Texas shoegazers trauma ray have released a new track, ‘Bardo’, lifted from their forthcoming debut LP Chameleon. It follows previous cuts ‘Bishop’ and ‘Spectre’. Listen to it below.
“Bardo is the in-between,” guitarist Jonathan Perez explained in a statement. “Whether that’s life or death, or a purgatory. It’s about being stuck in between one phase and the next. When you can feel the past fading and yet you can’t quite see the path to the future either.”
Chameleon arrives October 25 via Dais.
The choice of bag you make says a lot about you. It not only completes your outfit and makes you fashionable, but it also tells other people about your personality. With the right bag, you can transform that simple look to the next level. While there are many bags you can choose from, here are four fashionable ones every man should own.
A good messenger bag comfortably slings over the shoulder and across the body. Its history dates back to the New York Messenger services in the mid-20th century. Messenger bags are usually slim and perfect for non-bulky items. They are sleek and versatile, as they double as a briefcase and satchel.
The man bag is similar to a lady’s purse. It is often smaller than the messenger bag and designed for carrying essentials for regular daily activities. When choosing this type of men’s designer bags, consider those with waterproofing capabilities and different compartments.
There is nothing as satisfying as a man who works out and exercises. The gym bag is a must-have for any gym-loving man. This bag has one large compartment to hold your shoes and clothes, plus smaller ones to keep your items separate. You can store your wet items separately from other items and away from your shoes. Get a quality designer gym bag and enjoy service for a lifetime.
Also known as a duffel weekender bag, this bag is designed to carry your items for at least a weekend or 48 hours. The word “Duffel” comes from Belgium, where the material for these bags was made. Getting a quality designer duffel bag saves you the hassle when you have that short business trip or staycation.
As you can see, there are many types of luxury designer bags men can choose from. It all depends on your preferences and intended occasion. Besides helping you keep all your valuables safe, the elegant men’s designer bags complete your look. Shop now for your designer bag and elevate your style.
Iceage leader Elias Rønnenfelt has shared ‘Soldier Song’, the latest preview of his debut album, Heavy Glory. Featuring violins and vocals from Joanne Robertsson, the track follows the previously unveiled singles ‘Worm Grew a Spine’, ‘Like Lovers Do’, and ‘No One Else’. Check it out below.
Heavy Glory is set to arrive on October 25 via Escho.
Vundabar have dropped a new song called ‘Life Is a Movie’. Following June’s ‘I Got Cracked’, the track arrives with a music video directed by Goood.Dylan. Check it out below.
“In a six week window that I could only describe as a careening crash landing, a long term relationship of mine imploded, my dad died, and I broke my arm in a hotel while on tour in Europe,” bandleader Brandon Hagen explained in a statement. “One week after that I was at his funeral and the one after that I was recording this song in Los Angeles. I reeled at the connectedness of it all; so much of these intangible fractures now grounded in the very physical break within my body, this physical break then dictating the floatier bits as I made music determined by the limitations of that injury.”
METZ have announced that, as soon as they wrap up their upcoming tour of the UK/Europe, they will be going on an indefinite hiatus. “We’ve collectively decided to close this chapter of METZ,” the band said in a statement. “The band will be on ‘indefinite hiatus’ while we take time to focus on other endeavors and enjoy more time at home with our families.”
They continued:
For the last 15+ years, we’ve dedicated our lives to this band and have had the immense privilege and pleasure of touring the globe and seeing the world. It has been nothing short of life-affirming. METZ has brought an immeasurable amount of joy to our lives and it’s our sincere hope it’s brought you some joy too. We are so grateful to all of you who’ve joined us along the way and have made this life a reality for the three of us.
We are incredibly proud of the body of work we’ve created and thankful for the lasting friendships and experiences that our music has afforded us. A special thank you to Sub Pop Records for always believing in us and allowing us to chart our own unconventional path. Sub Pop continues to be a glowing beacon of what is good in this deeply flawed industry, and we will always be grateful for their support and friendship. To work with people we consider family has been a true blessing.
Together, we’ve released six LPs, countless singles, played hundreds of shows across the globe, and have far exceeded any goals or ambitions we could’ve dreamt up as basement dwellers in 2009. It’s always been about the love of music and the beautiful mess that would seemingly manifest when we turned the amps up.
