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Watch the Trailer for New Dave Grohl Documentary ‘What Drives Us’, Featuring St. Vincent, Ringo Starr, and More

The first trailer for Dave Grohl‘s upcoming documentary about touring and vans, What Drives Us, has been released. The film, directed by Grohl and co-produced by Foo Fighters, features interviews with St. Vincent, Slash and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, the Edge, Flea, Steven Tyler, Lars Ulrich, and more. Watch the trailer below.

“This film is my love letter to every musician that has ever jumped in an old van with their friends and left it all behind for the simple reward of playing music,” Grohl explained in a statement. “What started as a project to pull back the curtain on the DIY logistics of stuffing all of your friends and equipment into a small space for months on end eventually turned into an exploration of ‘why?’ What drives us?’”

What Drives Us will be released through The Coda Collection in the US and Amazon Prime Video overseas on April 30. Previously, Dave Grohl directed the 2013 documentary Sound City, about the LA studio of the same name, as well as the HBO series Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways. He recently announced a memoir titled The Storyteller, which is set to come out in October.

Roopa Pemmaraju Launches a Swimwear Collaboration with Beth Richards

Roopa Pemmaraju announced its first foray into swimwear and resort wear with its collaboration with Canadian swimwear designer Beth Richards. Both brands take pride in their ethical and sustainable manufacturing practices – Beth in Canada and Roopa in India – and their empowerment ethos. Together, the collection brings women a consciously crafted swimwear line that’s unique, sophisticated, and flattering.

For the first time, women’s swimwear designer Beth Richards highlighted vibrant hues and globally inspired prints of Roopa Pemmaraju. Lightweight kaftans, wraps, robes, and separated in a radiant palette of Indian prints were ethically crafted in the Roopa Pemmaraju atelier in Bengaluru, India, by highly skilled artisans earning a living wage.

Inspiration for the prints came from Roopa’s native India. Textiles were digitally printed to eliminate the use of dyes, and each couture quality piece displayed feminine detailing in lightweight recycled cotton (60% naturally farmed cotton, 40% recycled cotton) for breathability and ease.

“I was so happy to connect with Beth last year. We met in a community group for female entrepreneurs in the sustainable fashion industry.  We quickly bonded and had this idea to create a collaboration that highlighted both of our cultures and aesthetics,” Roopa Pemmaraju explained.

Beth Richards commented, “This wonderful collaboration was born in a dark time out of sheer hope and optimism we both had for the world and for our tradespeople. Roopa’s joyful prints were exactly what we needed in 2021 as the notion of re-emerging into the world became real for travel and beyond.  Her vibrant prints have brought my silhouettes to life in ways I had not imagined before and I’m thrilled to share it with everyone!”

Vacation Fashion Rules For The Adventurous

Going on vacation is about more than just checking out the sites and visiting beautiful restaurants. It’s also about putting your best foot forward and doing it in style. With lockdowns ending and people taking breaks, now is the time to start thinking about your vacay wardrobe. In this post, we take a look at the clothes you should take with you. So what rules should you be following this season? Let’s take a look. 

Opt For Modesty

If you live in a Western country, you can pretty much bare it all, especially if you’re traveling to places like southern Europe. Here the culture is incredibly liberal. 

But if you’re going to a more conservative part of the world, you’ll want to opt for modesty. You don’t want to find yourself in a foreign country, accosted by police, just because you happen to be wearing something the authorities define as a little “too skimpy.”

If you want to go swimming, opt for a full bathing suit. And try to cover up as much of your arms, legs, and chest as you can. If your destination is a little on the warmer side, wear opaque white linen to reflect the heat. 

Avoid Flashy Jewelry

Wearing beautiful jewelry on vacation is so tempting. If not while abroad, then when? 

Unfortunately, a $30,000 diamond-encrusted bracelet makes you a high-value target for pickpockets. It could be their biggest haul of the year. 

Usually, there is nothing whatsoever with wearing jewelry on vacation, so long as it isn’t expensive, and doesn’t look it. Save your spending for things that pickpockets can’t easily steal, like a beautiful dress. 

