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News

Dec 23, 2023

Here we go again, racing to December’s finish line, eager to put another chaotic year in the rearview and nervous about what the next 12 months have in store for us. More

17 Best Songs of the Last Two Weeks: The Smile, M. Ward and First Aid Kit, Slowdive, and More

Plus Faye Webster, Sigur Rós, Palehound, Strange Ranger, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks

Jun 23, 2023

Welcome to the 22nd Songs of the Week of 2023. We didn’t do a Songs of the Week last week because I was out of town last Thursday to this Monday in Washington, DC, covering Awesome Con. So, this week’s Songs of the Week is supersized and incorporates tracks from the last two weeks. More

Palehound Shares Video for New Song “Independence Day”

Eye on the Bat Due Out July 14 via Polyvinyl

Jun 22, 2023

Palehound (aka El Kempner) is releasing a new album, Eye on the Bat, on July 14 via Polyvinyl. Now Kempner has shared the album’s third single, “Independence Day,” via a music video. More

10 Best Songs of the Week: Palehound, Pip Blom, Margaret Glaspy, Blonde Redhead, and More

Plus The Clientele, Protomartyr, Oceanator, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks

Jun 02, 2023

Welcome to the 20th Songs of the Week of 2023. It was a mixed collection of new songs this week, perhaps because Monday was a holiday, but there were some tracks we liked. More

May 31, 2023

Palehound (aka Ellen Kempner) is releasing a new album, Eye on the Bat, on July 14 via Polyvinyl. Now Kempner has shared the album’s second single, “My Evil,” via a lyric video that pays homage to the opening titles of the classic HBO TV series The Sopranos. Palehound has also announced some headlining tour dates. More

10 Best Songs of the Week: Jessie Ware, Palehound, Thundercat and Tame Impala, and More

Plus The Clientele, Julie Byrne, Beach House, Protomartyr, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks

Apr 28, 2023

Welcome to the fifteenth Songs of the Week of 2023. There were a few notable album announcements this week that provided some fodder for this list, but there was also an album out today that we love and pulled two songs from. More

Apr 25, 2023

Palehound (aka El Kempner) has announced a new album, Eye on the Bat, and shared its first single, “The Clutch,” via a music video. More

11 Best Songs of the Week: Silverbacks, POND, Bachelor, Beak>, and More

Plus Damon Albarn, Proper., Suuns, The Dodos, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks

Sep 03, 2021

Welcome to the 33rd Songs of the Week of 2021. We liked enough new songs this week to form a Top 11. More

Bachelor Share New Song “I See It Now”

Doomin’ Sun Out Now via Polyvinyl

Sep 01, 2021

Bachelor (a duo between Melina Duterte of Jay Som and Ellen Kempner of Palehound) released their debut album, Doomin’ Sun, back in May via Polyvinyl (stream it here). Now they have shared a brand new song “I See It Now,” that was recorded after the sessions for Doomin’ Sun were completed. More

May 28, 2021

Bachelor (a duo between Melina Duterte of Jay Som and Ellen Kempner of Palehound) have released their debut album, Doomin’ Sun, today via Polyvinyl. Now that it’s out, you can stream the whole thing here. Also, on Thursday we posted our new interview with Bachelor and our review of the album. Plus, they have shared a new video for the album’s “Back of My Hand” that stars the duo as obsessed Harry Styles fans. More

Apr 22, 2021

Bachelor (a duo between Melina Duterte of Jay Som and Ellen Kempner of Palehound) are releasing their debut album, Doomin’ Sun, on May 28 via Polyvinyl. Now they have shared a new song from it, the relaxed “Sick of Spiraling.” More

Apr 13, 2021

Anjimile has announced a new EP which will feature expanded orchestral versions of songs from his debut album, Giver Taker, along with collaborations with artists Jay Som, SASAMI, and Lomelda. The EP’s lead single, “In Your Eyes (Reflection),” which features Jay Som, has also been shared. Reunion will be out on May 7 via Father/Daughter. More

