Indie Rock
Widowspeak Announce New Album The Jacket, Share “Everything Is Simple”: Stream
New York indie rockers Widowspeak have announced their sixth studio album, The Jacket. The record is out March 11th via Captured Tracks, but first single “Everything Is Simple” is available to stream now, along with a music video directed by OTIUM. Check it out below. Widowspeak recorded The Jacket with producer Homer Steinweiss. The record, initially a concept album centered around the formation and disintegration of a fictional band, is rife with self-referential, full-circle moments. Now a duo, band members Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas reunited with founding drummer Michael Stasiak for the recording, which also features J.D. Sumner on bass, and piano and keyboard contributions from Michael Hess. “Everything Is Simple” previews The Jacket with a minimalist, country groove. ...
Sufjan Stevens Shares His Favorite and Least Favorite “Albums” of 2021
Long after most music publications shared their Best of 2021 lists (cough cough), Sufjan Stevens has arrived fashionably late to the opinion-dumping party. The musician caused a bit of a stir today by sharing not only his favorite, but also his least favorite albums of the year on his Tumblr blog; Sure, most of his favorite albums didn’t come out in 2021, and most of his least favorite albums aren’t even albums at all, but who’s going to stop him? He’s Sufjan Stevens! Some of the notable highlights from Stevens’ favorites list include Alain Goraguer’s soundtrack to La Planète Sauvage, a.k.a. Fantastic Planet, the wildly trippy 1973 animated sci-fi film. He also took a liking to new age icon Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s 1986 masterpiece, Keyboard Fantasies. As far as more re...
Mac DeMarco Covers “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”: Stream
Mac DeMarco is back with a new addition to his Christmas covers cannon. This year, he’s taken on the 1943 classic “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Written by Kim Gannon and Walter Kent, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” was originally recorded by Bing Crosby, centering around Crosby’s slow crooning and a swell of lush strings. In DeMarco’s chilled-out version, the singer’s go-to piano adds a jazzy touch to the standard, and a bent-note guitar solo makes the song sound like a DeMarco original. In the accompanying music video, an anthropomorphic inflatable tree traverses the streets before setting up shop in a Christmas tree farm. Check out the video below. Advertisement Related Video DeMarco has been covering Christmas songs for some time now, and they somehow always manage to stand out among the j...
Father John Misty Announces New Album Chloe and the Next 20th Century
Father John Misty has announced his fifth album, Chloe and the Next 20th Century, out April 8th, 2022 via Sub Pop and Bella Union. Always one for a bit, the artist otherwise known as Josh Tillman announced the record by mailing a mysterious vinyl to fans through the label Bella Union. A video of the record posted to Reddit reveals a spoken-word message announcing the album: “Available April 8th, 2022 on Sub Pop and Bella Union. Father John Misty’s new album: Chloe and the Next 20th Century. Get it on vinyl, CD, the other one, uh, cassette. And in beautiful deluxe hardback edition with expanded artwork and much more. Is this real? It is. This is the album. You’re listening to it right now. That’s nice. Eleven new tracks produced by Jonathan Wilson and Josh Tillman. Chloe And The Next 20th C...
Song of the Week: Best Coast and The Linda Lindas Collaborate on the Vibrant “Leading”
We’re taking a break from our Annual Report to highlight the Song of the Week. In this feature, we talk 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, Best Coast is back with a little help from rising stars The Linda Lindas. Pop culture right now seems dominated by a certain amount of sentimentality. Rebooting and revamping have become the norm, and people are starting to push back on the oversaturation. Best Coast probably weren’t intending to jump into that exact discourse with their latest, “Leading,” but the opening line is a relatable statement nonetheless: “Nostalgia’s overrated, or maybe it’s just complicate...
Waxahatchee Announces El Deafo Soundtrack, Shares New Single “Tomorrow”: Stream
Waxahatchee (aka Katie Crutchfield) has announced she is handling the soundtrack for El Deafo, an upcoming Apple TV+ adaptation of Cece Bell’s graphic novel of the same name. The EP is out January 7th via Merge Records and features the lead single “Tomorrow.” The five-track project also includes “Up in the Sky,” the main title theme for the animated children’s series, as well as tracks like “Trampoline Love Song” and “Mighty Bolt.” “I’m so happy to finally announce an amazing project I had the honor of being a part of,” Crutchfield said in a statement. “Last year I wrote some original music for a new show on Apple TV+ called El Deafo, based on the book of the same name by a true hero, Cece Bell. Myself along with Rob Barbato spent a few months arranging and recording these tunes and it was...
