Seattle’s Brandi Carlile recently released her eighth studio album — it’s called “Returning to Myself.” Carlile stopped by KEXP recently to speak with DJ Kevin Cole about the themes of togetherness, confronting middle age, and watching her daughters slowly grow up and become more independent. She tells the story about how writing a poem in a barn started the album writing process, and how she managed to become very close friends with Joni Mitchell. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Neko Case on Her New Album and the Myth of Being “Lucky to Be Here”
Neko Case is out with a new album called Neon Grey Midnight Green. In conversation with Emily Fox, Case breaks down what spiderwebs can teach us about self-importance, what female and non-binary folks in the music industry have taught her about confidence and not caring about the male gaze and rock n’ roll’s mythology of “you’re lucky to be here.” “The mythology of you're lucky to be here of rock n’ roll… is very harmful and it's often leveraged to make people think that that theater wasn't built to play music in,” Case says. “Like really? That's weird because I don't know, there's a stage and you have a huge sound system in here. Gosh, I guess we could probably get together and make this happen.” photo by Ebru YildizSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Kassa Overall Jazzes Up '90s Hip-Hop Classics
The Seattle-based jazz musician Kassa Overall released CREAM in September 2025, an album that showcases new, original takes on some of the most classic tracks in 90s rap — from Wu Tang to Biggie and beyond. Overall spoke with KEXP’s Dusty Henry about his work. "As we're recording these songs, I'm realizing this is actually a response record to my other records," Overall says in the interview. "This is actually a commentary on the whole jazz hip-hop conversation. This is a commentary on my own career." Overall adds historical context: "Jazz musicians always would take songs that were popular in the public sphere and just use them as materials — not so much a cover, but just as a starting point for the listener. The idea that you remain faithful to the original — maybe some people think about that as a sign of respect to the music, but I don't see it like that. The respect comes from studying the original and then finding your own way to approach it." Photo Credit: Erik Barden Support the show: kexp.org/deeperSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Jay Som Finds Where She Belongs
Jay Som is the moniker of Melina Duterte, a songwriter and producer originally based out of the Bay Area now living in Los Angeles. After producing music for other artists for so many years, she’s back with her fourth studio album, Belong, named for her quest to figure out her place in the indie music scene. While her tracks take you across various genre explorations from straight-up pop to downright experimental, she masterfully curates a cohesive experience. KEXP’s Dusty Henry spoke with Duterte about the expansive sound of the record, including collaborations with emo idols Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World and Hayley Williams of Paramore. “I’m always desperate for connection and understanding other people,” Duterte says in the interview. “When I get to have that experience, I feel closer to myself. That’s what this album helped me with.” Support the show: kexp.org/deeper Photo Credit: Daniel TopeteSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Clarissa Connelly’s ‘World of Work’ Rings Bells of Ecstasy and Apocalypse
In 2024, the Scottish-Danish artist Clarissa Connelly put out an album called World of Work. It doesn’t exactly deal with “work” the way that you might imagine in a 21st-century context. On the contrary, Connelly’s opus dives deep into philosophical concepts regarding our relationship with our mortal world, bodily movement, and what’s known as “religious ecstasy.” KEXP contributor Isabel Khalili spoke with Connelly about the themes she taps into, which are as timeless as the sound of the music itself. The album centers around the use of bells, circularity, and death as a form of revelation. “The feeling of being part of something bigger — what is that?” Connelly asks in the interview, nodding to the first existential questions of our human ancestors. “Connecting with the past gives me a feeling of getting really high. Bells have always been a way of connecting to that. They are our structure of society.” Her hope for the listener is that the album can create space, peace, and “even just a brief moment of clarity or wanting to let go and being brave.” Support the show: kexp.org/deeper Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On A Deeper Listen, host Emily Fox and other storytellers from KEXP talk with artists about the stories behind their songs and the experiences that inform their work. Through each conversation, we uncover the humanity behind the music, allowing us to hear it in a whole new way.
Brasil