We’ve taken great pride in drawing outside the lines of convention and existing on our own terms. But no band is an island, and we never could’ve done a fraction of it without the inspiring and supportive network of family, friends, musicians, artists, labels, photographers, bookers, writers, journalists, independent record store owners, college radio DJ’s, and music fans that make this symbiotic wheel keep spinning.
If you’ve ever attended a METZ show, you know it was more than a band to us. We gave every ounce of ourselves to METZ, and it will be very hard to let it go. The intangible feeling of connection, community, and inclusivity that music creates has always been at the heart of what we do and will inevitably be what we miss the most. We will miss singing, screaming, sweating, and dancing with all of you.
We hope you join us for our final shows and help us celebrate something we will always hold dear.
Love and Peace
Alex, Chris, Hayden
METZ released their most recent album, Up on Gravity Hill, earlier this year.
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Charli XCX has dropped her much-anticipated remix album Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat. The new version of Brat features a number of previously unveiled tracks, including ‘Von dutch’ with A.G. Cook and Addison Rae, ‘360’ with Robyn and Yung Lean, ‘Girl, so confusing’ with Lorde, ‘Guess’ with Billie Eilish, and ‘Talk Talk’ featuring Troye Sivan. Now, you can also hear Ariana Grande guest on ‘Sympathy is a knife’, Caroline Polachek on ‘Everything is romantic’, Julian Casablancas on ‘Mean girls’, Bon Iver on ‘I think about it all the time’, Tinashe on ‘B2b’, the Japanese House on ‘Apple’, the 1975 and Jon Hopkins on ‘I Might Say Something Stupid’, Bladee on ‘Rewind’, Bb trickz on ‘Club Classics’, A. G. Cook on ‘So I’, and Shygirl on ‘365’.
Debuting the album at Storm King Art Center in upstate New York, Charli XCX said: “When the song comes out… there’s still so many different versions of that song that could be made.”
Nafen Wu, a Chinese director and cinematographer, has quietly yet powerfully established herself in the world of visual storytelling. Her work stands at the intersection of technical precision and human emotion, where every frame is imbued with intention. Recently, her short film Spider earned accolades at international film festivals, drawing attention not just for its narrative but for the way Wu uses light and shadow to carve out the emotional landscape of her characters.
In Spider, a seemingly mundane domestic incident — a couple arguing over killing a spider — unfolds with subtle tension. Wu’s handheld camera work and low-angle shots create an intimacy that feels almost intrusive, while the contrast in lighting amplifies the characters’ unspoken anxieties. “I wanted the light to reflect the emotional fractures beneath the surface,” Wu shares. “It wasn’t just about illumination; it was about revealing what’s hidden.”
Her approach earned praise from critics who noted how she turns ordinary scenes into something that resonates on a deeper level. One reviewer described Spider as “a masterclass in visual tension — the light tells the story as much as the dialogue does.”
Wu’s talent for visual storytelling extends beyond fiction. In her documentary work, she brings the same sensitivity and technical skill to real-world subjects. Her award-winning documentary on maritime firefighters, recognized at the 2022 NXTUP Film Festival, captures the high-stakes world of sea rescues. Filming in unpredictable conditions, Wu managed to convey both the physical and emotional demands of the job. Her lens finds the quiet moments amid the chaos — a firefighter’s brief pause, the glint of determination in their eyes. These details give the documentary a raw authenticity that resonates with viewers.
What sets Wu apart is her belief that cinematography is more than a technical craft — it’s a bridge to human connection. “I think of the camera as a tool to explore not just what we see, but how we feel,” she reflects. This philosophy underpins all her work, whether she’s documenting a community event or shaping the mood of a scripted drama.
Looking ahead, Wu is working on a documentary that explores the lesser-known stories of Sino-American cooperation during World War II. She hopes to uncover moments of solidarity that history has overlooked. At the same time, she’s developing a short video series celebrating the cultural heritage of Chinese kite-making. For Wu, these projects are about more than preserving history; they’re about fostering a dialogue between the past and the present, between cultures and people.
“Filmmaking is a responsibility,” Wu says. “It’s about giving people a reason to pause, to see something they hadn’t noticed before.”
