Fontaines D.C. have released a new single, ‘It’s Amazing to Be Young’. It’s a sprightly, wide-eyed song in the vein of the band’s Romance closer ‘Favourite’, and it will be available on limited edition 7” vinyl featuring a new B-side called ‘Before You I Just Forget’. It arrives with an accompanying music video directed by Luna Carmoon. Check it out below.
“‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’ is a song that was written in the presence of a newborn child — Carlos’ child. It sounded more like a lullaby or a music box then, but with the same lyric — ‘it’s amazing to be young,'” the band’s Conor Deegan III explained in a statement. “The feeling of hope a child can give is profound and moving, especially for young men like us. That sense of wanting to create a world for them to grow up in happily. It’s a feeling that fights against the cynicism that can often overtake us in the modern world. So we wanted to declare which side we were on — it really is amazing to be young. We are still free, and want to make that feeling spread. We want to protect it for the others around us, and maybe in doing that, can also help protect it for ourselves.”
About the music video, Carmoon said: “I love this new track — it’s one of my favorites Fontaines have done and I love that I got to complete the trilogy of videos for it. It was all natural and kind of a surprise that the three videos came together. I’ve got to work with such a beautiful team and was really given the space and breath to create the worlds that automatically came to me when hearing the music. I feel like we’re living in this weird time where romantic love is being pushed to the side, and sex and love is unvirtuous and no longer what people want to see. I don’t believe that at all. I love that these two people have fallen in love with themselves, and I wanted to see them fall in love with each other. I planted the seed after I did the carjitsu video (‘In The Modern World’) and then I had a couple of days to write the video for ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’. There are a lot of odes to Santa Sangre it. It also reminds me of my first short film Shagbands.”
Masma Dream World is the experimental project of Devi Mambouka, who spent her childhood in Gabon before immigrating to the Bronx. Her father hailed from the indigenous Bahoumbou tribe of Gabon, while her mother is Bengali and Cantonese from Singapore. Before it became a way of invoking a world of spirits and ancestors as Masma Dream World, singing was, for Mambouka, a means of communing with nature. The name of the project alludes to a dream she first had when she was six, in which she walked through a nightmarish landscape, lost in a veil of smoke and darkness; demons erupted at the sound of her voice, but what terrified her the most was that it was a voice she couldn’t hear. In America, Mambouka began a new kind of musical and spiritual journey, getting deep into meditation, Hindu mysticism, and Vedantic texts. After making waves with her 2020 debut Play at Night, she’s now releasing her latest album, PLEASE COME TO ME. Sounding by turns meditative, tortured, and exultant, it transmutes the abyssal language of devotion and the divine feminine through cavernous electronics, spine-chilling noise, and a powerful voice that succumbs to forces beyond her control. It makes the void sound like an embrace, and the embrace immortal.
We caught up with Masma Dream World for this edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about the origins of the project, her spiritual journey, meditation, and more.
It’s been five years since the release of Play at Night. How has your philosophy around Masma Dream World evolved since then?
There is definitely a link to it, and it’s kind of continuing the conversation between the spirits and I, however they want to deliver their message to the world. I very much don’t take ownership over it because it’s not possible to make music like this without some sort of weird guidance. I would say the big shift is that when Play at Night came out, it was 2020. It was during the pandemic, and I remember the voices being like, “You gotta put it out now.” I remember emailing Northern Spy, my record label, and I was like, “This is the time.” In my personal life around that time, I was doing a lot of outreach and work with my sound healing community. We all got to face ourselves then, and it came to a point where – I’ve been trying to heal my PTSD, my trauma, for like 10 years. I remember being like: I’ve been doing a lot of work – it’s been long enough, right? It’s 2020. Here’s another traumatic thing that’s happening to the world, which is impacting all of us. It’s been just a series of really intense moments throughout my life, from the moment I was born, and I’ve just been trying to heal this, taking classes, seeking out gurus, courses, meditation. But there was this feeling of abandonment, this thing in me where I just felt so alone and so sad – this deep sadness of separation, which will put me into depression.
I don’t want to get into the details, but one thing triggered it, and I was like, “Well, if all of this – all these promises of healing – is not going to work, then to heck with it: I’m just gonna end my life. I’m done.” It was like, “How much more healing do I need to do? How many more books do I need to get? How much more meditation do I need to do?” At that time, I was also getting some new connections with the spirits. But I was like, “You guys are talking, you’re saying all of this, but I still feel this sadness. Where is that promise of bliss and peace? Where is that?” I’m not going to articulate those words now, but at that moment none of that was available. I was just ready to go.
I decided that I was going to walk from my mom’s place to the Hudson River. At that moment, I was like, “I’m going to jump off the Hutton River, and that’s it.” And all of a sudden, I blacked out – something took over me, I don’t even know what it is. Maybe it’s the moment of crisis, you’re disassociating, but all I know is that I blacked out, and the moment I woke up, I was sitting on my couch back in Brooklyn. I don’t know how I got back from Manhattan to Brooklyn, but I was sitting on my couch there, and I was like, “God damn it, what am I doing here? I had a plan. It was clear.” And all of a sudden, in that moment of true despair, I felt this incredible, warm, deep light, and I felt arms wrapping themselves around my body from the back, and it was the first time that I felt that hole inside of me, that sadness, completely be filled up. The sentence that came out was, “I am complete.” I’m talking about this, and to this day, I can feel in my heart right now – this yumminess, this bliss. That’s kind of how I guess the music that we hear now began.
Depending on where you’re from, your religion or cultural context, we all see the universal energy with different names. For me, it’s Mother Kali. There’s all this promise that it’s a real thing, but in that moment, it became real to me. All this time of her being in my life, from the time I was little – looking at photos of my mom, praying, going to temples and everything – this entity became so real to me. That really helped me out. When COVID restrictions lifted and I went on tour, that was my point of anchor. And then, of course, more teachers were sent to me. I got to even dig into Hinduism in a way that I have not. I feel like there’s always like I feel like the universe is the biggest comedian, this cosmic joker – I’m always laughing. You know, according to Hinduism, if you commit to suicide, you come back again. You have to deal with that same thing again. So it’s just like the twilight zone: you step out one door, and then you come back again right there. It’s better to confront whatever those things now to move through it.
