First In Music: A North Carolina music blog from WUNC
Welcome to First In Music, your source for the best new music coming out of North Carolina.
- Our running blog will highlight the new songs you need to hear by the state’s most exciting artists, from the up-and-comers you should keep an eye on, to the legends you already love.
- WUNC's Brian Burns will update this blog weekly with music recommendations and interviews with local artists.
- You can also follow along with the First In Music playlist on Spotify, as we build a curated soundtrack over time that distinctly sounds like North Carolina.
Brian Burns has been with WUNC since 2016, when he was brought on to help launch WUNC Music. He has lived in the Triangle for more than 20 years and has been involved with the local music scene since then, working at local record stores and for local record labels. On the weekends you might catch him DJing around the Triangle or out at a show. He's interviewed artists ranging from Kamasi Washington to Allison Russell, and is a contributor to NPR Music. He graduated from UNC’s School of Information and Library Science with an MSLS in 2015.
BeMyFiasco: 'Might Be Ready'
“Might Be Ready” finds the Dallas-raised and Durham-based artist BeMyFiasco in a nostalgic state of mind.
The track, produced by Sheldon Williams, brings to mind classic ‘90’s R&B. It’s a super smooth love song made even smoother with an assist from singer-songwriter JAWAN.mp3 whose vocals pair up really nicely with Fiasco’s. It’s a perfect song to put on while you’re staying in on a cold night with your significant other.
The track comes from BeMyFiasco’s latest EP Pretty Little Love. This year, she also contributed to Lalah Hathaway’s now GRAMMY-nominated album Vantablack.
Faun Tempol: 'Acting Like A Child'
“Acting Like A Child” kicks off Faun Tempol’s debut album in a truly epic way. It’s an 11-and-a-half-minute psychedelic ripper that’s heavy on the synths and drums, taking the listener on a journey and letting them know what the band is about.
The Raleigh-based duo of multi-instrumentalists Thomas Simpson and Carter Gaj spent the last year jamming together in the studio and the result of it all is their debut record “La Oprika.” Fans of ‘70s psych bands like Pretty Things and Amon Duul II should take note of this one.
Rachel Kiel: 'Good Scare'
Just in time for spooky season, Carrboro’s Rachel Kiel has released her first new song in four years called “Good Scare.” The track was produced by Alex Bingham (Magic Al, Hiss Golden Messenger) and features backing vocals from Chessa Rich.
Kiel says “Good Scare” is a song about the emotions that come about when someone important who is gone from your life shows up in a dream.
In typical fashion, it’s a really catchy song that’s also dance floor friendly.
“One of my favorite things about dance music is the way it can take something painful, like grief, and transform it into joy and transcendence” she says.
Kiel adds that she hopes “Good Scare” is one you’ll dance to at a Halloween party this year.
Daughter of Swords: 'Alone Together'
"Alone Together" is the first track that marks a new chapter in the life of North Carolina's Alex Sauser-Monning, also known as Daughter of Swords, who you might also know from Mountain Man and The A's.
It's a song about establishing identity and being true to yourself, told from the perspective of someone who is on the other side of a breakup. "'Alone Together' is a song about reckoning with the need to connect when the rest of your life is locked in and satisfying," they explained in a press release.
It's a really fun and fuzzy song that Sauser-Monning made with a group of friends and North Carolina based all-stars that includes the members of Sylvan Esso and Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak and Flock of Dimes.
"Alone Together" is the first new Daughter of Swords track released since the 2020 Jeff Tweedy produced "Prairie Winter Wasteland." Be on the lookout for more new music from the artist in 2025.
Indigo De Souza: 'Wholesome'
Last week, Asheville-based singer and songwriter Indigo De Souza surprise released Wholesome Evil Fantasy, a brand-new EP and their debut release for Loma Vista Recordings.
Describing the songs, De Souza says they come from “the spiciest, most goofy, glitter gloss place in my psyche” and the first track "Wholesome" does a great job of explaining what that means. It’s a hyper-catchy pop song that makes great use of auto-tune and clocks in at under three minutes.
