Celeste, the powerhouse of British soul music, has presented her latest powerful song Little Runaway, today. The song was released on Polydoor Records and premiered as the Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1.
Whilst chatting about the song, Celeste reveals ” Little Runaway is a song about losing your faith, even if just momentarily, and seeking answers from spirits and ghosts as nothing seems to make sense on this planet. My favourite line in the song is ‘good news I could use some’ – I believe everyone has a guardian angel, a protector, and this is me talking to mine. The verses actually started as this saxophone sample we were playing around with and eventually it transformed into the melody. I always play the sax back in my head even though it’s not in the song.”
Those paying attention to the gaming industry right now may have noticed a crucial detail about the next generation. Or, rather a key detail that is currently missing. Neither Microsoft nor Sony have deemed it necessary to announce a price for their new next-gen consoles. Understandably, this has some people worried that the cost of these consoles is going to be significantly higher than many will feel comfortable paying. But is that the case?
Are There Any Rumoured Prices?
Over the past few months, there have been several rumoured prices for both consoles. We have seen listings leaked that have claimed the PS5 is going to be as expensive as $700 dollars while the Xbox Series X could be as cheap as $300. However, until there is the official word from the brands it’s best to continue treating these as placeholders. It’s unlikely that one company is aware of the price before all the other suppliers.
Why Haven’t The Prices Been Announced?
Both consoles are scheduled to launch this holiday season and both have also had their reveal events. But we’re still not completely certain when these consoles are going to release. Rumours suggest that they could each be out by November and it’s possible that prices won’t be announced until these dates are finalised. It may also be the case that both Microsoft and Sony are preparing for a delay into 2021. This wouldn’t be that shocking considering the constant shift surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Announcing prices too early could dampen the excitement surrounding these consoles if they are still at least six months from launch.
Will One Be Cheaper?
There are already hints that Microsoft will attempt to undercut Sony on the price for this generation. This could be because overall Sony sold a lot more platforms last generation. So, in a way Microsoft is playing catch up. A lower price could help them attract more customers, particularly when experts agree the Series X is going to be the most powerful option available.
It’s also worth noting that there is expected to be budget versions of both consoles according to recent leaks. Microsoft has already unveiled the Xbox Series S while a listing for the PS5 Pro suggests at least two versions of Sony’s new product. This might be in response to complaints about the high prices of products like this are pushing many people into debt and leading to them needing relief from resources like DTSS Sovereign.
Are There Other Costs To Consider?
Finally, as with other generations, it’s important to consider the cost of the games for the new consoles. The price of games is expected to be around $60 which is quite expensive. However, Microsoft is hoping to lighten the load with its Gamepass solution. This should allow players to get hundreds of games that they want on a subscription service rather than buying separately. Time will tell whether this concept is profitable and perhaps more importantly sustainable. Sony has a similar option with Playstation Plus but it’s nowhere near as substantial.
“We’re all gonna die!” Brandon Flowers proclaims on ‘When the Dreams Run Dry’, the penultimate track on The Killers’ new album, Imploding the Mirage. Though, like many artists, the LA band were forced to postpone the release of their sixth LP in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it still feels like a ridiculously unsubtle reminder, one that almost completely undercuts the earnestness with which Flowers wrestles with the idea of mortality throughout the rest of the song. And yet it’s a liberating a moment, a playful release of tension that ultimately opens the door for a full-hearted embrace of the kind of wide-eyed optimism the group are known for: “We’ll just follow the moon, to the stars/ To the sun, to the ground/ And around, and around,” he sings, dancing around the words. And on Imploding the Mirage, their best and most triumphant album in more than a decade, that’s exactly what they reach for.
Following 2017’s uneven but occasionally revelatory Wonderful, Wonderful, The Killers had two options: either delve deeper into the experimental tendencies and introspective lyricism they explored on that album or pivot back to their signature brand of escapist heartland rock. While there are still heartfelt, personal moments on Imploding the Mirage, Flowers and company choose the latter path and go all in on the kind of heaven-reaching grandiosity that’s made them so successful. It could have easily come off as painfully overblown and self-indulgent, as The Killers’ albums often do, but instead their vision feels both gigantic and razor-focused – the record is filled with one absurdly catchy chorus after another, bolstered by punchy, 80s-inspired production and a host of guest appearances that consistently elevate the material, from Lindsey Buckingham’s killer solo on ‘Caution’ to Weyes Blood’s ethereal vocals floating atop ‘My God’.
