Perfume Genius was the musical guest on last night’s (July 21) remote edition of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon! Mike Hadreas and his band performed the tracks ‘On the Floor’ and ‘Jason’, from his most recent album, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately. The latter was part of a web exclusive. Watch the performances below.
Preceded by lead single ‘Describe’, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, which landed on our Best Albums of 2020 (So Far) list, came out in May. Last month, Perfume Genius released a cover of Mazzy Star’s classic 1993 single ‘Fade Into You’. Check out our recent deep dive into that track here.
The Avalanches have shared two new songs: ‘Wherever You Go’ featuring Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry, and Australian artist CLYPSO, and ‘Reflecting Light’ featuring Sananda Maitreya and British folk artist Vashti Bunyan. Check them out below.
Featuring Mick Jones of the Clash on drums, ‘Wherever You Go’ is built around a sample of 1977’s The Voyager Golden Record. “Why do we send music to the stars?” The Avalanches wrote in a statement. “Is it because we want our voices to live forever? How else should we become pure spirits, singing forever in the dark?”
‘Reflecting Light’, on the other hand, borrows a sample from Vashti Bunyan’s 1970 track ‘Glow Worms’. “What are these sounds that haunt our lives… floating in the static and the noise all around us, just beyond our grasp?” they said about the track. “Are they radio waves, hallucinations? Voices from the past?”
The tracks serve as the latest preview of the electronic group’s upcoming album, which will be the follow-up to 2016’s Wildflower. Previously, the Avalanches shared the collaborative singles ‘Running Red Lights’ with Rivers Cuomo and Pink Siifu and ‘We Will Always Love You’ with Blood Orange.
Lydia Loveless has announced a new album called Daughter. The album, her first on her new label Honey, You’re Gonna Be Late, is set for release on September 25. She also shared a video for her new single ‘Love is Not Enough’. Check it out below, along with the album’s tracklist and artwork.
“The song is a response to the old-fashioned idea that love is all you need as opposed to understanding, or give and take,” Lydia Loveless explained in a statement. “On a larger scale, it’s about people who say things like ‘love trumps hate’ and take zero action to make it true. It’s not enough to ‘feel’ the emotion of love to make things work whether it’s in your own personal relationships or the way you interact with the world.”
Lydia Loveless’ last album, Real, came out four years ago.
Daughter Tracklist:
1. Dead Writer
2. Love Is Not Enough
3. Wringer
4. Can’t Think
5. Say My Name
6. Never
7. Daughter
8. When You’re Gone
9. September
10. Don’t Bother Mountain
We all love our homes to be just so, but do you know what your personal style and taste in the home says about you? Are you well-travelled? Creative? Relaxed and calm? These are all personality traits that can well and truly come across in the way you decorate your space.
“Home is where the heart is”, and if you express yourself by decorating your home, there’s a reason why the saying resonates with people. You’ll always return to your home – it’s a place of comfort and safety, and it’s meant to represent who you are, not a trend that comes and goes.
Whether it’s intentional or not, find out what your home might be saying about you…
Bringing the outside, in
If you’re one to litter your home with beautiful plants and flowers, you’re more than likely to be a lover of the outdoors and someone who enjoys spending time in nature. There are so many benefits to introducing plants into your home – not only do they look good and add evoke a sense of peace and tranquillity, but they help to purify the air in your home too.
The literature lover
Do most of your rooms house an eclectic choice of books and novels? No matter what genre they are, if your home is adorned with books you’re likely to be a lover of literature. You’re also likely to enjoy a deep conversation about a number of different topics, and it’s also a sign that you’re very open-minded. You’ll also have a willingness to try new things and explore new ideas.
All the well-travelled vibes
Are your shelves carefully decorated with memories of your travels across the world? Then you’re not only likely an avid traveller, but people who spruce their homes up with decorative items, tend to be very ambitious. These people want to show their home at its best, and know that it’s these little things that make a big impression.