Bachelor (Jay Som’s Melina Duterte + Palehound’s Ellen Kempner) Announce Album, Share New Song

Doomin’ Sun Due Out May 28 via Polyvinyl; Watch the Video for New Single “Stay in the Car”

Mar 24, 2021

Bachelor (a duo between Melina Duterte of Jay Som and Ellen Kempner of Palehound) have announced their debut album, Doomin’ Sun, and shared a new song from it, “Stay in the Car,” via a video for the single. More

10 Best Songs of the Week: Wolf Alice, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Bachelor, and More

Plus Flock of Dimes, Real Estate, Julien Baker, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks

Feb 26, 2021

Welcome to the seventh Songs of the Week of 2021. This week’s big music news was probably that Daft Punk had broken up. More

Feb 25, 2021

Bachelor (the newly-announced duo between Melina Duterte of Jay Som and Ellen Kempner of Palehound) have shared their debut single together, entitled “Anything at All.” It is available now via Polyvinyl. More

Feb 02, 2021

Palehound (aka Ellen Kempner) has shared a new single titled “How Long.” It is out now via Polyvinyl. More

Palehound Covers Elliott Smith’s “Southern Belle” For Reissue of His Self-Titled Album

Elliott Smith: Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition Due Out August 28 on Kill Rock Stars.

Aug 06, 2020

For our My Favorite Album print issue last fall, Ellen Kempner of Palehound wrote about her favorite album: Elliot Smith’s Either/Or. Coincidentally, Kempner has just released her cover of Smith’s “Southern Belle.” It’s from his 1995 self-titled album, though, not Either/Or. But that doesn’t matter because it’s a lovely ode to the magnificent songwriter, More

Ellen Kempner of Palehound – COVID-19 Quarantine Artist Check In

“The fact that our government is obviously more focused on reopening the economy than protecting its citizens is disgusting and very par for the course.”

Apr 28, 2020

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 Ellen Kempner, frontwoman and songwriter for Palehound. More

Oct 10, 2019

Palehound (aka Ellen Kempner) released a new album, Black Friday, back in June via Polyvinyl. Now she has shared two new tracks, the new song “Your Boyfriend’s Gun” and a new cover of Yo La Tengo’s “Autumn Sweater.” More

Under the Radar Announces My Favorite Album Issue with Angel Olsen and Sleater-Kinney Covers

Issue 66 Features Musicians and Actors on Their All-Time Favorite Albums, including Tegan and Sara, Wilco, Weyes Blood, Sigur Rós, Fred Armisen, Topher Grace, Jay Baruchel, Low, and more

Sep 27, 2019

Under the Radar is excited to announce the My Favorite Album Issue, our new print issue in which we speak to musicians and actors about their all-time favorite album. The issue features Angel Olsen and Sleater-Kinney on the two covers and is available to buy directly from us here, as well as being distributed in stores nationwide (on newsstands, in such stores as Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, and elsewhere). More

Album of the Week: The Divine Comedy

Plus Stream New Albums from Palehound, Younghusband, Silversun Pickups, Pixx, Stef Chura, and More

Jun 07, 2019

The Divine Comedy, the orchestral-pop project of Northern Irish singer/songwriter/composer Neil Hannon, has released a new album, Office Politics, today via Hannon’s own Divine Comedy Records and it’s our Album of the Week. Find more info on the album below. More

Palehound - Stream the New Album

Black Friday Out Now via Polyvinyl

Jun 07, 2019

Palehound (aka Ellen Kempner) has released a new album, Black Friday, today via Polyvinyl. Now that the album is out, you can stream the whole thing below. Also below are her upcoming tour dates. More

Palehound Shares New Song “Black Friday”

Black Friday Due Out June 7 via Polyvinyl

May 29, 2019

Palehound (aka Ellen Kempner) is releasing a new album, Black Friday, on June 7 via Polyvinyl. Now she has shared another song from it, title track “Black Friday.” More

