Home Blog Page 34

13 New Songs Out Today to Listen To: Tony Iommi, Sour Widows, and More

Konstantinos Pappis
-
0
13 New Songs Out Today to Listen To: Tony Iommi, Sour Widows, and More

There’s so much music coming out all the time that it’s hard to keep track. On those days when the influx of new tracks is particularly overwhelming, we sift through the noise to bring you a curated list of the most interesting new releases (the best of which will be added to our Best New Songs playlist). Below, check out our track roundup for Wednesday, July 29, 2026.

Tony Iommi – ‘World Alone’

Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi has announced his first solo LP in 21 years, From the Dark. Vocalist Jorn Lande, bassist Becky Baldwin, and drummer Karl Brazil join the legendary guitarist on the album, which was co-produced with longtime collaborator Mike Exeter. It’s out October 23, and the lead single ‘World Alone’ is out today, alongside a music video from director Ryan Mackfall.

Sour Widows – ‘Blood in the Grass’

Sour Widows have announced the follow-up to 2024’s Revival of a Friend. Produced by Jay Som’s Melina Duterte, Sigil is set to land on October 23 via Julia’s War Recordings. The stirring lead single ‘Blood in the Grass’ was written by the duo’s Susanna Thomson for Babehoven’s Maya Bon. “‘Blood in the Grass’ is about fate, creating family, and finding refuge in one another in times of spiritual and physical pain,” Thompson explained. “It’s a gift to share pain with someone you love while you are alive because you can’t do that after you die. This song is set in the natural world because all living things are the same when they are born. In nature, the state of vulnerability is a fact that is fundamental to life and can’t be obscured.”

Coco & Clair Clair – ‘Coldplay’

Coco & Clair Clair are back with their first single in two years, ‘Coldplay’. Equal parts bouncy and ethereal, it’s the first half of a two-track release, with a companion song to follow soon. “This song encapsulates that one scene in Zola where the white girl is hanging out of the roof of the car and bouncing around with her tongue out before all hell breaks loose,” the duo explained. “It illustrates the duality of women and how we contain multitudes… Black Cars and yellow cabs, cashmere and beer, longing for someone and hating him at the same time, expecting a private entrance into a dive bar, etc.”

Dinosaur Jr. – ‘Blowin’ Up’

Dinosaur Jr. have dropped ‘Blowin’ Up’, the second offering from their forthcoming album, There Near. As caustic as it is melodic, it’s one of two album tracks penned by Lou Barlow and includes lines like, “There’s nothing quite as bad as a bored edge lord/ The dreaming and the scheming get so dark.”

Julia Holter – ‘My Lost One’

“‘My Lost One’ is a witchy folktale inspired by children’s books with creepy rhymes and nonsense syllables, trees growing through living rooms, and animals doing things in clothes,” Julia Holter said of the mesmerizing new single from her forthcoming album Materia. “I imagine wildlife moving into my home, a superimposition of the outdoors and the indoors. I think about a squirrel cooking a meal on my stove. What are we conjuring, and what are we truly longing for?”

Peter Gabriel – ‘One by One’

‘One by One’, the latest preview of Peter Gabriel’s upcoming effort o\i, stretches out to nearly 10 minutes, reamining gentle all the way through. “This is another song that comes out of the brain show that I am working on and the character has been effectively torn apart and is trying to reassemble himself one piece at a time,” he expounded. “I needed a character for the story and I’d always wanted to do a little more with Mozo, who I had introduced many years back, and I thought, well, let’s give him another blast here. He’s been brought back from the dead. What was interesting for me about Mozo was that he was not fully of the world and not fully outside it. For the original second album narrative, he was found on this waste tip, and there was a reference to alchemy, and how you only really get the opportunity to create gold out of the lowest material; shit. In Japanese culture, they also have kintsugi (kin: gold, tsugi: repair), where a broken cup is repaired with gold or precious metals and the repaired cup with its faults showing ends up more valuable than the original. It’s a beautiful symbol for humanity, because we’re remarkably easy to break and trying to reassemble self, psyche, and sanity, is really the journey of the song.”

“There are two or three story songs on the record, and I actually like the length of time they occupy, and I like the fact that you have to stay in it for the ride to understand the story,” Gabriel added. “It’s like when you arrive in some hut in the woods and it takes a while just to settle in and get yourself tuned-in to the pace of that place. I wanted a bit of that in the song. If people are on for the full ride, they’re going to take it through to the end. It’s a long journey, but I think its place in the show, which is percolating in my head, it’ll be towards the end, if not the end.”

