Viagra Boys have released their latest single, ‘Punk Rock Loser’, alongside an accompanying video. It’s taken from the Swedish group’s upcoming record Cave World, following earlier cuts ‘Ain’t No Thief’ and ‘Troglodyte’. Check out the SNASK-directed clip below.
Cave World, the follow-up to 2020’s Welfare Jazz, is due for release on July 8 via YEAR0001.
snow ellet has released a new song called ‘Can’t Hear the Phone’. It’s lifted from their forthcoming EP Glory Days – the follow-up to last year’s suburban indie rock star, one of our favorite EPs of the 2021 – which was led by the recent single ’19’. Check out both tracks below.
Glory Days is set to arrive on June 10 via Wax Bodega.
Sweet Pill is the Philadelphia quintet of vocalist Zayna Youssef, guitarist Jayce Williams, guitarist Sean McCall, bassist Ryan Cullen, and drummer Chris Kearney. The band originally formed at Rowan University in 2018 before immersing themselves in the Philly music scene, engaging with the local community through projects such as 4333 Collective, a show-promoting venture founded by Williams. Having played their very first show opening for Slaughter Beach, Dog, the group released a series of singles in 2019, the same year they got to perform at SXSW. Their debut LP, the aptly titled Where the Heart Is, has been in the works for a while, but finally arrived last week on Topshelf Records. It’s a riveting collection that skirts the line between emo, 2000s pop punk, and hardcore, invigorated as much by the infectiousness of classic Paramore as it is by the complexity of mathy guitar lines and highly technical flourishes. This stylistic blend not only makes the music more hard-hitting but also emotionally resonant: the record’s many dynamic shifts have a powerful way of mirroring the subject matter of the lyrics, which repeatedly confront cycles of hopelessness and anxiety. Sweet Pill’s response, though, is one of blistering defiance.
We caught up with Sweet Pill for this edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about the band’s origins, their collaborative process, their debut album, and more.
You started Sweet Pill at Rowan University in 2018 before coming to Philadelphia. How do you look back on the time when you first got together? What memories does it bring to mind?
Zayna Youssef: I remember it being very exciting because when it already seemed like people were into it. I remember our first show was to a huge crowd, we were playing with Slaughter Beach, Dog. But there was already hype, because Jayce and the other guitarist, Ian, at the time had friends in the music department at school, and so everyone was already into it. So I just remember it being a lot of fun. And then it slowly started becoming more and more like, “Oh man, people care. We should probably be a little more serious.”
Jayce Williams: Looking back on it, it was around this time where I was finally able to feel like I could get a band together. Ian and I were in the same department at Rowan, and he was a little bit older than me. And for his senior project, he was like, “I want to record an album.” So I was like, “Fuck it, let’s just write a record and record that. We’ll start a band.” So essentially, this band started off as a school project. But the stuff that we worked on then compared to what we’re working on now is like – calling it a school project, I don’t want to diminish it, because I knew from the start that I wanted to start a band and do it for real. And this was me testing it out to see if these were the people I wanted to do it with. Zayna popped in, and from the moment Zayna was involved, I was like, “Okay, this is right.” Zayna and I are the only two founding members in the band. But regardless of founding members, that means nothing to us now. Sean was with us from the start, even though he wasn’t in the band.
ZY: He knew every word.
JW: He was standing in the front singing our songs, we played with all his other bands. When we were starting off as the band, Sean was like the face of the South Jersey music scene – Glassboro is in South Jersey. I looked up to Sean, and to see that he was coming to our shows, that was like a milestone. And then one day, I was like, “I want to be in Sweet Pill.”
ZY: I know, that was crazy. I used to listen to Sean’s band [twentythreenineteen] when I was in high school. And I was like, ”Oh my god, this guy’s so cute.”
Sean McCall: I remember I was with my first band when I saw her last band with another former member of ours, before Sweet Pill was even a thing. Zayna was playing drums and singing, and I was like, “This so cool.” It was at our friend’s house and it was also kind of like a half music show half drag show.
