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Scowl Sign to Dead Oceans, Share Video for New Song ‘Special’

Scowl have released a new song, ‘Special’, which accompanies the announcement that they’ve signed to Dead Oceans. It follows the hardcore band’s Psychic Dance Routine EP, which made our list of the best EPs of 2023. The track was produced by Will Yip and mixed by Rich Costey. Check out a video for it below.

“Originally [guitarist] Malachi [Greene] sent in the demo while we were touring the UK,” vocalist Kat Moss explained in a press release. “Cole [Gilbert] added his flare on drums, [bassist] Bailey [Lupo] directed the bridge, and finally [guitarist] Mikey [Bifolco] cooked up his leads. ‘Special’ is a kamikaze. The lyrics are about threatening the audience by asking ‘what do you really want?’ in clear desperation to answer my own question ‘What do I really want?’ But the answer is simple, I want to feel alive.”

Watch Vampire Weekend Perform ‘Connect’ on ‘Fallon’

Vampire Weekend stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday night (October 7) to play ‘Connect’, a highlight from their latest album Only God Was Above Us. The performance featured an abundance of yellow caution tape, safety vests, a small choir, a string section, and a vibraphone solo by Ezra Koenig. Watch it happen below.

Tucker Zimmerman Shares New Single ‘Lorelei’

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Ahead of the release of his new, Big Thief-produced album, Dance of Love, this Friday (October 11), Tucker Zimmerman has shared one more single called ‘Lorelei’. It follows the previously unveiled ‘Burial at Sea’, ‘The Idiot’s Maze’, and ‘The Season’. Check it out below.

“I’m turning Lorelei on her head in this song,” Zimmerman said in a statement about the track, which sees him trading off verses and harmonies with Adrianne Lenker. “Enough luring sailors on the river to their destruction. Time to head for the hills with a silver harp and bring some peace into the world.”

Listen to Daniel Johnston’s Previously Unreleased Song ‘All Good Children Got to Die’

On October 18, Eternal Yip Eye Records/Thirty Tigers will release a collector’s edition reissue of Daniel Johnston’s 1991 album, Artistic Vice. The release includes heartfelt words from Johnston’s EYE Band bandmates, a lyric booklet with rare photos, colored peach and light blue vinyl, and a second LP featuring Artistic Vice outtakes, rehearsals, and previously unreleased songs that were meant for the original album. One of the unreleased tracks, ‘All Good Children Got to Die’, is out today alongside a visual produced by Fly Eye Media. Check it out below.

Artistic Vice Collector’s Edition Cover Artwork:

Artistic Vice Collector’s Edition Tracklist:

LP1 Tracklist:

1. My Life Is Starting Over
2. Honey I Sure Miss You
3. I Feel So High
4. A Ghostly Story
5. Tell Me Now
6. Easy Listening
7. I Know Casper
8. The Startling Facts
9. Hoping
10. It’s Got to Be Good
11. Happy Soul
12. The Dream Is Over
13. Love of My Life
14. I Killed the Monster
15. Laurie
16. Fate Will Get Done

LP2 Tracklist:

1. All Good Children Got To Die
2. Christian Martyrs
3. Easy Listening
4. I Know Casper
5. Penny Penny
6. You Said You Didn’t Really Love Me
7. Piano interlude
8. Happy Soul
9. Got To Be Good
10. It’s Over
11. Love of My Life
12. Something Fantastic Rolling Over My Soul
13. Boogie
14. I’ll Be Going Home Someday
15. Dead Dogs Eyeball (Variation)
16. Ego Trip

Youth Lagoon Shares Video for New Song ‘My Beautiful Girl’

Youth Lagoon, the moniker of Idaho-based producer and composer Trevor Powers, is back with a new single. It’s called ‘My Beautiful Girl’, and it follows May’s ‘Lucy Takes a Picture’. Check it out via the accompanying video, directed by Regrets Only, below.

“Songwriting just feels like receiving messages from a portal and transcribing them,” Powers shared in a press release. “Some nights I’ll wake up at 3 am and words feel like they’re bludgeoning my skull with a baseball bat. Most times, I don’t even know what they mean. I don’t think I’m supposed to. It’s only my job to listen, be constant, and write them down. And if I’m not a faithful steward of that job, those words will find someone else who is.”

