baroque pop
Song of the Week: Fiona Apple Reads Tolkien Poetry on “Where the Shadows Lie”
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, Fiona Apple makes a fantastical return with “Where the Shadows Lie.” The music of Fiona Apple has a way of making itself feel suspended in time. From the straightforward, piano-heavy compositions of her 1996 debut Tidal to the raucous, ramshackle qualities of 2020’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters, the iconic musician might’ve been a spokesperson of turn-of-the-century doom — but her sound is void of a specific era. Really, it’s a trait that Apple shares with the Lord of the Rings franchise...
Sufjan Stevens in 10 Songs
This article originally ran in 2015; we’re dusting it off in celebration of Sufjan Stevens’ birthday on July 1st. Ever felt overwhelmed by an artist’s extensive back catalog? Been meaning to check out a band, but you just don’t know where to begin? In 10 Songs is here to help, offering a crash course and entry point into the daunting discographies of iconic artists of all genres. This is your first step toward fandom. Take it. It’s been nearly 30 years since Sufjan Stevens first appeared on the music scene as a solo artist, but it’s still difficult to think of him as a real person. The man films videos of himself playing banjo on a farm with a curled baseball cap on his head. He dances awkwardly in neon duct tape and strands of lights. He faces audiences with a set of feathered wings strap...
Florence + the Machine Unveil New Album Dance Fever: Stream
Florence + the Machine have released their new studio set Dance Fever via Polydor Records/Universal Music. Stream the album below. The dance-filled baroque pop record is the band’s first full-length body of work in nearly four years, a follow-up to 2018’s more understated High As Hope, and was preceded by lead single “King,” “Heaven Is Here,” “My Love,” and “Free” — each of which came with a striking music video directed by Autumn de Wilde. Other collaborators on the album include Jack Antonoff, who co-wrote six of its 14 tracks and helped produce both “King” and “Free, Dave Bayley of Glass Animals, British singer Kid Harpoon, and American pianist/producer Doveman. Advertisement Related Video In her official review for Consequence, critic Ilana Kaplan calls Dance Fever “a natural evolution...
On A Beginner’s Mind, Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine Use Fiction as a Guide and a Salve
Sufjan Stevens is nothing if not prolific. The experimental artist has released a ton of albums over the past few years, each one a unique effort at navigating his emotional state and the state of the world at large. Almost one year ago to the date, Stevens released The Ascension, an expansion exploration into love, death, apocalypse and nationality. The Ascension was preceded by Aporia, a collaborative album with Stevens’s stepfather, Lowell Brams. Earlier this year, Stevens unleashed Convocations, a five-volume instrumental exploration of grief in the wake of the death of his biological father. We’ll do the math for you: A Beginner’s Mind marks Stevens’s fourth album in two years. This time, he’s collaborated with Californian Angelo De Augustine, who has an indie-folk style complementary...
Florence and The Machine Unveil New Song “Call Me Cruella”: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-21T14:44:55+00:00“>May 21, 2021 | 10:44am ET The official soundtrack for Disney’s live-action Cruella is out today, and it’s led by Florence and The Machine‘s new song “Call Me Cruella”. The song kicks off with a reinterpretation of the classic tune from 1996’s 101 Dalmations. “Cruella De Vil,” Florence Welch muses, “Cruella De Vil/ She’s born to be bad/ So run for the hills.” But where the original relied on piano and horns for a slinky, jazzy feel, Welch is here to rock. Over a driving bass line, she layers on guitars, strings, vocal oohs and ahs, and other touches of baroque pop. “Call Me Cruella” continues to gather in strength like a tidal wave, and it comes c...
serpentwithfeet Releases New Single “Same Size Shoe”: Stream
serpentwithfeet has today released a new track called “Same Size Show”. The latest single off his forthcoming DEACON LP, the song can be streamed ahead. The running thesis of the follow-up to last year’s Apparition EP examines the nature of love and tenderness for a Black gay man. We heard a platonic take on that with the lead single “Fellowship”, and now “Same Size Shoe” delivers a lush exploration of what it’s like to have a romance with someone who can truly relate to you. “Me and my boo wear the same size shoe/ Boy you got my trust ’cause I’m like you,” sings serpentwithfeet. The celebration of that fondness comes to a beautiful, convivial bridge where he calls out for a trumpet only to provide the horn notes with his own vocals. Speaking with Zane Lowe on Apple Music about the track, ...