ZY: That was my house! I put on that show.
SM: That was your house, I forgot! And then I harassed Sweet Pill until they finally let me join the band. Thank God.
ZY: College was a crazy time.
SM: That is true.
JW: But now that we’re all out of college – all of us work in music in some capacity – we’re realizing how important this band is, and we all make the time for it. And that’s how we’re able to go on this tour and fund the money to go on this tour and also be professional enough to get Topshelf’s attention. Looking back on the college times is a nice reminder that we’ve grown a lot. Because it was really cool back then, but we’re doing it for real now.
SM: I feel like I learned much more doing what we’re doing now and actually being involved in the scene, but somehow Rowan University’s music program brought us together in a weird way.
ZY: It’s like the least creative school you could ever go to, and all these music kids were there…
SM: Playing classical music, and we were like, “We want to play, you know, some punk shows. Some rock n’ roll.” [laughs]
ZY: Rowan’s like an education school. People who want to be teachers go there.
JW: It’s also a really big party school. So instead of, like, going to frat parties, we would just do basement shows. That was the alternative to going to a frat party. And people paid attention to that. There was no one else doing it, so we got a lot of attention.
Obviously, what then attracted you to Philly was the fact that it’s home to so many artists that you’re inspired by. But what was the most rewarding part of actually becoming a part of that scene?
ZY: I grew up in Cherry Hill, which is like a 10 to 15-minute ride to the bridge of Philly. I grew up going to shows in Philly. The first time I saw a show in Philly, I think it was in seventh grade. And the first time I went to a show at the First Unitarian Church, I was like 15 or 16. So I was always seeing cool stuff, and my brother would take me because he was older. And then my friends started getting into the music, so I always was hopping the PATCO train, which is the train from Jersey to Philly, and we would see shows. So I always knew I wanted to move to Philly, regardless of Sweet Pill, regardless of whether I was in a band or not. I knew I always wanted to be here. And I ended up here with my band, and it’s even better because every day is something music-related. I feel like I could hop my bike and go anywhere and see someone doing something music-related.
SM: There’s always something going on.
JW: I kind of have the opposite of that. Where I grew up in New Jersey, I was two hours away from New York City and also two hours away from Philly, and there was no music scene where I was at. I would have to drive with my friends an hour and a half just to go see some bands play in a basement at the college town that was closest to us. And those few times that I did that were truly inspiring for me, because wherever I ended up at college – I didn’t know where I was gonna end up – I wanted to do that. And when I ended up at Rowan, I was really given a huge opportunity because there was no one doing it, but everyone would go out on a Friday or Saturday night. So when we would start doing these basement shows – I run a music collective called 4333, that’s how I started booking shows around Rowan University. And so, we provided that alternative, and Sweet Pill was a huge part of that beginning. My goal with that was, when I graduated from college – Rowan is only 25 minutes outside of Philly – I just wanted to bring what we had at Rowan into the city, which has such a huge music scene that is constantly growing.
From 20-year-old’s standpoint, it was very closed off. You needed to know the right people in order to be a part of the music scene in Philly. There’s a lot of gatekeepers and not a lot of opportunity for new people to step in, especially if you’re some young kid. And when COVID hit, that was right when I moved into Philly, and what I was told and what I thought was, “when COVID ends,” if I come out swinging with the band and with booking shows at the same time that everyone else does, we’ll be at the same playing field as everyone else. And that’s exactly what happened. Sweet Pill played a show in May 2021, right before it was honestly okay to be around people. It was outdoors at the FDR skate park, and we played in front of like 1000 people.
SM: That was our first show as a group.
JW: Yeah, that was our first time playing with Sean and Ryan. And that was like a new beginning. Because everything before then was just, like we talked about before, we were college band. And don’t get me wrong, I’m really proud of those moments, but when we played this first show last year, we were a real band. And people noticed that. Instead of being welcomed into the Philly scene, I’d say that we created more of our own. And now that we have our place here, people kind of give us the time of day or treat us with the respect that other, more seasoned Philly people in the scene get.
