When a franchise lasts for generations, it must engage devoted fans and welcome newcomers. Decades of stories add meaning for the invested, but leaning too much on old references can put off those just arriving. The most successful franchises keep their identity strong and let history enrich the experience, while using stand-alone franchise stories, fresh starts and familiar callbacks to open the door for anyone to join in.
Why Legacy Franchises Struggle to Satisfy Both Old and New Fans
Long-running franchises often draw much of their emotional impact from what came before. When a narrative is part of a larger whole, moments like reunions, betrayals, or resolutions carry greater emotional weight for those familiar with its history. Familiar names and unresolved conflicts become more meaningful to returning fans.
As sequels and spin-offs accumulate, the expanding web of past events can become a barrier. What feels like rewarding fan service to dedicated viewers may become an inside joke that confuses newcomers.
The right balance comes from focusing on essential details. Successful stories introduce conflicts and motivations plainly, making the stakes clear to everyone. Franchise lore then enriches the experience for longtime fans without excluding new ones.
How Stand-Alone Franchise Stories Give New Viewers a Way In
One effective approach is the stand-alone adventure, giving audiences a genuine sense of completion within the larger world. Someone brand-new to the franchise can start with this one installment and follow along without feeling lost. Meanwhile, veteran fans still spot additional context, inside jokes or familiar themes woven into the plot, adding an extra layer of satisfaction.
Disney presents “The Mandalorian and Grogu” as a stand-alone adventure designed to welcome new audiences while rewarding existing fans. Filmmaker Jon Favreau describes accommodating “a new audience that might want to experience Star Wars in a theater.” There are references and easter eggs for fans who’ve followed every detail, but at the heart is a journey with clear stakes, goals and a cast that draws newcomers right in.
This approach allows recognition and callbacks to add fun for longtime viewers without putting them in the driver’s seat of the story. When a familiar setting or vehicle from an earlier chapter appears, it acts as a bonus rather than the main course. New audiences get a complete adventure, and old fans get an extra wink if they spot a detail from the past.
New Settings as Fresh Starting Points
While some stories immerse audiences in ongoing worlds, others welcome newcomers by starting fresh. Launching a new timeline, setting or cast allows creators to establish stakes and rules from the ground up. Without the baggage of previous conflicts or dense lore, these reboots invite new audiences to discover the world alongside the characters.
Gundam takes this approach with “GUNDAM ROGUE ORBIT™,” launching in March 2027, which introduces an entirely new Gundam timeline. In this story, players control RE-X, a new pilot flying Gundam Helix with support from the Haro unit Vii, as they confront an unknown threat. The game emphasizes learning and discovery, blending familiar Gundam elements with fresh twists. Free from decades of continuity, “GUNDAM ROGUE ORBIT™” lets players jump in right away and engage with the world through action and exploration.
Here, learning the rules of the world isn’t a chore but part of the game. New players or viewers aren’t punished for not knowing what came before, and the joy of discovery gets built into the experience. This model shows that a reboot isn’t just about switching the scenery, but a way to let people engage with key themes and mechanics from the start.
Familiar Visual and Character Anchors for Longtime Fans
Even as stories pivot to new timelines or fresh premises, holding onto core identity remains essential for franchise health. Recognizable designs, music and character archetypes ground the audience and signal that, despite the surface changes, this is still the world they care about.
Writing in the NECSUS European Journal of Media Studies, researchers discuss how nostalgic references act as a bridge between generations within scholarship on recycled screen stories. Not every callback clicks with every viewer, but plenty of evidence shows that music, visual motifs or familiar character types can be satisfying shortcuts in complex universes.
Popular entertainment often leans into these anchors. East Carolina University film studies professor Amanda Ann Klein points to the appeal of returning actors and the continuation of long-standing stories as big draws for so-called “legacy sequels.” She describes reusing stories as “a good way to sort through everything that’s out there,” and that familiar elements can guide audiences through a crowded entertainment landscape.
For the “Descendants” series, Disney Branded Television President Ayo Davis points to music, dance and costuming as universal touchpoints, especially as the cast turns over. Her comments to The Hollywood Reporter highlight a strategy of moving loyal fans forward and opening doors for new viewers. This perspective is grounded in creative aims and a sense of accessibility, not in sweeping claims about cross-generational appeal.