Best Coast Recruit The Linda Lindas for New Single “Leading”: Stream
Best Coast are gearing up for the deluxe edition of their latest studio album, Always Tomorrow. In anticipation of its release on January 7th, the band has shared one of the bonus tracks, “Leading,” featuring backing vocals from the teenaged riot grrrl group The Linda Lindas. “Leading” is a dose of bratty, guitar-driven power pop, which vocalist Bethany Cosentino describes in a statement as a song about “trying to find hope during the apocalypse.” The Linda Lindas — who, if you’ll recall, nabbed a coveted signing to Epitaph Records earlier this year thanks to their viral LA Public Library performance — flesh out the track with soaring harmonies. Corresponding with its punky sonics, the lyrics of “Leading” find Cosentino grappling with reality: “I’m a believer in a healthy dose of pes...
Yves Tumor Announces 2022 International Tour
Yves Tumor is hitting the road in support of their surprise EP The Asymptotical World with a 2022 world tour. The 47-date jaunt comes on the heels of the groundbreaking artist’s successful 2021 trek and will span the US, Canada, UK, and Europe. After traversing across Europe and the UK from late February to mid-March, Tumor will cross the pond for a run of North American dates through early April. In June, they will return to Europe for a festival run before wrapping up the tour with a handful of dates back in North America. Watch the tour trailer below. Tickets go on sale Thursday, December 16th at 10 a.m. local time, with a pre-sale kicking off on Wednesday, December 15th at 10 a.m. local time (pre-sale code: BELLS). See the full schedule below, and snag your tickets through&nb...
Kim Gordon and J Mascis Share “Abstract Blues” and “Slow Boy” for Sub Pop Singles Club: Stream
Kim Gordon and J Mascis are a dream team from ’90s indie rock heaven. The Sonic Youth powerhouse and Dinosaur Jr. frontman are officially sharing their collaborations “Abstract Blues” and “Slow Boy” today as part of the Sub Pop Singles Club, the seminal indie label’s subscription-only 7-inch singles series. Considering they’re both icons from a similar scene, Gordon and Mascis’ friendship goes way back. This marks the first time they’ve officially put out music together, though these songs were recorded a while ago. The duo originally shared “Slow Boy” way back in 2015 as part of Converse’s CONS EP series, and they recorded “Abstract Blues” last year for the SMooCH benefit livestream for the Seattle Children’s Hospital (Fred Armisen joined in on bass, too). With the songs’ new home at...
St. Vincent Shares “Pay Your Way in Pain (IDLES Remix)”: Stream
St. Vincent is back with a fresh take on “Pay Your Way in Pain.” Today, Annie Clark has shared a remix of the Daddy’s Home single, created by UK post-punk band IDLES. St. Vincent released Daddy’s Home, her sixth album, in May, and shared “Pay Your Way in Pain” as its first single. With glitchy synths and the artist’s typical slinky rhythm, the song introduced the record’s retro aesthetic with a certain charismatic darkness. In a statement for the remix, IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen said this juxtaposition is what he latched onto. “What I really enjoy about the Daddy’s Home album is using this camp energy in a really violent way,” he said. “This embracing of the nostalgic even the kitsch but using it to make progressive futuristic music. It reminded me a lot of the energy of early house ...
Wet Leg Make US TV Debut by Performing “Chaise Longue” on Seth Meyers: Watch
After releasing just four songs, Wet Leg have earned a considerable amount of buzz from websites just like this one, and last night the British indie rockers stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers for a performance of “Chaise Longue.” The track appears on the band’s upcoming self-titled debut album, due out April 8th, 2022 via Domino. Wet Leg founders Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers clearly enjoyed making their US TV debut, exchanging sly glances while getting away with singing tongue-in-cheek lyrics like “I went to school and I got the big D” on air. Further showing off their wry humor, “Chaise Longue” also alludes to a scene from Mean Girls (“Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?”). Watch Wet Leg’s performance below. Fueled by a chugging guitar riff, it’...
Lower Dens Break Up
Baltimore synthpop band Lower Dens are breaking up. “It’s time for me and Nate [Nelson] to say goodbye to Lower Dens,” lead singer J Hunter wrote in a lengthy post. “We’re proud of what we’ve done, and very lucky to have had so many people supporting us. Spiritually and physically, we, like, can not participate in the music industry any longer. We’re also old, enjoy being with our families, and have other goals in mind.” Lower Dens formed in 2010 and put out four albums together: Twin-Hand Movement (2010), Nootropics (2012), Escape From Evil (2015), and The Competition (2019). In the post, Hunter wrote, “I learned this year that I’m Autistic/have ADHD. I have a name for it now, but it’s always been a part of my identity. When I talked about nerdy conceptual sh...
