Los Angeles alt-pop trio lovelytheband take the first step towards their third album with their emphatic new single “sail away”. Dubbed iHeartRadio’s “Best New Rock/Alternative Artist” in 2019 on the heels of the Billboard-nominated hit “broken”, lovelytheband have continued blazing ahead, delivering “sail away” as the first peek into their highly-anticipated third studio album.
Frontman Mitchy Collins delivers an instantly memorable hook, both sung and whistled, over punctuated percussion. The aquatic-themed trio groove effortlessly over a bassline that sways like a lapsing wave, rising and falling in a sea of layered chant vocals. While clocking in at just under three minutes, lovelytheband switch-up “sail away” with a bridge that harmoniously pairs the track’s powerful hooks together via bright organs and alluring vocal backings.
The up track’s upbeat reverie is like a mirage on the horizon – the type of seeking-elsewhere that can only happen in the vastness of the open sea, as the band explains,
“The song is a daydream. It’s a fantasy of escaping the overwhelming pressures and anxieties of everyday life. In those moments it would be easier to just drop everything and sail away. Even from your own mind. Leave everything as is with no goodbyes.”
– Mitchy Collins
In addition to their late 2021 North American tour supporting their sophomore album ‘conversations with myself about you’, the trio also notched collaborations “Miss You A Little” with Bryce Vine, “games” with Tessa Violet and Matt Squire and more. lovelytheband also recently rocked coast-to-coast shows in New York for The Bowery Presents’ Summer Concert Series at Hudson Yards and Switchfoot’s BRO-AM in San Diego, which “[gives] back to the San Diego community by heightening the profile of and providing grants to nonprofit organizations that provide services to homeless, at-risk and disadvantaged youth, with a special focus on programs related to music, art and surfing.”
Adding to a string of hits dating back to their debut smash “broken”, which broke the record for longest running entry on the Billboard Music Alternative Charts at 76 weeks, and lush sad-pop anthem “loneliness for love”, “sail away” is the first hint of what’s to come from the group’s third studio album, due later this year.
The Afghan Whigs announced their first studio album in five years How Do You Burn?, which is set for release on September 9th via Royal Cream/BMG. Also out now is the second song taken from the new album titled “The Getaway.”
Theband will embark on an extensive tour in support of How Do You Burn? this fall in the United States and Europe, kicking off in Minneapolis on September 9th at the Fine Line and ending at the newly reopened KOKO in London on November 6th. Tickets are on sale now for all fall shows.
How Do You Burn?, their ninth album overall and following on from the brace of widely acclaimed records they’ve made previously since re-grouping in 2012, Do to the Beast (2014) and In Spades (2017). How Do You Burn? picks up the baton laid down by each of those records and runs it to the horizon. Work on it was begun in September 2020 – the COVID pandemic having forced Whigs frontman/songwriter Greg Dulli to abandon plans to tour his highly praised solo album, ‘Random Desire’ – and continued over the next 14 months.
The global pandemic dictated also that the band record largely apart from, and in different locations to, each other: Dulli, his co-producer Christopher Thorn and drummer Patrick Keeler together in California; bassist John Curley, guitarist Jon Skibic and strings man Rick Nelson laying down and engineering their own parts in Cincinnati, New Jersey and New Orleans, respectively.
“Once we got the system down, we started flying,” says Dulli.
For his supporting cast, Dulli called upon several serial collaborators including the late Mark Lanegan, who was a regular in Dulli’s Twilight Singers, a partner in The Gutter Twins and a close friend. Lanegan makes his Afghan Whigs debut singing backup vocals on two tracks. “It was Mark who named the album,” Dulli remarked.
Susan Marshall, who sang on the Whigs album 1965, returns to the fray for “Catch A Colt,”one of the album’s standout tracks, loose-limbed like Some Girls-era Rolling Stones and with the liquid polyrhythms of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk.
