For the past 20 years or so, Eli Paperboy Reed has been making records that revel in the vintage sounds of Memphis and Chicago soul, with a healthy dose of R&B, early rock’n’roll, and a bit of country. His latest album is called Getting There, a mature reflection on love, life, and romance-  where in the face of hard times, romantic partners “respond with more determination, more commitment and more love” (EliPaperboyReed.com). Eli Paperboy Reed and his band have set up camp here in our studio, and they’ll play some of their latest bluesy-soulful grown folks music.

Set list: 1. Getting There 2. Asking For a Friend 3. One Man's Trash (Is Another Man's Treasure)

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It’s rare to come across a traditional origin story like The Royston Club’s nowadays: a group of small-town kids from Wrexham, Wales, coming together to form a band in high school and taking the stage on open mic nights at their local pub. Their music, woven with nostalgic lyrics and crunchy, anthemic guitars, also feels as though it belongs to a different time. And yet, The Royston Club has no trouble finding new fans with each release and tour they embark on, having hit the top 20 on the UK album charts with both of their albums, Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars and Songs for the Spine. Now based in Liverpool, the band still visits their hometown frequently, keeping all the people that cheered them on close. Even the word “spine” from the title of their latest record refers to those same people in their lives, who hold them up and keep them going, as The Royston Club travels the world to reach new masses. 

The band takes a short break from their US tour to play a few new songs in our studio for this episode of Soundcheck. - Sırma Munyar

Setlist: 1.Shivers  2.Glued to the Bed  3.Cariad

(Photo by Sam Crowston)

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Helado Tropical ("tropical ice cream") is a collaboration between Helado Negro, the experimental pop project of Ecuadorian-American singer/songwriter Roberto Carlos Lange, and Reyna Tropical, which is the work of the Mexican-American musician Fabi Reyna (also of the cumbia band Savila).They bring their langorous brand of Latin electro-pop to our studio. And another duo takes a more acoustic approach: Irish fiddler Martin Hayes and guitarist Kyle Sanna. Hayes is one of the great fiddlers of our time, and one of the things that makes his playing so distinctive is the way he incorporates elements of jazz and contemporary classical music. Hayes is a founding member of the Irish-American supergroup The Gloaming, and he’s led a couple of ensembles, the Martin Hayes Quartet and the Common Ground Ensemble, that include musicians from the New York new music scene, including guitarist Kyle Sanna. They also play jigs, reels, and hornpipes in-studio for this episode of Soundcheck.

Helado Tropical Set list: 1. Tocando 2. Sensacion 3. Soledad

Martin Hayes / Kyle Sanna Set list: 1. The Wild Geese/Lord Leitrim 2. Port An Deoari/My Mary Ann 3. The Golden Castle/Mikey Callaghans

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They started as a street band in Mexico City, but Son Rompe Pera has attracted attention as far south as Chile. Formed in 2017, they’re a party band with a distinctive sound centered on brothers who play marimbas and draw on punk, ska, pop, and the ubiquitous Latin dance rhythm called cumbia. Now they’re back with a new album called Marimbazos de Oro, and while the marimbas and the punk are still evident, there’s a lot going on here – with songs that use the cumbia rhythm, as well as the sounds of salsa, reggae, hardcore, psychedelic guitars, traditional Mexican and Colombian rhythms, even Andean music. Son Rompe Pera brings their danceable and "sweaty, respectful mayhem" to the studio (without the marimba mosh pit) for this edition of Soundcheck.

Set list: 1. Lagrimas 2. Nada que Hacer 3. Reptilio

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From the 2026 New York Guitar Festival, recorded live at Bryant Park, hear a set from the instrumental trio called The Messthetics -who are Anthony Pirog (guitar), Joe Lally (bass) and Brendan Canty (drums). Pirog has played avant-rock, ambient, and freely improvised music, often in his own projects and in his duo Janel & Anthony. Bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty were the rhythm section of the Washington D.C. band Fugazi. They were joined by special guest guitar hero Marc Ribot, who is one of the most in-demand and unpredictable guitarists around. He’s played with Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and John Zorn, and led bands that deal in noise, rock, Latin, and free jazz. Hear a set from the Messthetics with Marc Ribot from that August night in this special podcast.

1. Mythomania 2. Rules of the Game 3. Inner Ocean 4. Gestations 5. Touch Earth, Touch Sky

Photo of the Messthetics, courtesy of the artist's Bandcamp

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Some vocal performances are so emotionally compelling that you can’t help but hang on every word while eagerly anticipating the next. Such spellbinding experiences are the live performances of two acts that come from two different parts of the Americas: Mexican singer-songwriter Humbe and the Nashville-based folk-rock trio The Lone Bellow. Humbe may be young in years, but he’s been writing and releasing songs that sound timeless for almost a decade. His viral hit “Fantasmas” opened a new chapter for the Latin Grammy nominated star on the rise. The Lone Bellow has been around for a little while longer, consistently growing a loyal fan base since the early 2010s. But they hit a roadblock as they were working on their latest album, What a Time to Be Alive, after a break-in to their tour van resulted in the loss of the precious hard drives that contained their vocal recordings. Thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign, the band managed to finish the record and get back on the road. Both acts tell these tales behind their music, and more, as they share heartfelt renditions of their songs for this episode of Soundcheck. - Sırma Munyar

The Lone Bellow's Setlist: 1.I Did It for Love 2.You Were Leaving 3.No Getting Over You

Humbe's Setlist: 1.Harry Stamper 2.Fantasmas 3.Morfina

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Girl Ultra is the project of Mexico City-born Mariana de Miguel; a singer-songwriter whose creativity knows no bounds. Though she started her musical career as an underground R&B artist on Soundcloud about a decade ago, nowadays she experiments with all kinds of genres from Pop and Rock to Reggae and Funk, mixing her musical and cultural influences into her stories about lust, heartbreak, friendship, intimacy, and more.

