New Music
The Avalanches Drop Two New Songs “Wherever You Go” and “Reflecting Light”: Stream
The Avalanches are keeping up the momentum for their upcoming third album, bringing us not one, but two new surprise songs. “Wherever You Go” boasts contributions by Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry, Mick Jones of The Clash, and CLYPSO, while “Reflecting Light” includes a cameo from Sananda Maitreya and a Vashti Bunyan sample. Stream both down below via their respective visualizers. “Wherever You Go” is a wild, raucous party with co-production from Jamie xx. The song includes samples from the Voyager Golden Record, which was launched into space aboard the Voyager crafts in 1977, and contains music and sounds that represent life on Earth. Cherry provides backing vocals here, while Jones and CLYPSO round out the festive instrumentation. In a statement (shared ahead as an image per the artist’s request...
Rituals of Mine Announces New Album Hype Nostalgia, Shares Futuristic Single “Free Throw”: Stream
Rituals of Mine, the solo project from experimental R&B musician and activist Terra Lopez, has announced her second full-length album: Hype Nostalgia is due out September 25th on Carpark Records. It’s the newest offering from the Los Angeles-based act since 2019’s Sleeper Hold EP, which was given the remix treatment in February 2020. As a title, Hype Nostalgia places a futuristic radiance on its difficult subject matter. Lopez recently dealt with the deaths of her father and her best friend, and poured those emotions into her songwriting, choosing instead to focus mainly on their lives. “[I wanted to] create an album that was not centered solely on grief but that carried the duality in which grief and joy could co-exist,” said Lopez on Instagram. She doesn’t shy away from playing with ...
Emerging Songwriter McCall Shares New Single “One Eye Open”: Stream
Rising Los Angeles songwriter McCall has shared the dreamy new single “One Eye Open”. It’s off her upcoming EP, On Self Loathing, due out sometime later this summer. McCall first began to break out with her 2019 EP Under the Reign. She specializes in what she calls “sad bops with spice,” and that certainly applies to her new offering. “One Eye Open” is fashioned around achingly personal lyrics and pared-back piano. Meanwhile, the studio effects — or her “spicy” ingredient — find McCall sounding like a kid in a candy store. The SoCal native arranges her own voice into a grand chorus, at times evoking Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek”. But she uses this technique sparingly, and as often as she builds out the top line, she demolishes it back to simplicity. She also worked a series of breaks...
Sylvan Esso Announce Free Love, Drop ‘Ferris Wheel’
Sylvan Esso are back with new material. Not only have they announced their forthcoming studio album, Free Love, they’ve also shared the first single off it — “Ferris Wheel.” Directed by Supercollider, the video follows Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn having a great time at a carnival, complete with all the lights, games, and of course, a ride on the Ferris wheel. “This first single, Ferris Wheel, is about discovering your power and awkwardly figuring out how to wield it,” Meath said in a statement. “It’s for the summer, it’s for you, we hope you like it.” Prior to “Ferris Wheel,” Sylvan Esso released a visual for “What If,” the LP opener, last week. [embedded content] Free Love is the studio follow-up to 2017’s What Now and recently released live record, WITH, which dropped in April. “I...
Ben Harper and Rhiannon Giddens Team for Nick Drake Cover
As of this morning, blues stars Ben Harper and Rhiannon Giddens are officially collaborators. Harper and Giddens’ Tuesday release, a cover of Nick Drake’s 1974 “Black Eyed Dog,” sees Harper on lap steel and Giddens on banjo as they harmonize on the punchy American roots cut. Harper says he and his latest collaborator share many of the same influences, which is also quite evident in the soothing cover. “Rhiannon and I are both Black purveyors of American roots music, and while this is not an anomaly, it is an exception within a subculture,” Harper said in a statement. “We have unquestionably tapped into the same creative well of influence, carrying on the tradition through our own individual instincts and perspectives.” While the pair knew of each other before recording the track, Gidd...
Travis Scott Shares New Songs With Big Sean, Young Thug, Chase B, and More: Stream
Travis Scott has more new music on the way. As Stereogum points out, the Houston rapper and producer Chase B teased a new collaborative album on the latest installment of their .WAV Radio show on Monday. They’re calling it Escapism and they’ve already dropped a bunch of tracks from it. Here’s a rundown of the new songs: “Zen” and “Lithuania” featuring Big Sean; “Cafeteria” featuring Don Toliver and Chase B; “Picky” featuring Nav and Wheezy; “Scrooge” featuring Swae Lee; “The Parables” featuring YBN Cordae; “White Tee” featuring Young Thug; and “MAYDAY” featuring Sheck Wes. Who knows when we’ll hear the full album, but you can stream a replay of .WAV Radio here via Apple Music. The new material begins around the hour and a half mark, shortly after they have a pretty great chat abo...