The multi-talented Van Hunt, who toured with the Whigs in 2012 and guested on Do to the Beast, brings his stacked-up, wall-of-sound vocals to both the plunging, voodoo-blues of “Jyja” and the audacious “Take Me There”, transforming the latter, says Dulli, “into this feral gospel song. We sing really well together, but what Van does production-wise… it’s unrelenting.”
Then there’s Marcy Mays, lead vocalist on ‘My Curse’, the torch-song highlight of 1993’s seminal ‘Gentlemen’ album, reprising her role here on the celestial “Domino and Jimmy”, playing Stevie Nicks to Dulli’s Lindsey Buckingham. “I wrote that song with Marcy in mind,” says Dulli. “No-one sounds like her; she’s got an incredibly unique, emotional and evocative voice.”
The Afghan Whigs – Dulli, Curley, Nelson, Keeler and with Christopher Thorn now joining the band on guitar – will take How Do You Burn? out on the road beginning this spring. Beyond that, says Dulli, their future is gloriously wide open.
Florence + the Machine unveiled a new single, “Free,” yesterday with a video starring acclaimed actor Bill Nighy as Florence’s anxiety and directed by Autumn de Wilde. The track is the latest from Florence’s forthcoming fifth LP Dance Fever, out May 13.
Florence has shared three songs from Dance Fever thus far—“My Love” (plus remixes from co-producer Dave Bayley of Glass Animals and Meduza), “King” and “Heaven is Here”—all of which arrived alongside videos by the acclaimed director de Wilde featuring choreography by Ryan Heffington.
Tickets for Florence’s North American headline dates this year are on sale now. The tour kicks off September 2 in Montreal with further stops at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl and many more. Arlo Parks, Sam Fender, King Princess, Yves Tumor, Japanese Breakfast and Wet Leg will join as support on select dates. One dollar from every ticket sold will benefit Choose Love to aid refugees worldwide. See full routing below and visit florenceandthemachine.net for more information.
Additionally, Florence will play two very special, intimate shows this spring: April 29 in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Theatre and May 6 at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York—both shows sold out in seconds.
Dance Fever was recorded in London over the course of the pandemic in anticipation of the world’s reopening. It conjures up what Florence missed most in the midst of lockdown—clubs, dancing at festivals, being in the whirl of movement and togetherness—and the hope of reunions to come.
The image and concept of choreomania—a Renaissance phenomenon in which groups of people danced wildly to the point of exhaustion, collapse and death—became a focal point of inspiration. Forced off the road for the first time in more than a decade, dance offered Florence propulsion, energy and a way of looking at music more choreographically.
Starting, as ever, armed with a notebook of poems and ideas, Florence had just arrived to New York in March 2020 to begin recording when Covid-19 forced a retreat to London. Holed up at home, the songs she had begun started to transform, ultimately arriving somewhere that Florence describes as “Nick Cave at the club.”
Dance Fever is an album that sees Florence at the peak of her powers, coming into a fully realized self-knowledge, poking sly fun at her own self-created persona, playing with ideas of identity, masculinity and femininity, redemption and celebration.
Dance Fever was produced by Florence, Jack Antonoff and Dave Bayley of Glass Animals.
Crafting each sound from scratch with unapologetic, exacting precision, Holy Ghost!’s penchant for in-the-studio perfectionism has delivered hit after hit to the dancefloor. This analog approach to “electronic” music heavily informs the band’s third album Work coming June 21, 2019 on West End Records.
A return to the heady ethos that drove Holy Ghost!’s earliest releases, Work sees New York City natives Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser revisit the freedom from expectations that suffused their 2011 self-titled debut full-length. It was a situation that stemmed partly from circumstances: They dismantled their basement Brooklyn studio and moved to a small room that a few musician friends were renting above a doctor’s office (incidentally the same address where they mixed Holy Ghost!). Due to space limitations, they pared their extensive gear collection down to just two synths, a Yamaha CS80 and a Mini Moog. “Not necessarily the bare necessities, but what would make for the most interesting limited palette,” says Millhiser. “David Bowie didn’t have every fucking synthesizer on earth to make Low. He had two. And that’s one of my favorite synth records of all time.”
