UKNY For April 8

Extended artistic hiatuses happen for assorted reasons. Damon Albarn's absence from Gorillaz is an easy one: over the last six years he's recorded and released a solo album, Everyday Robots, reunited with Blur for a new album and tour, and wrote a musical, Wonder.land.

Jarvis Cocker has been focused on his radio shows and podcasts for BBC Radio 6 Music ("Sunday Service") and BBC Radio 4 ("Wireless Nights"). Broken Social Scene's members have split in different solo and band directions, reconvening for the occasional gig. Since the release of 2011's Metals, Leslie Feist embarked on a 2014 solo tour, but for her forthcoming album Pleasure, she needed to follow her own schedule and emotional arc.

Happily, all of these bands and artists have released—or they're about to release—new albums. There are some surprising collaborations too (Jarvis Cocker has connected with both Chilly Gonzales and Feist). And tonight on UKNY at 11, we'll hear from all of them, along with new Happyness, the Charlatans, and a gorgeous earworm from Wuh Oh, the Glasgow producer Peter Ferguson.

Missed the show? You can stream UKNY in the FUV Weekend Archives for two weeks after broadcast.

Songs played:

1. The Moonlandingz, “Lufthansa Man,” Interplanetary Class Classics
2. Feist feat. Jarvis Cocker, “Century,” Pleasure
3. Chilly Gonzales and Jarvis Cocker, “Ice Cream as Main Course,” Room 29
4. British Sea Power, “Keep on Trying (Sechs Freunde),” Let the Dancers Inherit the Party
5. The Charlatans feat. Johnny Marr and Anton Newcombe, “Plastic Machinery,” Different Days
6. Happyness, “Uptrend/Style Raids,” Write In
7. Desperate Journalist, “Be Kind,” Grow Up
8. Gorillaz feat. Popcaan, “Saturnz Barz,” Humanz
9. Blaenavon, “Let Me See What Happens Next,” That’s Your Lot
10. Wuh Oh, “Hairstyle,” single
11. Broken Social Scene, “Halfway Home,” single
12. Forest Swords, “Arms Out,” Compassion