I know we’re already going back in time, but I wanted to go quite a bit further back. I read that you started singing because your sister told you not to. Is that true?
I’m glad you bring this up, because I want to clear the record on this one. I feel like a lot of those times where I was speaking of this, there was still a tinge of anger towards her. I feel like my biggest teachers are the ones who have hurt me, who have put me in a situation where there was true pain, because it pushed me. When pain comes to you into your life, depending on what your Samskaras are – Samskaras are the things that you carry within yourself, your temperament, your past impressions – you take that pain, and then you deal with it differently. Two people can grow up in one household, have the same type of trauma, and they would choose two different paths. For me, I’ve always had this inclination of spirituality at a very young age; maybe it’s because of my ancestors where I was born, and my mom being spiritual at a young age.
I love my sister very much, and I’m so happy that she actually was this catalyst, because I’m like, “Oh, you said no? Okay, so I’m going to actually do it.” [laughs] We have to think of the context – she was also a kid at the time, and she didn’t want her little sister to come around and hang out and sing with her friends. It was totally valid, right? But my brain saw it as being rejected. Then I was like, “Well, who are my friends here? If my sister doesn’t want to hang out with me, I know who my friends are. It’s the trees.” And the trees behind my house there, at my father’s home in Gabon: tall, beautiful trees. What’s so cool about that very specific place where I used to sing is that you would see the migration of birds at a certain period of time, so my audience changed all the time. They were awesome.
Didn’t that also mean that singing was a very private thing for you for a long time?
There is what I was doing as a child, and then there is what I know now as a sound therapist. The more I dig into time and space – it’s almost like time and space exist all at once, and the more I investigate that, I see that to be true for me. So when I was singing, it’s almost as if I was traveling in the future. There was something familiar, something that felt bigger than me when I was doing that. I remember the first time I did Masma Dream World and there was actually an audience, and I was kind of losing myself between that moment in front of the trees and that. You know that movie Arrival, when the aliens gave her that power – it was feeling this way. It was kind of surreal.
Even though the songs I was singing were pop music, there was this healing thing that was also happening. It became like a spiritual experience, because music at my earlier age was always in the context of spirituality. Either you go and you sing the bhajans, which are devotional songs in the Hindu context, or in Catholic school. To me, I was doing another spiritual practice, but now in hindsight as an adult, and someone that has studied sound therapy for a while now, what was happening is that there was a lot of traumatic things around me at the time. My home wasn’t necessarily the safest place. There was a lot of sadness happening, and one way of soothing is singing, because it affects your vagus nerve, which is the one of the longest nerve that runs throughout the body, and it is associated with the breath. So as I was singing, I was feeling good. I was feeling safe, and that’s actually something that through all my childhood I kept doing. That’s how I look at it now, knowing what I know, but at the time for me it was like, “I’m singing for the trees.”
I read that the name of the project kind of alludes to a recurring dream that you started having when you were six. I wonder whether the project sometimes occupies more of a liminal space, for you, between the dream world and the waking world.
It’s a good question. I actually am enjoying conversing with you because I almost feel like you’re coming from a space that isn’t ego-focused on, like, this is the story you want to tell. I’m grateful to you for that, and to honor that, I will give you actually the answer. That dream – the more and more I’m living in 2025, there is not a big difference with the dream. [laughs] It’s a little bit more extreme in my dream, but it feels like the world is on fire. All of those things have been clarified for me in my spiritual pursuit and made more sense after 2020.
Before 2020, I did take a training in dream yoga with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoch, which is at the highest of the learned people in the Bon tradition of Tibet. It’s all about, in order to understand the waking state, you must understand your dreams first: using dreaming as a spiritual practice in order to be able to awaken in this present reality. That was prior to 2020. There’s not a big difference between non-dualist Tibetan practices and non-dualist Hinduism – it’s very much connected. And in learning more and reading more about it, there’s this text, the Mandukya Upanishad, which is about the philosophy of Hinduism and psychology, and is more in the realm of non-dualism. I’m reading this book under the guidance of Swami Sarvapriyananda, and I’m like, “Wow, there’s so many breadcrumbs throughout my life for dreaming, and how dreams and reality kept shifting for me.” Because those dreams feel so much more real than even this reality. It’s like there’s no difference between the dreaming world and this reality – they are all an appearance in awareness, because the one thing that does not sleep is the awareness, which feels like it’s there during the dream, which feels like it’s there in this moment, which also doesn’t sleep during deep sleep.
If you go beyond your mind, you go beyond your memories, you go beyond who you are, at some point there is this blazing stare which witnesses all. Which allows now other things to come through, like, “Put the bass like this, put the drums like this, mix that over there. We need this plugin over there.” And I’m just in the middle. It’s almost like I have one foot on the other side of the beyond, and one foot here. But non-dualism has helped me kind of ground everything in this moment.
A lot of music tries to evoke experiences of isolation, trauma, and sadness, but the way you frame your work is more as a form of invocation. Is that a distinction that feels tangible to you?
You can feel the distinction when something has been created by the mind versus something that is beyond the mind. Something that is not, for lack of a better word, human. I don’t think that I can get into those states randomly at the studio. It’s a very real daily practice for me. Before, I was doing it because that’s how I was coping with the pain. – my meditation practice, reading the books, all that thirst for that type of knowledge so I can be better, so I can heal that pain. And then, beyond the experience I shared with you, now it’s all about holding on to that understanding and making it into a reality. When someone says, “I’m losing my mind,” it’s that raw energy that exists, that unrestricted, unclassified energy. Once it’s there, the only thing I can do is surrender to it because I don’t have enough power to withhold it. I wanted to jump off the Hudson River, and that thing was like, “No, you’re not.” So once I’m in the studio, I just give myself over to it. If it was for me to say, “Let me write an album about how I almost committed suicide,” that’s a whole different album than saying, “This is the experience that happened to me. This is what I have found, and I continue to surrender to that moment over and over and over and over again.”
The power of meditation is palpable on PLEASE COME TO ME, but one thing that struck me is the way you incorporate dissonance in some of the more meditative tracks, or the way the meditation is rhythmically disrupted. I’m curious if that’s related to this element of surrender. Was that on your mind at all?
