Indie Rock
Arlo Parks Cancels US Tour Dates Due to “Debilitating” Mental Health
Arlo Parks has canceled a series of US tour dates in order to return home to London and focus on her “debilitating” mental health. “I’ve been on the road on and off for the last 18 months, filling every spare second in between and working myself to the bone,” Parks wrote in a statement. “It was exciting and I was eager to grind and show everyone what I was capable of, how grateful I was to be where I am today. The people around me started to get worried but I was anxious to deliver and afraid to disappoint my fans and myself.” Parks continued: “I pushed myself unhealthily, further and harder than I should’ve. I find myself now in a very dark place, exhausted and dangerously low — it’s painful to admit that my mental health has deteriorated to a debilitating place, that I’m not okay, that I...
Phoenix Perform “Tonight” with Ezra Koenig on Colbert: Watch
Phoenix appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday, September 14th, to perform “Tonight,” their new song featuring Ezra Koenig. The Vampire Weekend vocalist joined his fellow indie rock icons by dialing in from what appeared to be a Tokyo taxi. This felt a little odd; Koenig was chilling in the back of the cab and seemingly lip synching, while Phoenix’s Thomas Mars gave a high energy performance all across the Late Show stage. But ‘odd’ can still be a lot of fun, as you can see in the performance below. We named “Tonight” Song of the Week when it dropped earlier this month. The track appears on Phoenix’s upcoming album Alpha Zulu, which is out November 4th (pre-orders are ongoing). So far, the band has also shared the album’s t...
Whitmer Thomas Ponders Why “Everything that Feels Good Is Bad” on New Single: Stream
Before Whitmer Thomas shares his new album The Older I Get the Funnier I Was this October, the comedian-musician has shared another preview today with the single and its accompanying music video. Sonically, “Everything that Feels Good Is Bad” is on the mellower side for Thomas, layering gentle acoustics over an electronic beat before the song swells into a rush of placid dream-pop. The song tackles the habit of gluttonous self-destruction in all its forms, effortlessly weaving the morose with the mundane: “Is it intermittent fasting or an eating disorder?/ Do I need all my old birthday cards or am I a hoarder?” he sings. “This song is about all of the unhealthy things I know I’m not supposed to do that I get some satisfaction out of doing in the moment,” Thomas explains in a press rel...
Cate Le Bon Shares Slinky New Song “Typical Love”: Stream
Cate Le Bon has released her standalone single “Typical Love,” a leftover from the sessions for her 2022 album, Pompeii. It arrives ahead of her headlining North American tour, which kicks off on September 27th (grab tickets here). Built atop a grooving bassline and the drumming of Stella Mozgawa, “Typical Love” is anything but typical. It comes with flourishes of electric guitar and synths alongside a distorted sax that adds to the disconcerting feel of the song’s production. Le Bon’s vocals cascade up and down the track, as she compares her love to “a shattering of glass and how I imagine Japan” and “an invite to the art of demolition.” “‘Typical Love’ was a product of a rare jam session with dearest genius friend, Stella Mozgawa,” Le Bon explained in a statement. “The outline, written o...
Sam Fender Cancels Remaining US Tour Dates to “Look After” Mental Health
English singer-songwriter Sam Fender has canceled his remaining 2022 US tour dates to take care of his mental health. This includes a trio of headlining shows, gigs in support of Florence + the Machine, and an appearance at Las Vegas’ Life Is Beautiful. “It seems completely hypocritical of me to advocate discussion on mental health and write songs about it if I don’t take the time to look after my own mental health,” Fender wrote in a statement posted to social media. “I’ve neglected myself for over a year now and haven’t dealt with things that have deeply affected me. It’s impossible to do this work on myself while on the road, and it’s exhausting feigning happiness and wellness for the sake of business. My friends and colleagues have been worried about me for a while and it’s not going t...
Weyes Blood Announces New Album, Shares “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody”: Stream
Weyes Blood season is approaching: Natalie Mering’s avant-rock project will return with a new album And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, on November 18th, 2022 via Sub Pop. Along with the announcement, Mering has unveiled the record’s lead single “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody,” as well as a batch of 2023 tour dates. And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow is the second in a trilogy of Weyes Blood albums. While its predecessor Titanic Rising (one of our top albums of 2019) was caught up in the anticipation of impending doom, the new album documents being in the thick of the storm and searching for an escape. “We’re in a fully functional shit show,” Mering says in a press release. “My heart is a glow stick that’s been cracked, lighting up my chest in an explosion of earnestness.” Pre-o...