Wear Practical Shoes

If you think your vacation will just be walking between taxis and top venues, then you’re sadly mistaken. Breaks have an uncanny habit of getting you off the beaten track and involved in entirely different experiences. You think you’re just walking across town, but you wind up traversing a boggy track or a dry, dusty mountain pass, surrounded by goats. 

The good news is that shoes can be both practical and stylish. You’ll want to pack a pair of trainers, walking boots and flip-flops at the very least. But think ahead about the kinds of activities you’ll do while you’re away. If you’re going to a country famous for bad weather and muddy conditions, then boots are your best friend. 

Wear Neutral Colors

Wearing bright colors is like a big sign that says, “I’m a tourist and I have no idea what I’m doing.” Try to avoid this if you can. Where possible, copy the colors of the local dress code, imitating whoever lives there. This way, you can stand out less and blend into the natural environment. Avoid bright greens, oranges, purples, and reds, unless you know the area well. 

If you’re planning on wearing sandals, you’ll need to prep your feet first. The Clarins Beauty FAQ page has some more information about the best pre-vacay foot scrub. You don’t want a giant wart wrecking your look!

Pack The Right Pants

Packing jeans for your vacation might seem like a total no-brainer. After all, they always come in handy, right? Well, not necessarily. It turns out that jeans are a total nightmare in some hot countries. You wind up feeling super sweaty and chafing on your inner thighs – not what you want when you’re trying to enjoy yourself. 

If you’re planning an outdoor itinerary in a hot country (or even a cold one for that matter), then ditch the jeans for something a little more practical, like sweatpants or shorts. As before, just be careful that your fashion choices aren’t going to draw unwanted attention.

Avoid Controversial Images And Symbols

While wearing religious or military attire might be perfectly acceptable back home, the culture might be entirely different abroad. For instance, you don’t want to wear cargo trousers in a country that went through a military coup. People could view this type of clothing as being a little insensitive. 

Clearly, certain forms of religious attire could draw unwanted attention and get you into trouble in parts of the world. China, for instance, has strict laws prohibiting certain types of religious expression. Walking around certain parts of the middle east wearing Jewish clothing is also probably a bad idea. If you have to wear certain types of clothes for religious reasons, you may want to reconsider your vacation destination. 

Avoid Large Backpacks

Large backpacks aren’t particularly fashionable. What’s more, they’re a big sign that says “pickpockets and thieves, come over here. Valuable camera equipment and cash inside.”

If you’re doing a day of sightseeing, keep your bag as small as possible – large enough for some water and your phone. Better yet, keep your valuables in your pockets and blend in a little more with the locals. Make it look as though you’re not carrying anything at all. 

Choose Comfortable Fabrics

When you go on vacation, you are likely to do more walking than while at home. You’re not following a routine, so inefficiencies naturally creep in (and that’s not a bad thing). 

But knowing that this is likely going to happen, you’ll want to pack comfortable, fabrics. 

For instance, wearing jeans seems like a great idea until you’re five hours into your flight and you can feel them cutting off the blood supply to your feet. Likewise, wearing a nylon skirt might seem like a great idea for a night of clubbing. But in a hot country, you can soon wind up feeling super sweaty. 

Where possible, avoid wearing silk, leather, rubber, and nylon abroad. Try to stick with natural materials, or, if you’re going on an expedition, performance synthetics (with sweat-wicking technology). Also, allow yourself to wear loose clothing. It’ll make you feel more relaxed. 

Wear A Regular-Sized Jacket

It can be tempting to take a massive jacket with you on vacation. But it will take up an enormous amount of space in your luggage. Avoid this by packing your waist-length outers instead. Only pack a big, heavy jacket if you need it!

