News
Plus Sweeping Promises, Just Mustard, Aeon Station, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Nov 19, 2021
By Mark Redfern (with Joey Arnone)
Welcome to the 44th Songs of the Week of 2021. It was a fairly slow week for new songs, perhaps with Thanksgiving impending next week, but we found 10 we liked. More
Nov 17, 2021
By Joey Arnone
Oakland-based singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney has shared a new song, “I’ll Get Over It.” More
Issue 68 Out Now and Also Includes Julien Baker, Wolf Alice, Tegan and Sara, Arlo Parks, Fleet Foxes, Jessie Ware, Shamir, Lucy Dacus, Valerie June, David Byrne, Julian Casablancas, and Much More
Apr 21, 2021
By Mark Redfern
Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our new print issue, which is out now nationwide (on newsstands, in such stores as Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, and elsewhere) and available to buy directly from us here. The issue features Japanese Breakfast and HAIM on the two covers and is another edition of The Protest Issue, which examines the intersection of music and politics and features musicians photographed with protest signs of their own making. More
Plus Madeline Kenney, Ohtis, Tune-Yards, Arlo Parks, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Jan 29, 2021
By Mark Redfern (with Joey Arnone and Caleb Campbell)
Welcome to the third Songs of the Week of 2021. We didn’t do a Songs of the Week last week. Due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the inauguration, it was a week light on compelling new tracks. So this week we chronicle the best songs of the last two weeks, so it’s a Top 12 (and our Top 2 are both super long songs). More
Summer Quarter EP Out Today via Carpark
Jan 22, 2021
By Joey Arnone
Oakland-based singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney has released a new self-produced EP titled Summer Quarter via Carpark. Kenney has also shared a self-directed video for the EP’s “Wasted Time,” which was shot at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. More
Plus Wye Oak, Ela Minus, Glass Animals, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Jul 31, 2020
By Christopher Roberts (with Samantha Small and Jennifer Irving)
Welcome to the 30th Songs of the Week of 2020. This week President Trump suggested that November’s election be pushed back, something he thankfully has no authority to do. Meanwhile on the same day three other living presidents were honoring the late Congressman John Lewis, with President Barack Obama’s moving eulogy offering a stark contrast to the current commander in chief. More
Sucker’s Lunch Out Now via Carpark
Jul 31, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Oakland, CA-based singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney has released a new album, Sucker’s Lunch, today via Carpark. Now that it’s out you can stream the whole thing below. Today we posted our review of the album and you can read that here. More
Sucker’s Lunch Due Out This Friday via Carpark
Jul 28, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Oakland, CA-based singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney is releasing a new album, Sucker’s Lunch, this Friday via Carpark. Now she has shared one last pre-release single from it, “White Window Light.” She has also shared a new live video for the song. More
Plus Wye Oak, Hoops, Death Valley Girls, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Jul 24, 2020
By Christopher Roberts (with Samantha Small and Julian Roberts-Grmela)
Welcome to the 29th Songs of the Week of 2020, the most exhausting year in recent memory. President Trump finally wore a mask and kind of admitted that things weren’t going so great in the fight against COVID-19 here in America. It seems inevitable that they are going to need to shut the economy down again if we are to get this thing under control—close the bars, restaurants, and beaches again for starters. Will it happen? More
Sucker’s Lunch Due Out July 31 via Carpark
Jul 21, 2020
By Samantha Small
Pictures tend to bring back memories. But if you’re looking at a picture of your lover, they often just lead you to wonder: who were you? And how did you end up this way? In “Picture of You,” Oakland, CA-based singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney asks these questions on the track off her forthcoming album Sucker’s Lunch, out July 31 via Carpark. More
Plus Ganser, Glass Animals, NZCA LINES, Fear of Men, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Jul 03, 2020
By Christopher Roberts (with Stephen Axeman)
Welcome to the 26th Songs of the Week of 2020. Tomorrow is Independence Day here in America, but it’s hard to feel overly patriotic this year with the Trump administration continuing to botch the response to the pandemic and with so much to fix in this country—including systemic racism, police brutality, gun reform, climate change, and wealth inequality, to name just a handful of challenges. More
Sucker’s Lunch Due Out July 31 via Carpark; Album Produced by Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack of Wye Oak
Jun 30, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Oakland, CA-based singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney is releasing a new album, Sucker’s Lunch, on July 31 via Carpark. Now she has shared another song from it, “Double Hearted,” via a lyric video for the track that features a fruity dessert being made. More
“The government’s quick and militant response to Black Lives Matter protests versus the slow and ineffective response to COVID-19 really has shown where their priorities lie.”
