Song of the Day

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March 6, 2024

Ana Zae: “Lifted”

By: Jack Anderson

Over the past two months alone we’ve seen some pretty promising new names emerge from the Austin area, even if the artists behind the project have been in plain sight for some time.

Take for example longtime live scene veteran Ana Zae, whose prior solo iteration Liza Day (Rose) first popped up in August 2020 with six soulful self-recorded originals. Heavy on the multi-tracked vocal harmonies but angled towards acoustic authenticity, those tunes told us everything we needed to know about this mature music-maker; she had the stuff.

Fast forward to this February, when the singer-guitarist rolled out her rebrand as Ana Zae with two stellar singles. Thanks to Black Pumas collaborator Will Grantham engineering and producing the pair, Ana’s sound has undeniably leveled up from the humble, stripped-down home studio aesthetic of her antecedent. Between a previously unheard one (“Set Me Free”) and “Lifted” (lifted from her Liza Day debut Roses and Waves), this two-part reintroduction channels the waltzy rhythms and sultry chord changes of classic Patsy Cline through the lens of golden era grunge electric guitar, both of them teetering with triplets, love-hungry lyrics, and a set of pipes that put more than plenty to shame. And with a full album reportedly on the way from Ana Zae, our fandom stands to stay unfazed.


Episodes

October 11, 2024

flipturn: “Rodeo Clown” (KUTX Pop-Up at ACL Fest)

Between the big Texas sky, the sprawling space of Zilker Park, all the dust that gets kicked up across the festival grounds and cowboy hats abound, ACL Fest sure can feel a bit like a rodeo right here within the city limits. And heading back to the fest, Weekend Two of ACL 2024 certainly won’t […]

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October 10, 2024

The Beaches: “Blame Brett” (KUTX Pop-Up at ACL Fest)

The second Friday of October is upon us, and Austin City Limits Music Fest is about to be in full effect once again. And in the interim that is this Thursday, we got a twofer for ya: a reflection on last weekend and a hint on what to expect for this next one. So although […]

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October 8, 2024

Chaparelle: “Bleeding Hearts” (KUTX Pop-Up at ACL Fest)

Ask anyone about their favorite ACL Fest performance and there’s no telling what answers you’ll get. But we’re willing to wager that if you ask anyone below the age of thirty, “did you catch Chap-“, there’s a good chance your interviewee will enthusiastically finish your question with, “Chappell Roan?! She was awesome!” Yeah, there’s no […]

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October 8, 2024

Mon Rovîa: “crooked the road.” (KUTX Pop-Up at ACL Fest)

When it comes to exposure for international acts here in Austin, you typically think of SXSW. But time and time again, ACL Fest has shown great global flavors, even if the artists in question are quartered stateside. A perfect example? Mon Rovîa. Songwriter Andrew Lowe was lucky enough to escape his moniker’s namesake in the […]

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October 7, 2024

Allwax: “Waves”

Heads up. Because our amazing multi-media team has been collecting so many great pop-up performances at ACL Fest, we’re gonna be sharing some of those with you over the next couple weeks. But before we dive in, we’d be remiss if we didn’t shine the spotlight on a fresh local release, no ACL tie-in necessary. […]

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October 4, 2024

Tish: “Burning Up”

We’re barely a week into October, everyone’s spooky season decorations are going up, excuses to miss Thanksgiving are already stewing…and we’ve still got highs in the 90s here in Texas. Autumn is a bit ablaze. Just goes to show you that life’s a…Tish? At least, Tish is a big part of life for one particular […]

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October 3, 2024

Ram Vela & the Easy Targets: “Life Is Rigged”

Everyone benefits from the empowerment of self efficacy. And nobody wants to scrape by each day facing a sealed fate. Those truths must have at least subconsciously fueled the landmark success of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which endures as a surprisingly hopeful narrative despite its status as a relentless “hard R” sci-fi action flick. But […]

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October 2, 2024

Lindsey Rose Black: “One Of Your Girls” [PREMIERE]

As we noted yesterday, it shows real strength to unearth the passion of a certified classic by revitalizing it with a version well outside its initial genre. So we do have another cover today, but this one belongs much more to a contemporary catalogue. Which is frankly a great strategy for appealing to…shall we say…less […]

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