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IDLES - Grounds Jul 21, 2020

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IDLES - “Grounds” from the 2020 album Ultra Mono on Partisan Records.

Bristol-based post-punk band IDLES return this fall with their third LP, titled Ultra Mono, out September 25th via Partisan. They've previously shared the singles "A Hymn" and “Mr. Motivator,” and for today's Song of the Day, we're sharing the single "Grounds." Frontman Joe Talbot explained in a press release:

“We wanted to write a song that embodied self-belief, and gave us self-belief — a counter-punch to all the doubt we build up from all the noise we so easily let in. We wanted to make the sound of our own hearts’ marching band, armed with a jack hammer and a smile. We wanted to make the sound of our engine starting. So we did. Thank you.”

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SAULT - Wildfires Jul 20, 2020

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SAULT - “Wildfires” from the 2020 album Untitled (Black Is) on Forever Living Originals.

"The bloodshed on your hands

Another man

Take off your badge

We all know it was murder"

As we reported last year, not much is known about the mysterious London-based band SAULT, but their feelings on police brutality and systemic racism couldn't be clearer on their third LP titled Untitled (Black Is). On today's powerful Song of the Day, vocalist Cleo Sol somberly sings, "We are dying / it's the reason we are crying."

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Akasha System - Warped Shadow Jul 17, 2020

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Akasha System - "Warped Shadow" from the 2019 album Echo Earth on 100% Silk.

With his project Akasha System, Portland-based producer Hunter P. Thompson brings the lush nature of the Northwest to his electronic beats. On his Bandcamp page, he says the new album, Echo Earth, was inspired by “days and nights spent in the forests,” “long stretches of back road trails,” and “sitting alone under moss-covered trees,” calling it "club music for misty mornings, towering redwood canopies, and overcast skies above uninhabited terrain."

Since the release of Echo Earth, Thompson has since released the remix album Echo Versions, which features "refracted" renditions of his work by producers PkaCarl, MC/beatmaker Emeska, and pslzy, just to name a very few. Proceeds from this album will go directly to the contributing artists and also donated to the Black Lives Matter Movement, NAACP, and the ACLU.

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India Jordan - For You Jul 16, 2020

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India Jordan - "For You" from the 2020 album For You on Local Action Records.

London-based producer and DJ India Jordan recently released a six-track EP titled For You, a release they call their “largest and most personal” release to date. The album photography was shot in the bathroom of London’s Dalston Superstore venue, a legendary LGBTQ+ venue. In a press release, they explain:

I’ve always been really into toilets, I did a photography project at college writing messages in toilets for people. I’m drawn to the idea that they’re public but ultimately isolated and individual, so writing a message was a way to show another human had been there.

They’re spaces for me to decompress, sort my head out and get some time away. They’re also places I’ve experienced to be queer. When I was growing up, it wasn’t necessarily safe for me to show any public displays of affection with people, so toilets were a safe option.

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Land of Talk - Weight of That Weekend Jul 15, 2020

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Land of Talk - "Weight of That Weekend" from the 2020 album Indistinct Conversations on Saddle Creek.

Montreal-based singer-songwriter Elizabeth Powell revived her Land Of Talk project, releasing the new album Indistinct Conversations earlier this year. As hinted in its title, today's Song of the Day does, indeed, look at heavier topics. In a press release, Powell explained:

“Weight of That Weekend” is a recognition of having been on the receiving end of a lifetime of sexual coercion, assault, boundary violations, and subsequent gaslighting. It all just came to light after an especially heavy weekend a few summers back. I was so sick of carrying all this weight that wasn’t mine to bear. So sick of being owned by all of this. Imposed on me mostly by men. I grew so sick of suffering and being slowed down by this weight. The song is a prayer for a lightness of being. A prayer for capital “L” Love.

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Mourn - Call You Back Jul 14, 2020

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Mourn - "Call You Back," a 2020 single on Captured Tracks.

