New Music Reviews (6/9)

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 Little Simz, Pulp, TURNSTILE, and more. 

Little Simz - Lotus (AWAL Recordings Ltd.)
Prolific multi-hyphenate Little Simz pulls no punches on her sixth studio album, Lotus. True to her genre-bending approach, she weaves soul, jazz, samba, punk, bossa nova, and Afrobeats into her infectious hip-hop style, while delivering her most personal bars to date. She explores themes of betrayal, self-doubt, isolation, healing, and reclaiming one’s power, enlisting guests including Obongjayar, Moses Sumney, Yukimi, Michael Kiwanuka, and Sampha to help carry the weight. Simz’s vulnerability, paired with the vivid soundscapes across these thirteen tracks, is intoxicating. From fiery bangers like “Thief” and “Flood” to soulful meditations like “Peace” and “Blue,” Lotus is a testament to her resilience, innovation, and collaborative spirit.    –CS

Pulp - More (Rough Trade Records)
For their first album in nearly a quarter century, Pulp return in prime form. With Jarvis Cocker’s animated vocals front and center, the quartet delivers their signature Britpop sound through compelling hooks and unforgettable melodies. Lush and adventurous, the arrangements blend keys, strings, guitars, and percussion to shift seamlessly from playful to sinister, underscored by gripping, vivid storytelling. After far too many dormant years, Pulp make a masterful comeback, leaving listeners begging for More. –CS

TURNSTILE - NEVER ENOUGH (Roadrunner)
The fifth studio album from Baltimore's Turnstile is a high-octane collection of urgent, melodic post-hardcore. Bringing catharsis to chaos, the band pairs commanding guitar riffs, captivating vocals, and propulsive drums with flourishes of synth, sax, flute, cello, and trumpet, unveiling a dynamic soundscape with a power-pop sensibility. –CS

Dam Swindle - Open (Heist Recordings)
The third full-length album from this collaborative project of Dutch electronic producers and Heist Recordings founders Lars Dales and Maarten Smeets (aka Dam Swindle, fka Detroit Swindle) is a vibrant set of expansive electronic grooves that leans into the magnetic, soulful house rhythms they’ve been unleashing for nearly 15 years now, while also tapping into downtempo, jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and other tangential styles. An eclectic roster of guest artists – Chicago rapper Ric Wilson, Dutch artist LYMA, British rapper SAMSON, Ethiopian singer Haile Supreme, British singer Faye Meana, and Dutch composer Joep Beving – each add their own unique flavor to the mix. –AR

Frankie and the Witch Fingers - Trash Classic (Greenway/The Reverberation Appreciation Society)
The eighth studio album from this LA-based band continues to hone in on their magnetic style of propulsive, wiry, and shape-shifting psychedelic punk rock infused with prog and new wave. Lead singer Dylan Sizemore’s angular vocal delivery meshes perfectly with the band’s galloping, dynamic, enveloping backdrops, creating a high-energy sound that’s visceral on record and electrifying on stage. –AR

Lifeguard - Ripped and Torn (Matador)
The debut album from Chicago-based trio Lifeguard is an invigorating blend of post-punk, noise-rock, and power-pop bliss. Perfectly rough around the edges yet still showcasing a sharp sense of melody, Ripped and Torn features angular guitars, muddied vocals, and captivating hooks, creating a set of controlled chaos that will keep listeners coming back for more.  –CS

Loaded Honey - Love Made Trees (Vetra Records/AWAL Recordings Ltd.)
Loaded Honey, the new duo composed of Jungle’s J Lloyd and Lydia Kitto, invite listeners to sit back, relax, and be serenaded. Their slow-burning, sultry soul soundscapes are entrancing, as Kitto’s impressive vocal range and breathtaking falsetto transport listeners between past and present. Love Made The Trees is a strong, beautifully produced debut, positioning Loaded Honey as emerging masters of the slow jam–with a few uptempo bops for good measure. –CS

McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive! (City Slang)
The new album from Chicago-based, Richmond-raised rapper McKinley Dixon is a wild ride. Featuring lavish and inventive arrangements that blend elements of hip-hop, jazz, soul, and rock, his animated vocals, along with guest appearances from Teller Bank$, Pink Siifu, Shamir, and more, keep listeners engaged throughout this innovative hip-hop gem. –CS

Phoebe Rings - Aseurai (Carpark)
The debut album from Auckland-based quartet Phoebe Rings is an irresistible collection of magnetic dream-pop. Originally the solo project of singer-songwriter Crystal Choi, Aseurai was co-written and co-produced by the full band, adding dimension, depth, and dynamic grooves to their sound. Infused with elements of city-pop, jazz, and disco, the outfit weaves shimmering synths, strings, and keys into an enchanting dreamscape that soars to new heights. –CS

Revival Season - Formless (Heavenly)
The latest from the Atlanta-based duo of rapper Brandon “BEZ” (B Easy) Evans and beatmaker/producer Jonah Swilley is a perfect showcase of their electric and eclectic style of contemporary hip-hop. True to the project’s name, Formless highlights Revival Season’s shapeshifting innovation, as they incorporate garage guitars, intoxicating beats, and razor-sharp bars, distilling their influences into a focused and cohesive mixtape. –CS

