Carly Rae Jepsen has released a new Christmas song called ‘It’s Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries’. Written with Benjamin Romans, CJ Baran, and James Flannigan, the new track finds Jepsen singing about a dysfunctional holiday gathering: “My boyfriend is a vegan so they fed him fish/ My uncle made it worse by talkin’ politics/ I had a few opinions/ Might’ve started a fight.” Check it out below.
“I love the old fashioned movies and the family traditions and the excitement of gifting presents and decorating the tree and and and… my list is endless,” Jepsen said in a statement. “But each year the pressure to have the perfect Christmas always ends in tears. I call it Christmas versus expectation.”
She added: “Christmas holiday is my favorite time of year. I love it, but so often emotions run high and expectation versus reality is something I’d like to shed some light on and hopefully some laughs too in the process. So if you are lucky enough to get to be with the ones that matter most to you this year-embrace it! And if things go south just remember, the secret is to sing a little song to survive… that it’s not Christmas till somebody cries!”
Dua Lipa has enlisted Belgian singer-songwriter Angèle for a new song called ‘Fever’. Check it out below.
Dua Lipa’s sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, came out back in March of this year. A remix edition of the album titled Club Future Nostalgia dropped in August, which boasted guest contributions from Gwen Stefani, Mark Ronson, BLACKPINK, and more. Lipa also recently featured on Sia’s charity single ‘Saved My Life’ and J Balvin’s ‘UN DÍA (ONE DAY)’.
Legendary composer Danny Elfman has shared his first new solo song in 36 years. Arriving just in time for Halloween, ‘Happy’ is out now via ANTI-/Epitaph Records and comes with an accompanying music video directed by Aron Johnson. Check it out below.
“I originally wrote ‘Happy’ to perform at Coachella 2020,” Elfman said in a press release. “It was written to be an absurd anti-pop song, designed to begin as a very simple pop tune that degrades into something more subversive. The cynical nature of the lyrics echo how I feel about living in a semi-dystopian world turned upside down.”
He continued: “Halloween has always been my Big Night. As a child there was no competition. Coincidently, in my earlier band Oingo Boingo, our Halloween shows became special events and our biggest shows of the year. And double coincidently The Nightmare Before Christmas also became a special live Concert Halloween event, which became more successful than I’d ever dreamed possible. This really meant a lot to me as the character of Jack Skellington, who I related to quite closely, has for many years been a very special part of my life.”
‘Happy’ features contributions from drummer Josh Freese (of the Vandals and Nine Inch Nails), guitarist Nili Brosh (of Dethklok), and bassist Stu Brooks (of Dub Trio), with additional synth design from Randall Dunn.
The Avalanches have shared the latest preview from their upcoming album We Will Always Love You. It’s called ‘Interstellar Love’ and it features Leon Bridges. The track was inspired by the love affair between Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan and samples the Alan Parsons Project’s ‘Eye in the Sky’. Check it out below.
“Leon is an incredible singer, with just the most beautiful voice,” the Avalanches’ Robbie Chater said in a statement. “He’s from Texas but we both happened to be in L.A. at the same time, which was lucky as he was on my all-time wish list. When we were in the studio, I told him the story about Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan and how her lovestruck brain waves were sent out into space on the Voyager’s Golden Record. And this song came out of that.”
We Will Always Love You, the follow-up to 2016’s Wildflower, comes out December 11 via Astralwerks. Throughout 2020, the group have shared a series of singles, including ‘Running Red Lights’ with Rivers Cuomo and Pink Siifu, ‘We Will Always Love You’ with Blood Orange, and ‘Wherever You Go’ with Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry, and CLYPSO, and ‘Take Care in Your Dreaming’ featuring Denzel Curry, Tricky, and Sampa the Great.
Netsky, a legend in the Drum & Bass scene, has unveiled his new album Second Nature, today. To talk about the album, COVID-19, and his plans for 2021, Netsky joined me for an interview.
Firstly, how are you, and how have you been coping with the current COVID-19 crisis?
I’m doing good thank you! It’s been a difficult period but with all the cancelled plans this year has also given me time to work hard in studio, reflect on the past couple of years and think outside the box when it comes to getting music out there.
