New Music Reviews (7/28)

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 Indigo De Souza, Tyler, The Creator, Bleary Eyed, and more. 

Indigo De Souza - Precipice (Loma Vista)
Indigo De Souza wears her big, beautiful heart on her tattoo-adorned sleeve. Her fourth studio album, Precipice, is another thrilling chapter in her magnetic artistic evolution. With her raw, deeply intimate lyricism and signature expressive vocals, she paints a vivid, pop-forward sonic tapestry through vibrant synths, dynamic percussion, layered guitars, and intriguing manipulations. No matter how dire a situation may feel, even when one is “holding on for dear life,” she assures listeners in the album’s opener that “this is not the end.” De Souza’s instinct for compelling hooks, paired with her vulnerability, results in another breathtaking body of work.  –CS

Tyler, The Creator - DON'T TAP THE GLASS (Columbia)
Hot on the heels of 2024’s CHROMAKOPIA, Tyler, the Creator surprise-drops his ninth studio album. Picking up right where he left off, his inventive production and artful blend of hip-hop, R&B, soul, pop, and electronic soundscapes yield a wholly unique and captivating collection. With fiery bars, irresistible bops, exceptional samples, and standout guests from Pharrell Williams to Madison McFerrin, DON’T TAP THE GLASS showcases Tyler, The Creator at the top of his game. –CS

Bleary Eyed - Easy (Born Loser Records)
The third album from Philadelphia’s Bleary Eyed is a fever dream of deliciously fuzzy, delightfully textured shoegaze. Drawing on post-punk, noise, psych, and emo influences, Easy is an innovative, captivating set of kaleidoscopic jams, featuring reverbed guitars, iridescent synths, hazy vocals, and electronic samples. This quartet is breaking the shoegaze mold to craft an engaging sound that is entirely their own.  –CS

Cory Hanson - I Love People (Drag City)
The fourth solo album from LA-based musician and Wand frontman Cory Hanson finds him channeling the spirit of a ‘70s singer-songwriter. Featuring lush guitars, keys, horns, and strings, his rich vocals and vivid storytelling grip listeners through arrangements that move from playful and jubilant to melancholic and introspective. I Love People is a timeless, instant classic that showcases Hanson’s singular talent. –CS

Lord Huron - The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 (Mercury Records)
The fifth studio album from Ben Schneider’s Lord Huron project is an engaging set of emotive, psych-inflected folk-rock. With dusty, ornate, and atmospheric soundscapes that feature reverbed guitars, banjo, strings, horns, and keys, along with notable guest appearances from Kristen Stewart and Kazu Makino, The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 sees the quartet leaning into what they do best while also venturing into new sonic territory. While this is plenty to keep fans satiated for now, one can’t help but wonder what the next volume will bring. –CS

Night Moves - Double Life (Domino)
Since their spectacular 2012 debut Colored Emotions, Minneapolis outfit Night Moves have consistently delivered an infectious fusion of cosmic country and indie rock with a keen pop sensibility. Their fourth studio album, which marks their first ever self-produced release and first full-length in six years, proves that John Pelant and company deserve their flowers. Boasting hook-laden textures with shimmering synths, slide guitar, and Pelant’s evocative vocals, Double Life dives into deep, universal life challenges, and ultimately reflects on “moving through, not moving on.” –CS

Safe Mind - Cutting the Stone (Nude Club)
The debut album from this collaborative project between Massachusetts-based musicians Augustus Muller (of Boy Harsher) and Cooper B. Handy (aka LUCY) is a fantastic set of groovy, addictive, and wonderfully idiosyncratic dance-pop that blends New Wave, synth-pop, mutant disco, leftfield house, indie dance, cheery goth, and even a touch of New Jack Swing (“Hold On To That”) over its consistently sweet 10-track run. There’s a nostalgic early 2010s vibe – Animal Collective, Holy Ghost!, Lust For Youth, Tanlines, etc. – that runs throughout Cutting the Stone, but Safe Mind bring their own modern-day touch to this buoyant sound through their meticulous production details, off-kilter songwriting, and wide-ranging influences. –AR

Clara Serra López - Lengua Materna (Part I) (Real World)
The debut EP from Spanish-born, London-based singer, songwriter, and keys player Clara Serra López is a sensation. With a spellbinding fusion of jazz, electronic, art-pop, and soul, her pristine vocals and irresistible Latin rhythms grip listeners and leave them eager for Part II. –CS

Credit Electric - SALVATION (Credit Electric Union)
The fourth full-length album from this Oakland-based outfit fronted by singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Ryan LoPilato is another immersive set of melodic, twangy, mumbly folk-rock with a warm brass-accented post-rock streak and a swaying, introverted, autumnal charm. While there’s moments that recall later-era Talk Talk, Magnolia Electric Co., Califone, Sparklehorse, Alex G, and artists of that ilk, Credit Electric continue to casually cruise down their own distinctive, unhurried, hazily homespun lane. –AR

