Category Archives: video

New Music: lovelytheband – “sail away”

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.

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New Music From The Afghan Whigs!

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.”

The band 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.

How Do You Burn? Track List 

  1. I’ll Make You See God 
  2. The Getaway
  3. Catch A Colt 
  4. Jyja
  5. Please, Baby, Please
  6. A Line Of Shots 
  7. Domino and Jimmy
  8. Take Me There
  9. Concealer
  10. In Flames

U.S. MAY 2022 TOUR DATES  

05/11         Fort Lauderdale, FL Culture Room

05/12                Tampa, FL The Orpheum

05/13                Orlando, FL The Social 

05/14                Atlanta, GA Terminal West

05/15                Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle

05/17                Nashville, TN The Basement East

05/18                Louisville, KY Headliners Music Hall

05/20                St. Louis, MO   Delmar Hall

05/21                Milwaukee, WI   Turner Hall Ballroom

05/22                Indianapolis, IN   The Vogue

05/24                Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls Theatre

05/25                Brooklyn, NY  Music Hall of Williamsburg 

06/01 Los Angeles, CA YouTube Theater

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New Video: Florence + the Machine – Free

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.

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Alex Frankel Still Got It

Alex Frankel (Holy Ghost!) released his Still Got It EP with two remixes by France’s Breakbot (La Fiesta Remix and Club des Vedettes Remix), a Choices Remix and the instrumental version of the single. Earlier Alex Frankel shared the video for “Still Got It”, an anthem for embracing the next step whatever it may be, all out now on CASUAL / Ed Banger. Alex celebrates everybody’s return to the dancefloor with a wildly fun video that finds him dancing outside some of France’s iconic dance clubs and reveling in front of party flyers. The photos of French club exteriors featured in the video were pulled from Prost’s book After Party. He teamed up with motion designer Dixsaut to turn them into the dance party on the streets the video invites us to join.

“Still Got It” is a glimpse into Alex’s world as he works towards a full length in 2022.

“Still Got It” finds joy in resilience and celebrates the personal spark each of us has that fortifies our optimism even in hardship. It’s a quick glance back while dancing into the future that invites everyone, “Let’s have a toast to staying young as we get old”. The song plays with some of the hallmarks of classic 80s pop and reimagines them for this moment, with a wave of euphoria that keeps rising as it builds from just Alex’s voice to a choral arrangement performed by the East Coast Inspirational Singers choir. 

The Breakbot remix of “Still Got It” (Breakbot Club des Vedettes Remix) was shared by Adult Swim Singles as part of their 2021 program, and puts a playful and synthy spin on the single. The rework, by French electronic mainstay Breakbot, is especially fitting as the original single marked Alex’s initial release for Ed Banger, rendering him the first American signee to the legendary European label. Listen to it here. Alex also shared a celebratory new DJ mix last week on Magnetic Magazine to kick off the summer with his blend of house, funk and disco. 

Alex says of the songs origins, “I played the demo for Thibaut ( Breakbot) one night at Bernie’s Restaurant while we were outside on a smoke break  (back when, you know… people still ate dinner out) and on the spot he demanded we go try it on the audience at his gig that night. The response was great and after that, I knew I had to finish it. I called the East Coast Inspirational Singers, my favorite gospel group in NYC and they came by to help me get it there.”

Alex Frankel first emerged as one half of beloved NYC duo Holy Ghost! whose hybrid of synth pop, disco, and a range of electronic music made them an international dancefloor and festival staple. Along with their own albums and EPs for DFA and West End, the group have been in demand remixers sought out by their peers like LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, and Cut Copy. Alex has also done remixes for US Girls, Naeem, Neon Indian and Moby.

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Lorde’s Baaaaack

In a surprise move, Grammy Award-winning multiplatinum artist Lorde released new song “Solar Power.” The song, which appropriately dropped timed to the only solar eclipse of the year, came alongside the announcement of her highly anticipated third studio album of the same name, Solar Power. Today the artist additionally revealed the album release date as August 20th and announced her 2022 World tour dates. Tickets go on-sale to the general public starting Friday, June 25, 2021. Fans can sign up for Lorde’s email list for first access to pre-sale tickets and for more info on tour dates HERE.

The song is the first single from Lorde’s forthcoming third studio album which will be released via Universal Music New Zealand on August 20th. The album includes 12 tracks and is produced by Jack Antonoff who she collaborated with on her chart-topping last album, Melodrama.