The 12-song collection features the buoyant but bittersweet, “Do This” which interweaves ambient chatter from a studio session with a Nile Rodgers-esque guitar, “Nicky Buckingham’s” Fleetwood Mac-inspired riffs and swelling strings are eerily danceable, whereas “Heaven Knows What” – the band’s slowest track to date – showcases an emotional depth and range only hinted at in past releases. Featuring the talents of musical peers including Sinkane’s Ahmed Gallab, Juan Maclean and LCD Soundsystem’s Nancy Whang, Rob Moose (Bon Iver, Paul Simon, David Bowie) and Alex Epton (Neon Indian, David Byrne), Work transcends its physical constraints to capture a spectrum of vibes that remain true to Holy Ghost!’s reverence for the art and craft of dance music.
Work Tracklist:
Epton on Broadway Part I
Epton on Broadway Part II
Anxious
Heaven Knows What
Nicky Buckingham
Do This
One For Pete
My Happy House
Heaven Forbid
Soon
Slow Burn
Escape From Los Angeles
Upcoming Holy Ghost! Live Shows:
04-26 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
04-27 Los Angeles, CA – Globe Theatre
05-03 Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
05-09 Guadalajara, México – Corona Capital at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
06-21 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom (Album Release Show)
Los Angeles based duo Freedom Fry has shared their retro-inspired official video for recent single “Classic,” pulled from their long-awaited debut album Classic out June 1st. Featuring models Madison Paige (profiled in The New York Times) and Jayden Robison, the video is co-directed by the band and Ryan Lumley.
Freedom Fry previously shared their video for “Wild Child,” teasing another track that will appear on their debut album this summer. Following a series of shows at SXSW and a live session with KUTX, the band will bring their kinetic energy to a hometown show in Los Angeles on 4/10 at Moroccan Lounge.
See my post about Freedom Fry from last year, here.
Composed of Parisian-born Marie Seyrat and Michigan-born Bruce Driscoll, Freedom Fry has independently amassed over 50 million streams on Spotify and earned numerous #1 appearances on HypeMachine. They recently shared a #girlpower version of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ “Man On Fire,” which is featured in the new animated film from Intuit, racking up over 20 million views to date. Freedom Fry’s music, which heavily bleeds the warmth and sunshine of their home state of California, skirts the lines between pop, folk, and alt rock and can be heard in over 50 films, shows, and commercials including Judd Apatow’s Love, Showtime’s Shameless, Grey’s Anatomy, and in high-profile ads for fashion labels such as Lanvin and Madewell. They have performed in Europe and throughout the U.S. with the likes of Stromae, Phantogram, and X Ambassadors.
Florence + the Machine unveil a brand new track, “Sky Full Of Song”today. Listen and watch the A.G. Rojas-directed video below. In partnership with Record Store Day, a limited edition, double A-side 7” vinyl will follow on April 21.
“This was a song that just fell out of the sky fully formed,” says Florence Welch. “Sometimes when you are performing you get so high, it’s hard to know how to come down. There is this feeling of being cracked open, rushing endlessly outwards and upwards, and wanting somebody to hold you still, bring you back to yourself. It’s an incredible, celestial, but somehow lonely feeling.”
The Record Store Day release of “Sky Full Of Song” will be backed by a recording of “New York poem (for Polly),” taken from Welch’s forthcoming book Useless Magic: a collection of lyrics, artwork and poetry offering a unique, personal insight into her creative process. Useless Magic is out July 5 via Crown Publishing/Penguin.
Platinum-certified Philadelphia duo Marian Hill’s highly anticipated sophomore album, Unusual, is set for release on May 11th. The album features ten tracks written and produced by Jeremy Lloyd(production/songwriting) and Samantha Gongol (vocals/songwriting) of Marian Hill.
