Experimental-pop musician, and critical darling, Jean Dawson is known for his creativity as both a producer and songwriter. On “Die for Me,” a simmering, inventively-produced R&B slow jam from his hotly anticipated new album, Glimmer of God (due out in October), Dawson puts his deft and agile vocals front-and-center. Recommended If You Like: Blood Orange, Yves Tumor, Sampha Spotify | …
Song of the Day | “Earthling” by OSEES
Nearly three decades after emerging from the then-teeming Bay Area garage-rock scene, iconic San Francisco band OSEES (formerly The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, etc.) continue to experiment with great enthusiasm. The group’s latest full length, Sorcs 80, resumes many of the industrial and dark wave explorations of 2023’s Intercepted Message. On the mercurial “Earthling,” bandleader Jon Dwyer swapping his …
Song of the Day | “What’s Fair” by Blondshell
As Blondshell, LA singer-songwriter Sabrina Teitelbaum broke through last year with her grunge-y self-titled debut, and has since released a duet with fellow angsty rocker Bully. On “What’s Fair,” Teitelbaum returns to the soft-loud dynamism that made her an indie standout for a song about the complex relationship between mother and daughter. Recommended If You Like: boygenius, Veruca Salt, Alanis …
Song of the Day | “Metropolis” by Kit Sebastian
From their forthcoming and fittingly-titled full length, New Internationale, the London-formed duo of Kit Sebastian – K. Martin and Merve Erdem – have shared “Metropolis,” a delightful and sonically-nomadic single that fuses elements of Turkish psych, Brazilian Tropicalia, French pop and American jazz. Recommended If You Like: Altin Gün, Françoise Hardy, Los Bitchos Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | …
Song of the Day | “Alesis” by Mk.gee
Though the new full length from Mk.gee (pronounced Mick Gee with a hard “g”) has blown up in the U.K., the New Jersey-born, LA-based singer and guitarist’s music is just starting to penetrate the U.S. market. Yet, he can already count an impressive roster of all-stars among the growing list of arrivistes, including Tyler, The Creator, Justin Vernon (AKA Bon …
Song of the Day | “No Problems” by Ginger Root
A multi-instrumentalist and noted polymath, Cameron Lew (AKA Ginger Root) makes polished, DIY synth-pop, fused with alt-disco, boogie, soul and (as evidenced on the new single “No Problems”) Japanese city pop. Tapping into Ram-era Paul McCartney, with endearing and bright chord progressions and an orchestra of ambient synths, Kew builds a lively atmosphere on “No Problems,” waxing self-consciously about a …
Song of the Day | “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All” by Father John Misty
Less than 15-years into his solo career, the loquacious, often cynical bard, Father John Misty, has certainly released enough music to warrant a greatest-hits album. Taken from the just-announced new collection of “hits,” the single, “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All,” is a loungy, verbose, nearly nine-minute ditty befitting an artist who has never seemed at a …
Song of the Day | “Aftertaste” by Katie Gavin
Songwriter Katie Gavin broke big in 2022 as a member of MUNA. The indie-pop trio’s joyous post-major-label, self-titled release landed the band in exalted territory, on stage with Taylor Swift and boygenius. With “Aftertaste,” Gavin has shared a preview of her debut solo effort, What A Relief. The acoustic-forward love song stands on a solid foundation of ‘90s-pop-radio production, a …
Song of the Day | “Super Breath” by Karen O and Danger Mouse
One of the truly iconic frontpeople of the Meet Me in the Bathroom era, Karen O has returned with new music, swapping out her Yeah Yeah Yeah compatriots for super-producer Danger Mouse (Black Keys, Beck, A$AP Rocky, Jemini) for their first collaborative single since 2019’s critically acclaimed Lux Prima. A compelling, minor key, eerie-R&B ditty about unrequited love, “Super Breath” …
Song of the Day | “Kiki, You Complete Me” by Los Bitchos
