Jason McCue - When He Drinks

Nasimiyu - "Watercolor" from the 2021 album P O T I O N S on Figureight. Brooklyn-based musician and dancer Nasimyu Murumba (who records as nasimiYu) returns with P O T I O N S, her first new solo album in seven years, a joyous release produced during a difficult time. “This album was being made while the world was on fire in all the ways,” she shared in a press statement, “and some of the most loving ways found their way into these songs because that’s what I was overflowing with throughout the experience. I just wanted to make the ‘me-est’ thing possible, undiluted, and to find my own healing in the process.” She explains that today's Song of the Day is a "psychedelic awakening." She adds: It’s about that tender place of vulnerability that’s always hiding behind our outer shell. The song is a celebration of how much bravery it takes to shed our armor and to choose to live in our softness. 'Watercolor' is about letting myself get all the way to the other side of a good cry, and finding complete elation on the other side. Crying as cleansing. Taking an 'inner shower.' This song is about being the opposite cool, the opposite of nonchalant. It’s about allowing yourself to be as fully human as you can be. Bursting open with every color of the emotional spectrum all at once. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

7 Juni 20213min

Enumclaw - "Free Drop Billy" from the 2021 album Jimbo Demo on Youth Riot. On their debut EP Jimbo Demo, Tacoma-based quartet Enumclaw channel the '90s Northwest sound, with lyrics addressing growing up and finding your place in the world. On today's Song of the Day, vocalist/guitarist Aramis Johnson reflects on his upbringing, repeating the relatable refrain, “I don’t wanna be a loser.” “Where I grew up, a lot of people are townies, or losers," he shares in a press release. "I sometimes have survivor’s guilt about it. I went to college, and I’ve done some stuff that a lot of people I know in my life haven’t. It’s about not wanting to fall back into the traps of things like that, about not wanting to end up like some of my friends. I don’t want to get stuck.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4 Juni 20212min

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.

3 Juni 20213min

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.

2 Juni 20213min

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.

1 Juni 20213min

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.

31 Maj 20214min

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.

28 Maj 20212min

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.

27 Maj 20213min