Smidley – ‘Love in Every Direction’

Last month, Smidley, aka Conor Murphy of Foxing, announced his new album Murphy Horse with ‘Captsone’, a single whose tender, loving nature was reinforced by a guest appearance from Lucy Dacus. Today’s offering, ‘Love in Every Direction’, is buoyed by a similiar sentiment. As Murphy said upon announcing the record, “These songs summarize a year of confusion and doubt where the only thing I was actually sure of is that I married the love of my life. Those two ideas were the basis for every song here.”

Billboard Style – ‘Billboard Style’

Billboard Style is an exciting new band formed by Ben Guterl of Forth Wanderers and Dan Howard of Victoryland. Their eponymous single is out today, the first taste of their debut album Pull of the Moon, arriving October 16 via Good English. “This song is about desire and wanting someone so bad it’s like a little parasite that nestles in your brain and rewires your thoughts,” Guterl commented. “It’s about how you always lose a part of yourself in pursuit of someone else and how you might not care because love is intoxicating and maybe that’s the shit life is all about.”

Elanor Moss – ‘Fixer’

London-based singer-songwriter Elanor Moss has unveiled ‘Fixer’, another striking track from her debut album, The Knife, The Needle. “‘Fixer’ is a song about vulnerability, that double-edged sword,” Moss explained. “It came to me first as this image of how when you love someone it’s like you are a little animal, rolling over and showing your little white belly, exposed and endangered to the power of the other. Everyone has their own particular vulnerabilities, and when you love someone you have to show them; you put that power in their hands. That’s scary. They could hurt you. But that exposed place, that vulnerability, can also be a doorway into something else, some kind of healing. This is the song where the album title comes from.”

Dis Fig – ‘The Account’ [feat. the wind between]

Dis Fig, the project of Berlin-based, New Jersey-raised producer and vocalist Felicia Chen, has announced her sophomore album, What to Make of These Mortal Hands – out October 23 via Thrill Jockey. The discombobulating lead single, ‘The Account’, opens with the voice of poet the wind between. “I liked teasing it by opening with a voice that wasn’t mine,” Chen explained. “I felt like I really needed someone to set the stage for what was about to unfold, like a Greek chorus or narrator, and it was clear to me that he was the right person to do it.”

Pretty Sick – ‘City Kid’

Pretty Sick, the project of Sabrina Fuentes, has a dizzying new single out today called ‘City Kid’, from her forthcoming Anarchy. “This song is about growing up in New York, and reflecting on all the experiences I’ve had that have led me to where I am now, for better or for worse,” Fuentes said. “Obviously a pretty unique experience, growing up somewhere so big and fast-paced, and being out on your own from a really young age has its benefits and setbacks. In most of my music, I reflect on my own life and look around at the kids I grew up with and try to make sense of the past hectic 25 years and figure out how we got here, through both the life events as well as the music and art that shaped us.”

Tokyo Tea Room – ‘Always in the Sun’

Margate’s Tokyo Tea Room have dropped a new single, ‘Always in the Sun’, from their upcoming album Feel Forever. “The track, almost utopian in spirit, is simply as joyful as it gets and captures everything that’s good about love,” the group commented. “Beth’s toplines paired with the groovy bassline and the instrumental make it an essential for summer evenings with that special someone.”

saoirse dream – ‘death vs dying’

saoirse dream has announced a new album, grimdark – out October 9 via Lauren Records – with the vibrant lead single ‘death vs dying’. “’death vs dying’ was the tone-setter for grimdark,” Portland artist Catherine Egbert explained. “I have a hard time writing from a place of anger, but the exercise of writing for a fictional character opened that up for me. It probably won’t surprise you to hear a trans woman say she’s got a lot to be angry about. In finally feeling that anger for myself, the record poured out of me.”

Seven Artworks That Shocked the Public When They Were First Exhibited

Gerda Krivaite
-
0
Seven Artworks That Shocked the Public When They Were First Exhibited

Walking through a museum today, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that many of the works hanging silently on those walls once caused riots of various sorts, with crowds jeering and critics fuming. These seven pieces felt like they arrived as provocations, and the public let them know it.

1. Édouard Manet, Olympia (1863)

When Olympia hit the 1865 Paris Salon, critics were truly horrified. The subject itself, a reclining nude, was nothing new. However, viewers were scandalised by everything around her: a contemporary Parisian courtesan rendered with an unglamorous frankness, her gaze meeting the viewer’s without one trace of shame. Add Manet’s loose, visible brushwork, which served as a rejection of academic polish, and you get a painting so mocked in person that guards had to be posted beside it.