Marian Hill debuts a new track, “Differently,” off of Unusual. “Differently” was produced by Marian Hill and notable Canadian producer Boi-1da (Drake, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Lana Del Rey). Marian Hill recently released a short episode for “Differently,” which is the second of ten one-minute visual episodes the duo conceptualized for each song off the upcoming album—watch it below:
“Differently” follows Marian Hill’s previously released single, “Subtle Thing,” off of Unusual—watch the “Subtle Thing” video below:
Of their upcoming album, Jeremy Lloyd of Marian Hill says, “We made this album when ‘Down’ was having a moment, and we were reckoning with the fact that our music was now officially pop in the most literal sense. Our favorite pop songs have an intangible quality, something that sets them apart from just about anything else. And so, we pushed ourselves to make many, many unusual pop songs in different cities and tour buses, narrowed them down to a tight 10 and built a world for them to live in.”
Samantha Gongol chimes in, “People often think Marian Hill is the name of a woman, but we are two songwriters who made a name for ourselves by making minimal, strong, sexy, confident music. Unusual is a continuation of that vision, where women are in control even in the most vulnerable of moments. We don’t feel strong and confident all the time, but we hope that when you listen to our music, it makes you feel that way.”
In celebration of Unusual, Marian Hill will embark on a full-scale North American headline tour this spring, including a stop at Coachella. Billed as the “UNUSUAL” tour, Los Angeles-based singer and producer Michl will serve as support. The tour kicks off April 12 in Los Angeles at The Theatre at Ace Hotel and includes stops in Brooklyn, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and more. See the full list of tour dates below. Tickets are available now via MarianHillMusic.com.
“UNUSUAL” TOUR DATES: April 12 Los Angeles, California The Theatre at Ace Hotel April 17 Portland, Oregon Crystal Ballroom April 18 Seattle, Washington The Showbox April 20 San Francisco, California Warfield Theatre April 23 San Diego, California The Observatory North Park April 24 Phoenix, Arizona The Van Buren April 26 Denver , Colorado Ogden Theatre April 27 Kansas City, Missouri The Truman April 28 St. Louis, MO Delmar Hall April 30 Austin, Texas Emo’s May 1 Dallas, Texas House of Blues May 2 New Orleans, Louisiana Republic May 4 Tampa, Florida The Orpheum May 5 Birmingham, Alabama Saturn May 6 Nashville, Tennessee Marathon Music Works May 8 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Union Transfer May 9 Washington, DC 9:30 Club May 11 Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn Steel May 12 Boston, Massachusetts Royale May 13 Toronto, Ontario The Mod Club May 15 Chicago, Illinois Metro May 16 St. Paul, Minnesota Palace Theatre
“Wait by the River,” the lead single offLord Huron’s highly anticipated album Vide Noir, debuted a few weeks ago (sorry, I’m a little late!!!)
The band’s forthcoming album is out April 20 on Whispering Pines/Republic Records. Find Vide Noir’s tracklist later on in the post, and check out the new track now:
Having already announced a headline tour of the U.S. beginning this spring, the band is also announcing additional dates extending into the fall. Every pair of tickets ordered for the headline tour will include a copy of Vide Noir. For more information and ticket links, visit lordhuron.com. Many dates on the spring tour have already sold out, including New York City’s Beacon Theatre, Chicago’s Riviera Theatre and Boston’s House Of Blues.
Vide Noir was written and recorded over the past two years at Lord Huron’s Los Angeles studio and informal clubhouse, Whispering Pines, and was mixed by Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips/MGMT). In conjunction with the album announcement, the band released “Ancient Names (Part I)” and “Ancient Names (Part II),” which received critical praise from NPR Music and SPINwho called them, “An eery, unresolved tale of a crystal ball vision that amplifies the band’s characteristic thematic darkness into distorted garage rock.”
