Earlier today (August 29), Kanye West‘s much-delayed album Donda finally arrived on streaming services, a couple of days after his third listening party at Soldier Field in Chicago. But now, West says the album was released without his permission, writing in a post on his Instagram account: “UNIVERSAL PUT MY ALBUM OUT WITHOUT MY APPROVAL AND THEY BLOCKED JAIL 2 FROM BEING ON THE ALBUM.” Though representatives for the label offered no comment to Variety, the publication cited unnamed sources calling West’s claim “preposterous.”
The 27-track Donda features guest appearances from the Weeknd, Jay Electronica, the Lox, Young Thug, the late Pop Smoke, Pusha T, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, and Kid Cudi. Marilyn Manson and DaBaby, who made controversial appearances at West’s third listening party, feature on ‘Jail, Pt. 2’, an alternate version of ‘Jail’, which also includes a verse from DaBaby. ‘Jail, Pt. 2.’ was not available upon Donda’s initial release, but was eventually added onto the record. West had previously posted a pair of screenshots on Instagram showing text threads that calimed the album was delayed because of a hold-up with DaBaby’s manager. The photos have since been deleted.
Lee “Scratch” Perry, the Jamaican dub and reggae legend, has died at the age of 85, as the Jamaica Observer and The Guardian report. He passed away at Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucea, Jamaica on Sunday morning. No cause of death has been revealed.
Perry was born in the village of Kendal in Jamaica in 1936. He began working in music in the 1950s, selling records with Clement Coxsone Dodd and later working at Dodd’s recording studio, Studio One. He went on to form his own label, Upsetter Records, and in 1968 released his first single, the highly influential ‘People Funny Boy’. Known for his innovative approach to production, he become an early adopter of dub music, which led to him opening his own studio, Black Ark. It was there that he produced records for the likes of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Junior Byles, and Junior Murvin, as well as several of his own successful albums with his band The Upsetters, including 1973’s Blackboard Jungle, 1976’s Super Ape, and 1978’s Roast Fish Collie Weed & Corn Bread. “I see the studio must be like a living thing, a life itself,” he once said. “The machine must be live and intelligent. Then I put my mind into the machine and the machine perform reality.”
After relocating to the UK, Perry’s music reached new audiences following his work with British producers Adrian Sherwood and Neil Fraser, a.k.a. Mad Professor. Perry would go on to collaborate with the likes of the Beastie Boys, the Orb, Brian Eno, Andrew WK, and many others. He released over 80 albums throughout the course of his seven-decade career, winning the 2013 Grammy for Best Reggae Album for his record Jamaican E.T.
Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s prime minister, wrote in a statement about Perry’s passing: “My deep condolences to the family, friends, and fans of legendary record producer and singer, Rainford Hugh Perry OD, affectionately known as ‘Lee Scratch’ Perry,” he wrote. “Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s’ development of dub music with his early adoption of studio effects to create new instrumentals of existing reggae tracks.”
“He has worked with and produced for various artistes, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Congos, Adrian Sherwood, the Beastie Boys, and many others,” Holness added. “Undoubtedly, Lee Scratch Perry will always be remembered for his sterling contribution to the music fraternity. May his soul Rest In Peace.”
Kyle Stemberger was born and raised outside Atlanta, Georgia when he began his love affair with music at an early age. His earliest memory of being interested in creating it took place when he was just six years old and went to see Christmas lights during the holiday season with his family. He came home that night and played the piano by ear without hesitation – well before most kids can even read!
Kyle’s interest in music production began when he was just a kid in Middle School. He had grown tired of listening to the same old songs that other people were making, so he thought it would be cool if he made his own for once!
That’s when Kyle downloaded FL Studio and started teaching himself how to use it by reading articles online about different aspects such as mixing & mastering techniques. At the time, hip-hop seemed very interesting but not too complex; this is why Future, Drake, Young Thug & Metro Boomin quickly became some major influences early on for him alongside Zaytoven (who greatly inspired 128 BPM trap).
