Indie Rock
Samia Hopes You’re Not “Mad at Me” on New Song Featuring Papa Mbye: Stream
Samia is back with new Honey single “Mad at Me,” a synthpop song featuring Papa Mbye that goes out to all the people-pleasing girls with anxiety. Listen to the number below. Samia wrote “Mad at Me” alongside Rostam Batmanglij. In a statement, she explains, “The lyrics for ‘Mad At Me’ came from a poem I’d written about imagining what it’d be like to stop caring about what anyone was thinking. I was cosplaying a position that I haven’t experienced — which is of literally any confidence in my point of view.” In the music video, she and a group of friends “tried to embody that character — a bunch of girls having a good time in spite of it all. It is a big lie.” “Mad at Me” is the second single from Samia’s second album Honey, due out January 27th via Grand Jury. Caleb...
The Backseat Lovers Break Down New Album Waiting to Spill Track by Track: Exclusive
Track by Track is a recurring feature series in which artists share the story behind every song on their latest release. Today, Joshua Harmon and Jonas Swanson of The Backseat Lovers break down their new album, Waiting to Spill. The highs and lows during the three-year period The Backseat Lovers spent crafting their latest record, Waiting to Spill, are palpable from the jump. Out on Friday, October 28th, the album illustrates the impact of a meditative work between experimenting with DIY instruments and wrapping up tracks from earlier sessions. The indie rock ensemble embodies the idea of patience is a virtue, as their sophomore effort builds off 2019’s When We Were Friends at its own pace, leading to a rewarding album for both the collective and their listeners. Throughout Waiting to...
Taylor Swift Joins Bon Iver to Play “exile” Live in London: Watch
Taylor Swift joined Bon Iver on October 26th in London for one of the first live performances of the folklore cut, “exile.” Bon Iver have been touring Ireland and the UK for the last 10 days, with Wednesday serving as the second night of a back-to-back at the old Wembley Arena. Fan footage captured the new surprise duet, including fans’ shocked recognition at the sight of Swift, and Justin Vernon’s improbable bass joining her sultry soprano. The National’s Aaron Dessner, who produced the track, also joined in on the performance. According to Setlist.fm, this is only the second time “exile” has been played live, following a November 2020 set where Justin Vernon guested at Swift’s concert in New York. Check out clips from the new live rendition of “exile” below. Adve...
MGMT Plot Release of Live Album 11-11-11, 11 Years Later
On November 11th, 2011, MGMT performed an original 45-minute piece at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York to mark the opening of an exhibit celebrating the artist Maurizio Cattelan. Now, the band will finally release that performance as a live album, appropriately titled 11-11-11. The project, of course, arrives on 11-11-22. MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser were commissioned to write music in response to the 2011 Cattelan display, which suspended 130 pieces of art from varying heights. “We’re creating a musical experience that works for the building and for the construction and presentation of the Cattelan exhibit,” the duo said at the time. “It’s an art exhibit done in a completely original way, so it deserves music which is completely original.” After debu...
When We Were Young 2022 Photo Gallery: See Portraits of Pierce The Veil, Nessa Barrett, Atreyu, and More
After a cancelled first day, the inaugural When We Were Young festival reemerged on Sunday, October 23rd with a stacked kickoff. Check out exclusive portraits of artists like Pierce The Veil, Nessa Barrett, Atreyu, and more below. The festival tapped into a certain sense of angsty nostalgia, featuring acts like My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Avril Lavigne, Bright Eyes, Jimmy Eat World, and so many more. Select newcomers in the space were present as well, like The Linda Lindas and Mom Jeans, rounding out the pop-punk, emo, and indie lineup. For a full recap of the day, head over to our review of everything that went down. You can also check out action shots of standout sets at our full When We Were Young 2022 photo gallery. Advertisement Related Video In between the madness, photographer Kr...
Rick Rubin Picks His Desert Island Discs
What items would you bring with you to a deserted island? It’s a classic question, and now we have Rick Rubin’s answer: the super-producer appeared on a new episode of the BBC show Desert Island Discs, and he chose tracks by The Beatles, LCD Soundsystem, Simon & Garfunkel, and more to tide him over in complete isolation. For track number one, Rubin pointed to The Beatles’ “Across the Universe,” which he said not only taught him the basics of songwriting, but inspired him to learn how to meditate. “From three years old to seven years old, The Beatles was everywhere, and everywhere in my home,” he recalled. “And it somehow imprinted what a great song is, in a very deep level, before I knew that I was looking for what that was.” Skipping ahead a few decades, Rubin chose LCD Soundsystem’s ...