2. Marcel Duchamp, Fountain (1917)

Few objects have detonated quite as much debate as a porcelain urinal turned on its side and signed “R. Mutt.” Duchamp submitted it to a show that claimed to accept any work for a fee; the organizers rejected it anyway. The question it forced onto the art world was whether value lives in craftsmanship or in the idea behind the gesture, and it still hasn’t quite been answered, which is why Fountain remains a cornerstone of conceptual art more than a century on.

3. Gustave Courbet, The Origin of the World (1866)

Courbet’s unflinching view of the female body was too explicit for public display for over a hundred years. It passed quietly between private collectors and was kept out of sight, until it finally entered a public museum in 1995. Even now, it’s one of the rare paintings that still forces a conversation about censorship and museums.

4. Andres Serrano, Piss Christ (1987)

A crucifix submerged in the artist’s own urine, photographed in a warm amber glow. While many viewers regarded the work as blasphemous, Serrano — a practising Christian raised in the Catholic faith himself — said it reflected on Christ’s physical suffering during the Crucifixion and sought to restore a sense of its humanity. The photograph nevertheless ignited fierce debate over religious imagery and public funding for the arts.

5. Chris Ofili, The Holy Virgin Mary (1996)

Glitter, cutouts from pornographic magazines and elephant dung, applied to a reimagining of the Virgin Mary: when this piece landed in the 1999 Sensation show at the Brooklyn Museum, it triggered a huge international uproar. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani even tried to strip the museum of its public funding over it. The museum eventually fought back in court and won.

6. Carl Andre, Equivalent VIII (1966)

On the surface, minimalist sculpture Equivalent VIII is aggressively simple, with 120 firebricks stacked two deep in a plain rectangle on the gallery floor. Still, when the press got wind, years after the Tate had acquired it, of what public money had paid for a pile of bricks, the tabloids had a field day. The uproar ended up doing more to drag minimalist and conceptual art into everyday conversation than any museum wall text ever could.

7. Robert Mapplethorpe, The Perfect Moment (1989)

Mapplethorpe’s retrospective, full of images exploring sexuality, nudity and BDSM, sparked one of the most consequential censorship battles in American art. When the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati agreed to show it, the museum’s director was hit with criminal obscenity charges. He was acquitted, but the trial left a notable mark on discussions surrounding free expression.

Six Women Who Left a Mark on Renaissance Art

Gerda Krivaite
-
0
Six Women Who Left a Mark on Renaissance Art

In 1971, art historian Linda Nochlin asked a question that would reshape the discipline: “Why have there been no great women artists?” Her answer pointed partly to how the institutions of art, from academies to patronage, made artistic careers far harder to pursue for women. The Renaissance was no exception. Although many women were denied the training and opportunities available to their male contemporaries, a remarkable group of artists built successful careers, challenged convention and left an enduring mark on European art.

Sofonisba Anguissola (c.1532–1625)

One of the most celebrated women artists of the Renaissance, Sofonisba Anguissola earned international acclaim for her portraits. Born into a noble family in Cremona, she received an unusually thorough artistic education, with her father encouraging all of his children, including her five sisters, to study the arts and humanities. Anguissola later became court painter to Philip II of Spain, and even received informal guidance from Michelangelo. Her sensitive portraits, especially ones of children and members of the Spanish court, helped expand portraiture through unusually naturalistic depictions of the sitters.

Self-portrait at the Easel Painting a Devotional Panel by Sofonisba Anguissola. Image source: Wikipedia

Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614)

Working in Bologna, Lavinia Fontana broke into a field almost entirely closed to women: large-scale, official portraiture and religious commissions for the city’s elite and eventually the papal court in Rome. Trained by her father, painter Prospero Fontana, she built a reputation distinctly her own, supporting a household of eleven children largely through her work — her husband, Gian Paolo Zappi, unusually for the era, stepped back from his own painting career to help manage her workshop instead. Her portraits are celebrated for their meticulous rendering of fabric, lace, and jewelry, capturing how Bologna’s noblewomen presented themselves, while she also ventured into mythological and religious subjects, including nude figures, a bold move for a woman artist at the time.

Portrait of a Lady with a Dog by Lavinia Fontana, 1590s. Image source: Wikipedia

Properzia de’ Rossi (c.1490–1530)

Long before most women were allowed near a chisel, Properzia de ‘ Rossi carved miniature Passion scenes into peach pits, a display of skill so precise it caught Giorgio Vasari’s attention. That ingenuity led to a rare commission, namely, marble reliefs for Bologna’s Basilica of San Petronio, worked alongside the city’s leading male sculptors. Her masterpiece, Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, is a marble relief that secured her the sole female spot in Vasari’s Lives of the Artists. Unfortunately, her work still remains far less known today than that of her peers.

