Protection, the duo of CHVRCHES’ Iain Cook and Glasgow musician Scott Paterson, have announced their second EP, SEEDS II. The follow-up to April’s SEEDS I is due out in September via Saint Lucky Records. Check out the new single ‘Thirst Shrine’ below.
“‘Thirst Shrine’ started off as a little seed idea that I sent to Iain, the vocal chop and the drum break stuff,” Paterson said in a statement. “We bounced it back and forth until it sounded right.”
Cook added: “I heard the demo while touring with CHVRCHES after lockdown. It felt so fresh since we hadn’t really dabbled with Drum and Bass so directly yet. The vocal chop inspired me to push further. Between Austin and Chicago I got Covid, so I just lay in bed feverishly chopping up for hours working on it. Getting the bass right took about five layers of sounds, we wanted it enormous, enveloping like early UK dubstep or DnB.”
Metric have announced Formentera II, a companion album to last year’s Formentera. It’s slated for release on October 13 via Metric Music International/Thirty Tigers. First single ‘Just the Once’ features strings composed and arranged by Drew Jureka and mixed by Stuart White. Listen to it below.
“The only way I can describe ‘Just The Once’ is to call it regret disco,” lead singer Emily Haines said i na press release. “It’s a song for when you need to dance yourself clean. Beneath the sparkling surface, there’s a lyrical exploration of a simple word with many meanings. Once is a word that plays a game of opposites. Once can mean once-upon-a-time and refer to a moment in the past, or it can mean someday, once something happens. And as for doing something only once versus doing something once in a while, well, I think we all know how vast the difference is between the two.”
Formentera II Cover Artwork:
Formentera II Tracklist:
1. Detour Up
2. Just The Once
3. Stone Window
4. Days Of Oblivion
5. Who Would You Be For Me
6. Suckers
7. Nothing Is Perfect
8. Descendants
9. Go Ahead And Cry
To love, sometimes, is to feel weightless and ungrounded. ‘Summer Glass’, the centerpiece of Julie Byrne’s astonishing third album, begins with arpeggiated synths that shimmer off into the horizon and, in the absence of her signature fingerpicked guitar, conjure a soaring, unfamiliar intimacy. Her spectral voice is suspended in the air: “I can’t say if it was devotion/ I just wanted to feel the sun on my skin.” But rather than wander aimlessly in solitude, retracing pieces of herself, the song quickly turns to another and brims with the possibility of belonging. “I, too, have lingered on in empty rooms,” she confesses, laying out a full story in the span of a breath – “Desire, laughter, blur, ache, abandon” – then asks: “Are we gonna bring this to fruition?” The wave of unbridled beauty and uncertainty is crystallized in the moment, a home she only provides glimpses of and knows cannot last forever; the “we” becomes “I” again. When she floats back down, it is with a renewed sense of clarity. “I want to feel whole enough to risk again,” she sings.
It is through this insistent willingness to risk, her commitment to a vision both shared and solitary, that The Greater Wings was able to materialize. Byrne began working on the follow-up to 2017’s Not Even Happiness in the fall of 2020, collaborating with her longtime creative partner Eric Littmann on sessions that extended through the spring of 2021. In June of 2021, Littmann died suddenly at age 31. In the wake of his loss, the album was shelved for six months, before it was completed in early 2022 with producer Alex Somers. The weight of grief accumulates on the opening title track, which manages to radiate warmth and find meaning by honouring Littmann’s memory. “It is not what is seen/ But what is known forever,” she offers, and nearly every track that follows comes alive with the desire to imbue the ordinary with the cosmic.
But forever isn’t always the same, and what can be life-affirming for so long can feel twice as devastating once it changes shape. ‘Portrait of a Clear Day’ is almost peaceful in its melancholy, loss wrapped and stretching out in the glow of nostalgia: “Timeless and wide in the middle of the night/ Am I just waiting for you all over again?” On ‘Moonless’, Byrne sings of the small apartment on the 8th floor of an old hotel where she and Littman would record once the sun came down: “I found it there in the room with you/ Whatever eternity is.” It’s a breakup song, the first Byrne has ever written on piano – with Littman – and as she’s faced with “what eternity becomes,” Jake Falby’s string arrangement and Marilu Donovan’s harp recede before swelling again for her to proclaim, “I’m not waiting for your love.” Yet it doesn’t feel like an answer so much as another shot at the question that pervades so much of the album: What do you do, then, when it’s still there? Who are you without its old habits, the stories you cannot braid together? Where do you go?
