KXT’s New Music Monday picks for June 27 feature a husband-and-wife duo, a Dallas supergroup and songs that scream “summer!”
Meet your new summer fling, music lovers. Kungs is a 19-year-old house artist from the South of France who’s already toured with David Guetta, and whose remix of “This Girl” from the Aussie outfit Cookin’ On 3 Burners will be stuck in your head though September, if you’re lucky. It’s all about the bassline and the guitar riffs on this one, not to mention the infectious groove that’ll have you up and out of your seat in no time, shakin’ what your mama gave you. Sometimes the world just needs a happy song, and if you can’t escape to Europe this summer, “This Girl” is your passport to aural ecstasy.
It took Maggie Rogers all of 15 minutes to write “Alaska” before heading into Pharrell’s songwriting master class at NYU – and only a few bars into the track before he fell under her spell. Jezebel, Slate and Reddit were soon chiming in with their praise, and the same management company who signed Leon Bridges and Sharon Van Etten swooped in, ready to bring her folktronic vibe to the masses. There’s an EP in the works, and a palpable buzz – and by the time she gets home from a post-graduation jaunt to Europe, she’ll take her rightful position as one of the breakout artists of 2016.
“Silence Has Left” from the Denton four-piece Exit Glaciers won’t sound at all out of place on your summer playlist. It’s got a certain sophistication about it, guided along by the soothing vocals of Megan Storie and the gentle hand of guest keyboardist Scott Danbom. Debris is the new EP, which you can help celebrate the release of at Redwood Studios in Denton on Saturday, July 9.
John Dufilho is a multi-instrumentalist, master songwriter, producer, and all-around one of the coolest cats on the Dallas music scene, with a steady hand in his countless projects: The Deathray Davies, I Love Math, and Apples In Stereo. Cantina is the newest addition to his extensive musical CV, a supergroup uniting Dufilho with other Dallas drummers of note – Philip Peeples from the Old 97’s and Jason Garner from the Polyphonic Spree, and rounded out with Dufilho’s Deathray Davies bandmate Andy Lester and Marcus Hollar from the Street Dogs. A Sea Of Keys lands July 22, and Sons of Hermann in Deep Ellum hosts the album release party on July 23.
We’ve got heaps of love for Shovels & Rope, the Charleston, South Carolina-based husband and wife duo who burst onto the scene with their 2008 self-titled debut, and went on to snag awards from the Americana Music Association, support slots with Jason Isbell, and music featured on the Charleston edition of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. Oh, and did we mention their must-see documentary, The Ballad of Shovels and Rope? Mark your calendar for this Friday, July 1, when you can see Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst work their magic on the crowd at The Bomb Factory, and for October 7, when Little Seeds lands via New West Records.
Here’s to your happy ears –
XOXO
Gini.