That show is the one that’s on YouTube, right?
SM: Yeah, on Cemetary Tapes.
JW: Our friend Connor Rothstein recorded it.
I was watching that the other day, it’s really cool. Where the Heart Is starts with this feeling of wanting to go home, which also puts the album title into context. Is the idea of home something you’ve been thinking about, either individually or collectively?
ZY: For me, when I’m using the word home, it’s figuring out what is home. What makes you feel good? Where’s your comfort, something or someplace that you can go to that is yours and you have control of? That’s what home means to me. So when I’m referencing home, I’m quite literally trying to find out who I am and what is home. In ‘Where the Heart Is’, the first song, my home – I am literally talking about going home from work, the stressful part of work and then coming home where you can relax. But then, home can also be this place where it’s like a prison because people don’t leave home and people don’t branch out. So it’s like, I want to go home but I’m also bored of home. Home is such a strong thing for this whole album, and that’s why it’s where the heart is, because it’s where your heart lies, where your home is at. And you create your home.
JW: To give my own two cents on that, because I didn’t bring in the word home into the song or the album, but I think of Sweet Pill as my home. Because especially over quarantine in the transitional periods from being a college student to being an actual adult, my home got moved around so much – I physically moved like seven times in the past three or four years. I didn’t really have any sense of stability with my actual home, but something that was constant throughout all of – me moving physically or going through relationships or whatever it may have been – the band was always there. And I have such a strong connection to the songs because of that. So, like, these songs and playing in this band, that is my home. Not to be all sappy… [laughs]
No, that’s what we’re here for. But yeah, home is such a strong theme on the album, and the title track – I don’t know when it came in the timeline of the record, but it works great as the opener.
ZY: It was early. It was one of the first couple of songs written for this album.
JW: We wanted to write a fun song when we started this. We wanted people to have fun. And I remember right after that, or even before that, we were like, “We want to write an angry song.” And that is what ‘Blood’ is, which comes right after that.
How much does your process vary from song to song? Has it stayed more or less the same over the years?
JW: It’s been diff –
ZY: It’s pretty similar. [laughs] Were we about to say something different?
JW: What did you say?
ZY: I was gonna say it’s been pretty similar. I mean, very rarely does someone write a full song and show somebody. We all just pretty much jam. That’s all it is.
JW: Yeah, it is similar in that sense. But I think that because we’ve written with different people, and also, every song is like: one idea is brought to the table and then everyone puts their five cents into it. I think this is an opportunity for Sean to talk because half of the songs were fully written when Sean joined the band, and then he kind of put his own flair on it, and then also had the opportunity to write his own song. That is where I felt like it was a different writing process. It was ‘Diamond Eyes’, which was one of our singles and one of the strongest songs on the record.
SM: I feel like I agree with you both individually. I’m sure it hasn’t changed too drastically, where it’s like, we bring an idea to the table and then as a whole we just work out the bumps and add our own little flair to it. And that’s pretty much what I did for ‘Diamond Eyes’. I just had this song idea, no vocals, nothing on it, just a song in a very bare-bones kind of way. And then it was cool to be on the opposite end of what I’m used to doing on this album, which is like, here’s seven or so demos that Sweet Pill was already working on that I’ve totally heard at shows before. It was cool to be able to take an idea that was already half collectively written and then be able to add to it with everybody in the band. I can’t wait to do more for the next, you know, whatever we do, because we’re kind of more so starting from scratch and bringing ideas to the table from square one.
When did the flute enter the picture on that song?
ZY: Well, I am a huge Great Time fan, and Great Time is the band that the flutist [Jill Ryan] sings in. They’re also a Philadelphia band, and I just love them so much. I was like, I need to find a way to have our worlds collide. So I reached out to the singer who is a very talented musician in many ways, plays the saxophone, plays the flute. And I sent her the track and I said, “Just do something.” And she sent over a couple tracks and we pieced together the parts that we liked, and thus, the ending was created. She was super stoked on it, so it was a cool little collaboration.
