Today's Top Tune

Dulcet-toned vocalist Lizz Wright celebrates 20 years as a recording artist with a new career-defining album,Shadow. Wright drafts five new songs to showcase alongside some of the great classic songwriters, including Cole Porter, Sandy Denny, and Candi Staton, and enlists friends like Angelique Kidjo and, on Today’s Top Tune, Meshell Ndegeocello on bass and Brandee Younger on harp for “Your Love.”

This week we celebrate the undiscovered musical talent (under 21) in the greater LA area culled from a couple of hundred submissions to KCRW’sYoung Creators Project. We whittled it down to five finalists, and if we told you that this song was written and performed by older, seasoned artists, you’d agree.

But we’re talking aboutThe Lemonfrogs,an outfit from the Valley who were actually thrown together by the “Join the Band” program at school. It’s kismet! An indie/pop rock outfit made up of guitars, bass, and drums, these four teenage girls create gorgeous harmonies and have a keen sense when it comes to lyrics. Here’s the song they submitted, called “Naive.”

In honor of leap year today, let’s turn to a new project from old friends who believe that the best collaborations take time. The Icelandic duoPaddanare lifelong friends since childhood and survivors of the post-punk scene in Reykjavik in the early ‘80s. Paddan’s debut EP,Fluid Time, is inspired by the perception of time and space, with compositions that fill the ether with inspiration from free-form jazz and the punk aesthetics of their youth. Let’s check out the percussive krautrock piece “Bug,” which happens to be English for what Paddan is named after.

German octetBacao Rhythm & Steel Bandpower their new track “Grilled” with some serious muscle provided by two(!) drummers. Whether it’s funk from Africa or America, their approach to steel pan pleasure is intoxicating. We’re excited by the premise of their self-titled LPBRSB, set for release on March 8, as the band will unveil a slew of hip hop covers alongside alluring originals.

In honor of Dry January, let’s turn to a song about sobriety, written by Eric Hirshberg and featuring an artist close to our hearts, Aloe Blacc. “I Love Not Drinking” celebrates the joys of life sans alcohol, yet it’s not a song about addiction or getting clean. Take a moment to listen to beats created entirely from bartender sounds, clinking glasses, cocktail shakers, and the sound of ice cubes!

Birthed in Mexico in 2017,Reyna Tropicalexplores “intuition, transition, connection, and continuation — a celebration of spiritual survival pulsing with the beat of all things tropical.”

Yard Act, the art-rocking quartet from Leeds, gave us their sophomore albumWhere’s My Utopia?earlier in the year, co-produced by the band and Gorillaz’ Remi Kabaka Jr.

Adam Dorn, better known asMocean Worker, lays down a thick bass line on his tenth LP,BOOMBOX,which he calls “a love letter to the bass.” Though his career began with the instrument, Dorn shied away from showcasing his virtuosic bass chops on his first eight albums, instead focusing on hyper-detailed mini-sampling, digital production, and synthesizers. That’s no longer the case onBOOMBOX, where Mocean Worker balls out on “Shammy Davis Jr’s.”

A new voice on the Latin scene,Adrieis Madrid-raised and Los Angeles-based.But on Today’s Top Tune, this artist issues a compelling track inspired byJapanese culture, in particular anime and origami art on ‘Japón,” off a forthcoming EP dropping early 2024.

Hakushi Hasegawahas the distinction of being the first Japanese artist signed to Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label. Based in Tokyo, they create what some may say is cohesive cacophony, a wild sonic ride that follows the label’s ethos to seek out artists that operate outside of the confines of pigeonholed genres.

Hakushi explains the meaning behind new track “Mouth Flash (Kuchinohanabi)”:“What I feel I should do from now on is to disturb the music with my own body, and to expose the chaos, although it is not coherent,” they say. “I believe that this song is the very beginning of that process. (The body is always subject to the forces of history and categorization, but always seems to be situated between individual narratives, songs, and dances at the same time.)”