Mitski has unveiled her new album Laurel Hell. Stream it below. Laurel Hell is the Japanese-American singer-songwriter’s first full-length body of work since Be the Cowboy (which was Consequence’s No. 1 album of 2018). Inspired largely by ’80s dance music, the LP contains singles “Working for the Knife,” “The Only Heartbreaker,” “Heat Lightning,” and “Love Me More.” To coincide with tonight’s release, she has shared a video for the album track “Stay Soft,” which you can view below. “It seems almost too perfect for Mitski to return, in year three of our miserable pandemic,” writes Consequence’s Paolo Ragusa in his official review of the album, “with a bright, dancefloor-ready album, and there’s no doubt that some fans will be disappointed that the extroverted energy of Laurel Hell doesn’t m...
For our Track by Track feature, artists open up about the stories behind each song on their latest album. Today, Erin Rae takes us track by track through her new album, Lighten Up. After releasing her debut effort, Putting on Airs, in 2018, Erin Rae was living as the troubadours do. She spent the years between that release and the start of the pandemic on the road and, like any other artist, found that life come to a screeching halt. On Friday, February 4th, she’ll return with her new album, Lighten Up, an appropriate title both for our times and for the album. This latest collection is an amalgam of dreamy, psychedelic country, indie-rock, and believably vintage folk. Thematically, too, the album is a bit like an old kaleidoscope — social commentary and musings on gender equality mor...
Our Track by Track feature offers musicians the platform to share the inspiration and stories behind each song on their latest release. Today, MØ offers a deep dive into her new album, Motordrome. MØ has returned today (January 28th) with Motordrome, her first new album in more than three years. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. The Danish singer began work on the follow-up to Forever Neverland after exhaustively touring for five years. While recovering from the physical and mental toll of being on the road, MØ faced another obstacle when a vocal injury forced her into months of rehabilitation. She distilled all of these experiences into her lyrics, reuniting with longtime co-writers like Caroline Ailin and Noonie Bao to bring the songs to completion. Other collaborators inc...
Dance your cares away because Foo Fighters have released their new Fraggle Rock-inspired single, the appropriately titled “Fraggle Rock Rock.” It appears on the soundtrack to Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, which premiered on Apple TV+ today. Dave Grohl and co. are clearly having the time of their lives on the irresistibly catchy tune, wailing, “‘Cause everybody here gotta shout till we all break out/ Rock, rock, Fraggle Rock/ We’re gonna rock our way to freedom/ Gonna run right back and see ’em/ Gonna flip, flop, skippity hop/ Back to Fraggle Rock,” over scorching guitars on the deliriously fun chorus. Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock features the classic characters Red Fraggle, Gogo Fraggle, Mokey Fraggle, Wembley Fraggle, Boober Fraggle, and Uncle Traveling Matt. All 13 episodes of t...
Our Track by Track feature gives artists the opportunity to share the inspiration and stories behind each song on their latest release. Today, Yard Act frontman James Smith takes a deep dive into the songs behind their debut album, The Overload. British post-punk band Yard Act have unveiled their debut album The Overload today (January 21st). It’s safe to say that Yard Act are observers: The Overload is filled with statements that summarize our modern condition, both in their native England and the rest of the world around it. Led by frontman James Smith and rounded out by bassist Ryan Needham, guitarist Sam Shjipstone, and drummer Jay Russell, Yard Act are among the newest class of conscious rockers coming from across the pond. Every sound in The Overload feels deliber...
David Bazan has released Havasu, a surprise new album under his Pedro the Lion moniker. Stream it below on Spotify and Apple Music. While creating the 10-track LP — which serves as the follow-up and sequel to 2019’s Phoenix — Bazan found inspiration in the community of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where he lived for a year as a middle schooler. “It’s this very synthetic, gimmicky place set in this soulful, desolate landscape,” he said in a statement about returning to Lake Havasu City. “An intersection I hadn’t remembered for 30 years would trigger a flood of hidden memories. I was there to soak in it as much as possible.” Advertisement Related Video However, the threads that run through Phoenix, Havasu, and the album that will come next are meant to explore something deeper than simple chil...