There are a few surprises like that throughout the record – one of my favourites is ‘Dog Song’, and I thought it was interesting how it evokes this unending cycle of anxiety, and then the pace suddenly slows down. How do you arrive at these kinds of transitions musically?
ZY: If I had a dollar for every time Jayce was like, “What if the song just suddenly changes?” or “What if it turns into another song?” [laughs] And he does that for every song, but the tasteful parts stick. All his suggestions are usually good and right, so go ahead, Jayce, keep going!
JW: When we’re writing as a band, an idea that we were floating around that is present in the album is that we wanted songs to be written in succession where they would almost bleed together. And I think the original idea was to have every song do that, which was a little ambitious and I don’t think makes sense. But with ‘Dog Song’, we didn’t have anything else on the record that sounds like that. We wanted something a little more mellow, because it’s really abrasive and in-your-face. The end of that song, for me it was like, we need something very different for the end of this because this we’ve already been abrasive. But in terms of the end of the record, which is ‘Feet’, ‘Red String’, and ‘Cut’, those three songs blend into each other. And that was very purposeful. When we perform that, it will be those three things back to back to back. And it kind of feels like one big song, but the feel changes so much between that seven minutes of music.
SM: As a former fan of Sweet Pill, I think a lot of it has to do with what Zayna was talking about earlier, where you have this idea of home, this idea of anxiety, and then this relief or relaxation. I feel like those themes change naturally throughout the record, regardless of what the order would be. So I feel like it was pretty simple in terms of what should flow into the song or what should flow into the next song. Obviously, ‘Dog Song’ is one kind of aggression and then relaxation by the end, but I feel like the songs, in the order that they are on the album, it was pretty simple to figure out because those themes were all there. It almost made sense where they should go without even thinking about it in the first place. At least that’s my perspective when I heard the songs initially.
ZY: We talked about us being like a college band, and the whole album is about – me, I was in a codependent relationship that I was leaving, I was also leaving college. I was also entering work-life and like, What is my future? So, the whole album is basically about the transition from college, and you’re talking about musical transitions, too – even though we might not be thinking that hard about that stuff, we were all going through something similar in our lives, so it translates to what we’re doing.
What excites you most about the future – of Sweet Pill, or just in general?
Ryan Cullen [who had just joined the interview]: Short-term future, we have this tour coming up in a couple of weeks. I’m super excited.
SM: Yeah, getting to experience the Sweet bus is going to be awesome.
JW: We’ve been working on this record for so long that now that it’s kind of the release process is almost over, I’m really excited to see what opportunities come from that. I think that we’re gonna get a booking agent, and I think we’re going to start being the support for some bigger tours. And I think that when we’re given opportunities like that, we’re going to show them that they made the right choice. We’ve done shows where we’ve played in front of our crowd and people sing along and they enjoy themselves and they move around, but there have been shows where we’ve played in front of people that, like, no one knows us, and we’ll have a similar reaction. We’ve been able to win over a crowd, is what I’m trying to get at. And I think that if we are given that opportunity on a daily basis on a tour, that’s just how you expedite your success as a band. And I think we’re ready for that.
SM: Yeah. I really love DIY touring, I think it’s really fun, I think it’s really cool. And Jayce, I think you’ve been absolutely killing it with booking this tour and making the routing all work and everything. But I’m hoping that, eventually we’ll be starting out as the opener for a bigger band, and that’ll bring us places until we can do our own headlining tour again, where it’s in actual venues. And I think that’s not too far off.
ZY: Nope.
JW: I love DIY, but I don’t want to do it anymore. [all laugh]
SM: Yeah, exactly.
RC: I’m excited to do this again, like write another record. Once we’re finished with the release process and playing these songs through until we’re sick of them. That’s going to be an experience, because we’re all going to be in such a different place. I’m excited to see what that’s going to look like or sound like.
