UKNY for September 8
Corinne Bailey Rae (photo by Rebecca Hull, PR)
Nominated for a Mercury Prize this year for her magnificent Black Rainbows, Corinne Bailey Rae has released a new song that is an early harbinger of a second chapter of that album, which she discussed in her FUV Live session earlier this year and a Q&A in late 2023.
As she did on Black Rainbows, on this new song, "SilverCane," Rae draws from her time spent at Chicago's Stony Island Arts Bank and her deep dive into Black history and heritage. The new song captures a moment in time in the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the prosperous Black community ravaged by the 1921 Tulsa Race massacre. On "UKNY" tonight at 11 p.m., Rae's funked-out new odyssey which celebrates the pride and prosperity of this enclave, before the horror.
London's Rachid Fakhre, who records as Skydaddy, parses a more recent tragedy for his disarmingly breezy but lyrically dark new single, "Mushrooms": the 2020 chemical explosion in Beirut. And more history — specifically Amelia Earhart's final flight — has inspired new albums by both London's Public Service Broadcasting and New York's Laurie Anderson.
And while Rae didn't win the 2024 Mercury Prize, another longtime "UKNY" Leeds favorite did — English Teacher — and I'll have a set pulled the band's winning debut album, This Could Be Texas.
Also, new releases from Berlin's Albertine Sarges, the ever-dancing Jungle, and the raucously shambolic Fat Dog.
"UKNY," Sundays from 11pm-midnight, on 90.7FM, streaming online, and in the Archives after broadcast.
Songs played:
1. Public Service Broadcasting ft. Andreya Casablanca, “The Fun of It,” The Last Flight
2. (New York, US) Laurie Anderson, “To Circle the World,” Amelia
3. (Berlin, DE) Albertine Sarges, “Stand Near Your Fire,” single
4. Corinne Bailey Rae, “SilverCane,” single
5. Jungle, “Let’s Go Back,” single
6. (ZA-AU) Soweto Gospel Choir x Groove Terminator, “Ride Like the Wind,” History of House
7. Fat Dog, “Wither,” Woof.
8. The Smile, “Zero Sum,” Cutouts
9. Skydaddy, “Mushrooms,” single
10. (New Dehli, IN) Peter Cat Recording Co., “21C,” BETA
11. beabadoobee, “Tie My Shoes,” This Is How Tomorrow Moves
12. berlioz, “Hot Slow,” Open This Wall
13. English Teacher, “R&B (FUV Live/UKNY performance), This Could Be Texas (2024 Mercury Prize winner)
14. English Teacher, “You Blister My Paint,” This Could Be Texas (2024 Mercury Prize winner)
15. English Teacher, “Albatross,” This Could Be Texas (2024 Mercury Prize winner)
