New Music Releases
Mining Metal: Abstracter, Conjureth, Fire-Toolz, Kowloon Walled City, Light of the Morning Star, The Silver, Sunless, Worm
Mining Metal is a monthly column from Heavy Consequence writers Joseph Schafer and Langdon Hickman. The focus is on noteworthy new music emerging from the non-mainstream metal scene, highlighting releases from small and independent labels — or even releases from unsigned acts. “Listen to them, children of the night, what music they make.” Even casual film buffs probably recognize that line, and not just because Tribulation titled an album after it. It was spoken by Bela Lugosi in the titular role of Dracula in the 1931 film. If you’ve never seen the movie, now’s the time, since it’s Halloween, and thanks to streaming it’s more readily available than probably any other film of its generation. But if you get a chance, watch the Spanish-language version, too. Moodier and more luxurious in its...
Japanese Breakfast Covers Weezer on Surprise Live at Electric Lady EP: Stream
Japanese Breakfast has released a surprise EP, Live at Electric Lady. Stream it below. Recorded as part of Spotify’s ongoing series at New York City’s famed Electric Lady Studios, the eight-track project includes live versions of singles “Be Sweet” and “Savage Good Boy” off Michelle Zauner’s latest LP, Jubilee, with accompaniment by the Quartet 121 string section. “Recording at Electric Lady was truly the perfect experience,” Zauner said in a statement about crafting the EP. “The longer I’ve worked as a recording artist, the more I’ve realized it’s the simple, stripped down songs that are the hardest to get right. Having the opportunity to revisit the core catalog of my songwriting in a room with so much history, surrounded by engineers and gear of the highest caliber, it was just a dream ...
Spoon Announce New Album Lucifer on the Sofa, Share “The Hardest Cut”: Stream
Spoon will return in February 2022 with their first album in five years. Entitled Lucifer on the Sofa, the 10-track LP is described the band as their “purest rock ‘n’ roll record to date.” To accompany today’s announcement, Spoon has shared the first single, “The Hardest Cut.” “It’s the sound of classic rock as written by a guy who never did get Eric Clapton,” said Spoon frontman Britt Daniel in a statement. “I spent a lot of 2018 and 2019 listening to ZZ Top,” he added. Lucifer on the Sofa was co-produced by Spoon and Mark Rankin with additional contributions from Dave Fridmann and Justin Raisen. Recording took place in Austin, Texas, marking the first set of songs the band put to tape in their hometown in more than a decade. Advertisement Related Video Lucifer on the Sofa is out official...
Beach Bunny Unveil New Single “Oxygen”: Stream
Beach Bunny have released a new single, “Oxygen,” ahead of their upcoming North American tour. The blissful standalone track finds frontwoman Lili Trifilio gushing over a newfound love that has her seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. “They don’t wanna see you the way I do/ But looks better through my worldview,” she croons on the ebullient chorus over raucously churning guitars. “Suddenly everything is easy/ I’ve never felt something so deeply/ Cause with you, with you, I breathe again/ Baby you’re my oxygen.” “‘Oxygen’ is a song about the perils of navigating romantic feelings, the joy that comes with allowing love to happen, and the act of letting go of the anxiety and our inner voices that make us feel undeserving of love,” said Tifilio in a statement. “I wanted it to have a ...
SEVENTEEN Breaks Down Their New Album Attacca Track by Track: Exclusive
For our Track by Track feature, artists open up about the stories behind each song on their latest album. Today, SEVENTEEN take us track by track through their ninth mini-album, Attacca. Welcome to Attacca: aptly named after an antiquated word describing moving forward without pause, the EP is SEVENTEEN‘s ninth mini-album, the fourth during the pandemic era alone. The group has been going nonstop. As is par for the course for SEVENTEEN, the album features writing, composing, and arranging credits for all the group members, along with trusted collaborator Bumzu. It’s not all too common for K-pop artists to have such a heavy hand in the process, but the members of SEVENTEEN (along with many other artists under the HYBE umbrella) are enthusiastic exceptions. Advertisement Related Video This a...
Elvis Costello & The Imposters Announce New Album The Boy Named If, Share “Magnificent Hurt”: Stream
Elvis Costello & The Imposters have announced a new album titled The Boy Named If, out January 14th via EMI/Capitol Records. As the first preview, they’ve shared the first single, “Magnificent Hurt.” Co-produced by Costello with Sebastian Krys, the LP’s recording sessions started off with a rhythm section of the frontman’s guitar and Pete Thomas’ Gretsch drums, recorded down in Bonaparte Rooms West. Longtime collaborator Davey Faragher contributed bass and vocals from France, with Steve Nieve playing the organ. “I started The Boy Named If with just an electric guitar, some sharps and flats, high heels and lowdowns, with five songs in bright major keys and carried on to write a whole new record for The Imposters to play,” Costello said in a statement. He added that the 13 tracks “take u...