Los Bitchos certainly march to the tune of their own drummer (that’s Nic Crawshaw, if you’re wondering). That tune often carries a tinge of cumbia but not always. London-based. Internationally assembled. Los Bitchos is a super group of seriously shredding players (Serra Petale on guitar, Agustina Ruiz on synths, Swede Josefine Jonsson on bass), fusing turkish and surf rock with …
Song of the Day | “Empty Trainload of Sky” by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
Icons of Americana and modern keepers of the folk tradition, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings have shared “Empty Trainload of Sky,” a single from the forthcoming full-length, Woodland, the latest entry in the duo’s two-and-a-half-decade-spanning career. Recorded in Welch and Rawlings’ own Woodland Sounds Studio in Nashville, “Empty Trainload of Sky” features the duo’s trademark tight-and-somber vocal harmonies, lyrics evoking …
Song of the Day | “Coast” by Kim Deal
On her first solo release for unimpeachably cool indie label 4AD, alternative-music icon Kim Deal arrives – as the meme goes – tanned, rested and ready; albeit it in true-Gen-X style. With its playful, sunkissed arrangement “Coast” retains the sonic spirit of some of Deal’s more lighthearted work with Pixies and The Breeders (the latter of whom play September’s Sing …
Song of the Day | “Lie 95” by Bartees Strange
Bartees Strange’s 2022 LP, Farm to Table, earned the genre-defying singer and guitarist’s certain songwriting skills a much broader audience – as did successive tours with The National and boygenius. The DC-based, UK-born Strange is back with “Lie-95,” an emotional and texturally rich new single that features soaring vocals and an interstate highway’s worth of passion. All songs featured in …
Song of the Day | “Side Quest” by Pearl & the Oysters
A year after releasing their most successful album to date – the sweltering summer pop opus Coast 2 Coast – Los Angeles duo Pearl & The Oysters has shared “Side Quest,” a breezy and animated jazz-pop number that sounds as though it were designed to incite a Soul-Train-style line dance on Mars. P&TO is made up of high school friends …
Song of the Day | “No. 1 Headband” by Lupe Fiasco
Considered one of the best emcees of his (or any) generation, Lupe Fiasco’s sword remains sharp. On his latest the mid-tempo, jazz-infused “No. 1 Headband,” a single from a new full length Samurai (out now on 1st & 15th Too by way of Thirty Tigers), the Chicago rapper slices and dices. Showing off his agility with a dynamically diverse delivery, …
Song of the Day | “Low Sun” by Hermanos Gutiérrez
The instrumental music of Swiss-Ecuadorian siblings Hermanos Gutiérrez can sound tailor made for a listening culture that exalts vibes over all else. However, much like Khruangbin – perhaps the most exalted purveyors of vibes – the brothers’ intricate guitar work is best enjoyed as an intentional listening experience, rather than a passive one. On “Low Sun,” the lead single from …
Song of the Day | “Humble Me” by Killer Mike
On February 4, after picking up three Grammy Awards, Atlanta rapper Killer Mike found himself handcuffed and arrested. He was in the studio the next day and celebrating the news that his son would finally receive a kidney transplant after three years of waiting. The dynamic peaks and valleys of those 48-or-so hours animate “Humble Me,” Killer Mike’s first single …
Song of the Day | “U Should Not Be Doing That” by Amyl and The Sniffers
Melbourne, Australia punks Amyl and The Sniffers are back with a new stand-alone single, “U Should Not Be Doing That,” their first release since the raucous 2021 full-length album, Comfort to Me. On “U Should Not Be Doing That,” the group — Amy Taylor, Dec Martens, Gus Romer and Bryce Wilson — trade the roaring menace of their previous releases …
Song of the Day | “The Hardest Part” by Washed Out
On “The Hardest Part,” a new single from a forthcoming full length, multi-disciplinary artist Ernest Greene, AKA Washed Out, displays his knack for whimsical soundscapes. With a bubbly bassline and a rigid lead melody, it’s more pop-y and perhaps less ethereal than the music that made Washed Out ubiquitous in the mid-aughts (“Feel It All Around,” if you recall, was …
Song of the Day | “Lorelei” by Mrcy
