Indie Rock
beabadoobee Releases Debut Album Fake It Flowers: Stream
Artist of the Month and London-based indie rocker beabadoobee has released her highly anticipated debut album, Fake It Flowers. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. Fake It Flowers is Bea Kristi’s first full-length record under the moniker beabadoobee. It follows five EPs, including her 2019 releases Space Cadet and Loveworm. The 12-track record includes the previously released singles “How Was Your Day?”, “Worth It”, “Sorry”, and “Care”, the latter of which stole the Song of the Week spotlight. Not only is Fake It Flowers one of the most anticipated albums of 2020, but it’s also a long-but-short time coming milestone for beabadoobee herself. While talking with CoS in a new interview, Kristi revealed that she was surprised how quickly songwriting came to her, especially considering ...
Local Natives Announce New EP, Share Sharon Van Etten Collaboration “Lemon”: Stream
Local Natives will return next week with a new EP titled Sour Lemon. Out through Loma Vista Recordings, it’s being teased today with the almost-title track “Lemon”, a collaboration with Sharon Van Etten. The upcoming EP comes a little over a year after Local Natives’ 2019 album, Violet Street. In a statement, the California indie rockers talked about how the effort’s four tracks materialized in their own time, and separate from a proper album cycle. “There’s something freeing about writing without the goal of an album in mind. It feels like waking up for class only to realize that it’s Saturday and you can sleep in as long as you want,” they remarked. “The songs on Sour Lemon each have their own long histories but they all finally decided to arrive at the same time. Rather than waitin...
Chromeo Remixes Dirty Projectors’ “Lose Your Love”: Stream
Felicia Douglass of Dirty Projectors (photo by Jason Frank Rothenberg) and Chromeo (photo by Heather Kaplan) In May, the Dirty Projectors released the perfectly effervescent new single “Lose Your Love”, fronted by keyboardist and percussionist Felicia Douglass. That little slice of heaven has already attracted one remix from Jimmy “The Senator” Douglass, a Grammy-winning producer who also happens to be Felicia’s father. Now, electro-funk duo Chromeo have dropped remix number two, giving the track their own disco-ball spin. The original “Lose Your Love” used warm synths and whimsical, chipmunk-soul samples to put some bounce in your step. In contrast, the Chromeo remix finds a harder, sweatier approach, the better for dancing all night. In Club Chromeo, the strutting bass line holds the flo...
CARM (of yMusic) Shares New Song “Land” Featuring Justin Vernon: Stream
After a decade of guesting on high-profile albums, founding member of yMusic CARM (CJ Camerieri) will drop his star-studded solo debut CARM next year. His latest single is “Land”, which reunites him with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. yMusic is a contemporary classical ensemble, and over the last few years they’ve become one of the most in-demand backing bands in the world. Led by trumpeter Camerieri and violinist Rob Moose, they’ve appeared on recent Bruce Hornsby efforts Non-Secure Connection and Absolute Zero, Paul Simon’s In the Blue Light, and Ben Folds’ So There, to name a few. Camerieri has also won two Grammy awards as a member of Bon Iver, and he comes highly recommended by that group’s lead singer. As Vernon said in a statement, “CJ and I have worked together ...
Cloud Nothings Announce New Album The Shadow I Remember, Share “Am I Something”: Stream
This past July, Cloud Nothings dropped a surprise album titled The Black Hole Understands, written entirely during quarantine. They’re back today with the announcement of yet another full-length record: The Shadow I Remember is due out February 26th via Carpark Records. The band is also prepping a reissue of their debut LP, Turning On, in honor of its 10th anniversary. The Shadow I Remember sees the indie rockers reuniting with Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio studios in Chicago. The veteran producer previously worked on Cloud Nothings’ acclaimed Attack on Memory, one of our favorite rock albums of the 2010s. According to a statement, frontman Dylan Baldi came up with nearly 30 demos before finally whittling down the new album to 11 tracks. And instead of leaning into hi...
Julia Jacklin Unveils New Songs “to Perth, before the border closes” and “CRY”: Stream
Australian songwriter Julia Jacklin has unveiled a pair of new songs: “to Perth, before the border closes” and “CRY”. Both cuts are available as a 7-inch as part of the Sub Pop Singles Club, Vol. 5. As you probably guessed from the titles, these tracks were written in quarantine. This past March, Jacklin was nearly finished with a year-long world tour in support of her excellent sophomore album Crushing, when the Australian government issued a series of lockdown orders. After half-a-decade of nearly nonstop touring, Jacklin was forced to pick a spot and stay there. She chose Perth, and “to Perth, before the border closes” was written in that moment of turmoil. She sings, “I loved it there/ That city held me/ Don’t you know that everything changes?” In a statement, Jacklin explained wh...