Louis Ducis, Properzia de Rossi finishing her last bas-relief (1822, Musée de l’Évêché de Limoges). Image source: Wikipedia

Caterina van Hemessen (1528–after 1565)

Trained by her father, Antwerp painter Jan Sanders van Hemessen, Caterina made history at just twenty years old with her 1548 Self-Portrait, widely considered the earliest known self-portrait by a woman artist and the first ever to show a painter at work at the easel. Signed and dated on the front of the panel, it presented painting as a serious profession rather than just a private hobby, which was a bold statement for a young woman in Flanders to make. Her skill soon caught the eye of Mary of Hungary, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, who brought her into her court and later to Spain, cementing her reputation among Europe’s cultured elite.

Self portrait by Hemessen, 1548, which may be the first self-portrait of an artist at work at the easel. Image soure: Wikipedia

Diana Scultori (1547–1612)

An accomplished engraver from Mantua, Diana Scultori became the first woman to receive a papal privilege allowing her to publish and sign prints under her own name. Her engravings reproduced works by leading Renaissance artists and helped to circulate compositions across Europe long before photography or mass reproduction. Thus, she played an important role in spreading Renaissance artistic ideas far beyond Italy.

The Snakeholder, after Giulio Romano. Image source: Wikipedia

Plautilla Nelli (1524–1588)

A Dominican nun in Florence, Plautilla Nelli largely taught herself to paint by studying the drawings and paintings available in her convent. She went on to produce large devotional works at a scale rarely attempted by women of the period, including a monumental Last Supper. Although her work fell into obscurity for centuries, recent conservation projects and exhibitions have restored her place within the history of Renaissance art.

Saint Dominic Receives the Rosary by Plautilla Nelli. Image source: Wikipedia

Elite Force Season 2: Cast, Rumours & Release Date

Alexandra Pleșa
-
0
Elite Force Season 2: Cast, Rumours & Release Date

A new action thriller is slowly but surely turning into a global hit. Elite Force, which recently debuted on Netflix, is already the most-watched non-English show on the service.

With 10.1 million views this week, the French production is also #1 in 36 countries. Does that mean a second installment is on the way? Here’s what we know so far.

Elite Force Season 2 Release Date

At the time of writing, there’s no news on a potential Elite Force season 2. Netflix often waits a while to assess viewership before making a decision either way. With numbers this good, however, a sequel seems inevitable.

Plus, the finale packs quite the punch, leaving viewers eager for more. Add in the fact that the people involved seem excited about the future, and we’re cautiously optimistic.

“We’re working on it, and I think it will obviously depend on the success of the first season. But if the audience responds well, yes, I think we all want it,” star Tomer Sisley said when asked about season 2.

If all goes well, new episodes could arrive in late 2027.

Elite Force Cast

  • Tomer Sisley as David
  • Tristan Zanchi as Max
  • Judith El Zein as Jessica
  • Thierry Neuvic as Christophe
  • Leanna Chea as Tanya
  • Kévin Azaïs as Valère
  • Guillaume Gouix as Cédric

What Is Elite Force About?

An action thriller, Elite Force revolves around the GIGN, France’s elite tactical police unit. In other words, the people who specialise in counterterrorism, hostage rescues, and other risky operations.

The story follows veteran officer David, who is preparing to retire and spend more time with his family. Unfortunately, his plans are shattered when a deadly attack targets his unit and forces him back into action. As David leads the hunt for those responsible, he uncovers a conspiracy tied to a tragic mission from his past. At the same time, he mentors Max, an ambitious recruit eager to prove himself.

The show blends large-scale action sequences with personal drama, which makes it an exciting watch for viewers who prefer their entertainment to be of the explosive variety. Moreover, the first season ends on a shocking note, which doesn’t bode well for David’s future.

If Elite Force season 2 happens, it will likely pick up in the aftermath, following the GIGN during more high-stakes situations. We’re sure fans expect nothing less.

Are There Other Shows Like Elite Force?

If you enjoyed Elite Force, check out some of the other action series streaming on Netflix. We recommend The Night Agent, Lupin, Furies, Bodyguard, The Recruit, and Agent Kim Reactivated.

Piers Secunda Explores Cultural Destruction in New Ukraine Exhibition

Gerda Krivaite
-
0
Piers Secunda Explores Cultural Destruction in New Ukraine Exhibition

British artist Piers Secunda will present Nature Morte: The Extermination of Ukraine at Fitzrovia Gallery, London, from 12 August to 6 September 2026. The exhibition examines the systematic destruction of Ukraine’s cultural heritage in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Drawing on research conducted during visits to Ukraine in 2024 and 2026, it combines still-life painting and documentary evidence to explore the relationship between food, identity and cultural survival.

