New Music Releases
Blood Orange Unveils New Four Songs EP: Stream
Blood Orange has dropped a new EP called Four Songs, marking his first new music since 2019. Listen to the project below. Dev Hynes wrote and produced all of Four Songs, while Ian Isaiah, Eva Tolkin, and Erika de Casier appear on the project as well. The artist initially announced the EP by sharing its opening track, “Jesus Freak Lighter.” Blood Orange’s last studio project was 2019’s Angel’s Pulse mixtape. Apart from his usual brand of R&B, Hynes has spent the last couple of years writing classical music: he scored the series We Are Who We Are and In Treatment, as well as the films Mainstream, Naomi Osaka, and Passing. He also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for his album Fields. Next up, he...
The Mars Volta Return with Self-Titled Comeback Album: Stream
The Mars Volta are back with their new self-titled album, which marks the band’s first full-length in 10 years. Listen to the project below via Bandcamp. Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López departed The Mars Volta after releasing 2012’s Noctourniquet before returning this year with the singles “Blacklight Shine” and “Graveyard Love.” Both tracks appear on The Mars Volta, a record that departs from the duo’s original prog rock sound in favor of more electronic melodies; perhaps that’s why the album is self-titled. (Confused about the switch up? Read our guide to The Mars Volta in 10 Songs). Check out the artwork and tracklist for The Mars Volta below, and once you’re doing listening to the record, see if you agree with our review. Advertisement Relat...
Rina Sawayama Unveils New Album Hold the Girl: Stream
Rina Sawayama has released her sophomore studio album. Hold the Girl, the pop artist’s long-awaited follow-up to 2020’s SAWAYAMA, is out now via Dirty Hit. Like SAWAYAMA, Hold the Girl is an amalgam of genres spanning grunge, country, EDM, and more, tied together with the Japanese-British artist’s keen ear for pop. The record comprises 13 tracks, a few of which Sawayama shared as singles: The belt-worthy title track, the rock-tinged “Catch Me in the Air,” the power ballad “Phantom,” and the rodeo banger “This Hell” — the latter of which we crowned Song of the Week. In her album review, Mary Siroky writes: “What Sawayama has successfully captured with Hold the Girl is the healing power of pop music, and the catharsis that can come just as easily with an arena-ready...
Whitmer Thomas Ponders Why “Everything that Feels Good Is Bad” on New Single: Stream
Before Whitmer Thomas shares his new album The Older I Get the Funnier I Was this October, the comedian-musician has shared another preview today with the single and its accompanying music video. Sonically, “Everything that Feels Good Is Bad” is on the mellower side for Thomas, layering gentle acoustics over an electronic beat before the song swells into a rush of placid dream-pop. The song tackles the habit of gluttonous self-destruction in all its forms, effortlessly weaving the morose with the mundane: “Is it intermittent fasting or an eating disorder?/ Do I need all my old birthday cards or am I a hoarder?” he sings. “This song is about all of the unhealthy things I know I’m not supposed to do that I get some satisfaction out of doing in the moment,” Thomas explains in a press rel...
Cate Le Bon Shares Slinky New Song “Typical Love”: Stream
Cate Le Bon has released her standalone single “Typical Love,” a leftover from the sessions for her 2022 album, Pompeii. It arrives ahead of her headlining North American tour, which kicks off on September 27th (grab tickets here). Built atop a grooving bassline and the drumming of Stella Mozgawa, “Typical Love” is anything but typical. It comes with flourishes of electric guitar and synths alongside a distorted sax that adds to the disconcerting feel of the song’s production. Le Bon’s vocals cascade up and down the track, as she compares her love to “a shattering of glass and how I imagine Japan” and “an invite to the art of demolition.” “‘Typical Love’ was a product of a rare jam session with dearest genius friend, Stella Mozgawa,” Le Bon explained in a statement. “The outline, written o...
My Morning Jacket Announce Live Triple Album MMJ LIVE VOL. 2: CHICAGO 2021
My Morning Jacket have announced the second installment in their ongoing live album vinyl series: MMJ LIVE VOL. 2: CHICAGO 2021 arrives October 21st, following last year’s MMJ Live 2015. Recorded at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago in November 2021, MMJ LIVE VOL. 2: CHICAGO 2021 compiles a 20-song setlist of career highlights across six sides of wax. There’s new tracks like “Love Love Love” and “Complex,” both on their 2021 self-titled album, to MMJ staples like “Dondante,” “Mahgeetah,” and “Phone Went West.” MMJ LIVE VOL. 2: CHICAGO 2021 comes on 3xLP translucent vinyl, and pre-orders are ongoing. See the full tracklist for the new triple album below. Advertisement Related Video There’s also a chance to hear some live My Morning Jacket in the flesh, as the Kentucky band ar...
