synthpop
Tove Lo Unveils New Song “How Long”: Stream
Tove Lo has returned with a new song called “How Long,” which appears on the upcoming Euphoria soundtrack. Listen to the song below. Synthesizers snake around “How Long,” which builds from a cool, detached verse to a wary, impassioned chorus. “Try to play it cool/ I like you/ Have me in your hand/ Just like that,” Tove Lo sings at first, over a steady beat. Soon enough, however, she tips her hand. “How long have you loved another while I’m dreaming of us together?” goes her fervent interrogation, as keys bubble. Tove Lo’s edgy electro-pop fits Euphoria’s dingy aesthetic on its own, but “How Long” get a proper needle drop on the show’s next episode, premiering Sunday (January 30th). The artist gushed about contributing to the drama’s soundtrack in a statement. “‘How Long’ is ...
Tears for Fears Unveil New Song “Break the Man”: Stream
Next month, Tears for Fears will release The Tipping Point, their first new album in 17 years. Today, they’re shared the latest single, “Break the Man,” which you can stream below. With light piano and explosive guitar, “Break the Man” is a shimmering ode to women who rage against the patriarchy. “I feel that a lot of the problems we’ve been having as a country and even worldwide to a certain degree has come from male dominance,” Tears for Fears singer Curt Smith said of the single. “It’s a song about a woman who is strong enough to break the man. For me, that would be an answer to a lot of the problems in the world — a better male-female balance.” “Break the Man” is the third single from The Tipping Point, which arrives February 25th via Concord Records. Preorders are avail...
M83 to Reissue Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, Share Video for “My Tears Are Becoming A Sea”: Watch
M83’s classic double album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming just passed its 10th anniversary, and the band is feeling celebratory. Today the French electronic group announced a vinyl reissue of the record, and shared a new music video for the track “My Tears Are Becoming A Sea.” “My Tears Are Becoming A Sea” serves as prequel to the music video trilogy of “Midnight City,” “Reunion,” and “Wait” that M83 released back in the day. In those videos, a group of supernatural children run from a group of authorities attempting to study their powers. The new clip, directed by Sacha Barbin and Ryan Doubiago, provides an origin story for one of the children. Barbin and Doubiago explained of the video: “This story takes place 10 years earlier in order to highlight the first moment one of these children u...
Lower Dens Break Up
Baltimore synthpop band Lower Dens are breaking up. “It’s time for me and Nate [Nelson] to say goodbye to Lower Dens,” lead singer J Hunter wrote in a lengthy post. “We’re proud of what we’ve done, and very lucky to have had so many people supporting us. Spiritually and physically, we, like, can not participate in the music industry any longer. We’re also old, enjoy being with our families, and have other goals in mind.” Lower Dens formed in 2010 and put out four albums together: Twin-Hand Movement (2010), Nootropics (2012), Escape From Evil (2015), and The Competition (2019). In the post, Hunter wrote, “I learned this year that I’m Autistic/have ADHD. I have a name for it now, but it’s always been a part of my identity. When I talked about nerdy conceptual sh...
Hot Chip Announce 2022 North American Tour
UK synthpop icons Hot Chip have announced a 2022 North American tour. The quintet last crossed the Atlantic in 2019 in support of their most recent album, A Bath Full of Ecstasy. This time they’re taking the long way around, flying over nearly the whole continent to kick things off in Ventura, California on April 15th. They’ll run through the southwest and into Mexico, before resetting in the northeast for shows in Boston, Brooklyn, and Pittsburgh. The trek wraps up May 14th in Chicago, Illinois. Pre-sale begins Wednesday, December 8th, and you can use code BELLS to get early access via Ticketmaster. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, December 10th, and you can book your seat here. Check out the full schedule below. Advertisement Related Video Last year, Hot Chip...
Tears for Fears Share New Song “No Small Thing”: Stream
Back in October, Tears for Fears announced The Tipping Point, their first new album in 17 years, and now they’re back with a new look at the album. Listen to “No Small Thing” below. “No Small Thing” departs from the synthpop sound Tears for Fears are known for with a folksy acoustic guitar stomp. In a press release for the single, Roland Orzabal described writing the song as the moment the record really began to take shape — when the band stopped trying to write a modern hit and instead wrote from the heart. “In early 2020, Curt and I sat down together with just a couple of acoustic guitars. The first time in decades. We needed a meeting of minds, a coming together psychically. We were literally going back to the drawing board looking for some depth, heart and soul with which to compl...