Of the album Lorde says, “The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors. In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I’ve learned to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through.”

Of the single she adds, “The first song, also called SOLAR POWER and written and produced by myself and Jack, is the first of the rays. It’s about that infectious, flirtatious summer energy that takes hold of us all, come June…”

To honor the natural world the artist is presenting the album in a first-of-its kind, discless format. An eco-conscious Music Box will be available for purchase as an alternative to a CD. This innovative offering will contain extra visual content, handwritten notes, exclusive photos, and a download card. The card will give purchasers a high-quality download of the music, two exclusive bonus tracks, and access to some special surprises along the way.

When talking about the concept Lorde says, “I decided early on in the process of making this album that I also wanted to create an environmentally kind, forward-thinking alternative to the CD. I wanted this Music Box product to be similar in size, shape and price to a CD, to live alongside it in a retail environment, but be something which stands apart and that’s committed to the evolving nature of a modern album.”

Solar Power Tracklist:

1. The Path
2. Solar Power
3. California
4. Stoned in the Nail Salon
5. Fallen Fruit
6. Secrets From a Girl (Who’s Seen It All)
7. The Man with An Axe
8. Dominoes
9. Big Star
10. Leader of a New Regime
11. Mood Ring
12. Oceanic Feeling

LORDE TOUR DATES:

DateCityVenue
February 26Christchurch, NZElectric Avenue Festival
February 27Upper Moutere, NZNeudorf Vineyards
March 1Wellington, NZDays Bay
March 2Havelock North, NZBlack Barn Vineyards
March 4New Plymouth, NZBowl of Brooklands
March 5Auckland, NZOuterfields
March 10Brisbane, AURiverstage
March 12Melbourne, AUSMMB
March 15Sydney, AUAware Super Theatre
March 19Perth, AUBelvoir Amphitheater
April 3Nashville, TNOpry House
April 5Detroit, MIMasonic Temple Theatre
April 7Montreal, QCSalle Willfrid Pelletier
April 8Toronto, ONMeridian Hall
April 12Boston, MABoch Center – Wang Theatre
April 15Uncasville, CTMohegan Sun Arena
April 16Washington, DCThe Anthem
April 18New York, NYRadio City Music Hall
April 20Philadelphia, PAThe Met
April 22Chicago, ILThe Chicago Theatre
April 25Minneapolis, MNThe Armory
April 27Denver, COMission Ballroom
April 30Seattle, WAWaMu Theatre
May 1Portland, ORTheater of the Clouds
May 3San Francisco, CABill Graham Civic Auditorium
May 5Los Angeles, CAShrine Auditorium
May 7Santa Barbara, CASanta Barbara Bowl
May 25Leeds, UKO2 Academy
May 26Edinburgh, UKUsher Hall
May 28Manchester, UKO2 Victoria Warehouse
May 30Birmingham, UKO2 Academy
June 1London, UKRoundhouse
June 2London, UKRoundhouse
June 7Paris, FRCasino de Paris
June 8Amsterdam, NLAFAS Live
June 10Barcelona, ESPrimavera Sound
June 13Zurich, CHHalle 622
June 14Munich, DEZenith
June 16Rome, ITCavea – Auditorium Parco della Musica
June 17Villafranca di Verona, ITCastello di Villafranca
June 18Sibenik, HRSaint Mihovil Fortress
June 21Cologne, DEOpen Air am Tanzbrunnen
June 23Berlin, DEVerti Music Hall

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Alfie Templeman – Forever Isn’t Long Enough

photo credit: Blackksocks

18 year old rising star Alfie Templeman has released his brand new mini-album Forever Isn’t Long Enough on Chess Club Records (MØ, Mumford and Sons, Jungle etc). Previous EP Happiness In Liquid Form followed Templeman’s trio of rapturously received EP’s – 2018’s Like An Animal, and 2019’s Sunday Morning Cereal and Don’t Go Wasting Time – in introducing the world to a prodigiously talented young musician, songwriter, producer, and performer. The Bedfordshire-born teen, self-taught on 10 different instruments, has enjoyed a meteoric rise and cemented his place as one of UK indie’s brightest lights.

Templeman’s latest single “Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody” is currently on the B List at BBC Radio 1, following his fourth consecutive Hottest Record in the World with Annie Mac. Templeman has also shared the music video for mini-album track “Wait, I Lied”, directed by Thomas Davis.

