You can’t say you didn’t see it coming. The title of Danny Elfman’s first non-soundtrack solo project in 37 years, like much of the album itself, can either be seen as cloyingly on-the-nose or perfectly fitting: Big Mess. The striking cover artwork, which was created by Sarah Sitkin and transforms 3D scans of the composer into a disturbing digital sculpture, also prepares you for the overarching mood of the album: thoroughly creepy and bizarre, Elfman’s many sides colliding into one inscrutable package. Even as his appearance is distorted, he still remains at the center of it all: “I knew from the start that this wasn’t going to be a neat, easy-to-categorise record,” he said in a statement. “It was always destined to be this crazy cacophony because that’s who I am. The ‘Big Mess’ is me.”
Of course, Elfman is far from the first musician to capitalize on that messiness – much of his own celebrated work with director Tim Burton is built on subverting our perception of traditionally unattractive qualities and turning them into a source of compassion. On his latest effort, too, the music takes on an obviously cathartic role: Created almost entirely during lockdown in 2020, the album is the result of a spontaneous experiment that inexplicably took the form of a 2-sided project boasting 18 tracks – Elfman has compared the process to opening Pandora’s Box. The lack of a creative filter is partly what’s appealing about it, leading to a few scattered moments of exhilarating brilliance, but it’s also what makes Big Mess by turns insufferable, underwhelming, and exhausting. The keyword here isn’t just mess, but big mess.
The album’s most memorable songs are those that were intriguing as singles. One can hardly imagine a stronger return for Elfman as a solo artist than lead single ‘Happy’, which echoes the darker edges of the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack while infusing its theatricality with more of the rock instrumentation that bolsters much of the new record. A more interesting point of reference, though, isn’t rock music, but what Elfman calls “anti-pop” – it’s no surprise that highlight ‘Kick Me’ got the remix treatment by Death Grips’ Zach Hill. But where the best experimental pop feels liberating, the atmosphere on the album’s most hyperactive moments is more often oppressive, while the more conventional tracks, like the meditative, string-led ‘In Time’, offer little in the way of variation.
On a compositional level, Big Mess is technically flawless and mostly interesting, even if it’s best consumed in small doses. But what’s most likely to test your patience are the lyrics, which are topical in the most exasperating way possible: the worst offender might be ‘Love in the Time of Covid’, which opens with the lines “Living a life in a nutshell/ Stay inside and you’ll do well,” before devolving into, “Oh, she likes me/ Her videos excite me/ Under the virtual moonlight/ We got a date at midnight.” It’s like it exists in a parallel universe where Disney acquired the rights to Bo Burnham’s Inside, turning it into a Burton-esque (emphasis on esque) nightmare that’s naturally way less introspective and self-conscious than the original (that special is only 15 minutes longer than the entire album, by the way). It might not be supposed to invoke empathy, but even as satire, it’s a tough sell.
And that’s before we even get to the record’s political commentary, which is where it undoubtedly falters most. As a critique of the Trump era, ‘Serious Ground’ feels unoriginal and redundant in its vagueness; follow-up track ‘Choose Your Side’ sets an actual soundbite of Trump saying “It’s a great thing that’s happening to our country” against an industrial groove to evoke an ominous atmosphere of national division, but it falls short of suggesting much else. Then Side A concludes abruptly with the mournful ‘We Belong’, before ‘Happy’ comes to once again upset the flow of the album; in this context, the track is more baffling than satisfying.
Yet it’s hard to imagine longtime fans being disappointed by what Big Mess has to offer, which is everything one might expect from Danny Elfman and more – perhaps too much more. That directionless maximalism might be seen as a minor gripe for an album whose biggest strength is that it isn’t afraid to go completely off-the-rails. But really, after repeated listens, you start to question how much of it is done with an audience in mind, and how much of it is just for Elfman himself. “I take a weird pleasure to play things for people that they’re not expecting, so I always led the presentation with ‘Sorry’ because I just wanted to see their faces,” he said of trying to market the album to different companies. “It was almost like performance art. I’d look at their expressions, usually horrified, and take great pleasure at that.” That mischievous spirit is all but lost on Big Mess, but somewhere along the way, the thrill of it starts to feel curiously one-sided.