You recently released your song ‘Blend’ with the amazing Rudimental, how did the collaboration come about and how did the idea for the song evolve?
I’ve been friends with Rudimental for a long time. We’re both really feeling dance floor drum & bass right now. I had a sketch I played to them backstage at one of their shows here in Belgium and we decided to spend a couple of days at their studio in London to finish it. We worked on multiple ideas over the past couple of years. I’m sure this isn’t the last collaboration we’ll do together!
You are a household name in the world of Drum and Bass, how do you feel the scene has shifted over the years you have been producing music?
Drum & Bass is a genre that always had a nice passionate loyal fanbase all over the world. Drum & Bass has a massive variety of substreams/sub genres. Musically there’s a lot of ways to go with this genre. I think that’s what helps keeping it fresh.
Your album ‘Second Nature’ comes out on the 30th of October, when did you decide to make another album and what is the inspiration behind it?
This album is all about going back to the atmosphere around 2010, when it all started for me. I tried to have a similar workflow on how I made my first tunes.
It’s about reconnecting to the past but also about taking a step back and isolating from outside distractions.
In terms of new favourites, has there been any contemporary artists you discovered during COVID-19?
I’ve rediscovered a love for English rap and r&b with Loyle Carner and Jorja Smith. Also listened to lots of jazz influenced beats like for example Athletic Progression.
If you could give any advice to a young kid who wants to become a music producer, what would it be?
Collaborate as much as you can. Try find ways to become part of an online community to share knowledge. Don’t release any music that sounds too much like your favourite song. Identity is everything when you’re getting started.
With 2021 looking uncertain, do you have any hopes for a big tour in 2021?
Hopefully yes! I’m hoping to go to New Zealand at the end of the year for a couple of shows to start with. In terms of Europe and UK, nobody knows what’s next.
I think festivals here will have to work together and come up with a plan that follows the same rules all over Europe. Maybe it could involve quick tests at venue entrances? I don’t see a future for social distanced ‘bubble’ events on a large scale. Best case scenario would be a world-wide distributed vaccine of course.
Mogwai have announced a new album called As the Love Continues. It arrives February 19, 2021, via Temporary Residence Ltd./Rock Action. The band has also shared the first preview from the record titled ‘Dry Fantasy’. Listen to it below, and scroll down for the album’s cover artwork and tracklist.
As the Love Continues follows on from Mogwai’s 2017 LP Every Country’s Sun. It was recorded earlier this year in Worcestershire, England, with producer Dave Fridmann and features contributions from Atticus Ross (‘Midnight Flit’) and Colin Stetson (‘Pat Stains’). Therelease date of the album will coincide with the 25 year anniversary of the band’s debut single, ‘Tuner’/’Lower’. As the Love Continues will be available will on vinyl, digital, and CD formats, as well a special edition box set that includes the CD, colored double-vinyl, a single LP featuring live album demo tracks, and a photo book.
As the Love Continues Cover Artwork:
As the Love Continues Tracklist:
1. To The Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth
2. Here We, Here We, Here We Go Forever
3. Dry Fantasy
4. Ritchie Sacramento
5. Drive The Nail
6. Fuck Off Money
7. Ceiling Granny
8. Midnight Flit
9. Pat Stains
10. Supposedly, We Were Nightmares
11. It’s What I Want To Do, Mum
In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on October 30th, 2020:
Ariana Grande, positions
Ariana Grande is back with her sixth studio album, positions, via Republic Records. The pop singer’s latest follows last year’s widely successful thank u, next and features guest appearances from Doja Cat, the Weeknd and Ty Dolla Sign. The record contains 14 songs, including the previously released title track, which came with a music video starring Grande as President of the United States. Tommy Brown, Peter Lee Johnson, Mr. Fanks, Xavi, Shae Taylor, The Rascals, and others contributed production to the album.