Jon Batiste Shares Joyous New Single “I Need You”: Stream
From his role as a bandleader extraordinaire on A Late Show with Stephen Colbert to his bountiful jazz arrangements for Pixar’s latest hit Soul, Jon Batiste has made a name for himself by being a ridiculously multi-talented musician. Today, Batiste is showing yet another side of his personality with his new single, “I Need You”. Taken from his upcoming album We Are, “I Need You” is an explosion of infectious joy set to the tune of swing-inspired pop. It’s impossible not to let it brighten your mood, and according to Batiste, that was his plan all along. “This song is a vibe cleanse,” he explained in a press release. “After 2020, this is like a warm hug. Let’s bring the vibes back!” (Good Vibes Only was certainly the theme this Inauguration Week.) In the track’s music video, directed by Ala...
Lana Del Rey Announces New Album Right When Everyone Could Care Less
Like everyone else in the country, Lana Del Rey spent Tuesday night eating at Denny’s and announcing a new album. Wait, what? The Norman Fucking Rockwell! singer hopped on Instagram Live while getting dinner and checking in on the election results. After a brief update on Texas and Florida, LDR thought it would be a great time to discuss her upcoming projects. Because, you know, priorities mean nothing, it’s 2020, and we still don’t know who the president will be next year. First, Del Rey revealed what we all already knew: her next LP Chemtrails Over the Country Club has been delayed. She noted that she was indeed finished with the new album, which she described as “folky” and “super different from Norman.” However, though she initially anticipated a September release, it now looks li...
The Adventurous Magic Oneohtrix Point Never Illuminates a True Talent: Review
The Lowdown: The pseudonym of Brooklyn-based electronic musician Daniel Lopatin, Oneohtrix Point Never has made a name for himself not only with his own releases, but also through his collaborations with notable artists like Tim Hecker, FKA Twigs, and The Weeknd. He’s also found acclaim as the composer for both Safdie brothers films — 2017’s Good Time and 2019’s Uncut Gems — and he set a high bar with 2018’s Age Of. Thus, he had quite the task in front of him in making its follow-up, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never, a worthwhile addition to his impressive and renowned catalog. Fortunately, Lopatin goes one step further by creating a fascinating and evocative, yet periodically frustrating, sequence. Recorded in lockdown between March and July of this year, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never sees him c...
Ranking: Every Sufjan Stevens Album from Worst to Best
Sufjan Stevens has come to be one of the quintessential voices in contemporary indie rock, but it’s not a title he earned overnight. The songwriter is known for being prolific, having written eight solo studio albums, several collaborative albums, original material for Luca Guadagnino’s 2017 film Call Me by Your Name, and even multiple Christmas albums. He writes, performs, and records most of the music himself, sometimes playing more than 10 instruments on a single record. He even once vowed to make an album for each of the 50 US states (though, we all know how that turned out). Throughout each of his records, he’s explored banjo-led folk, electro-pop, grandiose indie rock, glitchy experimentalism, and instrumental new-age music. Stevens is the epitome of a musical polymath. What’s impres...
Owen Pallett Releases Surprise New Album Island: Stream
Owen Pallett has returned with a surprise album titled Island. Check it out below via Bandcamp, in addition to a new video for “A Bloody Morning”. Island marks the Canadian composer’s first full-length since In Conflict, a stellar release from 2014. It consists of 13 almost entirely acoustic songs, many of which were initially written on an old-fashioned acoustic guitar. According to a statement, the new album also boasts Pallett’s “grandest ensemble” yet in the London Contemporary Orchestra, whose arrangements were recorded at the famed Abbey Road Studios. In addition to revealing the self-produced LP, the Arcade Fire associate has released a clip for “A Bloody Morning”, conceived and directed completely during the pandemic. Helmed by director Vincent René-Lortie, who filmed foo...
Fiona Apple’s When the Pawn… to Receive First-Ever Vinyl Release
Fiona Apple’s excellent sophomore album, When the Pawn…, will be released on vinyl for the first time ever. VinylMePlease has partnered with the legendary artist to create an exclusive pressing, a 180-gram LP on black vinyl with a new cover picked by Apple herself. “While Tidal introduced us to Apple, the awkward and sullen girl, When the Pawn… had her shooting back with a fiery vengeance at a time when Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette were making anger feminine and more mainstream than their punk predecessors,” the VinylMePlease description reads. “On the record, Apple sings with a gnarly gruffness. She begins most songs with a deceptive sweetness, building to an angsty climax, wielding her voice as a weapon against ex-boyfriends and bullies.” When the Pawn… was arguably Apple’s best album...