It all kicks off with what might be the strongest track on the album, ‘My Own’s Soul’s Warning’, which catapults its way into the sky with a soaring synth line and driving rhythm section – from that point on, everything on Imploding the Mirage takes place at least 10,000 feet above the ground. “I tried going against my own soul’s warning,” Flowers sings in his impassioned delivery, “But in the end, something just didn’t feel right.” You can never really tell what he’s singing about, but you could easily apply that line to the approach The Killers have taken on this album: they could have settled for a more ‘mature’, thoughtful sound, but in the end they decided to throw caution to the wind and the result is gloriously reinvigorating: aided by Flood’s dynamic production, ‘Dying Breed’ reaches for the epic ambition of the band’s Sam’s Town era, while the sped-up ‘Caution’ bursts with infectiously reckless energy.
The album is not without its flaws – it falters slightly towards the back end, mostly due to the fact that the first half hosts some of its best tracks all stacked one after the other. But it allows the band to venture into some slightly unexpected territory as the album progresses, like the sweeping, disco-inflected ‘My God’, a track that captures a sense of dramatic momentum that’s otherwise lacking throughout the album’s boilerplate, stuck-in-time storytelling. Still, for all the delightful swagger of ‘Fire in Bone’, the song suffers from a weak chorus and a surprisingly muddled sound that’s far too indebted to that of the Talking Heads, while ‘Lightning Places’ feels inconsequential following the titanic ‘Caution’. What’s more, while the sense of idealism that overflows throughout Imploding the Mirage generally feels appropriate for the album’s tone, after Flowers wrings out multiple versions of the same story, some lines just feel a little too silly. “While you were out there looking like that/ I struck my name from the camouflage/ I wasn’t lost in the collage/ I was imploding the mirage,” he pompously sings on the closing title track.
Naming your album after one of its most nonsensical lines might be an ironic move for a band often accused of lacking a sense of identity, but there’s no denying that Imploding theMirage radiates with the kind of confidence that hits differently right now, especially when the execution is so on point. They don’t quite implode the mirage here, whatever that means, but that romanticism is aspirational rather than purely flashy, a bolt of hope that the band never fully lets go of. It might not always be accompanied by the nuanced songwriting one might expect from an act at this point in their career, but there are hints of growth, too, on tracks like the evocative, The War on Drugs-esque ‘Running Towards a Place’. It might have been nice to see the band try some new ideas and expand their palette, but the maximalism on display here is more satisfying than most things The Killers have done over the past dozen years or so.
Billie Eilish is the latest artist to perform on NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series. Joined by her brother FINNEAS, the pop singer performed her two most recent standalone singles:‘my future’ and 2019’s ‘everything i wanted’. Watch the livestreamed set below.
Regular viewers will notice that, unlike recent remote editions of the series, this performance actually looks like it took place in Bob Boilen’s familiar Tiny Desk setting. “Of course, due to safety concerns, even the NPR Music staff can’t set foot in the building that houses Bob Boilen’s desk,” Stephen Thompson writes in the video’s description. “But if you look over Eilish’s shoulder, there’s no mistaking the signs that she’s appearing at the Tiny Desk in its present-day form: On the last day before staff began working from home, I took home the Green Bay Packers helmet that sat on the top shelf — the one Harry Styles had signed a few weeks earlier — for safe keeping. In this performance, that spot is empty.”
As Eilish explains after playing ‘my future’, “Obviously, we are not actually at Tiny Desk, because this is a cardboard cut-out of it. But it’s still real. It’s just not in-person real.”
Tim Heidecker and Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering have joined forces for a new song called ‘Nothing’. Co-written by both artists, the track is taken from Heidecker’s upcoming album Fear of Death, which also includes contributions from the Lemon Twigs, Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado, and more. Listen to it below.
“I wanted to write a religious sounding song about agnosticism,” Heidecker said of the song in a statement. “I wrote it a little poppier/jauntier, but working with Natalie and Drew (Erickson), we smoothed it out into something more haunting and (in my opinion ) beautiful. We crammed the session into the end of an overdub day/night, just the three of us doing it live with Natalie adding those incredible angel harmonies over the bridge. Drew and (Jonathan) Rado later added all sorts of goodness to it. The second verse is a very literal description of my experience at the SXSW premiere of Us. I’m pretty proud of this one in general. I hope it delivers some goosebumps.”
