Today's Top Tune

Iconic outfit Tortoise have influenced a kaleidoscopic range of artists throughout their forty year career. Arguably, their legacy outweighs their output — they’ve released only seven albums since 1990. Needless to say, we are very happy to share their first new music in almost ten years — the melodic and crunchy “Oganesson” forecasts more good things to come.

Morning Becomes Eclectic recently enjoyed the company of Queen of New Orleans bounce Big Freedia for a Guest Selector set during SXSW 2025. We even had the pleasure of WORLD PREMIERING “Take My Hand.” The track features a sample from famed gospel preacher & pastor Dr. C.J. Johnson for a hands in the air, floor stomping, gospel-dance track. It’s a prelude to a new album due in June, which BF told us is “a vibrant and uplifting non-denominational record that blends bounce, gospel, soul, and R&B in a way that only Big Freedia can.”

Puerto Rico-born, LA-based multi-instrumentalist and one man band, Pachyman is set to release his fifth album Another Place on May 23. Building on his love of dub reggae by morphing it ever further into mind bending sonics, Pachy Garcia goes hard on “Hard To Part,” an almost Lynchian funk-filled jam.

Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi released the sublime album The Summer Portraits earlier in the year. Einaudi, the most streamed classical artist of our times, found inspiration for this one via memories triggered by the warmth of the sun during summer holidays filled with friends and family; capturing the essence of his recollections on the celestial solo piano piece “Punta Bianca.”

Freak folk/art rocking sister duo Bianca and Sierra Casady make up CocoRosie. For the past twenty years the siblings have been at the forefront translating the love, difficulties, and ecstasy of sisterhood into wildly theatrical original music. Their eighth studio album, Little Death Wishes, encapsulates not only their relationship, but the generational hardship of women and their shattered realities. Hear these themes capsulized on the song “Cut Stitch Scar.”

Renaissance goddess Valerie June is an enormously gifted songwriter and artist. Her craft is so powerful that it not only connects us to her songs, it connects us to one another. “Endless Tree” is no exception. “As we see so much divisiveness and polarization in the world, this song asks listeners if they are ready for a more harmonious and peaceful planet? June ponders. “If what we focus on is what manifests, then although we don’t always agree with each other, might it still be possible to respect our differences and grow together vs. creating wars? Trees have a secret language that connects them to each other. Without plants and trees, we couldn’t breathe. What can we learn from plants as teachers?”

We always look forward to new music from best-selling author and singer-songwriter Michelle Zauner (aka Japanese Breakfast). Her latest LP, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women), is set to be another classic., Produced by Grammy Award-winning guitar guru Blake Mills, this album examines a darker palette than its antecedent, Jubilee.

Have you met Tamino? We recently premiered his latest, “Willow,” on Morning Becomes Eclectic, a song of release and renewal from his album Every Dawn’s a Mountain — written in his new home of New York City. “The paradox of the willow is that when it dies and loses all its vines, its trunk gets to see the sun,” Tamino explains. “In other words, its heart gets a new life. The tree no longer weeps and finally finds solace in the glow of the sun.” Let’s give it a whirl.

Copenhagen-based When Saints Go Machine are an ever-changing electronic trio that have carved out their own sonic niche in Nordic music. But on their new single “Co-Star,”they have turned off their machines to amplify a new direction. The title track unveils a colorful, organic pop universe to immerse yourself in.

Canadian composer and pianist Lydia Clapperton shares an ode to spring from her new album, des semis et une marguerite, or seedlings and a daisy. We’ve plucked ‘espace de paix’ as Today’s Top Tune, a refreshing, expressive, and evocative piece that will make your garden bloom. “This composition is an invitation to enter our inner space of gratitude,” shares Clapperton. “A garden made of peaceful and generous relationships. From peace comes joy, and a taste of the beautiful intensity of life.”

NYC-based artist duendita’s new project, a strong desire to survive, is out today. It’s ten tracks birthed and inspired by travels to Berlin and the music scene they fell into there. Today we share “baby teeth,” a song duendita says “celebrates the joy of healing from the darkest experiences. It's a piano/vocal banger about feeling safe and strong." At the end of "baby teeth," there’s a sample of nine vocalists, singing in harmony as a choir… all recorded in duendita's bedroom: "It was so special."

Grammy-winning producer Leon Michels, best known as El Michels Affair, treats us to an instant classic, “Kodak.” The song is a picture perfect masterclass in space and arrangement — mellow and fluid, with a slow drum beat floating amidst the gauzy instrumentation. It’s guaranteed to put you in a dreamy, creative mood.

Funny how a song named “Draggin’” can really lift you up. This works because of singer-songwriter Hannah Cohen’s magical way of blending disparate ideas. The song is off her newly minted album Earthstar Mountain, and was produced by her partner and collaborator Sam Evian. The album draws from the pair’s combined wide palette of musical taste which includes Dusty Springfield, Gal Costa, Minnie Ripperton, and Sly & The Family Stone.

Brooklyn-based musician Kendra Morris explores chaos and catharsis, what she describes as an overlap of her messy little Brooklyn apartment and the clutter that accumulates in her head. The melody and rhythm for “In My House” came both from Morris tooling around on her Casio and from her speaking tongue twisters while walking her neighborhood.

We were excited to meet up with Jacob Alon, a seemingly otherworldy Scottish folk artist, while at SXSW this year. Like Nick Drake, Alon showcases a light touch on his acoustic fretboard and skims across it with intricate fingerpicking and bittersweet lyrics. Bleak and beautiful, “Fairy In A Bottle” comes from his debut album In Limerence and opens an early chapter on what we expect will be a long and beautiful musical journey.

Raised in Havana, Cuban singer Rita Donte was weaned on her grandmother's record collection where she became drawn to the music. From there she traveled to Mexico City to absorb the rich music scene, before ultimately landing in Baja California Sur. Donte’s personal journey informs her new album Ritual — connecting her love of Mexican jaranas, Cuban tres, and some contemporary influences. It’s time to move to the rhythm of “Zunzun Baba.”

Pioneering electronic music producer Mark Pritchard teams with Radiohead/The Smile frontman Thom Yorke to share the full collaborative album Tall Tales (out in May). The LP unites everything you love about both luminaries: rich aural textures, multi-layered electronics, and thrilling genre-fluidity across a dozen tracks. So let’s start with “This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice.”

TV On The Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe steps into his own spotlight on his debut solo album Thee Black Boltz — out April 18. Capturing the vulnerability of the loss of love, Adebimpe massages the heart with incisive lyrics and his signature electro rock ‘n’ soul sound on “God Knows.”

She’s back! Cool and classy Lady Wray shares “Best For Us,” a song about love and commitment produced by the endlessly seductive Grammy-winner Leon Michels. The pair are currently in the studio cooking up what will become Lady Wray’s third album… with “Best For Us” as an excellent sign of what’s to come.

The music of Brixton-based Black Country, New Road makes us feel like we’re “Besties.” Their imaginative mix of sounds comes from classically trained as well as self-taught bandmates, and their new album Forever Howlong (due April 4) promises a heady palette that blends everything from folk, to prog, to baroque pop, to points beyond. It’s also their first release to feature lead vocals by Georgia Ellery.