Former Brockhampton leader Kevin Abstract has dropped a new song, ‘What Should I Do?’, taken from his upcoming solo album Blanket. The track, which follows the previously released title track and ‘GUM’, is accompanied by a visual called ‘SLIP N SLIDE’. Check it out below.
Blink-182 Release New Song ‘You Don’t Know What You’ve Got’
Blink-182 have dropped another song from their upcoming album, One More Time…, ahead of its release on Friday, October 20. This one’s called ‘You Don’t Know What You’ve Got’, and it follows previous cuts ‘One More Time’, ‘More Than You Know’, ‘Edging’, ‘Dance With Me’, and ‘Fell in Love’. Today, Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker have also revealed the album’s cover art. Check it out and listen to the new single below.
One More Time… Cover Artwork:
Julie Byrne Announces New EP, Unveils New Single
Julie Byrne has announced a new EP titled Julie Byrne With Laugh Cry Laugh, which arrives November 17 via Ghostly International. Following her July LP The Greater Wings, the singer-songwriter recorded the collection with Emily Fontana and Taryn Blake Miller. Going by Laugh Cry Laugh, the trio worked on the songs at Miller’s apartment in the winter of 2022. Listen to the new single ‘Velocity! What About the Inertia!?’, as well as a cover of Jackson Browne’s ‘These Days’, below.
Julie Byrne With Laugh Cry Laugh EP Tracklist:
1. ’22
2. These Days
3. Velocity! What About the Inertia!?
4. Entropy Increasing
Lowertown Share New Single ‘Root Canal’
Lowertown, the duo of Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg, have dropped a new song, ‘Root Canal’. It’s taken from their upcoming EP Skin of My Teeth, which is out October 27 and includes the previously released single ‘Bline’. Listen below.
‘Root Canal’ “was written from a point of reflection after having recently left a very toxic relationship,” Osby explained in a statement. “The person I had been dating was very manipulative and jealous and would jump on any opportunity to put me down. They got a lot of enjoyment from my failures and would get extremely upset when anything in my life would start to go well.”
Lowertown released their debut studio album, I Love to Lie, last year. Read our inspirations interview around the album, and revisit our Artist Spotlight feature with the band.
Spencer Zahn Announces New Album ‘Statues II’, Releases New Song ‘High Touch’
Spencer Zahn has announced the companion to his album Statues I, which was released earlier this year. Released as a double LP, Statues I & II will be out on November 17 through Cascine. The new single ‘High Touch’ is out today, and you can check it out below.
“‘High Touch’ began as a song that I thought would be good for a singer,” Zahn explained in a statement. “It’s a love song that is celebratory, triumphant even. It is a dedication much like the entire album. I wrote the chords on a Fender Rhodes and then added a Yamaha CP70 and CS50 to build up the harmony. Once that sound started to come together it felt more like a Jon Hassell recording than a song for a vocalist. Spencer Ludwig was staying at the house for a weekend so I asked him to play trumpet on it and we immediately found the identity of the song. With the doubling of soprano saxophone by Chris Bullock, drums by Booker Stardrum, and additional drum programming and production by Tyler Gilmore, this became one of my favorite songs on the album.”
Zahn also shared the following statement about the two albums:
I find it hard to talk about the personal side to my music. The emotional ambiguity in instrumental music is something that I love, and my hope is that people can find meaning for themselves in my songs. I also think that adding some context around why I want to share music is important, without lifting the veil or having the music feel too literal.
My life was full of love, creativity, collaboration, and solitude when I made this music. But change is inevitable and happens when one least expects it. The ground shifted, and as that happened these songs felt even more meaningful as a representation of the life that I had. I wanted to leave these songs as a letter of gratitude for the recent years.
In 2022 I was living a quiet life in upstate New York. I’d spend my days focusing on writing new music at the piano, enjoying the silence in my studio. I had recently finished the album Pigments with Dawn Richard which is a large scale, orchestral album. So sketching out minimalist ideas felt refreshing.
I got into a routine of improvising at the piano each morning. Short sketches that I liked would be developed further. Eventually two sets of music started to present themselves. The first set of music was songs that felt fully formed as solo piano pieces. I could live in these compositions as they were. The songs encapsulated a precious six month period of my life upstate. Subdued, minimal, solitary moments.
The other set of music that developed simultaneously was a series of piano sketches that felt incomplete yet had potential with an ensemble surrounding them. As these ideas developed I wanted to borrow from the production style of Pigments by having other musicians improvise across the core arrangements. Tyler Gilmore aka BlankFor.ms, Spencer Ludwig, Chris Bullock, Jas Walton, and Booker Stardrum all contributed with their depth of musical personalities and helped breath shape, intrigue, and beauty into the songs.
Lastly, the artwork by Hana Tajima for this double album is a series of sculptures carved by her grandfather. She and I have been creating art and music together since she did the design for my album Sunday Painter in 2020. Her paintings, design, and overall aesthetic have inspired me for a long time and this album is a culmination of that.