Quasi Announce New Album Breaking the Balls of History, Share “Queen of Ears”: Stream
After six years away, Quasi are returning soon with their perfectly-titled new album Breaking the Balls of History, which they’re teasing today with the new single “Queen of Ears.” Their debut for Sub Pop is slated for release on February 10th, 2023, and they’ll also celebrate the occasion with a North American tour. Quasi’s Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss co-produced Breaking the Balls of History alongside longtime punk go-to John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Unwound, Treepeople, Team Dresch). They figured their 2013 record Mole City would be their last and were content to move on — that is, until Weiss broke both legs and her collarbone in a 2019 car crash, just months before that pesky pandemic began. So along came Breaking the Balls of History, an a...
Unknown Mortal Orchestra Announce 2023 Tour Dates, Share “I Killed Captain Cook”: Stream
Unknown Mortal Orchestra return today with the new single “I Killed Captain Cook” and its accompanying music video. Additionally, the psych-rock project led by Ruban Nielson has unveiled North American and UK tour dates for 2023, their first outing in four years. When he was a child, Nielson’s mother would tell him the story of Captain James Cook, the English explorer known for colonizing Polynesia and attempting to kidnap Hawaiian chief Kalaniʻōpuʻu before ultimately meeting his demise in Hawaii. The aptly-titled “I Killed Captain Cook” is told from the perspective of the Hawaiian who rightfully killed Cook in defense of their homeland: “One of the many lies that they told/ Was that they were divine and fair/ With Cook’s blood on my hand/ The spell was broken there,” goes the final v...
When We Were Young Festival Makes Nostalgic Debut with Paramore, My Chemical Romance and More: Photo Gallery
After an unfortunately-canceled first day, When We Were Young’s inaugural festival finally kicked off this past Sunday (October 23rd) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Featuring a much-lauded, all-star lineup of emo, pop-punk, and indie rock, the festival overcame high expectations and extreme weather to deliver a day’s worth of nostalgic, angsty fun. Check out photos of the day below, featuring shots of Jimmy Eat World, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, My Chemical Romance, and more. From its announcement, When We Were Young was both hotly anticipated and heavily scrutinized. Skeptics pointed towards the relatively large size of the lineup for a single-day festival, predicting artist cancelations, general chaos, and conditions akin to Fyre Festival. While it might have seemed like the detractors wer...
Sleater-Kinney Unveil Star-Studded Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Album: Stream
Sleater-Kinney’s seminal 1997 album Dig Me Out passed its 25th anniversary this year, and now, the band has celebrated the record by unveiling Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Album. Listen to the project below. As Sleater-Kinney explained in a statement, “The artists who appear on Dig Me In have not so much covered the 13 original songs, but reinterpreted and reimagined them. Through added layers or the subtraction of guitars and drums, they provide a new way into the songs. Fresh rage, joy, pain, reclamation, slyness, and longing. Other interpretations slow down or stretch out the songs, trading urgency for contemplation, weariness or even a hint of ease.” Among the artists featured on Dig Me In are frequent Sleater-Kinney collaborator St. Vincent, clear Sleater-Kinney prote...
Arctic Monkeys Return With New Album The Car: Stream
Get your 2014 Tumblr flannels — or, rather, your 1970s hot pants — ready, because Arctic Monkeys have unveiled their new album The Car. In his review of the album, Paolo Ragusa says that The Car “is sonically aligned with the slow-burning psych pop of 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, the band farther away than ever from the tense post-punk or bluesy garage rock that characterized much of their output pre-2018. Orchestral flourishes, though not overwhelmingly frequent, give many of The Car’s songs a classic feel, while Turner’s vocal persona evokes a midlife crisis David Bowie.” Arctic Monkeys previewed The Car with the singles “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” (which we named Song of the Week) and “Body Paint” (which they performed on Fallon). Advertise...
Blondshell Offers Dramatic Devotion on New Single “Cartoon Earthquake”: Stream
We’re keeping our eyes and ears locked on Blondshell, the indie rock project of New York-bred, Los Angeles-based musician Sabrina Teitelbaum. She’s only officially released a handful of singles so far, but she adds another promising one today with “Cartoon Earthquake,” as part of Spotify’s Fresh Finds developing artists program. Sonically, Blondshell can be categorized as angry girl music of the indie rock persuasion, layering the bleeding hearts of ’70 singer-songwriters over fuzzy, sweeping guitars reminiscent of the ’90s. Lyrically, Teitelbaum specifically has a knack for writing about the nuances of love. On “Cartoon Earthquake,” Teitelbaum cheekily ponders the extent to which her partner would put their lives on the line to keep their relationship intact: “If a rock hit the...