Singer, songwriter and producer Ben Schneiderfound inspiration wandering restlessly through his adopted home of LA at night: “My nighttime drives ranged all over the city—across the twinkling grid of the valley, into the creeping shadows of the foothills, through downtown’s neon canyons and way out to the darksome ocean. I started imagining Vide Noir as an epic odyssey through the city, across dimensions, and out into the cosmos. A journey along the spectrum of human experience. A search for meaning amidst the cold indifference of The Universe,” he says.
As a true multi-media artist, Schneider has once again created an adorned world to inhabit within Vide Noir: the album will be accompanied by a wealth of imagery, films and immersive experiences crafted to expand upon its narratives and themes. This builds on Schneider’s past work, which used videos, a comic book, a choose-your- own-adventure hotline and assorted Easter eggs as means of deepening the listener experience. Watch the trailer for Vide Noir below:
Originally a musical and visual solo project by Michigan-native-turned-Angeleno Schneider, Lord Huron now includes members Mark Barry (percussion), Miguel Briseño(bass) and Tom Renaud (guitar). After a pair of independent EPs, Lord Huron released two full-length albums Lonesome Dreams (2012) and Strange Trails (2015) on IAMSOUND Records, followed by extensive touring and prestigious festival appearances both stateside and abroad. After appearing in the hit Netflix show 13 Reasons Why the band’s song “The Night We Met” (from Strange Trails) was officially certified Platinum in January 2018.
VIDE NOIR TRACKLIST
Lost in Time and Space
Never Ever
Ancient Names (Part I)
Ancient Names (Part II)
Wait by the River
Secret of Life
Back from the Edge
The Balancer’s Eye
When the Night is Over
Moonbeam
Vide Noir
Emerald Star
LORD HURON TOUR DATES (NEWLY ADDED SHOWS IN BOLD – ONSALE FRIDAY, FEB 23) March 24—Tempe, AZ—Innings Festival April 20— Grand Rapids, MI—20 Monroe Live April 21—Chicago, IL— Riviera Theatre **SOLD OUT** April 22—St. Paul, MN—The Palace Theatre April 23— Milwaukee, WI—Riverside Theatre April 25—Kansas City, MO—Arvest Bank Theatre **VENUE UPGRADE** April 26—Indianapolis, IN—The Vogue **SOLD OUT** April 27— Royal Oak, MI—Royal Oak Music Theater April 28—Cincinnati, OH—Homecoming Festival April 30—Boston, MA— House of Blues **SOLD OUT** May 1—Philadelphia, PA—Electric Factory May 3—New York, NY—Beacon Theatre **SOLD OUT** May 4—Washington, DC—The Anthem May 4-6—Atlanta, GA—Shaky Knees Festival May 31—San Diego, CA—House of Blues June 1—San Diego, CA—House of Blues **SOLD OUT** June 2—Los Angeles, CA—Greek Theatre June 3—Oakland, CA—Fox Theater June 5—Portland, OR—Crystal Ballroom **SOLD OUT** June 6—Portland, OR—Crystal Ballroom June 7—Seattle, WA—Moore Theatre **SOLD OUT** June 8—Seattle, WA—Moore Theatre June 15-June 17—Dover, DE—Firefly Festival July 25—Toronto, ON—Sony Centre July 26—Pittsburgh, PA—Stage AE July 27—Cleveland, OH—House Of Blues July 30—Portland, ME—State Theatre August 1—Brooklyn, NY—Brooklyn Steel **SOLD OUT** August 2—Brooklyn, NY—Brooklyn Steel August 5—Boston, MA—House Of Blues September 21—St. Louis, MO—The Pageant September 25—New Orleans, LA—Civic Theatre September 26—Houston, TX—TBD September 29—Austin, TX—TBD October 1—Tulsa, OK—Cain’s Ballroom October 3—Omaha, NE—Sokol Auditorium October 4—Denver, CO—Ogden Theatre October 19—Copenhagen, DK—Vega October 20—Aarhus, DK—Voxhall October 21—Hamburg, DE—Gruenspan October 22—Amsterdam, NL—Paradiso October 23—Brussels, BE—Ancienne Belgique October 25—Cambridge, UK—The Junction October 26—London, UK—Roundhouse October 27—Sheffield, UK—Plug October 28—Gateshead, UK—Sage Gateshead October 29—Liverpool, UK—Invisible Wind Factory October 31—Paris, FR—Le Trianon November 2—Munich, DE—Technikum November 3—Koln, DE—Gloria November 5—Berlin, DE—Columbia Theater
“This is the Ladytron you remember, sleek and icy, with a wall of synthesizers barreling their way toward you, driven by a teutonic disco beat while Helen Marnie, disaffected as ever, intones “There’s no wrong, there’s no God.”
