Indie
Cults Announce New Album Host, Share “Trials”: Stream
Beloved indie pop duo Cults have announced their fourth album, Host. The record is due out later this summer on September 18th via Sinderlyn. According to a press statement, the follow-up to 2017’s Offering is said to be about the sinister dynamics of a parasitic relationship, and the catharsis that comes with achieving freedom and self-reliance. For multi-instrumentalist/singer Madeline Follin, in many ways the new album represents a form of liberation, as it’s her first to serve as primary songwriter. “In the past, I’d never brought my own music to the table because I was just too shy,” Follin explains. This time around, Follin did pitch her material, and once her bandmate Brian Oblivion and their producer Shane Stoneback heard what she had written, they were “floored”. Cults’ entire sou...
Makaya McCraven Announces New Album Universal Beings E&F Sides, Shares “Mak Attack”: Stream
Makaya McCraven released one of the 2018’s most acclaimed jazz albums in Universal Beings. Now, the Chicago-based drummer and producer is prepping to drop a companion piece called Universal Beings E&F Sides, in addition to a documentary series about the record. E&F Sides promises 14 “new pieces of organic beat music” that were cut from the original sessions for Universal Beings proper. One of those “Mak Attack”, which finds McCraven fiercely “attacking” his kit like the percussion beast that he is. As for the corresponding documentary, the visual will be soundtracked by the music found on E&F Sides. Its footage chronicles the making of breakthrough album Universal Beings, following McCraven in the studio and on the road as he traveled to California, New York, and...
Liza Anne Shares the Origins of New Song “Change My Mind”: Stream
Our new music feature Origins gives listeners a chance to get the inside scoop on an artist’s latest single. Today, Liza Anne explains what made her “Change My Mind”. Digging your heels in can be a sign of conviction, but also intractability. We all throw up walls when we’re challenged, which leaves very little room for growth (seriously, have you ever been in a Twitter debate?). On her new single “Change My Mind”, Nashville musician Liza Anne tries to keep a level head as she comes to grip with that sort of irked stubbornness. “This song holds hope of wanting the person on the other side to be there while you soften up, someone to challenge you to a place of connection, someone who is safe to grow in front of and with,” she explains in a press statement. “I am so sad that I ever learned c...
The Office’s Creed Bratton Shares New Song “The Ride”: Stream
Creed Bratton, the musician and actor made famous by The Office, has shared his new song “The Ride”. It’s off his eighth solo album, Slightly Altered, which hits shelves and streamers on July 17th. Within The Office, Bratton’s role was that of a spicy pepper, deployed sparingly but delivering potent flavor. But while he is best known for that iconic sitcom, he was first known as the lead singer and guitarist of The Grass Roots. Bratton fronted this American rock band from 1967 to 1969, and even had a pair of top ten Billboard hits. He spent the next three decades landing small film and television roles. But even before The Office made him a household name (literally — the character is named after him) Bratton had returned to his first love of music. Slightly Altere...
Rising Rockers Advertisement Unleash Debut Album American Advertisement: Stream
Advertisement, the buzzworthy rock band band out of Seattle, have shared their debut album American Advertisement. Stream it below via Bandcamp. American Advertisement was recorded and mixed by Trevor Spencer and mastered by Jack Shirley. Musically, it’s both nostalgic and of-the-moment; nostalgic for the delight in guitar-driven rock and roll, but with modern lyrical concerns that recall Seattle as it exists today. The new LP also sounds post-legal weed, chilled out and occasionally psychedelic, but there’s an anger, too; a social awareness shaped by the tech-bro invasion and having witnessed the slick gentrification and dull luxury condos crowding out the waterfronts. While the overall vibe is sunny, life-affirming fun, American Advertisement is interrupted by flashes of p...
Pinegrove Release Expanded Edition of Marigold: Stream
Pinegrove have released a (slightly) expanded edition of their latest album, Marigold. Stream the now-13-track effort below via Spotify and Apple Music. It’s also available via TIDAL, which is currently offering a 60-day free trial. Released in January, Marigold served as a follow-up to 2018’s Skylight, which was recorded prior to allegations of misconduct raised against Pinegrove’s leader, Evan Stephens Hall. That made the newer release the first effort the band had recorded following an extended hiatus, during which Hall and his accuser reached a resolution via a private mediator. Here, the LP has seen the addition of two new songs: an acoustic version of “Phase” and a take on “No Drugs” recorded during the Skylight sessions. Alongside the new tracks comes a video for the single “Endless...