Palehound Shares Video for New Song “Worthy”

Black Friday Due Out June 7 via Polyvinyl

May 02, 2019

Palehound (aka Ellen Kempner) is releasing a new album, Black Friday, on June 7 via Polyvinyl. Now she has shared another song from it, “Worthy,” via a video for the track. More

Apr 05, 2019

Palehound (aka Ellen Kempner) has announced a new album, Black Friday, and shared a video for a new song from it, “Aaron.” Despite its title, Black Friday is not due out the day after Thanksgiving, instead it’s coming out June 7 via Polyvinyl. More

10 Best Songs of the Week: Strand of Oaks, Alex Lahey, Chromatics, Hayden Thorpe, and More

Plus Ioanna Gika, Murray A. Lightburn, Amanda Palmer, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks

Feb 22, 2019

There were many strong contenders for this week’s Songs of the Week. We could’ve gone as high as a Top 15 instead of the regular Top 10 and as it is there are a whopping 11 honorable mentions, with some good tracks that also almost made the honorable mention list to. More

Palehound Shares New Song “Killer”

On Tour Now with Cherry Glazerr

Feb 19, 2019

Palehound (aka Ellen Kempner) has shared a brand new song, “Killer.” It is out now via Polyvinyl and shared in honor of her current tour dates opening for Cherry Glazerr, which start tonight. More



Interviews

Jul 14, 2023

Make no mistake that Palehound’s (aka El Kempner) latest album, Eye on the Bat (released today on Polyvinyl), is of the breakup variety. But that’s hard to assess from its opening track, “Good Sex.” More

May 27, 2021

Bachelor is the recently formed duo of Palehound’s Ellen Kempner and Jay Som’s Melina Duterte. The now fast friends originally met on a brief run of West Coast dates in 2017, which budded into a series of cross-country online hangs over the years. More

My Favorite Album: Ellen Kempner of Palehound on Elliott Smith’s “Either/Or”

“What struck me then and continues to strike me now is the sheer honesty of the entire record, down to how it’s recorded.”

Jun 24, 2020

I grew up on a steady diet of classic rock. My dad, who was a teenager in the ’70s, would tell me all about the times he was first in line to see The Rolling Stones, the night he saw John Lennon join Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden, and many other dazzling stories. More

Ellen Kempner of Palehound – COVID-19 Quarantine Artist Check In

“The fact that our government is obviously more focused on reopening the economy than protecting its citizens is disgusting and very par for the course.”

Apr 28, 2020

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 Ellen Kempner, frontwoman and songwriter for Palehound. More

Self-Portrait: Ellen Kempner of Palehound

The Cook, the Painter, the Basketball Player

Jun 18, 2019

For our recurring Self-Portrait feature we ask a musician to take a self-portrait photo (or paint/draw a self-portrait) and write a list of personal things about themselves, things that their fans might not already know about them. This Self-Portrait is by Ellen Kempner of Palehound and she painted her own self-portrait. More

16th Annual Artist Survey: Palehound

Ellen Kempner on #MeToo, The Muppets, Flossing, Childhood Birthday Parties, Family Vacations, Meeting Liz Phair, and Spider-Man

Jan 25, 2019

For Under the Radar‘s 16th Annual Artist Survey we emailed some of our favorite artists a few questions relating to the last year, plus some fun personal questions. We asked them about their favorite albums of the year and their thoughts on various notable 2018 news stories involving either the music industry or world events, as well as some quirkier personal questions. More


Reviews

Aug 07, 2019

There’s something comforting about Palehound. It’s almost surprising given the subject matter the trio led by singer/songwriter Ellen Kempner offers up. Abuse features more than once on Black Friday, as do songs dealing with painful self-doubt and unrequited emotional investment. More

Jun 21, 2017

Like any self-respecting Boston resident, Ellen Kempner can’t resist namechecking Dunkin Donuts. More