5 Songs to Hear This Week: Ladytron, Yaeji, Ty Segall

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You wanted it darker with Yaeji, The C.I.A. and, Ladytron. Photos by Dasom Han, Joshua Erkman, and Wendy Redfer

Hey! Did you know that there’s an entire aspect of KCRW music discovery that you might be missing out on? Fear not, because our 5 Songs to Hear This Week newsletter is now a weekly feature on our website. Watch this space for rundowns of the five songs that you need in your life immediately, curated by KCRW Music staff. Don’t want to wait for your latest taste of fresh tunes? Sign up for the Friday newsletter here, and always be the first to know.

Follow us on Spotify to keep up with our current obsessions, including 5 Songs to Hear This Week, Bent By Nature: Deirdre O'Donoghue and The Lost SNAP Archives (The Music), and our weekly sampler of KCRW’s Top 30 most played records


Ladytron – “Faces”

Ladytron singles are likely littered across every mix CD you made since the advent of Napster and Winamp. The longstanding electro-disco-pop group hailing from Liverpool are back with new music after celebrating the 20-year anniversary of their 2002 hit, Light & Magic, an ubiquitous and moment-defining album. This latest offering, inspired by the John Cassavetes film of the same name, is both nostalgic and brand-new: It’s the third single off their latest album, Time’s Arrow, out today. That means there’s plenty more dance-beat driven, melodic thumping, room-filling synthscapes where this came from, so dive in.


Yaeji – “For Granted” 

Your girl Yaeji brings self-examination to the club with this narrative driven builder-bop. The NYC-native DJ and producer delivers her signature high-gear beatscape alternating with thoughtful, vocally-driven interludes, all of it coming together as a cathartic diary-entry-cum-rage-room session in the video’s inner-life bedroom scene. Inventive and playful, cool and quirky, Yaeji continues to stand out among her peers — so don’t take her for granted; hit play and find out.


Yazmin Lacey – “Late Night People”

Get nocturnal with this fun n’ flirtatious new groove from singer-songwriter and self-identified deep-dweller and storyteller, Yazmin Lacey. Featuring both the finger-snapping rhythm you need to stay alert in the wee hours and the cozy-cool vibes of the people who do it on the reg, this track celebrates the liberation offered by the less populated hours, when streets are sparsely tread and all the spaces are safe — as long as you’re on the list. It may be late, but the photo booth’s still open, so hop on in and let’s snap a few.


The C.I.A.  – “Bubble”

Hungry? Snack on this. Gritty, provocative, and more than a little bit menacing, this track from The C.I.A. — project of prodigal-son rocker Ty Segall, along with his wife Denée Segall and the Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly — is the perfect soundtrack for your weekend in the dungeon. A foundation of unwavering guitar and bass strewn with spooky synths underlie Denée’s eyebrow-raising lyrics, which tell the story of a girl hungry for more than just lunch. Click if you dare for a clinical-sensual arthouse music video that’ll have you reconsidering the contents of your fridge. But save room for more: Their album Surgery Channel is out today.


Mandy, Indiana – “Injury Detail”

Enter the uncanny valley with this futuristic dance track from rising Manchester-bred electronic outfit Many, Indiana. Chaotic and aggressive while scarily precise, this bumper of a track utilizes static samples and noise elements along with unrelenting bass-beats and P.A.-style vocals to keep you guessing around every corner. And the corners are many: The music video is a freaky exploration of liminal spaces, an online aesthetic phenomenon that your kid is probably up Googling when they’re supposed to be asleep.