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Ana Tijoux - Pa Qué Aug 18, 2020

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Ana Tijoux - "Pa Que" from the 2020 single Antifa on Victoria Producciones Spa.

The phrase "Pa Qué?" roughly translates into "So why?", and it's a question French-Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux has been asking herself since the pandemic has begun. On her forthcoming full-length, titled Antifa Dance, Tijoux vents her frustration with the current political climate during such a difficult time. Today's featured track even borrows a quote from former Chilean Health Minister Jaime Mañalich, who resigned in June after criticism of the way he handled the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting it could mutate into a "better person."

“This song is a reminder to everyone that we are still attentive, inside and outside, to those above us,” Tijoux said in a press statement. “While we are at home, we are not not asleep. To those below us, we continue to weave the nets, holding ourselves up with open hearts. From the confinement, the deficiencies have become evident. There are thousands of us and solidarity makes us one.”

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Postcards - Fossilized Aug 17, 2020

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Postcards - Fossilized - from the 2020 album The Good Soldier on T3 Records.

Beirut-based trio Postcards continue to expand on the shoegaze sound they shared on their 2018 debut full-length I'll be here in the morning. With their latest LP, titled The Good Soldier, they explore darker post-punk territories while still keeping it dreamy with Julia Sabra's angelic vocals. In an interview with Joy Zine, she revealed the story behind today's Song of the Day:

"The first track we wrote for this album, right after our first full-length came out, and it’s one of those tracks that had like 5 different versions before we settled on this one. There’s a lot of underlying tension in the music. Initially it started out as a way to talk about my anger issues, how in a matter of minutes everything turns sour, how it all fades within a couple of hours, and the inevitability of the whole cycle. Eventually as I was writing and re-writing it, the song shifted towards more of a shared anger about the living situation in Lebanon – the feeling of wanting to fight but also knowing you won’t be able to change anything."

Lebanon recently endured one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, leaving 170 people dead, over 6,000 people injured, and more than 300,000 people displaced from their homes. The band report that they're safe, but add, "Our city and its people are in ruins. Please donate if you can."

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Nation of Language - Rush & Fever Aug 14, 2020

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Nation of Language - "Rush & Fever" from the 2020 self-released album Introduction, Presence.

It will come as no surprise that Brooklyn synth-pop band Nation Of Language found inspiration in early new wave — specifically, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s 1980 single “Electricity.” Their debut LP, titled Introduction, Presence, shimmers with synths and vocalist Ian Devaney's post-punk-inflected vocals. In a press release, Devaney explains:

"It occurred to me that a moment in time existed when it seemed everyone still had a kind of ‘beginner's mind’ about how synthesizers could be used and fit into the musical landscape. They were wielding this technology as a blunt instrument, and it felt like I had been given permission to do the same..."

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Desire - Escape Aug 13, 2020

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Desire - "Escape" from the 2020 album Escape on Italians Do It Better.

It's been nearly a decade-long wait, but Italians Do It Better outfit Desire return with a new album titled Escape.

Fronted by Montreal-based vocalist Megan Louise, and featuring production by label impresario Johnny Jewel, Desire continue to craft dreamy disco/synth-pop. As they describe it, "Megan Louise sings tales of love & lust cloaked in an analog sheen. Shrouded in a cinematic haze. Throbbing with violent rhythm. Fresh Blood for the new you."

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THE NEVERLY BOYS - Never Come Down Aug 12, 2020

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THE NEVERLY BOYS - "Never Come Down" from the 2020 self-released album Dark Side of Everything.

THE NEVERLY BOYS finds Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio teaming up with Swedish singer/songwriter Daniel Ledinsky to explore "the unknown, the magic, the heartbreaks, and the aspirations," as they put it, on their debut album Dark Side of Everything. (The two teamed up previously to co-write songs for Blondie, Pussy Riot, and TV on the Radio.)

