A few days ago, Mariah Carey announced The Rarities, a new collection of B-sides, unreleased songs, and live recordings from the pop singer’s three-decade-long career. Now, she’s previewed the 15-track LP with a new song called ‘Save the Day’, which samples Lauryn Hill’s vocals from the Fugees’ ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’. Listen to it below.
The new collection will coincide with the publication of a new memoir called The Meaning Of Mariah Carey, arriving at the end of September. “It took me a lifetime to have the courage and the clarity to write my memoir,” Carey wrote in a statement upon its announcement. “I want to tell the story of the moments — the ups and downs, the triumphs and traumas, the debacles and dreams, that contributed to the person I am today.”
Speaking about its connection to the album, she told Good Morning America: “The cool thing about this project is that there are songs that I talk about writing or recording even as a little kid until now that I found in the vault, and so we’re kind of putting this out at the same time.”
The Rarities is set for release on October 2nd via Sony.
Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z have teamed up for a new song called ‘Entrepreneur’. The single is part of Pharrell’s TIME cover package, ‘The New American Revolution’, which includes interviews with Angela Davis, Tyler the Creator, and others. Check it out below, alongside an accompanying music video directed by Calmatic.
“The intention for a song was all about how tough it is to be an entrepreneur in our country to begin with,” Williams explained to the publication. “Especially as someone of color, there’s a lot of systemic disadvantages and purposeful blockages. How can you get a fire started, or even the hope of an ember to start a fire, when you’re starting at disadvantages with regards to health care, education and representation?”
“In this position with no choice/The system imprison young Black boys/Distract with white noise,” Pharrell says in the track. Jay-Z raps: “Black Twitter, what’s that? When Jack gets paid, do you?”
After much teasing, BTS have released their first single entirely in English, ‘Dynamite’. The K-pop superstars’ latest comes with an accompanying music video directed by Lumpens‘ Yong Seok Choi. Check it out below.
Earlier this month, BTS announced a new concert film titled Break the Silence: The Movie, which comes out in September. The K-pop group are also set to perform during the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards on August 30th, where they will give the new track its live debut. They released their latest LP Map of the Soul: 7in February, followed by a Japanese-language version in July.
In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on August 21st, 2020:
Bright Eyes, Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
Bright Eyes are back with their first new album in 9 years. Titled Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was, the long-awaited follow-up to 2011’s The People’s Key is out now via Dead Oceans. Featuring contributions from Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Flea on bass and Queens of the Stone Age’s Jon Theodore on drums, the album includes the previously released singles ‘Persona Non Grata’, ‘Forced Convalescence’, ‘One and Done’, and ‘Mariana Trench’. “We wanted to invoke some elements of our oldest records,” singer Conor Oberst told NME back in April. “The sounds aren’t all pristine and super-manicured. We wanted to feel like the band we started as kids who were into punk rock and stuff like that. My favourite stuff walks the line between the human, raw, emotional and unhinged qualities, but with a little more sophisticated approach.”
The Killers, Imploding the Mirage
The Killers have returned with their sixth studio album, Imploding the Mirage, via Island. Following 2017’s Wonderful Wonderful, the record was co-produced by Shawn Everett and Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado and recorded in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Park City, Utah. It features guest appearances from the likes of Lindsey Buckingham, Weyes Blood, The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel, Blake Mills, and more. Speaking to NME, Flowers explained that the reason the band chose to record part of the album in Utah was because it was where he “fell in love with music for the first time”, adding that that it was “interesting to be there again and hear some of that music with the geography matching the sensation. Some of that stuff is starting to resurface and a lot of that had to do with synthesizer music. It’s always been part of our DNA but it’s definitely creeping up.”
Nas, King’s Disease
Announced just a few days ago, Nas has come through with a new studio album called King’s Disease, out now via Mass Appeal. Executive produced by Hit-Boy, it marks his 13th studio album and the follow-up to last year’s outtakes collection The Lost Tapes 2 as well as his 2018 collaborative project with Kanye West, Nasir. “I’ve been trying to do this with this man for years,” Nas said of his collaboration with Hit-Boy in a clip he shared on socials. “We’ve got the time, that alignment.” The 12-track LP includes the single ‘Ultra Black’ and features a star-studded list of guest appearances from the likes of Lil Durk, Anderson Paak, Fivio Foreign, Big Sean, ASAP Ferg, and more.
Siv Jakobsen, A Temporary Soothing
Oslo-based singer-songwriter Siv Jakobsen has released her sophomore studio album, A Temporary Soothing, via U OK?. Following her stunning full-length debut The Nordic Mellow in 2017, Jakobsen took a necessary break from touring and recording in 2018 and is now back with a new LP produced by Chris Bond (Ben Howard, Nick Mulvey) and mixed by Zach Hanson (Bon Iver, Tallest Man on Earth). “At this point the record feels like a big melting pot of ideas, hunches, thoughts, dreams and emotions,” she explained in our Artist Spotlight interview. “A sort of guideline I gave myself when going into the writing process with this record was that I wanted to be less critical and nit-picky in regard to the songwriting. I tend to slave over lyrics for a really long time, but I wanted to let myself go a little to see what would happen. As far as the recording goes it was important to me that everyone involved felt free to try whatever ideas they had, no matter how crazy, no matter how weird.”
