Foo Fighters were the musical guests on last night’s Dave Chappelle-hosted episode of Saturday Night Live. Just minutes before they got on stage, they confirmed the release of their next album: Medicine at Midnight arrives on February 5, 2021 via Roswell Records/RCA. They also debuted a new song called ‘Shame Shame’ and performed their 2003 single ‘Times Like These’. Watch their performance below, and scroll down for the album’s tracklist and cover artwork.
Foo Fighters produced the new album alongside Greg Kurstin. The follow-up to 2017’s Concrete and Gold and this year’s 00959525 EP was engineered by Darrell Thorp and mixed by Mark “Spike” Stent. Dave Grohl said in an interview earlier this year that the record is “filled with anthemic, huge, sing-along rock songs. It’s kind of like a dance record, but not an EDM, disco, modern dance record. It’s got groove. To me, it’s our David Bowie’s Let’s Dance record. That’s what we wanted to make, we wanted to make this really up, fun record.”
Medicine at Midnight Cover Artwork:
Medicine at Midnight Tracklist:
1. Making a Fire
2. Shame Shame
3. Cloudspotter
4. Waiting on a War
5. Medicine at Midnight
6. No Son of Mine
7. Holding Poison
8. Chasing Birds
9. Love Dies Young
Having spent years much of her teenage years jumping from one band to the next in the music scene of Detroit, vocalist and songwriter Lianna Vanicelli started writing and recording her own music under the moniker Xelli Island shortly after moving to Los Angeles. Working closely with producer and longtime friend Jon Zott, she recently released her debut EP Meet Me at the Waterfall, a dreamy, unabashedly sentimental collection of pop songs as infectious as any. The sparkly, sensual ’02 20 20′ sways with an effervescent kind of optimism, while ‘When You Go, You’re Gone’ delves into the feeling of missing someone or something with haunting vulnerability; Xelli’s vocals are subtly distorted as she repeats the word “gone”, meshing with the melodies in the background and accentuating that sense of profound loss. Though Zott’s production is airy and lush and the hooks are nothing but catchy, Xelli’s expressive vocals always manage to stand out – on the lovelorn ‘Bad for You’, she delivers the titular line with the sort of confidence you’d expect from someone who’s been serving up tunes like this for years, while the pensive ‘I Know I’m Only Dreaming (Nag-iisa)’ features one of her most subdued but emotionally affecting performances. It’s not such a surprise that Xelli Island’s music feels exactly like what the project’s name would suggest – its own island – but she’s only just started exploring all its little nooks and crannies, and we can’t wait to hear where it takes us next.
We caught up with Xelli Island for this edition of our Artist Spotlight series, where we showcase up-and-coming artists and give them a chance to talk about their music.
What’s your earliest memory of playing or feeling deeply connected to music?
Probably when I was like 9 or 10. I would sit in my bedroom and listen to CDs for hours while reading through the lyric booklets. ‘Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely’ by The Backstreet Boys was definitely one of the first songs to hit different.
You grew up playing in different bands since you were 14. Do you feel that being a solo artist has given you more creative freedom?
100%. I’ve been in quite a few bands over the years and you always end up compromising. It has been so refreshing to not have to think twice when it comes to creating. You cut out a lot of the back and forth and overthinking and just end up doing what you really love and want, which I think makes for a more authentic project.
Do you follow any particular process when it comes to constructing your songs?
Not always, but I’ve found that the best way for me is to start with just piano chords and vocal melodies. My producer Jon and I have been writing that way lately and it’s been amazing. We get all of the structure, melodies, and chord patterns done before adding anything else. Then we add all of the sounds to make it Xelli, I write the lyrics at home, and then we cut vocals and produce it out. Those are usually the best songs.
What were some of the inspirations behind Meet Me at the Waterfall?
It’s an EP that reflects on love and loss. Not just in a romantic sense. ‘When You Go, You’re Gone’ sounds like it would be about longing for a person, but it’s actually about how much I miss playing shows (it’s been almost 2 years). ‘I Know I’m Only Dreaming (Nag-iisa)’ is about someone losing a family member or partner to death, I wanted to make that song because there is so much death happening on a global level due to Covid this year. Half of it is sung in Tagalog because I’m half Filipino and it’s been crazy that we’re all experiencing the same fears throughout the world. ‘Bad For You’ was inspired by high levels of dopamine and actually falling in love with someone who I knew would probably break my heart.
