Five Songs to Hear This Week: Warm up long winter nights with Spiritualized, La Luz, Yard Act, and more

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.

The days are shorter, the air is colder, but we’ve got the tunes to keep you warm. That includes a new dispatch from England’s finest space traveler, L.A. noir-rock, and some emotionally charged electropop — all perfect fodder for your winter walks.

Follow us on Spotify to keep up with all of our current obsessions, including 5 Songs to Hear This Week, “Bent By Nature, and our weekly sampler of KCRW’s Top 30 most played records.

Spiritualized - “Always Together With You”

Here’s one for the romantics and the realists. This abundant track, the first single from U.K. space rock luminary Spiritualized’s forthcoming album “Everything Was Beautiful,” puts new meaning behind the idea that love knows no bounds. Click play for mounting instrumentation and a kaleidoscopic visual journey through human achievement and destruction. We’re dreaming of being better.

La Luz - “I Won’t Hesitate”

No need for hesitation when it comes to this track from LA’s own La Luz. Crafted in their signature surf-noir style and featuring layered harmonies infused with cool girl mystery, this track’s easy listening with an edge. Don’t miss the vid for a fun and funky spy game story. And there’s still time to grab your passes to catch La Luz live at the rapidly approaching Desert Daze festival, which KCRW is thrilled to co-present.

Hana Vu - “Keeper”

If you’re feeling in need of a release, your guru has arrived. Hana Vu lets it all out in this emotionally driven, reverb-friendly single. Click this one for the big sound that’ll help you gain the guts to unveil your true self to the ones you love most… but who may not know you at all. And there’s more where that came from — the new album “Public Storage” is out now.

Yard Act - “Land Of The Blind”

Right this way folks, for the big show: It’s an absolutely irresistible track from the lads from Leeds, Yard Act. Calling to mind the sharp vocals and steady beats of mid-‘00s indie hitmakers Franz Ferdinand, this cheeky and suggestive single is well matched by a truly hypnotic concept video. You’ll get stuck on repeat with this one… just try not to speak-sing along.

Cassandra Jenkins - “American Spirits”

Consider your wanderlust playlist programmed courtesy of this dreamy track from Cassandra Jenkins, part of a follow-up to her excellent full-length “An Overview on Phenomenal Nature.” Part poetry, part sound bath, and featuring a voicemail from an old friend who’d just spent the night in jail, this track defies categorization but will find its place in your heart.