In Our Headphones

Curtis Harding - "Hopeful," a 2021 single on Anti-. Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Curtis Harding returns with his first new music in three years with a powerful anthem for these times. “I wrote [“Hopeful”] some time ago but in theory it goes far beyond a time and place,” Harding explained in a press release. “I’ve always tried to carry it (Hope) wherever I am. Darkness finds us all, hope allows us the fortitude to seek out the light.” The soulful single is accompanied by a video shot by photojournalist Lynsey Weatherspoon. “Working on the visuals for 'Hopeful' was very cathartic because it gave me the chance to revisit and reflect on the activities from 2020,” Weatherspoon said. “Curtis' song really brings home what we're all feeling and how we can progress to the hope we have for our future. His energy is unmatched and he immersed himself into the process, which helped us create a powerful storyline for the video. Being able to really bring home the meaning of the song within several areas of Atlanta really made this project a success. I know 'Hopeful' will be able to bring a sense of place in a world that we desire to love and peace to be spread abound.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ambar Lucid - "Get Lost in the Music," a 2021 single on 300 Entertainment. Dominican/Mexican artist Ambar Lucid exhibits a worldliness beyond her 20 years of age with her latest single “Get Lost in the Music,” the title track from her forthcoming EP out June 18th. It's her first single since last year's debut full-length, Garden of Lucid, a breakout release examining radical self-love, with lyrics in both Spanish and English.  "A lot of people have their own insecurities and their own battles that they’re dealing with, and sometimes they project them onto other people, maybe not even on purpose," she told Vice last year. "It’s so important to define yourself, and to be true and honest with yourself. That is the only way I think we end up on the path that is most authentic to ourselves, and brings us the most happiness.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Faye Webster - "Cheers" from the 2021 album I Know I'm Funny haha on Secretly Canadian. With today's Song of the Day, Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Faye Webster says she finally gets to feel "like a badass for once.”  “This song has always felt like a standout from the record to me," Webster said in a press release about her fourth full-length, I Know I’m Funny haha, out June 25th via Secretly Canadian. "It was the kind of song where you’re like ‘oh yeah, this is the one,' after the first take. It felt different to me and it made it feel like I was entering a new era and chapter for myself. It’s kind of the outlier on the record but at the same time is still so original and identifying to myself." The track is accompanied by a video directed by Matt Swinsky, starring members of the Atlanta dirt bike scene. “If cameras were not present, these guys are still riding for their own enjoyment,” Webster told American Songwriter. “People love what they do and yet there are still many people who are so quick to judge and label them in a hateful way. Everyone of them that I’ve met has been kind, welcoming and hospitable to us so that inspires me to continue documenting them the best I can.”  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TORRES - "Don't Go Puttin Wishes in My Head" from the 2021 album Thirstier on Merge Records. On her forthcoming full-length, Thirstier, TORRES (real name: Mackenzie Scott) exudes a newfound happiness. “I’ve been conjuring this deep, deep joy that I honestly didn’t feel for most of my life,” she shares in a press release. “I feel like a rock within myself. And I’ve started to feel that I have what it takes to help other people conjure their joy, too.” She adds, “I wanted to channel my intensity into something that felt positive and constructive, as opposed to being intense in a destructive or eviscerating way. I love the idea that intensity can actually be something life-saving or something joyous.” On today's Song of the Day, Scott goes for what she calls her "relentless arena country star moment — my shameless Tim McGraw cheeseball hit.” The heartland-inspired track is accompanied by a behind-the-scenes look at Scott's personal life with girlfriend Jenna Gribbon, the artist behind Thirstier's album cover.  Thirstier will be released July 30th via Merge. TORRES is scheduled for a September 27th show at the Tractor Tavern.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pronoun - "I WANNA DIE BUT I CAN’T (CUZ I GOTTA KEEP LIVING)" from the 2021 OMG I MADE IT EP on Wax Bodega. Brooklyn bedroom pop artist Alyse Vellturo (who records as Pronoun) follows her 2019 lowercase'd debut album, i'll show you stronger, with the all-cap'ed EP OMG I MADE IT, out June 11th via Wax Bodega.  In a press release, Vellturo explains that today's fist-pumping Song of the Day is "about the uncomfortable feeling that everyone around you is growing into their own lives while I feel like nothing’s changing within myself. It’s the uncomfortable feeling of not wanting to be on this planet but knowing I really have to put in effort and figure out how to make life work for me. It’s about the uncomfortable but at the same time comforting feeling that others feel the same. It’s literally a hard look in the mirror, by myself, in a bathroom, asking myself what the hell is up. I’m talking to myself throughout the entire thing, but these days who isn’t." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary Louris - "Almost Home" from the 2021 album Jump For Joy on Sham/Thirty Tigers. It's been a while since Gary Louris has released a solo album, but The Jayhawks frontman returns on June 4th with the full-length Jump For Joy, his first since 2008's Vagabond.  