He was backin’ it when nobody believed" She previously wrote about Uzoka with her 2019 song "Wounds" off the album GREY Area. As she told The Guardian at the time, "“I remember waking up, Googling, trying to find out as many details as I could and going to the studio in bits. I sat in the dark in tears and I didn’t go on socials to see everyone posting ‘RIP’ – and because I didn’t do that, I was able to write 'Wounds.'” Today's Song of the Day not only finds Little Simz continuing to process her grief, but also struggling with the music industry, as she notes on the couplet: "They don’t care if your mental is on the brink of somethin’ dark/As long as your cuttin’ somebody’s payslip" A ten-minute short film was released to accompany her latest LP NO

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Stas THEE Boss is no stranger to KEXP. The former host of our station’s beloved weekly hip-hop show, Street Sounds, Stas has been a fixture of Seattle since she emerged as part of the duo THEE Satisfaction. Though Stas has since moved away, her sound, influence, and ingenuity can still be felt reverberating in Seattle. The rapper and producer has been busy dropping singles the past couple of years following 2020’s immaculate On the Quarner. “Don’t Crash” finds Stas steeped in deep house, capturing the feeling of blurry, 4 a.m. euphoria on the dancefloor. As always, Stas’ voice is the smooth tether holding you down. It’s an exciting new dimension to her ever-expanding sounds and ideas in her catalog.  Get to know more about Stas KEXP’s Fresh off the Spaceship podcast. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Hakim - “Vertigo” from the 2022 album COMETA on ATO / PIAS. Nick Hakim has been making amorphous psych-soul since 2014 that hones in on his gorgeous buttery smooth croons. Just since 2020, he’s released three projects, 2020’s WIl This Make Me Good, a collaborative record with jazz saxophonist Roy Nathanson, Small Things, in 2021, and, most recently, the intimately stunning COMETA. Featuring appearances by Alex G, Helado Negro, Arto Lindsay, and DJ Dahl, with co-production from indie’s go-to guy Andrew Sarlo, COMETA is a collection of romantic songs written through different lenses, guided by Hakim’s own experience of falling in love in a way that made him feel like he was floating. This is best seen on our Song of the Day, “Vertigo,” in which Hakim is struck by the hypnotic feelings of falling in love. The tender track whirrs and sputters as Hakim coos, "Can't tell if it's me or the room that's moving." “The key is to find that extremity of love for yourself,” he says of the romantic themes on the record

Dina Ögon - "Oas," a 2022 single on Playground Music Scandinavia. Stockholm-based songwriter Dina Ögon captures the warmth of Laurel Canyon with her immaculate, soothing arrangements, and pristine vocals. After releasing her self-titled debut album in 2021, Ögon teases more of what’s to come with new single titled “Oas.” The title track from her forthcoming sophomore album on Feb. 3, 2023, the song is a breezy exhale as we reach the end of the year. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SHIRT - "Dave Chappelle Is Wrong (Beef With God)" from the 2022 album I Turned Myself into Myself on Mello Music Group. Queens-based artist Shirt carries many titles – rapper, conceptual artist, experimentalist. These are all titles that are easy to call yourself and harder to live up to. Shirt, of course, rises to the occasion. On his Bandcamp page he describes his latest album, I Turned Myself Into Myself, as “an album that understands that the devil’s greatest trick is mobilizing our collective fear, to render us catatonic and indifferent to so much possibility around us.” With that in mind, the opening track “Dave Chapelle Is Wrong (Beef With God)” comes out blazing without mincing his words. It’s a song that dares to up to our heroes and push for the right way forward. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Zahara Elan - “Dear Santa…(NAUGHTY),” a 2022 self-released single. This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss, host of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer. He will be hosting his 18th annual Punk Rock Xmess on Saturday, December 24th from 9pm -12am and then jump back on the mic Christmas day from noon - 9pm for his no standards, non-traditional Christmas broadcast, including a special holiday edition of Sunday Soul. Zahara Elan is a young musical prodigy who’s been posting her covers and, recently, original songs on YouTube the past couple of years. Born in 2008 with Malignant Infantile Osteopetrosis (MIOP), a very rare and fatal genetic bone disorder in which the bones grow unchecked, Zahara (formerly known as Zoe) required serious medical procedures to save her life. Early videos on her YouTube channel, made by her parents, focused entirely on her therapies and development but recently they’ve shifted to focus on her main passion: creating and pe