It’s in the air, but Byrne continues to move by harnessing space for vulnerability, firm in her ability to hold contradictions. “There are times I’m in touch with who I truly want to be,” she admits on the gorgeous ‘Flare’, even if it can never feel like a lasting embrace. “There is no place I can remain,” she goes on to lament, but knows better than to try and outrun grief. Her voice becomes so hushed it almost fades completely when she sings, “Yet I need a love that will,” but quickly rises back up, addressing the listener as much as herself: “Stay with me.” She treats both the inanimate and human subjects of her songwriting with a divine sensitivity, seeking a connectedness that can turn a personal plea into a communal meditation. When it manifests – as in ‘Flare’, sonically not one of the most expansive tracks on the album – it serves as proof that music doesn’t need to carry us very far, so long as it simply does.
Even more startling is ‘Conversation Is a Flowstate’, a song about a relationship in which Byrne felt degraded; the title memorializes what Littman said to her, words that gave her enough strength to confront the situation through song and reach deep into herself. “Permission to grieve, it’s alright/ Healing can be heartbreaking, it’s alright,” she sings, chest heaving. “I am by your side.” It now, of course, resonates on a much wider scale, echoing as a reminder that frees experiences of longing and partnership from the loneliness of a past moment, breathless and beautiful and outstretched as it may be. By the end of the record, Byrne can only arrive at the greatest revelations with an “I guess,” but her truth still, for once, seems to contain a whole universe: alive, timeless, and new.
Irish singer-songwriter Nell Mescal has shared a new song, ‘Punchline’. It’s her third single of 2023, following March’s ‘In My Head’. Check it out below.
“I wrote punchline in my bedroom last year about a friendship ending before it needed to and the heartbreak that comes with it,” Mescal explained in a statement. “It’s about trying to ‘win’ the friendship breakup by pretending it doesn’t hurt you that much, but still having that sick feeling you get in your stomach because you miss the other person.”
Skrillex and Boys Noize have joined forces for a new single, ‘Fine Day Anthem’. Fred again.. co-produced the track, which was first teased during Skrillex, Fred again.., and Four Tet’s headlining set at Coachella. The single artwork was designed by digital artist Thomas Harrington Rawle. Take a listen below.
‘Fine Day Anthem’ marks the producers’ first collaborative release since 2019’s Turn Off The Lights EP. Skrillex dropped a pair of albums, Don’t Get Too Close and Quest for Fire, earlier this year.
Skrillex and Boys Noize (Photo courtesy of the artists)
PJ Harvey is back with her first album in seven years, I Inside the Old Year Dying. The follow-up to 2016’s The Hope Six Demolition Project was co-produced by longtime collaborators John Parish and Flood. It includes the previously released singles ‘A Child’s Question, August’ and the title track. The songs “all came out of me in about three weeks,” Harvey said in press materials, and are meant to provide “a resting space, a solace, a comfort, a balm – which feels timely for the times we’re in.” She added, “I think the album is about searching, looking – the intensity of first love, and seeking meaning. Not that there has to be a message, but the feeling I get from the record is one of love – it’s tinged with sadness and loss, but it’s loving. I think that’s what makes it feel so welcoming: so open.” Read our review of the album.
Julie Byrne has returned with her first album since 2017’s Not Even Happiness. She began working on The Greater Wings with longtime collaborator Eric Littmann, who passed away in 2021, and finished the album with Alex Somers. “My hope for The Greater Wings is that it lives as a love letter to my chosen family and as an expression of the depth of my commitment to our shared future,” Byrne said. “Being reshaped by grief also has me more aware of what death does not take from me. I commit that to heart, to words, to sound. Music is not bound to any kind of linear time, so in the capacity to record and speak to the future: This is what it felt like to me, when we were simultaneous, alive, occurring all at once. What it has felt like to go up against my edge and push, the love that has made it worth all this fight. These memories are my values, they belong with me.” Read our review of The Greater Wings.
ANOHNI and the Johnsons, My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
ANOHNI and the Johnsons have released their new LP, My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross, via Rough Trade and Secretly Canadian. The follow-up to 2016’s HOPELESSNESS was previewed with the singles ‘Sliver of Ice’, ‘It Must Be Change’, and ‘Why Am I Alive Now?’. “I want the record to be useful. I learned with HOPELESSNESS that I can provide a soundtrack that might fortify people in their work, in their activism, in their dreaming and decision-making,” ANOHNI explained. “I can sing of an awareness that makes others feel less alone, people for whom the frank articulation of these frightening times is not a source of discomfort but a cause for identification and relief. I want the work to be useful, to help others move with dignity and resilience through these conversations we are now facing.”