Born out of a longing to create an alter ego inspired by a superhero heroine, Girl Ultra became an invigorating entity for de Miguel that kept her attached to girlhood as she welcomed her thirties. As she continues to perceive life through this lens, de Miguel also often collaborates with other innovative musicians. In fact, her latest record, titled RRRomeo, is filled with exciting guest appearances – most notably the Canadian electro-funk duo Chromeo, who are featured on five of the eight tracks.

It all started when Chromeo reached out to de Miguel to produce new music for Girl Ultra during lockdown. “I never took so long – like five years – just marinating this project… It was a fun exercise to just come back to it with different skills along the years,” says de Miguel, describing the process that began in Burbank, California at Chromeo’s studio. Now, finally ready to share RRRomeo with the world, de Miguel brings some of those skillfully put together, eclectic songs to our studio, for this episode of Soundcheck. - Sırma Munyar

Setlist: 1.Mentirasmentiras  2.Te Caigo  3.Denisse

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California-based harpist Lara Somogyi may be classically trained, but there’s nothing classical about her approach to making music. She surrounds herself with several effects pedals to expand the sound of her harp into an otherworldly orchestra.

Between her technical skillset and deep understanding of electronic music production, Somogyi has carved a path of her own, both as a session musician recording for film and TV scores such as Hans Zimmer’s The Lion King and the Netflix series Bridgerton, as well as a collaborator to electronic experimentalists like Bonobo and Ólafur Arnalds.

On her new record, titled a [time] patterned, Somogyi reinforces the relationship between her existential contemplations and sound design adventures. “This record was all really born from my curiosity on how we experience time,” she says, adding that she experiences time in a sensory way, associating various periods of her life with the sounds she hears, like crickets or rustling birch trees in the summer. Becoming obsessed with the idea that “music can decorate our time”, Somogyi began to layer and alter the timing of her plucked harp sequences, stretching them into ambient soundscapes or crystallizing them into fragmented pieces through electronic processing. Every tool she used on the record was a time-based tool, and she brings some of them to our studio for an unforgettable performance, featuring a string quartet with Laura Metcalf on cello, Angela Pickett on viola, and Maria Im and Caroline Cassio on violin, for this episode of Soundcheck. - Sırma Munyar

Setlist: 1.mirabel 2.elsewhere 3.acceptances

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Hardships tend to take time to overcome, and some songwriters turn to music to process their emotions as they move from one battle to the next. Two of those songwriters are Steve Earle and Anjimile, who come from very different walks of life. Steve Earle has earned multiple Grammy Awards and an induction into the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville after spending decades reflecting on his experiences as an activist, actor, and a man who happened to go through seven marriages and spend a couple of months in jail for drug possession. Anjimile, on the other hand, was born to immigrant parents from Malawi who were both devout Christians, which made his journey as a trans man a complex situation that kept unraveling as years went by. As Anjimile performs some new songs that explore sexuality, gender, spirituality, and more, Steve Earle plays some of his old hits that document the troubled but full life he has lived, for this edition of Soundcheck. 

Steve Earle's Setlist: 1.Copperhead Road 2.City of Immigrants

Anjimile's Setlist: 1.Rust & Wire 2.The Store 3.Waits for Me

Watch the live performance videos on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/newsoundsmusic

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During her two-decade career, the singer, actor, playwright and two-time NAACP Image Award winner Somi has blended the sounds of American and African music – jazz and R&B, but also Afrobeat, folksong, and highlife. Her last album was a tribute to the South African singer Miriam Makeba; that record also served as a companion to an Off-Broadway musical that Somi wrote – under her full name Somi Kakoma, called Dreaming Zenzile.

Now a Harvard PhD recipient (the Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry Program), Somi has a new album of original music called What Does It Take To Bloom. Written and recorded between Dakar, Lagos, Paris and New York City, Somi’s latest explores the many facets of self-discovery – questions of becoming and of identity (she is the Midwestern daughter of immigrants from Uganda and Rwanda) – and navigates uncertainty, loss, and change (Somimusic.com). Somi joins us to perform some of these songs, in-studio.

Photo of Somi by Knoor The Luo

Set list: 1. We're All Falling 2. Ngayaya 3. Aiwah
Watch the live performance videos on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/newsoundsmusic

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Australian singer Grace Cummings is the kind of songwriter who believes in the spontaneity of the creative process. “I’m a loner. I talk to myself a lot,” she says, and amid those internal conversations, she stumbles upon some mistakes that eventually lead to good writing. She’s no longer a stranger to how songs make their way out of her brain, having already recorded four albums. Her latest record, titled Bloodhorse!, is filled with snapshots of her tumultuous emotions, referencing both religious and mythological themes in a grand musical context of orchestral folk-rock arrangements. But when she picks up the guitar or sits in front of a piano for a solo performance, it’s hard to predict how far she’ll stretch her deep, soulful voice into visceral cries that, evidently, can’t be contained.

For this edition of Soundcheck, Cummings performs a few songs from her latest record in a way that can only be described as personal, inimitable, and untamed. - Sırma Munyar

Setlist: 1.John Lennon 2.I'm Not Crazy 3.FAKE

Watch the live performance videos on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/newsoundsmusic

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