Check out Kyle’s Genius page to see more of his credits:
In the years that followed, Kyle would spend most of his time improving his production skills and learning everything he could about creating modern hip-hop music.
With rising popularity for guitar, piano, or more melodic elements in hip hop & pop songs at the time; “samples” created from recordings of instruments such as these were beginning to be used by producers like himself who had an advantage over other people not targeted towards this sound.
Kyle was experimenting with music production in his spare time before it became a full-time gig and said he learned everything by watching instructional videos on the internet.
So a few years ago, Kyle started posting tutorials to YouTube for other aspiring producers looking to get their start just like him – teaching them how to create beats from scratch as well as giving advice about getting your first credits!
One fateful day, Kyle discovered that he could turn his music compositions into a business. He began selling packs of them on the side so other producers would have access to these incredible instrumentals they might not know about otherwise.
This gave him enough income to support himself and focus all his time on making great music without having to worry about preparing for college as others did at his age!
Kyle never took YouTube that seriously. He thought it would be a fun way to make some extra money, but he was too busy focusing on his true passion for music! However, the videos Kyle uploaded became massive hits with tens of thousands subscribing and hundreds of thousand views in no time at all, so now youtube has become more than just an afterthought for him.
After his exposure from the viral video, Kyle Harris was contacted by music executive Peter Ashley and Stephen Orso of Loyalty Records (a company founded in part by Charlie Walk). Once these two had taken note of what they saw in this video post, they reached out to Kyle about working with them.
From there on, things began to get better for him as he got more opportunities at work. Eventually, one thing led to another; first, a publishing deal came along, which led to signing a lucrative record contract that allowed both himself and close friend KBeaZy to move their lives out west where all the action is – Los Angeles, California!
What to know what Kyle’s been up to lately?
Well then, see for yourself on his Instagram page!
The Guilty takes place throughout a single morning in a 911 dispatch call centre. Call operator Joe Baylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) tries to save a caller in grave danger — but he soon learns that nothing is as it seems, and facing the truth is the only way out.
Netflix (NFLX) is currently trading at $558.92 on NASDAQ.
The Guilty will be available on Netflix from the 1st of October.
Kanye West has finally released his much-delayed album Donda. The record was unveiled today following the rapper’s third listening party in Chicago this Thursday, which featured appearances from Marilyn Manson and DaBaby, who also replaced a previous guest verse from Jay-Z. Donda also includes guest spots from the Weeknd, Jay Electronica, the Lox, Young Thug, the late Pop Smoke, Pusha T, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, and Kid Cudi. Stream Kanye West’s new album Donda below.
Named after West’s late mother, the follow-up to 2019’s Jesus Is King was originally slated for release after the first livestream event at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on July 23, but the album never materialized. West reportedly ended up staying in the venue to finish the album and launched a second livestream event at the stadium on August 5. Earlier this week, West launched a device called the Donda Stem Player that will be accompany the release of the album.
The one place in your home that should give you the feeling of relaxation is your bedroom. Sure, your lounge is going to have a similar effect, but you sleep in the bedroom and that’s where you should feel safest and most comfortable. With a safe and beautiful bedroom, you will be able to sit or lie down, totally relax and be able to feel calm. It’s your sanctuary and if you’re sharing a house with other people, it’s your getaway zone to be able to take a moment to breathe. For this all to work, however, you need your bedroom to be that place for you, which means that you need to figure out what your bedroom needs to make it look and feel good.
From the furniture to the WallpaperBoulevard.com wallpaper on the walls, your bedroom needs to inspire sleep, confidence and calm. You should be able to walk in and feel your feet sink into comfortable carpets. You should be able to smell scents that relax you and you should be able to smile as you walk into the space. Ideally, you’ll have more than just a bed in there, but that’ll depend on the size of the bedroom you’re working with. Some people have bedrooms that are literally just a sleep space, with a bed to sleep in and not much beyond that. Others have huge, airy bedrooms with minimal furniture and a ton of space. You can customize your bedroom based on the space you have, or you can maximize the space and get totally creative with how you use it.