We Are The Union - “Yr Always Alone (On Christmas)” from the 2022 album I Surrender Sleighs on I Surrender Records. This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss, host of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer. He will be hosting his 18th annual Punk Rock Xmess on Saturday, December 24th from 9pm -12am and then jump back on the mic Christmas day from noon - 9pm for his no standards, non-traditional Christmas broadcast, including a special holiday edition of Sunday Soul. We Are The Union have been making ska-infused pop punk since 2005 with five full-length records to their name. After multiple lineup changes, original members vocalist/guitarist Reade Wolcott and bassist Brandon Benson have remained and added Ricky Weber on lead guitar and Jer Hunter on the ska-important trombone. Their latest single “Yr Always Alone (On Christmas)” centers on the idea of loneliness and how especially excruciating the feeling is around the holidays. “Nuclear holiday /Oh,

BumbleWasps - "Ill Be at Work for Christmas" from the 2021 self-released album F U Xmas. UK-based BumbleWasps describe themselves as “cute like a bee, scary like a wasp.” It’s an apt description for the project with its bubbly aesthetics and biting lyricism. No more is that better exemplified with their yearly Christmas music, especially last year’s F U Christmas. Stand out track “I’ll Be At Work for Christmas” captures the dismal capitalist nightmare of working on the holidays. While you’re smashing back that egg nog and roasting the Yule log, let BumbleWasps remind you that they and others are somewhere out there putting in the hours. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bat Hearse - “Coffin for Christmas,” a 2021 self-released single. This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss, host of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer. He will be hosting his 18th annual Punk Rock Xmess on Saturday, December 24th from 9pm -12am and then jump back on the mic Christmas day from noon - 9pm for his no standards, non-traditional Christmas broadcast, including a special holiday edition of Sunday Soul. Detroit-based Gothabilly band Bat Hearse lean into darkness and horror but with a humorous slant. The five-piece have released two records, their 2021 self-titled debut and 2022’s Transylvania Moonshine but before dropping either, their first single was a tune in celebration of a very unlikely holiday for a band gushing Halloween out of their pours. “Coffin for Christmas” barrels in like an undead force to be reckoned with. In between frequent howls, frontman Rick Ruiner sings of unrequited love and is either threatening them with a coff

James Kochalka Superstar – “Christmas Muffin,” a 2017 self-released single. This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss, host of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer. He will be hosting his 18th annual Punk Rock Xmess on Saturday, December 24th from 9pm -12am and then jump back on the mic Christmas day from noon - 9pm for his no standards, non-traditional Christmas broadcast, including a special holiday edition of Sunday Soul. James Kochalka is a Vermont-based comic book artist and writer, animator, and rock musician. Under his James Kochalka Superstar moniker, it makes sardonic comic rock with nearly twenty releases to his name, going back to 1995. As you’d imagine, his take on a Christmas tune is wry and undeniably silly. “Christmas Muffin” grapples with the very adult reality of having to purchase gifts when you’re flat broke. With little dinero to his name, our narrator instead offers the most generous gift of a muffin - or at least half of it. T

Kennebec - Tall Tales (feat. Hemlock Ernst and Sudan Archives) from the 2022 album Without Star or Compass on Night Time Stories. While Eric Phillips has only been releasing cinematic instrumental soundscapes under the name Kennebec since 2020, his enchanting works have garnered attention and led to a number of incredible collaborations. Our Song of the Day, “Tall Tales,” sees the Portland-based artist team up with Samuel T. Herring of Future Islands under his rap moniker Hemlock Ernst and Brittany Denise Parks, better known as the LA-based musician Sudan Archives. The early single off his sophomore record Without Star or Compass is one of three tracks on the album that Herring contributes to but the only one under his rap alias. Over a guitar-strummed hook, Herring and Parks swap stream-of-consciousness verses and come together for heavenly harmonies on the chorus. While the lyrics are esoteric, ripe with references to nature, the seeming meaning revolves around our inability to fully know what another is th