He added: “There’s a near-ghost town in western Idaho called Idaho City — about 30 minutes from home. I go there often to swim in the river, pray, and be alone in the country. Last time I went, I hiked through the cemetery (known as ‘Boothill’ ‘cuz of all the miners that died with their boots on) and saw a gravestone in darkness and dry weeds that said only, ‘My Beautiful Girl’. No name. No dates. Just love. Who was this beautiful girl? The portal opened, and I wrote down the message.”

Youth Lagoon’s most recent LP, Heaven Is a Junkyard, came out last year. Read our inspirations interview with Powers about the album.

Midwife Joins Mark Trecka on New Song ‘Witch’s Hat’

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Chicago-born singer, sound artist, and writer Mark Trecka (of Pillars and Tongues) has shared a new song, ‘Witch’s Hat’, which features vocals by Midwife. Doug Tesnow (An Heap) also plays synth on the track. Check it out below.

“‘Witch’s Hat’ is our Hallowe’en dream song, long wanting to be,” Trecka said in a statement. “I hope it can be of use to dreamers dreaming and celebrating the other side in this thinning veil season.”

Bicep and Hammer Team Up on New Song ‘CHROMA 007 STEALL’

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Bicep are back with a new single, ‘CHROMA 007 STEALL’, a collaboration with fellow Belfast native Hammer. Released as part of Bicep’s CHROMA project, which encompasses a record label, a series of events, and a constantly evolving AV/DJ show, the track marks the first time the childhood friends have worked on music together since 2015’s Dahlia EP. Give it a listen below.

Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley Accuses Former Manager of Sexual Abuse in New Memoir

Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell, the first memoir by Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, is out today (October 8). In an interview with the LA Times, the frontman discussed the book’s allegations of sexual and verbal abuse against Treble Charger vocalist Greig Nori, who was Sum 41’s former manager.

Whibley started working with Nori when Whibley was 16 and Nori was 34. Nori had been a hometown hero to Whibley, and he became the first person to serve Whibley and his bandmates alcohol. Whibley claims that, when he was 18 and intoxicated at a rave, Nori grabbed his face and “passionately” kissed him while they were in a bathroom stall doing ecstasy. Whibley says that he was stunned and that Nori claimed that he had never experienced same-sex attraction, but that what the two of them had “was so special.”

Whibley claims that Nori persuaded him to explore what they had because “so many of my rock star idols were queer. … Most people are bisexual; they’re just too afraid to admit it.” When Whibley tried to end things, Nori would allegedly accuse him of being homophobic and said that Whibley “owed” him for helping the band’s career.

Whibley told LA Times he never told anyone about his relationship with Nori. When Whibley started dating Avril Lavigne in 2004, he opened up to her and she said, “That’s abuse! He sexually abused you.” Whibley said that his current wife, Ariana Cooper, had the same reaction.

Whibley writes that the sexual encounters stopped after a mutual friend discovered what was happening and said that it was abusive. According to Whibley, however, the psychological and verbal abuse continued, with Nori insisting on being credited as a co-writer on most of Sum 41’s songs, claiming that the music industry would take them more seriously if he was involved. In 2018, Whibley reportedly won back a share of ghostwritten copyrights from Nori in an out-of-court settlement.

Nori also allegedly discouraged the members of the band from being in touch with their own parents. “He wouldn’t let our parents know anything,” Whibley told LA Times. “He tried to keep them away all the time. Now it makes more sense. Because he was the same age as our parents, and we didn’t know that at the time. He knew they would get suspicious of the way things were running. … He would always be like, ‘You can’t have a relationship with your parents and be in a rock band. It’s not cool. It’s going to hurt your career.’”

Sum 41 fired Nori in 2005. Speaking with Toronto Star, Whibley said that Nori has yet to read the book. About his decision to come forward, Whibley said, “You can’t sue [someone] for telling the truth. If he wants to challenge it, I welcome that. Let’s go to court. Let’s go under oath. That would be fucking great! I welcome that part. Let’s get into discovery. I’ll have my lawyers grill you. They can grill me all they want. I mean, that would be fucking perfect! Finally, let’s get it on record!”

Nori has not yet addressed the allegations.

Reach Out for Help

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, we encourage you to reach out for support.
Crisis Text Line
UK: Rape Crisis
US: RAINN

Nell Smith, Flaming Lips Collaborator, Dead at 17

Nell Smith, the Canadian teenage music prodigy who collaborated with the Flaming Lips when she was just 14, has died. Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymonde, whose label Bella Union had signed Smith and was preparing to release her debut solo album next year, confirmed the musician’s death in an Instagram post. No cause of death has been announced, although, paying tribute to Smith during the Flaming Lips’ concert in Portland on Sunday night, frontman Wayne Coyne said that she “was killed in a car accident.” Smith was 17.