This is your bedroom and if you’re tired of how it looks, making it over is the smartest decision that you can make this year. We may be coming into the final part of 2021, but that doesn’t mean that you have to wait for the new year to have a new room. So, with this in mind, we’ve put together ten excellent tips to get your room looking the exact way that you want it to! Let’s go!
Choose your colors wisely. You don’t have to go bold if you don’t want to, but if you do and you’re putting bolder colors in the bedroom, make sure that it’s not the ENTIRE room. Bold colors are great but in a bedroom you want to lean toward the calm colors as these just emanate restfulness. Choose colors that are calming, like powder blues and gentle hues of purple. You can have bold splashes in your cushion covers or inspirational quotes on the walls, but try to stick with the pale colors and you’ll feel the difference pretty quickly. A beautiful grey flooring will complement the feel of your room. They are extremely popular at the moment. Stories Flooring have a great selection.
Don’t just focus on wall color. The ceiling above you is often left untouched aside from a lick of pale paint. You could switch this up by painting the ceiling a paler shade of the color on the walls to create a more intimate setting. You could also choose to stencil the ceiling and you’ll see how good it looks. Let’s not forget, when you’re lying in bed at night, it can often be better to have something pretty to look at. You could choose to add a beautiful lighting structure or even things like crown moldings. A delicate chandelier, for example, can help the space to truly exude luxury.
Don’t overdo it. Your bedroom is supposed to inspire relaxation, but there is no room in the house for that if you plan to clutter up the space. Your bedroom needs adequate storage for any of your personal clutter, but we’re talking furniture clutter. There is nothing worse than stacked furniture that crowds the bed and the floor space. You shouldn’t have to walk sideways out of your room because a dresser is in the way, for example. Think about the way that the furniture is laid out and make sure that you have enough space around the bed to move around. You should try to keep the bedroom simple, and the furniture low!
Choose what you need for your furniture. Furnishing your bedroom can be easy. If you have built-in wardrobes, you wont need to buy a dresser or a set of robes, for example. The furniture should also be the right size. If your bedroom is on the small side, it’s actually a ridiculous idea to choose a king-sized bed. You should also consider that your furniture has to fit the room, which is why you need to get handy with a measuring tape. Don’t buy any furniture or accessories that won’t fit in the space. We don’t mean that you should take up every single bit of floor space, either. You should fit what you need to fit without taking every square inch of flooring. It’s true if your bedroom is a larger one, too. Tiny dressers don’t really work in a big bedroom, so choose to add a little more, such as an armchair or a desk.
Don’t forget your storage. Your clothing, shoes, your makeup and your accessories all need somewhere to live, so you need to make sure that you are buying storage to suit everything, and you want to make sure that your storage is going to keep things out of sight! Your storage can be in the form of a drawer under your bed, the extra little boxes you buy for your perfumes and your toiletries, and it can even be a trunk at the foot of the bed for books and sheets. Your storage is all about what works for your bedroom decor, so don’t be afraid to check it all out and see what kind of storage systems will work for your bedroom.
Create a reading corner. It’s a sure thing that you’re going to be reading in other areas of the house, but if you want the chance to get away from the other occupants and you just want a little space to read privately, try out making your own reading nook. Think oversized, chunky armchairs, a hanging lamp and a table for a drink or your book to sit on. You should also consider your armchair being one that allows you to lay down or put your feet up! You need a private space to sit and unplug from technology and a reading corner is generally the perfect area. You should try to put all this together near a window. Even though you’ll have a hanging light, natural light is going to make a big difference in how this space makes you feel.
Indulge a little! Your bedroom has to feel luxurious for you to want to spend time in there. It should be comfortable, too, and one of the best ways to make that happen is not to skimp on the linens. Your bedroom fabrics should all be luxurious enough that you feel content the moment you sink into them. Think 100% cotton sheets and high thread counts. You want them to have that crispy hotel feel to them. You can even send your sheets to a dry cleaner to make them feel like you’re actually in a hotel. It doesn’t have to cost much to do this and it’s so worth it! Luxury can also be added to the window dressings, rugs, cushions and other fabrics. Cashmere is the perfect fabric for the blanket thrown over the chair, too!