These two collections are Statues I & II.
Thank you to everyone who put their stamp on this music.
With love,
SZ
Statues II Cover Artwork:
Statues II Tracklist:
1. Changes in Three Parts
2. Morning
3. High Touch
4. OST
5. Wind Unsung
6. Wave
7. Shadow Setup
ELIO Releases New Single ‘Sorority’
ELIO has returned with a new single, ‘Sorority’. The track, which follows her 2022 mixtape ELIO’s INFERNO, arrives with a music video directed by Dillon Matthew. Check it out below.
“Over the past couple years it’s been hard for me to escape the realizations of growing up in a society that teaches us what it means to be a woman,” ELIO explained in a statement. “‘Sorority’ is the start of me unpacking the feelings of growing up and thinking that other girls were my competition. It’s hard to break away from all of the noise of what society wants us to be.
“I was having a conversation with my friends about how we were all scared of each other the first time we met, and it really made me question why that is such a common opinion among us,” ELIO continued. “I love the women in my life but have no doubt been subject to comparison and felt the need to be the one that appears perfect. ‘Sorority’ is about letting all that go and just being able to be there and support our friends and community with no expectations and judgement.”
Revisit our Artist Spotlight interview with ELIO.
BADBADNOTGOOD and Charlotte Day Wilson Team Up for New Song ‘Sleeper’
BADBADNOTGOOD and Charlotte Day Wilson have linked up for a new single called ‘Sleeper’. The track was recorded on analog tape at the Los Angeles studio Valentine Recording. Listen to it below.
“Sleeper wrote itself… we were in the studio just messing around and the guys came up with the colorful instrumental while I freestyled the lyrics,” Day Wilson said in a press statement. “The song portrays someone who chooses the path of least resistance and finds themselves in a lifeless, loveless relationship.”
In 2016, Day Wilson joined BADBADNOTGOOD on their track ‘In Your Eyes’. More recently, BADBADNOTGOOD appeared on ‘I Can Only Whisper’, a track from Day Wilson’s 2021 debut LP ALPHA.
Barrie Shares New Single ‘Hard Candy’
Barrie has released a new track, ‘Hard Candy’. The track is available online for the first time after being heard in January 2022 on the Freeform series Single Drunk Female. Listen to it below.
Earlier this year, Barrie put out the 5K EP.
Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock Joins Lol Tolhurst, Budgie, and Jacknife Lee on New Song ‘We Got to Move’
Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee have released a new single from their upcoming album Los Angeles, which arrives November 3 via Play It Again Sam. Following ‘Ghosted at Home’ and the title track, ‘We Got to Move’ features Modest Mouse singer and frontman Isaac Brock. The song’s accompanying video was directed by Daniel Rashid and stars Fred Armisen. Watch and listen below.
“What I love about ‘We Got To Move’ is its eclectic mix of styles,” Tolhurst said in a statement. “I mean where else do you get strings, DAF synths and Bhangra-Punjabi style percussion? Nowhere else that’s where!”
Budgie added: “One of the more existential tracks on Los Angeles, an homage to Philip Glass, Ron Fricke and Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi, with words by Isaac Brock. The video has me and Lol as Clockwork Orange Droogs Drumming on a Cadillac, while Fred Armisen takes a Sledgehammer to a WC”.
“The piece was very long and we thought it would be difficult for a singer to find a way into it, but I’d been working with Modest Mouse for a while and played the instrumental to Isaac to see if he wanted to try something on it,” Jacknife Lee commented. “Isaac is one of the most unique voices we have. He’s brilliant. He came down to Topanga and gave us this weird, anxious, beautiful rush of a song.”
Middle Kids Announce New Album, Share Video for New Song ‘Dramamine’
Middle Kids have announced a new album, Faith Crisis Pt 1, which is out February 16 via Lucky Number. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the new single ‘Dramamine’, alongside a video from director Nick McKinley. Check it out below.
Faith Crisis Pt 1 was recorded in Eastbourne in the UK and co-produced by Tim Fitz and Jonathan Gilmore. Vocalist Hannah Joy co-wrote ‘Dramamine’ with Fitz, who is not only her bandmate but also her husband. “It feels like a song about the connection between belief and love,” she said in a statement.
Faith Crisis Pt 1 will include the previously released single ‘Highlands’. Middle Kids’ most recent album was 2021’s Today We’re the Greatest.
Faith Crisis Pt 1 Cover Artwork:
Faith Crisis Pt 1 Tracklist:
1. Petition
2. Dramamine
3. The Blessings
4. The Blessings (Interlude)
5. Bootleg Firecracker
6. Highlands
7. Bend
8. Go to Sleep on Me
9. Terrible news
10. Philosophy
11. Your Side, Forever
12. You Side (Interlude)
13. All In My Head [feat. Dave Le’aupepe]