SASAMI Announces New Album Squeeze, Shares “The Greatest” and “Skin a Rat”: Stream
SASAMI has announced her new album, Squeeze, due out February 25th via Domino. As a preview, she has also shared a pair of lead singles: “The Greatest” and “Skin a Rat.” Spanning 11 tracks, Squeeze is partially inspired by the Japanese yōkai folk spirit called Nure-onna (translation: wet woman), a vampiric deity that has the head of a woman and the body of a snake. The album’s eclectic sound varies between nu metal, country pop, folk rock, and classical music while drawing inspiration from artists ranging from System of a Down to Sheryl Crow and Fleetwood Mac to Bach and Mahler. Intended to help listeners process their “anger, frustration, desperation, and more violent, aggressive emotions,” Squeeze was constructed as an opera or orchestral work containing different “movements” that m...
Midlake Announce New Album For the Sake of Bethel Woods, Share “Meanwhile…”: Stream
After nearly a decade away, Midlake are gearing up to release their fifth studio album, which is the band’s first since 2013. It’s called For the Sake of Bethel Woods and arrives March 18th, 2022 via ATO Records in the States and Bella Union in the UK. As a preview, the Texas folk rockers have shared “Meanwhile…,” the record’s first single. For the Sake of Bethel Woods marks Midlake’s first time working with an outside producer, having teamed up with studio vet John Congleton, whose recent credits include St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, and Explosions in the Sky. The album is billed as a “warming expression of resolve and renewal,” signaling Midlake’s turning of a new leaf while staying true to their origins. “At age 16 my father and his friend hitchhiked from Ridgewood, NJ to the...
Jonny Greenwood Shares “West” and “25 Years” from The Power of the Dog Soundtrack: Stream
As if being a founding member of Radiohead weren’t enough, Jonny Greenwood is one of the most sought-after film score composers in the biz. Today, he’s shared two cuts from his soundtrack to Jane Campion’s forthcoming Western drama, The Power of the Dog, which will accompany the film’s limited release in theaters on November 17th. They’re called “West” and “25 Years.” Those who remember Greenwood’s soundtrack work from 2018’s Phantom Thread score will recognize the Radiohead guitarist’s penchant for pared-down, string-heavy compositions here. The soundtrack for The Power of the Dog, however, expectedly features some more country-themed elements, such as a fiddle and banjo. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as an aggressive rancher named Phil Burbank, who must come to terms with...
Aminé Returns with New Single “Charmander”: Stream
Aminé is back with “Charmander,” his first new music of 2021. To accompany the single, the rapper released a music video that he co-directed with frequent collaborator Jack Begert. Produced by Lido (Halsey, Chance the Rapper) and Aksel Arvid, “Charmander” sees the Portland MC explaining his chosen life of solitude. “Look, my energy is priceless, told my jeweller, ‘Ice this’/I’m way too decisive, don’t catch that ego-itis,” he raps over a chirpy beat featuring a sped-up vocal sample. “People be so phony, that’s why I be on my lonely.” In the video for “Charmander,” Aminé leads a simple life with his partner in a cabin located in the Oregon wilderness. The couple is also joined by a gigantic dog who pisses off their next-door neighbor. Watch the full clip below. Advertisement Related Vi...
Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan and Soulsavers Cover Soul Classic “The Dark End of the Street”: Stream
Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan has teamed up with longtime musical partner Soulsavers (aka Rich Machin) to take on the 1967 soul classic “The Dark End of the Street.” The duo’s version of the track appears on their upcoming covers album Imposter. For their take, Gahan stays faithful to the original and is joined by a group of background singers on the last verse, which features lyrics like “When the daylight hour rolls around/ And by chance we’re both downtown/ If we should meet, just walk on by/ Oh darling, please don’t cry.” Written by Chips Moman and Dan Penn in 1966, “The Dark End Of The Street” was initially recorded by James Carr. The track became Carr’s signature single, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Black Singles Chart and No. 77 on the Hot 100. Since then, it’s been covered b...
Helado Negro Shares New Album Far In: Stream
Helado Negro has released his seventh album Far In. Containing the singles “Gemini and Leo,” “Outside the Outside,” and “La Naranja,” the LP marks the musician’s first full-length studio set since signing to 4AD and follows his 2019 breakout album This is How You Smile. “When you’re trying to escape something, it’s always far in,” the singer-songwriter otherwise known as Roberto Carlos Lange explained of the album’s title in a profile for Pitchfork. “Whatever problems I have, all that shit gets packed away in invisible luggage. I’ve been thinking about how to express those themes in multiple ways — not in a melancholy or sad way, but dancing it out a little bit.” To round out the sound of Far In, Lange collaborated with the likes of Kacy Hill (opener “Wake Up Tomorrow”), Buscabulla (“...