At first glance, the works depict traditional Ukrainian dishes and their ingredients. However, the paintings, created using ink made from charcoal collected in Kharkiv — the site of one of the first government buildings destroyed during the 2022 invasion — serve as entry points to a broader archive of evidence. Arranged in pyramid formations reflecting structures of power, each work is linked via QR code to supporting evidence relating to the destruction of cultural sites, the looting of artefacts and the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.

The exhibition also includes a map charting more than 5,000 recorded instances of damage to cultural sites across Ukraine as well as a 40-minute documentary by filmmaker David Miller, Secunda’s long-time collaborator. Known for his research-led practice investigating the destruction of culture, Secunda’s previous projects have informed government inquiries and international heritage initiatives, with works now held in collections including the British Museum and the V&A.

Glen Hansard, Oscar-Winning Singer-Songwriter, Dies in Motorcyle Crash

Konstantinos Pappis
-
0
Glen Hansard, Oscar-Winning Singer-Songwriter, Dies in Motorcyle Crash

Irish musician Glen Hansard has tragically died following a motorcycle crash in Dublin. “With broken hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard in the early hours of this morning,” a press release reads. “We are still dealing with the shock of it all, so we kindly ask that the privacy of Glen’s family, colleagues and friends is respected at this difficult time.” Hansard was 56 years old.

Hansard dropped out of school at age 13 and started busking on local Dublin streets. He formed his own band, the Frames, in 1990, named for his hobby of fixing his friends’ bicycles. The group signed to Island Records and put out their debut album, Another Love Song, before being dropped by the label. They went on to release six studio albums, working with Steve Albini on 2001’s For the Birds and supporting Bob Dylan on tour. (Hansard recorded a version of Bob Dylan’s ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” for the film I’m Not There.)

The Frames’ final LP, The Cost, featured a duet with Markéta Irglová called ‘Falling Slowly’, which Hansard then recorded as part of their duo the Swell Season. It became the centerpiece of Once, a 2007 film written and directed by the Frames’ ex-bassist John Carney, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Hansard also starred in the movie, having acted just once before, in the 1991 BAFTA-winning comedy-drama The Commitments. The second Swell Season album, Strict Joy, came out in 2007, and a documentary about the pair was released two years later. In 2022, Hansard and Irglová recorded a song with Ukrainian refugees, ‘Take Heart’, and reunited for the 2025 album Forward.

Hansard released five solo albums, the most recent of which was 2023’s All That Was East Is West of Me Now. Though he didn’t pursue acting after the success of Once, he appeared as a voice actor on an episode of The Simpsons and recorded a song for the soundtrack of The Hunger Games.

Ireland’s culture minister, Patrick O’Donovan, paid tribute to Hansard, writing: “Few artists made as big an impact on modern Irish storytelling … Hansard consistently poured passion and vulnerability into every note. His impact will last generations in Irish music, even as his life has ended far too soon.”

Ransom Canyon Season 3: Cast, Rumours & Release Date

Alexandra Pleșa
-
0
Ransom Canyon Season 3: Cast, Rumours & Release Date

Ransom Canyon is back with another set of episodes that combine romance with country music and small-town drama. Add an attractive cast into the mix, and the series is guaranteed to appeal to viewers who like their entertainment soapy and fun.

Case in point: with 4.1 million views this week, the Western drama is the third most-watched show on Netflix globally. It also made the Top 10 in 37 countries. Does that mean another season is a sure thing? Here’s what we know so far.

Ransom Canyon Season 3 Release Date

At the time of writing, Netflix has yet to announce whether Ransom Canyon season 3 will become reality.

While the viewership numbers aren’t shabby, they’re also down from the show’s debut, which may affect its chances for renewal. That said, many returning Netflix series have reported a drop in views recently. Some still got greenlit for more. Plus, showrunner April Blair revealed in a recent interview that the behind-the-scenes team is working on future episodes, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.

If all goes well, a new installment could arrive in summer 2027.

Ransom Canyon Cast

  • Josh Duhamel as Staten Kirkland
  • Minka Kelly as Quinn O’Grady
  • Lizzy Greene as Lauren Brigman
  • Garrett Wareing as Lucas Russell
  • Marianly Tejada as Ellie Estevez
  • Jack Schumacher as Yancy Grey
  • Ben Robson as Oliver

What Could Happen in Ransom Canyon Season 3?

Ransom Canyon is set in a Texas ranching community where generations of families fight to protect their land. Inspired by the book series by Jodi Thomas, the show follows grieving rancher Staten Kirkland as he struggles to hold onto his family’s legacy. He reconnects with Quinn O’Grady, a longtime friend who has always shared a complicated history with him.