Artist Spotlight: YAS

With more than a few tricks under her belt, longtime collaborative artist, songwriter, producer, classically trained violinist and composer Yasmeen Al-Mazeedi has shifted focus back to her solo work.  Releasing under the moniker YAS, her first single ‘Poison’ dropped back in 2018 and introduced us to her brand of sizzling, expansive R&B melded with electronic pop and understated yet gravitational string work. Having taken up violin at the tender age of six, YAS has toured extensively, performing with symphony orchestras since the age of 16. Now LA-based, the Japanese-Egyptian-Kuwaiti artist has played strings sections on tracks by Lil Nas X, Travis Barker, San Holo and Kanye West – to name a few – as well as performing live with Miley Cyrus and Shawn Mendes at the Grammys. Yet early 2021 saw YAS drop two scorching singles of her own, announcing the two-track EP RED, the first of several mini EPs that will come together to form her debut LP COLORS, an exploration of mood, music, colour and the relationship between the three. Her next EP in the series, BLUE, out this Thursday and featuring singles ‘for free’ and the stunning piano-led track ‘worth it’, gives listeners a more melancholy, ruminative side to YAS, while also serving as a gentle reminder that she is a multifaceted artist who refuses to be defined by genre.

We caught up with YAS for the latest edition of our Artist Spotlight Q&A series, where we showcase up-and-coming artists and give them a chance to talk about their music.


First off a big hello and how are you? Times can be trying without a global pandemic, so what’s been your saving grace throughout this time?

I am OK. My saving graces have been my dogs, The Marvel Cinematic Universe, cigarettes, and Mezcal. Can you tell I am ok? Don’t I sound ok?

You’re currently releasing EPs that will form your debut LP COLORS. The first was RED and your most recent is BLUE, the idea being that each EP will explore the associations between colour, mood and sound. What’s the colour that you’d use to describe yourself if you had to pick one and why?

To be honest, I don’t think that I can pick any one color to represent me as an artist or an individual. I think the whole point of the concept behind COLORS is that none of us are just one color. We are always growing, changing even from minute to minute. 5pm we can be sad, 8pm we can be excited, it really depends on so many different factors that go into your daily life. If you had to ask me right at this very moment at 9:19PM on Tuesday I would say that I am feeling kinda yellow. Wavy from the mezcal.

You’ve worked with some incredible artists, from Jay-Z to Anderson .Paak and seemingly everyone in between! What sparked the decision to step back into making your own music?

Even though it’s really cool to say that I have worked with these people, I think ultimately the fact is that I get no creative input on other people’s records. Sure, I can play someone else’s arrangement. Sure, I can write strings to fit someone else’s song. It is an important role, but quite often the string portion comes after the song is mostly done, so I am really just trying to mold into what already is. I enjoy starting an idea from inception and being in creative control of where it goes.

How did the idea of your LP come into fruition? Did you always plan to release several EPs to form your LP?

This particular rollout was crafted as a response to the industry A&R’s and managers who thought my product could not be packaged in a cohesive way. Many of them told me to pick one genre and stick to it. This is my rebellion against having to be genre specific in any way. This is the representation of my creative freedom. I am an artist and I should not have to hinder my creativity for branding and packaging purposes. My job is to just make what I make.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned working as a collaborative artist that you’ll take forward into your solo career?

Always always treat everyone that is part of the operation with the utmost respect and appreciation. I’ve gone into so many gigs where the artist didn’t even acknowledge me and it put a bad taste in my mouth even though I may have enjoyed their music. Conversely, I have also experienced some of the biggest artists in the world making sure I was taken care of, and it felt good to know that my role, although minute in the grand scheme of things, was appreciated.

If you could retrospectively give yourself one piece of advice when starting your career, what would you say?

It’s not going to happen right away. So stop waiting for the overnight moment. You’re going to have to work your fucking ass off, and it will still feel out of reach. Stop looking for a handout or being upset at others that were born with a silver spoon or had a tinge of luck. Look forward, not around.

‘Worth It’ is your latest track from your forthcoming debut album. Taken from the EP BLUE, it’s fittingly melancholy, gorgeously stripped back and a delightful contrast from RED. Has switching between tones and moods proven challenging for you or is it something that’s come naturally?

