Los Angeles based singer-songwriter Lukas Frank, aka Storefront Church, makes the kind of rock music that blurs the line between dark hymn, brooding folk, and gothic/alt-rock. It’s no surprise, then, that he’s settled in with new label home Sargent House, known for acts like Chelsea Wolfe, Daughters, and Deafheaven. To celebrate the signing, Storefront Church is sharing his debut single for the label, “The Gift”. A chilling yet stunning piece, at times both minimal and flushed with lush strings and piano, it sounds like the ideal haunting piece to play in an abandoned church. It’s certainly starker than his past material, with hints of early Yellow House-era Grizzly Bear and James Blake in the mix, but something tells me this could be the calm before the storm — the melodic, ambient intro ...
Because of the size and sound of the project, it’s easy to think of Tame Impala as a full band. But really, all of that music stems from the “group’s” mastermind, Kevin Parker. The Australian artist reminds us of this in a new performance video for the Lonerism cut “Why Won’t They Talk to Me?” Filmed for the Adobe MAX creative conference by frequent collaborator Alex Haygarth, the clip finds Parker playing every instrument and even singing backup vocals — all three harmonies. Haygarth shot the thing in an empty floor space, with Parker setting up different instruments in different sections of the room. Using some nifty editing techniques, it ends up looking like the musician really cloned himself to fill out all of Tame Impala’s ranks. Check out the creative performance below. Editors̵...
Sigur Rós have announced the long-awaited release of their orchestral album Odin’s Raven Magic, a white whale for many diehard fans. To celebrate the news, the Icelandic band is sharing lead single “Dvergmál” ahead of the record’s December 4th release. Stream it below. First commissioned by the Reykjavik Arts Festival in 2002, Odin’s Raven Magic is an early piece of Sigur Rós’ catalog that was only ever performed a handful of times over their career. The collaboration was recorded with the band, Icelandic music legend Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, and respected fisherman and chanter Steindór Andersen. It features arrangement work by former Sigur Rós member Kjartan Sveinsson and amiina member Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir. Odin’s Raven Magic builds from Sigur Rós’ roots in orchestral and choral f...
Last week, The National’s Matt Berninger celebrated the release of his debut solo album, Serpentine Prison. To further promote the project, the indie rock frontman performed “essential” track “One More Second” on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday. Accompanied by his backing band, Berninger played from inside a warehouse-type space. Berninger’s signature bellow, pensive and somber, set the tone for the entire appearance, along with the moody blue lighting that blanketed him. Watch the video replay below. In a review of Serpentine Prison for Consequence of Sound, Jordan Blum wrote, “Serpentine Prison isn’t the drastic change of pace that many frontmen create when they do a project outside of their main band, but it does enough to justify i...
This weekend, Bright Eyes are set to take part in “Village of Love”, a livestream concert supporting Planned Parenthood. Ahead of Sunday’s virtual event, the band has shared a new, guest-heavy benefit single for the nonprofit called “Miracle of Life”. The song is a dark country mosey, courtesy of drumming from Queens of the Stone Age’s Jon Theodore and bass from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea. Better Oblivion Community Center collaborator Phoebe Bridgers also contributes, her vocals echoing alongside Conor Oberst’s with the unholiness of the lyrics’ narrative. They sing of a couple who try to drive out of state for a legal abortion, only to find themselves forced into a dangerous situation. Of course, the immorality isn’t in their goal, but in the roadblocks in their way. “Lay down on th...
Friday night bar-hopping may not be a thing these days, but that doesn’t mean ya can’t have a festive evening indoors. Cue: Hot Chip and Jarvis Cocker, who’ve just joined forces on a new disco-inflected song called “Straight to the Morning”. As its name implies, the track is guaranteed to spark an all-night living room dance party. According to a statement, the collaborative single was originally written with disco-pop princess Dua Lipa in mind. However, after crossing paths while DJing at Paris club Les Bains-Douches, Hot Chip and the Pulp frontman decided to make it all their own. “‘Straight To The Morning’ is a disco anthem about going out, for a time when people really can’t, and it features our friend Jarvis Cocker urging us to go ‘straight through until the break of dawn,’” Hot...