Every neutral shade of the rainbow
Often if your home is carefully decorated with neutral tones, whether that’s on the wall or in the form of cushions and other soft furnishings, you’re likely to have a calm nature and enjoy the slower, much simpler life.
A vibrant colour palette
Is your front door a bright colour? Maybe you love hanging paintings around the home and decorating with bold wallpaper? If your home boasts a vibrant colour palette, then you’re likely to be a creative soul. According to Pantone, pink or lavender is youthful and spirited and Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Colour Institute said that “someone who paints their front door a vibrant pink or yellow is making a statement that life should be fun”. Will you be getting your brightest pot of paint out now?
No matter what your personality traits may be, make sure your home says the right thing about you. Whether you’re organised and love that everything fits neatly into your fitted wardrobes, or you’re messier but it’s a true reflection of who you are, it’s important that you do you!
At some point, just about every kid decides that they want to try their hand at a musical instrument of some kind. Whether they want to be like their idol or they think it will make them look cool, or maybe they just want to try something new, this is something that you should definitely encourage! It’s a great way for kids to learn some discipline, be more creative, and find a way to express themselves that they might not have had before. Of course, for you at least, it does come with a downside. You want to be supportive, but you also don’t want to have your eardrums explode from the awful noises that they’re making! Luckily, there are a few things that you can do in order to save your ears while still encouraging your child to pursue their musical dreams.
Instrument choice
Not all instruments are going to be as equally noisy as others, but the choices might actually be slightly deceptive. Kids tend to gravitate towards the loud instruments like guitars and drums. You might find yourself having visions of crashing cymbals and the whole house shaking from the vibrations, but you might actually be thinking about things all wrong. If your kid wants to play the drums, then try to find them an electric drum set instead. This way they still get to learn to play and have a lot of different sounds to use, but they can plug in a set of headphones, and you don’t have to worry about complaints from the neighbours. The same goes for something like new PRS Silver Sky guitars. They can plug their headphones into the amp and play as much loud rock music as they want without disturbing anyone.
Give them a dedicated space to play
If you’re trying to work, cook the dinner, or even just relax on the couch, it can be tough to focus on what you’re doing when you’ve got someone playing terrible versions of songs in your ear. If that’s the case then why not set your child up with a dedicated practice space. Things like sheds and garages are perfect for this as they’re away from the house and they can be easily soundproofed. Not only will this save your hearing, but it will show your child that you support them by giving them a space that’s all their own to play as much as they want.
Encourage their improvement
If you want to avoid serious headaches then one of the best things that you can do is to encourage them to improve as much as possible. Getting them lessons in their instrument is always a great option, whether it’s a teacher that can help them prepare for a piano exam or just someone who can help to bring out their creativity. That way, the music they make will be far more beautiful and far more pleasant to listen to.
The truth is that, at least for a while, your child isn’t going to be creating the most beautiful music in the world. However, it’s important to remember that that’s not really what’s most important. If they love what they’re doing and they’re dedicated to it, then that’s what really matters.
On Monday, Lydia Night of The Regrettes accused SWMRS drummer Joey Armstrong – son of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong – of emotional abuse and sexual misconduct in a lengthy Instagram post. This is part of a wave of allegations that surfaced over the weekend against artists and employees of the California label Burger Records, which recently announced it would be shutting down entirely. “For so long I viewed [our relationship] as toxic and not something valid enough to share, but now I know that what I actually experienced was emotional abuse and sexual coercion by someone in a position of power over me,” she wrote.
The post, which details multiple instances of sexual coercion when Night was 16 and 17 years old and Armstrong was 22, was made in response to a statement by the band in support of Burger Records’ alleged victims, which she called “unbelievably hypocritical”. “The band’s delusional positioning of themselves as woke feminists is not only triggering for me as a victim, but is complete bullshit and needs to be called out,” she added.
The post includes descriptions of Armstrong pressuring, shaming, and gaslighting Night into sexual situations after he invited the Regrettes on tour. “From the beginning, he would constantly make ‘jokes’ on tour about how we would have to follow his rules on tour because he was the headliner,” she wrote. “The professional power dynamic had made its way into all aspects of our relationship.”