My mind wasn’t there for sure, because I’m getting ready for shows and I’m like, “Who wrote this?” [laughs] If my co-producer, Chris Weiss, wasn’t in the room – that’s my grounding. But I hear what you’re saying. I’m thinking of the first person that put paint to paper and drew up Mother Kali. Where was that person at? It wasn’t only one person that saw that; it’s many people that saw the same form. Once you see that type of form, you just have to surrender to it – some will be paintings, some will be poems, some will be songs. In my devotion to her, because she literally saved – I feel like she’s the personification that came to me at that moment. In 2013, I heard a voice that said I was supposed to make Masma Dream World, and I don’t have to worry about anything. They’re going to tell me how to do the sounds. They’re gonna direct it. And I didn’t believe them until the EP came out, and people responded to it. At some point, you can’t doubt anymore. You’re just doing it. With those sounds that you’re talking about, is that specific or not – it’s like there is something that organizes this world, and I try to surrender to it.
A lot of what you filter into the music is field recordings, and that’s something I feel like grounds the spirituality of the album, rooting it in your personal history, as in ‘The Island Where the Goddess Lives’ or ‘What If It Was True’.
Me even starting sound therapy – I actually had a dream about it. I remember I was turning 30, and I was like, “What am I doing in my life?” I was like, “I need to go back to school. I need to get a real job!” And that night,’ I had a dream about sound healing. I remember I woke up, and I could just hear, “Sound healing, sound healing.” It was echoing in my mind. I looked at my partner, and I was like, “Have you heard of sound healing?” “No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” So then I Google sound healing, and it was a real thing. And not only that, there was an open house at the school I went to the next weekend in San Francisco. And immediately I bought a ticket to go there. The moment I get to the to the open house, we’re all sitting down, and my teacher goes, “I don’t do a lot of marketing, I just have marketing angels around.” I was like, “You have who? Well, your marketing angels apparently entered my dream to tell me to come here.” Then I found out that the person that runs that school is one of the best-selling authors of mixing and mastering, David Gibson. I took all his courses, so I learned sound design and engineering.
When I’m in the studio, now it’s filtered through this information that I have been studying, but through their guidance. Putting all of those trainings together, or books – I was visiting back my mom, and on my way leaving her door, I see on the floor, there’s like a bunch of tapes. I’m like, ‘Mom, what are you doing with the tapes?” She goes, “Oh, those are your aunt’s tapes–” my late aunt that passed away – “I was going to throw them away.’ So I said, “Hold on one second.” I listened to the tapes, and that’s ‘What If It Was True’. Or I will be walking somewhere, and there will be a sound, and then the voices will be like, “Record this now,” and I’ll pull my phone and record the moment. So it’s not even the grounding – there’s this thing pushing me here and there, and I have completely surrendered to those impulses now.
It’s clear that the maternal and the divine are inextricable in your work. What is at the root of that intersection for you?
When I’m going to speak about mother feminine energy, I want to be clear that it’s not within the context of gender. I think that’s important just to clarify first. There are sages in India and indigenous cultures that have all investigated that – you cannot point out a single civilization or community or culture that does not have the Divine Mother embedded in it. The idea of the Divine Mother is something that never did not exist for me just because of growing up Hindu and my mom literally having the goddess Kali on her on her altar every Thursday when we were praying. But then I would go to Catholic school, and I’d be looking for Mother Mary. In my own personal investigation, it makes more sense that the creator of something would be a mother that takes care of her children. That’s how my psychology is able to understand that. Even in Gabon, the Gabonese passport – the emblem for Gabon is a mother breastfeeding.
The second aspect, and you can hear it in the album, is my relationship with my mom throughout the years. Although we were together a lot of the time, there was so much trauma happening in our lives together, and independently, that it actually disallowed me to know how to have relationships with people as an adult. Because that was not mirrored to me. I remember I had a mentor, and I was like, “I can’t be in a relationship.” I was just broken up with someone, so I was heartbroken at the moment, and she was like, “Look at the relationship with your mom. If you heal your relationship with your mom, you will heal all relationships.” If you think of it, he first relationship you’ve ever experienced is the one in the womb. So that propelled this investigation of: Who was my mom? So I kind of forced my mom to tell me: “Ma, let’s be together. Let’s heal this. I want to heal our communication style. What happened to you? What happened? What happened from Singapore to Gabon? How was grandma?”
I was asking all of these questions, and in that discovery I found that it was really hard for my mom to have this conversation. Over the years, she went through her own journey of healing herself, and I went on my own journey. So when we will come together, we will come with this new understanding, and then we will heal, we will heal, we will heal together. And I believe that it also has permeated throughout the whole family unit. My grandmother comes from World War II Singapore; her story is very, very sad. My grandfather’s family ran away from India because they were Hindu priests, so they went to Malaysia. Then I was like, “Oh, grandpa was a Hindu priest! So what happened? What happened to our Indian family?” What was prominent in all of this was the fact that when I was like, “But Ma, when things were hard, what helped you?” She said, “I pray to Mother Kali.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Big Thief drummer James Krivchenia has announced a new LP, Performing Belief. The follow-up to 2022’s Blood Karaoke is due out May 2 via Planet Mu, marking Krivchenia’s first for the English electronic label. Today, he’s shared the kinetic lead single ‘Probably Wizards’, which he recorded with electric bassist Sam Wilkes. Check it out and find the album’s cover artwork and tracklist below.
In addition to Wilkes, Performing Belief features contributions from double bassist/multi-instrumentalist Joshua Abrams (Natural Information Society). The record grew out of Krivchenia’s fascination with the sound of natural objects, like throwing rocks into a pond or tap dancing in the mud.
Performing Belief Tracklist:
Performing Belief Tracklist:
1. Undesigned
2. Judge The Seeds (with Sam Wilkes & Joshua Abrams)
3. Probably Wizards (with Sam Wilkes)
4. Sympathetic Magic (with Sam Wilkes & Joshua Abrams)
5. Bracelets For Unicorns (with Sam Wilkes & Joshua Abrams)
6. Filling In The Swamp (with Sam Wilkes & Joshua Abrams)
7. The Wounded Place (with Sam Wilkes)
8. Metaphoric Leakage (with Sam Wilkes)
DJ Python has teamed up with Isabella Lovestory for the sinewy and enticingly downtempo ‘Besos Robados’. It’s the first preview of the i was put on this earth EP, DJ Python’s first solo music since 2022 and his debut on XL Recordings. It comes out March 28. Check out the Bailey Marklew-directed video for ‘Besos Robados’ below.
