Australian act, SELVE is the first Aboriginal-led band to record at Abbey Road Studios in London. The band recently released their second record, Breaking Into Heaven. KEXP Contributor, Celine Teo-Blockey spoke to frontman Loki Liddle about the strong Indigenous themes on the album and how returning to Country and speaking to his elders helped shape the writing process for this expansive pop-rock album.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fela Kuti: Fear No Man is a 12-part podcast honoring the life and legacy of the inventor of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti. The show spotlights stories and perspectives from people highly influenced by Fela Kuti’s art and politics, including David Byrne, Brian Eno, Santigold, Questlove, Paul McCartney, and so many others.

KEXP’s Roddy Nikpour spoke with the host of the podcast — someone with a very distinct flavor of storytelling — Jad Abumrad. He’s best known as the founder and original host of the public radio show, Radiolab, as well as other music-oriented podcasts like Dolly Parton's America. Abumrad is also a composer himself.

“It's a really clever thing he's doing,” Abumrad says in the interview. “He moves you into a trance, wakes you up, then into politics — and then you're dancing at that point. So, your body's already in action. It's taking this political message and turning it into movement that then actually makes you want to do something.”

The story of Fela Kuti goes beyond his lifetime, though.

“The power of music is it'll outlive us,” Jad continues. “I think that's what Fela meant when he said ‘music is the weapon of the future.’ It's going to outlive the enemies. It will do something beyond us. And I hope he's right.”

Support the show: kexp.org/deeper
Photo by: Leon Morris

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

KEXP DJ and Sounds of Survivance co-host Kevin Sur gives a history lesson on the Native Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders who influenced the genres of jazz, blues and rock.

photo by Carlos Cruz

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emily Fox and KEXP DJs Larry Mizell Jr. and Evie Stokes share their personal favorite albums of the year and break down KEXP’s top played albums of 2025. KEXP’s top played albums were:

1. Tunde Adebimpe - Thee Black Boltz
2. Wet Leg- moisturizer
3. Deep Sea Diver- Billboard Heart
4. Say She She- Cut & Rewind
5. Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gina Birch is a founding member of the legendary UK punk band, the Raincoats. Martin Douglas spoke with Birch about the themes behind the songs on her solo album, Trouble, her career, longtime connection to the Pacific Northwest, and more.

photo by Dean Chalkey

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian group Cut Copy released their first album in five years in September — it’s called Moments. KEXP’s Roddy Nikpour spoke with frontman Dan Whitford about Cut Copy’s ongoing journey to blend synthesizers with indie guitars — all in the spirit of creating something danceable.

photo by Carlos Cruz

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Seattle band Smokey Brights released a new album called Dashboard Heat this fall. The band is playing The Crocodile in Seattle on December 11. Emily Fox caught up with the band to hear about how the songs on the new album reflect the loss of a parent to cancer, the overturning of Roe v Wade and an ode to Seattle’s Northgate Way.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Say She She’s album, Cut & Rewind is one of the most played albums on KEXP in 2025. Emily Fox speaks with the trio about how they met sharing a wall in a New York apartment building, their reflections on women’s rights in their song She Who Dares and about the racist history of Chicago’s 1979 Disco Demolition Night that shows up in their song, Disco Life.

“Let's take what happened at Comiskey Park where people were really just finding an excuse to burn black records, black musicians' records. Got nothing to do with disco, nothing to with genre,” Piya Malik says.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.