Sam Smith,Love Goes
Sam Smith has returned with their third studio album, Love Goes, out now via Capitol. The follow-up to 2017’s The Thrill of It was originally called To Die For and was set for release in June but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Smith has described Love Goes as their “first proper heartbreak album,” explaining in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe: “I’d say [this was] the first proper time I’ve been actually heartbroken. That feeling of they’re gone, you can’t sleep, the really, really bad feeling. The others were the idea of it and it was pure unrequited love. This, I would like to say that we loved each other. So, I definitely, definitely loved him. So yeah, it was proper.” The album includes the previously released singles ‘My Oasis’, Diamonds’, and ‘Kids Again’.
Oneohtrix Point Never, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never has released his latest album Magic Oneohtrix Point Never via Warp. The title is a reference to the original full name of his electronic project, which came as a result of mishearing a radio station jingle that he grew up with (Boston’s Magic 106.7). The record follows a pair of EPs in 2018, The Station and Love in the Time of Lexapro, as well as his 2018 LP Age Of. It was co-executive produced by the Weeknd’s Abel Tesfaye and includes contributions from Arca, Caroline Polachek, Nate Boyce, and Nolanberollin. According to a statement, the album “loosely summons the broadcasting logic of radio dayparts, switching on in the morning and closing very late at night, while seamlessly latticed together with kaleidoscopic, twitchy transformations of sound between the dials to form a darkly humorous reflection on American music culture.”
Mourn,Self-Worth
Mourn have come through with their fourth full-length record, Self Worth, out now via Captured Tracks. The Barcelona indie rock outfit’s latest follows 2018’s Sorpresa Familia an includes the previously released singles ‘Call You Back’, ‘This Feeling is Disgusting’, ‘Men’, and ‘Stay Back’. Speaking about the album for our Artist Spotlight feature, Mourn explained: “This new album is the result of a year of listening to what we needed as human beings and as members of the band. Suddenly, when you do what feels right and what liberates you from things you realised weren’t healthy behaviours, you feel empowered. Checking on your human relationships and deciding what you can’t accept anymore and changing them has been an idea that follows the album.”
Other albums out today:
Common, A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 1; Elvis Costello, Hey Clockface; War On Women, Wonderful Hell; Andrew Bird, Hark!, Nothing, The Great Dismal; Eels, Earth To Dora; 2 Chainz, So Help Me God; Tobacco Hot, Wet & Sassy.
Vania, a rising star in the world of music, has released a music video for her second asingle ‘Wonder.’ The single itself was released on the 4th of September and is now accompanied by a music video which was shot by Vania’s twin sister Christa Sousa.
Talking about the music video Vania said: “I went into this with not much of a concept other than I wanted nature and I wanted to move in it. Armed with an iPhone, my twin sis, Christa, filmed as we frolicked around Liberty State Park. Lucky me, she’s got an eye for following movements and a knack for making the subject feel comfortable in their skin.”
Martha Skye Murphy was just 9 years old when she first collaborated with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, recording vocals for the soundtrack to John Hillcoat’s 2005 Western The Proposition. In 2013, she contributed backing vocals to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ spacious and contemplative Push the Sky Away and accompanied them on their subsequent tour. These early experiences had a profound influence on Murphy, who grew up in an artistic environment in South East London before going on to study History of Art at Cambridge University. Like Cave, the singer-songwriter and actor has a penchant for combining a dark sense of theatricality with pure emotional expression, two creative modes that are often seen as mutually exclusive. Inspired by classical literature, and specifically Ovid’s Heroides, her 2018 debut EP of the same name showcased her ethereal vocals as they coiled around dramatic piano and string arrangements, while her first EP of 2020, Heal, is more minimal and abstract, invoking the haunting soundscapes of a Grouper album. She casts these hypnotic qualities in a new light on her forthcoming EP, Yours Truly, whose strikingly potent title track brims with slow-burning intensity before culminating in a hair-raising crescendo. Just yesterday, she shared another preview from the EP, ‘Self Tape’, an intimate piano ballad that simmers without reaching any obvious conclusion, instead dissolving into thin air. Martha Skye Murphy’s music has a way of pulling you into its an immersive world, but you never really know where it might leave you – and that’s exactly what renders it so mesmerizing.
We caught up with Martha Skye Murphy 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.
