This week, Detroit-based singer/songwriter Chloe Drallos joined me in the studio to discuss her new album “The Cave,” which comes out this Friday on LifeLike Records.

Drallos has been performing and releasing music for seven years now, primarily under the moniker Zilched.

While Chloe’s previous work, as Zilched, leaned into what she called “doom-pop,” or a beautifully brooding blend of distortion-laden post-punk, dark dreamy shoegaze, and a bit of post-grunge grit. But as it started to grow, more of her long held influences came to the surface, drawing on iconic storytelling songwriters with strong voices; you started to hear even more poise coming to the fore with the way she paired her potent voice with powerful guitar chords. And that’s true, again, on “The Cave.”

Two years ago, after releasing a full-length with as Zilched titled “Earthly Delights,” Chloe started moving toward a proper solo project under her own name. “The Cave” is her formal debut as a solo artist, following a recent EP (“Three Seasons”).

You can catch the release show for The Cave this Saturday at The Field Office, with openers The Hand.

Stream the show above to hear our interview about the songwriting process and recording of “The Cave,” and hear some songs from it as well—including a live performance by Chloe in-studio.

A look back at Sounds Like Detroit 2025

My other guest for this week’s show is Tariq Gardner, a stellar and accomplished jazz composer, drummer, and bandleader who notably won the most votes last year in 2025’s Sounds Like Detroit (SLD) Showcase.

Over 150 Michigan performers entered NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert this year. Only 10 of them will be eligible to appear in Sounds Like Detroit. It’s a local musical showcase that’ll take place at Batch Brewing Company on August 13.

Before the concert starts, Detroiters have the chance to select the top five musicians who go on to headline the show based on their entry videos. 

The top 10 are below:

– IIAJIDE
– Michelle Held
– Aisha Ellis
– KTCHN
– Jubilee Jackson
– Checker
– Vaughn Black
– Rose St. Germaine
– Mild Pulp
– Laurie Love

Jeff Milo is the host of MI Local on WDET. He also is the coordinator and main host of Sounds Like Detroit. He joined The Metro to talk more about the chosen finalists and how they are shaping the local sound.

For more information, go to WDET.org/TinyDesk and cast a ballot before June 19.

– Hayley Gavigan contributed to this piece.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

This week, I had Quality Cinema Band in-studio to talk about their new album, “Roseland,” and their upcoming show this Friday at the Gambrel Saloon. This is a charming and versatile indie-rock band that loves melody, harmony, and a little bit of twang, with some toe-tapping rhythms and time signatures that can regulate your nervous system. Plus, they can legit jam when called upon.

After their interview, they revealed that their live performance of two new songs from “Roseland” was their first go at an acoustic set. During the interview, they revealed that their show coming up on Friday night in Eastern Market is apparently their farewell show. Extra incentive to not miss it, then!

Stream the show to hear our interview, about 40 minutes in, and then hop over to Bandcamp to stream their new (and final?) album.

Now, we also heard a ton of new music from local artists, like Chloe Drallos, who will be on the show in three weeks, along with other singer-songwriters like John Salvage, who has an album out in July, and George Montrelle, who has a new single with Ross Herner.

Detroit’s Tiny Desk

But a highlight of this week’s show was the announcement of our  Top 10 contenders for this year’s Sounds Like Detroit Showcase, set for August 13 at Batch Brewing. Sounds Like Detroit is WDET’s version of the NPR’s national Tiny Desk Contest!

We combed through more than 150 submissions to that contest sent in from Michigan-based artists, and we’ve selected 10 stand-out artists that YOU, dear listener, can vote on, starting June 3. The top 3 vote-getters will go on to play a concert at Batch Brewing, and we’d love to see you there.

Check out the Top 10 below, and visit our Sounds Like Detroit page for more information! Also, stay tuned to MI Local and WDET for more details!

Sounds Like Detroit finalists – Voting opens June 3

Tonight’s episode featured new music from The Haunted Youth’s new album “Boys Cry Too,” more from the latest Tokyo Shoegazer album, a Philadelphia multi-instrumentalist called Forest Circles, and more from The Twilight Sad.

A few great collaborations were also featured, including “Pause the Rain” by synthpop harp duo Masal and Emma Anderson of Lush. Plus, a track from Kilbey Kennedy, featuring Steve Kilbey of The Church and Martin Kennedy from All India Radio, as well as the hypnotizing new track from Gergana Dimitrova and Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance.

