Gone Is Gone, the supergroup featuring members of Mastodon, At the Drive-In, and Queens of the Stone Age, are back with a new song called “Everything Is Wonderfall”. The band, which formed in 2016, is made up of Mastodon singer-bassist Troy Sanders, At the Drive-In drummer Tony Hajjar, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Zarin. In December 2019, Gone Is Gone returned with the stand-alone single, “No One Ever Walked on Water”, which marked their first new music in nearly three years. Seven months later, they’ve unleashed “Everything Is Wonderfall”, featuring soaring vocals by Sanders, thunderous drumming by Hajjar, and grand guitar playing by Van Leeuwen. A haunting spoken-word section comes at the two-minute mark, before the riffs return to cl...
Ahead of its release this Friday, Nicolas Jaar is previewing his new album, Telas, on his newly relaunched website. The record marks the electronic music composer’s third full-length of 2020, following his March album Cenizas and February’s 2017-2019, an industrial techno record he released under his alias Against All Logic. The hour-long Telas is broken up into four distinct parts — “Telahora”, “Telencima”, “Telahumo”, and “Telallás” — one of which was already shared by Jaar back in May during a Radio Alhara performance. Additional musical contributions come courtesy of cellist Milena Punzi, vocalist Susanna Gonzo, and instrument makers Anna Ippolito and Marzio Zorio, with mastering being handled by Heba Kadry. According to Jaar’s revamped website, Telas is more t...
Japanese rapper Awich is ready to break through to America with her upcoming EP, and there’s no better track to make a memorable introduction with than “Shook Shook”, the new song she’s dropped today. Over the past few years, Awich has been busy establishing herself as a rising force within Japan’s hip-hop scene. And now, in a few weeks, she will cross over to western audiences with Partition, her upcoming EP due out August 21st via Universal. “Shook Shook” is our first taste of Partition, and it comes on strong in the best of ways. Awich alternates between Japanese and English while rapping about her experiences as a women in the male-centric music industry. Behind her, a dark piano loop can be heard atop a gritty bass beat, all smoothed out by producer Chaki Zulu. It’s almost reminiscent...
John Vanderslice has been a crucial part of indie rock for the past few decades now, but it looks like now he’s more infatuated with electronic artists than anything else. At least that’s what appears to be the case with “Lure Mice Condemn Erase”, a new single he’s released today. After years of helping define the sounds of artists like Death Cab For Cutie and Sleater-Kinney, Vanderslice has been challenging himself to create electronic music on his computer while quarantined, reports BrooklynVegan. The process has been rather fruitful. In addition to this new song, Vanderslice is planning on releasing an EP called Eeeeeeeep. It marks his first time recording entirely on a computer. Apparently, that experience came with a big learning curve. “What blew me away was how terrible my first sta...
Beloved indie pop duo Cults have announced their fourth album, Host. The record is due out later this summer on September 18th via Sinderlyn. According to a press statement, the follow-up to 2017’s Offering is said to be about the sinister dynamics of a parasitic relationship, and the catharsis that comes with achieving freedom and self-reliance. For multi-instrumentalist/singer Madeline Follin, in many ways the new album represents a form of liberation, as it’s her first to serve as primary songwriter. “In the past, I’d never brought my own music to the table because I was just too shy,” Follin explains. This time around, Follin did pitch her material, and once her bandmate Brian Oblivion and their producer Shane Stoneback heard what she had written, they were “floored”. Cults’ entire sou...
AlunaGeorge frontwoman Aluna Francis is finally stepping out of her electropop group’s spotlight. Today, the pop star has announced her debut solo album as Aluna. It’s called Renaissance and it’s due out August 28th via Diplo‘s label Mad Decent. Renaissance spans 14 tracks in total, including Aluna’s debut solo single, “Body Pump”. There’s a handful of guest contributors throughout, including Kaytranada, Princess Nokia, and Jada Kingdom — the latter two of whom appear on Aluna’s new song, “Get Paid”. In a press release, Aluna explained why “Get Paid” takes on an especially personal meaning for her. “It’s an aspirational celebration about black women and women of color getting paid, in opposition of the reality that we are consistently undervalued for our work,” she said. “On the other...
Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist’s Alfredo has already been hailed as one of the best records of 2020 — thanks to some of the stickiest bars of the year — and its visuals only hammer that in more. The duo released their latest video for standout album cut “Scottie Beam” on Wednesday, which shows Gibbs pulled over in a convertible as an officer draws a gun on him. Gibbs holds his own and escapes the life-or-death situation before Rick Ross sees Gibbs’ face plastered on a TV screen and calls him up. The two rappers link up at Ross’ place as Ross throws some cash Gibbs’ way, sends him off and dives into his unforgettable verse off the critically acclaimed record (“My pistol polished, any problems, I’ma pull that ho/Peter Parker, but I’ve yet to reach my pinnacle”). “Scottie Beam...
Sun Ra Arkestra have announced details of their first new album in 20 years: It’s called Swirling and it’s due out October 9th via Strut Records. Swirling sees the legendary jazz group at the top of their game under the direction of maestro Marshall Allen. The album spans 10 tracks — 11 if you include the vinyl-only track “Queer Notions” — and was recorded in its entirety at Rittenhouse Soundworks in Philadelphia. A handful of tracks are updated renditions of longtime gems while others are new songs entirely. To coincide with today’s announcement, Sun Ra Arkestra have shared a new arrangement of “Angels And Demons At Play”, which you can stream below. “We truly hope that this recording brings much joy to a planet which is so deeply in need of a spirit sound and vibration,” says saxoph...
Chicago indie rockers Whitney have announced a new covers album. Titled Candid, it’s due out August 14th through Secretly Canadian. Spanning 10 tracks, the album sees Whitney tackling originals by David Byrne and Brian Eno (“Strange Overtones”), Kelela (“Bank Head”), and Damien Jurado (“A.M. A.M.”). The album also includes the group’s previously shared rendition of the John Denver classic “Take Me Home, Country Roads” featuring Waxahatchee and their take on “Rain” by SWV. In a statement about their choice in covers, drummer and singer Julien Ehrlich explains, “This could’ve been as simple as saying we really love these songs and we love our bandmates and making a covers record just felt right but it truly became an exploration into how we can evolve as a band going forward.” Editors...