Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Larry Mizell Jr., host of the Afternoon Show on KEXP, is "Down Nuh River" by serpentwithfeet, from the 2021 EP DEACON'S Grove on Secretly Canadian.
In March of 2021, Los Angeles-via-Baltimore experimental soul artist serpentwithfeet released his sophomore album DEACON, which ended up on both KEXP’s Larry Rose and Larry Mizell Jr.’s top albums of 2021. While that one incredible record would’ve been quite sufficient for one year’s release, the artist who’s legally known as Josiah Wise quickly followed that up with a companion EP this past October titled DEACON'S Grove featuring reinterpretations of two DEACON songs, a remix of “Fellowship” featuring Ambre and Alex Isley, and the new songs “Down Nuh River” and “Shoot Ya Shot.”
Our Song of the Day, “Down Nuh River,” is characteristically hushed but playful in its sing-song manner. “When working on ‘Down Nuh River’ I was thinking of all the songs that me, my friends and cousins made up as kids," serpentwithfeet said of the song. "We had so much fun creating and reinventing songs on the playground and the porch. I wanted to channel that energy in this track."
The song comes with a video that channels that youthful spirit. Directed by Keith Nedd, the video sees Wise a few friends performing a choreographed dance routine on a school football field, dressed in matching outfits made for the playfield. Watch the video for “Down Nuh River” as well as serpentwithfeet’s Live on KEXP at Home session with Larry Mizell Jr. from 2020 below and catch serpentwithfeet in Seattle on Saturday, February 26th at Neumos.
