Alternative Rock
Julien Baker Brings Us Close to Little Oblivions at Nashville’s Analog: Review
Got Enough Gas: There’s music that makes you think and music that makes you want to move, and there’s Julien Baker. The songwriter has an uncanny talent for considering the underlying motivations for her own feelings and actions, and the result is often visceral music that hypnotizes the attention of the listener and prompts self-reflection, sometimes feeling deeply difficult and deeply healing at once — which is maybe part of the point. Baker released Little Oblivions last month and received instant praise for its bold and self-conscious digs into complex questions of addiction, survival, mental illness, and second chances. The album marked an evolution for Baker’s music into a fuller band sound, after she probed the depths of acoustic alt-folk in her first two albums and united her talen...
The Joy Formidable Return with New Single “Into the Blue”: Stream
The Joy Formidable are back with “Into the Blue”, their first new material since 2018. Stream the new song via its accompanying music video below. On “Into the Blue”, lead singer Ritzy Bryan describes turning feelings of rejection into self love. “Don’t fear the move out of the past,” she sings. “Let time take your hand and guide you / It’s time to move / Into the Blue once again.” “‘Into The Blue’ is about surrendering to love and magic,” explained Bryan in a statement. “Having the courage to enjoy a new journey and the mystery and excitement of something unexpected. It’s about opening your eyes to beauty and love again. Making it to the other side. Whilst not conceived as a metaphor for the times we all live in now, it certainly turned out that way.” As for the music video, it depic...
Tomahawk (Mike Patton) Release New Album Tonic Immobility: Stream
Tomahawk have released their fifth studio album, Tonic Immobility. It’s the band’s first album in eight years and continues singer Mike Patton’s prolific output via his various projects. Formed in 1999, Tomahawk is primarily the songwriting vehicle for Patton and guitarist Duane Denison (The Jesus Lizard). The group is rounded out by drummer John Stanier (Battles, ex-Helmet) and bassist Trevor Dunn (who plays with Patton in Mr. Bungle). Known for their mysterious and evocative alt-rock sound, Tomahawk previewed Tonic Immobility with the singles “Business Casual” and “Dog Eat Dog”. Like the expansive desert scene on the album cover, the songs pair a heavy melodicism with the right amount of musical restraint and adventurousness. A “Covid record,” per say, Tonic Immobility was recorded in 20...
beabadoobee Teams with The 1975 for Our Extended Play EP, Shares “Last Day on Earth”: Stream
Our new music feature Origins provides artists the opportunity to give fans unique insight into their latest track. Today, beabadoobee envisions the “Last Day on Earth”. Before the pandemic hit, beabadoobee was set to tour with Phoebe Bridgers and Dirty Hit labelmates The 1975. While that trek obviously never got on the road, the UK-based songwriter still managed to link up with 1975’s Matty Healy and George Daniel to collaborate on the follow-up to her excellent debut album, Fake It Flowers. beabadoobee is now previewing that effort, cleverly titled Our Extended Play EP, with the new single “Last Day on Earth”. Fans have long known of the mutual appreciation between bea and Healy, and the pair have been teasing their collaboration for some time. Our 2020 Rookie of the Year and T...
Stone Temple Pilots’ Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop Remains a Prized Relic of the Grunge Era
In the 1992 comedy Wayne’s World, titular protagonist and lay philosopher Wayne Campbell tells his best friend and hockey partner, Garth Algar, “Led Zeppelin didn’t write tunes that everyone liked. They left that to the Bee Gees.” Apply that sage wisdom to the hard rock landscape of the mid-1990s, and you can make a convincing case for Stone Temple Pilots being their generation’s Led Zeppelin while the Bee Gees in this case were, well, any of the myriad contemporary grunge titans that critics accused STP of mimicking. Just as critics learned to worship Jimmy Page’s monolithic riffing and Robert Plant’s banshee wail, they slowly came around to Stone Temple Pilots’ effortless pop savvy and staggering musicality on their third album, Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, which turns 2...
Evanescence’s Amy Lee on The Bitter Truth, Billie Eilish, and More
Evanescence’s Amy Lee. photo by Nick Fancher Amy Lee is one of the most influential women in rock music, having broken down barriers at the start of the 21st century. As the lead vocalist and chief songwriter for hard rockers Evanescence, Lee emerged at a time when women were scarcely heard on mainstream rock radio. Now, Evanescence are back with The Bitter Truth, the band’s first album of brand-new music in 10 years. Following their orchestral Synthesis release and world tour with a full orchestra, The Bitter Truth finds Evanescence getting back to their hard rock roots with blistering guitars and pounding rhythms. With The Bitter Truth set for release this Friday (March 26th), Evanescence have already released a string of singles from the effort, including the empowering song “Use ...
