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Beach Bunny - Entropy Aug 17, 2022

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Beach Bunny - “Entropy” from the 2022 album Emotional Creature on Mom + Pop.

From TikTok buzzband to their sophomore album Emotional Creature, Chicago-based band Beach Bunny have earned a devoted following, including producer Butch Vig and actor Bob Odenkirk, who even appears in one of their music videos.

A huge part of their appeal is the confessional and, ultimately, relatable lyrics from frontwoman Lili Trifilio. On today's Song of the Day, she tells Stereogum, she took inspiration from the Jonas Brothers for this infectious, polished pop song. Reflecting on her journey as a musician, she continues, "As a young kid I was watching Hannah Montana thinking that was the most unrealistic expectation of all time. But now here I am and all of it happened organically; it just goes very slowly over many, many years. If you want to do something in a creative field, make it a passion project and try it for a few years. You’ll learn what you want to do, or you’ll get to go on a journey. Embark on your journeys! Don’t settle! I mean it! Oh, and don’t date toxic boys. Or I guess, if you do, at least you’ll have songs to write about them."

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Hermanos Gutiérrez - El Bueno Y El Malo Aug 16, 2022

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Hermanos Gutiérrez - “El Bueno Y El Malo” from the 2022 album El Bueno Y El Malo on Easy Eye Sound

Swiss-Ecuadorian siblings Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez bring their love of '50s Latin American music to their musical project Hermanos Gutiérrez. In fact, their forthcoming full-length, El Bueno Y El Malo, takes its name from the 1966 Spaghetti Western film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. with its iconic score by Ennio Morricone.

“We think that everybody has a good side and a bad side,” Estevan said in a press release. “It’s every person, every moment, every situation. Everybody has these two faces.”

El Bueno Y El Malo was co-produced alongside The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, and will be released October 28th via Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound imprint.

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High Vis - Blending Aug 15, 2022

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High Vis - “Blending” from the 2022 album Blending on Dais.

London-based band High Vis has its roots in the UK hardcore scene, but evolved into a less-shout-y post-punk vibe on their 2019 debut LP, No Sense No Feeling, and now explore a more new wave vibe on their sophomore album, Blending, which comes out September 9th via Dais Records. The album's title track has a softer sound, reminiscent of The Cult or late-era Ride. In a press release, frontman Graham Sayle explains the song's meaning.

“It became about cloaking yourself in whatever you present to the world, but you’re not defined by that. Just because I wear a trackie, it doesn’t mean that I haven’t read a book. The message of the album is you’re not who you think you are,” he continues. “You’re not your class background. Whatever it is, you’re not that. Don’t resign yourself to thinking you can’t be this and you can’t be that.”

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Sango - Tongue Tied Aug 12, 2022

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Sango - "Tongue Tied (feat. asante)" from the 2022 album Great Lakes Influence on Wright Music Group.

Beloved former-Seattlite Sango recently returned with the mixtape Great Lake Influence in June, two years after the release of SHANGO. Described by the sought-after beatmaker as “A homage to where I’m from,” the collection of songs sees Sango dip his toes in techno-house which is very of the moment, as we’ve seen Drake and Beyonce also delve into this realm with their recent releases.

Our Song of the Day, “Tongue Tied” is an excellent example of Sango’s pristine ability to make something that’s currently popular still sound fresh and unique. Bringing back frequent collaborator asante on vocals, the track is bright and bubbly and made for the dancefloor. Moving away from his prior South American influences toward more African sounds is a natural move and one that Sango does with ease.

On his website, Sango says, “I spend a lot of time thinking about how I can change things. I feel change is the first thing we as humans either love or hate. There isn’t a middle. I took a side and I love change. It challenges me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I also figured something out. I can't change the world, but I can change my world, which allows others to see inside of it and hopefully I can influence them to feel/do the same, and hopefully that trend goes on to the next person.”

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BLK ODYSSY - COMPLEX OF KILLING A MAN (feat. Baby Rose) Aug 11, 2022

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BLK ODYSSY - "COMPLEX OF KILLING A MAN (feat. Baby Rose)" from the 2022 album BLK VINTAGE: THE REPRISE on BLK ODYSSY / EMPIRE.

BLK ODYSSY aka Juwan Elcock is a dynamic artist who nixed his former Americana sound for a soul-infused hip hop solo project. The Austin-based musician dropped his debut album BLK VINTAGE under the moniker in August of 2021 and, after the record slowly caught fire for its rich jazzy soundscapes and deeply personal and political lyrics about the plight of Black Americanhood, is now following it up with the deluxe edition BLK VINTAGE REPRISE.

