“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. Babehoven — Alt/Indie — (11 spins of “Twenty Dried Chillies” from her 2022 EP “Sunk”)
Babehoven, stage name for Maya Bon, originated in Portland, Oregon in 2017. According to her website, “Bon has shown herself to be a gifted heart-on-sleeve songwriter, using music to peel back the layers of her own experiences — sometimes sad, sometimes surreal, always vividly rendered — to reveal universal emotional truths hidden in the most intimately personal of details.”

“Twenty Dried Chillies” is the last track on her EP Sunk, and sings directly to the man she once loved.

2. Fake Shark – Alt/Indie – (9 spins of “Loser” off of the 2021 album “Time For the Future”)

Fake Shark claims that they are the “only indie rock band with a hype man,” according to their Spotify. The “freaky indie pop band” met in high school, but did not form the band until some time after graduation. “Loser” was the hit single off of the band’s most recent album.

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

Steve Lacy dominates the charts once again! According to Genius, “‘Amber’ finds Steve Lacy on a self-produced piano instrumental reminiscing about an old relationship and slowly starting to regret meeting the significant other.”

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

“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.

5. *Lucy Dacus – Alt/Indie – (8 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.”

6. *Rex Orange County – Alt/Indie – (8 spins of “ONE IN A MILLION” off of the 2022 album “WHO CARES?”)

Alex O’Connor, also known as Rex Orange County, is an alternative indie singer who has changed the game when it comes to indie pop music. According to his Spotify, he “is a gifted singer/songwriter known for his literate, quirky brand of bedroom pop that combines jazz, hip-hop and soul influences. O’Connor was still a teenager when he first gained attention online in 2015 for his self-produced album ‘bcos u will never b free.’”

“ONE IN A MILLION” is the fifth track on the album, “WHO CARES?” We see Rex explain to his newly met lover that he has never met someone like them.

7. *Steve Lacy – R&B – (7 spins of “Buttons” off of the 2022 album, “Gemini Rights”)

Steve Lacy hits the charts once again! According to Genius, we see him “opening up to his lover in his room, providing reassurance and company, leaving himself venerable to them, resulting in Steve being manipulated and treated poorly.”

8. Steve Lacy – R&B – (7 spins of “Mercury” 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.

“Mercury” was the lead single of the album, “Gemini Rights.” According to Genius, the song “sees Steve Lacy both remorseful and bitter about a past relationship, ultimately showing his double-sided nature.”

9. CAAMP – Folk – (6 spins of “Lavender Girl” off of the 2022 album “Lavender Days”)

CAAMP is a folk band from Ohio that consists of childhood friends Taylor Meier and Evan Westfall, as well as bass player Matt Vinson and keyboardist Joseph Kavalec. Lavender Days was CAAMP’s fourth studio album, with the band’s Spotify describing the album as “(the) times you look back on and smile about, and times you look back on with tears still fresh. And there will be the times that give you both, and all shades between – your Lavender Days.”

Lavender Girl was one of the lead singles off of the album. The song describes a girl who they miss and changed their life for the better.

10. Cece Coakley – Alt/Indie – (5 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 wanting more from them.

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