Today's Song of the Day was originally meant to be a jingle for an AT&T commercial. When they turned it down, a friend suggested Quaker. When they changed their mind on using it, he told American Songwriter he "wrote a chorus and a verse, and a bridge, and it became what it was supposed to be.” He continues, saying that lyrically, the song is "a lot of looking back, reassessing with a microscope, then at a distance — so from outer space to nose-on-the-ground. Life sometimes carries you in new ways, but if you can stop and look around, you can learn to appreciate where you are, instead of where you’re going and where you’ve been.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Place to Bury Strangers - "End of the Night" from the 2021 Hologram EP on Dedstrange. Long-running Brooklyn-based psych-rock band A Place To Bury Strangers return this summer with the new EP, Hologram, and a new line-up. Frontman and founding member Oliver Ackermann is now joined by John Fedowitz on bass and Sandra Fedowitz of Ceremony East Coast on drums. Ackermann and his new bassist are childhood friends who formerly played in the shoegaze band Skywave. Today's Song of the Day was the first result of their reconnection. Ackerman shared in a press statement: “End Of The Night” is the first written in collaboration with either of the new band members. John sent me the drum track and challenged me to write a song over it. It sort of came about as a strange stream of consciousness and unknowingly became about the end of the former band and the beginning of the new one. Each layer of the song stripping away the dead skin from the old and regrowing layer and layer of distortion of the new band. It’s great to be working again with John Fedowitz. I feel like our songwriting styles shot off in different directions from our earlier band Skywave only to come back to the table with different experiences to create something special again. Hologram will be out July 16th via Dedstrange. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sofia Kourtesis - "Dear George," a 2020 self-released single. Today's Song of the Day was chosen in honor of It's Still Going on Day, recognizing the one year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, playing songs of hope, justice, and change, songs that affirm Black humanity, classic songs of protest as well as those that came out in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, amid the protests of last summer.  One of the songs that came out of this grief was this single from Peruvian-born, Berlin-based producer Sofia Kourtesis. As she writes on her Bandcamp page, in a letter to Floyd's family, "From deep in my heart, I can't imagine the grief you are feeling. I tried my best to express my feelings by writing you this song. Today, l keep you in my heart through melody. I will keep protesting, I will keep talking about you. All profits from this release will be donated to 70+ bail funds aiding the Black Lives Matter protests." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bachelor - "Stay in the Car" from the 2021 album Doomin' Sun on Polyvinyl. Bachelor — the new project from friends Jay Som (Melina Duterte) and Palehound (Ellen Kempner) — will release their debut album this Friday, titled Doomin’ Sun. The LP was recorded in Topanga, California, over two weeks in January 2020, before the lockdown. Today's Song of the Day dates back to 2019, with Kempner explaining in a press release: “I wrote the lyrics to ‘Stay in the Car’ back in December of 2019 when I was in Florida for my partner’s top surgery. I had run out one afternoon, post-op, while he was healing to grab lunch for us and as I was gathering my stuff in the parking lot, a big car pulled up and this absolutely beautiful woman got out. She was dressed all in red, dripping with jewelry and had the most wild fiery mane I’d ever seen. She was yelling at the man behind the wheel asking him what he wanted from the store and I wished I was that man. I wanted to be a part of her life, her best friend, her driver, whatever she wanted me to be. I was completely mesmerized.” The song is accompanied by a colorful video, directed and edited by Haoyan of America. Duterte adds: “We wanted this song to be a visceral listening experience, inspired by the Pixies and the Breeders. For the music video, we worked on a two-day shoot with Haoyan of America in Poughkeepsie in extremely cold weather. We all collaborated on the idea that our friendship should be portrayed in a fun and stylish way. Haoyan captured that energy in his own unique and creative lens through his collection of ’80s/’90s/’00s props and toys, CGI, and anything car-themed.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Khari Wendell McClelland - "Feels Real Good," a 2021 self-released single. In a way, singer/songwriter Khari Wendell McClelland shares the writing credit for today's Song of the Day with his Facebook followers. The Vancouver-based artist asked them to share the ways they've been finding joy during the otherwise bleak pandemic, and then took their answers and created this beautiful track. "It was probably the most response I ever received for any single post on Facebook," he told The Georgia Straight last month. "They said, 'I go to the forest.' 'I eat meals with friends.' 'I sing in a choir.' 'I just hang out with my kids.' I took all of those answers and made a song, and I think it's incredibly moving. A goal for me as a person, but also as an artist, is to connect with the community and to feel like I'm really responding to what people are feeling and thinking and needing, and this song really does that in a powerful way." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.