Barcelona-based trio Mourn returned this Spring with their first new music since last year's full-length Sorpresa Familia. Today's Song of the Day was appropriately, but unintentionally, released in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Parts of the song talk about the anxiety of phone calls and the emotions around them,” Carla Pérez Vas explained to Billboard. “It’s pretty ironic that now we are looking at the phone all day, and everyone is anxious. If I’m not connected, I feel like I should be talking to my friends or family.”

Originally, they had grander ideas for the accompanying video. “We had thought about locations like the woods and a pool, or riding bikes, all the time wearing a poker face,” Pérez remembered. “The song is about when around you everything is beautiful, but you have this constant battle going on inside of you.”

Instead, they filmed the clip in quarantine using their phones, with Pérez in her boyfriend's apartment, and her bandmates (sisters Jazz Rodríguez and Leia Rodríguez) recording from their home.

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Petite Noir & Kingdom - Alive Jul 13, 2020

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Petite Noir & Kingdom - "Alive" from the 2020 single CoeurWorld on Roya Records.

South African artist Petite Noir [real name: Yannick Ilunga] has teamed up with Los Angeles-based producer Kingdom for the new double A-side single CoeurWorld.

In a press release, Ilunga declared, “I have been a huge fan of Kingdom since the early Fade to Mind days and I was very excited for this collaboration as it sparked new ideas for the future. CoeurWorld is an EP dedicated to sending love out to the world during these trying times.”

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Gabriel Teodros - If They Come For Me In The Morning... (feat. Aisha Fukushima) Jul 10, 2020

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Gabriel Teodros - "If They Come for Me in the Morning... (feat. Aisha Fukushima)" from the 2020 self-released album What We Leave Behind.

Seattle artist (and KEXP DJ) Gabriel Teodros celebrates the 20th anniversary of his first solo show at Rainier Valley Cultural Center with this new collection of previously unreleased tracks, "with a few new songs recorded specifically for this project," he adds, continuing, "Wanted to give y'all something special for all the love you've given me these past few decades. There's a completely new album coming this year as well... but for now you can enjoy these lost tapes."

Today's KEXP Song of the Day was originally written and recorded in 2015, inspired by Sandra Bland, letters between Angela Davis and James Baldwin, and the 400+ year legacy of Black freedom fighters. Public speaker, educator, singer, and 'RAPtivist' (rap activist) Aisha Fukushima appears on guest vocals.

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The Beths - I’m Not Getting Excited Jul 09, 2020

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The Beths - "I'm Not Getting Excited" from the 2020 album Jump Rope Gazers on Carpark Records.

New Zealand pop band The Beths return this month with their sophomore album Jump Rope Gazers, out July 10th via Carpark Records. But frontwoman Elizabeth Stokes is keeping her cool about it. In a press release, she states:

“People always ask ‘are you excited!?’ and it’s a fair question, because exciting things do happen to us sometimes. Support slots, overseas tours, music releases. Stuff we’ve dreamed about for years. So the correct answer is always ‘yes.’ But the truth is that deep down there’s a tiny Liz saying, ‘don’t get excited.’ She is certain that anything good that could happen will most likely not happen, because of a freak accident. Or because somebody finally realises that we aren’t worthy, shouts ‘phony!’ and takes everything away. I wrote ‘I’m Not Getting Excited’ last year, well before everything really did get taken away. From everyone. It feels like the song has a new context, but we don’t know what it is yet. And now we all share a blurry, uncertain future.”

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Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death Jul 08, 2020

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Fontaines D.C. - "A Hero's Death" from the 2020 album A Hero's Death on Partisan Records.

Don't ask Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten about the meaning behind today's KEXP Song of the Day. "I'm not sure myself," he confesses to the BBC. "I purposefully keep the things I write open to interpretation, even to myself."

But the track also serves as the title of the Irish post-punk band's forthcoming full-length, out July 31st via Partisan Records. "I found the idea quite funny — because I'm half-expecting people to dislike [the album]," he continued. "So, the idea of calling it A Hero's Death is kind of laughing about that and setting people up for disappointment."

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