Honestly it comes super naturally. Switching from genre to genre has been super easy for me. When I sit down to write, I’m never really sure of what’s going to be the end result. Every time I sit it’s almost always something different from the last. And I am cool with that, because I am staying true to myself and my process.

If you could’ve written one track by another artist, what would it be and why?

‘Doomed’ by Moses Sumney. It’s so minimal, but so transcendent. Moses was actually an acquaintance friend back in college. I sang backup for him for a show once. His artistry is inspiring, especially because I knew him before all the glam. It makes me hopeful for my future and my creative evolution and I am excited for what’s to come and what I will be capable of in a few years.


YAS’ BLUE EP is out April 15.

This Week’s Best New Songs: Taylor Swift, Tkay Maidza, cupcakKe, and More

Throughout the week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with the new releases that caught our attention the most, be it a single leading up to the release of an album or a newly unveiled deep cut. And each Monday, we round up the best new songs released over the past week (the eligibility period begins on Monday and ends Sunday night) in this segment.

Before Taylor Swift released the rerecorded version of her 2008 album Fearless on Friday, she unveiled a ‘From the Vault’ track one might be tempted to call a “perfectly fine” pop song – more than that, though, it’s a perfect snapshot of that era of Swift’s career, with cheeky wordplay and a soaring, irresistibly catchy chorus. ‘Mr. Perfectly Fine’ is not the only catchy song on this week’s playlist: there’s also ‘DON’T SHOOT UP THE PARTY’, a hard-hitting banger and a highlight from BROCKHAMPTON’s new album, Tkay Maidza’s short but infectious ‘Syrup’, cupcakKe’s aggressively wild ‘Mickey’, and perhaps more surprisingly, a propulsive new single from Irish poet and songwriter Sinead O’Brien called ‘Kid Stuff’. On the more experimental side, two exciting collaborative projects shared new singles: Darkside detailed their new album and shared the hypnotic ‘The Limit’, while Hildegard’s Helena Deland and Ouri dropped the eerie yet enchanting ‘Jour 1’. Finally, we got another exciting teaser from Japanese Breakfast’s upcoming album, the ambitious and layered ‘Posing in Bondage’.

Best New Songs: April 12, 2021

Japanese Breakfast, ‘Posing in Bondage’

Song of the Week: Taylor Swift, ‘Mr. Perfectly Fine’

Hildegard, ‘Jour 1’

BROCKHAMPTON, ‘DON’T SHOOT UP THE PARTY’

cupcakKe, ‘Mickey’

Tkay Maidza, ‘Syrup’

DARKSIDE, ‘The Limit’

Sinead O’Brien, ‘Kid Stuff’

Sustainable Fashion: Things to Consider Before You Shop Around for Sustainable Fashion

With the rising trend to adapt to a more sustainable and ethical lifestyle, it’s key to know what to look for when you shop around. Brands on the highstreet have been accused of greenwashing, and fast fashion companies are constantly developing ways to deflect the negative attention from their unethical methods. To help out with sustainable shopping, we have made a shortlist of things to look at before you decide to buy something new.

Company Values

While searching for your new wardrobe, it is always essential to understand what brand you are buying from. 

Many fast fashion brands put on a mask for sustainable and ethical fashion by greenwashing their way into the press by giving out false promises. Other brands simply don’t care and utilise last-minute sales to sway the modern consumer by pressuring them into thinking that their product is scarce.

To evaluate company values, it’s worth looking at few things:

  • Press attention surrounding sustainability.
  • Proof of actions taken to become more sustainable.
  • Recent history with controversies surrounding workers.

Company History

Like above, company history is vital to understand to see the bigger picture of sustainable fashion. It’s essential to know that whilst companies may have a sustainable image now, not long ago, they might have had a very dark and polluting presence in the world of fashion. Of course, this escapes new brands as they tend not to have much of their history documented through press, academic papers or research.