Gaming used to be seen as a pastime or a way to unwind at leisure, but it is now seen as somewhat a part of life instead of something silly. Certainly, cellphones and social media habits have made it normal to check devices often or to use them for brief periods, and casual gaming has progressed similarly with little need for a big investment of your time or money.
Engagement
Casual gaming generally consists of scenarios where you perform repeated and frequently addicting game tasks with simple gameplay mechanics that improve with the person’s skills at each subsequent level. Think Temple Run or Angry Birds, but on a smaller scale. These titles have fascinating and engaging elements that draw gamers in while still being simple to enter and exit, and perusing sites like Google Play is the best way to find a good fit for anyone looking to join in on the fun.
Smartphones Pave the Way
Casual games are a perfect fit for the mobile devices we carry with us every day. Even other forms of media, such as casino gaming, recognize the significance of having a mobile version, as allslotscanada.com illustrates by showcasing the variety of casino gaming possibilities accessible on your mobile in response to our desire to keep occupied on the move. Because the smartphone’s concept is evolving, we can now depend on it to accomplish practically anything. Mobiles have become embedded and valuable tool in our everyday lives, so utilizing them as a gaming platform is a natural evolution.
Accessibility
One of the chief factors for the influx of casual gaming titles is that they require little time to produce, are much less expensive, and are far more likely to be embraced by a larger audience. Because console and PC titles require a bigger financial investment from the player, they are held to higher standards, so a free casual game can get away with a lot more and end up in many more hands. Casual gaming on devices like mobile phones, on the other hand, provides more penetration and caters to a larger spectrum of players, even people who may not regard themselves to be gamers.
No Stereotypes in Gaming Anymore
The stigma of being a gamer that clung to “nerds” a few years ago has dissolved, with the world learning how fun, entertaining, and educational gaming can be. A decade ago, if a person admitted that they spent most of their free time staring at screens and playing video games, they would have been ostracized. Today, there are more moms and dads, grandmothers and grandfathers casually gaming than ever before, with casual gamers making up the vast bulk of gamers in today’s industry.
Hopefully, a few of these facts help to explain how prevalent casual gaming has grown and why it’s such a popular pastime. Casual games will be played by an increasingly bigger portion of the people in the world as mobile gaming keeps pulling in greater profits. Nevertheless, if you enjoy playing casual games, take pride in the fact that you account for the majority of players nowadays.
Vince Staples has returned with his first solo single since 2019. It’s called ‘Law of Averages’ and it’s the lead offering from the rapper’s upcoming self-titled album, which was produced by Kenny Beats and arrives July 9 via Blacksmith Recordings/Motown Records. Check it out below, alongside an accompanying video directed by Kid. Studio.
In a press release, Staples said the new 10-track LP “really gives much more information about me that wasn’t out there before. That’s why I went with that title. I feel like I’ve been trying to tell the same story. As you go on in life, your point of view changes. This is another take on myself that I might not have had before.”
He added: “I’m a mind more than I am an entertainer to a lot of people. I appreciate that my fanbase is willing to go on this ride with me. I’m ready to diversify what we’re doing and see how we affect the world.”
Staples recently featured on Emotional Oranges’ new track ‘Back & Forth’, from the R&B group’s eight-song project The Juicebox. His last solo single was 2019’s ‘Hell Bound (Ad 01)’, while his most recent full-length project was 2018’s FM!.
Kings of Convenience, the Norwegian folk duo of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, are back with their first new album in 12 years. The follow-up to 2009’s Declaration of Dependence is called Peace or Love and was preceded by the singles ‘Rocky Trail’ and ‘Fever’. The album was recorded across five years in five different cities, including Gothenburg, Sweden, Santiago, Chile, and Berlin at Nils Frahm’s Funkhaus studio. According to a press release, Peace or Love “is the sound of two old friends exploring the latest phase of their lives together and finding new ways to capture that elusive magic” and features “11 songs about life and love with the alluring beauty, purity, and emotional clarity that you would expect from Kings of Convenience.”