“I’m not really good at personalizing it. We just tell stories, but I think you can find a song on this record, no matter who you are or what you’re going through. Some might not speak to you at the moment, but there is a wide range of emotion,” Sitek told American Songwriter. “We were trying not to conceal doubt or vulnerability. There’s been a lot of emphasis in modern music on escapism and things are better than they seem.”

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Lomelda - Wonder Aug 11, 2020

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Lomelda - "Wonder" from the 2020 album Hannah on Double Double Whammy.

From the swamps of Silsbee, TX emerges singer/songwriter Hannah Read, who records under the name Lomelda, but she re-embraces her birth name for the title of her forthcoming fifth full-length, Hannah, out September 4th via Double Double Whammy. Read recorded the album with her brother Tommy over the span of a year, apparently re-recording it three different times before she was satisfied.

Via a press release, Read describes today's Song of the Day as "about working hard," adding, "It is my most fun song to play. And I got to play drums on it, so it's my favorite Lomelda song forever. May it motivate you to move and smash like it does me."

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Wye Oak - AEIOU Aug 10, 2020

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Wye Oak - "AEIOU" from the 2020 No Horizon EP on Merge Records.

The duo of Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack — better known to us as Wye Oak — have teamed up with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus for the brand-new five-song EP No Horizon, out now via Merge Records. “There’s this sense of communion of making music with other people in real time and space, and that’s something that had eluded us on multiple levels,” Stack explained via a press release. “We’ve known for a while that we needed to learn how to let this project evolve so that it could continue to exist, because our partnership as friends and musicians and collaborators feels important. We need to find new ways to make it still feel vital and still feel new. And this is a part of that exploration.”

She describes today's Song of the Day as a "about the inadequacy of language," adding:

It was written around the time that those currently in power took it upon themselves to think that they could minimize the existence of certain people by removing the words that we currently use to define them — like transgender — from use. Language is bigger than the powers that try to control it, but we are so much bigger than language. We are so much more than anything that can be suggested with words.

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BRONSON - VAULTS Aug 07, 2020

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BRONSON (new ODESZA & Golden Features Project) - "VAULTS" from the 2020 album BRONSON on Foreign Family Collective/Ninja Tune.

Northwest electronic duo Odesza have teamed up with Australian producer Golden Features as BRONSON, releasing a self-titled debut album that they say in a press release, reflects "their respective needs to challenge personal struggles, both internal and external." They add, "Moreover, the trio recognized that their own battles were merely microcosms of the surrounding world. The hope was to craft a body of work that was reflective of that duality of lightness and darkness inherent to the human condition."

Today's Song of the Day "was one of the earlier instrumentals we completed," the trio say, "and it acted as a cornerstone to the overall sound design and aesthetic of the album. The track really proved a departure from each artist's own respective styles and set a definitive change in direction for the BRONSON project. We knew we had something special here and it served as a guiding light for the rest of the record.”

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Mexican Institute of Sound & Gaby Moreno - Yemayá Aug 06, 2020

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Mexican Institute of Sound & Gaby Moreno - "Yemayá," a 2020 self-released single.

For the track "Yemayá," singer/songwriter Gaby Moreno teamed up with Camilo Lara's Mexican Institute Of Sound project for an ode to the Afro-Carribean goddess who represents fertility, water, and self-love.

"She's a powerful woman of color taking all forms," Moreno told the Recording Academy. "It's a universal theme and we wanted to incorporate this mysterious and mystic figure into the song, since it's part of the folklore of many different cultures."

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Pillow Queens - Handsome Wife Aug 05, 2020

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Pillow Queens - "Handsome Wife" from the 2020 self-released album In Waiting.

Dublin's Pillow Queens were both "resonant and rapturous" during KEXP's Iceland Airwaves Music Festival broadcast last year, and the Irish quartet continue to bring that power to their highly-anticipated debut album In Waiting, out September 25th. For the first single off the forthcoming full-length, they share an upbeat, grunge-influenced track along with a heartwarming accompanying video. "The video was made in isolation with the help of family, friends and strangers," the band writes in the introduction. "It is a love letter to touch and all the ways we miss the closeness of others right now."

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