Sylvan Esso Announce New Album Free Love, Share “Ferris Wheel”: Stream
At last, Sylvan Esso have finally announced a new album. The record, titled Ferris Wheel, is due out September 25th via Loma Vista. To celebrate the news, Sylvan Esso have shared the title track as well as a dizzying music video to go with it. This is Sylvan Esso’s third full-length album to date, following 2017’s What Now and their 2014 self-titled debut. Ferris Wheel spans 10 tracks in total, including the new song they shared today as well as the previously released single “What If” — which, according to the tracklist, serves as the album opener, too. “It’s a record about being increasingly terrified of the world around you and looking inward to remember all the times when loving other people seemed so easy, so that you can find your way back to that place,” the band said in a statement...
Drake Teams Up With Headie One for New Song “Only You Freestyle”: Stream
Drake has teamed up with British rapper Headie One for a new collaborative track called “Only You Freestyle”. The standalone single sees both artists splitting the song in half, with each getting just under two minutes to freestyle nonstop. “I had to go hard, especially on a track with one of the best drill artists in the world,” says Drake in a press release. “Scratch that — the best drill artist in the world.” Produced by M1onthebeat, “Only You Freestyle” wastes no time letting Drake and Headie One lay down some new thoughts. While the Scorpion star’s verses see him charging forward with a tight speed, even speaking in Arabic for a spell, he eventually trips over his own tongue and begins to fall off tempo — a cringeworthy moment for anyone who can keep time. Meanwhile, Headie One k...
Gorillaz Recruit ScHoolboy Q For New Collaborative Song “PAC-MAN”: Stream
Gorillaz continue to dole out hit after hit with their ongoing audiovisual series, Song Machine. For the latest entry, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s animated alternative outfit has teamed up with ScHoolboy Q for a song called “PAC-MAN” that celebrates the beloved arcade game’s 40th birthday. The bouncy, upbeat track features actual sound effects from Pac-Man the game, which makes for a particularly playful setting compared to ScHoolboy’s usual breed of grim West Coast rap. Check out “PAC-MAN” in full below along with its accompanying visual, which features ScHoolboy and the virtual band in both their normal and Pac-Man-ized forms. The track is the fifth edition of Gorillaz’s Song Machine singles series, following “Friday 13th” (feat. French-British rapper/singer Octa...
Gorillaz Release ‘PAC-MAN’ With an Assist From ScHoolboy Q
For the latest release in their Song Machine series, Gorillaz teamed up with Top Dawg’s ScHoolboy Q for the funk-laced “PAC-MAN,” on the 40th anniversary of the legendary arcade game’s release The band dropped the single alongside a bright, arcade-style video featuring the classic game, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The track itself is a bit eerie with a hard-hitting Q verse, complete with a punching bag and flashes of neon as he spits. The cut is Q’s first feature since REASON’s May single “Pop Shit.” The song was produced by Prince Paul, Remi Kabaka Jr., and Gorillaz. It was recorded in London just before lockdown. Earlier in the series, Gorillaz shared June’s “Friday 13th” with London rapper Octavian, “Momentary Bliss”&nb...
Alison Mosshart Drops Eerie Short Film for ‘Animals’
Alison Mosshart has kept herself busy in 2020. Not only has she been releasing new solo music, but Mosshart also announced her first solo spoken word album, Sound Wheel. And today (July 20), she has dropped a short film that features an excerpt from “Animals.” “Hey, if we were living like animals,” Mosshart recited in the video in the video. “It didn’t feel like that then. No one pointed it out that I can remember. It didn’t seem that bad.” The 69-second clip not only shares a piece of her poetry, but it also showed Mosshart’s directing side. Similar to “Returning The Screw,” Mosshart experiments with a lo-fi surveillance video look but also seems to play with the horror movie genre. As the camera focuses on someone sitting in a chair, you start to see this individual start moving from sid...
Chris Cornell’s Unreleased Cover of Guns N’ Roses’ “Patience” Unearthed for His 56th Birthday: Stream
Today would have been Chris Cornell’s 56th birthday, and his family is marking the occasion by sharing his previously unreleased cover of Guns N’ Roses’ “Patience”. Listen below. In a message posted to Facebook, Cornell’s family said, “His birthday seemed the perfect time to share this and celebrate Chris, his voice, music, stories and art. It is true a man is not dead while his name is still spoken… and, through his art, an artist’s soul still burns just as bright as ever upon all those that look up to him and his memory. Releasing music that was special to Chris keeps a part of him here with us — his heart and his soul. His love and his legacy.” In related news, Cornell’s daughter, Toni, is following in her father’s footsteps. She recently released her first-ever solo single, “Far Away P...
