New Music Releases
Mining Metal: Beyond Grace, Blames God, Centenary, Defacement, Formless Body, Replicant, Succumb, Wraith
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. Metal is eternal. While its popularity ebbs and flows in the macro, its genres in the micro persist. A subgenre might experience a resurgence in popularity long after its progenitors have become elder statesmen — thrash exploded again long after its mid-’80s heyday in the early ’00s, for example. Even minuscule representations of a genre might persist after its innovators metamorphose. For example, Carcass have a new album out this month, one that sounds nothing like the grindcore permutation of the group from their ...
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Release New Collaborative Album Love For Sale: Stream
Powerhouse music duo Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga have just released their new collaborative album Love For Sale. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. Love For Sale serves as the follow-up to 2014’s Cheek to Cheek, which won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Record. This new album spans 10 songs in total that were pulled from the songbook of American composer Cole Porter. While they’re certainly not close in age by any measure, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga are both pop legends in their own rights — one for his contributions to the world of classy jazz standards, and the other for her reworking of modern pop as a bold art form. Combined, their talents form a charming, timeless, generation-spanning type of music that will win over you, your mom, and your grandmother, as was the cas...
Grimes Shares New Song “LOVE” About “Online Hate”: Stream
Some of history’s best songs have come out of the wreckage of a breakup. Grimes’ new track “LOVE” is not one of those songs, but it stands as a fascinating peek into the mind of a wounded pop provocateur. She and her baby’s father Elon Musk announced their amicable split last week. Initially, Grimes filtered the breakup through her usual interests and humor, announcing that she and Musk would take joint custody of Jupiter’s moon Europa, where she planned to found a “lesbian space commune.” But jokes aside, the episode has clearly been painful, and Grimes has now moved on to the next stage of modern grief: an overly-earnest Instagram post. “I wrote and produced this song this week in response to all the privacy invasion, bad press, online hate and harassment by paparazzis I’ve experien...
Wale and J. Cole Reunite for New Single “Poke It Out”: Stream
Wale has recruited his friend and frequent collaborator J. Cole for “Poke It Out,” a lighthearted single serving as a teaser for Wale’s upcoming album, Folarin 2, due out on October 22nd. Sharing an electric bass sample with Q-Tip’s 1999 hit “Vivrant Thing,” the new track mixes club-ready production with clever one-liners from the DC rapper and his North Carolina counterpart. After Wale sets the tone with lines like “Ever since I been a star, they don’t love me,” Cole brags about “being the shit since elementary.” Stream the track below. Prior to “Poke It Out,” Cole last teamed with Wale on “My Boy (Freestyle),” off 2018’s Free Lunch. The collab came after Cole seemingly dissed Wale on “False Prophets.” Throughout their extensive careers, the veteran rappers have linked up a numb...
The Rolling Stones Unearth Chi-Lites Cover “Troubles A’ Comin”: Stream
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Tattoo You, The Rolling Stones have unlocked the previously unheard track “Troubles A’ Comin.” It appears on a newly remastered deluxe edition of the 1981 album, out October 22nd via Polydor/Interscope/UMe. “Troubles A’ Comin” was recorded by the Stones in Paris in 1979. It’s a guitar-driven cover of The Chi-Lites’ 1970 original featuring Jagger delivering passionate lyrics like “Somebody get together/ And come on, we gotta make it better/ ‘Cause troubles a’ comin’, y’all.” As usual, late drummer Charlie Watts keeps the band humming along with his steady playing. Hear it below. In an interview with Howard Stern earlier this week (via Ultimate Classic Rock), Jagger spoke about his late bandmate’s impact on the group. Calling Watts the “hea...
Tori Amos Shares New Single “Speaking with Trees”: Stream
In exactly a month, Tori Amos will unveil her 16th studio album, Ocean to Ocean. Today, we get a preview of the record with “Speaking with Trees,” the art-pop artist’s initial single. Amos wrote much of Ocean to Ocean during the peak of the pandemic, and “Speaking with Trees” confronts the deep sense of hopelessness and loss she and her fellow artists felt when live music seemed like a distant memory never to return. “Speaking with trees, I’m almost sure/ That they are grieving with me,” Amos sings over a pompous piano arrangement and beefy percussion. Stream it below. According to a press release, Ocean to Ocean explores topics ranging from environmental concerns to personal upheaval. “We have all had moments that can knock us down,” Amos explained in a statement. “Thi...