Minneapolis-based rock band 12 Rods have issued their first new album in 21 years. Out now via American Dreams and Ryley Walker’s Husky Pants Records, If We Stayed Alive follows 2002’s Lost Time and includes the previously unveiled tracks ‘Twice’, ‘My Year (This Is Going to Be)’, and ‘Private Spies’. The LP came together after frontman Ryan Olcott found some of the band’s unfinished demos during lockdown. “These are songs that I forgot about,” Olcott explained in press materials. “It took a couple days to get my voice back with that range and that power, but I can do it!” He added, “To be honest, I think it’s the best material I’ve had to offer so far.”
Rauw Alejandro has dropped Playa Saturno, a “spinoff” of the Puerto Rican star’s last LP Saturno. The record features guest spots from Junior H, Ivy Queen, Miguel Bosé, Jowell y Randy, and Ñego y Dálmat. “When I was touring, I couldn’t stop thinking of summer, the season that holds so many memories and adventures near the beach of Puerto Rico, where music has always been with me,” Alejandro wrote on Instagram. “Being away from home really is like living on Saturn and I felt so much nostalgia hahaha and with zero time I don’t know how I made this happen.” He added, “I decided to make this album for the fans of classic and modern reggaetón, especially for my people of PR. 10000% PERREO.”
Local Natives have put out their fifth studio album, Time Will Wait for No One, via Loma Vista. The follow-up to 2019’s Violet Street was recorded in Los Angeles with producer John Congleton and features the advance tracks ‘Paradise’, ‘Just Before the Morning’, ‘NYE’, Desert Snow’, and ‘Hourglass’. “This record was made during a time of metamorphosis for us,” the band said in a statement. “Former selves melting away as some of us became fathers, endured periods of isolation, loss, and identity crisis. The highs and lows we were feeling at the same time were so extreme.”
Little Dragon have followed up 2021’s New Me, Same Us with a new album, Slugs of Love, out now via Ninja Tune. It features guest appearances from Damon Albarn and Atlanta rapper JID, as well as the singles ‘Gold’, ‘Kenneth’, and the title track. “We’ve been exploring different ways to collaborate and communicate,” the group explained. “Dissolving patterns and making new ones. Nurturing our ability to curiously press down keys, to bang—sometimes hard sometimes gently—on different things, strumming strings, recording sounds and investigating the limits for how much or little a sound can be tweaked… Together we have developed, replayed, danced to, cried, and laughed to this music as it has evolved forwards, backwards, sideways and all around, but now finally as a complete masterpiece… This feels like our finest work yet. We are very proud.”
Gus Dapperton’s third album, Henge, has arrived today via Warner Records. The follow-up to 2020’s Orca features the BENEE collaboration ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, as well as contributions from poet Ocean Vuong and Cruel Santino. The album title is a reference to what is known as “Manhattanhenge,” a natural phenomenon that occurs twice a year in New York City when the setting sun aligns perfectly with Manhattan’s grid-patterned streets.
Other albums out today:
Dominic Fike, Sunburn; Grouplove, I Want It All Right Now; Alice Phoebe Lou, Shelter; Saloli, Canyon; Jim O’Rourke, Hands That Bind (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack); Tony Allen, JID018; Aluna, MYCELiUM; L.Zylberberg, her her; Longings, Dreams in Red; Lauren Bousfield, Salesforce; Froglord, Sons of Froglord; Zaumne, Parfum.
Chicago rapper Valee has teamed up with Action Bronston and producer Harry Fraud for a new single, ‘Vibrant’. It comes alongside the announcement of Valee and Fraud’s upcoming album Virtuoso, which arrives on July 21. Check it out below.
“We’ve been quietly working on this project, and it’s finally ready for the world,” Valee said in a press release. “It will be unlike anything you’ve ever heard; so expect the unexpected.”
Fraud added, “Valee has been one of my favorite artists since the first time I heard him, and it’s always been a goal of mine to collaborate with him.”
Taylor Swift has released her third re-recorded album. Following Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) includes new versions of the 16 songs originally featured on the 2010 album alongside ‘From the Vault’ tracks featuring Fall Out Boy and Paramore’s Hayley Williams. Listen below.