What was it like collaborating with your friend and producer Jon Zott?
It’s honestly the best. We’re both from Detroit now living in LA and we go way back. He knows my musical journey and so there was already this deep understanding when started working together. And it’s just really fun, he’s one of my closest friends so it’s all very casual and easy. Our style mesh really well so the songs come naturally.
Do you have a favourite song from the EP?
Probably ‘02 20 20’. The day that it was written was just such a special but also ordinary day. I will forever be nostalgic for it. It was right before Covid hit and my friends and I were feeling so excited and hopeful for the future. The song itself captures that collective feeling and it brings me back to a more simple time.
How do you feel now that the project is out into the world, and what are your plans for the future?
It feels great to have a body of work out and I feel proud of it and excited for people to connect with it. I’m even more excited about what we’re working on now. I always feel like every release is a stepping stone to the next, and the project keeps evolving and becoming better. I’m going to keep releasing music next year and start getting a live show together and eventually play shows one day (hopefully). I’ll also be releasing a ‘Meet Me At The Waterfall’ cassette with the EP and a bunch of dope remixes of the songs soon!
CHAI have shared a new cover of Mariya Takeuchi’s 1984 track ‘Plastic Love’. Listen to it below.
CHAI’s take on Takeuchi’s city pop classic follows the Japanese band’s latest single ‘Donuts Mind If I Do’, their first release for new record label Sub Pop. The 7″ release for that song, which is out now, includes ‘Plastic Love’ as a B-side. Earlier this year, CHAI teamed up with Hinds for the joint single ‘UNITED GIRLS ROCK’N’ROLL CLUB’. They released their debut album PUNK last year.
Following her recently released studio album Silver Ladders, experimental/ambient harpist and composer Mary Lattimore has shared a one-off single called ‘Hold Your Breath’. The new track appeared on Lattimore’s Bandcamp page yesterday (November 6) alongside the description, “Made this up in a wild week.” Check it out below.
Silver Ladders, which was produced by Slowdive frontman Neil Halstead, came out last month via Ghostly International. It marked the follow-up to the Los Angeles-based artist’s 2018’s album Hundreds of Days.
BENEE has shared a new single from her upcoming debut albumHey u xcalled ‘Happen to Me’. Check it out below, alongside an accompanying lyric video.
“This song is super important to me. It’s the opening track [on the album],” BENEE said of the track in an interview with Vogue Australia. “It’s the first song where I’ve written about anxiety. The lyrics are pretty dark. Life is pretty crazy right now, and I think it’s important to talk about this kind of stuff.”
Hey u x is out next Friday, November 13 (via Republic). It features contributions from Gus Dapperton, Mallrat, Kenny Beats, Bakar, and Muroki, and includes the previously released singles ‘Plain’, ‘Supalonely’, ‘Night Garden’, and ‘Snail’.
Björk has collaborated with the Icelandic Hamrahlid Choir for a new version of her track ‘Cosmogony’. Originally taken from Björk’s 2012 album Biophilia, the acapella rendition of the track was first performed by the Hamrahlíð Choir at the premiere performance of Björk’s Cornucopia show at The Shed, New York, last year. Check it out below.
“i was myself in this choir when i was 16 and i think every single icelandic musician you have ever heard of was brought up and musically baptised by [Hamrahlid Choir founder Þorgerður Ingólfsdóttir],” Björk explained in a statement on social media. “þorgerður is a legend in iceland and has guarded optimism and the light in the tumultuous times that teenagedom is. she has also encouraged and commissioned dozens of choir music from all of icelands most prominant composers for half a century or so.”
The new version of ‘Cosmogony’ will appear on the Hamrahlid Choir’s upcoming album Come and Be Joyful, set for release on December 4 via One Little Independent Records (f.k.a. One Little Indian). The record will also see Björk contribute a new version of her Medúlla composition ‘Sonnets’.
"i was myself in this choir when i was 16 and i think every single icelandic musician you have ever heard of was brought up and musically baptised by this miraculous woman"
Rosie Carney has shared two more tracks from her full-length cover project of Radiohead’s 1995 album The Bends. Listen to the Irish singer-songwriter’s take on ‘Black Star’ and ‘Just’ below.