Portugal. The Man and “Weird Al” Honor Indigenous Peoples with New Song “Who’s Gonna Stop Me”: Stream
Portugal. The Man and “Weird Al” Yankovic, photos by Ben Kaye Portugal. The Man and “Weird Al” Yankovic have joined forces once again, but this time it’s not to turn beloved indie songs into polka jams. Instead, they’ve collaborated on a new track, “Who’s Gonna Stop Me”, in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day. Produced by the Grammy-winning Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, Rihanna) and co-written by the legendary Paul Williams (David Bowie, The Love Boat theme), the song also features contributions from The Last Artful, Dodgr. A peacefully powerful call for freedom, the opening verses are meditative before a rattling drum beat turns it towards invigorating. “Sneaking out, jumping over backyard fences/ We’re all just looking for freedom,” sings “Weird Al” on the second verse. “I’ve got an ...
Angel Olsen Debuts New 11-Minute Song “Time Bandits” on Instagram: Watch
Angel Olsen has been on an absolute tear since releasing Whole New Mess in late August. Not only has she covered both George Harrison and Bobby Vinton — the latter for Miranda July’s latest film Kajillionaire — the folk songwriter also delivered an acoustic Tiny Desk (Home) Concert for NPR. Olsen is back today bearing another gift: a new 11-minute song called “Time Bandits”. Olsen performed the track in full on Instagram on Sunday; she was seated at her piano in her Asheville home, with the camera positioned right in front of her mic. According to the video’s caption, “Time Bandits” was written just a few weeks ago after Olsen returned from St. Louis. “Against better judgement I’ve decided to put new songs up,” she added. “It’s a business but it’s my business.” (We can’t say we’r...
Mannequin Pussy Cover Rilo Kiley’s “The Execution of All Things”: Stream
Mannequin Pussy (photo by Marcus Maddox) and Rilo Kiley (photo courtesy of the band) A handful of indie and punk artists have come together to cover Rilo Kiley’s 2002 album, The Execution of All Things, in its entirety. The new project — officially dubbed No Bad Words for the Coast Today: The Execution of All Things — is due out next month, but is being previewed now with Mannequin Pussy’s take on the title track. Like Rilo Kiley, Mannequin Pussy are a band with a diverse stylistic palette. Just as The Execution of All Things shifts between peppy, fuzzy indie rock and twee, piano-driven indie pop, Mannequin Pussy’s 2019 album Patience swung between shoegaze, power-pop, hardcore punk, and more. For their cover today, Mannequin Pussy continue to channel that ve...
Future Islands’ As Long as You Are Is Familiar yet Captivating: Review
The Lowdown: Future Islands first truly caught the world’s attention with the Letterman performance of “Seasons (Waiting on You)” that brought lead vocalist Samuel T. Herring’s confident and expressive singing style into the viral limelight. This coincided with the release of Singles, their most polished album thus far and an encapsulation of all their post-wave aspirations. Now, two albums and six years later, they’re back again with As Long as You Are, a twinkling and pulsating slow burn that finds them employing many approaches that by now feel familiar to their sound, but still cohesive and captivating. [embedded content] The Good: It opens with seagulls and it ends with the coast. This is an album that deals with expanse and immensity that feels difficult to conceive of, let alone to ...
Tame Impala Covers John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy” : Watch
Today, October 9th, would have been John Lennon’s 80th birthday. As a tribute to the late Beatles legend, Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker has shared a bedroom cover of the iconic Imagine song “Jealous Guy”. When we say bedroom cover we mean it quite literally. In a video posted to the Tame Impala Instagram account, Parker is seen singing and strumming along to the 1971 tune while lounging in his big comfy bed. In the original version of the song, Lennon’s vocals are bolstered by a full band’s worth of instruments, but Parker manages to translate the track’s timeless beauty with just his voice and an acoustic guitar. Props to him for having a bedroom with surprisingly great natural reverb, because even though this was probably shot on an iPhone the sound quality is pretty great. Watch d...
Clairo Covers The Strokes’ “I’ll Try Anything Once”: Stream
Clairo has shared a cover of The Strokes’ 2006 B-side “I’ll Try Anything Once”. For her lo-fi rendition, the bedroom pop artist is joined by Jake Passmore of the London-based indie band SCORS. “I’ll Try Anything Once” is technically a demo version of “You Only Live Once”, a Strokes standout from their 2005 album First Impressions of Earth. Both songs are fan-favorites for different reasons: “You Only Live Once” is an upbeat anthem and a long-time live staple, whereas its acoustic predecessor is beloved for being a Strokes song that’s actually vulnerable and pretty. Clairo and Passmore both fully lean into the melancholy characteristics of “I’ll Try Anything Once”, while also giving it their own unique touch. The production quality is extremely muddy and raw, but their voices — Clairo’s hig...