Production

Where and by who is it made? This question always comes up when buying sustainable fashion. From experience, clothing made in Europe tends to primarily made in places where minimum wage is paid, and a safe working environment is provided to the workforce. On the other hand, a few investigations demonstrated otherwise, unsurprisingly connected to fast fashion brands.

When navigating the production history, it is imperative to see how transparent a brand is about the factory that produces its garments.

Price

This point may seem off-putting to agree with, but the price sets the tone for sustainable fashion. For a company to research, manufacture, and then promote their clothing whilst maintaining a solid margin for their company directors usually requires a lot of trimming. Due to this reason, fast fashion brands can get away with selling a £5 top that is made in low-cost conditions where workers are underpaid and work conditions are poorly maintained.

Higher prices, whilst not always, can mean that the company is re-investing money into their workers, charities, and their production to ensure a sustainable business model that caters for the consumer, worker, and director.

Do you need it?

Arguably this question should be asked even before you consider shopping anywhere. Do you need it? At the moment, COVID-19 has put people into lockdown, meaning we don’t spend much going out, which in return made people overspend online to compensate. This shift has resulted in wasteful shopping, which completely disregards the question and dissolves the effort needed to acquire a product.

So, if you’ve answered yes, even after you’ve slept on it, think about buying second hand. Platforms like Depop will likely have it, and if not, have a look at your local charity shop.

It is also important to consider the clothing you wear while working out. There are some great sources online for buying sustainable gym clothing which many are skin friendly and comfortable.

RAINMAKER Ready-To-Wear Autumn/Winter 2021

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RAINMAKER, a Kyoto based brand, presented their digital autumn-winter 2021 runway at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo. Designers Kohichi Watanabe and Ryutaro Kishi created a clean and crisp look within this collection with white, beiges and neutral colourways. The collection reveals outfits with a relaxed fit and a sleek appearance for workwear and everyday style. Key tailored looks have a belt tightened around the waist, either on top or below the coat. A layering look is another fundamental stylised look, starting with a turtleneck, a wrap top, and a coat.

Watch the runway here.

KoH T Ready-To-Wear Autumn/Winter 2021

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KoH T, a label that creates collections to share stories, revive traditional technologies, and develop and focus on sustainable production, presented their 2021 autumn-winter runway at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo. Designer Taisuke Kohji developed a collection of menswear and womenswear pieces that tie in with everyday wear and workwear. There were two silhouettes present, both relaxed and semi close-fitting garments with a monochromatic colour pallet — making them effortless to style.

Watch the KoH T runway here.

SHOOP Autumn/Winter 2021 at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo

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SHOOP, a Tokyo and Madrid based brand founded by Miriam Sanz Fernandez and Yohei Oki, showcased their 2021 autumn-winter runway at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo. The collection used deep and dark autumnal-like colours. There was a variety of formal, semi-formal, and everyday wear, with a boxy silhouette that disregarded the garments’ length. The collection was unisex, which was evident through the collection’s styling ideas. Moreover, there were various material designs from pattern to design; few animal prints, stripes and plaid. Other than surface patterns and design, numerous pattern-cutting methods were prominent in the collection, such as the double-breasted coat with unconventional seams running across the coat.

Watch the SHOOP runway here.

Album Review: Dry Cleaning, ‘New Long Leg’

“Everyone’s kind of experiencing their own little version of the world in a solitary way,” Florence Shaw once told me. “By collecting lots of little things, I think what I’m trying to do is to make an external version of what I am experiencing walking around to share with other people.” Despite the Dry Cleaning frontwoman’s attempts to reflect the world around her, it would be foolish to assume that this reflection would be mirror-perfect. I’m drawn to a photo on the album insert of New Long Leg, featuring a window covered completely in tinfoil. The foil obscures the outside world and reflects the inner—fragmented and distorted by crinkly aluminium—back at you. I think this more closely captures the way that Shaw is “reflecting” her own little world. Built out of inner monologues, snippets of conversations, and bizarre asides, Dry Cleaning’s debut album is a modge-podge collage of souvenirs from Shaw’s travels: An entirely new and incomplete picture. 

