New Music Releases
alt-J Share New Single “Get Better”: Stream
alt-J are back with “Get Better,” the second single from their forthcoming album The Dream. The plaintive song is essentially a two-hander, with dummer Thom Sonny Green sitting this one out. Instead, Joe Newman strums out gentle acoustic notes while Gus Unger-Hamilton joins in with harmonies and subtle piano. As Newman describes it, the track “is the union of two songs.” One was a little improvisation he sang to his partner, Darcy Wallace, back in 2018: “Get better, my Darcy/ I know you can.” The second was a chord progression written during lockdown while Newman thought of the thousands of bereaved around the world. “I felt nervous heat when writing ‘Get Better,” Newman said in a press statement. “The context of the Coronavirus pandemic lent my words a chilling weight and gave me a new se...
IDLES Share Hair-Raising New Single “Car Crash”: Stream
IDLES are days away from sharing their new album, CRAWLER, and the Bristol post-punks are offering another preview with the new single “Car Crash.” The slow-burning track arrives with an accompanying music video that splices together footage of collisions in cinema. As its title indicates, “Car Crash” was inspired by IDLES frontman Joe Talbot’s own brush with death behind the wheel. As he details in a press release: “It’s the horrific, comedown hangover — waking up in the morning and realizing the smashes, like, what the fuck am I doing with my life?” The track is defined by chugging, slipshod drums and abrasive guitars that stew until they explode into one chilling cacophony. “We wanted it to be as violent as possible to reflect that event,” guitarist and co-producer Mark Bowen adds. “We ...
Ought Break Up, Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy Form New Band Cola
Ought, the Montreal post-punk quartet that formed nine years ago, have announced their breakup. They leave behind a nine-year legacy that includes three Eps and three studio albums, the most recent of which was 2018’s Room Inside the World. The band — Tim Darcy, Matt May, Ben Stidworthy, and Tim Keen — issued a joint statement confirming the split: “We are no longer active as a band. When we started Ought in 2012 we had no greater aspirations than to play and write music together, and the fact that we were able to tour the world to such an extent and share so many rooms with so many of you has meant the world to us. We send lots of gratitude and love to all those we met and worked with along the way.” Fans ought not be totally devastated, however, as two of the band’s members have simultan...
serpentwithfeet Announces 2022 North American Tour, Shares “Fellowship (Remix)”: Stream
serpentwithfeet is releasing a companion EP titled DEACON’S GROVE on Friday, and today he announced a 2022 North American tour. As a preview of the project, our former Artist of the Month also shared a remix of “Fellowship.” The rising R&B singer’s trek kicks off at Union Stage in Washington, DC on February 12th. From there, serpentwithfeet will make stops in New York City, Toronto, and Chicago before closing out the tour on March 9th in Los Angeles. See the full schedule below. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 5th at 10:00 am local time. Pick them up at Ticketmaster then. Advertisement Related Video “Fellowship (Remix)” adds new verses from Ambre and Alex Isley, giving a whole new dimension to the original version, which featured co-producers Sampha and Lil Silva on the chorus...
Franz Ferdinand Announce Greatest Hits Album, Share New Song “Billy Goodbye”: Stream
Franz Ferdinand have announced a greatest hits collection entitled Hits to the Head. Out March 11th, 2022 via Domino, the album compiles the best of the Scottish rockers’ 20-year career while also adding two new songs to their discography. To mark the occasion, the band has shared the first of the new tracks, “Billy Goodbye.” Stream the song below. Hits to the Head follows 2018’s Always Ascending. At 20 tracks, the compilation follows Franz Ferdinand from their aughts post-punk revival success to the present day, from first single “Darts of Pleasure” and breakout hit “Take Me Out” to deep cuts like “Outsiders” and “Glimpse of Love.” In a statement, lead singer Alex Kapranos compared compiling greatest hits to preparing for a show, explaining, “It’s the same as writing a set-list ...
Terrace Martin Announces New Album Drones, Shares “Leave Us Be”: Stream
Terrace Martin has announced a new album, Drones, out Friday via Sounds of Crenshaw / BMG. If three days is too long of a wait, the jazz musician shared the first single “Leave Us Be” today. Drones offers commentary on the growing sense of apathy in American culture, and seeks to unmask the Black American experience in what Martin calls a “Black Disneyland.” An all-star lineup of collaborators helps him accomplish this goal. After Martin produced notable works from Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, YG, and more, the artists have come back to return the favor, making Drones a who’s who of modern hip-hop. Lamar, Snoop, Ty Dolla $ign, and James Fauntelroy all appear on the title track, while Leon Bridges, Smino, Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, and more appear elsewhere on the album. Pre-ord...