10 Album Covers Worse Than Justin Bieber’s Justice
Justin Bieber’s new album, Justice, immediately caught people’s attention when it was first announced — not necessarily for the music it promised but for having a really terrible album cover. Along with Bieber’s painful attempt to edgily pose in a dim, green tunnel, as if he was the new Skins cast member, eagle-eyed music lovers also spotted the album font’s similarity to the band Justice’s logo. <img data-attachment-id="1114012" data-permalink="https://consequenceofsound.net/2021/03/justice-cease-and-desist-justin-bieber/justin-bieber-justice-logo-cease-and-desist/" data-orig-file="https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/justin-bieber-justice-logo-cease-and-desist.jpg?quality=80" data-orig-size="1200,675" data-comments-opened=&q...
Thom Yorke Gives “Creep” a Acoustic Remix for Japanese Fashion Show: Watch
Thom Yorke notoriously hates “Creep”, but he apparently loves fashion enough to overlook his distaste for the classic track. The Radiohead frontman provided a haunting new acoustic remix of the Pablo Honey single for a recent Japanese fashion show. The nearly nine-minute version of “Creep” was mixed as the featured song for Jun Takahashi’s fall 2021 collection “Creep Very”, which was part of Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo. Touching on why the song was the perfect fit for his new line, Takahashi told Vogue, “The theme is of a person who is frail and weak but has a truly pure heart.” Here, “Creep” is a drawn-out, ghost of a tune, acoustic guitar strumming steadily over droning synths and Yorke’s digitally crackling vocals. You can take a listen by watching the “Creep Very” show via Takahashi’s U...
Song of the Week: SABA Stays Fresh as Ever on the Reflective “Ziplock”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Chicago rapper SABA returns with a double-single, his first new music of 2021. Chicago rapper SABA has returned this week with another set of double singles, “Ziplock” and “Rich Don’t Stop”, continuing the dual-drop format he established throughout 2020. “Ziplock” was produced by D. Phelps and Coop the Truth and marks the first new music from the emcee in 2021. (He can also be found on the soundtrack for the Oscar-nominated film Judas and the Black Messiah, appearing on “Plead The .45th” alongside Smino.) A recent press release st...
Green Day Release 25th Anniversary Reissue of Insomniac: Stream
Green Day’s 1995 album Insomniac turned 25 years old this past fall. To celebrate, the trio have released a special reissue of the LP featuring eight previously unreleased live tracks. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. The rare audio included on the reissue was recorded during Green Day’s unforgettable 1996 concert in Prague during the Insomniac World Tour. Hyped-up and full of energy, the band barreled through the album’s first four songs live at the show and then broke out classics like “Brain Stew”, “Jaded”, and “Walking Contradiction”. At a time when tours are still on hold due to the pandemic, listening to these live tracks offers the incredible feeling of being front row at a gig again while you watch the best pop-punk band of all time do their thing. The 25th anniversary r...
Alex Lahey Shreds on Cover of Faith Hill’s “This Kiss”: Stream
Australian indie rocker Alex Lahey has shared her own take on Faith Hill’s classic 1998 hit, “This Kiss”. Stream the cover below via Amazon Music. For her version of the country pop ballad, Lahey slightly speeds up the tempo and replaces the acoustic guitar with an electric. The cover transforms “This Kiss” into a straightforward rock tune and it absolutely shreds. “For years, I’ve had this big idea of doing an indie rock cover of Faith Hill’s ‘This Kiss,’ Lahey shared in a statement. “Two key changes, that iconic chorus, a million vocal harmonies — what more could you want? It was such a treat pulling this together with my mates Oscar and Jess as we navigated the depths of Melbourne’s lockdown last year and I’m so stoked that Amazon Music are putting it out perfectly timed with ...
Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett Finally Release Score for Spike Jonze’s Her: Stream
Eight years after Spike Jonze’s Oscar-nominated movie Her hit theaters, Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett have finally released the accompanying original film score in its entirety. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. A realistic sci-fi love story starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, Her is undoubtedly one of the best films of the past decade, and a huge part of that is due to its original score. Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett used all sorts of gentle piano and stripped-down instrumentation to capture the sounds of falling in love, getting lost in technology, and feeling the vast difference between loneliness and belonging. It’s a gorgeous collection of songs and one that’s long overdue to be available as a standalone art form. For whatever reason, the score was nev...