Dress your windows. A bedroom is not a finished room if you don’t have the right window dressings. Consider your windows, the eyes of the room, and the decor of the eyeshadow! The texture that is added to your windows adds a softness to the space and it can make your room feel far more welcoming and inviting. Think about how curtains or blinds will make you feel and test them both. Some people don’t just invest in one type of window treatment: they get both curtains and blinds. They do this for extra darkness and privacy and they do it for those longer summer mornings where the sun rises earlier.
Don’t forget your lighting. From bedside lamps to reading lamps, chandeliers and sconces, you need to make sure that you are including all of your lighting options when you are putting together a bedroom makeover. Lamps can offer far more ambience than ceiling lights, but if the ceiling light is a chandelier, it may be nicer to have a chandelier in the room. Your natural lighting also needs to be considered to make your bedroom airy and bright. If it’s a possibility, consider expanding the windows on the walls. You can then pull in more light and it’ll make the space a beautiful place to be!
Make it an escape. No matter what you do for your bedroom makeover, you need to ensure that it’s an escape compared to the other rooms in the house. If you can create a space that you can cherish, you’ll be in the position to enjoy a beautiful and calming place to relax.
If you enjoy watching your movies on big screens, the only thing better than catching a blockbuster at your favorite movie theatre is doing it with your dog. Fortunately, hundreds of modern movie theaters are pet-friendly. They are happy to let your service dog in.
Service dogs are allowed into almost all public spaces, including movie theatres, churches, and hotels.
Emotional Support Animals vs. Psychiatric Service Dogs
Emotional support animals are different from service animals. They are vital for people living with mental health issues. Although they act as service animals, they don’t get any form of training. The main role of emotional support animals is in their presence. They offer emotional support and make life easier for their owners. They may ease the symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety. These animals may not be allowed in some public spaces.
Psychiatric service dogs are different. They are trained to help people with various mental health disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and PTSD. The roles of service dogs include:
Offering deep pressure therapy which can soothe the pet owner
Detecting the signs of anxiety before an attack happens
Reminding their owners to take their medication
Offering companionship
Calming their owners down when they have anxiety attacks
Stopping strangers from approaching the owner when in distress
Helping the owner retrieve their phone in case of an anxiety attack
They ease the feeling of claustrophobia.
Turning on the lights and conducting safety checks for people with PTSD
If you are curious about psychiatric service dogs and whether you need them, find more information in this article. Learn about their federally protected rights, how to get them, and how to train them. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when taking your service dog to the movies.
Arrive Early and Position Yourself Well
Most drive-in theatres will open over 90 minutes before the start of the movie. Arrive as early as possible to find a good spot, walk your service dog, and get something to eat. It also ensures that you don’t miss a ticket.
Ensure that your service dog isn’t disrupting anyone’s experience at the movie theatre. It shouldn’t be blocking their views. If you are going to a drive-through theatre, you may need to position your truck or SUV depending on its height.
Groom
You don’t want your service dog attracting the wrong attention when you are out. People can be judgmental of service dogs and it is even worse when they aren’t properly groomed. You’ll have a better time at the movies when you are not worrying about the dog’s looks. Proper grooming is the secret to making a good first impression. You will receive a much warmer welcome at the movies when your dog looks good.
Ensure that It is Well-Mannered
All service dogs must be housebroken. They shouldn’t demonstrate any aggressive tendencies. Your dog may be excluded from the movies if its manners still need some work. No one wants to have a dog pooping and urinating inappropriately at the movie theatre. It shouldn’t be making unnecessary noise. Service dogs should only bark, growl, or whine when they need to get your attention. Before heading out to the movie theatre, ensure that you can keep your dog in control.
