UKNY for February 6

Singer and songwriter Poppy Ajudha finally releases her debut album, The Power of Us, on March 11, but she's been a vibrant part of London's jazz and R&B scene for a long time, recording with Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Mahalia, and many others, plus releasing her own stand-alone singles like 2020's "Strong Womxn." Ajudha's reworking of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" as "Watermelon Man (Under the Sun)" was a highlight of 2020's Blue Note Re:Imagined. On tonight's "UKNY" at 11 p.m., I'll play something from Ajudha's The Power of Us, which she describes as a confluence of the things "swimming in her mind," from feminism to colonialism to the power of young people pushing for progressive change.

There are fresh songs galore from Melbourne's Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, West London's Arlo Parks, and the debut single from Nottingham's Divorce — all released last week. Black Country, New Road's second album, Ants From Up There, came out on Friday, but the 2021 Mercury Prize-nominated band also shared some bittersweet news — the departure of lead singer and guitarist Isaac Wood, who is focusing on his own mental wellness, as the balance of the group forges ahead as a sextet.

And another Poppy — Brighton-based composer Poppy Ackroyd — takes in new motherhood and the isolation of the pandemic on her beautifully meditative album, Pause.

All that and more British and international releases on "UKNY," Sundays 11 p.m.-midnight, on 90.7, streaming online, and found in the Weekend Archives too.

Songs played:

1. Poppy Ajudha, “Holiday from Reality,” The Power in Us
2. The Smile, “The Smoke,” single
3. (Conakry, GN-London, UK) Falle Nioke & Ghost Culture, “Leywole,” Badiare EP
4. (Melbourne, AU) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, “The Way It Shatters,” Endless Rooms
5. (Ghent, BE) Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul, “Ceci n’est pas un cliché,” Topical Dancer
6. Divorce, “Services,” single
7. Black Country, New Road, “Chaos Space Marine,” Ants From Up There
8. Blue States feat. Allison Brice Grasso, “Alarms,” World Contact Day
9. fika and Bambie, “Coffee & Clouds,” Coffee & Clouds EP
10. Arlo Parks, “Softly,” single
11. Orbury Common feat. Tenchpress, “The Crooked Bayleaf,” The Traditional Dance of Orbury Common
12. (Koforidua, GH-Canberra, AU) Genesis Owusu, “A Song About Fishing,” Smiling with No Teeth
13. (Lyttleton, NZ) Aldous Harding, “Lawn,” Warm Chris
14. Poppy Ackroyd, “Flutter,” Pause