Spiritualized Announces New Album, Shares “Always Together With You”: Stream
J Spaceman has announced a new Spiritualized album. Entitled Everything Was Beautiful, it will be released on February 25th, 2022 via Fat Possum Records. As a preview, he’s shared the lead single, “Always Together with You.” As with most new releases these days, Spaceman wrote Everything Was Beautiful during the pandemic. In a statement, he said he thrived in the “beautiful solitude” and found inspiration in his walks through an empty “Roman London” [which were] “full of birdsong and strangeness and no contrails.” Spaceman plays 16 different instruments in Everything Was Beautiful, but also employed a massive collective of guest contributors, including string and brass sections and choirs. The seven-track album was recorded in 11 different studios, as well as in his home. Advertisement Rel...
Your Old Droog Unveils New Song “Yuri”: Stream
Your Old Droog has already dropped three albums in 2021, and he may be gearing up for a fourth with the release of the new song “Yuri.” While no LP has been announced, the description on the YouTube video notes that “Yuri” is the “First ‘Official’ Single from New YOD Album.” As an opening statement, it marks a sonic departure from his previous 2021 releases, TIME and his two collaborations with Tha God Fahim, Tha Wolf on Wall St and Tha YOD Fahim. “Yuri” is named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human being in space. The track comes with a beat from Nicholas Craven, and it’s built around a soaring rock guitar that could have been plucked from the original Woodstock. Droog can go bar for bar with any lyricist today, with a conversational flow that disguises his j...
Porcupine Tree Announce New Album CLOSURE/CONTINUATION, Share “Harridan”: Stream
English prog rockers Porcupine Tree have announced their new album CLOSURE/CONTINUATION, out June 24th, 2022 via Music for Nations/Megaforce Records. Marking the band’s first new music in more than a dozen years, it’s preceded by the lead single “Harridan.” Now comprised of Steven Wilson, Richard Barbieri, and Gavin Harrison, Porcupine Tree last released the Grammy-nominated The Incident in 2009. They went on hiatus following their biggest live show to date at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2010. In a press statement, the group explained they first started working on songs appearing on the new album shortly after dropping The Incident: “‘Harridan’ and a few of the other new songs have been in play since shortly after the release of The Incident. They initially lived o...
Cat Power Announces US Tour, Drops Cover of Dead Man’s Bones’ “Pa Pa Power”: Stream
Cat Power announced today that she’s heading out on tour early next year. Additionally, she’s shared her new rendition of “Pa Pa Power” by Dead Man’s Bones from her upcoming album, Covers. The singer-songwriter reimagines the 2009 track by Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields into a haunting, melancholy dirge, replacing the children’s choir and plinking synths of the original with her own backing vocals and dreamy electric guitar. “Burn the streets, burn the cars/ Power/ Broken glass, but what about/ Our broken hearts/ Please make me better/ Please make me powerful,” she sings into dual mics in the accompanying music video, tweaking the song’s lyrics ever so slightly in the process. Advertisement Related Video The track serves as the second taste for the musician’s upcoming album Covers, which wi...
Megan Thee Stallion Releases Something for Thee Hotties Mixtape: Stream
Christmas has come early, Hotties! Megan Thee Stallion has dropped her new mixtape Something for Thee Hotties via 300 Entertainment. Stream it below. On the 21-track project, Meg delivers multiple freestyles (“Tuned In Freestyle,” “Megan Monday Freestyle,” “Southside Forever Freestyle,” etc.) while peppering the tracklist with skits (“Trippy Skit” with Juicy J), interludes (“Tina Snow Interlude”), and certified bangers (the power couple name-dropping “Bae Goals”) from her archives. Following hit single “Thot Shit,” the rapper ends the mixtape with a special message for her fans on spoken word closer “To Thee Hotties,” saying, “Thank you to the OG Hotties. Thank you to the Hotties that been rockin’ with me since I was doin’ shows at the strip club, doin’ shows at any bar, any club, to the b...
Joywave Announce New Album Cleanse, Share “Cyn City 2000”: Stream
Joywave released their last album, Possession, on March 13th, 2020, and you know what happened next. Even with the world on pause, however, the Rochester rock trio were ready to get back to work: Today, they’ve announced that their fourth studio album, Cleanse, will arrive on February 11th, 2022. As a preview, Joywave have shared the single “Cyn City 2000,” and they’ve also announced a North American tour for next year. Clease was written and recorded in frontman Daniel Armbruster’s home studio, which the band aptly nicknamed the “Joycave.” “With our dense touring schedule shelved, I was able to reflect on past travels and appreciate them in a new way,” Armbruster said in a press release. “But reminders of our fragile mortality were everywhere, punctuated by the ongoing pand...
