26 August 2026 - Gracie Abrams - Look At My Life

I was not a fan of Gracie Abrams.  If I heard "It's So True" one more damn time, I was going to delete Spotify. 

OK, that's overstatement.  But still.

I was not looking forward to listening to Daughter From Hell, her new album.  But, you know, I'm listening to 2000 albums in 2 years, so, yeah.  I did it.  

And I actually really liked it. 

This was the second single from the album and shares its name with the title of her tour in support of the album.  It is, like the rest of the album, co-written by her and deeply reflective. 

She has not yet had a lot of chance to play the song live - but she did when she appeared on BBC's Radio 1.  Honestly, you can see in her face that it is deeply personal and reflective. 

25 August 2026 (Special Edition) - Dolly Parton - I'm Gone

Dolly Parton posted this seven months ago. 

Today, her passing was announced. 

This is both the easiest and hardest one of these I've had to write.  On one hand, I think we all know that Dolly Parton is one of the kindest and most influential country artists in history.  I don't need to espouse about her impact on people, her advocacy and active giving to the cause of literacy, or the fact that you are greeted by Dolly when you enter Tennessee!

No, seriously.  

But this is also hard because the loss is so great. 

No, I instead choose to honor her in the way she would have intended - with this 2003 song that wasn't a hit but it perfect for today. 

Let you think she did this just for vinyl - no, she brought the fire to the performance. 

Dolly Parton will be sorely missed in the music industry, by her family, by Tennessee, and by music fans everywhere. She's with her Carl Dean now. 

25 August 2026 - Gelli Haha - Bounce House

Frankly, I want you to enjoy this video and the 360 degree experience it is, so we're doing this first.

Gelli Haha's Switcheroo was one of my favorite albums of 2026.  

"Switcheroo is a chaos record in the best way: jagged indie rock, synthy detours, sudden hooks that feel like tripping over a hidden step. It sounded like 2025’s attention span in album form, and I kept coming back to it whenever I wanted something that felt restless and playful but still weirdly, deeply emotional."

"Also, the red aesthetic really pops." - Literally me

"Bounce House" was a huge reason why I liked that record so much.  It was fun, it was bright, and yet, it still had surprising hooks.  

Here's the non-immersive version of the video, by the way.

 

I've written about Gelli Haha before.  And when I did, I said she had not played as Gelli Haha much.  That has changed, dramatically.  In fact, the stage show is a whole..... thing.  

From the KRCW studios.....

...to the MUCH smaller KEXP studios.....

....to this random club in San Francisco.

It's always consistent, and fun, and bouncy, and RED. 

24 August 2026 - Shelly Fabares - Johnny Angel

This was almost a Special Edition, and it really should be. 

You see, Shelly Fabares, a musician who was best known as an actress - most notably on The Donna Reed Show - passed away yesterday.  She was 82, and her acting career was long, with starring roles on several shows.  

Her debut single was "Johnny Angel", and it actually debuted on The Donna Reed Show. It reached #1 in 1962, and did spark a sequel single, "Johnny Loves Me", a lesser hit in its own right. But this, her first single, was her biggest. 

By the way, Glen Campbell is the guitarist on this song.  Just thought you might like knowing that. 

21 August 2026 - Kim Petras - Brutalist

This year has been coming up Kim Petras. 

Her newest album, Detour, has been called her debut album.  It's not - but that's the level of step forward this album is for the Grammy Award winning artist.

It took a long time for Republic Records to release this album (allegedly) but it was worth the wait because it was SO GOOD. 

This is one of my favorite songs from this album. 

This was a theme week.  Did you guess the theme?

If you did, you can listen to this "Brutalist" demo version which is really great.  If you didn't, go back and listen again. 

20 August 2026 - Ethel Cain - American Teenager

Since well before her 2022 debut album Preacher's Daughter, Ethel Cain has been a fast-rising songwriting star.  This song, from that album, is a fiercely anti-war song....

19 August 2026 - Jane Remover - Dreamflasher

There's very little I can say about Jane Remover that hasn't been assumed already. 

Born as a twin in 2003, they really loved Mario Kart growing up.  I hear they are also avid watchers of Family Guy. 

Yes, that is their preferred pronoun, and we're going to respect that here.  Deal with it. 

They are also a quickly-growing prolific musician who releases albums under many names - including leroy, under which they released an album this year. 

This song is from the Jane Remover 2025 album Revengeseekerz, which is really good. I hope you will enjoy it. 

Despite being so heavily electronic, they do perform live, and are touring this year.  Here's a great performance of this song from this year in New York. I always like pointing out when the audience is singing along, and this is one of those times.