UKNY for September 27

With the release of their fourth album, Here Because of Hope, London's Ezra Collective made history: the first male jazz group to ever debut at No. 1 on the UK album charts. The 2023 Mercury Prize winners have raised their own bar with Here Because of Hope, a buoyantly thoughtful album that explores the Black diaspora throughout the UK, the Caribbean, and the Americas. Ezra Collective's own personal journey is at the core too, from teen musicians mentored via Tomorrow's Warriors, the storied British youth music nonprofit, to their award-winning, record-breaking stature as one of Britain's most consequential bands. On "UKNY" at 7 p.m. tonight, I'll continue to dig into this beautiful album — and Ezra Collective will be playing Webster Hall on November 18.

London's RIP Magic, who've gotten a helping hand from LCD Soundsystem in the past, have a new single and album announcement — the band's debut, 1,2,3, is released on October 30. Sprawling between a septet and a dectet, London-Oxford's Mandrake Handshake, with their flowerkraut-meets-Stereolab vibe, have album #2 on the horizon, called Laputa, and a just-released song from it.

New York's Starcleaner Reunion picked a well-timed (stormy) weekend to release a debut album called Umbrella, plus new releases from Ireland's Burglar, Manchester's Pyncher, and London's Moses Boyd and Man/Woman/Chainsaw. Daughter's Elena Tonra also returns in her solo guise as Ex:Re, with her first release in eight years.

That's "UKNY," Sundays from 7-8 p.m., on 90.7FM, streaming online, and in the Archives after broadcast.