The benefits of service dogs are endless. They can ease the lives of people with different disabilities. If you already have a service dog, you can take it to the movie theatre and other public areas. Ensure that your service dog is well trained. Since service dogs are allowed into places that regular dogs aren’t, they are expected to act much better.
Courtney Barnett has shared a cover of the Velvet Underground’s ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’, her contribution to the forthcoming The Velvet Underground & Nicotribute album of the same name. Give it a listen below.
The compilation, set for release on September 24, was announced in July with Kurt Vile’s rendition of ‘Run Run Run’. Last month, The National’s Matt Berninger shared his take on ‘I’m Waiting for the Man’. I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico also features contributions from Iggy Pop, Sharon Van Etten, Michael Stipe, St. Vincent and more.
In Indigo De Souza’s music, everything can take the form of a revelation. Nihilistic thoughts can become mantras; songs about the darkest of subjects can become sing-along anthems. On her new album Any Shape You Take, the Asheville, North Carolina-based songwriter expands on the introspective, idiosyncratic qualities of her 2018 debut I Love My Mom, amplifying the sense of confidence and collective catharsis that her music exudes at its brightest and most direct. Out today via Saddle Creek and co-produced with Bon Iver and Big Thief collaborator Brad Cook alongside Alex Farrar and Adam McDaniel, the record overflows with honesty and dynamism as it careens from the AutoTuned vocals of ‘17’ to the heartfelt bedroom pop of ‘Pretty Pictures’, to the harrowing shrieks on centrepiece ‘Real Pain’ and the infectious, groovy single ‘Hold U’. Repetition is one of De Souza’s strongest tools – “I’d rather die before you die/ Before you die, before you die,” she chants on highlight ‘Die/Cry’ – but she also gives her songs the space to mutate into bigger or smaller ideas, simultaneously holding them and allowing them to spread. For an album so fixated on death, Any Shape You Take feels viscerally, overwhelmingly alive.
We caught up with Indigo De Souza for this edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about her first attempts at songwriting, her new album Any Shape You Take, living existentially, and more.
When did music enter your life in a significant way?
I’d like to think that music was present in my life from the time that I was born. There was a lot of music around me because my dad was a musician, and I’ve seen videos of him playing music to me when I was a little infant. My mom really likes music, and I think that she brought us to a lot of music festivals, me and my sisters; I remember dancing on the grass at reggae festivals and such. When I was nine, I started taking guitar lessons, and my mom got me a 4-track tape recorder, and I would record little songs I was writing onto that. I started writing songs as soon as I knew how to play chords on the guitar; I had a little keyboard, too. And then, when I was 11, I started to play music publicly for people in cafés and on the street. And the reaction was always so sweet. Often, people would cry or seemed very touched by what I was doing, so I think it just became a really special thing for me. I felt like it was a way to connect with people, which I had kind of had a hard time doing in my life, like in school and stuff.
Do you remember a specific instance of someone being moved by one of your very early performances? Do you think it had to do with the content of the songs?
I remember a specific thing, because even when I was really young, I wrote songs about how much I loved my mom. Like, that was always a theme. I have a recording of this one song that I was singing about her, where it was just about how much I love my mom and how sad it would be to lose her. [laughs] Which is so weird to be writing about when you’re a child.
That was when you were around 11?
It was probably around then. And I remember singing that song one time, it was near her birthday or something, and I remember everyone crying so much and giving me hugs. And I was so confused.
What else do you remember writing about?
So, I have all these recordings – I’m hoping to put them out someday because they’re so funny. There’s another song that’s about global warming and people dying and the earth catching on fire, and some of the lyrics are about families saying I love you for the last time. I think maybe I was more emo as a child than I am now.
You started writing songs before you moved to Asheville at the age of 16. How did moving to a more diverse and accepting community affect your songwriting? Especially since you said music was already kind of an escape for you.