Yesterday (July 21), Armstrong responded to the accusations in a statement posted on SWMRS’s Instagram account. “I want to address Lydia’s Instagram post about our relationship,” he wrote. “While I don’t agree with some of the things she said about me, it’s important that she be allowed to say them and that she be supported for speaking out. I respect her immensely and fully accept that I failed her as a partner.”
He added: “I was selfish and didn’t treat her the way she deserves to have been treated both during our relationship and in the two years since we broke up. I have apologized to her privately and I hope she can forgive me, if and when she is ready to do so. I own my mistakes and will work hard to regain the trust that I lost.”
Yesterday, California garage rock label and record store Burger Records announced that it would undergo “major structural changes” in order to address a “culture of toxic masculinity” following a series of anonymous sexual misconduct allegations targeted at both artists and employees that surfaced over the weekend. Co-founder and president Lee Rickard resigned, while co-founder Sean Bohrman had moved into a “transitional” role.
Despite plans to rebrand itself as BRGR RECS and launch an all-woman imprint, BRGRRRL, however, Bohrman announced last night that the company would shut down completely, Pitchfork reports. “My plan was to quickly begin assessing and evaluating if anything about the label could perhaps be salvaged and made into something better, then eventually hand off a functioning label to a future administration unrelated to the label’s founders,” interim president Jessa Zapor-Gray said in a statement. “Or if I found that rebuilding was not possible, instead to organize and prepare the label for closure.”
She continued: “When I was asked to take over in this capacity, I expected some blowback for my decision to accept but I believed that the opportunity to have a role in effecting real and lasting positive change within the Burger and indie music scenes was worth the risk. Upon further review, I have informed Burger Records that I no longer believe I will be able to achieve my intended goals in assuming the leadership role at Burger in the current climate. Therefore, I have decided to step away from the label entirely to focus on my other projects.”
When approached by Pitchfork, Bohrman confirmed the company’s decision to fold the label entirely, and that any plans to rebrand to BRGR RCRDS would not materialize. He also said that Burger Records’ releases would be removed from all streaming platforms, but that artists own all their music and so are free to reissue their records if they wish. “I hate dealing with lawyers so we never signed contracts with bands,” he explained.
Yesterday, Total Trash Productions – the promoters behind Oakland’s annual Burger Boogaloo festival – announced they had distanced themselves from the label and planned to change the festival’s name in order to “express our heartfelt support for the brave women who have come forward to share their stories”.
Last week, it was announced that Manchester music venues The Deaf Institute and Gorilla, both own by the company Mission Mars, would be closing their doors permanently due to financial complications caused by the coronavirus crisis. “We would encourage any industry and music entrepreneurs who might be interested in this as an opportunity to please get in touch,” Mission Mars CEO and founder Roy Ellis had told Manchester Evening News.
Now, both venues have been bought by venue group Tokyo Industries and consequently saved from closure, the BBC reports. According to a statement, staff at both The Deaf Institute and Gorilla will be able to keep their jobs, while the venues will continue to operate “in much the same way as they have done in the past”.
Tokyo Industries founder, Aaron Mellor, added that it is “vital venues like Gorilla and The Deaf Institute are kept alive, [as] the cultural fabric of our city centres depends venues like these”. He said that he had “put together some great ideas” along with event promoters SSD Concerts and the Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess to help “save both venues and their existing operating style in a post-Covid world.”
Sampa The Great, a Zambian-born, Botswana-raised and now Melbourne-based artist, has released a music video for her song Time’s Up from the 2019 album, The Return. The song was released to shed a light on the struggles that young African people and to make sure African youth can access culturally safe, appropriate and responsive mental health care.
Talking about the song Sampa stated “Time’s up is a track that was made to reflect a conversation between two young African artists working in the Australian music industry… an industry that has often been careless in protecting the wellbeing of Black Artists. The labour put on marginalised people to have to address systemic racism every day means more trauma and pressure on our mental health and emotional state.”