I love the visceral intensity of your single ‘Yours Truly’, especially as the song reaches its climax. How did you go about constructing the track, and what were some of the inspirations behind it?
Thank you! Originally the structure I wrote was based around a tender haunting which developed into an unexpected exorcism. But then when Andrew (Sarlo) and I were recording Yours Truly in the studio, we accidentally started making this outro from all the prospective backing vocals which were like the ghosts of the song. That ending completes the whole world of Yours Truly for me. Nothing really ends in silence or as simply as I had planned the song to. The tsunami starts by whispering to the water, then heaving up this climactic wave, pausing grandly before rushing in, but the storm that follows lingers quietly and for much longer than its aggressor. That’s how I see Yours Truly. There’s ghosts and shadows throughout but for me the most frightening and affecting are the slowest moving; you don’t even realise they’re there.
About your new EP, you’ve said that you found yourself resorting to the voice of a child as a way to “confront the topic of ‘dishonesty’.” What do you feel you took away from channelling that voice, and how do you think it might influence your songwriting process going into the future?
Children have a conflicting relationship to deception and truth. They can be excellent liars yet also have a profound skill in telling you how it is! On the one hand I was interested in how childish behaviour manifests and on the other, in how by adopting the voice of an innocent I was able to explore a method of expression that exemplified the human’s capacity to feel such an extreme range of contradictory emotions. When people play at being adults it’s interesting to spot when they’re suppressing, modifying or hiding behind a veneer of ‘self’; one that is projected and dishonest. This partly comes from an enforced societal expectation for people to ‘grow up’. So without parenting, disciplining or taming myself within the songs, writing instantaneously and not labouring over them too much, the unpredictable structures and sometimes incomplete and abstract narratives came to life.
Through the voice of a child, I was able to further investigate how to entertain and play with an audience’s perception of listening to the ‘truth’.
You were quite young when you first worked with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. What are your memories of that initial collaboration?
Naivety and excitement! I didn’t really know what was going on, I just liked performing and singing to people and this was the by-product of that. When we recorded the title track, the hymn Happy Land, in one or two takes, I remember thinking even as a 9 year old, ‘I hope that I’ve sung that the best I could have’, and being worried I might have struggled to hit some notes and that that might matter because this was for a film, not my normal audience of parents and sister. Now, when I listen back, it is that struggling naive voice that makes it such a beautiful performance and piece of music; all the more disturbing and fitting for the content of The Proposition’s opening credits.
Maybe this memory is the root of my artistic interests in prioritising the raw over the rehearsed…
What’s something you learned from touring with them years later for Push the Sky Away?
That there can be 30 musicians on stage and 3000 people in the crowd but if you’re a truly good story teller, you can make the audience believe there’s only 2: them and you.
In addition to being a musician, you’re also an actor. What role does that kind of multidisciplinarity play in your work?
It means that the music is both a parasite and a feeder, it’s a database and also a portal to access other mediums of expression and interests for me. The multidisciplinary approach is just part of my nature, I look for meaning, inspiration and art in everything around me whether it’s real or imagined. I’d like to challenge the multi-disciplinary aspects of the work much further.
What are some things you’re looking forward to in the not-so-distant future?
That’s for me to know and you to find out (sooner or later)!
Martha Skye Murphy’s Yours Truly EP is out November 13.
Crowded House are back with their first song in over a decade. ‘Whatever You Want’ arrives with a video directed by Nina Ljeti (who recently directed the video for Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘Kyoto’) and starring Mac DeMarco. It was recorded by group leader Neil Finn along with Nick Seymour, producer and keyboardist Mitchell Froom, guitarist and singer Liam Finn, and drummer Elroy Finn. Check it out below.
In the clip, DeMarco makes his acting debut as a man who wakes up hungover after a party. Talking about the video, Flinn said in a statement: “Waking up with the fear after last night’s revelry. We can all relate to that. Thanks to Mac for working through the pain and showing us redemption.”
Back in May, Neil Finn collaborated with Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie for a song benefitting the Auckland City Mission, an organization that provides shelter to Auckland’s homeless population.
Daniel Lopatin aka 