Introducing i was put on this earth, DJ Python, aka Brian Piñeyro, shared the following statement:
to whom it may concern..
Person 1:
Does it really feel good to do hard work?. Sometimes I feel I much prefer doing nothing, doing nothing at all. But is being lazy ‘bad’? I think doing nothing is poetic. As they say ‘sleep cures sleepiness’
Person 2:
Well what does the hard work lead to? So much of the work people do…it just leads to creating useless things.To consume?…I think hard work can lead to making something beautiful, beautiful and perhaps ‘useless’ and I think that’s something worth dedicating yourself to.
Person: I agree to a certain extent, but do we still consume beauty? Or can it just affect us, expand our mind, reframe how we think?
Person 2: I guess that’s completely up to you.
Person: I wish we could all just lay around, do nothing, talk about ideas that lead to nothing, not bothered by conclusion, not driven by production.
Person 2: Isn’t that what we’re technically doing right now?
Person: I guess you’re right. I guess beauty comes even without hard-work.
Person 2: Yeah – I guess it can just come from within, when the environment is right, when it’s pure – whatever that means.
Person: I just want to be GOOD so badly.
Person 2: We’re all a little good, we’re all a little bad. No one is the best thing they’ve done, or the worst thing they’ve ever done. Everyone is really just OK.
Person 1: Hm, yes, I see. I’ve worked hard, I’ve worked hard to be OK. I can do nothing, yet I can still make beautiful things. It is worth it to strive for beauty.
Even though you’re OK, I think you are so beautiful.
Person 2: I think you’re ok too, and find you very beautiful.
Person 1: When I watched Jodie Foster act in the beginning of Silence of the Lambs, I cried. I cried because she was so good she was doing exactly what she loved. It’s true human artistic achievement.
Person 2: Yeah, and everyone recognized it – she got recognized for something worth recognizing, and she forever will be.
It’s the dead of winter, and I walked past a tree, with all its leaves intact. They were completely black and it was 25 degrees. I don’t know if that’s work, or resilience, but it’s natural effortless beauty. Maybe someone could find it ugly, since it’s not green anymore.
But to me, the tree is beautiful. I’ve walked past it everyday, but yesterday I recognized how beautiful it was
Lael Neale has announced a new album, Altogether Stranger. The follow-up to 2023’s Star Eaters Delight is set for release on May 2 via Sub Pop. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the searching, hypnotic new single ‘Tell Me How to Be Here’. Check it out below.
Altogether Stranger marks Neale’s third collaboration with producer Guy Blakeslee. The pair also filmed the music video for ‘Tell Me How to Be Here’ in Los Angeles. “On returning to Los Angeles I felt like an extraterrestrial landing on a dystopian planet so I’m writing from the perspective of a being from another realm witnessing the peculiarities of humanity,” the singer-songwriter explained in a press release.
“In the course of writing this record there was one song I could never finish,” Neale added. “The main line was, ‘I don’t belong here, I am an altogether stranger.’ I meant ‘stranger’ as a noun, not an adjective. Even though I abandoned the song, the lost chorus stuck with me & became the unspoken motif of the record.”
1. Wild Waters 2. All Good Things Will Come To Pass 3. Down On The Freeway 4. Sleep Through The Long Night 5. Come On 6. Tell Me How To Be Here 7. New Ages 8. All Is Never Lost 9. There From Here
For many people, drinking alcohol comes with an unwelcome side effect, redness in the face, neck, or even across the body. This reaction, often known as alcohol flush reaction, is most common in individuals of East Asian descent but can affect anyone with certain genetic traits. Some individuals seeking relief from this issue explore options like at-home alcohol detox as a natural way to manage symptoms.
Fortunately, the right supplements such as Alcohol Flush Tablet, can help reduce alcohol-induced redness, allowing you to enjoy a drink without the discomfort and self-consciousness that flushing can cause.
In this article, we’ll explore the causes of alcohol-induced redness, the supplements that can help prevent it, and additional lifestyle tips to minimize the reaction.
What Causes Alcohol-Induced Redness?
Alcohol-induced flushing occurs due to acetaldehyde buildup in the body. Acetaldehyde is a toxic byproduct of alcohol metabolism that causes the dilation of blood vessels, leading to redness, inflammation, and sometimes nausea or dizziness. This happens when the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is deficient or inactive, which prevents the body from efficiently breaking down acetaldehyde.
While alcohol flushing is not harmful in small doses, frequent alcohol consumption alongside persistent flushing can be a warning sign of increased sensitivity to alcohol’s harmful effects. Long-term exposure to acetaldehyde has been linked to a higher risk of esophageal cancer and other health issues.
The Best Supplements to Reduce Alcohol-Induced Redness
Although there is no complete cure for alcohol-induced flushing, several supplements can help reduce redness by supporting alcohol metabolism, reducing inflammation, and improving detoxification.
N-Acetylcysteine (NAC)
How it works: NAC is a powerful antioxidant that helps boost glutathione production in the liver. Glutathione aids in breaking down acetaldehyde and reducing oxidative stress caused by alcohol.
Dosage: 600–1200 mg, taken 30–60 minutes before drinking.
Vitamin C
How it works: Vitamin C helps neutralize free radicals and supports liver function in breaking down acetaldehyde.
Dosage: 500–1000 mg before drinking.
Quercetin
How it works: A natural flavonoid found in onions, apples, and green tea, quercetin has anti-inflammatory properties that help prevent excessive blood vessel dilation.
Dosage: 500–1000 mg, taken daily or before drinking.
Dihydromyricetin (DHM)
How it works: Derived from the Japanese raisin tree, DHM helps accelerate alcohol metabolism, reduces acetaldehyde buildup, and supports liver detoxification.
Dosage: 300–600 mg, taken 30 minutes before drinking.
Magnesium
How it works: Magnesium helps regulate blood vessel constriction, preventing excessive dilation and flushing.
Dosage: 200–400 mg before drinking.
Probiotics
How it works: A healthy gut microbiome is essential for efficient alcohol metabolism. Probiotics like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium can enhance liver function and reduce the severity of alcohol-induced redness.
Dosage: One high-quality probiotic supplement daily.
Milk Thistle
How it works: This herbal supplement supports liver detoxification and protects against alcohol-related liver damage.