Beach House have unveiled the third installment of their upcoming double album, Once Twice Melody. Listen to Once Twice Melody: Chapter 3 below. Once Twice Melody marks Beach House’s first full-length in four years, following 2018’s 7. Produced by Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally themselves, the record was mixed by Alan Moulder, Caesar Edmunds, Trevor Spencer, and Dave Fridmann, and features string arrangements by David Campbell. Chapter 3’s five songs swell from quiet to loud and back again; acoustic guitar jangles as Legrand does her best Julee Cruise in “Sunset,” while “Only You Know” veers toward the electric. Check out those tracks, as well as “Another Go Around,” “Masquerade,” and “Illusion of Forever,” via the visualizer below. Advertisement Related Vid...
FKA twigs has released her new mixtape CAPRISONGS via Young/Atlantic Records. Stream it below on Apple Music and Spotify. The 19-track project was preceded by lead single “Tears in the Club” with The Weeknd, as well as with the Rema-assisted “Jealousy.” The tracklist also includes collaborations with Pa Salieu (“Honda”), Daniel Caesar (“Careless”), Jorja Smith and Unknown T (“Darjeeling”), and more. twigs herself executive produced CAPRISONGS with El Guincho, working with producers like Mike Dean, Cirkut, and Warren Ellis. Announcing CAPRISONGS on Twitter last week, the British singer-songwriter called the mixtape, “my journey back to myself through my amazing collaborators and friends,” while also pointing to her own astrological chart as part of the project’s inspiration. ...
Cat Power released her new album Covers at the stroke of midnight on Friday. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. As its rather succinct title makes clear, the LP finds the indie rock stalwart covering the songbooks of other musicians, from Frank Ocean (lead single “Bad Religion”) and the Pogues (“A Pair of Brown Eyes”) to Kitty Wells (“It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”), Lana Del Rey (“White Mustang”), and even Billie Holiday (tender album closer “I’ll Be Seeing You,” which serves as a tribute to the late French producer Philippe Zdar). “Performing covers is a very enjoyable way to do something that feels natural to me when it comes to making music,” Powers explained in a statement back in October when she first released her take on Ocean’s Channel Orange-era 2012 track. A...
SICK!, the new album from Earl Sweatshirt, is here. The rapper’s fourth LP is the follow-up to his acclaimed Some Rap Songs from 2018. Listen below. SICK! boasts production from Earl himself, alongside Black Noi$e, Rob Chambers, Theravadam, Samiyam, Alexander Spit, and The Alchemist. It also includes guest appearances from Armand Hammer and Zelooperz. “SICK! is my humble offering of 10 songs recorded in the wake of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns,” Earl said in a statement. “Before the virus I had been working on an album I named after a book I used to read with my mother (The People Could Fly). Once the lockdowns hit, people couldn’t fly anymore.” Advertisement Related Video He continued: “A wise man said art imitates life. People were sick. The People...
Burial has released his new EP ANTIDAWN via Hyperdub. Stream it below on Apple Music and Spotify. The five-song collection contains lengthy ambient tracks titled “Strange Neighbourhood,” “Shadow Paradise,” “New Love,” “Upstairs Flat,” and, of course, “Antidawn” — two of which clock in at over 10 minutes apiece. “ANTIDAWN reduces Burial’s music to just the vapours,” read a statement from the British musician’s record label ahead of the EP’s release. “The record explores an interzone between dislocated, patchwork songwriting and eerie, open-world game space ambience. In the resulting no man’s land, lyrics take precedence over song, lonely phrases colour the haze, a stark and fragmented structure makes time slow down.” Related Video Hyperdub went on to explain that Burial is “tell[ing] a stor...