Song of the Day

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July 19, 2024

arya: “USE ME”

By: Jack Anderson

It’s a twofer this Friday! We’ve got a brand new release alongside a weekend show recommendation. And both arrive on behalf of arya.

arya’s not just another dime a dozen bedroom pop Billie Eilish wannabe. No, this Belgrade-born bae is almost overqualified for saturated world of pop-hip-hop-R&B; after a decade in Serbia playing classical piano she received a formal jazz degree here in Austin. Still, even in this decidedly contemporary endeavor, arya retains her status as a one woman show – having scored her first ACL Fest appearance and official ACL Late Night Show last Fall.

And speaking of last Fall, following up last October’s “LOVE ME”, today arya shares the second installment from her upcoming EP Insides – a six-song visual album and narrative set for release later this year. In the immediate forecast, arya’s got a free performance midnight tomorrow night at Empire Control Room as part of Hot Summer Nights, where she’ll certainly perform her latest pop-R&B banger, “USE ME”. We wouldn’t be surprised if we heard a sped up/nightcore version of this new one pop up on TikTok, but for us personally, we love the tune’s relaxed tempo. Because it gives plenty of space to breathe between richly textured drums, fat-as-hell synth bass, and arya’s incredible vocals that could end up making Ariana Grande sound more like GoT series finale Arya Stark in comparison.


Episodes

March 10, 2025

CLUB: “Sunshine”

Austin’s CLUB COMA are electrifying. Ebbing between dark electro -pop, high-octane rock, and a little bit of funk (sometimes all in the same song), the trio brings the party to the stage. And when you know the members come from Austin groups Ume, Boyfrndz, and Stiletto Feels, your eyes unfocus just enough to see the […]

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Redbud: “Pink Pear”

Redbud started as a passion (and let’s be real, therapy) project for Katie Claghorn during the pandemic. Following the release of the group’s debut EP Long Night in 2023, Redbud has been blossoming. At this point, it’s becoming increasingly harder to find people who haven’t heard of Redbud. The group returns with their follow-up album […]

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March 6, 2025

Magic City Hippies: “Little Bit of Love” (ft. Antwaun Stanley)

When you go through a break-up the traditional thing to do is to pull in, find solace in your platonic relationships, and try new things. Very new things. Like, perhaps, uprooting yourself clear across the country to make your next album. Magic City Hippies follow tradition with their new album Enemies. In the three years […]

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March 5, 2025

J’cuuzi: “How 2 Get Everything You’ve Always Wanted 4 Free (Forever)”[PREMIERE]

Austin’s J’cuuzi are about as avantgarde as you can get. Or as I like to call them pop-vantgarde. They’re too electronic to be post-punk, too post-punk to be considered electronic, and a hair too melodic to be straight noise rock. But it’s hot, wild, and maybe a little dangerous, like a jacuzzi. Their live shows […]

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March 4, 2025

Brittany Banowsky: “Two Sunglass Town” (Song Confessional)

If you’ve been paying attention to KUTX the last few years, you’re aware that we have a number of podcasts. One of them is Song Confessional, an effort led by Walker Lukens and Zac Catanzaro where they collect anonymous, wild stories or “confessions” from people then have a musician write a song about the confession. […]

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March 3, 2025

Pink Must: “Morphe Sun”

When a project is born from a mutual love of PJ Harvey, you know I’m all in. Pink Must began with this love shared from half a country away, but once Mari Maurice Rubio and Lynn Avery, better known as More Eaze and Iceblink respectively, were both located in Brooklyn, it was game on. As […]

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February 28, 2025

Illiterate Light: “Payphone”

The Ohio duo Illiterate Light  have been making music together for a decade: starting from humble pastoral beginnings making music while working on a farm in the Shenandoah Valle, to their latest album Arches, which saw the band splitting time between Ohio and Hollywood’s Sunset Sound, a room formerly graced by Bob Dylan and Paul […]

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February 27, 2025

Marlei Dismuke: “Fantasy”

Born in Houston, partially raised in Plano, and now an Austin resident, Marlei Dismuke has been writing and performing music since she started piano lessons at age five. Writing songs for her brothers turned into composing music for family musicals complete with choreography, and eventually truly honing her craft in high school and college, performing […]

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