New Music Reviews (10/27)

Each week, Music Director Chris Sanley and Associate Music Director Alex Ruder share brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP's rotation. These reviews help our DJs decide on what they want to play. See what we added this week below (and on our Charts page), including new releases from Just Mustard, Antibalas, Elias Rønnenfelt, and more. 

Just Mustard - WE WERE JUST HERE (Partisan Records)
The third studio album from Irish outfit Just Mustard captures the band’s hypnotic brilliance as they continue expanding their sound. With a mesmerizing fusion of noise rock, post-punk, shoegaze, industrial, and trip-hop, WE WERE JUST HERE strikes a compelling balance between hard and soft, dark and light. Throughout the record, densely layered guitars and ethereal vocals intertwine, revealing new dimensions of the quintet's sonic depth at every turn. –CS

Antibalas - Hourglass (Daptone)
Legendary Brooklyn-based Afrobeat collective Antibalas return with their phenomenal eighth studio album— their first full-length in over five years and their first release since the departure of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Duke Amayo. Returning to an entirely instrumental approach, Hourglass is all heaters, showcasing the band’s masterful Afrobeat stylings powered by a symphony of horns, epic percussion, and endlessly funky rhythms. –CS

Elias Rønnenfelt - Speak Daggers (Escho)
Almost exactly a year since the release of his debut solo album that tapped into a poetic, sweeping, folky singer-songwriter lane, Danish musician and Iceage frontman Elias Rønnenfelt unveils his second solo album and it applies a grittier, darker, more beat-driven look to his captivating sound. With Elias’ impassioned delivery and stark lyrics continuing to lead the way, Speak Daggers lurches around murky art-rock and moody indie rock territory with accents of trip-hop, post-punk, Britpop, dub, and post-punk. Reggae legends The Congos as well as fellow Danes Erika de Casier and Fine make standout guest appearances. –AR

Hannah Jadagu - Describe (Sub Pop)
The sophomore album from NYC-based Hannah Jadagu finds the artist breaking out of the guitar-driven mold of her debut, Aperture, introducing synths, drum machines, vocal manipulations, strings, and delicate piano into her spellbinding arrangements. The result is a dreamy, bedroom pop-infused indie-rock soundscape that is bold, bright, and inventive as she tries to “figure out how to express ideas that aren’t always so concrete” through compelling hooks and richly layered textures. –CS

Maneater - Curb Your Appetite (Mono Tapes)
The debut album from this queer Vancouver, BC duo composed of longtime friends DJ On and Lindsay Stewart is an awesome set of blistering indie rock and catchy garage punk packed with big fuzzy riffs, stellar vocal interplay, anthemic hooks, and insistent rhythms. While it’s dominated by songs with big infectious energy, “I Went Away” closes out the album on a distinctively tender note. –AR

Nadya Albertsson - Half Silk Half Blade (Rebecca’s Record)
The debut album from this Berlin-based Swedish singer-songwriter explores a wonderful intersection of contemporary jazz, earthy R&B/soul, and sophisticated pop with her gorgeous voice shining brightly throughout. An artist who has previously collaborated with genre-blurring composers Amanda Whiting and Rebecca Vasmant, Nadya worked with her longtime collaborator, Scottish multi-instrumentalist, producer, and bandleader Scott Bathgate, to create Half Silk Half Blade and together they’ve created a super impressive introduction that’s “tender yet unflinching, delicate yet defiant.” –AR

Yazmin Lacey - Teal Dreams (AMF)
The second album from this London singer-songwriter is another strong set of warm R&B and sumptuous neo-soul with intermittent flourishes into lover’s rock and jazz terrain. Inspired by her time studying horticulture at London’s Walworth Garden, Teal Dreams reflects “her journey toward stillness and creative renewal” with sharp, sophisticated songs that explore themes of growth, love, and self-discovery. –AR

Amadou & Mariam - L’amour à la folie (Because)
The final album from partners in life and music Amadou & Mariam, composed over seven years together and completed before Amadou’s passing, honors the duo’s undeniable legacy. With their infectious blend of Afrobeat, Malian blues rock, and funk, L’amour à la folie brims with intoxicating rhythms, exceptional guitar work, and a seamless fusion of traditional and contemporary influences that define their genre-blurring sound.  –CS

Billy Dean Thomas - MX (self-released)
The latest from Harlem-born, Boston-based emcee and producer Billy Dean Thomas, AKA “The Queer B.I.G”, finds the innovative hip-hop artist blending styles and genres, from classic east coast boom bap to contemporary drum and bass-infused flows, as they explore identity with sharp lyricism and quick wit. –CS

Brandi Carlile - Returning To Myself (Interscope/Lost Highway)
The eighth studio album from Seattle singer, songwriter, producer and guitarist Brandi Carlile – her first solo record in four years – is a dynamic collection of Americana that ranges from introspective, acoustic guitar-driven ballads to full blown, barn-burning rockers. Stretching her voice from a hush to a howl, Returning To Myself traverses a wide expanse of musical and thematic terrain, showcasing an artist reclaiming her identity with a little help from her (new) friends and co-producers Aaron Dessner, Andrew Watt, and Justin Vernon.  –CS