In season 2, Quinn returns to Texas with a new beau, Oliver, determined to move on from Staten. Turns out, Staten has spent her absence working through his grief and emotional walls, making him a very different man than the one Quinn left behind. As they are thrown back into each other’s lives, old feelings resurface.

Without giving away major spoilers, the future looks bright for the couple as they head into a potential third installment.

“What I’m looking forward to discovering is sort of what happens when you do actually get together because anyone can fall in love and fall in lust. But it’s when you actually do get together, and you create a home together, and you find out the ugliest parts of each other, and you still choose each other. And what does that look like?” star Minka Kelly said.

Building on that, Ransom Canyon season 3 will likely explore Quinn and Staten’s deepening relationship. We can’t wait to see whether these lovebirds make it work.

Are There Other Shows Like Ransom Canyon?

If you enjoy Ransom Canyon, shows with similar vibes include Yellowstone, The Madison, Dutton Ranch, When Calls the Heart, and My Life with the Walter Boys.

Alternatively, there are plenty of other titles currently trending on Netflix that might catch your eye. We recommend checking out I Will Find You, The East Palace, The Hawk, and Little House on the Prairie.

Best AI Tools for Coding Faster

Prince Addams
-
0
Best AI Tools for Coding Faster

Coding memes exist for a reason. And one recurring pattern is that they all point to the grunt work. Writing code. Debugging. Navigating unfamiliar repositories. Making documentation. Reviewing pull requests. Searching for the right solution. Based on recent code time benchmarks, developers spend roughly 93 minutes per day on coding-related tasks. And that doesn’t even represent all software development work. That made AI tools for coding faster one of the biggest productivity upgrades in modern programming.

Spend a little time in developer circles. You’ll see a new AI coding tool popping up every few weeks. It’s good that there’s a ton of options, but it’s hard to tell which tools are actually worth it. That’s why this article ensures you find the powerful AI tools that can keep up with how you actually build software, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer.

Top Five Best AI Tools for Coding Faster

Cursor

Cursor works as a coding agent built on VS Code. It’s known for putting AI at the center of the editor. Not bolt-on as an extension. It has a chat feature that taps into the power of multiple LLMs. For that reason, developers can use natural language for it to perform different duties faster. That includes generating code, debugging, refactoring, and documentation. Its Agent mode further automates more complex development tasks. Like building, maintaining, and fixing software.

Key Features:

  • Dedicated models for either top intelligence or price efficiency
  • AI-native context-aware code editing experience
  • Tab completion for predicting the next edit

Pricing:

  • Free Package
  • Pro Package – $20 per month
  • Business Package – $40 per user/month

Real Use Case:

Tech companies like Stripe can conserve their resources with Cursor. Since they spend a lot on research and development and creating software, the tool’s offerings make the process more efficient and faster. Thereby saving budget and time.

GitHub Copilot

AI tools for coding faster
Image Credit: GitHub Copilot

Developed by GitHub and OpenAI, GitHub Copilot is responsible for normalizing AI pair programming. Since it’s baked into GitHub’s ecosystem, users can be assured it fits naturally into existing workflows and various development environments. What makes it a great pick is that it offers solutions for every stage of the software development lifecycle.  It generates code, completes functions, explains unfamiliar logic, and even helps write unit tests. All of these allow Copilot to help programmers build and ship better software faster.

Key Features:

  • Inline suggestions and chat assistance
  • Supports broad range of programming languages
  • Explains concepts, completes code, proposes edits, and validates files

Pricing:

  • Free Trial
  • Pro Package – $10 per month/user
  • Pro+ Package – $39 per month/user
  • Max Package – $100 per month/user

Real Use Case:

GitHub Copilot can help small product teams open PRs overnight. With its coding agent, developers can automatically clear a backlog of well-scoped papercut bugs. This allows them to focus on running a swift review pass instead.

Claude Code

Claude isn’t just a writing assistant. It’s also Anthropic’s terminal-based coding agent. It runs as a command-line tool that handles the entire workflow. This platform can read issues, write code, run tests, and submit PRs. It also has extensions for VS Code, Cursor, and JetBrains IDEs if users want a more visual layer on top. Making complex software projects at speed is possible thanks to its ability to reason across large codebases.

Key Features:

  • Terminal-based code building, debugging, and shipping
  • Agent View and Routines features for handling every code session and automation
  • Onboarding, issue triaging, and refactoring

Pricing:

  • Free Package
  • Pro Package – $20 per month
  • Max Package – Starts at $100 per month

Real Use Case:

Software engineers can trace the root cause of a recurring production bug using Claude Code. By explaining how different modules interact and suggesting fixes on the spot, they can better maintain a legacy application.

