Today's Top Tune

LA duo Warm Sound cheer in 2023 with “Infinity Eye,” the perfect anthem to kick off the new year with a hypnotic groove anchoring the duo’s haunting harmonies. And the lyrics — about the healing powers of introspection — couldn’t be more suited to the turn of the season. 

Giving a nostalgic twist to the season,“Holiday” is Monogem’s reminder to take this time and take a break to enjoy some much needed time off, no matter what you celebrate! Happy holidays to you and your tribe. 

We are partial to punky rock girl groups like Automatic, Wet Leg, and the kids in our own backyard, Madam Bombs. We’re adding Brooklyn pop-punk trio Thick to that list after hearing their power-punch of aural candy, “Happiness.” 

By the sound of “Want To Know,” it’s hard to believe that Sofia Jensen, who works under the moniker Free Range, was once a rock bandleader. Warm and inviting, their understated work takes a microscopic look at life. We’ll keep our eye on this new artist in 2023. 

Alums of KCRW’s Young Creators Project, Simi Valley-based garage punk trio Madam Bombs charge ahead with a new track to round out the year, “(Not) With Me,” providing us with  propulsive angst releasing and an adrenaline-pumping ‘90s feels. 

Mark Linkous, best known as Sparklehorse, passed away in 2010, but his music lives on thanks to the work of his brother Matt, who has been overseeing his estate and archive. A prolific artist who worked with a diverse range of collaborators ranging from Vic Chestnutt to Danger Mouse and David Lynch, he loved to record in his home studio. Gritty, distorted, and never-before-heard, “It Will Never Stop” was found among his tapes. 

Greg Kurstin and Inara George, a.k.a. the bird and the bee, were scheduled to meet up to write songs on the day Queen Elizabeth passed. Inspired by the significance of the monumental day, they  came up with a holiday song that balances their admiration of the Queen with their more complicated feelings about the monarchy, as we can hear on “Christmas without The Queen.” 

The all-women mariachi outfit and Latin Grammy champions Flor de Toloache seduce us with a samba-inspired track guaranteed to send your winter blues away.  “Una Vida Y Otra Mas” unleashes their feminist power in an epic song. 

Kit Sebastian may have formed in London, but their vibe is a cauldron of diverse genres culminating in serpentine psychedelia and Turkish funk. Come with us as we transcend into euphoria with “Hayat,” which means “life” in Arabic. 

2022 was good for one of our favorites, LA duo NEIL FRANCES. They delivered their debut album,  played heaps of major festivals, AND headlined sold-out shows with multi-piece bands marking them “must-see” talent. Topping it off, after one session working with hip-hop soul singer PawPaw Rod, they delivered “High,” their first stoner anthem.  KCRW Presents: Prohibition Roaring 20’s NYE featuring Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Neil Frances as DJ, open bar, theatrical burlesque, and KCRW DJ Tyler Boogie Boudreaux @ Union Station 

Over the past few years, singer, songwriter, and producer Cé Cicada has been fine-tuning music inspired by his love of the bass and Caribbean melodies. Based both in Los Angeles and Puerto Rico, Cicada’s “Mestiza” is a flirty, lo-fi ballad basking on a bed of beats. 

Cakes Da Killa rose up through New York’s booming queer rap scene in the early 2010s. Influenced by artists like Yusef Lateef and Alice Coltrane, his sophomore album isn’t quite jazz, but makes the connection in favor of hip-hop beats, with “Sip of My Sip” featuring Sevndeep as a prime example.

As the year winds down, we take a look at our lives and start thinking about what we’d like to change in order to make New Year’s resolutions. So when you are ready, turn to Berlin-based Albertine Sarges, who faces her nicotine demons via “Hold On,” a self-confessional song with great advice on the four Ds of craving: “drink water, delay, distract, and damn it, keep breathing!” 

You might recognize the sound of Senegalese musician Baaba Maal as the voice of Wakanda in the “Black Panther” films, but his transcendent work has graced these airwaves for the last 40 years. Let’s listen to the powerful new track, “Yerimayo Celebration,” preceding a new album by Maal coming in March.  And while we are at it, check out the last time Baaba Maal came to KCRW in 2009. 

Supershy, the electronic project from innovative producer Tom Misch, recently dropped “Don’t Let Go,” a jaunty mix of classic French house and head-spinning 303 synth lines that lands somewhere between Daft Punk and Hot Chip. Get happy!