Dear Boy - Celebrator (Last Gang)
The second album from this Los Angeles band is a nostalgic journey through 90s alternative rock radio full of big fuzzy guitars, catchy hooks, and a soaring sound that’s confidently captured by Aron Kobayashi Ritch, a rising producer who’s recently worked closely with Momma, Been Stellar, Hotline TNT, Miss Grit, smut, and Kills Birds. –AR

Headache - Thank You For Almost Everything (PLZ Make It Ruins)
Headache is an alter-ego from the mind of innovative British producer Vegyn (aka Joe Thornalley) featuring lyrics credited to Francis Hornsby Clark (potentially/probably also Vegyn) that are performed by AI. A surprise follow-up to Headache’s 2023 debut album The Head Hurts but the Heart Knows the Truth, Thank You For Almost Everything continues to pair Vegyn’s moody, cinematic, awesome trip-hop/downtempo-leaning beats with Francis Hornsby Clark’s dizzying spoken word ramblings and existential musings laced with a dark, cheeky sense of humor. It’s an undeniably provocative pairing, and while its relatively brighter tone slightly lessens its leftfield allure in comparison to its captivating predecessor, it’s a fascinating work of art that exists in its own singular lane. –AR

iLe - Como las canto yo (La Buena Fortuna Music)
While deep in the midst of working on her fourth studio album, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter iLe pivoted to what would become Como las canto yo, a covers album celebrating some of her favorite Latin American boleros. She shares, “I dreamed about recording this album since I was about 13. I’ve always loved boleros, especially when I was a teen. At home we listened to a lot of salsa and rock, but my father introduced me to these brutal songs about unrequited love affairs that connected fully with the drama of my own adolescence. I loved the passion of boleros – I enjoyed singing them, emoting the feelings, trying to understand them.” The result is a stirring collection of breathtaking covers that both honor and reframe the bolero tradition while showcasing her magnetic vocal prowess. –CS

Katie Schecter - Empress (self-released)
The third album from this Nashville-based, NYC-raised musician is an expansive set of soulful pop, dreamy rock, and widescreen Americana that’s often accented with a cinematic, symphonic, noir-tinted sheen. Early singles “Run River Run” and “Hide My Weapons” offer up a pair of standout gems that bring to mind Lykke Li’s magnetic pop moments, while the nostalgic soul anthem “Taming the Beast” provides another stellar entrypoint . –AR

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson - Live Like the Sky (You’ve Changed)
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a Mississauga Nishnaabeg musician, writer, and scholar who grew up in rural southwestern Ontario. Her latest solo album is a strong set of poetic indie pop and evocative indie rock that balances dreamy melodic vocals with poignant spoken word over an expansive range of backdrops, from the bass-led post-punk swagger of “85 Dollars An Acre” to the spritely jangle-pop touches of early single “Murder of Crows.” Her first album not written to compliment completed poetry, there’s a boundless painterly quality to ‘Live Like the Sky’ influenced by Simpson’s upbringing and “discovering alternative music, punk, new wave, and goth through the static and poor reception of the distant alternative station broadcasting from Toronto; this music offered an escape from the ubiquitous country music and hard rock, offered difference, offered possibility; offered an otherwise.”  –AR

Not For Radio - Melt (Atlantic)
Not For Radio is the new solo project of Puerto Rican-bred, Atlanta-raised musician María Zardoya, best known as frontwoman for the acclaimed LA-based band The Marías. Written and produced in collaboration with Sam Evian and Gianluca Buccellati, her debut album is a solid set of supremely smooth and romantic dream-pop that pairs her effortlessly cool and delicately hushed vocals over a consistent supply of warm, lush, largely mellow backdrops. –AR

Tiffi M - Heartstrings (inadverent.index)
Tiffi M is the solo project of Tiffi Malmgren, a mysterious artist who has emerged as a standout amongst Swedish label inadvertent.index’s fledgling and captivating roster. Her debut album is a strong set of sophisticated alt-pop that blurs together art-pop, chamber-pop, dream-pop, trip-hop, and indie pop in shadowy, enigmatic fashion. –AR

Tortoise - Touch (International Anthem Recording Co.)
The veteran Chicago band return with their eighth studio album (and first in nine years) and deliver another riveting set of their influential, adventurous, shape-shifting instrumental sound that’s a heady amalgam of post-rock, jazz, electronic, Krautrock, dub, and psychedelic flavors. An album composed of “dramas without words,” Touch and its scintillating electro-acoustic journey proves that Tortoise’s boundary-pushing vision remains sharp 35 years into their illustrious career. –AR

СОЮЗ - Krok (Mr Bongo)
The fourth studio album Belarusian outfit СОЮЗ (SOYUZ) is a cinematic daydream infused with jazz, avant-pop, and folk. With intricate arrangements, otherworldly vocals, and notable guest appearances from Tim Bernardes and Manami Kakudo, the lush, atmospheric soundscapes on Krok are all-consuming, inviting listeners to drift through a welcoming yet melancholic haze.  –CS