Smith was born in the UK but moved to Canada during her childhood. She met Coyne after her parents took her to the band’s 2018 headlining show in Calgary, and the band kept noticing the then-12-year-old dressed as a parrot in the front row. They stayed in touch as Smith learned guitar and began writing her own songs, and, during the pandemic, collaborated remotely to record an album of Nick Cave covers. Where the Viaduct Looms came out in November 2021.

Following the collaboration, Smith launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund her debut album of original material and eventually reached her campaign goal. “I have always loved music and started writing some of the songs that will be on this album when I was 12, seeing them come to life is really exciting,” Smith said at the time.

“We are all shocked and devastated to hear of the sudden and tragic passing of our artist and dear friend Nell Smith, over the weekend in British Columbia,” Raymonde wrote in a statement. “Nell was just 17 and was preparing for the release of her first solo record in early 2025 on Bella Union, made in Brighton with Penelope Isles’ Jack and Lily Wolter. Her first release was an album of covers of Nick Cave songs recorded with fellow Bella Union artistes The Flaming Lips back in 2021 entitled, Where The Viaduct Looms.”

Raymonde added: “While we all try and come to terms with the awful news, and out of respect to Nell’s grieving family, we are unable to make any further comments at this time. The Bella Union Family.”

 

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Innovative Therapies for Chronic Skin Conditions

Chronic skin disorders affect millions of individuals globally, lowering their quality of life. These conditions often cause pain, emotional suffering, and long-term symptoms that traditional treatments may not fully resolve. However, dermatological advances have made newer medicines more accessible and boosted long-term care hopes. Medical technology is improving treatments for these diseases, from light-based therapy to regenerative medicine. 

New topical therapy developments 

Topical drug development is skincare’s brightest future. Improved medicine delivery systems allow active compounds to reach deeper skin layers and provide stronger comfort. Doctors use conventional and innovative corticosteroids to treat psoriasis, eczema, and rare diseases like lichen sclerosus. Modern lichen sclerosis treatments often involve immunomodulators and regenerative medications to reduce inflammation and improve healing. This combination reduces flare-ups and progressively restores skin integrity. 

Phototherapy and laser technology 

Light-based phototherapy is another treatment advancement. Technology has made UV light therapies for vitiligo and psoriasis more advanced. Excimer lasers and narrowband UVB therapy protect healthy skin with targeted action. These advances allow patients to receive more targeted treatment. Lasers can also eradicate blemishes and even skin tone for chronic pigmentation disorders. Laser technology may help treat severe, unresponsive ailments. 

Regenerative medicine and biotherapeutics 

Biologic medications have revolutionised regenerative medicine. Life-based biologics target immune system components that induce inflammation. By modulating immune responses, biologics can cure long-term conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and lupus. These precise treatments have fewer side effects than typical systemic drugs, making them a good long-term choice. Stem cell therapies are also being studied to help patients with chronic skin problems regenerate and heal their skin. 

The role of personalised medicine 

Chronic skin problems increasingly require customisation. As molecular biology and genetic research advance, dermatologists abandon a one-size-fits-all approach. Genetics, lifestyle, and triggers are considered in personalised medicine to create a more targeted and effective treatment approach. Patients with chronic skin problems may have complicated symptoms; therefore, personalised therapy addresses them. Genetic testing can discover immunological or inflammatory pathways that can be treated with specific medications or lifestyle adjustments. This individualised treatment approach is especially important for disorders like atopic dermatitis, where flare-ups might have many causes. Integrating holistic approaches to skin care 

Many chronic skin sufferers find relief with holistic therapy and medical treatments. These methods target skin and body health, including symptoms and underlying reasons like stress, food, and the environment—mindfulness, yoga, and acupuncture lower stress, which can cause eczema and psoriasis flare-ups. Anti-inflammatory diets rich in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and probiotics have also been added to treatment plans to support skin health from the inside out. These holistic therapies and medical treatments offer a more comprehensive and long-term solution for chronic skin diseases. 

Conclusion  

Dermatological discoveries offer hope for long-term skin problems, which can affect a person’s life. Advanced biologics, personalised medicine, topical therapies, and laser technology are growing. Medical advances give patients additional alternatives, comfort, and skin condition management, but no single treatment works for everyone. This is a key step towards long-term relief for chronic skin condition sufferers.