Song of the Day: Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas - Caught Up

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is “Caught Up” by Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas from the 2014 album Secret Evil on Instant Records.

Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas - Caught Up (MP3)

Detroit's musical history is a long and winding one, but in Jessica Hernandez, the Motor City has a daughter who's studied up to channel her predecessors' tones into her own fierce, riveting sound. Cutting her teeth in musical theatre and hardcore shows as a teen, Hernandez started to pursue music seriously not long after high school, becoming an autodidact who taught herself guitar, piano, and drums as she honed her songwriting and recording chops. Hernandez' debut album, Secret Evil, is the end product of her early experiments being refined into something more formidable. Along with The Deltas (Taylor Pierson and John Raleeh on horns, Stephen Stetson on drums, Michael Krygler on guitar and Steve Lehane on bass), Hernandez arrives fully formed on Secret Evil, not least on "Caught Up". Riding a thumping surf beat and shrieking organ, Hernandez is front and center throughout the song. Her rumbling guitar lines are only overshadowed by her charismatic, rough soul vocals, and when she slows the song down for a middle eight, its soon apparent that it's only to frame just how electric her high-energy performance is. Tapping equally into cabaret theatricality and bluesy fire, "Caught Up" is an immediate, convincing statement for the singer and her gang.

Jessica and the band are on the road with fellow SOTD alums St. Paul and the Broken Bones throughout the fall, but they don't have any Pacific Northwestern stops at the moment (they were just in town for Bumbershoot). Keep up with Jessica on her Facebook and website, and below, watch the video for "Caught Up".