-Brooklyn Vegan
“The Animals” marches forward propelled by brittle percussion and the short, sharp synthesizer riffs popularized by early Eighties New Wave bands. Lead singer Helen Marnie condenses the hook into a punchy, breathless chant as choral backing vocals glide through the mix behind her.”
-Rolling Stone
” a potent combination of smeary dream-pop and futuristic robo-music.”
-Stereogum
“A dark, synth-driven track, the song’s lyrics describe the animalistic, base nature of humanity.”
-Spin
A hallucinatory track of primitive synths and angelic harmonies, with lyrics considering our more savage instincts.”
-Flood Magazine
On March 1st, Liverpool’s synth meets shoegaze quartet Ladytron released their new single, “The Animals” which made its premiere exclusively via Flood Magazine. A remix by Vince Clarke dropped, making its premiere with Deep House Amsterdam. Both tracks are available now exclusively through the band’s Pledge Music campaign for their forthcoming album. The campaign features deluxe versions of the album and other exclusive items including a limited seven-inch vinyl of the two versions of “The Animals.”
The project reunites the band with Grammy-winning producer Jim Abbiss who produced their iconic album Witching Hourand hit single “Destroy Everything You Touch.”“The Animals” was the first new song we had, and with it we went immediately into the studio with Jim Abbiss,” says vocalist Helen Marnie. “He’s the producer who has really understood us the most”.
A combination of primitive synths and emotive harmonies, with lyrics that contemplate humans’ bestial impulses, the single is unmistakably Ladytron, yet hints at new horizons to come. Electronic pioneer Vince Clarke adds a new dimension with his remix. Opening with a sick yet flawless bassline, and stripping the shimmering keyboards of the original for a more menacing sound. “We have always wanted to work with Vince in some way, he’s obviously a legend in our sphere,” remarks Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt.
A second single will follow in the summer, followed in the Fall by the album, both via Pledge. The Pledge Music campaign provides a great opportunity to make the album independently and reconnect with their audience.
About Ladytron:
Helen Marnie, Mira Aroyo, Daniel Hunt, Reuben Wu formed Ladytron in Liverpool, England in 1999. They broke through in the early 2000s with the Light & Magic and Witching Hour albums. After five records and a succession of world tours over a ten-year period, Ladytron took a deserved pause, pursuing other projects, collaborations and creative endeavors, before finally deciding in 2016 to begin work on new music together. “The Animals” is the first fruit of this new chapter for the group.
Magic Wands are a dream pop duo from Los Angeles, California. They are known for their melodic, catchy songs “Black Magic” and “Teenage Love.” Chris and Dexy Valentine create music that centers on their main influence— the love of all things “magic” “love,” and “dreams”. They have recently expanded to a five-piece for live shows. Magic Wands Abracadabra Tour begins this fall in anticipation of their third album ABRAKADABRA due out early spring 2018.
Check out their new single, from the upcoming new album, “Loveline”.
Magic Wands have been remixed by The XX and Crystal Fighters (featured #1 in NME) as well as have toured and shared bills with The Horrors, The Black Keys, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Wombats and The Kills. In 2012 they released their debut album, Aloha Moon, & performed live on BBC1 Radio and XFM followed by Jupiter in 2016.
Musically Amusing 