Built to Spill Premiere New Album When the Wind Forgets Your Name: Stream
Built to Spill have revealed their new album, When the Wind Forgets Your Name, out September 9th via Sub Pop. Listen to it in full below. When the Wind Forgets Your Name mark’s Built to Spill’s first album in seven years and their debut release with Sub Pop. “I’m psyched: I’ve wanted to be on Sub Pop since I was a teenager,” founding member Doug Martsch said in a press statement. “And I think I’m the first 50-year-old they’ve ever signed.” Martsch started working on the album after meeting Oruã members Le Almeida and João Casaes several years ago. After serving as his new backing band for shows in Brazil, they joined him on tour in the US and Europe, learning new songs Martsch had written. After coming off the road, they recorded the bass and drum tracks at his rehearsal space in Bois...
BLACKSTARKIDS and beabadoobee Send a “CYBERKISS 2 U*” on New Song: Stream
Ahead of their new project CYBERKISS*, BLACKSTARKIDS have shared “CYBERKISS 2 U*,” a new track featuring their Dirty Hit labelmate beabadoobee. Listen to the single below. Where last month’s “SEX APPEAL” was all swaggering hip-hop, “CYBERKISS 2 U*” leans more into hyperpop, with BLACKSTARKIDS and beabadoobee’s vocals tuned up chipmunk style over a saccharine electronic melody. “Takes me back, when you said I can make you better,” they sing. “You make me feel good, I hope I feel this way forever.” “We were inspired by electronic and colorful music from our childhood like Daft Punk and Jamiroquai,” BLACKSTARKIDS said in a statement about the track. “Also New York culture in general, the scene that kids have going on down there played a big role in how we wanted our music to sound. Worki...
Wet Leg Give Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” a Post-Punk Revamp: Watch
If you’ve done any TikTok scrolling in the past couple of months, you’ve almost certainly heard the infectious Steve Lacy single “Bad Habit.” Now, Wet Leg have caught the bug, putting their own spin on the hit for BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge series. Lacy’s original “Bad Habit” appears on his recent album Gemini Rights. While it’s more of a sultry, funky slow jam, Wet Leg kick things up a notch. Here, the tempo has nearly doubled as the Isle of Wight band’s frenetic guitars backdrop their characteristically deadpan vocal delivery. With breakneck hi-hats anchoring the tune, “Bad Habit” works just as a post-punk ripper just as well as Lacy’s R&B earworm. Check out Wet Leg’s cover below. Wet Leg recently scored the gig of a lifetime opening for UK and EU dates on Harry Styles’ “Lov...
Courtney Marie Andrews Reminds Us “These Are the Good Old Days” with New Single: Stream
Courtney Marie Andrews returns today with the new single “These Are the Good Old Days,” the latest single off her upcoming album Loose Future. It arrives with an accompanying music video, as well as newly-added tour dates in the UK and EU through 2023. Andrews said she wanted to release a “feel-good song,” and “These Are the Good Old Days” is just what the doctor ordered. Backed by a simple instrumental arrangement, the song is a placid ode to living in the moment, and a gentle reminder that dwelling on the past or catastrophizing the future are rarely beneficial: “People like me think feelings are facts/ Falling in love gives us a heart attack/ One foot in the future, one in the past/ Wanna know for sure if it’s gonna last,” Andrews sings. “‘These are the good old days’ is a saying m...
How to Get Tickets to Modest Mouse’s “The Lonesome Crowded West Tour”
Modest Mouse will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of their second album The Lonesome Crowded West with tickets to a 20-date tour starting in November. The band plans to perform the entire, all-time indiehead classic from start to finish for the first time, making good on a tease from a benefit show in late December 2021, where they nearly completed a run-through of the tracklist, save for “Lounge.” Get tickets here, and read on for more details including pre-sale dates. What Is Modest Mouse’s Next Tour? Modest Mouse will first wrap up a previously announced North American circuit in early September before embarking on “The Lonesome Crowded West Tour.” They’ll play Wichita, Kansas on September 6th, Tulsa, Oklahoma on September 7th, Louisville, Kentucky on September 9th, and Nashville, T...
Modest Mouse Announce The Lonesome Crowded West 25th Anniversary Tour
Modest Mouse have announced a 2022 North American tour to mark the 25th anniversary of their sophomore album, The Lonesome Crowded West. Though nearly every track from the LP has been rotated through the indie rockers’ setlists, it will mark the first time that the band has performed it from start to finish. “The Lonesome Crowded West Tour” kicks off on November 18th in Missoula, Montana. The jaunt will also feature a two-night stand in Seattle and stops in cities including Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, DC before wrapping on December 17th in New York City. See the full itinerary below. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10:00 a.m. local time on Friday, September 9th via Ticketmaster. A pre-sale will precede the public on-sale beginning on Wednesday, Se...