“One of my favourite things about this song is the non-sugar coated realness of it,” Carney said of ‘Black Star’ in a statement. “It’s very bleak and sad when you start to realise a relationship is on its way out. I feel like everyone has been in that situation where you just kind of aimlessly fill your day with crap to distract yourself from thinking about someone (even though you are the whole time).”
She added: “Throughout the record I tried to keep as many songs in their original key as possible, but when I started learning ‘Black Star,’ I wanted it to feel like I was almost talking in the verses. So I purposely lowered it to the point it was nearly uncomfortable for me to sing. The words are so direct and bleak and honest I didn’t want to risk them going unheard.”
Carney’s version of The Bends arrives on December 11 via Color Study. It includes her previously released rendition of ‘Bones’.
Chicago-born, Atlanta-based rapper King Von was shot and killed outside of an Atlanta nightclub early Friday morning (November 6). He was 26 years old.
According to Atlanta police deputy chief Timothy Peek (via the Atlanta Journal Constitution), the confrontation involved two groups of men and two off-duty police officers. Three people have died from wounds suffered during the incident, while three others have been hospitalized. Police reported in a statement that the investigators believe that “the rapper was shot during the initial shootout between the two groups of males, prior to police responding and attempting to stop the shooting.” Von passed away at the hospital after being driven there via private vehicle, the statement continued. The investigation remains open.
Born Dayvon Bennett on August 9th, 1994, King Von grew up in the South side of Chicago. He was childhood friends with with fellow MCs Lil Durk and Chief Keef, and signed with Durk’s Only the Family (OTF) label shortly after he began rapping in 2018. Bennett had several run-ins with the law as a teenager before pursuing a career in rap music; in 2012, he was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm, while in 2014, he faced a count of first degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. He spent three-and-a-half years in Cook County Jail before he was eventually acquitted.
An early innovator in the Chicago drill scene, Von found success with his 2018 single ‘Crazy Story’ and went on to release two mixtapes this year, LeVon James and Welcome to O’Block. His debut album, Welcome to O-Block, came out just a week ago. It featured guest contributions from Lil Durk, Polo G, Moneybagg Yo, Fivio Foreign, and others.
“King Von was a luminary — a natural storyteller, an artist on the verge of superstardom who had so much more to give the world,” representatives for Bennet wrote in a statement. “He overcame myriad unjust circumstances yet remained steadfastly dedicated to giving back to the community that raised him, O’Block. He was a devoted father, a deeply loyal friend, and a man who took care of his people before himself. We are heartbroken for his family, his friends, his team, and his fans. Long live King Von.”
Following the tragic news of his death, figures across the hip-hop community have paid tribute to King Von. Find their remembrances below.
Wow. This year was so tough. rip von God bless him and his family I can’t believe it
I’ll never be the same I just hope you visit me in all my dreams I just wanna sleep so I can picture us again I just wanna close my eyes & never open then again…. Von I’m gone 💔
2 Chainz has shared a new single called ‘Quarantine Thick’, featuring fellow Atlanta rapper Mulatto. It arrives with an accompanying music video directed by Bryan Barber. Check it out below.
The new track is taken from 2 Chainz’s forthcoming album So Help Me God. The follow-up to 2019’s Rap Or Go To The League was previously slated for release on September 25, but is now set to come out next Friday, November 13 (via Def Jam).
Mulatto, a member of XXL’s 2020 Freshman Class, issued her debut project Queen of da Souf via RCA this past August.
The Dawdler has released a new single called ‘Sign of Growth’. It serves as the title track to the singer-songwriter’s upcoming EP, out November 20 via Akira Records. Check it out below.
According to a press release, ‘Sign of Growth’ was by inspired by the short film Dear Araucaria and tells the story of the Guardian’s crossword setter John Graham, who let his dedicated followers know of his impending death in the form of crossword clues – one of them being, ‘sign of growth (6)’. “It destroyed me. The way Araucaria connected to his solvers,” John Edgar (The Dawdler) said. “Deep bonds formed through codes and clues, never having met any of his devotees. It’s just an utterly beautiful story. Needless to say, I love crosswords.”
Previously, the Dawdler shared the lead single ‘Dark Clouds’, Crocodile’, and ‘Lava Lamps’, the latter of which raised £800 for mental health charities Mind and Breathing Space through downloads and T-shirt sales.