Together, stand-alone narratives, new timelines and recognizable hallmarks give creators flexibility to evolve a franchise while keeping it grounded. History adds depth for those who want it, but the current story always needs to offer its own reasons to care. With that balance, new conflicts and interpretations can keep the fictional world open for each generation to discover.
Jack Shaw is the Culture Editor for Modded, breaking down the trends, fandoms and more shaping today’s cultural landscape. His work explores everything from blockbuster franchises to local subcultures. Jack seeks to bring clarity, context, unique insight and a fan’s enthusiasm to every story. His writing can be found in Quartz, ComicBookMovie.com, The Outerhaven and more.
Sarah Meth is a London-born singer-songwriter who started singing in a children’s choir at age four. Taking guitar lessons at school, she then wrote her first song at nine – about two classmates that had broken up, she recalls – and went on to attend the BRIT School alongside alumni including Olivia Dean and Lola Young. Maintaining a bedroom pop intimacy, she wafted through vocal and production styles throughout her early work, including 2020’s Dead End World, 2022’s Leak Your Own Blues, 2023’s Steps EP. Last year saw the release of the ‘NY ILY’ single, which alludes to a spontaneous New York trip that ended up informing much of her debut full-length, Something Shameful, released via her own imprint, Wishbone, with distribution by FADER label. With songs taking shape between Meth’s South London home, 4AD’s studio with in-house engineer Fabian Prynn, and with Sorry’s Louis O’Bryen, the record is by turns skeletal, eerily fleshed out, and altogether wondrous, gnawing at relationships whose blurry edges match their intensity. “The pleasure was painful/ The pleasure was mine,” she sings, not burying it inward like any vocalist on a slowcore song titled ‘I gave you a shell (because I felt like one)’, but taking ownership more like her favorite crooners would.
We caught up with Sarah Meth for this edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about going to BRIT school, making Something Shameful, the duality of introversion and extroversion, and more.
I read an interview where you said that, “contrary to popular belief,” Sarah Meth is your actual name. Do people not believe you were born with that name?
No, everyone thinks it’s a stage name. And that it’s some sort of I don’t know, like rebellious alias or something, but it’s my real name, and it originates from Austria, because my grandpa was from Vienna. I never met him, but it holds quite a weight, because it’s my grandpa’s name. It’s funny, actually – I went and saw my parents when the album came out, and I was asking him if he grew up with the same kind of flack that I’ve gotten my whole life. He was saying he hadn’t, because it’s quite a new recreational drug. For a while, I was feeling a bit doubtful if keeping my name was the right thing to do. I think it’s always helpful to have that separation of your artistry and that worldbuilding to who you are as a person. It’s like that weird juxtaposition where it’s not who you really are, but at the same time, it’s your truest, most vulnerable parts of yourself.
But I think when you’re born with a name that stands out, then it makes sense to make use of it. I’ve been releasing music since I was really young – I’m still young now, but I’m not super new to this; although, in some ways, I am. But it just felt right to keep the name, because it’s all come from the same place even if I’ve changed artistically. It’s actually Austrian for mead, like the alcoholic drink. [laughs] I’ve only been to Austria once. I don’t have any family there; my dad was born in London, so it’s weird having a city that is such an important part of your story, but not really know much about it. I’d love to play there one day.
Did you have conversations about the record with your parents at all?
Yeah, they’re super supportive and quite involved in the sense that they come to my shows, and they love hearing anything that I have to offer them, even though I’m quite selective. I feel like in some ways, they’re my biggest critics, because they’ve seen me since the start doing this. But they take it seriously. None of them are musical, but they’re all such big fans of music, and I grew up listening to a lot of music because of them, so I think it means a lot to them. I feel lucky that they’re understanding and really supportive and encouraging.
When you say they’re your biggest critics, I’m thinking of how shame is a big theme in your music, and I’m curious if the vulnerability of what you choose to share is part of what you fear people close to you may be critical about?
It’s actually not. I feel like no one around me questioned that. I feel like I was questioning that a lot to the people that had been involved or heard the record, but they were all just really like, “This is what is natural to you, and you should do it.” No one kind of paused and was like, “Are you sure you want to do that?” And they’re definitely not critical about that. I think they can see how much it helps me, and it kind of makes me feel good, and it empowers me.
