blink-182 have shared a new song called ‘Quarantine’. Evidently written over the past few months, the track was recorded by longtime members Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker and co-written by Brian Lee, with no involvement from singer/guitarist Matt Skiba, who replaced Tom DeLonge in 2015, Exclaim reports. Listen to it below.
“Quarantine, f*ck this disease,” Hoppus sings during the chorus of the new track. “I’d rather be on Star Tours or stuck at the DMV/ Quarantine, no not for me/ I thought that things were f*cked up in 2019/ F*ck quarantine.”
blink-182 released their latest album, Nine, in 2019. Recently, drummer Travis Barker joined forces with Run the Jewels for a joint single titled ‘Forever’, which was one of our favourites of that week. Yesterday also saw the release of a Mark Hoppus-approved tribute to blink-182’s Dude Ranch, featuring contributions from Joyce Manor, Rozwell Kid, Adult Mom, Spirit Night, Lisa Prank, Retirement Party, and more.
SASAMI‘s self-titled debut LP, released last year, saw Sasami Ashworth coming into her own as a songwriter. A classically trained French horn player who’s scored orchestral arrangements for films and commercials, she’s spent years making a name for herself in the LA music scene, joining Cherry Glazer in 2015 in addition to touring alongside the likes of Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy, Japanese Breakfast, and Mitski. Recorded onto an iPad while touring with Cherry Glazer, lyrics scribbled down in the Notes app of a smartphone, SASAMI is at once intimate, complex, and sonically ambitious – reflecting her versatility as an artist, it draws from the seemingly disparate worlds of shoegaze, jazz, and bedroom pop, from the incandescent guitar line of opener ‘I Was a Window’ to the simmering, hypnotic ‘Callous’. She retains some of that collaborative spirit, too, enlisting freak folk singer Devendra Banhart on the evocative ‘Free’ and previous collaborator Soko on the ethereal ‘Adult Contemporary’. She followed it up with the equally dynamic, holiday-inspired EP lil drmr bb a few months later, and earlier this year, she unveiled the driving single ‘Mess’, followed by a hauntingly prescient cover of System of a Down’s ‘Toxicity’. While we wait for SASAMI’s next LP, though, she’s made sure that the closing track of her debut gets lodged into our minds, resonating in a whole different way during these isolating times: “Thought I was the only one to be so alone in the night,” she sings atop a skeletal drum machine, “Turns out I was everyone.”
We caught up with Sasami Ashworth 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 musical memory?
My mom singing along to very dramatic, operatic Japanese folk music while washing the dishes.
Who are some artists you look up to, and why?
Alice Coltrane – epically talented as a musician, spiritual traveler and a Black femme icon. Liz Phair- just a ridiculously good songwriter. Her demos from when she was a teen/early 20’s blow me away. Kara Jackson- a songwriter and also youth poet laureate out of Chicago who is always pushing us to think harder and feel deeper.
What made you want to focus on your own music?
I guess I just spent a decade playing other people’s music, so I wanted to give myself a go at focusing on my own compositions. I definitely miss collaborating, and I’m finding new ways to do that on my upcoming creations.
It’s been a year since you released your debut album. How has the response been? Do you see the album any differently now?
I think many people find meaning/pleasure or something from it and that is great. I made it for myself, ultimately, so if even one other person finds it enjoyable or useful, then it I has exceeded its intended purpose. I think it’s an emotional album and I personally still listen to it and feel a lot.
What was the inspiration for your most recent single, ‘Mess’?
Just feeling like my life is messy but trying to stay focused of my own work and calmness despite it. I also just really wanted to play some ripping guitarmonies.
Why did you choose to cover System of a Down’s ‘Toxicity’?
Mess was recorded pre-pandemic, but Toxicity was recorded after the start of the Covid-era and the recent protests and social uprising. There is a sickness, a toxic foundation on which our country was built. This re-focusing and mobilization around the racism against Black folks and the way it manifests in medicine (covid-19), the economy, prison system, etc. really needs to be the main discourse we are paying attention to right now. I was hesitant to even put anything out last month, but I agreed since its proceeds benefited the National Bailout Fund. It seemed appropriate to sing something about the toxicity of society. Also I love System of a Down.
What are you working on at the moment?
Something like System of a Down meets the movie Lady Snowblood meets an epic thematic reprise in a Mahler symphony.
From suit connoisseurs to occasional wearers, we always need a good pocket square to go with our suit. Pocket squares don’t just add detail, but make you feel like you truly own the piece, it brings out your personality and can transform the way your outfit is shaped.
In this short piece, we look at seven pocket squares, currently on the market that will match up well with your navy suit.
Moss Amarone Pocket Square, Serà Fine Silk
Serà Fine Silk accessories are designed in Milan and crafted in Como with careful attention to detail and style. This beautiful pocket square may seem an odd match with a navy suit. Yet, this stunning piece can be matched really well with a well-cut, navy suit. If you’re looking for a high-quality pocket square, this one will be for you.
This well-crafted, eye-pleasing silk pocket square by Reiss is one of the purest elegant touches you can add to your navy suit. It’s minimalist Polka design, with a reversed colour pallet oomphs of class and sophistication.
The Cali pocket square by Reiss like-wise is made and crafted in Italy. It’s constructed from pure linen and brings out a gorgeous medallion print to elevate your look.
TM Lewin’s pink geometric pocket square is a must-have for weddings or dinner parties. It shines as a chill yet elegant, well-presented piece for your outfit. We love it.
Made with Liberty Fabric White James Francis Print Pocket Square , TM Lewin
This floral design pocket square is another excellent addition to our list by TM Lewin. Like their pink pocket square, this also brings out a lovely chill vibe, making it perfect for a dinner party.
