New Song Releases
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 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...
Pop Smoke’s New Album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon Receives Deluxe Edition: Stream
Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut album, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, was released earlier this month, boasting cameos from Future, Swae Lee, DaBaby, and more. Now, an expanded deluxe edition of the album has arrived, along with a new video for “The Woo”. Check out both below. For a high-definition listening experience, you can sign up for a 60-day free trial of TIDAL HiFi. This deluxe edition of Shoot for the Stars includes 15 (!) new songs and guest contributions from Burna Boy, BloodPop, Jamie Foxx, PnB Rock, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, and Fivio Foreign, among others. There’s also a somewhat controversial track called “Paranoia” with Young Thug and Gunna. A previously leaked iteration of this cut had reportedly featured Pusha-T and a diss reigniting his 2018 beef with Drake,...
Julia Stone Returns With New Single “Break”, Produced By St. Vincent: Stream
Julia Stone (photo by Brooke Ashley Baron) and St. Vincent (photo by Lior Phillips) Julia Stone is back with her first solo single in eight years, “Break”. The track was produced by none other than St. Vincent and features additional contributions from Bryce Dessner of The National and Warpaint member Stella Mozgawa. On “Break”, Stone layers her folk stylings with more robust instrumentation like synthesizers and brass, citing David Byrne as inspiration. According to the Australian singer-songwriter, this exciting shift in musical direction is tied to the adrenaline rush of a new romance. “It’s when you first meet somebody, and you have that connection, and your chemicals go crazy,” Stone says of the single, which was also co-produced by Sufjan Stevens associate Thomas Bartlett. “It’s abou...
Shamir Announces New Self-Titled Album, Premieres “I Wonder”: Stream
Despite the pandemic, Shamir is gearing up to release his second album of 2020. Following March’s Cataclysm, the indie artist is readying a self-titled record for October 2nd. According to a statement, Shamir finds the Philly-based musician swapping his R&B and pop palette for something with a little more grit. Shamir specifically looked “toward the post-hardcore ’90s for further inspiration — from Olympia, Washington cult heroes Unwound to bands of the Kill Rock Stars orbit.” The shift in musical direction may be a bit surprising to fans. But for Shamir, it’s a natural evolution and one that places him at his most centered. “I felt like it didn’t need a name [for the album], cuz it’s the record that’s most me,” Shamir says of the LP, which he also considers his most accessib...
Rare 1979 Version of Prince’s “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” Has Been Unearthed: Stream
This September brings a massive reissue of Prince’s 1987 tour de force, Sign O’ the Times. The expanded collection boasts 63 unreleased tracks, as well as a previously unseen concert film recorded at Paisley Park on New Year’s Eve that same year. Fans were already treated to one of the reissue’s many rarities, “Witness 4 The Prosecution (Version 1)”, back in June. Today, Warner Records and The Prince Estate are sharing a never-before-released 1979 version of “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man”. This iteration was recorded at Hollywood Sound Recorders, Studio A on May 23rd, 1979. According to a press statement, it’s “the oldest recording” found on the upcoming reissue.”The track was retrieved from the vault by Prince in June 1986 and re-recorded, with Prince adding a guitar solo...
Pig Destroyer Announce New EP The Octagonal Stairway, Share Video for “The Cavalry”: Stream
Grindcore vets Pig Destroyer have announced a new EP, The Octagonal Stairway. In advance of its release, the band has shared the music video for the track “The Cavalry”, featuring fan-submitted footage from early on in the COVID-19 pandemic. The six-track EP, which arrives August 28th, collects previously released one-off singles and “B-side noise cuts.” The EP takes its title from the spiraling 2013 single “The Octagonal Stairway”, included here alongside 2019 songs “The Cavalry” (initially released via the Decibel Flexi Series) and “Cameraman”. The second half of the EP contains the previously unreleased songs “News Channel 6”, “Sound Walker”, and “Head Cage” (which shares a name with the band’s 2018 album, but was not on the LP’s tracklist). The EP also features former Sepultura drummer...
The Replacements Announce Pleased to Meet Me Deluxe Edition with 29 Unreleased Tracks
The Replacements have announced a new deluxe box set of their acclaimed fifth studio album, Pleased to Meet Me. Due out October 9th from Rhino, the collection showcases 29 never-before-released tracks from the band, including their final recordings with guitarist Bob Stinson. Remastered by Justin Perkins (who handled the same duties on last year’s excellent Dead Man’s Pop box), the Pleased to Meet Me deluxe edition is spread across three CDs and one 12-inch vinyl record. The first CD features the original LP along with B-sides and rarities, capped off with a Jimmy Iovine remix of the classic “Can’t Hardly Wait”. Disc 2 captures the summer 1986 sessions at Minneapolis’ Blackberry Way Studios that led up to the final album. Amongst the 15 demos are 11 previously unreleased recordings, t...