The Front Bottoms, In Sickness & In Flames
The Front Bottoms have put out their seventh studio album, In Sickness & In Flames, via Atlantic Records. The New Jersey duo’s latest marks their first full-length LP since 2017’s Going Grey. “Earlier this year, we made a new album and decided to name it In Sickness & In Flames,” the band explained in a statement. “When we were writing the album and settling on the title, it meant something completely different to us. We could have never imagined where the world would be just six months later. In true TFB style this album has developed into something of its own that we no longer control the narrative of.”
Other albums out today:
The Lemon Twigs, SongsFor The General Public; Bully, SUGAREGG;Bent Arcana, Bent Arcana; No Joy, Motherhood; Guided By Voices, Mirrored Aztec; Erasure, The Neon; Secret Machines, Αwake In The Brain Chamber.
After the release of their four-track EP Sober, the duo behind Aquilo have revealed a music video for their song Moving On. The song reminds us of a chilled-out mood, Tame Impala-like sound that floats beautifully with a crisp, ear-pleasing drums and ghost-like vocals.
Chatting about the music video, Aquilo said: “We started thinking about making a video for ‘Moving On’ during lockdown. It wasn’t the ideal time to make a music video, so we started thinking about how we could film our own that we could do while socially distancing, without needing a big crew.
Tom came up with this idea based on a SnorriCam that he’d picked up. It’s a camera rig which fixes onto an actor’s body and only shows their facial expressions. The rest of what’s happening around him is left up to the imagination. Once restrictions had eased we were able to shoot the video. Kris brought along Nathan, who played the part pretty much how we imagined. We even had a little cameo, but we’ll leave you to find that.
The whole concept of this EP is the four stages of a break-up with ‘Moving On’ being the last, so it made sense to have this dramatic accompaniment to tie it all off. Hope you enjoy it.”
Alaskan Tapes, an ambient music producer out of Toronto, Canada, has unveiled his latest euphonious piece We. The piece comes after the 2019 album release of Views from Sixteen Stories.
Talking about how the song was recorded and how it came about, he said: “We was recorded during the first phase of the pandemic when everyone was trying to get used to being alone. Writing this track was the only way I could find comfort in the solitude. It was recorded on my old Spinnet piano, and is intentionally kind of ugly, in a nice way.”
Finn Foxell, a rising British rapper and artist, has revealed his latest single Make It Count. The single comes before the release of his forthcoming EP Talk Is Cheap. With Make It Count, Foxell takes a new direction in his style; he changes up from rapping to singing, displaying the diversity of his talents. Lauren Ralph produced the song itself.
As a rapper, Foxell is most widely known for his 2017 song Buddha, and his 2018 eight-track album Stuck in Motion. Just before lockdown, Foxell headlined a sell-out show at Peckham Audio and last year performed at the respected Boiler Room festival.
Make It Count is available to be streamed via Spotify.
Ever since the premiere of Manyara back in 2019 on Our Culture, the beloved Kendl, has been on our radar. To mark and celebrate the release of his new EP Dreamlike, Kendl joined us for an interview to talk about his latest release, his influences and how he has evolved over the years as an artist.
Firstly, how are you, what have you been up to since quarantine?
I’ve been well! It’s crazy to think this life lin lockdown has become the new normal. Like most people, though I’m just trying not to go mad, haha. It’s been good having the extra focus on music, but at the same time, it’s been challenging without a change of scenery for so long, which is important for my mind to keep creatively stimulated. Not all doom and gloom, though! It’s been great being able to spend more time with the fam (my better half and my dog Billie). I’ve jumped on the bread-making wagon while in iso. So gone are the days where a dense bun compromises my homemade burger. Other than that, I’ve just been doing my best to stay on top of my health mentally and physically.
Releasing new music during this time has been really good for my spirits. Initially, it felt like a weird time to be putting out new music and I wasn’t sure how to go about doing so, but it has helped me feel a lot less isolated connecting with people through this new music.
Dreamlike has been a long-awaited EP of yours, how did the idea start for it?
I bought a medium size upright piano, which was long-awaited! The melodic ideas all started there. I’ve been quite spellbound by the piano, it’s such a beautiful instrument and in turn, it has inspired the feel throughout the EP. There was a fair bit of daydreaming involved while writing the music, which I find is the best state of mind to be in while fishing for ideas. Hence the title.
You’ve gained a respected amount of recognition on platforms like Spotify, how has the digital age influence the way you mould and plan your releases?