Jun 12, 2020
By Mark Redfern
We are checking in with musicians during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic to see how they are dealing with everything. What has their home quarantine experience been like so far and how is the crisis impacting both their career and art? Here we check in with Oakland, CA-based singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney. More
Plus Khruangbin, Sad13, Sondre Lerche, Owen Pallett, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
May 22, 2020
By Christopher Roberts (with Samantha Small)
Welcome to the nineteenth Songs of the Week of 2020. It’s another week under quarantine, the same as the last week. This week we were quite indecisive about our favorite songs and even polled our readers on Facebook and Twitter, which helped a little. More
Sucker’s Lunch Due Out July 31 via Carpark; Album Produced by Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack of Wye Oak
May 19, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Oakland, CA-based singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney has announced a new album, Sucker’s Lunch, and shared its first single, “Sucker,” via a self-directed video for the track. “Sucker” features guest vocals from Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner and the album was produced by Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack of Wye Oak. More
Plus Jessie Ware, Drugdealer, Jenny Lewis, SASAMI, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks
Feb 15, 2019
By Mark Redfern
It was pretty rough week to be a Ryan Adams fan. We won’t regurgitate the details, but if you haven’t already done so then you should read The New York Times article detailing the sexual misconduct allegations made against him by Mandy Moore, Phoebe Bridgers, and several other women. More
Split 7-Inch Out Now via Carpark; Listen to “The Sisters” and “Helpless”
Feb 11, 2019
By Christopher Roberts
Madeline Kenney released her sophomore album, Perfect Shapes, last October via Carpark. Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak and Flock of Dimes produced the album and now the two have teamed up again for a split 7-inch and a joint tour. Wasner contributes “The Sisters” under her Flock of Dimes alias, whereas Kenney’s song is entitled “Helpless.” More
"I'm hesitant to use regular music verbiage to describe it... so I made a pie chart instead."
Nov 16, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
For My Favorite New Band we ask an established artist to tell us about their favorite new artist. This installment is by Madeline Kenney, who writes about Dante High. More
Plus Moonface, Thom Yorke, Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks
Oct 05, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
This week Sharon Van Etten and Moonface announced new albums and their lead singles both made this week’s Songs of the Week list. Joining them are new standalone singles from Julia Jacklin, Jessie Ware, and SOAK, as well as some singles from upcoming albums, and an eight-minute album track. But our #1 this week is a bonus track that probably shouldn’t have been cut from an album released earlier this year. More
Underrated Album, Madeline Kenney, Paul Simon, One-Trick Pony
Oct 05, 2018
By Madeline Kenney
Madeline Kenney released her sophomore album, Perfect Shapes, today via Carpark. In this guest post for us, she writes about one of her personal favorite albums, an album she considers underrated, Paul Simon’s 1980 album One-Trick Pony. More
Perfect Shapes Out Now via Carpark
Oct 05, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
Madeline Kenney released her sophomore album, Perfect Shapes, today via Carpark. Now that the album is out, you can stream the whole thing here. More
Perfect Shapes Due Out This Friday via Carpark
Oct 01, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
Madeline Kenney is releasing her sophomore album, Perfect Shapes, this Friday (October 5) via Carpark. Now she has shared another new song from the album, the slow burning title track “Perfect Shapes.” More
Plus Danielson, Jungle, Django Django, Farao, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks
Sep 14, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
We spent the week wondering if Hurricane Florence was going to hit us here at our headquarters in Southwest Virginia. Lucky for us, it seems to have angled further south, and while we may still get some heavy rains and winds in the coming days and week, it likely won’t be as devastating to Virginia as feared. More
Perfect Shapes Due Out October 5 via Carpark
Sep 12, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
Madeline Kenney is releasing her sophomore album, Perfect Shapes, on October 5 via Carpark. Now she has shared another new song from the album, “Bad Idea,” via a lyric video. Listen and watch below, followed by her upcoming tour dates. More
Plus Cat Power, Wild Nothing, Still Corners, Mitski, Madeline Kenney, and a Wrap-up of the Last Two Weeks' Other Notable New Tracks
Aug 17, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
We took a break from Songs of the Week last week due to a little vacation by our publishers. So this week we are compiling the best songs of the last two weeks. Hence we couldn’t contain the list to our usual Top 10, although we didn’t do too badly, only expanding to a Top 11 and a few more honorable mentions than usual. More
Plus The Lemon Twigs, Christine and the Queens, Phantastic Ferniture, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks
Jul 13, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