ZY: I don’t really have an answer. [laughs]
Do you have any thoughts? It doesn’t have to be a direct answer.
ZY: When you first asked the question, I thought about things beyond the band. I was like, am I gonna have kids? What’s going to happen? [Ryan laughs] I was thinking of, like, the future. And I guess what I’m excited about is not knowing what’s going to happen. I have an idea, but like, it’s never what you think it is. So, I’m just here, figuring it out. And I guess that’s exciting in its own way.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Sweet Pill’s Where the Heart Is is out now via Topshelf Records.
Celebrities are just like any other regular Joe, they too have their entertainment preferences, favorite joints, and distinct lifestyles and many celebrities are regular visitors to casinos. You may be able to see them while they’re gambling or eating at the casino buffet but the likelihood of doing so depends on the casino and the celebrity in question. Some casinos may have more celebrity guests than others, and some celebrities may be more likely to make an appearance at a casino than others.
That said, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of meeting a celebrity at a casino. First, try visiting casinos that are known for attracting high-profile guests. Second, keep an eye out for events or promotions that may coincide with your visit – celebrities often make appearances at these types of events. Here is a list of some of celebrities’ favorite casinos and if you are lucky enough to spot a celebrity, enjoy the moment and respect their privacy.
Las Vegas is the undisputed gambling king. The Hard Rock Casino, located in the heart of the city that never sleeps, has won the hearts of many famous people. The casino hosts some of the best blackjack and poker tournaments, attracting celebrities and the wealthy.
There’s a good chance you’ll see a celebrity at a poker or blackjack table betting big money. Ben Affleck, on the other hand, is unlikely to be among them. The famous actor was recently barred from the casino after the casino staff discovered his exceptional blackjack skills. Despite the ban, the blackjack pro kept a smile on his face because he had already won $2 million in two trips to Las Vegas.
Crown Casino Australia also has several casinos that cater to the tastes and preferences of various celebrities who love to gamble. Crown Casino in Melbourne is Australia’s largest casino facility and ranks amongst the gambling establishments in the world. Since its inception, Crown Casino has consistently provided an exceptional gambling experience for Australians and international tourists alike.
Celine Dion, Tom Cruise, Tiger Woods, Keanu Reeves, Katy Perry, and cricketer Shane Warne have all been spotted at the facility in the past. The facility’s prominence makes it a must-see for affluent people across the world. However, it has recently come under government scrutiny and has been accused of facilitating money laundering. The charges are expected to be dropped soon enough.
The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino is another popular destination for celebrities looking to experience the Las Vegas lifestyle firsthand. It has a solid reputation for providing an excellent casino experience through a wide range of card games and slot machines. It is also a friendly environment for celebrities, where they can unwind without incessant disruptions and interruptions. Customers can also bet on any sport, including football and boxing. Its height also draws the attention of many tourists looking for out-of-the-ordinary experiences. Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Ben Affleck have all been spotted at the casino.
Wynn, a casino in Los Angeles, frequently hosts some of the world’s most famous musicians and actors. Because of its proximity to Beverly Hills, the casino is a popular hangout for casino enthusiasts who also happen to be celebrities. Some of the most expensive celebrity homes can be found in Beverly Hills.
Wynn, like Hard Rock Casino, is strict about its customers’ discipline. Lil Wayne recently joined the list of celebrities banned from the casino for bad behavior after allegedly becoming uncontrollably inebriated. Other celebrities, besides Wayne, are likely to be spotted enjoying the wide range of games available at the well-known gambling establishment.
Caesars Palace is also well-known for entertaining celebrities. The casino has a large selection of games, including slots and roulette. Its reputation, however, extends beyond the games. The casino rents out suites and allows patrons to host performances, increasing the likelihood of well-known people visiting the gambling establishment.
Jennifer Lopez, Mark Anthony, and Khloe Kardashian have all been spotted here in the past. Before becoming president, Barack Obama visited the casino to take advantage of its first-rate services. If you want to meet and play with famous and influential people, a trip to Caesars Palace should be on your bucket list.