Dosage: 150–300 mg, taken before or after drinking.
Additional Lifestyle Tips to Reduce Alcohol-Induced Redness
In addition to supplements, here are some practical ways to reduce redness when drinking alcohol:
Stay Hydrated
Drink plenty of water before, during, and after drinking alcohol to help your body process toxins more efficiently.
Choose Low-Histamine Alcohol
Some alcoholic beverages, like red wine and dark spirits, contain high levels of histamines and sulfites, which can worsen flushing. Opt for clear spirits like vodka or gin instead.
Eat Before Drinking
A full stomach slows down alcohol absorption and reduces the intensity of flushing.
Avoid Spicy Foods and Hot Environments
Both spicy food and warm temperatures can worsen alcohol-induced redness by increasing blood vessel dilation.
Test Your Tolerance
If you experience extreme flushing, nausea, or discomfort, limit your alcohol intake and consult a doctor to ensure it is safe for you to drink.
Final Thoughts
Alcohol-induced redness can be frustrating, but the right combination of supplements, hydration, and smart drinking habits can help minimize flushing. If you frequently experience severe alcohol-induced flushing, consider consulting a healthcare provider to rule out underlying health concerns and find the best strategy for your individual needs.
A gold necklace is a timeless accessory that adds elegance and sophistication to any outfit. Whether you’re dressing up for a wedding, a corporate event, or just a casual outing, selecting the right gold necklace can enhance your overall look.
But with so many styles, lengths, and gold and silver jewellery available, choosing the perfect one can be overwhelming. This guide will help you pick the ideal gold necklace for any occasion, ensuring that your investment is both stylish and meaningful.
Consider the Occasion
Different occasions call for different styles of gold necklaces. Before making a choice, think about where you’ll be wearing the piece.
Formal Events (Weddings, Galas, Business Dinners): Opt for classic and sophisticated styles like a gold chain with a pendant, a choker with diamonds, or a statement necklace that complements your outfit.
Casual Outings (Brunch, Shopping, Everyday Wear): A simple gold chain, a delicate pendant necklace, or a layered chain set works best for a relaxed yet stylish look.
Romantic Dates & Anniversaries: A heart-shaped pendant, a personalised name necklace, or a diamond-accented gold chain can make your outfit more special and meaningful.
Work & Professional Settings: Minimalist designs like a thin gold chain, a bar necklace, or a subtle locket add a refined touch without being overpowering.
Choose the Right Gold Type and Purity
Gold necklaces come in different purities and colours, which affect their durability, price, and overall look.
Gold Purity:
24K (Pure gold): – Soft and not ideal for daily wear. Best for investment pieces.
18K (75% Gold): A good balance between purity and durability. Common in fine jewelry.
14K (58% Gold): Stronger and more affordable, ideal for everyday wear.
10K (41% Gold): Most durable and budget-friendly but with a lighter gold tone.
Gold Colours:
Yellow Gold: The classic choice, suitable for both casual and formal occasions.
White Gold: Modern and elegant, great for professional or sophisticated looks.
Rose Gold: Romantic and trendy, ideal for special occasions and casual wear.
Pick the Right Necklace Length
The length of your gold necklace can impact how it complements your neckline and overall outfit. Here’s a quick guide:
Choker (14-16 inches): Best for off-shoulder, V-neck, and strapless outfits.
Princess Length (17-19 inches): The most versatile length, suits almost all outfits.
Matinee Length (20-24 inches): Ideal for high-neck and business attire.
Opera Length (28-36 inches): Great for evening gowns and layering.
Rope Length (37 inches or longer): Statement-making, perfect for formal events.
Consider Your Face Shape
Believe it or not, your face shape can influence how a gold necklace looks on you.
Round Face: Opt for longer necklaces to create a slimming effect.
Oval Face: Most necklace lengths will complement this face shape.
Heart-Shaped Face: Choker or shorter necklaces add balance.
Square Face: Rounded or curved pendant necklaces soften sharp angles.
Decide on a Chain Style
Different chain styles offer varying aesthetics and durability. Some popular options include:
Cable Chain: Simple and classic, great for pendants.
Rope Chain: Elegant and luxurious, ideal for statement pieces.
Box Chain: Sturdy and sleek, works well with both pendants and standalone wear.
Figaro Chain: A stylish option with alternating link patterns.
Snake Chain: Smooth and flexible, perfect for minimalistic and modern looks.
Match It with Your Outfit
Pairing your gold necklace with the right outfit ensures a cohesive and stylish appearance.
Casual Wear (Jeans, Dresses, Sweaters: A simple pendant or layered gold chains add a touch of elegance.
Business Attire (Blazers, Button-Ups, Dresses): Minimalist gold necklaces like bar necklaces or fine chain chokers work best.
Evening Wear (Cocktail Dresses, Gowns): Go bold with statement gold necklaces, pearl accents, or diamond embellishments.
Budget and Investment Value
Gold necklaces vary in price based on purity, craftsmanship, and brand. If you’re looking for an investment piece, opt for higher gold purity (18K or 24K). If you’re buying for everyday wear, 14K gold offers durability and affordability.
Personalisation for a Special Touch
Adding a personal element to your gold necklace makes it even more meaningful. Consider:
Engraved pendants with initials or meaningful dates.
Custom-designed gold chains that reflect your personality.
Birthstone accents for added uniqueness.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the perfect gold necklace for any occasion doesn’t have to be complicated. By considering the event, gold type, chain length, face shape, and outfit pairing, you can select a timeless piece that enhances your style and confidence. Whether it’s a minimalist everyday chain or a statement piece for a grand occasion, a well-chosen gold necklace is always a worthy addition to your jewellery collection.
Layered chain necklaces have become a staple in fashion, adding depth and dimension to any outfit. Whether you’re aiming for a bold, statement look or a delicate, elegant style, layering necklaces allows you to express your personality while staying on-trend.
However, achieving the perfect layered effect requires effort of selection when you Shop Chain Necklaces. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to layer chain necklaces effortlessly for a stylish and put-together look.
Start with a Focal Piece
When layering necklaces, begin with a focal point, this could be a statement pendant, a chunky chain, or a piece with unique detailing. A standout necklace serves as the foundation of your layered look and helps balance the other chains. Opt for something that reflects your style, such as a coin pendant, a gemstone charm, or an engraved locket.