Speaking about the new video Alfie says: “We filmed “Wait, I Lied” in a couple hours. The thing that I love about it is that the whole video was just ideas myself and Thomas came up with on the spot, it’s totally spontaneous, we didn’t plan anything and just went for it. I hope people appreciate my amazing dance moves, I think it’ll be my next career if this music thing doesn’t work out!!”

Alfie Templeman will also embark on a Spring 2022 headline tour – including his biggest show to date at London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on Mar 16 – as well as supporting Declan McKenna in the UK and heading out on a maiden US headline tour, alongside shows with Chloe Moriondo later this year. Full list of live dates below. 

Featuring rapturous singles “Forever Isn’t Long Enough” and the aforementioned “Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody”, the new mini-album is Templeman’s final and most substantial body of work before recording starts on his proper debut album. Templeman explains: “I wanted to make a refined and focused pop record – something more widescreen than an EP but more concise than a full-length album -with a feel somewhere between Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Tame Impala’s Currents. In making Forever Isn’t Long Enough I realised that I needed to slow down a little and work on things carefully. The songs took anywhere from one day to 4 months to 2 years to finish for this record, but I made sure each one was perfect and I’ve never been more proud of how they all came out.” 

With an impressive 106k Instagram followers since his first post in 2019, over 1 million monthly Spotify listeners, and a cumulative streaming figure of over 60 million,  Alfie Templeman has come a long way since the release of debut track “Like An Animal”. At one point in 2020, Templeman had three songs in the Music Moves Europe Talent Chart Top 20; was featured as the cover star of Dork Magazine; was included in the FIFA 21 soundtrack; in February, was H&M Artist of the Month in the UK, with accompanying store visuals and playlist support. Templeman was previously handpicked by Apple from a global shortlist of rising artists to front their #shotoniphone campaign and was chosen by YouTube Music to be a worldwide ‘Foundry Artist’ in 2020, following in the footsteps of artists such as Dua Lipa and Rosalia, featuring on 90-foot billboards in Times Square in NYC and Central LA.

See Alfie Templeman live in 2021/22:
July 22 | Truck Festival, Steventon 
July 29 | Kendal Calling Festival, Penrith 
Aug 12 | 110 Above Festival, Atherstone
Aug 25 | O2 Academy, Bournemouth (with Declan McKenna)
Aug 27-29 | Reading & Leeds Festival
Sep 3 | Neighbourhood Weekender Festival, Warrington
Sep 9 | O2 Academy, Leicester (with Declan McKenna)
Sep 18 | Brixton O2 Academy, London (with Declan McKenna)

Nov 23 | Bowery Ballroom, New York (with Chloe Moriondo)
Nov 24 | Brighton Music Hall, Boston (with Chloe Moriondo)
Nov 26 | Velvet Underground, Toronto (with Chloe Moriondo)
Nov 28 | The Crocodile, Seattle
Nov 29 | Holocene, Portland
Dec 1 | Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco
Dec 3 | The Roxy Theatre, Los Angeles
Dec 4 | Voodoo Room, San Diego


Mar 2 | The Cluny, Newcastle
Mar 3 | Saint Luke’s, Glasgow
Mar 4| Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Mar 5 | Gorilla, Manchester
Mar 8 | Leadmill, Sheffield
Mar 9 | Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Mar 10 | O2 Institute, Birmingham
Mar 11 | Thekla, Bristol
Mar 12 | Patterns, Brighton
Mar 16 | O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Mar 18 | The Academy, Dublin
 

Alfie Templeman – Forever Isn’t Long Enough – tracklisting:
1. Shady
2. Forever Isn’t Long Enough
3. Hideaway 
4. Wait, I Lied 
5. Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody 
6. Film Scene Daydream 
7. To You 
8. One More Day (feat. April)

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Brand New Music From The Chemical Brothers

The Chemical Brothers are back!

Legendary electronic music pioneers The Chemical Brothers return with new single The Darkness That You Fear.  The six-time GRAMMY® Award-winning duo —Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons— release the brand-new song today via Republic Records, the first new music since 2019’s critically acclaimed No Geography.

A limited 12” of the single will be available for Record Store Day on RSD Weekend June 12, 2021 with artwork by the late Cornwall-based abstract artist Sir Terry Frost.