I’m very grateful with how my music has been received and supported on these platforms.
It’s been a huge learning experience releasing and promoting my music over the years. As a self-managed and unsigned artist, I’ve found it to be quite overwhelming at times, especially around planning releases due to the many varying forms of advice out there on ‘how to build your career as an artist’. I found the internet can be a double-edged sword in that way. I’m always learning and always will be. Right now my attention is more focused on what’s most important and in my control.
It’s clear that you have evolved as an artist over time, how has your creative process changed over time?
I think back to when I put out my first set of releases and my journey since then. Navigating the music industry has had its share of pleasant and unpleasant experiences as well as a lot of change and growth in my personal life. All of which have had an impact on my sound and in turn, my creative approach. Over the past few years, I’ve become much more in tune with my feelings and who I am. There have been some barriers that I’ve had to overcome to get myself closer to sharing the music that best conveys my point of view.
In terms of process – one of the biggest changes has come from now having physical instrumentation to work with. I bought my first synthesizer as I was finishing up my debut EP. Since then I’ve been slowly acquiring various hardware synths and acoustic instruments. Having physical instruments that I can play and get hands-on with feels more intuitive for me.
In terms of your sound, what has influenced it the most over the years?
My sound is shaped partly by being a self-taught musician. Music has been an emotional vent for me and a therapy I’ve relied on since I was a kid. My mum was a music teacher, so there were often wind instruments on stands in the living room and a piano. I never really wanted to learn how to “play” an instrument growing up or read sheet, probably because of my ADD I was far too distracted. I was more interested in freely playing instruments and allowing my imagination to create sounds and textures I enjoyed. I feel like the lack of rules from being self-taught has given me this free flow approach, which just means I rely on my ears and being in tune with my sound palette and what does and doesn’t work musically.
Finally, what is next for you?
I’m planning to have another body of work finished by the end of the year as my pandemic goal. I’m keen to do some live studio sessions, too. Other than that, I plan to get out and going camping as soon as I’m allowed and making more bread.
Headie One, Stormzy, and AJ Tracey have joined forces for a new collaborative track called ‘Ain’t It Different’. The first single from Headie One’s upcoming album Edna, the song was produced by FRED and Toddla T and notably samples M-Dubs ‘Bump and Grind’ as well as Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ ‘Pretty Little Ditty’. Check it out below, alongside an accompanying music video directed by Taz Tron Delix.
‘Ain’t It Different’ follows on from the success of ‘Only You Freestyle’ featuring Drake, who called Headie “the best drill artist in the world.” AJ Tracey recently released the hit single ‘West Ten’ with Mabel, while Stormzy released his latest studio album, Heavy is the Head, late last year, earning him a Mercury Prize nomination.
There is now less competition to have the wedding of the year, as the number of marriages has fallen to a record low. Get inspired to have the most talked-about wedding by checking out the latest trends and designers. You might be looking for unusual ways to accessorise a suit for the groom, or you may be looking for the best bridal gown. Here are some ideas on where to look for inspiration.
Be A Trend-Setter
The year 2019 saw many unusual trends, from from pets attending weddings to colourful bridal gowns. In 2020, colour seems to be here to stay, particularly in bridal dresses, but also for flowers and décor, replacing the traditional white wedding. Many wedding planners are looking for dried or artificial flowers as opposed to a traditional bunch of posies, likely due to increased interest in becoming more eco-friendly. Non-traditional dresses are trending, with many opting to avoid dresses altogether in favour of skirts, jumpsuits and tuxedos.
Be Inspired
To ensure you are on-trend with your engagement ring, check out what your favourite celebrities are wearing. Priyanka Chopra’s square-cut diamond was extremely popular, as was the Duchess of Cambridge’s blue sapphire. For dresses, many boutiques such as Katya Katya or Phillipa Lepley, both in London, do sample sales where dresses on display are sold for a fraction of the price. Alternatively, the Rosa Clara collection for 2020 has a selection of contemporary, feminine designs for brides who love white. Vera Wang’s collection has a selection of dresses in ivory, pink, and even black for a non-traditional look.
Where to Shop
Independent bridal stores often stock the latest trends but may also be able to make something unique if you have an idea in mind. The average wedding in 2019 cost around £31,974; therefore a few price hacks means you will make your budget. Many brides have been searching vintage fashion websites such as Vestiaire for wedding dresses and accessories: a sustainable and affordable option. For those who cannot part with the idea of a unique, new dress, sites such as David’s Bridal provide a user-friendly online shopping experience.
There appears to be a pattern in wedding trends for this year, with many going for eco-friendly accessories or choosing pre-loved outfits. Keep searching in your favourite stores for something off the hanger to create a unique, authentic vintage-look wedding.
Bright Eyes
The Killers
Announced just a few days ago, 
Oslo-based singer-songwriter 