Vary the Chain Lengths
One of the key elements of necklace layering is choosing different chain lengths to create a cascading effect. If all your necklaces are the same length, they will overlap awkwardly, creating a tangled mess rather than a stylish ensemble. Consider this layering formula:
Choker (14-16 inches): The shortest layer, sitting snugly around your neck.
Mid-Length Chain (18-20 inches): A slightly longer piece that adds contrast.
Long Chain (22-30 inches): A final layer that elongates your neckline and completes the look.
By mixing lengths, each necklace will have its own space, preventing clutter and keeping the layering visually appealing.
Mix Different Chain Styles
To add texture and visual interest, combine different types of chains. Mixing styles prevents your layers from looking too uniform or bland. Here are some trendy chain variations to consider:
Cable chain: A classic, simple chain that pairs well with any style.
Figaro chain: Features a pattern of short and long links, adding sophistication.
Rope chain: Twisted and elegant, great for a bold statement.
Paperclip chain: A modern and minimalist design that adds a trendy touch.
Box chain: A sleek, geometric look that contrasts well with daintier styles.
Experimenting with different textures creates depth and makes your layered look more dynamic.
Play with Metals for a Bold Contrast
Mixing metals is a huge trend in jewelry layering. Instead of sticking to just gold or silver, try combining different metal tones to make your layers pop. Rose gold, yellow gold, and silver can all work harmoniously when paired thoughtfully. To make it cohesive, choose a piece that incorporates multiple metals or add rings or bracelets that blend the tones together.
Incorporate Charms and Pendants
To give your layered look a personalized touch, incorporate pendants, charms, or initial necklaces. Meaningful elements, such as birthstone pendants, celestial symbols, or lockets, add uniqueness and tell a story. However, if you’re using a statement pendant as your focal piece, keep the other layers simpler to maintain balance.
Adjust for Your Neckline
Your outfit plays a crucial role in how your layered necklaces will look. The right neckline can either enhance or clash with your jewelry. Here’s a quick guide:
V-neck or Deep Neckline: Perfect for layered necklaces, as they follow the shape of the neckline.
Crew Neck or High Neck: Best with longer chains to create contrast against the fabric.
Off-Shoulder or Strapless: Dainty chokers and mid-length chains complement bare skin beautifully.
Button-Down Shirts: Try layering delicate chains over an open collar for a chic, effortless vibe.
Keep it Balanced
While layering necklaces is all about creativity, balance is key. Avoid overloading your look with too many heavy pieces, as it can make the layers look cluttered and uncomfortable. Instead, mix bold and delicate pieces to maintain harmony. If your outfit is already detailed, opt for simpler layers, whereas if your clothing is minimal, you can go bolder with your jewelry.
Prevent Tangling
One common issue with layering necklaces is tangling. To keep your chains from knotting together:
Choose chains with different textures (e.g., a thin chain paired with a chunkier one).
Use a necklace separator or clasp adjuster to keep the layers in place.
Try layering necklaces that have different weights, as lightweight chains tend to get tangled more easily.
Apply a detangling spray or use a bit of baby powder on fine chains to minimize friction.
Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment
The beauty of layered chain necklaces is that there are no strict rules. Fashion is all about self-expression, so don’t be afraid to try different combinations until you find what works for you. Mix and match your necklaces depending on the occasion, your outfit, or your mood. Layering can be elegant for a formal event, boho for a casual day out, or edgy for a night out.
Final Thoughts
Mastering the art of layering chain necklaces is all about finding the right balance between length, texture, and style. By following these tips, you can create a trendy, effortless look that complements your outfit and enhances your personal style. Whether you prefer a minimalist vibe or a bold statement, layering necklaces allows you to get creative and elevate your jewelry game. So grab your favorite chains and start styling!
Shademomo Iwasaki is a trailblazing contemporary artist whose work brings a powerful voice to today’s art scene. Born and raised in Japan to a Ghanaian father and Japanese mother, she draws deeply from her biracial heritage to create art that is both personal and boldly experimental. Her practice transcends conventional boundaries, combining futuristic digital media, analog techniques, fashion, and immersive environments to explore complex themes such as human consciousness, societal pressure, and technological evolution. Moreover, blending these mediums with her heritage is what makes her standout from the crowd. Momo’s practice is as much about questioning societal structures as it is about creating visually engaging experiences. Her work encourages the viewer to not only witness art but actively engage with the changing perceptions of culture, space, communities, individuality, independence, equality, and uniqueness of identities.
Momo’s first solo exhibition “I am Glitch” demonstrates her abilities to challenge traditional understandings of art through innovative use of digital and interactive analog materials blending with her culturally unique heritage. “Digitalized Typhoon,” expressing human societal struggles and concerns with technology featuring handmade fashion pieces with audience participatory interactive performance using AR, pushes the boundaries of social commentary. In this work, he explores how societal control mechanisms impact individual agency and self-awareness. Through advanced motion sensors and digital interfaces, the audience becomes part of the artwork itself, transferring their emotional states to others in real-time. This dynamic exchange of energy within the installation encourages viewers to reflect on their role in the greater societal narrative, shifting from passive observation to active participation.
Digitalized Typhoon
“Geisha Shuffle” is another key work in Momo’s repertoire embodying her ongoing exploration of human expressions while merging cultural essences through Japanese ethnic costume called Kimono. “Geisha” were female Japanese performing artists and entertainers trained in traditional Japanese performing arts styles, such as dance, music and singing, as well as being proficient conversationalists and hosts. The first female geisha appeared in 1751 and Kimono was their formal clothing. The work’s primary goal is to offer a realization of how us humans have been evolving, the contrast between now and the 17th century yet the contrast can merge into one another and create unusual harmony. The installation offers a response to the pervasive anxiety in modern society, especially among youth, who often seek solace in external forces rather than internal wisdom. In this sense, Momo’s work speaks to the spiritual void many people face today, encouraging them to rediscover inner peace through both traditional wisdom and technological means.