Built around two distinct and disparate vocal samples and a woozy swirl of psychedelic sound, The Darkness That You Fear is the sonic equivalent of light at the end of the tunnel – a rush of hope and a pointer towards a brighter, more open future.

About the new track, Tom Rowlands commented, “’The Darkness That You Fear is a hopeful piece of music. When we found the combination of the different voices worked set to the flow of the music, it made us feel optimistic—like it was something we wanted to share.”

A wildly hallucinogenic and beautifully evocative video for the track has been made by Ruffmercy, the Bristol based director who has previously worked with artists such as Thom Yorke, Run The Jewels and DJ Shadow. 

Ruffmercy comments, “When I first heard the song I immediately connected with the theme and the overall positive vibe. New government rules for relaxing lockdown had been announced and combined with the sun shining, it left me feeling positive about the forthcoming summer. It also triggered a strong sense of nostalgia that led to me going back to look for visual inspiration from the period in time when I first discovered The Chemical Brothers in the mid ’90’s. The video combines archive rave footage from the mid to late 90’s with hand painted Super 8 film textures and hand drawn animation. I love using colour to create chaos and evoke emotions and this was the perfect project to do that.”

Republic Record’s executive Glenn Mendlinger, who brought the duo to the label comments, “The Darkness You Fear marks the return of the mighty Chemical Brothers.  It is a classic Chemical Brothers opus that is psychedelic, lush and full of optimism.  Tom and Ed once again prove they are pioneers of the genre with this uplifting track that is perfectly timed as the world comes out of darkness into light and color.”

Gearing up to hit the stage later this year, The Chemical Brothers have also been confirmed as Friday night headliners at this year’s Creamfields festival in Daresbury, Cheshire (26th – 29th August – the event has already sold out) and Sunday night headliners at TRNSMT in Glasgow.

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Newest Love: Clubhouse

Columbus, Ohio five-some Clubhouse reveal “Heartbroke,” the follow up to “Weekend”, which Billboard described as: “a happy couple-filled video for “Weekend,” the singsong chorus of which evokes the dream pop stylings of Absofacto and Half Alive.”

“Heartbroke”’s accompanying music video was directed by Hunter Lyon and depicts a dramatically, haunting vision that mesmerizes throughout the entire journey.

The song is about the waves of emotions one goes through while dealing with a breakup, not necessarily the breakup itself. Judging by the upbeat instrumental, it’s not all sad and gloomy, but let’s take a look at our emotions and see if a breakup can be turned into an energizing experience.



Clubhouse says: “For us, “Heartbroke” isn’t just about one of our experiences with someone we loved. It’s a combined reflection from all five of us on those relationships that drove us absolutely nuts. When you love someone so much, but you know you’re going crazy trying to make it all work.”

After an unexpected yearlong pause from Max Reichert’s battle with bone cancer, these new songs mark soil for the band Clubhouse after his recovery. They wrote these anthemic pieces while home in Ohio during the winter holidays, reflecting on the stepping stones in new relationships that one naturally experience. While falling in love, we tend to excite ourselves and overshare, whereas Clubhouse takes the alternative route, “You know that we can do it / every weekend / but you just wanna talk on the low”. The nonchalant story of keeping it casual juxtaposes the up-tempo and jazz-filled production, welcoming the listener to experience this timeless summertime tale.

Five best friends forged from the middle school garage band made of Max Reichert, and twin brothers Ari & Zak Blumer in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. Through grade school, the three neighborhood friends developed their styles from the paradigms of Coldplay, John Mayer, The Killers, Green Day, and many more. Come university, they embraced two new members, Michael Berthold and Forrest Taylor, by the laws of serendipitous action and collaboration. The five formed the eclectic band Clubhouse, discovering early success in the greater Midwest territory, garnering millions of streams, and performing sold-out shows across the tri-state area.

Four years and five college degrees later, Clubhouse set forth on pursuing their dream to release greater records and perform around the world. Three months into this journey, the band was halted with harrowing, unforeseen news…Max Reichert had been diagnosed with stage 2 osteosarcoma in the left thigh. Max entered immediate surgeries, removing and replacing his femur & knee cap and undergoing countless chemotherapy treatments. However, with the collective strength and positivity from his best friends, they rose to the occasion through life’s most brutal and unforgiving hardships.

This genesis of new life established a collective vision for the band explained by Max best, “Make the most of the life you were given, because you only have one life to live.” Clubhouse is an invitation to come for the music and stay for the genuine gatherings of best friends that lift you from the lowest of lows and show you the highest of highs. Clubhouse makes music for when we need it most.