One of the new tracks to be included is “COMPLEX OF KILLING A MAN.” With Grammy-nominated R&B singer Baby Rose adding her lush vocals, the song is a downtempo slow burner with heated lyrics about being caught in a culture of violence and oppression with seemingly no way out. “What's the complex of killing a man?/ Can't help but think that this scenario's part of a plan/ That's word to Willie Lynch and Uncle Sam.”

The story is one that hits close to home for Elcock, as his brother was killed at the hands of police offivers when living in New Jersey. With that in mind, the chorus of “Ghetto child, ghetto child/ Running wild, running wild/ This Glock gon' change your ways/ So count your days” hits especially hard.

Watch the video for "COMPLEX OF KILLING A MAN" and read the full post at KEXP.org.

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CARRTOONS - Lighta (feat. Rae Khalil) Aug 10, 2022

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CARRTOONS - "Lighta (feat. Rae Khalil)" from the 2022 album Homegrown on Wichita Recordings.

Producer/multi-instrumentalist CARRTOONS (real name: Ben Carr) teams up for a second time with Grammy Award-winning artist Rae Khalil,a track from his latest album, Homegrown. Carr provides a soulful groove for Khalil to drop her breezy, speedy rhymes, playing on the song title as both a noun and a feeling: "I feel a lil lighta / where is my lighta."

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Ricki Monique - CEREAL (feat. MMYYKK) Aug 09, 2022

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Ricki Monique - "CEREAL (feat. MMYYKK)" from the 2022 GOOD SEEDS EP on Tangible Records.

Minneapolis-based artist Ricki Monique teams up with producer/multi-instrumentalist on today's Song of the Day, a serene, soulful track she wrote to boost her confidence.

“This song was created as a sonic affirmation to remind me that I was built to be great," she told Lyrical Lemonade. "I put affirmations from my mother and sisters in the hook and brought up feelings of depression and hardships in the first verse to portray a sense of everything-ness. I am both powerful and weak at times. I wrote this song to remind myself to lean into my strong parts.”

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Zap Mama - Dessiné Aug 08, 2022

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Zap Mama - "Dessiné" a 2022 self-released single.

A French poem set to song, the latest from Belgian artist Marie Daulne (better known as Zap Mama) is a vibrant expression of love. "Dessiné" loosely translates to "drawn," and the lyrics capture a person sketching the facial features of the one they love. It's the first single from her forthcoming full-length Odyssée, which will be released this fall.

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dsrt flwr - Of Discernment Aug 05, 2022

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dsrt flwr - "Of Discernment," a 2022 self-released single.

Leave it to Larry Mizell Jr. to scope out a song that’s on the verge of blowing up. While “Of Discernment” may be the sole single from up-and-coming artist dsrt flwr, it’s gotten some movement on Tik Tok which, whether you love or hate the clock app, is fast becoming the new medium for a new artist’s rise. It’s currently the sole place where I can find any information on dsrt flower, who uses her platform to speak on the issues she faces as a Muslim woman in America as well as share her music.

“Of Discernment” may be short, at only a minute and forty-six seconds but packs a punch with its truth-telling lyrcism and vibey down-tempo R&B flow. “What's it doin for me/ Will it make?/ All the suffering in life just fade away,” questions the Seattle-based artist before concluding. “If not then be well and/ Take it somewhere else/ If it's something that I need/ Then I can find it for myself.”

Read the full post on KEXP.org

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Bruno Berle - É Preciso Ter Amor Aug 04, 2022

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Bruno Berle -" É Preciso Ter Amor" from the 2022 album No Reino Dos Afetos on Far Out Recordings.

When Bruno Berle first quietly appeared in 2014, it was with the intimate MPB-folk solo record Arapiraca, Maceió, 2013, which garnered a decent amount of acclaim for seemingly coming out of nowhere. The Brazilian artist has a long musical history, first cutting his teeth in the soft-rock outfit Troco Em Bala and forming the "supergroup", The Mozões alongside fellow Alagoas artist Ítallo França. Most recently, Berle dropped No Reino Dos Afetos, which appears to be his first non-Bandcamp, *very official* release.

Unlike the softly strung releases before it, No Reino Dos Afetos sees Berle experiment with a number of genres including indie, bedroom pop, hip hop, and MPB but never loses the starry-eyed earnestness that Berle has mastered. Our Song of the Day, “É Preciso Ter Amor” closes out the record with a hazy vignette that’s mostly instrumental besides Berle’s reverberating echoed coos, like fading into a dream. “It’s an album that was built from my desire to find beauty”, Berle says and, indeed, he has.

Read the full story and watch the video for No Reino Dos Afetos track "Quero Dizer" at KEXP. org

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