A Deeper Listen

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: Tunde Adebimpe - Thee Black Boltz Wet Leg- moisturizer Deep Sea Diver- Billboard Heart Say She She- Cut & Rewind 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.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.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.