JetBrains AI Assistant

AI tools for coding faster
Image Credit: JetBrains AI

Built directly into the rest of the JetBrains family, JetBrains AI Assistant leverages the IDE’s semantic analysis engine. That means it’s ideal for those already working in IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, Rider, and similar IDEs. It can explain code, generate documentation, suggest improvements, create commit messages, and troubleshoot errors. Another standout feature is Junie. An autonomous agent that performs end-to-end tasks.

Key Features:

  • Context-aware AI suggestions that keep developers in control of every change
  • Native integration across JetBrains IDEs
  • Running, debugging, and testing

Pricing:

  • Free Package
  • AI Pro Package – $10 per month/user
  • AI Ultimate Package – $30 per month/user
  • AI Enterprise Package – $60 per month/user (billed annually)

Real Use Case:

JetBrains AI Assistant can assist a team migrating a Kotlin Spring Boot monolith toward microservices. Using Junie, the team can automatically draft and execute the extraction plan.

Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) 

Devin Desktop offers effortless context and agent flexibility. It automatically builds context around a project through Spaces, which organize agent sessions, pull requests, files, and related development context. Also, developers don’t have to track every relevant file manually. The bigger shift is the new Agent Client Protocol support. It turns the editor into a host for multiple agents, managed side-by-side from a single Kanban-style command center. Tab autocomplete remains fast and unlimited.

Key Features:

  • Repository-aware editing across multiple files
  • Migrating code, debugging, and documenting
  • Automating repetitive browser tasks

Pricing:

  • Free Package
  • Pro Package – $20 per month
  • Max Package – $200 per month
  • Enterprise Package – Custom Pricing

Real Use Case:

A two-person startup building a TypeScript SaaS product can use Devin to create a Stripe subscription flow. It can quickly identify relevant frontend and backend files, connect webhook handlers, update the database schema, and add paywall logic.

Choosing the Must-Have AI Tools for Coding Faster in 2026

Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, JetBrains AI Assistant, and Devin Desktop help developers spend less time on repetitive work. But at the end of the day, speed can mean different things depending on what you’re building.

If you want the deepest agentic experience inside an editor, Cursor and JetBrains AI Assistant are strong choices. For those who live in the terminal and want an agent that treats their whole repo as fair game, Claude Code fits naturally into that workflow. Teams already anchored to GitHub, Copilot’s coding agent turns issues into pull requests with minimal setup. And if you want an editor built around orchestrating multiple agents, Devin Desktop is worth a look.

Therefore, choosing among AI tools for faster coding still depends on what gets in your way when you try to code quickly.

Ninajirachi and Porter Robinson Team Up for New Single ‘WannaCry’

Konstantinos Pappis
-
0
Ninajirachi and Porter Robinson Team Up for New Single ‘WannaCry’

Ninajirachi and Porter Robinson’s much-anticipated collaboration has arrived. Written from the POV of the infamous 2017 WannaCry ransomware virus, ‘WannaCry’ was first previewed during Ninajirachi’s DJ set with underscores at Coachella, and Robinson teased it on his set at EDC Las Vegas. Check it out below.

Ninajirachi released her debut LP, I Love My Computer, last year. The first concert the Australian ever attended as a teenager was a Porter Robinson show at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney. Robinson’s most recent album is 2024’s Smile! 😀.

Essential AI Tools for Market Research

Prince Addams
-
0
Essential AI Tools for Market Research

Everyone knows you can’t just develop marketing strategies or business plans out of nowhere. Understanding customers, competitors, industry trends, and the wider market in which they all sit is necessary. Numbers prove this. 80% of companies actually do market research. Years ago, that would mean weeks of surveys, interviews, and manual research. But we’re not in those times anymore. Everyone can now find and use AI tools for market research.

Harvard Business Review also indicates that generative AI is transforming how market research is done. But with a handful of AI tools in the market that promise the same thing, where do you begin? For that reason, this guide showcases the best options for making better decisions long before launching a product or campaign.

Top Five Best AI Tools for Market Research

Perplexity AI

AI tools for market research
Image Credit: Perplexity AI

Having a research assistant. That’s what using Perplexity AI feels like. As a secondary research tool, it works as an answer engine that searches the live web for every question a user asks. It pulls in information from large datasets. This allows it to give users detailed summaries to understand what’s already happening in an industry. Accuracy is also not a problem. Perplexity delivers structured, cited reports. This makes it easier to investigate competitor activity, consumer behavior, emerging technologies, and market trends.