De Souza will be celebrating the new EP with two dance parties. One takes place in Los Angeles on Oct. 3, while the other will be at The Grey Eagle in Asheville on Oct. 8 with DJs wifi mommy, boys_camp, and oragami.
XOXOK: 'Come Around'
Durham-based XOXOK (Keenan Jenkins) released "Come Around," on Friday, the first single from the new album Jesus Piece which arrives on Nov. 1.
Jenkins says "Come Around" is a song about asking forgiveness. It was inspired by reflections of letting people down in the past and wondering how those interactions affected the other party moving forward. The song features a special appearance by New Orleans-based harpist Cassie Watson Francillion.
Speaking about the forthcoming Jesus Piece, Jenkins describes it as a concept album about reckoning “with the toll of internalized racism and misogynoir in brilliant, sonorous color.”
Verity Den: 'Household Changes'
"Household Changes" is the latest track from Carrboro based indie band Verity Den. It’s a reverb-drenched earworm that was released as a complimentary follow up to their self-titled album from March of this year.
Verity Den consists of Triangle musicians Casey Proctor, Trevor Reece and Mike Wallace, who formed the band in 2023. Reece and Wallace played together for years in the band Drag Sounds and started Verity Den with Proctor after a collaboration at Chapel Hill’s Attic 506 art space. Since then they’ve released their self-titled debut on Amish Records and have been building quite the buzz around the Triangle.
The band will be performing at this year’s Hopscotch Music Festival and also have a show coming up on Sept. 25 at Rubies on Five Points in Durham.
MAVI: 'the giver'
One of the many highlights of Charlotte-based rapper MAVI’s new record shadowbox is "the giver," an emotional track about making sense of a breakup.
MAVI approaches the topic with a sense of real maturity and uses his incredible skills as a rapper to tell his side of the story and to bring the listener right in line with his emotions. The track was produced by the trio known as Beach Noise who have also worked with Kendrick Lamar, Baby Keem and Bakar.
MAVI is one of the most exciting rappers to come out of North Carolina lately. His 2022 album Laughing So Hard, It Hurts received critical praise from places like Pitchfork, which called it an “unnerving evolution of his singular style.” This month he released shadowbox, which is getting even more attention inside and outside of the state. Before all of that, he was studying neuroscience at Howard University.
You can catch MAVI in the Triangle on Sept. 5 as part of the Hopscotch Music Festival.
Dante High: 'Small Town Midnights'
We’re a little over halfway through the summer here in North Carolina, and the Pittsboro-based band Dante High has just released a perfect song to get us through the final stretch and into the fall.
The band describes "Small Town Midnights" as “a summer jam about being a goth wannabe back in high school, falling in love, crashing a car, and getting beat up at a bonfire party.” That’s quite a story, and as usual, the band delivers it in the form of a tune that will be hard to get out of your head once you hear it.
Dante High is the latest project from singer/songwriter Ari Picker, formerly of the band Lost In The Trees, which he formed in the early 2000s after studying at Berklee College of Music. His latest project is just as cinematic as Lost In The Trees was, but it rocks a bit harder. Picker also owns and operates a recording studio in Pittsboro called "Goth Construction," where he’s worked with other North Carolina-based artists like Skylar Gudasz and Wye Oak.
You can catch Dante High live at this year’s Hopscotch Music Festival, happening in downtown Raleigh from Sept. 5-7.
Nathan Bowles Trio: 'The Ternions'
Durham based multi-instrumentalist and folk musician Nathan Bowles has been playing with bassist Casey Toll and drummer Rex McMurry for quite some time now, and they’ve just released their first official record as a trio titled Are Possible.
It’s described as a “spark-throwing, undulating fusion of styles” and lead single "The Ternions" is a great example of that. The song kicks off with some light strums from Bowles’ banjo, and then the drum and bass kick-in with a groove that glides us through the next eight plus minutes. It’s the kind of music that’s easy to get lost in. It builds slowly, but it goes to a lot of places.