During the early months of the pandemic, The War on Drugs revealed they were working on a new album. Now, some of the fruits of their labor have arrived: the indie rockers debuted a new song called “Ocean of Darkness” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday. The group’s first offering since 2017’s A Deeper Understanding was both propulsive and pastoral, and soaked in wistfulness not unlike their past material. Donning a cap that said “VOTE”, frontman Adam Granduciel could be heard singing, “You’re just a poor boy/ Your blood rushes through me/ Alone in the great divide/ To love and understanding.” “Once I was eight years old/ I’d stare at the ceiling/ Get lost in a memory,” he continued, his voice faded like a ghost half-materialized. “Remember the feeling/ I was tire...
HAIM have really got this “appearing on a late night talk show during quarantine” thing down. Last month, they set up outside of Los Angeles’ The Forum for a performance on Kimmel. Then on Thursday night, the siblings brought Halloween — and a special guest — to Seth Meyers. The trio’s rendition of “3 AM” from their latest LP, Women in Music Pt. III, opened with a call from Robert Pattinson. Listed in HAIM’s phone as “Emotional Vampire” (get it? ‘Cause of Twilight? You get it…), Pattinson recreated the booty-call intro from the album version of the song. After sending him to voicemail, the band revealed themselves in wedding gowns as (slightly) undead brides set in an exceedingly well-lit backyard. The vibe put a spooky sheen on the R&B jam, including a comically threatening call ...
In just one week’s time, Local Natives have announced and released a new EP called Sour Lemon. The group’s promotional push continued Friday morning (October 23rd) with a daytime appearance on Ellen. Set up in a large and rustic indoor space with glowing overhead chandeliers, the California indie rockers rolled out “Statues in the Garden (Arras)”. The EP’s second track boasts all of Local Natives’ sweet spots — from those golden harmonies to the warm, sunny guitars — making for a TV performance that should delight new and old fans alike. At the very least, it reminded us of the live electric magic this band manages to conjure every time it takes the stage. Real concerts can’t come soon enough! Watch down below, and then head here to stream the entirety of Sour Lemon, which a...
Jeff Tweedy (photo by Sammy Tweedy), PUP (photo by Jess Baumung), Adrianne Lenker (photo by Genesis Báez), and Pallbearer (photo by Diana Lee Zadlo) Every Friday, Consequence of Sound rounds up some of the week’s noteworthy new album releases. Today, October 23rd, brings fresh music from PUP, The Mountain Goats, FUZZ, Adrianne Lenker, Jeff Tweedy, Local Natives, Raye Zaragoza, Songhoy Blues, and Pallbearer. Take a listen to each of their new albums below. Also be sure to check out new releases from Gorillaz and Bruce Springsteen. PUP – This Place Sucks Ass EP <img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1070497" data-attachment-id="1070497" data-permalink="https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/09/pup-this-place-sucks-ass-ep-rot-stream/pup-rot-this-place-sucks-ass-ep/...
Early into quarantine, Win Butler revealed that the pandemic put the breaks on the recording of Arcade Fire’s new album. The frontman said he’d instead turned to writing more, and now it looks like he’s come up with enough material for more than just one Everything Now follow-up. In a new interview on Rick Rubin’s Broken Record podcast, Butler hinted that the delay in recording may end up fortuitous for those who can’t get enough Arcade Fire. “We would’ve been getting towards wrapping up [recording a new album], I think,” he said. “So instead we just wrote two or three.” Butler explained that it usually takes the band a full year of writing before they’re ready to go into the studio. After wrapping up the Everything Now tour in 2018, they set to work on creating the follow-up. Ar...
Nilüfer Yanya has announced the Feeling Lucky? EP. It drops December 11th, and the British artist is celebrating with the new single “Crash”. This is the follow-up to Miss Universe, her debut album and one of our favorite records of 2019. Unsurprisingly for a young songwriter whose first full-length effort blew up, Yanya has been thinking about luck — both consciously and subconsciously. As she noted in a statement, it wasn’t until she’d been working on the EP for a while that she realized the connecting theme. She said, “One of the songs had the theme of luck in it as a concept but then I realized they all do. That got me thinking about luck in general; good and bad. Things out of our control and things in control of us, how often we put acts and happenings down to the fortune o...