H.E.R.‘s much-anticipated debut album, Back of My Mind, has arrived via MBK Entertainment/RCA Records. The Grammy- and Oscar-winning artist’s new LP features collaborations with Ty Dolla $ign, Cordae, Lil Baby, Yung Bleu, Kaytranada and Thundercat, DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller, YG, and Chris Brown. “People always ask me, ‘What’s the message? Where does this come from? Is it personal experience?’” the singer said in a trailer for the album. “And it’s always the thoughts that sit in the back of my mind. It’s always things that I’ve been through, things that I go through, or what I feel, and all those thoughts that I’m afraid to say sometimes. Things that feel too honest or too vulnerable or too emotional or too aggressive … It’s all of those things that have been in the back of my mind for the past few years since my first project. It’s like a peek into my soul.”
Mykki Blanco has dropped a new mini-album titled Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep via Transgressive Records. The 9-track record includes contributions from Jamila Woods and Jay Cue, Blood Orange, Big Freedia, Hudson Mohawke, and Kari Faux, and was preceded by the singles ‘Free Ride’, ‘Love Me’, ‘Summer Fling’, and ‘It’s Not My Choice’. Blanco said in a statement: “For me, I am one of those artists who many would say has taken the longer road to get to where I am now, but it’s that journey which has been the reward because the journey really has been my life; the career has just been the outer shell to the deeper things that I’ve experienced, and I can only be here now because of this journey.”
Azure Ray, the duo of Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink, have returned with their first new album in 11 years. Remedy is out now via Taylor’s Flower Moon Records and follows 2010’s Drawing Down the Moon as well as two EPs, 2012’s As Above So Below and 2018’s Waves. Lord Huron’s Brandon Walters produced the album, which was recorded across three separate locations in southern California during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We chose ‘Remedy’ as the title track for our new record because we felt like it spoke to our collective experience of the last year (when this record was written and recorded),” the group said in a statement. “Many of us experienced grief, anger, isolation, and fear, and in those times when you can’t find solace in your usual places, you have to look for it on the inside. In the end, you are your own source of power, your own source of hope. ‘You’re a remedy, or there’s none.’”
Max Bloom, formerly of the London shoegaze outfit Yuck, has released a new solo album, Pedestrian, out now via Bloom’s own Ultimate Blends. It includes the previously released singles ‘Palindromes’, ‘All the Same’, and the title track. According to a press release, Bloom found inspiration for these songs while “wandering the city streets and parks against the surreal backdrop of the last twelve months” and “observing his surroundings and people’s behaviour in a new light.” He also designed individual artworks for each one of the album’s 10 songs. Yuck announced their breakup back in February, on the exact 10th anniversary of their self-titled debut album.
Brooklyn-based artist MattBachmann – who plays bass in Mega Bog and also records under the monikers Pachanga and Big Eater – has released a new solo album, Dream Logic, via Orindal Records and We Be Friends. The LP was mostly recorded by Bachmann alone in his Brooklyn apartment and features guest contributions from members of Mega Bog (Derek Baron), Big Thief (James Krivchenia), and more. “Up until this record, I had carefully contained my musical styles into neat collections, recording songwriting material under the moniker Big Eater, recording jazz-oriented instrumental music under the moniker Pachanga, and recording repetitive melodic drone music under my own name,” Bachmann said in a statement. “The guiding principle behind Dream Logic was to integrate these modalities of music-making, allowing whatever was going to come out to come out, and not worry if it made sense.”
Other albums out today:
Joan Armatrading, Consequences; Angélique Kidjo, Mother Nature; Andrew Hung, Devastations; Tigercub, As Blue As Indigo; Francis Lung, Miracle.
Following a series of teasers and the release of a new single, Tyler, the Creator has announced that his new album Call Me If You Get Lost will be released next Friday, June 25 via Columbia. Find the cover artwork below.
Tyler, the Creator dropped a new track called ‘LUMBERJACK’ earlier this week. Prior to that, he shared a teaser video titled ‘SIDE STREET’ that ended with the phrase “Call Me If You Get Lost,” which also appeared in a series of billboards that went up around the world in LA, London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Sydney, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Call Me If You Get Lost will be his first album since 2019’s Grammy-winning IGOR.