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Alfie Templeman – “Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody”

18 year old rising star Alfie Templeman has shared his brand new single “Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody”, and has announced details of his new mini-album Forever Isn’t Long Enough – out on 7 May via Chess Club Records. The track premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record In The World on BBC Radio 1 – his fourth consecutive Hottest Record. Forever Isn’t Long Enough, which serves as Templeman’s final and most substantial body of work before recording starts on his debut album proper, is available for pre-order HERE


“Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody” is Alfie Templeman’s first single since riotous bop “Forever Isn’t Long Enough” arrived back in September 2020; Templeman has since been included in an amazing run of 2021 tips lists, including the BBC Sound Of 2021, Radio X Great X-Pectations, MTV, Amazon Music, Vevo, The Sun, Sunday Mirror, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Official Charts UK, Wonderland Magazine, Huffington Post, and more. 

The new single – written, performed, and produced entirely by Templeman in his bedroom – takes inspiration from classic groove-laden 80s pop, with sultry sax lines weaving their way between popping guitar rhythms. The Bedfordshire teen explains: “I first wrote and recorded “Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody” back in 2017 when I was 14 years old and it’s been ingrained in my memory ever since. I’d always go back to it and try to re-record it but I could never quite get it right – then I went on a Tears For Fears binge and realized that it needed that “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” kind of production. I got back in the studio, changed a few lyrics, and cut it in a couple of hours. It’s probably my favourite song on the new record.

Adding about the mini-album: Forever Isn’t Long Enough is the most polished collection of songs I’ve ever made. I wanted to make a refined pop record somewhere between Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Tame Impala’s Currents. Making Forever Isn’t Long Enough made me realise that I needed to slow down a little and work on things more carefully. Songs could take anywhere from a day to 4 months to 2 years on this record, but I made sure each one was perfect and I’ve never been more proud of how they all came out.”

With an impressive 105k Instagram followers since his first post in 2019, over 1 million monthly Spotify listeners, and a cumulative streaming figure of over 50 million, Aflie Templeman has come a long way since the release of debut track “Like An Animal”. At one point in 2020, Templeman had three songs in the Music Moves Europe Talent Chart Top 20; was featured as the cover star of Dork Magazine; was included in the FIFA 21 soundtrack; in February, was H&M Artist of the Month in the UK, with accompanying store visuals and playlist support. Templeman was previously handpicked by Apple from a global shortlist of rising artists to front their #shotoniphone campaign and was chosen by YouTube Music to be a worldwide ‘Foundry Artist’ in 2020, following in the footsteps of artists such as Dua Lipa and Rosalia, featuring on 90-foot billboards in Times Square in NYC and Central LA.

Alfie Templeman – Forever Isn’t Long Enough mini-album – out May 7th 2021 on Chess Club Records

1. Shady
2. Forever Isn’t Long Enough
3. Hideaway 
4. Wait, I Lied 
5. Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody 
6. Film Scene Daydream 
7. To You 
8. One More Day (feat. April)

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Check ‘Em Out: BENE – “Soaked”

Hailing from the suburbs of Auckland, 19-year-old Bene has emerged as New Zealand’s up and coming indie pop artist of 2019 with a Gold-Certified chart-topping hit that’s already garnered millions of streams and support from Zane Lowe, Lily Allen and more. Newly signed to Republic Records, Bene is re-releasing her breakout single “Soaked” as she sets her sights on the U.S.

After posting GarageBand demos on SoundCloud when she was just a senior in high school, Bene caught the ear of producer, Josh Fountain, and began writing and recording at his Golden Age Studio. “Soaked” quickly climbed Spotify’s Viral Charts, streaming over 14 million times, charting on Australia’s Triple J radio Hottest 100 of 2018 and holding the number one spot on New Zealand’s Shazam Top 100 for two months, not to mention achieving Gold Certification in New Zealand and Australia. With endorsements like Zane Lowe and Apple’s Beats1 radio, Bene went from playing her first small club gig to her first arena show—opening for longtime role model Lily Allen—in a matter of months.

Of “Soaked,” Bene says, “To see my song catch on with so many people already has been amazing. And now signing with Republic to bring my music out into the world is just bloody crazy.”

“Soaked” sets the stage for further music to be released from Bene this spring.

 

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