I think that when I lived in Spruce Pine, I was mostly aware of country music and bluegrass, which is what I grew up around the most. And when I moved to Asheville, my idea of music became much broader, starting with the local downtown Asheville music scene, and then I also later became friends with people who lived on the outskirts of Asheville, like in West Asheville, in the parts of Asheville that are still very original and aren’t as developed. Those people kind of branched out into a more underground part of the music world, and I was introduced to artists that became really important in my development as a writer.
I just realised that there was no particular structure that songs had to take, that there was a never-ending world of possibilities within songwriting. And also, I think I learned that I could be more abstract with my words, and I didn’t have to worlds that were so easy for people to digest. I could just say very honestly how I feel in whatever way that feels good for me, and that people will find something to relate to within that. Before I left Spruce Pine, once I became like, “I’m a songwriter,” I was writing songs for people to kind of easily understand, and sometimes I would write songs that were specifically very cute or funny or just lighter. And then when I moved to Asheville, I came back into this awareness that I could just express my actual feelings very starkly. And that that kind of energetic field of my songs would help other people come into their own emotions and process their own world.
I wanted to ask you about the cover artwork for the new album, Any Shape You Take, because it’s once again a painting by your mother.
What’s funny is that both of these album covers were visions that came to me as I was just going about my life, and I just thought of the imagery. It was really funny because I thought of this imagery and asked mom to do like an apocalyptic grocery store aisle scene, and for the child to be in the car and the mom to be pushing the cart. And then COVID happened a little while after she finished the painting and I remember feeling so deeply spooked, like I had caused the panic. It just reminded me so much of the way that the grocery store aisles looked at the beginning of the pandemic.
Did you have any conversations with her about the songs during that process?
My mom’s not a musician, and she’s not musically inclined. And it’s funny how if you’re not a person who makes me music or a person who listens to a lot of music, you kind of don’t even think about all the work that goes into making music. Or like, it’s just hard to fathom where the music is coming from. But I remember, just recently she texted me that she listened to I Love My Mom all the way through on her speakers, and she was like, “I’m so embarrassed that I haven’t done this ever.” She had never listened to it all the way through, which is what it’s intended for, you know. But no, she hadn’t heard any of the music from either albums before she painted the covers. I just kind of explained to her the imagery and she created it as best as she could. It was cool, because the first cover, when I told her what to paint I had an idea of it in my mind and I really thought of the skeletons as bones, and then she created them with bodies and I thought that was a cool iteration of that thought that I had. I just love how original the paintings are.
Did she tell you what she thought of the album?
Yeah, she loved it. [laughs] She really, really loved it.
When you asked her to paint the cover for I Love My Mom, did she know the title yet?
No, I don’t think she did. Because both of these titles I kind of chose at the last minute. I kind of can’t push myself to come up with a title, it just comes at some point.
You’ve talked about how the screams on ‘Real Pain’ came together, but I wanted to ask you about the last section of the song. Did you always know that it would go on like that?
I always knew that it was going to go on. I think the structural idea for that song came before the melodic version, so it was almost like I was thinking of the song in shapes, where it would like, be at this level space and then it would dip down into a cavernous space, and then explode into a very euphoric space. I knew that that’s what I wanted to do, and then it was just about forming those spaces.
Do you often think of songwriting in that sort of spatial way?
I think I do, yeah. It’s kind of like, I think about it in many different ways all at the same time, but I definitely think about them kind of structurally when I start writing.
The crowdsourced screams obviously come partly from a desire to connect with your audience in this deep, meaningful way. In what other ways do you think you might try to do that in the future?
I’m not sure, it’ll probably never happen in the same way ever again. Especially since those recordings were from such a specific time in the pandemic, and it reached for people that were all experiencing something collectively. But I like to find ways to involve people if I can. It was just so special to do that, and I hope that I hear from more people who had their screams in the song to see if they like the song or not. I was worried about that, hoping that people would like it.
How many were there?
Probably about like, almost 60 recordings. And I used every single one of them. If you were listening for years, you probably couldn’t really pick them out because there’s so many stacked on each other. But they’re all in there.
What have you heard from the people who have reached out to you?