Hailing from Orlando, Florida, 22-year-old Gatlin Thornton, who goes by the stage nameGatlin, decided to pursue songwriting full-time after spending a few years at university in Nashville. Having sung in church choir for several years, Gatlin initially experimented with Christian contemporary and country music before comfortably settling into her current sound. The singer, who is also a member of the three-piece indie bandSadie Hawkins, debuted in 2020 with her EP Sugarcoated, in which she blends mellow, comforting alt-folk sounds with the addicting aura of pop. She spent much of lockdown working on her new four-track EP titled To Remind Me of Home, set for release on June 25. While the new project seems like a natural progression following her past releases, it embraces a richer, more mature sound and hints at Gatlin’s growth over the past few years. Filled with dreamy, upbeat heartbreak anthems, including ‘Whenever He Asks’ and ‘What If I Love You’, the EP also introduces Gatlin’s most vulnerable track to date, ‘Hospital’, an honest account of a hospital visit in the midst of a dark mental health period.
We caught up with Gatlin for this edition of ourArtist Spotlight interview series to talk about her understanding of home, her experience as a band member and solo artist, creating her new EP during a pandemic, and more.
I was hoping we could talk about your background a little. What are some of your favourite things about your birthplace, Orlando?
I had a crazy childhood, I was outdoors all the time. I actually grew up in a suburb of Orlando and my whole family lived 10 minutes from us, so I was really close with all my cousins and we’d drive dirt bikes and play in the mud… I got to have a really adventurous and imaginative spirit because I was always playing. That shaped a lot of who I am. As I got into middle and high school, I had a harder time living there, but my childhood was amazing.
Do you feel like Orlando is home for you, or has your idea of “home” changed over time?
Oh, it’s definitely changed. I guess my family feels like home, but man, those four years of high school I was jonesing to get out of Orlando. I definitely wished away a lot of those years. Nashville felt like home for a while – I was there for four years after leaving Orlando. Now I’m in LA, having moved here in January, so I feel like home is a little misplaced. I guess I don’t have an actual ‘city home’ right now, so I’m having to find home in people. And I feel like I’m at that age now where your friends become family.
You studied at Belmont University for a few years before quitting to pursue music full time. What did you study?
I studied Songwriting. It was amazing, but I think I’m just really bad at multitasking and being in classrooms. I was home-schooled during my high school years since I just couldn’t sit in a classroom anymore, so I did two years of uni and it was wonderful, I loved my professors, but at a certain point I couldn’t do it anymore.
I mean, stopping university to pursue music – that’s brave but quite scary. How did you feel when taking that step?
Well, they have a joke at Belmont: if you drop out, it means you’re doing something right. That’s kind of every musician’s goal there. It was a little scary not knowing whether it was going to work out, but I had people supporting that decision. My parents supported it, some professors of mine supported it, I also met my manager at Belmont and she was really encouraging. So, I think it just felt right for me.
You’re also part of an indie band called Sadie Hawkins.Did you join the band first and then pursue your solo career, or was it an adjacent project?
It happened alongside my solo project – I had all this extra time after dropping out. I’d been writing with the other band members, Tristan Bushman and Daniel Ethridge, since before I moved to Nashville, and they’re definitely like older brothers to me. They decided to start a band because they had written all these songs together and wanted a girl, so I was like, “Sure, I’ll join!” All three of us have individual artist projects, you know, we wanted to follow the boygenius model. We were able to make music whenever we had down time, for fun, without pressure. There’s no stress, no fighting, no conflicts, it’s perfect!
The experience of being in a band and working on your solo career must be quite different. Are there specific things you love about each project?
Gosh, yeah, it’s very different. As much as I love what I do, it does come with a level of self-doubt, anxiety, worrying about money, all that stuff. I think that’s normal for solo artists. I can deal with that cause there’s so many highs; it’s exactly what I want to be making and I’m very proud of it. But Sadie Hawkins allows me to be creative in a specific way, it’s another part of music that I love, the Americana rock stuff. It’s not what I am by myself, but it’s what the three of us are together. It’s a very good balance to have.
Let’s talk about the release of your upcoming EP. Its title, To Remind Me of Home, is a line from one of the tracks called ‘Hospital’. How did you settle on that specific line for the title?