Hello again. We haven’t done a Songs of the Week for almost five weeks, since June 9. We were on vacation from mid to late June and then when we returned there really weren’t enough compelling songs last week to justify doing Songs of the Week lists, mainly because of the July 4th holiday being smack dab in the middle of the week and so labels mainly avoided sharing new songs. More
Perfect Shapes Due Out October 5 via Carpark
Jul 11, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
Madeline Kenney has announced her sophomore album, Perfect Shapes, and shared a video for its first single, “Cut Me Off.” Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak and Flock of Dimes produced the album, which is due out October 5 via Carpark. More
Issue 63 Also Includes Interviews with MGMT, The Decemberists, Belle & Sebastian, The National, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Fleet Foxes, Parquet Courts, Noel Gallagher, Spoon, and More
Mar 28, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our Spring 2018 Issue, which is out now digitally via Under the Radar’s app and the magazine apps Readly and Zinio. The print version has shipped out to subscribers and stores and will be on all newsstands soon. The issue features Courtney Barnett on the cover. More
Plus Lord Huron, Kevin Morby and Waxahatchee, Franz Ferdinand, Loma, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Jan 26, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
After two weeks of a plethora of tracks vying to be one of our Songs of the Week, this week the pickings were slimmer. Thus this week we have only nine best songs, instead of 10. There were also a lot of covers this week. More
Our Favorite First Full-Lengths From the Last Year
Dec 31, 2017
By Mark Redfern
The majority of 2017’s best debut albums came from female artists or bands fronted by women, from London-based all-female indie-pop teenaged trio Girl Ray and Syria-born singer/songwriter Bedouine (aka Azniv Korkejian) to Australian indie rocker Alex Lahey and New Zealand bedroom pop artist Fazerdaze (aka Amelia Murray). Midnight Sister, Priests, and Charly Bliss are all female-fronted bands as well, on top of other women solo artists on our Top 15 Debut Albums of 2017 list. More
Night Night at the First Landing Out Now via Company
Dec 13, 2017
By Christopher Roberts
Madeline Kenney released her debut album, Night Night at the First Landing, back in September via Company. Now she has shared a video for “Witching Hour.” Kenney self-directed the video, which is a split-screen affair showing Kenney sing the song on one side of the screen, while shots of friends, skateboarding, and a city appear on the other side of the screen. More
Boo Boo Out Now via Carpark
Nov 16, 2017
By Christopher Roberts
Toro Y Moi released a new album, Boo Boo, way back in July via Carpark. Previously he shared a retro ‘80s-esque video for its first single, “Girl Like You,” as well as a video for “You and I.” Now many months later he has shared a video for the album’s “No Show.” More
Plus Alvvays, Ariel Pink, Yumi Zouma, Madeline Kenney, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks
Aug 18, 2017
By Christopher Roberts
Charlottesville, Virginia is only just over an hour a way from Under the Radar‘s headquarters. It’s the best local city to see shows in and it’s a great little progressive college town that we visit often. So we watched in horror, disbelief, and disgust last weekend as the violent and tragic events in Charlottesville surrounding the white supremacist rally dominated the news. More
Plus UNKLE, Madeline Kenney, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks
Jun 23, 2017
By Christopher Roberts
To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last seven days, we have picked the seven best this week had to offer, along with highlighting other notable new tracks shared this week. More
Interviews
Finally Writing That Love Song
Jan 21, 2021
By Matt Conner
Madeline Kenney didn’t recognize herself—or at least her work. More
“The government’s quick and militant response to Black Lives Matter protests versus the slow and ineffective response to COVID-19 really has shown where their priorities lie.”
Jun 12, 2020
By Mark Redfern
We are checking in with musicians during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic to see how they are dealing with everything. What has their home quarantine experience been like so far and how is the crisis impacting both their career and art? Here we check in with Oakland, CA-based singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney. More
Kenney on Trump's First Year in Office, Her Best and Worst Dates, the Fyre Fest, and Weird British TV
Jan 11, 2018
By Mark Redfern
For Under the Radar‘s 15th annual Artist Survey we emailed some of our favorite artists a few questions relating to the last year. We asked them about their favorite albums of the year and their thoughts on various notable 2017 news stories involving either the music industry or world events, as well as some quirkier personal questions. More
Nov 15, 2017
By Ellen Peirson-Hagger
“We’re all just an amalgamation of salt ions and that’s pretty cool,” Madeline Kenney says over the phone from her Oakland, California home. It’s not a line you’d necessarily expect to hear from a musician, but Kenney is hardly your average singer/songwriter. More
Reviews
Oct 11, 2018
By Matt the Raven
Hot on the heels of last year’s Night Night at the First Landing, Oakland, CA native Madeline Kenney returns with a kinder, gentler, and more eclectic collection of songs she calls Perfect Shapes. More