Key Features:

  • Quickly synthesizing reliable information related to a particular market
  • Labs feature for making  dashboards, reports, and spreadsheets
  • Source‑backed research and summaries

Pricing:

  • Free Package
  • Pro Package – $20 per month

Real Use Case:

Most startups face a limited budget. But they can still summarize large datasets and streamline time-sensitive market research projects with Perplexity AI. It’s a good starting point to identify competitors, review trends, and summarize reports.

Quantilope

Quantilope helps businesses understand what customers actually think. It’s built around advanced quantitative methods. Like Conjoint, MaxDiff, TURF, segmentation, and A/B Testing. It automates surveys, concept testing, and pricing research. By speeding up the process, researchers reach evidence-based conclusions much more quickly. There’s also an AI copilot for research support and automating tasks. What’s more, Quantilope comes with a CEP generator. It helps big time in understanding consumer triggers.

Key Features:

  • Streamlines survey programming and reporting
  • Gathering real-time consumer insights
  • Forecasting trends and demand with precision

Pricing:

  • Free Trial (Select clients only)
  • Business Package – Starts at $2,000 per month
  • Pro Package – Custom Pricing
  • Enterprise Package – Custom Pricing

Real Use Case:

Quantilope’s CEP Generator can help a beverage company to enter the market and invite consumers. Like identifying the specific triggers, needs, and buying occasions. This helps them bring customers to the energy drink category.

GWI Spark

Making data-driven decisions from real consumer insights is where GWI Spark helps. Central to the experience is a familiar chat function. Using natural language, users can ask about anything to get reliable information about audience behaviors, trends, and marketing opportunities. GWI comes packed with several market research services. This includes analysis and reporting, ad effectiveness, audience profiling, brand tracking, concept testing, purchase mapping, and segmentation.

Key Features:

  • Extracting verified data from monthly surveys in over 50 world markets
  • Streamlining audience segmentation with demographic and psychographic data
  • Creating profiles and pressure-testing strategies

Pricing:

  • Free Package
  • Plus Package – $150 per month/user
  • Teams Package – Custom Pricing
  • Pro Package – Custom Pricing

Real Use Case:

Fashion brands can use GWI Spark for smarter copywriting. They can use it to understand their audience’s concerns and values. Like whether they prioritize sustainability messaging over price before greenlighting campaign concepts.

Crayon

Crayon is a competitive intelligence platform. It uses advanced AI to track competitors’ digital footprints. That covers websites, pricing, product launches, messaging, customer reviews, and marketing campaigns. But more than the valuable intel, this platform summarizes what changed and why it matters. As such, users can adapt accordingly. The offerings don’t stop there. There are also tools for benchmarking and tracking business opportunities. With these, sales teams have the confidence to stay ahead of customer needs.

Key Features:

  • Syncing with Salesforce, Slack, and Teams
  • Automating continuous real-time competitor monitoring
  • Customizable dashboards and dynamic sales battlecards

Pricing:

  • No Free Package/Trial
  • Pricing model is customizable

Real Use Case:

Crayon allowed cloud software platforms like Vasion to scale competitive intelligence across departments more efficiently. With the tool’s automated competitive intel, they were able to speed up decision-making in head-to-head deals. Smarter selling without heavy manual effort.

Knit

AI tools for market research
Image Credit: Knit

Numbers explain what customers do. Conversations reveal why they do it. Using a researcher-driven AI, Knit conducts, organizes, and analyzes customer interviews. So users can leverage this tool to get decision-ready insights. Every AI-generated response passed through human QA. No guesswork. Its services span from scoping and context collection, survey collection, to sampling and finding, analysis, and reporting. Hence, researchers can identify recurring themes and product feedback.

Key Features:

  • AI-assisted research
  • Quickly synthesizing customer feedback
  • Automated theme and sentiment analysis

Pricing:

  • No Free Package/Trial
  • Pricing model is customizable

Real Use Case:

A footwear brand can show design mockups through consumer interviews with Knit. Doing so uncovers why certain designs fail to meet expectations. This helps them find a better approach before production and launch.

Choosing the Essential AI Tools for Market Research in 2026

Businesses or products succeed because the people behind them understand the market. All before making a move. That’s why market research has become a competitive advantage. Not just a nice-to-have.

Perplexity AI, Quantilope, GWI Spark, Crayon, and Knit fit modern standards and workflows. Perplexity is for early trend-scanning. GWI Spark or Quantilope helps validate and quantify consumer insights. Knit watches how real people react. Crayon makes sure a competitor’s next move never blindsides you. They do so in a fraction of the time.

By prioritizing the biggest gap in your research process, you’re sure to end up with the most fitting tool that will allow you to focus on turning insights into action.

1...333435...2,055Page 34 of 2,055