Obviously now that it’s out, and the title is something shameful, and it’s kind of packaged in that way, I’m able to reflect with that lens on songs. But when they were written, and when I was making it, it was never like, “I want to make a project about this.” And even having press written about it now, it’s made me kind of see into how I write and notice things about myself that might seem obvious to the consumer, but I’m a bit more oblivious, maybe, because I’m in it, and I’m going off of intuition. Sometimes it’s hard to be super analytical about what you make until it’s out, and then you’re kind of digesting it differently. So much of making an album is just about getting it to the right place where it’s done. It feels strange to have it across the finish line now, and to be able to dissect it beyond just musically, in ways I hadn’t really paid that much attention to.
But my parents have never been critical or opinionated about any subject matter or songs. They’ll definitely be honest, like, there have been times where my dad’s been like, “I’m not sure this song shows the full range of what your voice can do, but I still really like it as a song.” And then I’ll be like, “Well, that’s not the purpose of this song; not every song can be an Aretha Franklin moment.” [laughs] When I say they’re my biggest critics, it’s probably because, in a weird way, their opinion means a lot to me – not because they’ve ever been harsh, but because they mean a lot to me as people. I’m close with my parents, and so much of what I make is an amalgamation of things I grew up listening to because of them. There’s probably a part of me that hopes there’s something they like in there, because they feel pretty prominent to the reason it exists.
When do you first remember feeling seen or recognized for your voice in that way?
I think by my mum. For years, my mum was the only person that I would really sing in front of, especially at home, because my parents were divorced, and it was just me, my mum, and my brother for a really long time. I would always be singing at home, and I think she could just tell that I was really into it. When I was really young, she signed me up for a choir every half term. She’d be working, so I’d be doing some sort of performing arts – I remember I did a Michael Jackson-themed one one week, and then a Wicked one another week. Those kinds of things were basically what I wanted to do as a child.
From what I understand, it was until around 16 that you were involved in choir, and that must have been when you got more into the songwriting and recording side of things?
Kind of, yeah. Sixteen was a really strange age for me; I think I stopped going to choir because I got my first boyfriend and just wanted to spend my weekends with him. I sacked off the big summer camp that I’d done every year to go to Reading and Leeds, and my interests and angle on music had changed.
By angle, what do you mean?
That summer, between finishing my GCSE exams and going to BRIT, was when I first got approached by the music industry from having demos on SoundCloud. Suddenly this thing that felt really private, just something I did in my room, in a matter of months became – I wasn’t expecting to get into BRIT, and I did, and then I had a manager. It felt like this path of me being an artist was possible. I remember at the time feeling strange and almost like it had been decided for me, but I clearly wanted it, otherwise I wouldn’t have applied to BRIT. That summer I became more confident writing songs and sharing them with friends and online. My angle of it being something that I’d done just with choir in these different communities was shifting, and it was the first time it really felt like maybe this is something that could be mine.
Lots changed that year, and I had a completely new normal where I was studying music every day at school, but in a way that was attuned to my way of learning. I still can’t read any music, I don’t know any music theory, and I struggled a bit in school with focusing and being academic. It was always a struggle for me to learn in a one-dimensional way. Whereas at BRIT, it was way more practical and hands-on. It was BTEC, which is a completely different educational syllabus to a normal kind of A-level, but you get the equivalent results. It’s really important that exists, because this one-size-fits-all approach to education and learning is not accustomed to the kind of age that we live in now where differences are being hyper-normalized.
In your mind, is there a precious feeling attached to that time when music was a private thing for you, between choir and music college?
I kind of feel like that feeling has never really gone. How I make music and how I write songs is by being alone. As a teenager, when I first started writing songs properly, I was having a lot of anxiety. I wouldn’t want to be social, and I would often cancel plans with friends, making up excuses that I was sick; actually, I’d just be at home writing songs. I remember it feeling quite lonely and isolating. I wasn’t super happy at school, but it wasn’t in a way that I felt like I could articulate why. Around 14 or 15, lots of things changed very fast – I had relationships and friendships change. I’d always sung and covered songs, but when I started writing more seriously, covering loads of different songs in private for fun was how I taught myself to play piano and instruments. Once I had a basic understanding by ear of certain chords and note names, I could apply that to making my own stuff.