Geisha
Unlike many contemporary artists who view technology as just another medium, Momo embraces it as an integral force that shapes the way we experience and interact with the world around us. Her installations, such as “Concrete Jungle,” offer a glimpse into how digital technology can foster a deeper, more harmonious relationship between humanity and nature. Using a random street in New York City where it’s full of technology yet that concrete jungle is now “natural” or “everyday scene” for us humans where it’s hard to find nature in our society now and we are so used to overlooking it. A futuristic costume as a key element in her interactive installation, Momo creates a space where the boundaries between organic life and technology blur, offering a nuance of an experience for the viewer. This work represents Momo’s growing belief that art should transcend the limits of traditional space and time, using technology not just as a tool but as a medium to foster human connection and reflection.
Momo’s work points to a future where art is not confined to traditional galleries or physical spaces. By utilizing interactive design, sensory technologies, fashion, and cultural essences, she foresees a new era of art where the boundaries between the viewer, the artist, and the artwork are blurred. Art will no longer be a static experience but a dynamic and evolving one. Momo’s belief in the importance of interdisciplinary dialogue, a process that involves people from different disciplines, cultural backgrounds, and institutions to work together on a topic. The goal is to include a variety of perspectives and ideas in the decision-making process. The merging of art, philosophy, heritage, communities, and technology suggests a future where art serves not just as an aesthetic experience but as a vehicle for social change, intellectual exploration, and personal transformation. Momo embraces technology and natural materials known as analog, in her work, creating experiences that challenge the conventional boundaries of art. Momo’s focus on the relationship between materials and culture, as someone who came from a mixed background encourages viewers to be unique, different and extraordinary. Her work speaks to the relationship between multiculturalism and art, cultural understanding, cultural identities and appreciation among people from various backgrounds in not only art and fashion but in any world by creating works that transcend traditional forms. Raising awareness of cultural diversity in societies might be able to challenge people’s stereotypes and more understanding of each other resulting in empowering bringing communities closer. Letting people view technology not merely as a tool, but as a transformative medium that facilitates deeper human connections and challenges the way we perceive the world. Momo’s vision is one that embraces both the digital and the analog blending with cultural materials, creating a space where art becomes an experience that can reshape perceptions, promote acceptance of uniqueness, and foster deep human connections.
There’s so much music coming out all the time that it’s hard to keep track. On those days when the influx of new tracks is particularly overwhelming, we sift through the noise to bring you a curated list of the most interesting new releases (the best of which will be added to our Best New Songs playlist). Below, check out our track roundup for Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
Perfume Genius – ‘No Front Teeth’ [feat. Aldous Harding]
Aldous Harding joins Perfume Genius on ‘No Front Teeth’, the latest single from his forthcoming album Glory. It’s a breathtaking song whose six-minute runtime feels like a dream, made particularly vivid by a revelatory chorus (not to mention a memorable music video directed by Cody Critcheloe). It follows lead single ‘It’s A Mirror’, which made our list of the best songs of January 2025.
Sleigh Bells – ‘Bunky Pop’
‘Bunky Pop’ is as absurdly playful and explosive as you’d expect the opener of an album called Bunky Becky Birthday Boy to sound – especially coming from Sleigh Bells. But there’s an emotional backstory to it, too. “‘Bunky Becky’ was a nickname for Alexis’ dog Riz, who passed away in December 2023,” producer/guitarist Derek Miller explained. “When she passed away, Alexis and I had been talking about writing an anthem for her. And then Alexis’ son Wilder was born, and he’s the birthday boy. Even though the title sounds a little ridiculous – and it’s totally okay to laugh at it — with a little bit of context, it’s actually life and death. We lost somebody that we love, and we gained somebody that we love.”
McKinley Dixon – ‘Sugar Water’ [feat. Quelle Chris and Anjimile]
McKinley Dixon has announced his fifth album, Magic, Alive!, with the vibrant and stirring new single ‘Sugar Water’, which features Quelle Chris and Anjimile. “I guess if it don’t kill you, make you harder/ Bring him back just for my heart?/ Shit, it seem an easy barter,” Dixon raps on the song, which he explained “is a discussion on how to make fleeting moments last forever, and how to carry those not here with you through time and space. It raises the question ‘what’s the price to pay for an eternal life lived through others memories?’”
Maria Somerville – ‘Garden’
Maria Somerville has announced Luster, the follow-up to 2019’s All My People and her debut album for 4AD. It’s out April 25 via 4AD, and accompanying the news is a cavernous slice of dream-pop called ‘Garden’, which was produced by Diego Herrera, aka Suzanne Kraft.
Maia Friedman – ‘New Flowers’
Maia Friedman has announced a new LP, Goodbye Long Winter Shadow, with the single ‘New Flowers’, which is mournful but steadily builds out hope. It’s “about love lost, and the inevitable process of losing oneself and finding oneself again,” the New York songwriter explained. “I enlisted my dear friend Hannah Cohen to sing harmonies, and the closing guitarmony solo was dueled out by Maddy Baltor and I, side by side. It was joyful to say the least. We knew this one needed drums so we called in the legendary Kenny Wollesen and he got it on the first take. I love how Oliver Hill interpreted my demo into this beautiful arrangement for woodwinds and strings.”
Wishy – ‘Fly’
The new Wishy track is, unsurprisingly, perfectly sun-kissed and fuzzy. It’s set to appear on their new EP Planet Popstar, which will be packaged along with 2023’s Paradise as a double EP. “This song conveys a general theme of enjoying the present, being in love, and not taking yourself too seriously,” Nina Pitchkites said in a press release. “Me, Kevin, and Steve Marino co-wrote this song around the same time we wrote the track ‘Triple Seven’. It was one of several demos that Steve brought to the table for us to toy with.”
Brian D’Addario – ‘Till The Morning’
The Lemon Twigs’ Brian D’Addario has announced his debut solo album, Till The Morning, arriving March 20 via Headstack Records. “It’s a love song having to do with those fleeting moments when you grasp something real, amidst all the noise and propaganda,” D’Addario said of the radiant title track, out now. “‘The night is pitch black until the morning.’ Maybe things need to completely collapse before they get better.”
Fust – ‘Mountain Language’
The latest single from Fust’s upcoming full-length Big Ugly is equal parts rowdy and hopeful. “It’s a song championing the power of the underling, the dispossessed wage worker, the Dollar General shopper in a backroad food desert, the uninsured,” bandleader Aaron Dowdy said of ‘Mountain Language’. “And it’s a dream of the future, about a language of friendship speakable only in less dominating times.”