The Star Casino, located in Sydney, Australia, is another globally renowned casino. The casino is in the heart of Pyrmont, overlooking Darling Harbor. It is appealing due to its prime location, lavish amenities, and massive size. Visitors can partake in the unrestrained life of the facility’s discos and bars, as well as shop in high-end stores.
Brendan Fevola, Ben Cousins, Nicole Kidman, and Karl Stefanovic are just a few of the celebrities you might run into at Star Casino. Treasury Casino & Hotel and Crown Casino in Perth are two other well-known casinos in Australia.
These casinos provide the luxurious experience and exclusivity that celebrities yearn for. They are fantastic places to spend quality time and money. On a lucky day, you might run into and interact with your idol in one of them.
Louisville-via-Houston rapper Vory has teamed up with Kanye West for the new song ‘Daylight’, which will appear on his upcoming debut album Lost Souls. 88-Keys, Ojivolta, and Ratatat’s Evan Mast produced the track, which was mixed by Mike Dean. Check it out below.
Lost Souls is set to drop this Friday, June 3 via Dream Chasers/Universal Music Group. Vory previously contributed to Kanye West’s Donda and Donda 2. Last week saw the wide release of Ye’s posthumous collaboration with XXXTentacion, ‘True Love’, which had only been available on the Stem Player.
Cat Power has shared a rendition of The Rolling Stones’ ‘You Got the Silver’, which appears on their 1969 album Let It Bleed. The track follows the January 2021 release of Chan Marshall’s Covers LP. Check it out below, along with the singer-songwriter’s upcoming tour dates.
Cat Power 2022 Tour Dates:
May 31 – La Cooperative de Mai in Clermont-Ferrand, France
Jun 1 – L’Atelier in Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Jun 2 – Heartland Festival 2022 in Kværndrup, Denmark
Jun 3 – Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany
Jun 6 – Le Rocher de Palmer in Cenon, France
Jun 7 – Stereolux in Nantes, France
Jun 8 – Le Mem – Rennes in Rennes, France
Jun 10 – Rosendal Garden 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden
Jun 12 – Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht, Netherlands
Jun 13 – Kampnagel in Hamburg, Germany
Jun 15 – La Sirene in La Rochelle, France
Jun 16 – Le 106 in Rouen, France
Jun 18 – Sofienbergparken in Oslo, Norway
Jun 20 – Auditorium Parco Della Musica in Roma, Italy
Jun 21 – Sexto ‘Nplugged 2022 in Sesto Al Reghena, Italy
Jun 22 – Kaufleuten in Zürich, Switzerland
Jun 24 – Maimarktgelände Parkplatz in Mannheim, Germany
Jun 28 – Backstage Werk in München, Germany
Jun 30 – Masía d’en Cabanyes in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
Jul 4 – Real Jardín Botánico Alfonso XIII in Madrid, Spain
Jul 6 – Atabal in Biarritz, France
Jul 8 – BST, Hyde Park in London, UK
Jul 16 – The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, CA
Jul 18 – Ace of Spades in Sacramento, CA
Jul 20 – The Showbox in Seattle, WA
Jul 21 – Vogue Theater in Vancouver, BC
Jul 22 – Roseland Theater in Portland, OR
Jul 25 – Ogden Theatre in Denver, CO
Jul 27 – Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, OK
Jul 28 – Granada Theatre in Dallas, TX
Jul 29 – Emo’s in Austin, TX
Jul 30 – House of Blues in Houston, TX
Aug 1 – Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville, TN
Aug 2 – Old Forester’s Paristown Hall in Louisville, KY
August 3 – Thalia Hall in Chicago, IL
Sep 9 – Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara, CA
Sep 10 – Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, CA
Sep 12 – Palace Theatre in San Francisco, CA
Sep 13 – Gundlach Bundschu Winery in Sonoma, CA
Sep 14 – Center for the Arts in Grass Valley, CA
Sep 15 – Rifflandia 2022 in Victoria, CA
Will Butler has shared two new songs: ‘A Stranger’s House’ and ‘Nearer to Thee’. Out now via Merge Records, they mark his first new music since stepping away from Arcade Fire ahead of the release of their latest album, WE. ‘A Stranger’s House’ also comes with an accompanying video directed by and starring Butler; check it out and listen to ‘Nearer to Thee’ below.