Far Caspian - Autofiction (Tiny Library)
The third Far Caspian album from Leeds, UK-based Irish singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Joel Johnston is a solid set of expansive, sophisticated, melodic indie rock that brings to mind luminaries such as Broken Social Scene, Yo La Tengo, Pinback, and Alex G. Written while learning to make peace with a recent Crohn’s disease diagnosis on top of his ongoing battle with OCD and anxiety, Autofiction dives into diaristic themes of “self-forgiveness, recovery, and gratitude for supportive, uplifting partnership.” –AR

Folk Bitch Trio - Now Would Be A Good Time (Jagjaguwar)
With harmonies so dreamy, lyrics so witty, and song structures so timeless, the debut studio album from Melbourne’s Folk Bitch Trio is a true treasure. Now Would Be A Good Time finds longtime friends Heide Peverelle, Jeanie Pilkington, Gracie Sinclair offering a contemporary take on classic folk music, featuring swoon-worthy melodies and intimate storytelling driven by their enchanting vocals and acoustic guitar. One thing’s for certain: these bitches know how to make an entrance.  –CS

Golomb - The Beat Goes On (No Quarter)
The second album from this Columbus, Ohio trio is a gritty, rumbling, exploratory set of left-of-the-dial rock. Composed of husband/wife partners Xenia Shuman (vocals, bass) and Mickey Shuman (vocals, guitars) alongside Xenia’s brother Hawken (drums), there’s a tight-knit energy and unspoken trust that seeps into these restless, roaming songs that often bring to mind 20th-century guitar-heavy alternative torchbearers. –AR

GRÓA - Drop P (One Little Independent)
Carried by a raw, edgy, angsty, and fiery energy, the third album (and One Little Independent debut) from this young Icelandic trio throws together the provocative edges of post-punk, experimental rock, and art-pop into its unruly, unpredictable sonic formula. –AR

Manslaughter 777 - God’s World (Thrill Jockey)
The second album from this American duo composed of drummers/programmers Lee Buford (of The Body, Sightless Pit, Dead Times, Everyone Asked About You) and Zac Jones (of MSC, Nothing, Braveyoung) is a delight for experimental beat junkies who like their beats visceral, weird, and wild. Their dynamic, leftfield, sample-heavy brew of big beat, techno, hip-hop, jungle, breaks, and other body-crushing styles gallop, lurch, and zigzag forward in a propulsive manner while simultaneously sounding like they're being ripped apart. It’s a trip. –AR

Merpire - MILK POOL (self-released)
The second album from this solo project of Melbourne/Naarm-based musician Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt is a solid set of angsty grungy pop and darkly romantic alt-rock with a raw, candid, incisive edge. An artist who “writes music living somewhere between the rom-com and horror movie sections in her mind,” Merpire brings vivid storytelling and a distinctive Australian intensity to these big, bold, brooding songs. –AR

Nihilistic Easyrider - DELUXE EDITION (Run For Cover)
Nihilistic Easyrider is the brainchild of Houston-based musician and Narrow Head frontman Jacob Duerte. Described as “a mixtape of sorts” that features songs written at various intervals of Duerte’s life, DELUXE EDITION delivers a solid set of soaring, gripping, edgy alternative rock with a strong power-pop streak. –AR

nuovo testamento - Trouble EP (Discoteca Italia)
The latest EP from this LA-based trio fronted by vocalist Chelsey Crowley is a rad set of buoyant, glistening, synth-drenched dance-pop that filters Italo-disco, piano house, '90s club-pop, and New Wave through a badass, carefree, technicolor, unabashedly pop prism. –AR

Pretty Bitter - Pleaser (Tiny Engines)
The second album from this Washington, DC band led by the soaring, searing vocals of frontwoman Mel Bleke – her delivery often invoking Michelle Zauner and Dolores O'Riordan – is a solid set of angsty, anthemic, dreamy pop/rock with a passionate emo/emotional streak and wonderful banjo-accented moments. –AR

Samantha Schmütz & Adrian Younge - Samantha & Adrian (Linear Labs)
The soulful stylings of Brazilian singer and actress Samantha Schmütz and American composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Younge positively soar on their collaborative album. Blending elements of psych, soul, bossa nova, jazz, and a little disco for good measure, Schmütz’s smooth, entrancing vocals float over Younge’s sparkling arrangements. The result is a captivating listen that transcends both time and genre. –CS

Sarah Levins - Eye-Spy EP (self-released)
The debut EP from this Sydney-based vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer is a gorgeous set of ornate folk-pop songs distinguished by her warm, beautiful, timeless voice and backdrops that carry a delicate, beautiful, arty Laurel Canyon touch. -–AR