Kevin Bronson on February 14th, 2025

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Mighty fine mix we bring you in this non-heart-shaped box: Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 325) boasts goodies from just-released albums by Jess Kallen, Cryogeyser, Saint Motel, MILCK, The Altons and Marinero, along with new sounds from Sean Solomon, Nightjacket, Ali Mills, L.A. Witch, Shane Alexander, Cuco, Aloe Blacc, Emotional Oranges, Trousdale, Cash & Skye, Roe Kapara and more.

For more of our playlists by check in here every week.

Note: Anita Wills contributed to today’s roundup.

■ Cryogeyser, “Mountain” (feat. Wednesday) — Friendly reminder that Cryogeyser’s new, self-titled album is out today, and deserving of the loud/proud treatment wherever you play it. Karly Hartzman of Wednesday joins in for the release-week single “Mountain,” another the LP’s standouts that include “Sorry,” “Fortress” and “Stargirl.” Live March 27 at the Constellation Room and March 28 at the Lodge Room.

■ Nightjacket, “My Only Heart” — L.A. quintet Nightjacket soars into 2025 with “My Only Heart,” just the third single they’ve released in the past three years but one you can slide into your cool ’90s playlist with the likes of the Innocence Mission, the Sundays and 10,000 Maniacs.

■ Sean Solomon, “Car Crash” — The L.A. indie scene has watched Sean Solomon grow up, first as a teenager as part of Moses Campbell and then in the trio Moaning. “Car Crash,” produced by Woods’ Jarvis Taveniere (Whitney, Waxahatchee), features harmonies from Shannon Lay and the video is animated by Solomon himself. “I wrote this song after my first car accident,” Solomon says. “I grew up in Los Angeles but I never learned how to drive. It was a part of my shtick. I liked being able to look out the window and daydream. When I finally did get a car, I almost immediately got into a wreck and totaled it. The song is about that and I guess whatever else was happening in my life at the time. I write in a pretty stream-of-consciousness way so I’m not totally sure what it means either.” Live April 2 at the Roxy, opening for Hey, Nothing.

■ Jess Kallen, “WTDTD” — Fans of brainy, poignant indie-rock, Jess Kallen’s sophomore album “Don’t Blink!” is manna from heaven. The album is out today via New Professor. Kallen prefaced the full-length with singles such as “Ginkgo!” and “Jessy.” The artist is playing a release show Saturday night.

■ Shane Alexander, “Whole Lotta Stars” — Erstwhile singer-songwriter Shane Alexander’s new single “Whole Lotta Stars,” co-written with Oregon artist Clayton Joseph Scott, is a feel-good, stop-and-smell-the-roses anthem “about just slowing down for a second,” he says. “As touring artists, we can get caught up in just racing from stop to stop without taking in everything round us. I’m really doing my utmost to savor all the beauty that I see — particularly when I’m traveling alone in the middle of nowhere. I love to just quietly observe. [Jamie Drake’s] harmony in the chorus helps things to feel so upbeat and infectious.” Alexander’s new album “Forever Songs” arrives April 4.

■ Ali Mills, “Canyon” — After performing with several bands over the years, starting a family and turning to songwriting during the pandemic, Ali Mills has released her first solo single. She calls the bright and beautiful “Canyon” her “musical daydream about California;” it was produced by Steve McCormick and will appear on an LP that features contributions from the likes of Jimmy Paxson (Stevie Nicks, Keith Urban), Joe Karnes (Fitz and the Tantrums) and her brother, Blake.

■ Saint Motel, “Get It at Home” — Indie song-and-dance dudes Saint Motel today released their new album, “Symphony in the Sky,” and with it the new single “Get It at Home,” a buoyant club song for those whose dance moves might be confined to the living room. Live March 14 at the Wiltern.

■ L.A. Witch, “777″— SoCal’s beloved goth-psych-punk trio L.A. Witch (Sade Sanchez, Irita Pai and Ellie English) is back after a four-year hiatus, and it’s kind of a big deal. “777” is the lead single off their new LP “DOGGOD,” out April 4 via Suicide Squeeze Records, “It’s a song about the willingness to die for love in the process of serving it or suffering for it.”  Sanchez’s vocals float weightlessly above a propulsive drumbeat, as the guitar and bass deliver a sense of urgency. L.A. Witch plays the Lodge Room on May 23. 

■ Cash & Skye, “Pasadena Girls” — Have a chuckle, and maybe a little dance, with “Pasadena Girls,” the follow-up to “Stranger” as the latest single Henri Cash and Sophia Skye. Cash & Skye’s debut album “Just a Stranger” is out Feb. 21.

■ Velvet Empress, “Necromancer” — Singer-songwriter-harpist Heather Freed is Velvet Empress, a fitting name for the refined, atmospheric dreamy-pop she adorns with stringed magic. She collaborated with downtempo electronic artist Tristan de Liège on the album “Fields,” released in November. “Necromancer” is her first solo single.