Already known for their non-sequitur lyricism, Dry Cleaning’s songs have become even more impenetrable since 2019’s Sweet Princess and Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks EPs. Shaw has a penchant for changing direction in the middle of a thought, switching between different characters or moving from external to internal conversations at a whim. New Long Leg is peppered with a number of throwaway lines—like “Simple pimple,” “Mystical Shakespeare shoes,” and “kung fu cancel”—that are mined more for their phonaesthetic quality rather than any real meaning or narrative importance. But New Long Leg never feels inane, just like Dry Cleaning has taken our world and upped the weird factor.

Dry Cleaning take an obviously playful approach to songcraft: a nagging thought about eating a hot dog, a judgy comment about a dentist’s landscaping, and an asinine conversation about The Antique Roadshow are delivered in Shaw’s characteristic monotone and set against comically serious instrumentals courtesy of bassist Lewis Maynard, drummer Nick Buxton, and guitarist Tom Dowse. But part of the beauty of New Long Leg is that while it may juxtapose little details in new ways, it isn’t revealing anything that wasn’t already there. Life is already pretty absurd; Dry Cleaning’s real strength is their ability to drop us into disorientingly similar but surreal versions of our own world, where everyday life isn’t mundane but full of little stories waiting to be uncovered.

Shaw dramatizes everyday life to the point that every little detail and conversation becomes of the highest importance for New Long Leg’s narrators. These seemingly random fixings give the listener insight into the narrators’ state of mind: from what is weighing on them to their secret desires. On ‘Leafy’, we know that the narrator’s break up is constantly lingering in the back of her mind because everything reminds her of her ex, to the point where even thinking about taking pills leads her to wonder “Maybe I just need someone.” Or on ‘Strong Feelings’, where we get some insight into the intense nature of the narrator’s unrequited love by a number of delightfully weird and too honest confessions like “I’ve been thinking of eating that hot dog for hours” and “My only ambition in life is to grip the roots of your hair.”

There’s an art to what weird fixings Shaw populates her songs with. Her invocation of specific artworks or songs (she fits references to ‘The Girl from Ipanema’, Hans Holbein the Younger’s The Ambassadors, and a flower-holder by John Bowen in ‘Strong Feelings’ alone) is a personal touch amid a sea of ambiguities. These artifacts must have meant something to her, and now she offers them up to the listener to interpret—like sending a loved one your favorite book or song in the hopes that it will provoke a similarly strong reaction. New Long Leg isn’t pretentious, preachy, or overly serious like other offerings from the recent resurgence of the post-punk genre; it’s accessible precisely because it isn’t really trying to say anything specific. There’s a degree of trust here in the listener as interpreter that becomes especially important as the album slips into more abstract territory.

The second half of New Long Leg is remarkably trippier, as Shaw abandons any attempts at narrative story-telling and indulges in something more akin to stream-of-consciousness. ‘More Big Birds’ is literally about being lost in thought, the narrator humming and hawing about something on the tip of her tongue—“What d’you call it / It’ll come to me.” It sets the tone for New Long Leg’s final and most challenging track, ‘Every Day Carry,’ which sees the band experiment with a more expansive and spacious sound. Clocking in at over 7 minutes, the guitars jitter, skip, and whirl around in the distance as Shaw rambles out clipped thoughts about chocolate chip cookies, smear tests, and a big pearl. For nearly a quarter of the song Shaw disappears entirely, giving way to a relay of repetitive and discordant droning, before she picks back up the mic to ponder, “Now it seems like none of that meant anything.” It feels meta in a way, a tacit acceptance that the songs on New Long Leg aren’t meant to cohere into some overarching meaning, instead leaving themselves up for interpretation. If there is an underlying message to the strange world that Dry Cleaning have created, it’s that real life is as resistant to definition as New Long Leg. It’s up to us to sort through Shaw’s junkyard of modern ephemera and try and find the treasure in it, to see what sticks with us, why, and what that might mean; even if it all ends up meaning nothing at all.