Fear of Death arrives September 25 via Spacebomb. Accompanying the album’s announcement, Heidecker also unveiled its title track. Weyes Blood’s most recent album was last year’s Titanic Rising.
Riley Gale, lead singer of the Dallas crossover thrash metal band Power Trip, has died at the age of 34. The band confirmed the news in a statement posted on social media. No cause of death has been disclosed.
“It is with the greatest of sadness we must announce that our lead singer and brother Riley Gale passed away last night,” the band wrote. “Riley was a friend, a brother, a son. Riley was both a larger than life rock star and a humble and giving friend. He touched so many lives through his lyrics and through his huge heart. He treated everyone he met as a friend and he always took care of his friends. We will celebrate Riley’s life and never forget the great works of music, charity, and love that he left behind. You, the fans, meant so much to him, please know how special you are. If you have a memory of Riley please share it, no matter how small, as we remember him.”
Born in the suburbs of Dallas, Gale founded Power Trip when he was 22 and studying at the University of North Texas in Denton. The band released their debut album Manifest Decimation in 2013 and returned four years later with Nightmare Logic, which brought them even more popularity in the metal scene and beyond. Gale’s progressive politics were also reflected on the album, which he described as a response to rampant income equality. “If you don’t like our stances, don’t support our band,” he said in a 2018 interview with Revolver. “It doesn’t make a single difference to us. … We try to make it pretty clear that we might all be white males, but this is not a band for white males to enjoy and be dumb rednecks.”
In that same interview, Gale reflected on why the music of Power Trip has struck a chord with such a broad range of listeners: “It’s a mystery to me that we’re as big as we are. I saw us hitting a ceiling a lot longer ago and now we’re having people telling us we could turn this into a career and I don’t know if I believe them. I don’t even know if I have it in me, but we’re going to try.”
Chicago quartet Divino Niño have released a new single titled ‘Made Up My Mind’. It features Whitney’s Will Miller on trumpet and multi-instrumentalist Sen Morimoto on sax. Check it out below.
“This song is about the darker side of love,” singer-songwriter and guitarist Camila Medina, who also designed the single’s cover artwork, said in a press release. “Realizing the value of something right at the verge of losing it. This is the first time we’ve ever had trumpet/sax in a song and it definitely enhances the sad beauty in it.”
‘Made Up My Mind’ marks the first new music from Divino Niño since the release of their debut full-length LP, Foam, in June of 2019. Will Miller and Sen Morimoto have worked together as members of the ensemble Resavoir, who released their self-titled debut that same month. Miller recently contributed to Whitney’s latest covers album Candid, while Morimoto is gearing up for the release of his new self-titled LP in October.
Alana Haim is set to appear in Paul Thomas Anderon’s upcoming film. The youngest Haim sister was spotted in some recent photographs taken on the set of the film, which recently began production in Los Angeles. In the pictures, Haim is seen driving a truck and sitting next to Bradley Cooper as well as another unidentified actor. Check out some of the on-set photos below.
Though not much is known about the film so far, we do know it’s a coming-of-age story with the working title Soggy Bottom that stars Bradley Cooper and is set in the San Fernando Valley during the ’70s.
Paul Thomas Anderson and HAIM have collaborated multiple times in the past. The acclaimed filmmaker has shot multiple of the band’s videos, including four from their most recent album Women In Music Pt. III, as well as a 2017 short called Valentine.
Sad13, the project of Speedy Ortiz leader Sadie Dupuis, has released a new song called ‘Hysterical’, taken from her second album Haunted Painting. It comes with an accompanying music video directed by Kate Banford and Jamie Loftus and featuring appearances from Loftus, Mitra Jouhari (Three Busy Debras, Search Party, High Maintenance) and Demi Adejuyigbe (The Good Place, Punch Up The Jam). Check it out below.
Dupuis describes the song as being about “unfunny comedians [who] love to argue that ‘PC culture’ destroys comedy.” It’s the fourth single from her upcoming album, which comes out September 25 via Wax Nine. Previously, she released the tracks ‘WTD?’, ‘Ghost (Of A Good Time)’, and ‘Oops…!’.
The two songwriters came together for a series of European shows last year. Young recently put out his much-anticipated “lost” album, Homegrown. Recorded between 1974 and 1975, it features contributions from the likes of Emmylou Harris, Robbie Robertson, Ben Keith, Tim Drummond, and Stan Szelest.
A few weeks ago, Young sued Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for using his songs ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ and ‘Devil’s Sidewalk’ at rallies and political events.