“It’s an album I wrote alone about the whims, fantasies, heartaches, dramas, and tragedies I lived out as a young woman between 18 and 20,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “I remember making tracklist after tracklist, obsessing over the right way to tell the story. I had to be ruthless with my choices, and I left behind some songs I am still unfailingly proud of now. Therefore, you have 6 From The Vault tracks! I recorded this album when I was 32 (and still growing up, now) and the memories it brought back filled me with nostalgia and appreciation. For life, for you, for the fact that I get to reclaim my work. Thank you a million times, for the memories that break our fall.”
Phoebe Boswell’s immersive new work inhabits Orleans House Gallery and its surrounding woodlands in an intergenerational call and response, where trees become repositories of inquiry, engaging the audience in an intergenerational call and response. Boswell provides a sanctuary where we can ask questions and listen to elders articulate life in a way we can understand.
Inspired by Hermann Hesse’s ‘Trees are Sanctuaries’, the artist collected questions from the public. These questions were used in her interviews with a diverse group of respected elders worldwide. Interviewees included a feminist activist from Gorée, a former nun turned actor from Ireland, a Greek scientist passionate about plants, and the first Black woman to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale.
Talking about the exhibition Boswell stated “Making this work has been endlessly rewarding. Taking the time to sit with each participant, listening as they wind their way through the sometimes fluid sometimes knotty paths of their lives has been an immense honour. A revelation. I have learned a lot. Mostly about courage, and dignity, humour, love, and simply how to live in our own bodies as well as in relation to one another. Whenever I make work that invites participation, I am stunned by the generosity and trust inherent in the bond. It is this that informs the work – it becomes what it needs to be – and I am very grateful.”
The exhibition will open from the 7th of July until the 5th of November, 2023 at Orleans House Gallery, Orleans Rd, Twickenham, TW1 3BL.
Are you interested in a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to use SmartArt and diagrams to create compelling illustrations on PowerPoint slides?
The essential tool for communication in our different societies is a PowerPoint presentation. When designing engaging and informative slides, incorporating visual elements is key. Among the many features that PowerPoint offers, SmartArt graphics and diagrams are powerful tools that can bring your ideas to life.
You can incorporate Simple Slides visuals into your SmartArt PowerPoint creation. Simple Slides is compatible with PowerPoint SmartArt features that can assist you in using SmartArt graphics and diagrams. If you want to enhance your presentation and take it to the next level, consider exploring the expansive collection of powerpoint design templates that will help capture your audience’s attention.
If you’re interested to know the guide, this article will show you a step-by-step guide using smart art and diagrams for illustration on PowerPoint Slides. Below are the steps that will guide you using the SmartArt graphics or diagrams.
Step 1: Launch PowerPoint and select a slide layout
Enhance your diagram with visually appealing SmartArt graphics and layouts; you can utilize PowerPoint SmartArt. SmartArt in PowerPoint is a feature that allows you to create professional-looking diagrams, flowcharts, and other visual representations easily.
To begin your first SmartArt graphic or diagram, open PowerPoint, then create a new presentation or open an existing one. Choose a suitable slide layout that will accommodate your illustration. Keep in mind that certain layouts may work better for specific types of diagrams, so select one that aligns with your content.
Step 2: Insert SmartArt Graphic or Diagram
Next, to insert a SmartArt graphic or diagram, follow these steps:
a) “Insert” tab on the PowerPoint ribbon.
b) Click the “SmartArt” icon or “Diagram” option, and a SmartArt graphic dialog box will appear.
c) Click the “SmartArt style” or “Diagram layout” that best fits your illustration group purpose.
Step 3: Customize the SmartArt Graphic or Diagram
Once you have inserted the SmartArt or diagram onto your slide, it’s time to customize it to match your content and visual preferences. Select the SmartArt graphic, and you will notice the “Design” and “Format” tabs appearing on the ribbon.
a) Design: The “Design” tab provides options to modify the overall look and layout of your entire SmartArt graphic. You can find SmartArt layouts, colors, and styles until you find the right choice that you need for your content. You can choose various SmartArt styles to give your graphic a polished and professional appearance.
b) Format: The “Format” tab allows you to fine-tune the appearance of individual elements within your SmartArt graphic. Here, you can change colors, adjust shapes, apply effects, and add text. You have the flexibility to customize the entire SmartArt graphic or focus on specific elements within it.
Step 4: Add Text and Labels
An essential aspect of creating informative illustrations is providing clear labels and descriptions.
