In Our Headphones

Left at London - "there is a place for you here." from the 2021 self-released album t.i.a.p.f.y.h.. On her debut full-length, t.i.a.p.f.y.h., Seattle artist Left At London (aka Nat Puff) explores mental health against everything from folk to pop, punk, rock, hip hop, and electronica. “There are some days when you are angry in a way that you can’t describe and there are some days when you’re absolutely defeated in a way you can’t describe. Then there’s manic episodes, there’s dissociative episodes, all these sorts of things I feel are unintentionally represented in the genre switches,” Puff told KEXP's Sound & Vision. “Each track represents a different part of my mental state — from suicidal ideations, to hope and healing." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Marías - "Hush" from the 2021 album CINEMA on Nice Life Recording Company and Atlantic Recording Corporation. Los Angeles band The Marías was formed in 2016 by vocalist María Zardoya and producer/drummer Josh Conway, and their relationship is at the heart of their highly-anticipated debut album, Cinema.  "We dedicated our whole lives to this album and we were completely devoted," Zardoya told AL DÍA news. "This album is a direct reflection of Josh and I at this point in time, and our experience so far. I think this album has been living between us for a long time, waiting for the moment to come out. We want this album to be an experience for the listeners, an out of this world paradise. I want you to listen to this album, imagine the world and the scene in your head and feel it for yourself. To be honest, the whole album is just a feeling." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

La Luz - "In The Country" from the 2021 album In The Country on Hardly Art. Today's Song of the Day transports LA-via-Seattle trio La Luz to the countryside, adding a gentle folk feel to their signature surf sound. It's the band's first new music in three years, since their 2018 album Floating Features.  Principal songwriter Shana Cleveland explains in a press release, "I moved to the country a few years ago after living in cities for most of my life. Being out in the middle of nowhere makes it easy to imagine how it would be possible to leave society all together. I love how in this track some of the most unnatural elements of the arrangement (synthesizers, fuzz, effects) create an atmosphere around the instruments that ends up feeling very natural — I can hear bugs buzzing around and bird sounds in different directions." La Luz plays November 19th at the Neptune Theatre with Tropa Magica. Check out the video below, directed by band member Lena Simon. The band states, "This is a reminder to go outside, to stare at nature a little bit too long, and to appreciate what it shows you." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

L'Rain - "Two Face" from the 2021 album Fatigue on Mexican Summer. Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist L’Rain (real name: Taja Cheek) follows her powerful 2017 self-titled debut with Fatigue, a new album that infuses soul, gospel, jazz, and other styles into her experimental sound. Today's Song of the Day finds her reflecting on a failed friendship. As she states on her Bandcamp: This is a song about a falling out with a friend. The friend was a gemini, hence the title ‘Two Face.’ The song is a disjointed imaginary conversation between us. The ‘spooky’ parts of the song have the most optimistic lyrics, and the ‘sunny’ parts have the bleakest lyrics. The song is mostly a reflection on regret, because the dissolution of our friendship was absolutely my fault and it still haunts me. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Courtney Barnett - "Rae Street" from the 2021 album Things Take Time, Take Time on Mom+Pop/Marathon Records. Long-time KEXP fave Courtney Barnett has announced her third album, titled Things Take Time, Take Time, out November 12th on Mom+Pop Music / Marathon Artists. Today's Song of the Day features the opening track, the languid rocker "Rae Street." Things Take Time, Take Time was written over a two-year period, marking what's called "a particularly joyful time in her life." It was recorded towards the end of 2020 and early 2021 with producer / drummer Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint, and the comfort can be heard in the resulting intimate songs.  Courtney will be stopping by Seattle on Tuesday, December 14th with Bartees Strange at the Paramount. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nox Novacula - "Victim" from the 2021 album Ascension on Manic Depression. Seattle's Nox Novacula has brought a goth presence to the local music scene since 2017. On their debut full-length, Ascension, they combine electronic and post-punk sounds into a genre they call "Death Rock." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ash Code - "Fear (Forever Grey Remix)" from the 2021 self-released EP Fear. Throughout the pandemic, the predominant feeling has been "fear," which is what inspired the new EP from Italian darkwave trio Ash Code. Twin brothers Alessando and Adriano Belluccio and Claudia Nottebella had an album almost finished, but the lockdown just changed the mood.  "We had a lot of songs almost finished and the plan was to release them in late summer 2020 as part of a US and Latin America tour," Adriano told German website RTL, "But everything was canceled, we spent the first half of the year planning live streams like 'Ash Code vs COVID-19' and the Gothicat festivals in order to generate donations. And then we realized that most of the songs no longer suited us and we decided to write something new. Somehow the pandemic changed us." The Fear EP features three remixes of the title track from Molchat Doma, Clan Of Xymox, and Forever Grey. Today's Song of the Day features the latter. "We met Forever Gray in Los Angeles in 2019," Alessandro explains. "Ever since we knew her we wanted to ask her if she would remix something for us. The track is very dark with an incredible bassline!" Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Balvanera - "¿Cuánto resiste el cuerpo?" from the 2021 album Courses of Action on DKA Records. Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the duo of Balvanera bring an EBM aesthetic to their dark electronic music. Vocalist Agustina and multi-instrumentalist Lucas both came from the DIY punk and hardcore scene before moving into electronics.  "For some reason, electronic music feels like a continuation of punk to me," Agustina explained in an interview with Brutal Resonance. "Like in the '80s a lot of ex punks and industrial musicians were drawn to raving. In that sense I feel there’s a lot of similarities in the communal experience, ethics, DIY, etc." Their latest album, Courses of Action, draws from the political fury of punk. "It’s a record that invites you to action, to movement; to gain consciousness of one's acts," Lucas said of the title. "We felt the record sounded and demanded 'action',"  Agustina continued, "And since last year was so hard, time itself put everything in perspective, demanding also to make choices in our own personal lives." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NNHMN - "Tomorrow's Heroine" from the 2021 EP Tomorrow's Heroine on K Dream's. Berlin-based darkwave duo NNHMN (pronounced Non-Human) released the EP Tomorrow's Heroine earlier this year, a mini-album they describe as "five songs of hope, desire, and sheer electronic magic." Band members Lee Margot and Michal Laudarg (who's a techno DJ on the side) take a minimal approach to their sensual synth sound, drawing influence from "New Brutalists theatre, experimental electronic music, and techno culture," as they state on their website.   Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Camlann - "Metropolitan Boy" from the 2021 album Circa 1983 on Cold Transmission. It's fitting that the Jakarta-based darkwave trio Camlann named their latest album Circa 1983, because they easily channel the sounds of Depeche Mode and Soft Cell, despite the fact that its members weren't even born at the time. The self-described "dark disco" group consists of Ony Godfrey (17) on vocals and guitar, Bayu Triyudanto (17) on bass, and Fauzan Pratama (16) on synths. (There's also Chariszan (17), their producer and music collaborator.) As they declare on their Bandcamp page, the new LP is a "statement to the world that they are here to bring you their own version of modern nostalgia." Check out the lyric video for today's Song of the Day below, directed by band member Pratama.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.