Archie Roach - One Song from the 2022 album My Songs: 1989 – 2021 on Bloodlines. Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter, activist, and author Archie Roach exited this mortal coil on July 30th of this year, leaving behind a legacy of powerful blues tunes telling the story of his painful personal history as well as those of the Aboriginal community. In his 66 years on the planet, 30 of them releasing music, he acquired numerous awards and accolades, including multiple ARIAs (Australia’s version of the Grammy’s), an International Human Rights Achievement award, and a hall of fame induction at the 2020 ARIAs. Shortly before his death, in February of 2022, Roach released the 44-tack anthology album My Songs: 1989 – 2021 which included a new song titled “One Song.” The softly-strummed six-minute song is sparse yet compelling, with Roach singing of a collective connection and the acknowledgment of and privilege to all come from one place. “Remember well what we have told you /And don't forget where you come from,”

Weyes Blood - "Grapevine" from the 2022 album And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow on Sub Pop. Los Angeles-based artist Weyes Blood (real name: Natalie Mering) explores the ways we're tangled together on the wistful acoustic ballad "Grapevine." “Technology is harvesting our attention away from each other,” she said, via a press release. “We all have a ‘Grapevine’ entwined around our past with unresolved wounds and pain. Being in love doesn’t necessarily mean being together. Why else do so many love songs yearn for a connection?” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bleached - "Flip It" a 2022 self-released single. Los Angeles-based sibling duo Bleached return with a pop-punk pep talk, inspired by television dialogue and self care. “I heard this quote on Euphoria," Jennifer Clavin said in a press release, "‘Every day you get out of bed is an act of courage.' I really related that to the lyrics. During the time of writing this song, I felt like I had to find my inner warrior to make it through another day in LA.” Her sister Jessie adds, "“I was thinking of the way I speak to myself and I never realized how hard I could be on myself. I'm becoming way more aware of my inner voice. When I’m going through a day and I'm just feeling extra challenged, I now think about flipping it.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hannah Jadagu - "Say It Now" a 2022 single on Sub Pop. As we eagerly await a full-length debut from Hannah Jadagu, the 20-year-old artist gives us a sneak peek with the new single "Say It Now." In a press release, the Texas-born/New York-based artist explains, “"Say It Now" is my sort of inner reflection on where things have gone wrong in my past interactions and relationships with other people. Sonically and lyrically, I feel as though this song signifies me venturing into a new world that is even more intense and vulnerable.”  The new track is accompanied by a video directed by Jade De Brito and shot in Paris. Jadagu adds, "Making this video was so special because I got to make it during my first visit to Paris. We shot it in about 2 days, showcasing a sort of “day in the life” where I do studio work and get to go around the city. It’s a nice contrast to the lyrical content because there’s truly no time to be sad in Paris." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omny

Field School - "Jennifer Valentine" from the 2022 album When Summer Comes on Bobo Integral / Small Craft Advisory. It can be rare for a new band to immediately conjure a very specific location, scene, time, and sound but pressing play on Field School’s debut album When Summer Comes is like traveling to Olympia in the early ‘90s, despite its 2022 release. The project of Charles Bert of Seattle band Math and Physics Club, Field School was born out of necessity during the pandemic. Without the ability to play with his bandmates, Bert leaned on himself to create and record full songs on his own. Conjuring the twee pop sounds K Records became synonymous with during that era, the perhaps-not-coincidentally Olympia-based artist makes sentimental lo-fi jangle pop with all the sugary sweetness but none of the calories. Our Song of the Day, “Jennifer Valentine,” is a highlight off the record and hones in on the saccharine wistfulness. “Jennifer Valentine, I wrote your name a thousand times/I wonder if you remember mine

Peak Park - Need Your Love a 2022 self-released single. Naarm/Melbourne-based trio Peak Park make groovy multi-facted art rock that blends genres to make music that’s at times upbeat and dancey and other times slow and sweet. Ethereal vocals deliver vulnerable and honest lyricism, centred on identity, existentialism and mental health. Our Song of the Day “Need Your Love” is a dark and driving synth-filled tune about the intoxication and obsession of the baser needs surrounding new love. In a TikTok made by the band, they claim to have been inspired by the films The Batman, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, Drive, and Good Time when writing the song and the gritty undertones of those films are felt on the track. “Need your love /I wanna lose the weight of my bones /Intoxicate my air /I just need a taste of you,” passionately croons frontman Mitch Summers, balancing the complex feelings of vulnerable pining with the sometimes-seedy demands of desire. To see a different side of the band, watch the lyric video for recent s