Guided by Voices Announce New Album Mirrored Aztec, Share “Haircut Sphinx”: Stream
If you had to guess the most frequently-used phrase in music writing, you might guess it’s this: Guided by Voices have announced a new album. The prolific rockers will release Mirrored Aztec on August 21st, and they’re promoting it with the single “Haircut Sphinx”. Additionally, GBV have revealed the tongue-in-cheek “World Tour 2020”, a one-night streaming event that takes place July 17th. Frontman Robert Pollard has 107 albums (and counting!) to his credit. Mirrored Aztec will be his fifth effort in 18 months, following 2019’s Zeppelin Over China, Warp and Woof, Sweating the Plague, and 2020’s Surrender Your Poppy Field. Like the bus in Speed or Donald Trump on Twitter, Pollard seems incapable of taking a break. A press release describes Mirrored Aztec as ful...
TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe Dances at the Guillotine on “ReelFeel”: Stream
Tunde Adebimpe has shared a new song called “ReelFeel” — perhaps because the more appropriate title of Dance Dance Revolution was already taken. “ReelFeel” is a toe-tapping ode to regime change, as well as a charity single benefiting the Audre Lord Project. Earlier in his career, the TV on the Radio frontman was more concerned with interior struggles and the emotional distance between individuals. But the dumpster fire of 2020 has pulled his attention to public spaces, and the results are as magnificent and incisive as fans could have hoped. Last month on Juneteenth, Adebimpe shared the protest song “People”, and “ReelFeel” is a spiritual successor — a kind of “after” shot accompanying the pained “before” of “People”. “ReelFeel” was produced by Chrome Sparks, who called the cut a “sco...
Bloc Party’s Kele Questions British Stereotypes in New Song “Melanin”: Stream
Bloc Party founder Kele Okereke has shared a new single called “Melanin”. It was originally supposed to be released on his solo album 2042 last year, but he removed it from the tracklist when he couldn’t get the sample cleared in time. Under his first-name-only moniker Kele, he dives into the idea of race and education in Britain — or, more specifically, how those subjects are barely taught at all. “I believe that if we truly want to dismantle the racial division in this country, then it starts with the education system,” said Kele in a statement. As such, “Melanin” seeks to right this wrong, namely by calling for a more accurate syllabus that tells the truth about the country’s colonial past. “I’m glad that we get to share the track now, at a time that it seems more pertinent than ever,” ...
Glass Animals Share New Single “Heat Waves”: Stream
UK psych pop band Glass Animals have shared a new single called “Heat Waves”, taken from their forthcoming album, Dreamland. Originally set for a July 10th release, Dreamland has been pushed to August 7th “in order to respect and support the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement,” according to a press release. (Yes, the movement has even hit Europe.) Previously, Glass Animals previewed the album’s release with “Tokyo Drifting” featuring Denzel Curry and the album’s title track. The latest teaser, “Heat Waves”, is a thumping, bass-y daze that finds frontman/producer Dave Bayley trying to untwine himself from a partner. In the accompanying music video, Bayley drags a wagon full of old TVs through an empty London street as quarantined onlookers take cellphone footage from in...
Spoon Announce Telephono and Soft Effects EP Reissues as Part of “Slay on Cue” Archival Campaign
Last year, Spoon revisited their most seminal tracks with the Everything Hits at Once compilation. Now, the indie rock greats are giving their entire catalog another look with a new archival reissue campaign called “Slay On Cue” The series will see Matador Records reissuing most of Spoon’s albums on vinyl and CD for the first time in years. In particular, the band’s Telephono debut and Soft Effects EP haven’t been available in individual physical formats since they were originally released in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Those two efforts will be repressed on July 24th, with the latter available in red and blue vinyl editions with silkscreen covers limited to 500 each (pre-order are now ongoing). A reissue of 2001’s Girls Can Tell will then arrive on August 14...
James Blake Covers Nirvana Classic “Come As You Are” from Quarantine: Watch
James Blake fans have been treated to a number of special covers during this quarantine season. Over the course of just the last few months, the UK crooner has tackled originals by Radiohead, Billie Eilish, Frank Ocean, and Joni Mitchell. For his newest reimagining, Blake ambitiously rolled out his take on the Nirvana classic “Come As You Are”. The performance was part of an hour-long “piano improv concert” streamed on Instagram Live on Saturday. As requested by a fan, Blake’s rendition of the Nevermind single was “soft” in tone. However, though it was without the angst and volume of the 1992 original, Blake’s cover was still urgent in its own fragile, ivory-tinged way. Watch video of the Nirvana cover below, followed by the full concert (come for the tunes, stay for a glimpse of Blake’s a...