Bowles has released music on the North Carolina label Paradise of Bachelors in the past. This new record is his first for Drag City, one of the country’s most beloved indie labels.
The band just wrapped up a tour celebrating the new album which kicked off at Local 506 in Chapel Hill.
Check out the full album on Bandcamp here.
Moses Sumney: 'Gold Coast'
Last week, the multitalented Moses Sumney announced that his first new record in six years will be out Aug. 2 on his own Tantum label.
The Sophcore EP will feature six songs, including new single "Gold Coast," an atmospheric and seductive R&B track that recalls a night out dancing in Ghana. "Gold Coast’ was produced by a Portland-based electronic artist — quickly, quickly — who also produced Sumney’s last single "Vintage."
Sumney moved to Asheville from Los Angeles in 2018, drawn to the mountain town because of its quietness and vicinity to nature. He’s now one of the most productive
creatives who calls Asheville home. Outside of his music career, he stays busy acting. You can catch Sumney in theatres this summer in Ti West’s horror-thriller MaXXXine.
Folks in the Triangle can see Sumney at Red Hat Ampitheater on Sept. 14. as part of the Carolinadaze Music Festival.
MJ Lenderman: 'She's Leaving You'
MJ Lenderman is one of the brightest stars of the Asheville indie scene, which is currently one of the most exciting scenes to watch in the country.
It was recently announced that his debut album for Anti-Records, Manning Fireworks, will be released on Sept. 6, the same night he'll be performing as part of this year's Hopscotch Music Festival in downtown Raleigh.
The lead single is a great introduction to the artist, who also performs in the buzzworthy Asheville-based band Wednesday. Lenderman is a talented storyteller, and in "She's Leaving You" we follow along with a person's mid-life crisis trip to Las Vegas. He's also great at writing a hook, and this one has one that will have you signing along by the end of the song.
The Foreign Exchange: 'The Grey' (featuring BeMyFiasco)
To celebrate their 20th anniversary, The Foreign Exchange has just released "The Grey," their first single since 2018.
The duo consists of Phonte — one half of Durham's legendary and influential hip hop group Little Brother — and Dutch producer Nicolay.
In the time since their last release, Phonte and Little Brother released the critically acclaimed album May The Lord Watch, which was followed by a documentary on the group of the same name. They also celebrated 20 years of Little Brother in October with a block party in downtown Durham.
"The Grey" is a welcome return, with both artists doing what they do best — Phonte's playful lyrics and delivery are as sharp as ever and Nicolay's production draws you in and hooks you immediately. The track also features vocals from BeMyFiasco, an artist whose debut album was released on The Foreign Exchange Music label in 2023.
The track also serves as the theme song to ESPN’s latest 30 for 30 film "False Positive," which profiles track athlete Harry "Butch" Reynolds who was accused of taking steroids in the summer of 1990.
Skylar Gudasz: 'Truck'
"Truck" is the latest single from Skylar Gudasz, one of North Carolina's most beloved singer-songwriters.
Born in Virginia and based in North Carolina since her time at UNC-Chapel Hill, Gudasz — who has collaborated with other North Carolina artists ranging from Chris Stamey to Hiss Golden Messenger — will release her third album COUNTRY on Aug. 9.
'Truck' is an ode to her heroes, shouting out Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and June Carter right out the gate. A dreamy summertime jam perfect for a drive through the country with the windows down.
The song is accompanied by a video that was appropriately filmed at Chapel Hill’s most famous roadhouse, The Kraken, and was directed by Skylar as well.
You can pre-order Skylar’s new record COUNTRY on Bandcamp now.
Interview with Sean Mason
Born and raised in Charlotte, Sean Mason started teaching himself how to play the piano at the age of 13. While attending UNC-Greensboro, he caught the attention of legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis.
WUNC caught up with Mason in June ahead of one of his shows at shows at Missy Lane's Assembly Room in Durham.
"I want to root us back into the spirit that jazz thrived on when it was first invented. That spirit of nuanced optimism and the blues and uplifting people at the end of the day. Our music inspires people to dance and have a good time."