Oh, it’s such a funny world. Like, so far I’ve just had people tag me in an Instagram story where they’re like, haha, my thing is in this song. [laughs] Nothing incredibly deep yet.
Something that comes up in a lot of your interviews is the word “existential.” I was wondering what the implications of that word are for you – like, for you, what does it mean to think existentially, or to live existentially?
For me, it’s just about being aware of existence. Being aware of being a human and not feeling as if I’m above that, or at the top of some kind of food chain in the world. And it’s simultaneously the heaviest part of my personality and also the most light-giving part of my personality, because it allows me to see everyone in their humanity and have compassion for them. And forgiveness for them, and also forgiveness for myself. Because it’s just really important to feel grounded and to remember that I’m very small and I have no idea what’s going on, because things can feel very large and scary and out of my control. I think if anything, I’m just focused on that kind of energetic wavelength because it just saves me from the world. And it makes me really sad to see other people who don’t connect with each other more deeply and just kind of living on the surface-level space always, not even seeing themselves as a deeper personality in the world.
How do you think people can connect more deeply?
I don’t know. I think that everyone has to come to that on their own, but I think it just starts from learning about yourself and centering and finding self-love. I think once you find ultimate self-love and forgiveness, then you’re able to manifest the love that you deserve from other people. And yeah, I don’t know, I wish everyone could just wake up and realise that we’re all dying and that it’s a very strange situation we’re in and that we should make the best of it. But I know that that will never happen in any kind of grand scheme way. There’s too many people and too many people are completely asleep.
I wanted to ask you about the song ‘Way Out’. I didn’t have the lyrics for that one, so I wasn’t sure if it’s “I want to be a light?” that you’re singing at the end, or is it “alive”?
Yeah, it is “I want to be a light.” [laughs] When we’re playing it live, this is really goofy, but sometimes I’ll say, “I want a beer, I want a Bud Light.” But no, I’m saying, “I want to be a, I want to be a light.” I think one of the ways to help people open up and to share themselves in a more full-spectrum kind of way and to feel accepted as themselves is to give them space to do that. So I think that it kind of feels like my place in the world is to just give people the freedom to express themselves fully in my presence and really be honest with me and really show them themselves. I do that by just doing that myself and showing that it’s okay and that you don’t have to be afraid to do that.
Were you ever surprised during the making of the songs by how honest you were?
No, I’m never surprised. It’s taken me a while to get to the amount of stability that I have now and the amount of clarity that I have now, but I’ve always been an oversharer. I’ve always wanted to express my feelings to people. If anything, I’m just excited about the language that I use now, because I feel I have a broader idea of emotional language and how to express myself emotionally.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Japanese Breakfast has released ‘Glider’, the lead single from her upcoming soundtrack for the open-world video game Sable. Sable (Original Soundtrack), a 32-track collection featuring instrumental and vocal music written by Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner, is out September 24, a day after the game’s release. Earlier this year, Zauner performed ‘Glider’ at the Summer Game Fest livestream. Listen to the studio version below.
“I was so lucky Daniel Fineberg and Gregorios Kythreotis from Shedworks invited me onto this game so early on,” Zauner said in a press release. “I was immediately captivated by the world they’d built, a desert planet filled with mysterious natural and architectural wonders, and the story they’d imagined, one of a young girl coming of age through exploration. It was important to me that each biome in this world felt unique. I used woodwinds and vocal layering to make monumental ruins feel ancient and unknown, industrial samples and soft synths to make atomic ships feel cold and metallic, classical guitar and bright piano to make encampments feel cozy and familiar. I wanted the main themes to recall iconic works of Joe Hisaishi and Alan Menken, to fill the listener with the childlike wonder of someone on the precipice of a grand discovery.”
Japanese Breakfast’s third album, Jubilee, came out in June.
Sable (Original Soundtrack) Cover Artwork:
Sable (Original Soundtrack) Tracklist:
Main Menu
Glider [from “Sable” Original Video Game Soundtrack]
