A Deeper Listen

Natasha El-Sergany of the Seattle band somesurprises talks about the cosmic, political. and social inspirations behind their new album, 'Perseids.' She also discusses her journey coming to the US with immigrant parents, her day job as an immigration lawyer, and how all of this fuels her music.

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Jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington has earned a reputation as one of the most exciting jazz artists of his generation. He's worked with artists like Kendrick Lamar and Flying Lotus. On his new album, Fearless Movement, he embraces fresh sounds and ideas while bringing in new collaborators, including his two-year-old daughter.

KEXP’s Dusty Henry spoke with Washington to learn more about the album, how he's incorporated dance into his music, and finding inspiration in the cosmos.

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After playing in a rock band and embarking on a solo career that has spanned many genres, Lawrence Rothman has released a country album. The album is personal—it processes their battle with anorexia, and violence they experienced after a show. Lawrence says he writes music to help others.

“I don't really step up to the mic and write a song or make a record for myself, unless there's something about it that can help someone else,” Rothman says.

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Shabaka Hutchings is a celebrated saxophone player and a major figure in London’s contemporary jazz scene. He was the bandleader for Sons of Kemet and Shabaka and the Ancestors, and part of the electronic jazz group The Comet Is Coming. But on New Year's Day of 2023, he announced he'd be putting down the saxophone for good and focusing on a new instrument: the flute. Starting with the Japanese shakuhachi and expanding to a variety of traditional flutes, he's now out with his first full-length album under his solo moniker of Shabaka. The album is called 'Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace,' and features collaborations with Carlos Niño, Laraaji, Andre 3000, Floating Points, Esperanza Spalding, Moses Sumney, and more.

Shabaka talks with KEXP’s Isabel Khalili about his transition from saxophone to flute and how it’s helped him learn to release tension and relax into playing. He also discusses his thoughts on the term "Afrofuturism," how he’s embraced Octavia Butler's ideas on the inevitability of change, what it means to heal through music, and his search for meaning outside of a Western colonial paradigm.

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Alice Randall was the first Black woman to co-write a number one country hit with her song “XXX’s and OOO’s,” sung by Trisha Yearwood in 1994. Now, 30 years later, Randall is out with a memoir and accompanying album both called 'My Black Country.' The album features Black women artists of today covering country songs Randall wrote – songs that were originally sung by white performers – including Adia Victoria, Valerie June, and Rhiannon Giddens of The Carolina Chocolate Drops.

Randall talks with Emily Fox about her music, life, career and about the other Black country artists that came before her.

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Fabi Reyna is a Portland-based guitarist and songwriter and is also the founder of She Shreds Media, which is dedicated to empowering women and non-binary guitarists and bassists. Reyna is now out with a new album under her artist name, Reyna Tropical. The album is called 'Malegria.'

KEXP’s Albina Cabrera caught up with Reyna to learn more about the inspiration behind the album, how it explores the Latinx diaspora and identity, and about Reyna’s musical partner, Nectali "Sumohair" Díaz, who passed away during the making of the album.

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Shana Cleveland of La Luz talks about her band’s new album, 'News of the Universe,' and how many of the songs reflect on the breast cancer diagnosis she got after weaning her then two-year-old son off breastfeeding in 2022. She has since received a good bill of health from her doctor.  

“I feel like I often think about cancer and pregnancy and birth in the same way. It was just something growing inside of me, something strange that I couldn’t control and then having it leave suddenly,” Cleveland says.

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After a 12-year hiatus, the Olympia born-band Gossip is out with their 6th album, 'Real Power.' Beth Ditto of Gossip talks about growing up in Arkansas, moving to Olympia in 1999 after the rise of riot grrrl, and forming Gossip soon after arriving. She talks about those early days in Olympia, promoting body positivity, and being openly queer early on.

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Kathleen Hanna of the Olympia feminist punk riot grrrl band, Bikini Kill, talks with KEXP’s Martin Douglas about her career, activism and why she wanted to write her new memoir, “Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk.”  

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Ibibio Sound Machine is an electronic group based in London. Singer Eno Williams sings in both her Nigerian family’s language of Ibibio as well as in English. The group’s music spreads messages of unity and bringing people together. That theme is present on their most recent album, Pull the Rope. Williams and Ibibio Sound Machine’s Max Grunhard talk about how their music unifies and Williams talks about her family's journey between Nigeria and London.

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