Butler’s most recent album was 2020’s Generations. Along with the new tracks, the musician has announced a string of US dates featuring the Will Butler band of Sara Dobbs, Miles Francis, Jenny Shore, and Julie Shore. Find his itinerary below, too.
Will Butler 2022 Tour Dates:
Aug 11 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
Aug 12 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount
Aug 13 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
Aug 14 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe
Aug 19 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Made
Aug 20 – Washington, DC – DC9
Aug 21 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
Beth Orton has announced a new album titled Weather Alive. Marking the British artist’s first new LP in six years, the follow-up to Kidsticks will be released on September 23 via Partisan. To coincide with the announcement, Orton has shared the album’s title track, alongside a video directed by Eliot Lee Hazel. Check it out below.
Produced in its entirety by Orton, Weather Alive features collaborations with Alabaster dePlume, Sons of Kemmet/The Smile drummer Tom Skinner, multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, and The Invisible’s bassist Tom Herbert. Orton wrote the record on an old piano she saved from Camden Market and produced it from her London home. “This old piano really spoke to me and held an emotional resonance I could explore in a way I wasn’t able to on guitar – a depth, or a voice, I’d never worked to before,” Orton explained in a press release. “For me, the mood and atmosphere were another instrument. They were always consistent.”
“Through the writing of these songs and the making of this music, I found my way back to the world around me, a way to reach nature and the people I love and care about,” she added. “This record is a sensory exploration that allowed for a connection to a consciousness that I was searching for. Through the resonance of sound and a beaten up old piano I bought in Camden Market while living in a city I had no intention of staying in, I found acceptance and a way of healing.”
Weather Alive Cover Artwork:
Weather Alive Tracklist:
1. Weather Alive
2. Friday Night
3. Fractals
4. Haunted Satellite
5. Forever Young
6. Lonely
7. Arms Around a Memory
8. Unwritten
Gently Tender have announced their debut LP, Take Hold Of Your Promise. The album comes out August 26 via So Young Records – marking the label’s first full-length release – and was produced by Matthew E. White. They’re previewing it today with the single ‘Love All The Population’, which comes with an accompanying video shot by Oscar Carrier-Sippy in the Valley of Stones at Averbury. Check it out below, along with the album’s cover art and tracklist.
“This song was written in the first lockdown – like lots of people I had spent many hours reflecting on the togetherness of our existence pre-pandemic,” vocalist Sam Fryer said of ‘Love All The Population’ in a press release. “I was thinking a lot about the now-empty spaces – empty music venues particularly – not only closing because of the pandemic! So this song was a bit of a lament to those.”
Take Hold Of Your Promise! Tracklist:
Take Hold Of Your Promise! Tracklist:
1. Home Anymore
2. Dead Is Dead
3. Love All The Population
4. Ain’t No River Wide Enough
5. Sunlight In Motion
6. True Colours (Sometime I’ll Get Through)
7. Ain’t No Valley Low Enough
8. Heaven Ho!
9. God Didn’t Leave The Factory
10. Right Time
11. Pointless Noise
12. This Is My Night Of Compassion
Nottingham six-piece Midnight Rodeo have unveiled their second single, ‘Shootout Sunday’. Out now via FatCat Records, the track follows April’s ‘Now You’re Gone’. Give it a listen below.
“‘Shootout Sunday’ is about the journey and anticipation around goals in life, and the inevitable feeling of dissatisfaction when you reach your destination,” the band explained in a statement. “It’s a westernised take on the disillusionment of arrival fallacy; a Bonnie & Clyde-esque tale of two lovers mourning the journey’s end.”
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