Most musicians I’m friends with have had a period, often during their teenage years, where they just felt like they had no friends or didn’t want to see anyone. It wasn’t that they weren’t there, but I just felt unhappy and wanted to hermit. I feel like I can still be susceptible to that now. It feels comforting, and it’s a good way to channel things. But it’s a lot more balanced now, and on the other side of it, there were friends who also did music, who got it, and who I could share it with. Reflecting on those practices being so prominent to what I do now, it’s nice to think that I was doing the same thing ten years ago as a teenager – just with a different pool of people and different music, obviously.
Did that need for community, or even that need to be alone, change shape when you went to BRIT, where your friendships could become part of your musical growth?
Definitely. BRIT school felt like a playground of figuring out who I could be as an artist. I started so sure that I wanted to be a soul singer because I loved Amy Winehouse and Nina Simone. I still love them, but once I got there, I realized every other singer in the room had that. [laughs] Naturally, that pushed me to reject it slightly, because everyone was doing it. I’d never really liked folk music; I’d always found it boring. Then suddenly I became obsessed with Karen Dalton. She was such a gateway because she has such a crazy, powerful voice, but it’s all on acoustic guitar. Through her, I got into Nick Drake and John Martyn, and I had a huge phase with all those singers. I left BRIT school such a different type of person.
When you get discovered by the industry at such a young age, so much of it is based on potential. They can see that you have something, but we’re evolving throughout our whole lives as people, and tastes change and evolve with you. I have some friends who have been making music from that same time, and their sound is not that dissimilar to how it is now. I think that’s so credible and rare because they knew who they were at such a young age. Whereas for me, my transition from my teenage years into adulthood was about being a sponge and soaking up as many different genres and artists as I loved – not just artists online or from the past, but also friends who grew into artists, or artists that became friends.
What you’re saying makes me think about a couple of pop singers who were kind of pigeonholed by their first albums and took a different direction on their second: Billie Eilish taking inspiration from soul and jazz singers, and Clairo drawing from Karen Dalton and that era of folk. It’s interesting that those shifts were happening around the same time.
I obviously can’t speak for them, but when you’re an artist, so much of it is your sound and all these things, but we’re probably all just artists who love to sing. Naturally, the way I sing still feels really inspired by a lot of those old croonery singers. That’s part of the influence I still carry with me, even if sonically or musically those influences are now different. The use of backing vocals and having quite a croonery tone is something you can hear in the earlier work, and it’s still there. People like Karen Dalton or Nina Simone are just some of the best and most iconic voices that have ever existed. When you’re a teenage girl who loves to sing – and you sang before you really became an artist – it makes sense that your idols are going to be big voices, or voices that move you. So there’s probably an element of that as well.
I know some people you went to BRIT with play on the record, like Kit Derbyshire and Charlie Read Clark. Was Cameron Picton there at the same time?
Yes, Cam was the year above me, and we’ve been good friends ever since.
Something that surprised me a little was seeing him credited with synth on ‘Care’.
We tried a few sessions with it, and while nothing really came of it overall, there was one synth sound from those sessions that I ended up using in the middle bit. He wasn’t playing synth in a traditional way; it was more of a textural sound. But it adds so much to the song, so I kept it. He’s also playing second guitar on the title track, which was nice.
Speaking of this whole group you’ve known since then, why do you think you’ve remained collaborators? What made you feel confident bringing them into the world of the record?
Friendship is honestly just the crux of it. When you’ve been friends with someone for so long, you’ve seen each other through so many different eras and chapters of your lives. Last year, we spent a lot of time together because we were both working on our records – I sang on [Cameron Picton’s] record [as My New Band Believe], he played on mine. These things don’t feel like favors; they feel like luxuries and things I enjoy doing because I love Cameron and his music.
It feels emotional to bear witness to the things that make up these songs, because they’re real to us and our friends in a way that is maybe different than to people who don’t know us. [laughs] Less so with Cameron, because we’re quite different people, but he knows the stories behind all of my songs and has lived through it with me. It’s really nice to have friends who have been along for the ride and can contribute to it. So much of it is also just loving how they think musically and as people, so having that trust to bring them in, have a play on it, and see what happens is nice. I think so much of music is a language that can only really be translated in that way, which is why so much great music happens between friends or people who have known each other through all kinds of different dynamics. It taps into something kind of mystical. It’s not about having the craziest skill or ability; it’s their taste and their scent that helps linger on something.
Part of the album gets at the uncertain vulnerability that comes with the beginning of something, especially a relationship. Did you feel a similar kind of uncertainty in beginning Something Shameful in earnest?