White People Save the Day in Kid Rock’s New Video for “Never Quit”: Watch
Kid Rock probably thinks he made some sort of grand statement about ending racism in his new music video for “Never Quit,” a track from his most recent album Bad Reputation. The message rings entirely hollow, however, when the artist delivering it takes pride in flying the Confederate flag and palled around with a president who courted the support of white supremacists. In the video, a Black man discovers his store has been vandalized in what seems to be an almost entirely white town. The camera makes sure to linger several times on his framed photo with a white man he served with, an image of a white Jesus, and a thin blue line flag; interpret that how you may. Due to his longstanding ties to the community, the town quickly rallies together to help with the cleanup process....
Kelela Makes Mesmerizing Return on New Single “Washed Away”: Stream
Kelela has returned with her first single in nearly four years, “Washed Away.” Stream the song via its mesmerizing music video below. The song is produced by Yo van Lenz and finds the singer delivering impeccable, enchanting vocal runs paired with enveloping synths that immediately make the track awash with that familiar Kelela mystique. Though the lyrics deal with distant hopes that “fade away, blurry-eyed,” the song itself extends to a broader revival of clear purpose for the artist. “I specifically want to speak to marginalized Black folk and highlight the work we do to find renewal in a world that’s built to make us feel inadequate,” she shared in a statement. “This song is the soundtrack to the relief we find after going inward.” Advertisement Related Video “Washed Away” was a deliber...
Lorde’s Younger Sister Indy Yelich Previews Debut Single “Threads”: Watch
Indy Yelich, younger sister of pop star Lorde, is set to enter the music industry with her debut single, “Threads.” The 23-year-old has previewed her new song on Instagram with a note that the full version is coming “soon.” The video on Instagram presents the song as an acoustic piano ballad, though TMZ also has a clip of the track as an uptempo EDM-inflected pop anthem. “Love you the same but I’m afraid that you’ll let me/ Rip out the threads we wove together, and it scares me,” Yelich sings. If her nose and eyes didn’t do it, her breathy voice lays bare the family resemblance. Yelich hasn’t yet revealed any other musical aspirations, though considering the polished production on the recorded version of “Threads,” it would be a surprise if she didn’t announce an album sometime s...
Weyes Blood Announces New Album, Shares “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody”: Stream
Weyes Blood season is approaching: Natalie Mering’s avant-rock project will return with a new album And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, on November 18th, 2022 via Sub Pop. Along with the announcement, Mering has unveiled the record’s lead single “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody,” as well as a batch of 2023 tour dates. And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow is the second in a trilogy of Weyes Blood albums. While its predecessor Titanic Rising (one of our top albums of 2019) was caught up in the anticipation of impending doom, the new album documents being in the thick of the storm and searching for an escape. “We’re in a fully functional shit show,” Mering says in a press release. “My heart is a glow stick that’s been cracked, lighting up my chest in an explosion of earnestness.” Pre-o...
Adam Melchor Shares the Origins of New Single “I’m Ready”: Exclusive
Origins is our recurring feature series that provides artists a platform to dive into everything that inspired their latest release. Today, Adam Melchor takes us through “I’m Ready.” Adam Melchor has returned with “I’m Ready,” the latest single from his upcoming debut album Here Goes Nothing!, on Friday, September 9th. The dreamy indie-folk tune doubles down on Melchor’s knack for warm harmonies and frames him as wholeheartedly in love. As soon as the inviting, ocean-like ambiance introduces the tune, the tone of the song is immediately obvious. Before Melchor even utters the first line, you know it’s a love song. The instrumentation, with its finger-picked acoustic guitar and chime embellishments, simply feels like love incarnate. So, it comes as no surprise when Melchor proceed...
Built to Spill Premiere New Album When the Wind Forgets Your Name: Stream
Built to Spill have revealed their new album, When the Wind Forgets Your Name, out September 9th via Sub Pop. Listen to it in full below. When the Wind Forgets Your Name mark’s Built to Spill’s first album in seven years and their debut release with Sub Pop. “I’m psyched: I’ve wanted to be on Sub Pop since I was a teenager,” founding member Doug Martsch said in a press statement. “And I think I’m the first 50-year-old they’ve ever signed.” Martsch started working on the album after meeting Oruã members Le Almeida and João Casaes several years ago. After serving as his new backing band for shows in Brazil, they joined him on tour in the US and Europe, learning new songs Martsch had written. After coming off the road, they recorded the bass and drum tracks at his rehearsal space in Bois...
