New Music: Palehound, Aldous Harding, Sego, More
Clockwise from upper left: Aldous Harding, Ellis, Westkust, Palehound Courtesy of the artists hide caption
On this week's All Songs Considered we premiere new music from Aldous Harding. The artist from New Zealand made my number two album from 2017 (Party) and her latest song, "The Barrel," indicates that she'll be another year-end favorite of mine in 2019.
Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna join me as co-host for the first time together and fill out the show with some new, great unknowns, including Sweden's Westkust and an artist who goes by the name Ellis. Ellis is the musical project of Linnea Siggelkow (the name is a play on her initials, L.S.), an Ontario-based singer. We also hear from Empath, a Philadelphia band that recently opened for Snail Mail (which was a perfect pairing).
We've also got new music from a band we all love, Palehound. Marissa describes the new music from Ellen Kempner as suave and spooky. We get loud with the angular and stuttering sounds of Sego, then quiet with Mountain Man's Molly Sarlé. But we start the show off with a surprise you may or not love. -- Bob Boilen
New Mix: Palehound, Aldous Harding, Sego & More
Palehound
- Song: Killer
Over the past five years, Palehound's Ellen Kempner has established herself as a prolific and distinguished voice in indie rock, winning over fans with her razor-sharp technique and poignant lyricism. In a press release, Kempner says her latest single, "Killer," is about "the murderous fantasies I have about all of the people who have abused my friends and how they continue to live their lives unpunished."
Ellis
- Song: Something Blue
Under the name Ellis, Ontario-based songwriter Linnea Siggelkow records warm and brooding bedroom pop. The new single, "Something Blue" is an atmospheric and wandering slow-core ballad you can get lost in.
Molly Sarlé
- Song: Human
As one-third of the North Carolina folk trio Mountain Man, Molly Sarlé has spent the past decade crafting complex harmonies alongside Amelia Meath and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig. This week, Sarlé shares her debut solo single, "Human." It's a gorgeous, Sam Evian-produced reflection about understanding everyone is flawed and finding joy by letting go and embracing disappointment.
Empath
- Song: Soft Shape
Genre-blending, Philadelphia-based punk quartet Empath gained attention with Liberating Guilt & Fear, their four-song EP released last spring on Get Better Records. The group's new single, "Soft Shape," is an otherworldly exploration that layers crunched guitars with Karen O-like vocals.
Sego
- Song: Neon Me Out
Los Angeles-based quartet Sego creates boisterous, hook-driven indie rock reminiscent of Beck or Phoenix in the early 2000s. The group's new track, "Neon Me Out," from the playfully titled forthcoming Sego Sucks, finds the band blending garage rock with soaring vocals. As lead singer Spencer Petersen says in press statement, the track is about "how easy it is to become overwhelmed with opinions about everything and a need to be self-effacing almost to where it's hard to cling on to anything."
Sego Sucks is out April 5th on Roll Call Records.
Westkust
- Song: Cotton Skies
After a nearly four-year hiatus, the Swedish indie-pop outfit Westkust returns with "Cloudy Skies," a sweeping, fuzz-hevy anthem that takes cues from early '90s shoegaze. Formed in 2015 as a side project of the punk band Makthaverskan, Westkust will release its self-titled sophomore LP next month.
Westkust is out March 1 on Run for Cover Records.
Aldous Harding
- Song: The Barrel
In 2017, Aldous Harding released Party, a haunting folk album that was one of Bob Boilen's favorite albums of the year. This week, Harding returns with "The Barrel" and continues a journey of wild imagination. You can watch her new video and hear an interview with Aldous Harding here.