Shifting to more Italian style, we have Corneliani’s yellow floral print flax pocket square. There is a sense of maturity and purity about this beautifully crafted piece that will help you bring out a self-confident look with your outfit.
Finally, we have the beloved Gucci. This design incorporates the timeless GG logo and uses a white motif, to help it stand out from a navy background. Like expected, it is made in Italy from smooth silk-twill.
Courtney Barnett has released an acoustic cover of Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter Kev Carmody’s ‘Just For You’. It’s taken from a tribute album of Carmody’s songs titled Cannot Buy My Soul, which was originally released in 2007 and will be reissued with new songs on August 21 through EMI Australia, featuring Jimmy Barnes, Kasey Chambers, Kate Miller-Heidke, Alice Skye, Electric Fields, and more. Listen to it below.
“I’ve only met her just lately, and, very impressed with this young woman, Courtney Barnett,” Carmody said in a video posted on Barnett’s Instagram. “‘Just for You,’ it’s virtually a love song that I’ve directed at everybody, for everybody … It’s trying to get right to the core to say even though we have our disagreements and stuff, I still love you all very much, and I love you as an individual very much.”
Folk trio The Staves have returned with a new song called ‘Nazareth’. Listen to it below.
“We recorded “Nazareth” in one take on a field recorder sat outside the studio in the summer of 2018,” the Stavely-Taylor sisters said in a statement. “The sun was shining and the birds were singing. We tried recording it in the studio but just kept coming back to this version. It seemed to have the magic .”
They added: “The song was intended to be in the spirit of an Irish blessing or a kind of a prayer, asking to be kept safe — but it pretty quickly became a more personal and introspective lyric. Moments of glory quickly faded. Worrying, trying. How we mean everything and nothing at the same time. To everyone, to noone.”
It’s been five years since The Staves released their critically acclaimed album If I Was. In 2017, they followed it up with a collaborative LP with yMusic. According to a press release by their label, Nonesuch, the band are putting “finishing touches” on more music.
When Taylor Swift announced her surprise new album folklore two weeks ago, she revealed that physical editions would contain a bonus cut titled ‘the lakes’. Now that CDs and vinyls are reaching stores, that song has officially been unveiled, though the physical-only cut still remains off streaming services.
‘The Lakes’ was co-written and co-produced by longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, and unlike much of folklore, The National’s Aaron Dessner was not involved in the making of the track. It’s named after the Lake District in the United Kingdom, a place popularized by Romantic poets such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge. It finds her yearning for a simpler time: “A red rose grew up out of ice frozen ground with no one around to tweet it,” she sings, “While I bathe in cliffside pools with my calamitous love and insurmountable grief.” She also refers to someone, presumably longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn, as her “muse”.
Kali Uchis has shared a new song titled ‘Aquí Yo Mando’ with Rico Nasty. Sung mostly in Spanish, the collaborative single features production from Tainy, Albert Hype, and Jon Leone, and Lil Xan collaborator RVNES. Check it out below.
Earlier this year, Kali Uchis released her most recent EP TO FEEL ALIVE, which was preceded by her 2018 debut LP Isolation. Rico Nasty has shared a number of one-off singles since her 2019 collaborative project with Kenny Beats, Anger Management, including ‘Dirty’, ‘My Little Alien’, and ‘Popstar’.
Saint Raymond, an exciting artist, mostly known for his song Movie in My Mind, has released his latest song Love This Way. The song follows up on Saint Raymond’s Right Way Around. Talking about the song’s meaning, Saint Raymond said “The song is about when a relationship doesn’t quite work how it should,” adding “But you’re both too scared to let go and you wonder if it’s just how it is and always will be. And whether it’s better to stay in it together in a messed up way.”
The mellifluous song is accompanied by visuals which were created byFranklin & Marchetta.
Firstly on our Sound Selection, we have Find Myself by the terrifically talented DYLYN. The song itself envelops the raw, catchy, rock-style DYLYN has shaped since her debut EP Sauvignon and a Kimono, back in 2018. For the song, DYLYN worked alongside Ryan Guldemond who is known for being the member of Indie rock band Mother Mother. Talking about the collaboration with Guldemond, DYLYN stated “After working with Ryan, I thought, ‘This is it. This is finally the stuff I’ve been wanting to write. The 18-year-old me has returned.’ I hadn’t felt that excited in a long time.”
Find Myself is part of an upcoming EP by DYLYN and features a brilliant music video which was inspired by classic horror films.
Justy Expectations
Moving forward, we have the exciting Justy, a Brooklyn-born singer-songwriter, with her newest single Expectations. Justy returns with another euphonious track this time a song that focuses on the theme of unconditional love. Like Justy’s previous song Stringing Along, Expectations also delivers a superb production that encompasses an ear-warming flow that is accompanied by Justy’s playlist ready vocals.
Expectations is the first single from Justy’s forthcoming debut album.
BTS have announced a new concert film titled Break the Silence: The Movie. Hitting theaters worldwide on September 10th via Trafalgar Releasing, it marks the K-pop group’s fourth concert film and will document their 2019 Love Yourself: Speak Yourself world tour through the United States, Europe, and Asia. Find more information here.
Following the world premiere, the film will make its way to US theaters starting September 24. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dates are subject to local theater opening schedules. Tickets will be available on August 13th.
In addition to footage from the band’s first international stadium tour, the film also explores “each band member behind the curtain,” according to a press release.
Break the Silence will be the follow-up to 2019’s Bring the Soul: the Movie, which will return to theaters from August 28th-30th and will feature a preview of Break the Silence. Tickets for the re-run of their 2019 movie go on sale on August 18th.