London-based soul duo Mrcy’s debut on Dead Oceans, the eight-track Volume 1, is full of enjoyable updates on retro sounds. Made up of producer Barney Lister and vocalist Kojo Degraft-Johnson, Mrcy (pronounced Mercy) combines a full spectrum of atmospheric samples with tight grooves and Degraft-Johnson’s mighty, world-class vocals. Volume 1‘s lead single, “Lorelei,” is a prime example of the duo’s …
Song of the Day | “Dog Days” by Dehd
Just about two years since the release of their Fat Possum records debut, the well-received Blue Skies (which got heavy airplay on our music discovery station), the energetic Chicago trio is back with Poetry (out now), 14 melodious and rhythmically primal ditties. Accompanied by a raucous honky-tonk-set music video by frequent collaborator Glam Hag, Poetry’s opening cut, “Dog Days,” is …
Song of the Day | “Like I Say (I runaway)” by Nilüfer Yanya
The first new music from UK songwriter Nilüfer Yanya since her breakthrough 2022 long player, Painless, finds the singular indie rocker flexing her distinctive ear for sonic interplay. “Like I Say (I runaway)” opens with clink-clank electronic drums and the hypnotic warble of Yanya’s electric guitar before morphing into a layered, distorted hook, with Yanya lending delicate, ethereal vocals to …
Song of the Day | “Push It” by Vicky Farewell
Orange County, CA songwriter and producer Vicky Farewell makes distinctively woozy pop. The classically-trained multi-instrumentalist’s veracity as a consumer of offbeat music from marginal genres is evident in the twinkling, downtempo, borderline-New-Age single, “Push It,” from Give A Damn, her new full-length due out on slacker-pop darling Mac DeMarco’s record label on May 10. All songs featured in our Song …
Song of the Day | “Megabus” by French Cassettes
On the surface, “Megabus,” a new single from harmonious and experimental San Francisco indie-rock trio French Cassettes’ forthcoming full length, Benzene (June 7 on Tender Loving Empire), is a twee, jangly, indie-folk strummer. But rather than heart-on-the-sleeve earnestness, Scott Huerta deploys his wry wit across a tune full of arch, apathetic lyrics. “Who do you love? Who’s getting drunk on …
Song of the Day | “Well Alright” by Johnny Cash
“Well Alright,” the latest posthumously released single by Johnny Cash, is about stumbling upon romance in an unlikely place (somewhere in which, it seems, Cash might have been washing a load of his all black duds). The tune is exemplary of Cash’s tight, efficient songwriting oeuvre. And comes with a cool backstory: Cash recorded the tune in 1993 as a …
Song of the Day | “Mama Say” by Ibibio Sound Machine
“Mama say ‘Yeah’” goes the hypnotic refrain of “Mama Say,” the third and final preview of inimitable UK-formed electro-Afro-funk group Ibibio Sound Machine’s hotly anticipated new record Pull the Rope (out May 3 on Merge). The song pulses with electronic drums and a grinding synth-bass line, with flourishes of retro keys that bring to mind late-70’s Nigeria-based Casio-pop lord William …
Song of the Day | “Sun Without Heat” by Leyla McCalla
David Byrne once said, “The better a singer’s voice, the harder it is to believe what they are saying.” Byrne’s decidedly-art-rock logic aside, it could also be argued that the more instruments accompanying the singer, the harder it is to believe what they are saying. Either way, on her new full length, Sun Without Heat, the classical and American-roots musician …
Song of the Day | “Fox Hunt” by Sierra Ferrell
Despite what impression mainstream country radio may impart, country music has always been a melting pot of influences. And since before she went from busking on street corners to performing on the hallowed Grand Ole Opry stage, West Virginia-bred singer and songwriter Sierra Ferrell was blending a range of traditional styles – bluegrass, gypsy jazz, even calypso – into country-tinged …
Song of the Day | “The Kill” by Maggie Rogers
The songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Maggie Rogers has had the kind of career arc that’s rare among her peer group of viral video sensations – that is to say: a relatively enduring one. Rogers was first “discovered” by Pharrell Williams when the mega-star/producer visited NYU where she was then a student. Rogers performed a song for him and (skip the next …