New Song Releases
BTS Reveal Explosive New Single “Dynamite” and Video: Watch
Pandemic be damned! BTS continue their world domination today with new single “Dynamite” and its music video. The English-language offering finds the beloved K-pop purveyors hitting the disco dance floor and channeling their inner Saturday Night Fever. A much welcomed reprieve from these strange times, the track is filled with joy and appreciation for all the little things that life has to offer. In the corresponding clip, directed by Yong Seok Choi (Lumpens), BTS deliver choreography consisting of “simpler movements [that are] tastefully connected, allowing each member to sing and express themselves to their hearts’ extent.” The seven-piece boyband can be seen singing in front of a “Disco” storefront, as well as a beautiful pink lemonade sunset. Check out the explosive “Dynamite” below. E...
Vic Mensa Releases Surprise V TAPE EP: Stream
Chicago is being represented well this New Music Friday thanks to Vic Mensa. The rapper has dropped off a surprise EP called V TAPE, and it’s streaming below via Apple Music or Spotify. The unexpected collection consists of seven all-new songs. Among them are collaborations with SAINt JHN, BJ the Chicago Kid, Snoh Aalegra, Eryn Allen Kane, and Chance the Rapper associate Peter Cottontale. Meanwhile, Hit-Boy, Thelonious Martin, Keyon Christ, Stefan Ponce, and C-Sick provide production alongside Smoko Ono, SC, and TRAKGIRL. As to be expected from the always thought-provoking and outspoken activist-rapper Mensa, V TAPE weaves in themes of social justice and suffering. For example, lead single “MACHIAVELLI” and its corresponding “vignette” offer an intimate look at Chicago’s South S...
McCall is in Denial on New Song “Nothing Even Wrong”: Stream
Rising songwriter McCall has shared the lusciously neurotic new song “Nothing Even Wrong”. It’s off her On Self Loathing EP, which has now been given the release date of September 18th. Having offered a couple of previews of On Self Loathing, it’s safe to say that McCall is branching out in a slightly different direction. Her breakout 2019 EP Under the Reign showed a rare ear for melody, but it dressed those toplines in rock-accented pop. As “Nothing Even Wrong” continues to demonstrate, she’s become interested in swelling choruses made of just her voice, as well as cutting-edge studio wizardry. The path she’s going down has been explored by the likes of Imogen Heap and Bon Iver, but her perspective is so different from those artists that her music can’t help but s...
Dan Deacon Releases Original Score for HBO’s Well Groomed: Stream
This past January saw Dan Deacon drop his first album in four years, Mystic Familiar. The Baltimore-based musician is back now with his second project of 2020: his original score for HBO’s Well Groomed. Well Groomed is a documentary about the colorful and wonderfully absurd subculture of competitive dog grooming. The film premiered on HBO in late 2019, but today marks the official release of Deacon’s accompanying soundtrack. Much like the doc, the music is playful and fun in nature. Its 14 arrangements also find the electronic music producer Deacon expanding his sound palette by dabbling with more earthy and organic instrumentation. Previous collaborators like pianist M.C. Schmidt of Matmos, vibraphonist Rich O’Meara, and guitarist Steve Strohmeier assisted Deacon in creating the soni...
London Grammar Return with New Single “Baby It’s You”: Stream
Even during these dismal times, London Grammar have managed to find a little light. The British trio return today with the uplifting “Baby It’s You”, their first single in three years. Co-produced by George FitzGerald (Foals, Moby), the track is a soothing listen about the grounding power of love. “All these lights are changing/ See ’em everywhere/ In my veins like lightning/ I don’t even care,” sings Hannah Reid, her vocals robust and enveloping like a weighted blanket. “All these colors in me, but all I wanna see you/ And nothing else matters/ You, baby it’s you.” Between Reid’s soaring presence, the snappy percussion, and the song’s feel-good message, “Baby It’s You” seems like the ideal anthem to blast throughout an arena. Stream the new track below and get those lighters ready. Editor...
Dirty Projectors Announce Super João EP, Share “Holy Mackerel”: Stream
Dirty Projectors are currently two installments into a planned five-EP series they’re releasing over the course of the year. Each four-song collection features a different band member taking lead: For March’s Windows Open, it was Maia Friedman, while Felicia Douglass stepped forward for June’s Flight Tower. Now, Dirty Projectors mastermind Dave Longstreth has announced his own contribution, the Super João EP, and shared the lead single, “Holy Mackerel”. Arriving September 4th, Super João has the sort of smooth samba sounds you’d expect from an effort named after bossa nova pioneer João Gilberto, who passed away last year. Longstreth co-wrote the lyrics with Little Wings’ Kyle Field before recording direct to tape with Kyle Thomas of King Tuff, who happens to be his neighbor in Los Angeles....