I had an ongoing list in my notes and I really wanted it to be a lyric from one of the songs. I thought a lot about the period in which I wrote these songs. During the pandemic, I think everyone was craving a feeling of home, and I felt misplaced out here in LA without a real home. This idea of home was just a theme that was coming up a lot in my life. Also, I had just gotten this tattoo, it’s an orange, symbolic for Florida, and the lyric is talking about oranges reminding me of home. I think it all just fit.
I’d really like to delve into ‘Hospital’. I’d say this is the most sincere song you’ve released yet, the lyrics are so emotionally charged. There’s also this element of self-deprecation with the line “I find it kind of funny how much pain I’m in.” I think that’s something many people going through mental health struggles will relate to.
Yeah, I mean, so many people, including myself, have a big problem of using humour as a coping mechanism. In my therapy sessions I’ll joke about pain the whole time, and my therapist keeps telling me to stop, but it’s just so real. I feel like that’s a very natural reaction even though we really… Should stop. [laughs]
The chorus of ‘Hospital’ is such a comforting sound, with the vocals blurring the lines between melody and harmony. Your high voice is very soothing and provides comfort in an otherwise deeply sad song. Was the dreaminess of the chorus intentional?
Well, actually, my producer Nick and I went super back and forth on that. We kind of fought about it for a little bit. I wanted it stripped, I wanted to keep it incredibly sad, but he was like, this track needs this. It needs this break, it needs this to tie the other three songs together. As I listened to it more and more, I realised, “Okay, he’s right, he’s right…” So, it was intentional onhis part. I was a hater for a little bit but he turned me eventually.
And the bit at the end, is that the actual voice message you sent your grandma after this particular hospital visit?
It is! It’s real. Well, I wrote the song maybe two weeks after I was discharged and my grandma was the only person I called. A year and a few months later, I asked her to send me that voicemail cause that’s exactly what the song is about. Again, I’m using humour in the voicemail, even though I’m talking about my mental illness. I’d naturally never want anyone to hear this, therefore I added it in. I really wanted to put it all out there.
I really admire that. What are you hoping people who are struggling right now will receive from the song?
I hope the song makes them feel less alone and normalises talking about these experiences, opening up to those around you. People will, in turn, open up to you. I think if ‘Hospital’ provides people with comfort and the power to speak about their struggles, that’s it. Talking about it strips some of the power from whatever you’re going through.
It’s truly a touching song, I think it’ll definitely accomplish that. I also really love ‘Whenever He Asks’ – it has this nice energising drum beat, but at the core it’s quite a dark song about emotional attachment and heartbreak. Is it difficult to keep hearing or performing songs that are associated with tough times?
There are certain songs, like ‘I Think About You All the Time’ from my first EP, that still make me really emotional. ‘Whenever He Asks’, for some reason, I do feel very removed from, especially cause I originally wrote it as a fully acoustic guitar song in January 2020, but we revisited it and I changed so much of it in June of the same year. When I was doing that, it was coming from a less emotional place, I had gotten most of that out. I was a lot more detached from it. I don’t “feel” it as much anymore, and now I just think to myself, “Gosh, I can’t believe I let myself be treated like that and I really learned my lesson from that experience.” ‘I Think About You All the Time’, though… For some reason, that song is a very emotional one to listen to and play. Maybe that’s also because it’s been out a little longer and I’ve gotten to hear other people’s stories, what it means to them and the sadness in situations like that. And obviously, ‘Hospital’ is also a really hard one to listen to.
Is it cool to hear people attach their own stories to your songs?
Oh my gosh, it’s my favourite thing. It’s my favourite thing! Cause at that point, it’s not my song anymore. That’s such a hippie thing to say, but really, it’s everyone’s song. If people hear it and link their experiences to it, then the song did its job. I sometimes get to hear about it, and that’s the best part.
The creation of your first EP Sugarcoated and your new project To Remind Me of Home must’ve been quite different. Given the pandemic, I can’t imagine it was a very easy time – what was the process like?
