“KCSU’s Weekly Gems Countdown” is written by the KCSU Music Directors and describes the top artists that your local 90.5 FM DJs are playing this week! This article is posted weekly on Sundays and discussed on their show “KCSU Weekly Gem Countdown” which airs every Monday from 11-noon. During the show, you can learn more about each musician or band before tuning in to the top 10 countdowns on Monday from 11-noon, in which the music directors present to you the latest songs topping the charts and breaking down each song’s sound and feel.”

*=Brand new to the charts!

1. Cece Coakley – Alt/Indie – (11 spins of “Monday Morning” off of the 2022 EP “Tender”) Cece Coakley, the self titled “hummus queen of Tennessee,” is an up-and-coming alternative country singer. As grlsplain blogger Rrita Hashani explains, “Coakley’s songwriting shines in both, but it’s her vocals that rise above. Reminiscent of thee Olivia Rodrigo, the listener can’t help but belt or scream along, attempting to match her range.”

“Monday Morning” is the fourth track off the debut EP from Coakley. The song describes Coakley wanting a particular person to be their “Monday morning” and have her “picture in their wallet,” even though it doesn’t seem like she is as important to her lover as they are to her. By asking them, “have you told your parents about me?,” she indicates that she clearly is wanting more from them.

2. The Thing With Feathers – Rock – (9 spins of “Saturday Night” off of the 2022 EP “Sundays In The South”) The Thing With Feathers are an alt-rock, indie pop and dance powerhouse, fueled by three of Nashville’s favorite fools: David Welcsh on vocals, Alex Hendricks on lead guitar and Chris Roussell on drums. According to their Spotify, “the crew’s unpracticed, quirky swagger coupled with stellar musicianship has resulted in a catalog of equally introspective and uncomplicated tunes, dedicated to booty-shakers everywhere.”

3. *flipturn – Alt/Indie – (8 spins of “Space Cowboy” off of the 2022 album “Shadowglow”) The band flipturn explains that they “make indie music for endless summers, sun-streaked days, and introspective nights.” The band consists of Dillon Basse on lead vocals, Tristan Duncan on lead guitar, Madeline Jarman on bass, Mitch Fountain on synth and Devon VonBalson on drums.

“Space Cowboy” was the band’s final single before they released their debut album, “Shadowglow.” “When we were writing this song in Arizona on our first writing trip for the record, we kept talking about how it felt like it was somebody getting lost in space,” explained guitarist Tristan Duncan. “It’s very much a tumultuous experience of said space traveler being ripped away from civilization and life as they knew it; being thrust into the cold clutches of space and their own thoughts. We were also loosely inspired by Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop and the overarching romanticism of loneliness and aching for something more.”

4. Renata Zeiguer – Alt/Indie – (8 spins of “Sunset Boulevard” off of the 2022 album “Picnic in the Dark”) Brooklyn based artist Renata Zeiguer creates a “sonic dreamworld infused with magical realism that tells an extremely personal narrative” in her album, according to Spotify. She explains that the album is integrating her child-self into her adult life with immense compassion and enlightenment. It is not only an album of exploration but one of transformation, healing and self-actualization, all told through a courageous journey towards that extremely uncomfortable yet fertile liminal space between familiarity and uncertainty.

As described by Stereogum, Sunset Boulevard is shimmering but shadowy, channeling a certain era of haunting old theatrics as Zeiguer’s voice stays high and airy.

5. *Blood orange – R&B- (7 spins of “Jesus Freak Lighter” off of the 2022 EP “Four Songs”) Raised in England, Blood Orange, also known as Dev Hynes, is a rising R&B singer, producer, and songwriter. According to the New York Times, “the list of stars Hynes has produced and written songs with — Solange Knowles, Kylie Minogue, Carly Rae Jepsen, Mariah Carey — might lead you to expect a maker of slick and splashy hits, churning out bangers destined for a mall near you. But Hynes’s work, even with the shiniest of stars, is something else entirely: It has a tender, gauzy feel, a new-wave R.&B. sensibility more suited for bedrooms than big stages.”

