Los Angeles songwriter Dent May has announced his fifth album, Late Checkout. The project arrives August 21st via Carpark Records, and May is previewing it today with a wonderful new pop-rock song called “I Could Use A Miracle”. Since emerging in the late 2000s as a ukulele-toting psych-pop artist and then pivoting to disco, May has evolved into a much more polished and grandiose songwriter. Fans witnessed flashes of this transformation on 2017’s Across The Multiverse, but this forthcoming follow-up sees May really stepping up to own his new status as a power-pop multi-instrumentalist: not only is the new LP his first to be recorded outside of his home studio, but it’s also his introduction to writing and arranging parts for string players, a horn section, and background vocalist...
In honor of Juneteenth last Friday, Beyoncé released a new solo song called “Black Parade”. Now, just some days later, Queen Bey is back with a special a cappella version of the track. Per Consequence of Sound writer Nina Corcoran, the original iteration of “Black Parade” was a “celebratory blend of pop, trap, hip-hop, and electronica-verging on Detroit techno” and featured horn and flute arrangements. Although most of the flashiness and extra adornments have been stripped, the global R&B star’s message of Black pride and Black beauty still rings true here — and perhaps even truer when delivered through Bey’s singular, captivating voice. “I hope we continue to share joy and celebrate each other, even in the midst of struggle. Please continue to remember our beauty, strength and power,”...
Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, and 9th Wonder are Dinner Party Neo-jazz virtuosos Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, and Terrace Martin have teamed up with hip-hop producer/rapper 9th Wonder to form a new supergroup called Dinner Party. The quartet will release their self-titled debut on July 10th, and you can stream the first single — “Freeze Tag” featuring Chicago singer Phoelix — below. Though Washington, Glasper, Martin, and 9th Wonder only began working on the album in late 2019, the supergroup’s origins date back nearly two decades. Washington and Martin went to high school together in Washington, and met Glasper at a jazz camp. In the ensuing years, they’d collaborate together on a number of projects: Martin and Glasper are both members of R+R=Now, while Washingt...
Dark folk singers Myrkur and Anna von Hausswolff have joined forces for a cover of Björk’s 1997 song “All Is Full of Love”. The majestic closing track of Björk’s art pop masterpiece, Homogenic, “All Is Full of Love” is ripe material for a treatment from Myrkur and Von Hausswolff, whose voices intermingle on the minimalistic rendition. Only a spare, distant piano accompanies their melodies. “From our homes in Denmark and Sweden we decided to record a simple, fragile and raw version of Björk’s ‘All Is Full of Love’,” Myrkur (aka Amalie Bruun) said in a press release. “A song we consider to be one of the most beautiful and encouraging songs, that is a reminder to stay open to receive love even in times like these.” The track makes for a proper addendum to Myrkur’s 2020 album, Folkesange. Stee...
Electronic mastermind Kelly Lee Owens is gearing up to release her new album, Inner Song, this summer. To help make the wait a little shorter, she’s released a new song called “On” alongside a mesmerizing music video, and neither disappoints. Fans may recall that Inner Song was originally scheduled to come out this past May. Like other artists wary of the coronavirus pandemic, Owens has decided to push back her record, opting for a new release date of August 28th instead. Thankfully that gives us more time to sit with her new music, like previous singles “Night”, “Melt!”, and a dazzling collaborative track with Jon Hopkins. “On” continues the mood established on earlier album cuts, transitioning from her ethereal, cascading vocals to a harsher, dance-driven beat that blooms in the second h...
Electronic mastermind Kelly Lee Owens is gearing up to release her new album, Inner Song, this summer. To help make the wait a little shorter, she’s released a new song called “On” alongside a mesmerizing music video, and neither disappoints. Fans may recall that Inner Song was originally scheduled to come out this past May. Like other artists wary of the coronavirus pandemic, Owens has decided to push back her record, opting for a new release date of August 28th instead. Thankfully that gives us more time to sit with her new music, like previous singles “Night”, “Melt!”, and a dazzling collaborative track with Jon Hopkins. “On” continues the mood established on earlier album cuts, transitioning from her ethereal, cascading vocals to a harsher, dance-driven beat that blooms in the second h...
Aminé’s “Riri” video may not feature Rihanna herself, as he joked on Twitter, but that doesn’t make the visuals any less stunning. In the video, which was released on Wednesday, Aminé pokes his head out of a white convertible and cruises around mansions in Los Angeles. Co-directed by the rapper and Jack Bergert and featuring a cameo from sports broadcaster Taylor Rooks, the video also cuts to Black women vibing to the track in quarantine, with Riri’s Savage X Fenty products being featured. “We shot this video before the murder of George Floyd and my knowledge of the Breonna Taylor case,” Aminé writes. “But I felt compelled to delay its release for obvious reasons.” “Activism is essential right now so I put my focus there for the past few weeks. We skipped editing sessions to marc...
Kesha has shared a cover of T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution” on Wednesday, along with a video featuring iconic ’70s-era archival footage of singer Marc Bolan and the iconic group. The track, produced by Hal Willner for the upcoming star-studded compilation album Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan and T. Rex, showcases Kesha’s superstar vocals as she’s backed by an orchestra. “Through a stroke of luck, I met the incredibly talented and kind Hal Willner,” Kesha said. “We were in the same studio and he said he liked my red nudie suit, and then when he mentioned that he was working on a project that involved honoring Marc Bolan, I excitedly started rambling about how much T. Rex has influenced my music and my style.” Willner died of COVID-related complication...
Rising songwriter Samia has announced her debut album, The Baby. It arrives August 28th via Grand Jury Music, and Samia has provided a preview with the new single “Fit N Full”. At only 23, Samia has built her buzzy reputation off a series of singles, including “Origins of Artifice”, about which she spoke to Consequence of Sound last year. For her first LP, she’s working with producer Caleb Hinz as well as Jake Luppen and Nathan Stocker of Hippo Campus. Lars Stalfors (Soccer Mommy) handled the mix. But while she’s dealing with crisper soundscapes than ever before, her appeal is still rooted in her incisive, self-reflective lyrics. The new song “Fit N Full” continues in this deeply personal vein. The song is about body image, diets and exercise, and trying to have success in music ...
Filter are back with a new single, “Thoughts and Prayers”, their first song in four years. The track will appear on the band’s upcoming album, Murica, tentatively due before the end of the year. Frontman Richard Patrick, the lone constant member of the veteran industrial rock act, reunited with original Filter guitarist Brian Liesegang to pen the new song. The pairing has given the track a throwback industrial feel, reminiscent of some of the band’s ’90s output. Lyrically, the song is politically charged, with Patrick condemning empty gestures in the wake of events like school shootings. As he sings in the chorus, “Thoughts and prayers/ Post and shares/ I’m bleeding out of open wounds/ Another day that no one cares.” Back in 2018, it was announced that Patrick and Liesegang had reunited, a...