Brasstracks Share the Origins of New Single “Golden Ticket” with Common, Masego: Stream
In our new music feature Origins, we asks artists to take a moment to reflect on the backstory of their latest single. Today, Brasstracks tell us how they cashed their “Golden Ticket” with Common and Masego. Rising from their jazz school backgrounds, Brasstracks have already accomplished more than most duos made of just horns and drums could dream of. Mark Ronson essentially has them on speed dial, they’ve got some GRAMMY shine thanks to their work on Chance the Rapper’s “No Problem”, and they’ve collaborated with everyone from Wyclef Jean to Anderson .Paak. Oh, and they only formed six years ago. But now Ivan Jackson and Conor Rayne are really ready to grab the spotlight with their debut album, Golden Ticket. Due out August 21st, the full-length follows their 2019 EP Before...
Sonic Youth, Mudhoney Members Share Previously Unreleased Cover of The Stooges: Stream
Back in 1997, director Todd Haynes convinced a bunch of indie rock and punk pillars to join forces and soundtrack Velvet Goldmine, his 1998 homage to the glam-rock era. That supergroup was named Wylde Ratttz, and it consisted of The Stooges’ Ron Asheton, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley, Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, The Stooges and Minutemen‘s Mike Watt, Sean Lennon, Don Fleming, and Jim Dunbar. Years later, it looks like one of the songs they recorded, a cover of The Stooges’ track “Fun House”, has just been finally unearthed for the first time, reports Spin. Wylde Ratttz uploaded their “Fun House” cover to Bandcamp to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Stooges’ second album, Fun House. Their rendition features Asheton, Moore, Watt, Shelley, Arm, and saxophonist Sabir Mateen draw...
Open Mike Eagle Announces New Album Anime, Trauma and Divorce, Shares “Bucciariati”: Stream
Open Mike Eagle has announced his first album in three years. Titled Anime, Trauma and Divorce, it’s expected see release this fall. Due out via his own AutoReverse Records label, the LP follows up on 2017’s Brick Body Kids Still Daydream. According to the 39-year-old rapper, it recounts the worst year of his entire life. “Before the world went to shit I was already in the middle of a few personal crisis,” OME explained in a statement. “Shit had gone haywire personally and professionally and my therapist had to remind me that I have an outlet to process some of my shit in rap music.” “So I made a bunch of painful rap songs and Jacknife Lee was kind enough to help me make good music out of them,” he continued. “Maybe it can help other people too. It probably won’t but maybe.” As noted, Jack...
Ian Isiah Channels His Inner Prince on New Song “Princess Pouty”: Stream
Blood Orange collaborator and alternative R&B artist Ian Isiah will release his upcoming record, Auntie, on August 31st via Juliet Records. For those who can’t wait a few weeks to hear what the project sounds like, he’s shared the latest single, “Princess Pouty”. Musically, “Princess Pouty” is a vibrant electro-funk number that sounds like Prince in his most sparkly outfit. Part of that tone comes courtesy of Chromeo, the nu-disco duo who produced the track (while juggling their own pandemic-era projects, mind you). It’s flashy, it’s retro, and it’s perfectly self-aware in its high-key indulgence. When sharing the track, Isiah revealed he’s proud of his vocal work here, and rightfully so. As it turns out, the single is a little bit of an I-told-you-so to the grown-ups from his youth wh...
The Cribs Announce New Album Night Network, Share “Running Into You”: Stream
The Cribs have announced their new album, Night Network. It’s set for arrival November 13th, 2020 through Sonic Blew/[PIAS]. The forthcoming record serves as their eighth overall and follow-up to 2017’s 24-7 Rock Star Shit. More importantly, it marks the return of a British band that almost called it quits after an exhausting business matter involving their management. According to a statement, immediately following the release of their previous record, The Cribs parted way with their UK representation. This led to what they described as a “legal morass” that left them unable to record or release new music for 18 months. For a group that’s steadily put out records for the last 15 years, such a hold-up was disruptive to say the least. “At one point we were actually so disillusioned with wha...
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Share New Song “Some of Us”: Stream
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are back to doing what they do best: releasing staggering amounts of music. The latest offering is “Some of Us”, and it comes with a nightmare-inducing music video. You’d think the Aussie rockers had been watching Lovecraft Country judging from the lyrics. Stu Mackenzie sings of “Ancient tombs like sand-filled wombs,” to reflect upon the passage of “untold aeons.” Guitars match Mackenzie note-for-note, sounding for all the world like a demon chorus engaged in a psych-rock sing-a-long. According to a statement on social media, “Some of Us” was written earlier this year. The band said, “This Cookie penned, Stu sung song came together early this year as the world was slowly descending into madness, but before it was truly on fire. Can’t wait to show y’a...
