In Our Headphones

The Joy Formidable - "Into the Blue" from the 2021 album Into The Blue on Enci Records. Welsh band The Joy Formidable return with their first new music in three years. Today's Song of the Day is the title track from their forthcoming fifth album, Into The Blue, out August 20th. While the song was written in their hometown of Wales, it was completed in their new adopted home of Utah, which is also where the accompanying music video was filmed.  “I am always daydreaming in the bathtub between recordings," frontwoman Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan says of the watery clip. “That diffuse thinking where your mind wanders freely — I always finish songs when I’m in that state. The idea that your imagination, that escape into another, deeper world can sometimes create a stronger connection with yourself.” She describes today's Song of the Day as being "about surrendering to love and magic," adding, “Having the courage to enjoy a new journey and the mystery and excitement of something unexpected. It’s about opening your eyes to beauty and love again. Making it to the other side. Whilst not conceived as a metaphor for the times we all live in now, it certainly turned out that way.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Glüme - "The Internet" from the 2021 album The Internet on Italians Do It Better. When Glüme first heard the Chromatics come up on Spotify Shuffle, she knew that frontman Johnny Jewel was her sonic soulmate. It was destiny that she'd be signed to Jewel's record label Italians Do It Better for her debut album The Internet.  An artist/musician/actor and trained tap dancer, Glüme was diagnosed with Prinzmetal Angina, a rare heart disease. Confined to bed, she went online to escape, and to eventually reinvent herself as the ‘Wal-Mart Marilyn Monroe’ she calls herself. “I didn’t like the vision of myself as a sick person. So I went on The Internet," she shares in a press release. “My online presence was my truth even though it was a lie. I have this self at home who is sick & then this self on The Internet that’s doing amazing. The world wasn’t working for me. But online, I could live the life I wanted to live.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lightning Bug - "The Right Thing Is Hard To Do" from the 2021 album A Color of the Sky on Fat Possum Records. On today's Song of the Day, Audrey Kang — lead vocalist for shoegaze sensations Lightning Bug — shares her personal battle with self-worth against a delicate wash of guitars.  "Here I wanted to connect how the struggles and flaws within the individual are mirrored in the greater problems of society," she reveals in a press release. "How do we as individuals know we are on the right path? How do we as a society, as a species, know we are on the right path? So I started with myself, and my own struggles, touching on how I hide myself away from other people, on my stage fright, on my inability to be vulnerable, on this feeling I used to have that I needed to prove I was worthy of being alive. Then I tried to connect these struggles outward to global issues like xenophobia, arbitrary borders, the lines we draw between ourselves and the environment, and the ways we sacrifice the health of the planet for human convenience." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mochipet - "Godzilla League of Legends" from the 2021 self-released album Godzilla Resurgence. David Wang has long had an obsession with dinosaurs, from wearing a purple costume of the prehistoric creatures in his musical alias of Mochipet, to the recent release of his EP Godzilla Resurgence, named for the mythical kaiju who has starred in films since the 1950s.  “I saw my first Godzilla movie when I was around 10 years old in Taiwan. I think my cousin showed it to me or something," Wang told MixMag Asia late last year. “I actually didn’t like it at first. I didn’t understand why Godzilla was destroying Japan and I didn’t like that it was in black and white. It was not till later in my life I began to appreciate Godzilla for its representation of the human need for control and the Atomic Bomb that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki and destroyed many lives during World War II. Godzilla is a constant reminder of man’s need for control which usually ends in death and destruction." The new EP is dedicated to the memory of Wang's father, who passed away as this release was nearing completion. Proceeds are going towards the cost of his funeral and burial costs. More information here. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hollis - "Grace Lee," a 2021 self-released single.  Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Essam - "Free Palestine," a 2021 self-released single. South Seattle-based rapper/poet and community organizer Essam wrote his first rap at the age of eight. “I wrote a personal narrative essay – it was the first time it wasn’t research – and I realized that writing is for me,” he told the University of Washington at Bothell.  He's since released two albums: 2018's 12.12 and last year's LP Chapter20six; early last month he shared the powerful new single "Free Palestine," stating, "my grandfather used to say when she calls then we always gotta answer." Check out the video below, shot/edited by Muzammil Siddiqee against a mural by artist Gabril.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Little Simz - "Woman (feat. Cleo Sol)," a 2021 single on AGE 101 MUSIC / AWAL. U.K. rapper Little Simz returns with her fourth full-length this fall, the relatably-titled Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, out September 3rd. In a press release, today's Song of the Day has been called “a soulful love letter to women around the world.” “I love it when I see women doing their thing and looking flawless; I’m here for that!” Simz said. “It’s empowering, it’s inspiring; I wanted to say thank you and I wanted to celebrate them.” The 70s-tinged summer jam reunites Simz with vocalist Cleo Sol, who also guests on the track “Selfish” from Simz's 2019 LP GREY Area. And, the self-directed accompanying video features guest appearances from Jourdan Dunn, Joy Crookes, Denai Moore, two of her cousins (Zeze Millz, Kesewa Aboah), and her best friend of 15 years. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mara TK - "Grew Up Inna Chaos (feat. 2MY)" from the 2021 album Bad Meditation on Extra Soul Perception. Scottish-Māori artist Mara TK has lent his velvety vocals to neo-soul trio Electric Wire Hustle for years, and with his deeply personal debut solo album, Bad Medication, he takes center stage. The album brings him back to his home of Aotearoa (or "long white cloud," the Māori name for New Zealand). He says in a press release, “writing this album has been a form of therapy over the last few years trying to figure out what kind of music I wanted to make next.” He adds, "I was offered what was basically a whole studio worth of gear from a friend who was moving overseas. I took a gamble and bought that gear and have spent the last five years learning how to use this shit. I had to bet on my own ability to learn new things so it was scary, but also keep in mind that music, like any other creative form doesn’t have to be perfect — the brush strokes don’t have to be exactly straight.”Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Children of Zeus - "No Love Song" from the 2021 album Balance on First Word Records. Manchester duo Children Of Zeus return with their first new music in three years, since the release of their acclaimed debut Travel Light.  Today's Song of the Day reunites band members Tyler Daley and Konny Kon with producer Beat Butcha (Jay-Z, Beyonce, Nipsey Hussle) who worked on their earlier album. The lush production adds a lush, soulful vibe to the smooth slow jam, providing a velvety platform for Daley's vocals and Kon's riffs.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seattle shoegaze band Shine combines the talents of band members from Regional Justice Center and Seattle’s New Gods. This new project, they say, "channels the noise and driving aggression of these bands, but through a more playful, Britpop-tinged lens." Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.