Weatherday – ‘Tiara’
Weatherday has previewed their forthcoming LP Hornet Disaster with ‘Tiara’, a frantic and impassioned noise-pop tune tackling alienation. “‘Tiara’ is partially about trying to catch up with the speed and excitement of a social scene,” project mastermind Sputnik explained in a press release. “While being intimidated and feeling alien, the song’s narrator still quickly buys into the lifestyle and ways of thinking enthusiastically. At the core of this angle of the song, there’s an honest attempt at making connections, although they’re not channeled in the most productive directions as the narrator still feels distance.”
Gordi – ‘Peripheral Lover’
Gordi has announced a new album, Like Plasticine, due out May 30 on Mushroom Music. It’s led by the danceable and anthemic ‘Peripheral Lover’, of which Gordi said: “I was thinking about the beginnings of queer relationships. I’m talking real early, like so early that at least one person is still in the closet. Accepting the available love instead of it orbiting around you. There comes a breaking point, a demand, a pleading for honesty — and the relationship either explodes into the open or melts from the periphery away into nothing. From these thoughts, “Peripheral Lover” was born. It exploded into being in about three hours.”
Niis – ‘The Bow’
Niis have shared ‘The Bow’, a guttural new single from their forthcoming album Niis World. The record lands March 28 via Get Better Records.
Mamalarky – ‘#1 Best of All Time’
Mamalarky have announced a new LP, Hex Key, which is out April 11 on Epitaph. It features the early singles ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ and ‘Feels So Wrong’, as well as the new track ‘#1 Best of All Time’, which is jittery and infectious. “Through a lot of games of UNO, I’ve discovered I’m actually a pretty competitive person,” singer/guitarist Livvy Bennett explained. “And somehow, the feeling of losing has become highly motivating to me. I always feel like I’m competing against myself, trying to best my last attempt at whatever I’ve set out to do. Like, you probably can’t be the best of all time, but you’ll always be the best you of all time — no one can dispute that. I wanted to write something that felt powerful but funny, too, like laughing in the face of doubt. ‘Cause betting on yourself even when you feel like a losing horse pays off in big ways! If you can make yourself feel like you’re winning right at the moment of failure and only measure yourself against your own barometers, you’re gonna be a lot happier.
“When we recorded this, we asked Dylan to just play something ‘crazy’ on the drums and worked backwards from there,” she added. “He powered through this insane performance, and the song came together autonomously from there.”
Jensen McRae – ‘Praying For Your Downfall’
Jensen McRae has announced her sophomore album, I Don’t Know How But They Found Me!, arriving April 25 via Dead Oceans. The folk musician recorded the LP in North Carolina with Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Bon Iver), and it features contributions from Nathan Stocker (Hippo Campus), Matthew McCaughan (Bon Iver), and her brother Holden McRae. It’s led by the biting yet resolute ‘Praying For Your Downfall’.
Sextile – ‘Freak Eyes’
Los Angeles electro-punks Sextile have announced a new album: yes, please. is out May 2 via Sacred Bones. Lead single ‘Freak Eyes’ is a rager, and it’s “about the pressures of making art, living, and aspiring,” according to the band’s Brady Keehn. “The sound was inspired by house parties we went to in NY, where certain tracks had the conversation stopping power. If you were in the middle of convo with a friend and heard certain songs, it didn’t matter what you were talking about, you stopped and joined the party in the collective release of emotion, singing, dancing, and drinks flying everywhere. It was like in that moment, nothing else mattered but that energy that we all collectively felt. And I felt like I hadn’t seen that at a party, or anywhere in a while, and wanted to try to bring that feeling back into the world again.
quickly, quickly – ‘Raven’
quickly, quickly has previewed his upcoming LP, I Heard That Noise, with ‘Raven’ which he described as “kind of the oddball on the album. It strays from the loose narrative of the songs and is also sonically very different from the rest of the album, but I felt it still fit somehow. The lyrics to me are about bridging the gap between superstition/fear and real pain, as I often tend to mix up the two. The person in the song knows the difference ‘I don’t believe in what I cannot perceive’ but still sees the wolf and the raven as signs of something. We shot the video at mt tabor park in Portland OR. It took almost an hour to drag all the equipment up a massive hill and I had an asthma attack while doing so. After about 2 hours of shooting we got the take and dragged all the gear back down the hill! Thanks to everyone who helped make the video happen in any way. Was definitely a group effort!”
Alan Duggan Borges – ‘Slip Angle’
Gilla Band guitarist/producer Alan Duggan Borges has shared a new song with his experimental project, the Null Club, whose debut EP arrives April 4. It features Faris Badwan of the Horrors, Valentine Caulfield of Mandy, Indiana, and ELUCID of Armand Hammer. Caulfield appears on the new single ‘Slip Angle’, which hews quite close to Mandy, Indiana’s techno-infused noise. “I tired to mix techno and noise with this one,” Duggan Borges explained. “I first saw Mandy, Indiana in Manchester at the psych fest in 2021. We managed to say hello, and from there I reached out to Val to see if she would be interested in working on the track. Thankfully she was into it. I sent her on the instrumental and she came back with rough vocals using the mic from headphones for phones. We re-recorded the vocals in her home in Manchester in 2021 surrounded by her cats, but actually kept some of the headphone takes in the track.”
Snapped Ankles – ‘Pay the Rent’
Snapped Ankles have dropped a frenetic new single, ‘Pay the Rent’, taken from their forthcoming LP Hard Times Furious Dancing. To accompany the release, the band will launch a GoFundTrees campaign on February 21, which aims to raise awareness about the true cost of touring in 2025 and provide opportunities for bands to donate funds to the band ahead of their upcoming tour.
spill tab – ‘Angie’
LA-based French-Korean singer-songwriter has detailed her long-awaited debut full length: ANGIE arrives May 16 on Because Music, and it’s led by the grungy yet joyful title track. “I love this collection of songs so deeply,” Claire Chicha commented, “they feel more honest than anything I’ve created in a long time, and I’m so proud of the hundreds (thousands??) of hours that were spent writing, producing, chipping away at vocals, tightening up harmonies, re-writing bass lines, deleting entire sections, coming up with completely new ones, with all the the insane collaborators that worked on this project. It’s really special to hear all these experiences on love and loss, rejection and passion, walking away and holding on too tight, all coexisting together in one place: a cumulation of these last few years of my life.”