“Jesus Freak Lighter” was the first single off of Hynes’ newest EP and starts off with 10 seconds of static that remixes into a drumming R&B. Pitchfork explains that, “instead of poetic storytelling, there is vague emotional turmoil: “Falling, falling, got carried away, living in my head for the fantasy,” Hynes sings delicately, his voice layered in reverb. At about two and a half minutes, the track is short and hazy—a sweet, beguiling taste of what’s to come.

6. *Kristiane – Alt/Indie – (6 spins of “Trying to Find Us” off of the 2022 album, “State Lines”) Kristiane is a singer and songwriter from Los Angeles who was Billboard’s Indie Artist of the month in August. According to Billboard, “When she first started writing her own music, Kristiane adopted her grandmother’s carefree ethos: ‘I liked that music didn’t have to be for anyone else. It could just be for yourself,'” she explained.

When it comes to her album “State Lines,” Kristiane explains her vision was that she “wanted this EP to feel under-polished and gritty, like something you’d make with your best friend in the basement.” The album’s do-it-yourself aesthetics give State Lines an intimacy that couples well with its lyrics. “Trying to Find Us,” describes the want to take everything they have done or said back in order to keep a relationship.

7. *JID – Hip Hop/Rap – (6 spins of “Surround Sound (ft. 21 Savage and Baby Tate)” off of the 2022 album “The Forever Story”) JID, a name adopted from what his grandmother called him as a jittery child, is making a name for himself in the rap scene. Growing up, JID’s first connection with music was through his parents’ collection of classic funk and soul LPs. In 2012, he dropped out of college to pursue music as a career. After working for 5 years and dropping projects, JID signed to J.Cole’s record label, which has boosted his career tremendously.

“Surround Sound (ft. 21 Savage and Baby Tate)” was the first collaboration between the three artists and the first single for JID’s album “The Forever Story.” The song samples “One Step Ahead” by Aretha Franklin and has a catchy chorus and hook that is sure to get stuck in your head.

8. Lucy Dacus– Alt/Indie – (4 spins of “Brando” off of the 2021 album “Home Video”)

Lucy Dacus is an indie rock artist from Virginia. Her writing is super authentic according to her Spotify, describing that she, “can’t hide behind generalizations or fiction anymore.” According to Pitchfork, Dacus’ third album, “Home Video”, “explores a slice of 2000s Christian youth culture from the perspective of a girl who lived through it.”

“Brando” is the ninth track on the album, and is about Dacus’ friend. On Genius, she explains that it was, “about a friend I had in high school who had based a lot of his identity on his tastes and the media he consumed. When we met, he recognized in me a lack of culture because I grew up in a rural, suburban area and I didn’t really come into contact with many movies or music. So he taught me everything that he loved, and that was the bedrock of our friendship.”

9. Steve Lacy– R&B – (4 spins of “Bad Habit” off of the 2022 album “Gemini Rights”)

Alternative R&B artist Steve Lacy is in a presumably small class of musicians who have co-produced a Grammy-nominated album while in high school. He first joined the band The Internet in 2014 as a guitarist. The artist from Compton, California, who also created all his music on Garage Band, has won a multitude of awards and is now critically acclaimed.

“Bad Habit,” one of the most popular singles off his new album “Gemini Rights,” tells a story many people can relate to. The song is about reflecting on an attraction to someone, and what it could have been if he had expressed how it felt to the person he is singing about.

10. *DOMi & JD BECK – Hip Hop/Rap – (4 spins of “Take a Chance (ft. Anderson .Paak)” off of the 2022 album “NOT TiGHT”) DOMi & JD BECK “are an instrumental keyboard and drum duo known for their hyperactive, future-shock blend of progressive jazz, hip-hop, and R&B,” according to their Spotify. After posting videos online, they caught the attention of Thundercat, J.Cole and Anderson .Paak, which they later soon signed to .Paak’s record label, APESHIT INC.

“Take a Chance” was the lead single of the duos’ debut album, “NOT TiGHT,” featuring the one and only Anderson .Paak. The song describes how even though a person has done bad tings in the past, they have changed and want their actions to show that – all you need to do is “take a chance on me.”

 The Music Directors can be contacted at music@kcsufm.com