New music from she’s green, Kurt Vile, Aldous Harding, Courtney Barnett and more of your fall songs (Death Cab For Cutie, Donovan, Big Thief), plus the wonderful Detroit singer-songwriter Stef Chura stops by the show to preview her new album, “Dancing Alone on the Concrete,” due out this Friday via Saddle Creek.

You’ll be the first to hear tracks “Leadweight” and “Babydoll,” plus we chat with Stef about the influences into her new album (the first in 7 years!) and lots more. You can hear the full segment with Stef Chura starting at the 2:06 mark—enjoy!

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for September 29, 2026

• “Paradis” — Donna Blue
• “Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)” — Pixies
• “Silver” — Say She She
• “Africa” — Bill Laurance & Michael League
• “Baltimore” — Nina Simone
• “Hey Now (When I Give You All My Lovin’)” — Romare
• “Amor Inteiro” — Bruno Berle
• “Road to Nowhere” — Rogê
• “Chance to Bleed” — Kurt Vile
• “Fall On Me” — R.E.M.
• “Train on the Island” — Aldous Harding
• “One Thing At A Time” — Courtney Barnett
• “The Payback” — James Brown
• “Protection” — Massive Attack
• “Drive” — Deftones
• “mettle” — she’s green
• “When You Sleep” — My Bloody Valentine (fall song picked by you!)
• “Long Division” — Death Cab for Cutie (fall song picked by you!)
• “Hurdy Gurdy Man” — Donovan (fall song picked by you!)
• “Velvet Ring” — Big Thief (fall song picked by you!)
• “A Fond Farewell” — Elliott Smith
• “There She Goes” — The La’s (fall song picked by you!)
• “1979 (Remastered 2012)” — The Smashing Pumpkins

Interview with Stef Chura

• “Leadweight” — Stef Chura
• “The Concrete” — Stef Chura
• “Danny” — Stef Chura
• “Babydoll” — Stef Chura

The rest of the show!

• “Maybe I Got It Wrong” — Ruti
• “Last Forever (feat. Wyatt Waddell)” — Patchwork Inc.
• “Nancy from Now On” — Father John Misty
• “Let ‘Em In” — Wings
• “Clover” — Billie Marten
• “Guns of Brixton (feat. Camille)” — Nouvelle Vague
• “Paper Tiger” — Spoon

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

“It is not easy listening. It’s essential.”

That’s part of the messaging behind Detroit’s own Protomartyr and the band’s seventh album “Hotel Usona,” released September 25 via Domino Recording Co.

The “not easy listening” part is certainly more focused on the lyrics themselves as songwriter and vocalist Joe Casey imagines America’s current state as an aging, sagging hotel. Down every hallway, an issue. Inside every room, a horror to be seen. Sure, there’s continental breakfast but it’s likely contaminated, at least in the eyes of Protomartyr.

Musically, on lead single “Sounds We Cannot Hear,” Protomartyr is the most accessible they’ve ever been. It is the easiest listening they’ve offered up, joining waves of post-punk bands that slowly grow over time, chill out on the aggressiveness, and start applying a lot of texture and sampling that you’d find on a Madlib record.

The result is the same punch you’d want out of a Protomartyr song, but way more sonically to chew on and enjoy. There’s even a brass section on “Sounds We Cannot Hear,” which guitarist Greg Ahee layered with influences from the Middle East and ’50s exotica. 

While Protomartyr released essentially a concept album with a lot of lyrical density, “Sounds We Cannot Hear” suggests it could be their most accessible release yet. For one of the biggest bands to come out of Detroit, I’d predict they’re about to get even bigger and adopt a whole new audience with a more mature, layered sound.

This story was originally published on Midbrow.