“I’m partnering with Pola Psychology a Naarm (Melbourne) based therapy practice to make sure African youth/musicians can access culturally appropriate mental health care in their own community, by their own community. At a time like this, it’s important to let my friends and the wider African community know that this support exists and our health matters.”
It’s been five years since Soko’s last album, My Dreams Dictate My Reality, a release that traded the fragile qualities of her revelatory 2012 debut I Thought I Was an Alien for a more defiant, post-punk attitude and conventional verse-chorus-verse structures. “My first album was from the perspective of being a victim of all my emotions, and this second album is like, ‘I want to take control!’,” she said in an interview back in 2015. For her third studio album, the French singer-songwriter and actress – real name Stéphanie Sokolinski – once again started off with a clean slate. She began working on the album right after a week-long workshop at the Hoffman Institute, where she underwent a process known as ‘psychological deconditioning’, which focuses on removing all distractions, from drugs to exercise, in order to live only with your thoughts.
The result is sort of a return to form for Soko, as the aptly titled Feel Feelings sees her reverting back to the free-flowing vibe and trademark vulnerability of her debut. But despite teeming with the same kind of emotional honesty and spare, dreamy arrangements, her latest finds her less a “victim” to her own emotions than a keen observer of them, displaying a newfound sense of clarity and self-awareness that renders it her most emotionally direct and cathartic effort yet. Compared to the take-back-control narrative of My Dreams Dictate My Reality, Feel Feelings is less nervy and tense, seeking a deeper sense of comfort within her own self.
But drawing from the lessons Soko learned at the Hoffman Institute, the LP is more interested in simply understanding her own emotional state than it is in any kind of resolution, which has the effect of sharpening the raw, confessional nature of her songwriting. “All the needless suffering I put up on myself/ I am responsible for it,” she admits on ‘Being Sad is Not a Crime’, “I can’t live up to the fantasy/ That you made up of part of me.” The melody of the track and Soko’s throaty delivery are reminiscent of her debut, but the rough intimacy of the recording has been replaced by a more polished, carefree instrumental indicating a shift in tone. The theme of recognizing her illusory perception of a past relationship resurfaces on the evocative ‘Now What?’, where she sings: “You were a dream, I made you up/ None of that’s real, none of it’s real”.
Elsewhere, she opens up about depression without looking for any specific answers, and it feels like listening to the confessions of a close friend. On highlight ‘Replaceable Heads’, she describes how her messy state of mind prevents her from letting anyone close, then asks a painfully real question: “I have never been anyone’s favorite person/ Have you? How does it feel?”. It might appear strange that this is followed by the lines “I get addicted to skin and smell/ But I know it’s just cheap lust”, but it makes sense when you consider that Soko committed to 18 months of celibacy while making the album following her time at the Hoffman Institute. As a result, desire becomes another recurring theme on the album, serving as a sort of escape from the traumas explored throughout, like on the ethereal ‘Looking for Love’ or the wonderful celebration of queerness on ‘Oh, to Be a Rainbow’. But it comes trough most powerfully on the melodic ‘Let Me Adore You’, where she lays everything bare: “Nude/ Is how I like you best/ Undress/ Undress.”
It’s worth noting that the defiance that characterized her previous outing – the kind that also made ‘Treat Your Woman Right’ such a potent highlight from I Thought I Was an Alien – is not entirely gone on Feel Feelings. She takes on misogyny on the biting ‘Don’t Tell Me to Smile’, which features an entrancing vocal melody and one of Soko’s most expressive performances, while on ‘Quiet Storm’, she tackles the subject of domestic abuse, calmly asking for the other person to “make amends before my very eyes.” The artist is at her best when she pulls off that complicated mix of strength and vulnerability, which makes Feel Feelings as emotionally revealing as her debut, and in some ways even more rewarding. It’s a flawed album – a few tracks could have been cut off to make for a more cohesive listening experience – but it marks a unique point in Soko’s artistic progression, raising the stakes for whatever comes next. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take another five years.