To add text to your SmartArt graphic and format the text by changing its font sizes, color, and alignment, you can follow these steps:
a) Click on the desired “shape” and start typing. PowerPoint will automatically adjust the size and position of the text boxes to fit the shape.
b) For formatting, the options available are in the “Home” tab.
Step 5: Create a graphic group
To further enhance your illustration, you can create a graphic group in PowerPoint SmartArt. A graphic group allows you to combine the text box, shape, and image into a single object, making it easier to manipulate and apply formatting options.
a) Select the “elements” you want to group by holding the “Shift key” and clicking on each elements.
b) Then, right-click on the selection, navigate to the “Group” option, and choose “Group” from the submenu.
Step 6: Animating the SmartArt Graphic or Diagram (optional)
To further enhance your presentation, add various animations to your SmartArt graphics or diagrams. Animations can help you reveal information step by step or emphasize specific elements.
To apply animation, follow these steps:
a) Select the “SmartArt graphic.”
b) Then, navigate to the “Animations” tab, and explore the various entrance, emphasis, and exit animations available.
Ensure they align with your intended visual effects.
Step 7: Save and Present
Once you have completed designing your slide with the SmartArt diagram, it’s important to save your PowerPoint presentation. Follow these steps:
a) Click on the “File” tab.
b) Choose “Save” or “Save As” to save your work.
c) Write a descriptive “name.”
d) Select the desired “location” in your files.
Now you are ready to present your PowerPoint presentation slide with a captivating and informative SmartArt graphic or diagram. Practice your presentation and make any necessary adjustments to ensure a smooth flow between slides.
Related Questions:
What is SmartArt Graphic or Diagram? SmartArt graphics is a valuable tool in Microsoft PowerPoint that can enhance your presentations by visually representing information and ideas. SmartArt graphics can communicate information using shapes, color variations, and font and sizes. The SmartArt graphic is easily customizable, and you can remove or add shapes to your presentation. It is also flexible on the animations and transitions and can create professional-looking visuals. SmartArt graphics or diagrams can make your audience understand and follow the key points presented by formatting data into visuals.
What are the SmartArt tools for presentation? SmartArt Graphics in PowerPoint offers several SmartArt tools and options to enhance presentations. Here are some of the available features: Layouts: SmartArt graphic or diagram provides a variety of predefined SmartArt layout options. These layouts determine the arrangement and organization of selected shapes within the graphic. Styles: SmartArt allows you to apply different visual styles to your graphic, which can change the colors, shapes, and overall appearance. PowerPoint provides a range of built-in styles that you can apply to your SmartArt to match your presentation’s design. Text Formatting: SmartArt Graphics enables you to add and format text within the shapes. Shape Editing: SmartArt shapes can be modified and customized to fit your specific requirements. Animation: SmartArt can be animated to add visual interest and engage your audience. Data Integration: SmartArt can also be linked to external data sources such as Excel spreadsheets or any databases. It enables you to update the content of your SmartArt automatically when the underlying data changes.
Conclusion:
With the power of SmartArt graphics or diagrams, you can enhance the illustrations in your PowerPoint slides significantly. By following the steps detailed in this blog post, you can create presentations that excel in layouts, styles, font choices, shapes, and animations. These creative and easy-to-understand guides will surely capture your audience’s attention effortlessly. With SmartArt graphics or diagrams, your presentation will stand out, leaving a lasting impression on your viewers.
PJ Harvey is back with her first album in seven years, 
Julie Byrne has returned with her first album since 2017’s Not Even Happiness. She began working on 
ANOHNI and the Johnsons have released their new LP, 
Minneapolis-based rock band 12 Rods have issued their first new album in 21 years. Out now via 
Rauw Alejandro has dropped Playa Saturno, a “spinoff” of the Puerto Rican star’s last LP Saturno. The record features guest spots from Junior H, Ivy Queen, Miguel Bosé, Jowell y Randy, and Ñego y Dálmat. “When I was touring, I couldn’t stop thinking of summer, the season that holds so many memories and adventures near the beach of Puerto Rico, where music has always been with me,” Alejandro wrote on Instagram. “Being away from home really is like living on Saturn and I felt so much nostalgia hahaha and with zero time I don’t know how I made this happen.” He added, “I decided to make this album for the fans of classic and modern reggaetón, especially for my people of PR. 10000% PERREO.”
Local Natives have put out their fifth studio album, 
Gus Dapperton’s third album, 