Local music included Shoestrings, a new release from the Detroit Dreampop duo Bluhm, as well as a classic from Velour 100 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their album Fall Sounds, which is now available on vinyl for the first time.

Big Sonic Heaven can be heard Sundays 9 p.m. to midnight and on-demand at WDET.org, playing dreampop, shoegaze, post-punk, trip-hop and more.

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Big Sonic Heaven playlist for May 11, 2026

• “andalucia plays” – Slowdive
• “Barabas” – Hooverphonic
• “Hurt” – The Haunted Youth
• “Swamp Thing” – The Chameleons
• “Pause The Rain” – Masal & Emma Anderson
• “Iceblink Luck” – Cocteau Twins
• “No Sweeter Feeling” – deary
• “Who Do You Love?” – Mojave 3
• “Lost In the Weight” – Deserta
• “New Dawn” – Tokyo Shoegazer
• “Lament” – The Cure
• “Stare Into Light” – Velour 100
• “Higher Love” – Depeche Mode
• “Forgive You” – Shoestrings
• “Serafina” – Kilbey Kennedy
• “Another Kind of Love” – Bluhm
• “Only Shallow” – My Bloody Valentine
• “wake up” – The Haunted Youth
• “Acid, Bitter, and Sad” – This Mortal Coil
• “BACK TO FOURTEEN” – The Twilight Sad
• “Stray Fantasies” – Mint Julep
• “Only So Much Light” – Air Formation
• “Priest Alley Song” – Red House Painters
• “The Dance Of The Birds” – Gergana Dimitrova & Lisa Gerrard
• “Wandering Star” – Portishead
• “Our Day Will Come” – Dead Can Dance
• “Smile” – State Of Grace
• “Double Dream” – Panda Riot
• “After the Rain” – The Orange Peels
• “Juniper” – Forest Circles
• “Lover Lover Lover” – Ian McCulloch
• “Paradise” – New Order
• “Voices” – Intermix

You’ll often get quiet a zesty sonic stew when you tune in to MI Local! Part of that is due to how creative and adventurous many of the artists in our local scene are, but it’s also due to just how much music is released across the state, week-in and week-out, that inevitably a noisy indie-rock song by Jasper Dean transitioning into an EDM-driven electronica ballad by Gwendolyn Dot.

But it also means that you’ll get guests like Pinkeye, aka The Pinkeye Orchestra. This is a free-jazz inspired ensemble of 12 local musicians that formed a little more than 18 years ago, around what was then a burgeoning post-garage-rock scene of the mid-late 00’s.

Several of them started out by covering John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme,” with distorted guitars, frenetic drums, saxophones and more. Initially known only as Pinkeye, the band started to add more members, circling unconventional venues like The Bohemian National Home and the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit.

At the center of the Pinkeye band were three musicians who also had a knack for organizing, event-planning, or call-it-what-you-will, that was Mike Ross, Jeff Howitt, and Ray Thompson. They joined me in-studio to talk about the band’s upcoming performance at the Annex Gallery, part of 333 Midland in Highland Park, this Friday at 7 p.m., their first performance in 16 years.

During our interview, the trio talk about forming the band, and eventually crossing paths with the late John Sinclair, former manager of the MC5 and celebrated poet, musician and jazz-enthusiast. He began performing with Pinkeye in 2009-2010, and rechristened them The Pinkeye Orchestra. Catch ’em live, this Friday, playing two sets at the Annex.

My second guest was Arriana Bardoni, the singer-songwriter and guitarist who started Tears of a Martian. This has been Bardoni’s songwriting project that has attracted a revolving cast of band members over the years, but she’s also just performed live under the moniker as well, blending elements of indie-rock, R&B, and soul.

During our interview, Bardoni revealed the origin of the name, and talked developing the project and aligning with fellow talented local artists and songwriters like Carmel Liburdi and Shannon Barnes. Bardoni also treated WDET listeners to an exclusive sneak preview of her new single, “Spotless Mind,” which is officially out this Friday.

Next, Bardoni performed a live acoustic version of another new single, “Real,” which, like “Spotless Mind,” are both featured on her new release, her first full length, “light II dark,” which is out on May 8.

You can see Tears Of A Martian live this Friday night at the Outer Limits Lounge, for a release party, where you can get copies of the album on CD.

A few other notable tracks this week: new hook-heavy instrumental noise-rock from Callie Simon, a hard-driving, hard-rocking ballad from The Hourlies, and slick surf rock from Ann Arbor’s The Vicissitones.

Listen to the full episode using the media player above for up to two weeks after it airs.