■ Windser, “Abandon” — Windser (aka Jordan Topf) dives into his childhood trauma on the new single “Abandon,” which introduces his self-titled debut album, coming out May 16. “‘Abandon’ is a diary entry of a song about when I was 7 years old and I was left alone in a hotel room for 24 hours in Costa Rica by my father as he rode off on a vintage motorcycle with a woman who was serving as a captain in the Navy,” Topf explains. It’s Windser’s first major release since 2022’s EP “Where the Redwoods Meet the Sea.”

■ Trousdale, “Want Me Back” — Last month, L.A. trio revealed the title track of their sophomore album, “Growing Pains.” This week brings the lush, “Want Me Back,” the second single. The album, co-produced with John Mark Nelson, is out April 11.

■ Aloe Blacc, “Breakthrough” — Produced by DJ Khalil and Joel Van Dijk, “Breakthrough” is the latest single from Aloe Blacc’s new album, “Stand Together,” out Feb. 28. Each song on the album is paired with a philanthropic effort — in this case, Breakthrough is a nonprofit supplying in-prison education and reentry support for incarcerated individuals.

■ MILCK, “Power of the Heart” — Friendly reminder that singer-songwriter Connie Lim, dba MILCK, released her new album, “Mother Tongue,” today. Live March 6 at the Hotel Café.

■ The Altons, “Where Did She Go?” — Brace your aching heart for the Altons’ new album,  “Heartache in Room 14,” produced by Bosco Mann for Daptone Records. As a follow-up to “Your Light,” “Where Did She Go?,” is a bittersweet ballad with emotionally charged lyrics. Catch The Altons live at Amoeba Records on Feb. 18.

■ Marinero, “Dream Suite” — Friendly reminder that Marinero’s new album “La La La” drops today. Backed by a lucious harp and a soulful Wurlitzer,  frontman Jess Sylvester sweetly serenades his listeners in “Dream Suite,” a groovy love song perfect for all the hopeless romantic in you. The album release show is set for March 8 at Permanent Records Roadhouse.

■ Emotional Oranges, “Candy Gum” — Pop/R&B duo Emotional Oranges (you remember “West Coast Love” from five years ago, right?) have teamed up with Jessie Reyes and Becky G on the thoroughly chewable “Candy Gum.” It’s the second single since the duo of Azad Naficy and Valentina Porter released their “Still Emo” EP in 2023. It’s a taste of Emotional Oranges’ debut album, release date TBA.

■ Clipping, “Welcome Home Warrior” (feat. Aesop Rock) — Experimental hip-hop standouts Clipping are joined by Aesop Rock on the new single “Welcome Home Warrior,” from their album “Dead Channel Sky” (out March 14). Live March 14 at the Echoplex. 

■ Steel Wool, “Fading” — Make room on the increasingly crowded shoegaze bus for Steel Wool, the new quartet of Sean Lissner, Jaden Amjadi, Evan Landi and Sam Schlesinger. Dense and beautiful and with a little screamo behind its wall of sound, “Fading” is just their second original, and it will appear on the self-titled EP, out April 10.

■ Roe Kapara, “Feel Sexy”— Roe Kapara enters 2025 by continuing his introspective songwriting style with “Feel Sexy,” an alt-rock stand-alone single intentionally written to sound like an early 2000s indie-rock song. “It’s about seeking love in a world obsessed with sex and desire while navigating the insecurities I have with my body,” Kapara says. Float on.

■ Shunkan, “Hellbound” — “Hellbound” is a new single from alt-rock artist Shunkan (Marina Sakimoto) and the first taste of her first studio album in six years, “Kamikaze Girl,” produced by Alex Newport and due May 6 via Rite Field Records. “Hellbound” is a quality shoegaze song about how life’s cynicism can sometimes be alluring. She says: “There’s that space in your life where you start sensing something (or someone) may not be the best for you, but the allure of it keeps you around because … What else do you have to lose? Nihilism — mixed with a lost sense of identity — is one hell of a drug.”

■ Linying, “Dial Tone” — The follow-up to “Blondie,” “Dial Tone” is the latest single from Linying’s album “Swim, Swim,” out April 4. Check out the video.

■ Cuco, “ICNBYH”— Singer-songwriter Cuco, aka Omar Banos, returns to his Chicano Soul roots with his new single “ICNBYH” (I Can Never Break Your Heart). Produced by Tom Brenneck, who has worked with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and the late Amy Winehouse, the track also features Sal Samano of Thee Sacred Souls.

■ See Night, “Just Another Life” — “Just Another Life” is the title track of the EP arriving Feb. 28 from See Night, the dream-pop project of Linda Sao. (See also: “Gravity” and “LA Traffic.”)

■ Paul Givant, “Cloud Avenue” — The follow-up to “21 Seconds,” “Cloud Avenue” is the latest single from “Marigold,” the forthcoming solo album from Rose’s Pawn Shop frontman Paul Givant. This one even has baseball references.

■ Junaco, “Serene” — The aptly titled “Serene” is the latest song from Junaco, last spotted releasing their full-length debut, “Where Does It Go?” in late 2023. The trio (Shahana Jaffer, Joey LaRosa and Tejas Leier Heyden) is planning to release a second full-length, “Motion,” this summer.