Honestly, the creation of the new EP was a much better process, strangely enough. We started in November 2020 when things were opening up, so for a week we got to go to a studio with everyone masked up and tested. After that, it was just me and Nick who were working on it, I came out to LA and we’d do stuff over Zoom. It was really good. In the previous EP, there were a lot of different producers and we were going one track at a time and it was stressful cause there was always a deadline. This time, it was a lot easier to make it work, I felt more creative and less stressed.
Do you have a favourite single from To Remind Me of Home?
I’m gonna have to say ‘What If I Love You’ and ‘Hospital’. I can’t pick one, it’s like comparing apples and oranges. ‘What If I Love You’ was just so much fun to write, my co-writer Michelle Buzz has become one of my best friends and whenever I write with her it’s just so easy. Writing, recording and promoting that song and making that video… It was all so much fun. I have a lot of sweet memories attached to that process. As for ‘Hospital’, it’s the rawest thing I’ve ever created about one of the darkest times of my life, so it’s really meaningful. So, the front of the EP and the back of the EP.
You’ve filmed quite a lot of music videos over the past few years. Which one was the most fun to shoot?
Oh, ‘What If I Love You’. We were in Joshua Tree and I rented this old 80s Mercedes, put the top down, drove around, and thought: This is the life!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Diana Ross has announced Thank You, her first new solo album in 15 years. Set for release on September 10 via Decca, it’s also her first new album of original material since 1999’s Every Day Is a New Day. Listen to the newly unveiled title track and find the tracklist below.
Written during lockdown and recorded in Ross’ home studio, Thank You will feature collaborations with Jack Antonoff, Jimmy Napes, Tayla Parx, Spike Stent, and more. “This collection of songs is my gift to you with appreciation and love,” Ross said in a statement. “I am eternally grateful that I had the opportunity to record this glorious music at this time. I dedicate this songbook of love to all of you, the listeners. As you hear my voice you hear my heart.”
Thank You Tracklist:
1. Thank You
2. If the World Just Danced
3. All Is Well
4. In Your Heart
5. Just In Case
6. The Answers Always Love
7. Let’s Do It
8. I Still Believe
9. Count On Me
10. Tomorrow
11. Beautiful Love
12. Time To Call
13. Come Together
Elusive UK collective SAULT have announced a new record titled NINE. The project, which will follow last year’s UNTITLED (Black Is) and UNTITLED (Rise), will be available on streaming services for a total of 99 days and will also be pressed to vinyl. The group’s website currently reads “107 Days Left of NINE,” seemingly indicating that it will be released next Friday, June 25. Check out the announcement below.
In 2019, SAULT issued the albums 5 and 7. UNTITLED (Black Is) and UNTITLED (Rise) arrived on Juneteenth amid Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of George Floyd.
Fresh off the release of her new single ‘Solar Power’, Lorde has shared a new teaser video on her website. The silent clip, titled ‘Every Perfect Summer’s Gotta Take Its Flight’, features crop circles and sand writing that spell out ‘SP’. The title could be a reference to the ‘Liability’ lyric, “Every perfect summer’s eating me alive,” from 2017’s Melodrama. Watch it here.
‘Solar Power’, which features backing vocals from Clairo and Phoebe Bridgers, is the title track to the New Zealand pop star’s upcoming third album. “The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalising the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors,” she wrote in her newsletter. “In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I’ve learnt to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through.”
“I want this album to be your summer companion, the one you pump on the drive to the beach,” she added. “The one that lingers on your skin like a tan as the months get cooler again.”
A teaser video Tyler shared titled ‘SIDE STREET’ ended with the phrase “Call Me If You Get Lost,” which also appeared in a series of billboards that went up in select cities in the US last week. On Tuesday, Tyler tweeted out a phone number that was also included in the billboards. Those teasers also appear at the end of the ‘LUMBERJACK’ visual.
Since the release of his 2019 album IGOR, Tyler, the Creator has shared the singles ‘BEST INTEREST’ and ‘GROUP B’, as well as the Coca-Cola jingle ‘Tell Me How’. He also teamed up with Channel Tres on ‘Fuego’ and Brent Faiyaz on ‘Gravity’.
Kings of Convenience
Mykki Blanco
Max Bloom
Brooklyn-based artist 
