<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-21T15:27:54+00:00“>April 21, 2021 | 11:27am ET Janette King has dropped a new song called “Cool Me Down” featuring DIjahSB. It’s off her upcoming debut album What We Lost, which arrives June 25th via Hot Tramp Records. King is a songwriter and producer based out of Montréal, and she starts off “Cool Me Down” with a famous clip of Eartha Kitt laughing off the idea of compromising for a man. “A man comes into my life and I have to compromise?” she scoffs, as the tinkling, jazzy beat begins to pick up steam. In a statement, King said that the song was about “staying focused on your goals,” explaining, “‘Cool Me Down’ is about staying focused on your goals and not letting anyone...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-21T15:52:27+00:00“>April 21, 2021 | 11:52am ET Canadian duo cleopatrick have announced their debut album, BUMMER, out June 4th via Nowhere Special Recordings/Thirty Tigers. They also shared a new song, “FAMILY VAN”, and 2021 tour dates. Guitarist/vocalist Luke Gruntz and drummer Ian Fraser formed their band while growing up as childhood friends in Cobourg, Ontario. They wrote, recorded, and produced BUMMER with their close friend Jig Dubé. In a statement, Gruntz described the process as “just three kids with some fuzz pedals and a point to prove.” “FAMILY VAN” features a grooving bassline and thrashing guitars, with vocals that vacillate between a rapped delivery and a frenzied y...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T17:30:38+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 1:30pm ET Our new music feature Origins allows artists to break down the inspiration behind their latest track. Today, 81355 give us insight into “Thumbs Up”. In late March, Indianapolis rap trio 81355 (pronounced “Bless”) released the haunting “Capstone”, a track that earned our Song of the Week honors for intricately reflecting the Black experience in America while conveying the struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 37d03d signees are back today with “Thumbs Up”, a hypnotic new single which finds the group struggling to find sanity in the chaotic world in which we live. “Thumbs Up” features a beat mixing together psychedelic elect...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T18:12:33+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 2:12pm ET Smoothboi Ezra has announced their new EP, Stuck, out June 11th. They also shared the title track, which arrived with an accompanying music video. The four-track project was written during lockdown, with the 19-year-old Irish musician taking inspiration from artists like Angel Olsen, Soccer Mommy, and Haley Heynderickx. As a person who is gender non-binary and on the autism spectrum, Smoothboi Ezra hopes their music will help people who aren’t often represented in media with songs that speak to their unique experiences with emotional relationships. “Stuck” is the first preview of their effort, a Smoothboi Ezra describes as about “bein...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T18:19:47+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 2:19pm ET Wolf Alice are back with a new single from their upcoming album Blue Weekend. It’s called “Smile” and it comes with a saturated music video directed by Jordan Hemmingway. Stream it below. Musically, “Smile” is a bold number that sees Wolf Alice drumming up a tidal wave of energy, confidence, and passion akin to that on “The Last Man on Earth”, the album’s debut single. Singer Ellie Rowsell and the rest of the band penned “Smile” during lockdown as a way to clap back against the naysayers in life who try to put them in their place. As a result, it captures them in a wild, contagious mood. “This is one of the songs we wrote thinkin...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-21T03:10:32+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 11:10pm ET Queens, New York indie rockers UV-TV are back with another sunny burst of ’90s-style guitar pop. They just released a new single called “Back to Nowhere” and it’s ripe with jangly riffs, a giddy drum beat, and one hell of a feel-good chorus. Stream it below through Bandcamp. “Back to Nowhere” is the second track UV-TV have shared from Always Something, the band’s upcoming studio album. It follows lead single “Distant Lullaby”, which earned a coveted spot as one of the best songs of the week thanks to its power-pop hook and discreet shoegaze guitar tones. Always Something is the first album UV-TV has written since moving to New York f...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T16:07:23+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 12:07pm ET Today is April 20th, the high holy day, and Flying Lotus is celebrating with a pair of new singles. “Black Gold” featuring Thundercat and “Between Memories” featuring Niki Randa both appear in the Netflix anime series Yasuke, for which FlyLo composed the score. Yasuke is based on the true story of the first Black samurai to serve a warlord in Japan, and stars the voice of Lakieth Stanfield (Atlanta, Knives Out, Judas and the Black Messiah). Flying Lotus did more than write the music; the artist born Steven Ellison consulted on the story with creator LeSean Thomas. “[LeSean] and I talked about being outsi...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T16:33:57+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 12:33pm ET Pom Pom Squad, the Brooklyn quartet led by Mia Berrin, have announced their debut album Death of a Cheerleader. To herald the June 25th release, the band has shared the new single “Head Cheerleader”, which features backup vocals from Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara. Berrin formed Pom Pom Squad in 2015 with Shelby Keller (drums), Mari Alé Figeman (bass), and Alex Mercuri (guitar). After dropping the buzzy EPs Hate It Here (2018) and Ow (2019), the Squad took their grunge-inflected indie rock to City Slang Records. Death of a Cheerleader spans 14 tracks and was co-produced by Berrin alongside Sarah Tudzin of Illum...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-19T17:13:25+00:00“>April 19, 2021 | 1:13pm ET CHVRCHES have returned with their first new single in nearly two years, “He Said She Said”. After dropping Love Is Dead in 2018, the Scottish trio embarked on an extensive tour, before beginning 2020 with what they thought would be a quick break. Instead, they found themselves quarantining on opposite sides of the world, with Martin Doherty and singer Lauren Mayberry isolating in Los Angeles while Iain Cook holed up in Glasgow. The indie poppers became much more familiar with video call and audio sharing technologies, writing songs together despite being over 5,000 miles apart. “He Said She Said” was the first resu...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T02:53:12+00:00“>April 19, 2021 | 10:53pm ET During a recent appearance at the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, Dua Lipa brought down the lights and turned up the temperature for a cover of “Eugene” by Arlo Parks. Lipa and Parks are both young (25 and 20, respectively) and both ascendent in different ways. Parks is our former Artist of the Month, and “Eugene” appeared on her excellent debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams. Meanwhile, Lipa is fresh off her Grammy win for Best Pop Vocal album for Future Nostalgia. The pop star reveled in the intimate setting of the Live Lounge, also performing a stripped-down version of her own song “Hallucinate”. For “Eugene”, Lipa sang without pe...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-16T16:50:38+00:00“>April 16, 2021 | 12:50pm ET Alanis Morissette has released a new song called “I Miss the Band”. It’s a stirring piano ballad honoring the unique connection between her and her bandmates, and she’s using proceeds from the track to benefit Backline — a resource that connects music industry professionals and their family members with mental health and wellness providers. Stream the single below. “Life in this industry can be incredibly isolating and difficult,” the Such Pretty Forks in the Road singer wrote on her YouTube page. “Backline provides a safe, private, and immediate place to go for help. Available for free to artists, managers, agents, crew, p...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-16T17:10:39+00:00“>April 16, 2021 | 1:10pm ET Brooklyn trio Wild Pink have released a covers EP fittingly titled 6 Cover Songs. Stream it below via Bandcamp. The project finds the John Ross-led group taking on songs like Taylor Swift’s “We’re Never Ever Getting Back Together”, Bruce Springsteen’s “When You’re Alone”, and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Favourite Colour”, as well as Coldplay’s “Reign of Love”. Wild Pink also share their acoustic guitar and piano take on the iconic Jeopardy theme. In a statement, Ross explained how he choose the songs to cover. “‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ is by far my favorite Taylor Swift song though ‘Favorite Colour’ is just one of a few perso...