In an industry often focused on spectacle, Nafen Wu’s quiet, thoughtful approach reminds us of the power of light and shadow — not just to illuminate a scene, but to illuminate our shared humanity.
The transition from Chat Pile‘s God’s Country to Cool World is partly, as the album titles suggest, a matter of scope. While the Oklahoma City band’s 2022 debut God’s Country tore into the cruel horrors specific (but not unique) to American territory, its follow-up finds them widening their gaze, “with thoughts,” according to vocalist Raygun Busch, “specifically about disasters abroad, at home, and how they affect one another.” If only they were just thoughts. The profusion of violence, death, and suffering – at times unspecified and often unimaginable, the stuff of nightmares, but always harrowingly, inescapably real – is not merely a thematic concern. It feels elemental. Busch makes no attempt at an argument, and his bandmates offer no catharsis in its absence. To deliver anything but a hopeless and uncompromising vision of reality would be to ignore everything that’s in front of us; it would mean to conform, and Chat Pile have no interest in that. They swallow it all in, and it bleeds right through the core of their gruelling music.
So even though Cool World looks beyond the ugliness of “home,” it still turns, or rather pulls, inward, internalizing anguish wherever it’s found. Busch is a dynamically empathetic performer who switches perspectives from one song to the next, only to remind us, as he does on the opening track, ‘I Am Dog’, that “everyone bleeds.” There he embodies the ultimate subject of dehumanizing apathy, lurching and pleading to no avail. But on the following track, ‘Shame’, the narrator awakens from a state of detached ignorance to the scorching truth, which cuts down to the bone: “It stung hot in my eyes/ The illusion of justice/ It burned deep in my face.” When “the skull speaks and its words are truthful,” what is there for the brain to reason? Busch describes images of war like it’s the first time his characters are, not necessarily seeing, but deeply registering them: “In their parents arms/ The kids were falling apart/ Broken tiny bodies/ Holding tiny still hearts.” (Another reminder: “All tears flow from the same source.”)
Cool World isn’t about bearing witness to the tragedies of the world so much as it just does, and those who have their eyes forced open can’t do anything to blank them out. Like ‘grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg’, God’s Country’s closer, ‘Tape’ dramatizes the tormenting process but leaves the story open to interpretation: “I guess someone had to see/ Someone had to be horrified by what they had done/ Someone had to say something or it would have gone on forever.” We only know it was the worst, and it was recorded, and in that way, it does have no end. From ‘Shame’ to ‘Funny Man’, it’s not hard to identify the atrocities documented on the album not just as not just systemically facilitated, but intergenerational: “Caged life/ Caged hurt/ Passed down/ Past earth,” Busch howls on ‘Funny Man’. And with the powerful pairing of ‘Camcorder’ and ‘Tape’ in the middle of the record (or the end of the first half feeding into the second), there’s a sense of lyrical continuity that elevates the album from its predecessor. Only ‘Masc’, which is more interpersonal and vulnerable in its anguish, feels a little disconnected.
But any sense of progress within Cool World, like that purported by mankind, exists only to highlight the cyclical nature of trauma. “Nowhere to go,” Busch despairs on ‘I Am Dog Now’, a sentiment that’s cemented by the final track: ‘No Way Out’. Chat Pile have no intention to complicate their message on their second album; in fact, they make it sound more direct. No subgenre of metal has ever felt apt for the band, but now “noise rock” barely applies, too; their musical approach is, fittingly, more elemental, foregoing the noisy, proggy sprawl that marked God’s Country. That makes it more pointed but no less eclectic: post-punky disaffection contrasting death-metal growls on ‘Shame’, the punishing (dare I say nu metal?) grooviness of ‘Frownland’, the dissonance unfurling to make way for wordless terror on ‘Camcorder’. Chat Pile can get as heavy and cacophonous as they like, but all the fury and pain exploding into view is nothing compared to the hollowness that follows. Busch’s delivery is at its most numbing when he repeatedly intones, “I can feel it”; when he admits to screaming all night, it is with total and haunting resignation. Maybe kicking and screaming does nothing. But once you stop looking away – if you have the privilege of hiding, that is – silence is no longer an option.
Wallets are accessories that combine style and practicality. They not only hold necessities such as cash, cards, and IDs but also express one’s style and fashion sense.