Let’s Eat Grandma Announces New Album Two Ribbons, Shares Title Track: Stream
Let’s Eat Grandma have announced their upcoming album, Two Ribbons, via Transgressive. The album is set to be released April 8th and will serve as a follow-up to the duo’s 2018 LP I’m All Ears. In conjunction with the announcement, the band has unveiled the LP’s sparse title track as its second single. The Two Ribbons of the album’s title could be taken to represent the perspectives and life experiences of both Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth over the three years since their last studio effort, but the title track is actually about other people. “‘Two Ribbons’ is a song I wrote to, and about, two of the closest people in my life, and how my relationships with them shifted over time through loss and life changes,” said Hollingworth in a statement. “It touches on the isolating experience ...
CHVRCHES’ Lauren Mayberry on Lost Boys, John Carpenter, and The Cure’s Robert Smith
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Lauren Mayberry catches up with Kyle Meredith to talk about Screen Violence, the new CHVRCHES album that finds the synthpop band using horror movies as a parallel to what was happening in their lives over the past few years. The Scottish artist discusses the darker side of fame that comes from the Internet, explains the “kill your idols” lyric on “Good Girls,” and working with The Cure’s Robert Smith and director/musician John Carpenter. Advertisement Related Video Mayberry also details their latest release, a cover of the Lost Boys soundtrack classic “Cry Little Sister” that was recently released as part of the ...
Governors Ball 2021 Day 1: The 5 Best Things We Saw
It was just a few months ago that Foo Fighters welcomed back live music in New York City with their Madison Square Garden show, and that already feels like a lifetime ago. If that was the city healing, the return of Governors Ball is NYC thriving. The festival kicked off its 10th anniversary celebration on Friday night, beckoning the throngs of music-hungry youths to its new location at Citi Field. The parking lot setting is a far cry from the barely-accessible Randall’s Island of years’ past, and frankly that’s a good thing. There was already enough anxiety about being in such massive throngs once again (checked for vaccinations and negative tests though they were) without worrying about cramming onto a bus or missing the last ferry to get off the island. That relative ease compared to ye...
CHVRCHES Cover Gerard McMahon’s “Cry Little Sister” for Netflix’s Nightbooks: Stream
CHVRCHES have shared their cover of Gerard McMahon’s “Cry Little Sister” for the soundtrack to the Netflix movie Nightbooks. Stream it below. “Cry, little sister/ Thou shalt not fall/ Come, come to your brother/ Thou shalt not die/ Unchain me, sister/ Thou shalt not fear/ Love is with your brother/ Thou shalt not kill,” Lauren Mayberry intones in a call-and-answer with herself on the track’s foreboding, atmospheric chorus. The band opened up about their love of the 1987 gothic rock classic originally featured in Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys, saying in a statement, “We were so excited to work on this project as we are big fans of everyone involved. Cinema — horror in particular — has always been a big part of CHVRCHES behind the scenes. We have talked about covering “Cry Little Sister” f...
MUNA Taps Phoebe Bridgers for New Song “Silk Chiffon”: Stream
Toward the end of last year, Phoebe Bridgers started her own record label called Saddest Factory Records, and this past spring signed the Los Angeles synthpop trio MUNA. Today, MUNA have shared their first single since joining the label, “Silk Chiffon,” featuring a verse from Bridgers herself. If “Silk Chiffon” is meant to reintroduce MUNA to old fans and new listeners alike, then it goes above and beyond in summarizing what makes the group so much fun. It’s an unabashedly pop number with airy guitars and a vocal melody that will get stuck in your head all week. According to Naomi McPherson, the band’s guitarist and producer, “Silk Chiffon” was written in hopes of being “a song for kids to have their first gay kiss to.” “Silk Chiffon” arrives with a vibrant music video in tow. Directed by ...
A Flock of Seagulls on String Theory, the Magic of the ’80s, and a New Album
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS A Flock of Seagulls’ Mike Score chats with Kyle Meredith about String Theory, the new collection of orchestral versions of the iconic ’80s band’s catalog. The frontman talks about giving some of the band’s overlooked songs a bigger spotlight, such as the first single “Say You Love Me,” which originally arrived on their 1995 album, The Light at the End of the World. Score also shares the story behind the fan-favorite “Remember David.” Advertisement Related Video Elsewhere, the A Flock of Seagulls singer tells us he’d like to see a third orchestral collection and tips us off that he’s working on both a solo record and the ...