54 Ultra - First Works (self-released)
The debut EP from New Jersey-raised singer, songwriter, and producer John Anthony Rodriguez (aka 54 Ultra) is an impressive set of catchy nostalgia-soaked R&B/soul songs with “a Latin soul heartbeat” indebted to his Puerto Rican and Dominican roots. –AR

A/S/L - Live From Selby (Future Gods)
Mysterious Los Angeles-based artist A/S/L follows up his stellar 2024 debut EP Signs of Romance with another sharp EP of joyful, sample-heavy, nostalgia-soaked electronic grooves that spotlights his ability to craft infectious house and disco rhythms. Named after the street in LA’s Westwood neighborhood where he lived in his early 20s, Live From Selby is presented as a free-flowing sonic memoir that “evokes the emotional residue of apartment parties, overheard conversations, lo-fi house textures, and ambient field recordings” and yields “a dreamlike document of nightlife at the edge.” South African vocalist Lady Zamar appears on standout early single “W O R K.” –AR

Calibro 35 - Exploration (Record Kicks)
The 9th studio album from this veteran Milan-based Italian outfit is another sweet journey through their expansive, cinematic, groovy sonic universe that brews together funk, jazz, psych, rock, and hip-hop styles in dynamic fashion. Diving into swanky, shape-shifting noir jazz (“Gassman Blues”), epic psychedelic jams (“Chameleon”), their own fitting take on the theme song to Mission: Impossible, and cool covers of classics by Roy Ayers (“Coffy is the Color”) and Bob James (“Nautilus”), Calibro 35 are still bringing a fresh, colorful flavor to their soundtrack-worthy instrumental-heavy palette nearly 20 years into their career. –AR

CIVIC - Chrome Dipped (ATO)
The third studio album from Melbourne proto-punks CIVIC is a captivating collection of expansive, hard-hitting post-punk, featuring searing yet melodic guitars, explosive drumming, and intriguing arrangements. Chrome Dipped carries a cinematic, almost rock-opera quality that signals an exciting new direction for the band. –CS

DARGZ - Friends & Family (Studio DARGZ)
The second full-length album from London-based producer/engineer DARGZ (aka David Dargahi) is a charming set of chill beatific soul-pop that finds him going for a more calm, cozy, feel-good sound than his excellent hip-hop-leaning debut album ‘Happiness.’ As advertised, Friends & Family is “a celebration of family and those friends who become family,” and he brings a bunch of them along for the ride, including Blue Lab Beats, Oscar Jerome, Milan Ring, Taura Lamb, Mysie, and more. –AR

Demise Of Love - Demise Of Love EP (Domino)
A collaboration between Daniel Avery, James Greenwood (Ghost Culture), and Syd Minsky Sargeant (Working Men's Club) can only yield exhilarating results. Their debut EP finds the trio drawing from their distinct sonic worlds to create a completely new universe for Demise of Love, one that masterfully fuses techno, shoegaze, industrial punk, and dream pop, all crafted with gauzy beats, infectious hooks, and emotive vocals.  –CS

Glazyhaze - SONIC (self-released)
The second album from this Venice, Italy-based four-piece band fronted by Irene Moretuzzo is a strong set of dynamic, stormy, enveloping shoegaze that’s buoyed by a nice balance between Irene’s dreamy, ethereal vocals and bassist Seva Prokhorov’s intermittent plainspoken delivery. –AR

KennyHoopla - rebirth // renaissance (GARBAGEHILL)
Cleveland-born, Wisconsin-raised musician KennyHoopla delivers an aptly-titled 3-song EP that transforms his sound from largely major-label pop/punk fare towards skyscraping shoegaze terrain and delivering a standout entry within today’s crowded field. Over a short but definitive 10-minute runtime that’s “meant to be played very loud.” rebirth // renaissance finds an artist exploring an exciting new shade in their palette and hitting a high note in early single and EP closer “NORTHERN LIGHTS//,” a magnetic monster of a song that first introduced this new direction. –AR

MONSTERWATCH - The Head (Killroom)
The debut full-length album from this Seattle trio is a blistering set of pulverizing garage/psych/punk/rock propelled by pummeling rhythms, scuzzy guitars, gripping vocals, and a visceral intensity. –AR

Munan - Everything in Between (self-released)
The second and most fully-formed EP from this emerging South Korean-Australian artist is a strong set of shimmery, groovy, eclectic psych-pop inflected with rock, disco, R&B, and alt-pop flavors. –AR

Sally Shapiro - Ready to Live a Lie (Italians Do It Better)
The fifth album from this elusive Swedish duo composed of an anonymous female vocalist who uses the pseudonym Sally Shapiro and producer Johan Agebjörn continues to revel in the glistening Italo-disco, melancholic synth-pop, and dreamy city pop terrain. 18 years since their influential and perfectly-titled debut album ‘Disco Romance,’ Sally Shapiro remains firmly in their fantastical, sparkling, wide-eyed sonic world that’s right at home on Johnny Jewel’s Italian Do It Better label. –AR

Various Artists - ANTHEMS: A Celebration of Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It In People (Arts & Crafts)
Nearly 25 years after its release, Broken Social Scene’s breakthrough album You Forgot It In People gets lovingly reimagined by a range of adoring contemporaries, including Toro y Moi, Miya Folick, Hand Habits, Maggie Rogers, Sylvan Esso, Middle Kids, serpentwithfeet, and more. These inventive reinterpretations breathe new life into the indie-rock staples, resulting in a stunning and heartfelt tribute album. –CS