In this guide, we present the top wallets that combine poise and grace with pragmatism.
With so many options available to us online, shopping today has become commonplace. Fashion-specific platforms — fashion is one such area that boasts a myriad of wallets. These sites divide products into groups of functionalities, i.e., Material, color, design, etc. Customers enjoy user reviews, detailed descriptions, and high-quality images so you can make an informed purchase. Online shopping, in addition to having unbeatable prices. It would help if you had some unique deals that can be difficult to match.
Meanwhile, department stores house retail relics that are waiting for those looking for a hands-on shopping experience. It can be great for stores that show multiple brands side by side with everything laid out to compare. Customers have the opportunity to see products in person, feeling them with their senses of touch and sight to pick up on things that can not be conveyed over a computer screen. Staff assistance is a bonus, helping patrons choose the right wallets for them. The seasonal sales events make for some great deals that are worthwhile to buy by all means for smart shoppers.
Boutiques have individual selections and sometimes limited edition choices. They carry finely crafted and unique pieces that are vetted for quality craftsmanship. In boutiques, you are more likely to find wallets with artisanal touches and exclusive drops. These shops attract customers who appreciate custom service, creating a more intimate shopping experience. Contrary to classic or not, prices may corroborate the agonizing pain of exclusivity when buying/losing these classics, but generally speaking, they return investment with timeless pieces to anything.
Low carbon footprint wallets are getting the buzz from eco-friendly consumers who actually care about where their clothes go beyond the trusty shoulder. Today, a whopping number of brands are turning to entirely ethical production by using recycled leather or plant-based alternatives. Most of the sustainable wallets have innovative designs to show, leaving a message that fashion and environmentalism can come hand in hand when done rightly. You can jump onto a dedicated online platform or pop into specially curated shops offering sustainable styles.
Having a wallet where we can brag about the design but not feel regret later because of how expensive it was is possible with a little bit of cleverness. The good thing is that there are a lot of budget-friendly options available at discount stores/ outlets that do not make it feel like you have emptied your wallet into buying these. Retailers can offer additional discounts through seasonal clearance events or promotions. Another option is a local thrift store that has used wallets, which are both extremely affordable and interesting. Well, with some patience, you can land on a very chic wallet while remaining budget-friendly.
Personalization makes accessories unique. Customers customize their products with initials, colors, and types of customization. A personalized wallet is a special gift that shows a connection and taste! Available both online and in stores, these options are specifically directed to those who seek something one-of-a-kind.
When you buy wallets for women from local artisans, you’re supporting craftsmanship and unique designs. Explore craft markets and artisan fairs for handcrafted treasures that carry personal stories and support small businesses. Wallets from Hula Hoop, for example, offer a distinct touch that sets them apart, making them a special addition to your accessories collection. Choosing locally crafted wallets helps sustain the creative community and celebrates individuality in style.
Different paths have their strength in the journey of finding an ideal wallet. Choices abound — there are a lot of options to fit every taste and budget, from online sites like Etsy to street vendors inside the base. This is where those who desire eco-friendly designs, unique personalized features, or artisanal craftsmanship may find their heart’s content wallet. Thinking outside of the box in terms of your purchasing methods, you will be able to find a sturdy and handsome wallet that complements your lifestyle.
Saya Gray has announced her debut album, SAYA, which is set for release on February 21, 2025 via Dirty Hit. Today’s announcement comes with the release of a new single, ‘SHELL ( OF A MAN )’, which you can hear below.
SAYA follows a pair of EPS, QWERTY and QWERTY II. Speaking about the project, Gray said: “I move fast. Transition quick, hit change! My documentations have barely kept up… My mind & body caught up for this album. I had to calm down for this record. I had to document the clean up. Remnants as I move from places, people & patterns we only have ourselves at the end of it all!”
SAYA Cover Artwork:
SAYA Tracklist:
1. ..THUS IS WHY ( I DON’T SPRING 4 LOVE)
2. SHELL ( OF A MAN )
3. LINE BACK 22
4. PUDDLE ( OF ME )
5. HOW LONG CAN YOU KEEP UP A LIE?
6. CATS CRADLE!
7. 10 WAYS ( TO LOSE A CROWN )
8. H.B.W
9. EXHAUST THE TOPIC
10. LIE DOWN
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