Kali Uchis Recruits SZA for “fue mejor” Remix: Stream
Last November, Kali Uchis released her first Spanish-language album, Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios). On it was a song called “fue mejor,” which today gets a revamped version boasting guest vocals from none other than SZA. As an additional treat for fans, the “fue mejor” remix arrives with a new music video. “fue mejor” is a heavy-hitting R&B slow jam that perfectly suits SZA’s voice. Following the smash success of “Kiss Me More” with Doja Cat, “fue mejor” marks the first time we’ve heard SZA sing in Spanish. “This is Latin R&B, this is SZA singing in Spanish for the very first time, this is spooky season, this IS the moment,” Uchis said in a statement. The steamy music video, directed by Daniel Sannwald, feels fit for spooky season indeed, looking like it could’ve been pulle...
The Weather Station Unveil Ignorance (Deluxe): Stream
Earlier this year, Tamara Lindeman staked her claim in indie rock with Ignorance, her latest album as The Weather Station. Still reeling in its success, the folk musician has released a deluxe edition of the already-beloved record today via Fat Possum; physical copies will be available on November 19th. Ignorance (Deluxe) comes in a double-LP format that features the original tracklist, some stripped-down performances, and two brand-new tracks called “Look” and “Better Now.” “I wrote ‘Better Now’ in Banff, Alberta, in stolen moments as I was teaching songwriting and writing for myself,” Lindeman said in a statement. “It’s all just true; the mountains, the piano, the first line, the pain of being hurt and the joy of being alright anyways.” Furthermore, Lindeman writes: “Whene...
Converge and Chelsea Wolfe Announce New Collaborative Album, Share “Blood Moon”: Stream
Converge and Chelsea Wolfe have announced a new collaborative album entitled Bloodmoon: I, arriving November 19th. As a preview, they’ve shared the music video for its lead single, “Blood Moon.” The collaborative effort also features Wolfe’s musical writing partner Ben Chisholm and Cave In’s Stephen Brodsky. The star-studded project came together out of the desire “to do something grander than the typical four-piece Converge music,” according to vocalist Jacob Bannon. The eight-plus-minute “Blood Moon” showcases the sheer ambition of the collab. The brooding, cinematic arrangement trudges forward with a doom-like pace, featuring haunting vocal passages from Bannon and Wolfe. It builds to a massive sonic climax of harshness, anchored by metallic blasts from Converge themselves. Advertisemen...
IDLES Announce New Album CRAWLER, Share “The Beachland Ballroom”: Stream
Barely a year after they dropped the fiery Ultra Mono, IDLES are back with a follow-up album. It’s called CRAWLER and it’s due out November 12th via Partisan. As a preview, the Bristol post-punk group have shared the lead single, “The Beachland Ballroom,” along with a music video, which you can stream below. Over the span of 14 tracks, IDLES are using CRAWLER to bring to life vivid stories of trauma, addiction, and recovery. A press releases promises warped glam-rock (“The Wheel”), 30 seconds of grindcore (“Wizz”), and even a marching band anthem (“Stockholm Syndrome”), all of which should be interesting to hear from the otherwise punk-rock faithfuls. The whole thing was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic and was co-produced by Kenny Beats and the band’s own guitarist Mark Bowen. As our...
Bartees Strange, Eric Slick, and OHMME Cover TV on the Radio’s “Province”: Stream
The only thing better than finding a new indie rock artist you love is discovering that they look up to an old indie rock artist you also love. It’s a warm feeling, and a handful of our favorite musicians are rekindling that today by way of a cover song; Bartees Strange, Eric Slick, and OHMME joined forces to record their own version of “Province” by TV on the Radio. Stream it below. For their group rendition of “Province,” all three artists play into their unique strengths. The Dr. Dog drummer steers the track with his effortless fills and driving rhythms, Bartees Strange adds an emotional depth with his pitch-perfect vocals, and OHMME’s Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart add synth swells to the mix like celestial glitter. It’s a low-key yet riveting cover of a TV on the Radio classic, and...
Connan Mockasin Announces New Album Jassbusters Two, Shares “Flipping Poles”: Stream
Connan Mockasin is returning to the fictional universe he introduced with his 2018 album Jassbusters. Out on November 5th via Mexican Summer, Mockasin’s upcoming album is appropriately titled Jassbusters Two and features the lead single “Flipping Poles,” which you can hear below. Jassbusters Two is a concept album once again recorded by a fictional band of schoolteachers. The musicians are taken from the imaginary daytime TV miniseries Bost’n ‘n Dobs’n, which is conceived and directed by Mockasin himself. The New Zealand singer-songwriter also stars in the production, which is teased as “possibly coming to a late night cinema.” The new album was recorded at Gary’s Electric Studio in Brooklyn, New York, where Mockasin gathered together his real-life Jassbusters counterparts: Nich...