When you’re an independent artist, it’s completely in your hands to find the team and the village of people who are happy to step into that world with you. Some artists will have a crazy whirlwind year where a label says, “You need an album right now, go write as many things as possible,” and that becomes a testament to that period of their life, which is also really cool. But the nature of how this album was made was completely in people’s spare time for free, as favors with no recording budget. There comes a lot of earnestness, love, care, and support in doing that, which I’m so thankful for.
How did you decide to independently release the record?
It just felt like the right thing to do for this album, and to have it out at this time. Last year was mainly spent finding the right team to do this with me, which was a process in itself. Some of the songs were written last year and were late additions, but finding the team tied in nicely with the album’s themes. I started working with my manager and my press lady last year, and they’re both women. It feels pretty monumental and different for me working with a team of women. It’s super validating to not have anything questioned or toned down, especially with lyrical content, and to just have it celebrated.
For distribution, I met the Fader label when I was in New York. I got coffee with one of them, met the team on my own accord, and that felt really good. Bringing everyone together and being the leading factor in everything was a really big confidence boost. I realized that if I’m proactive, curious, open, and honest – the same traits that are kind of themes within the album – those traits lead me to the right people to do this with. It’s been very rewarding to have people work on it who care and have given me full creative control and agency. Those are things that should not be taken for granted in music, even with indie artists. I feel like I’m at an age and point where I’m much more confident in my abilities than I was previously, so everything has aligned very well.
I’m curious how these traits you mentioned are related to a sense of place. Part of what I hear in this record is this push-and-pull between loneliness or introversion and this extroverted self, which also feels tied to the duality ofLondon and New York. Could you talk about what these places bring out in you and how that was revealed through writing these songs?
It feels like the ever-going battle of my life. [laughs] I think we live in such a day and age of seeing things so binary – everyone wants labels for things to help them understand them better, or we’re constantly looking up horoscopes because these names and categories help us feel more together with other people. But at the same time, it can separate us and create divides. Rather than just being introverted or extroverted, I feel like I’m someone that can easily feel really immense pain, but the flip side of that is I can also feel immense joy. There’s not really such thing as a sad person or a happy person, we’re all nuanced. It’s like with trees, their roots are always growing underneath, and obviously we don’t see them. Everyone has those underground roots of themselves still growing, and just because they’re not visible doesn’t mean they’re not there. I sometimes find it hard to balance the parts of myself that can be incredibly happy and joyous with the parts that are more sensitive.
I don’t necessarily feel more one or the other in New York and London; I just feel like it’s important to meet all the different parts of myself in both places. The first time I went to New York, I was so rose-colored glasses – I could be so confident and open there. That’s still true, and it was important for me to meet my insular self there as well, to know what it’s like and how to deal with it. Having been born and bred in London my whole life, going somewhere that makes me feel open in a way nowhere else does forces me to be curious in a way that feels celebrated and normal, and like, not weird. In London, I can be prone to feeling a bit closed and having an outer shell. But the more time goes on, the more I want to apply that openness wherever I go. I don’t have to be there to tap into it, because it’s nice enough just having it reflected to me there that it’s possible.
You preserve a confessional, lo-fi quality in some of these songs, but it’s also clear a certain magic happens when you bring your friends into the production. What was it like this time to allow yourself to be more open at this stage of collaboration, to let these songs take different shapes, and hear your voice processed and filtered?
I honestly feel like I’m craving that openness and collaboration of it all, because I love doing it by myself, but anything to do with music is so much better shared. So much of being a musician is low-key being a loner, so to have people step into that and elevate it with you is just always the best feeling – especially in the studio doing the songs with Louis [O’bryen]. Even when I rehearse with my band, whenever I’m feeling down or not happy, as soon as I’m reunited with them or do a session with Louis, I leave feeling so much better.
There’s only so much you can do on your own. When I was younger, I felt a real need to prove all these things that I could do as a solo female artist. Sometimes that is what’s best – like with ‘Horses’, I feel like it makes sense for that to be a solo thing. But even that was engineered by Fabian [Prynn] at 4AD, which I couldn’t do at home with my laptop and my SM58 mic. That needs his spin on it. Even the most alone things are always a collaboration in some sense, because it’s always written about someone or because of something you consumed. Being able to physically share that with other people makes me feel a lot less alone.
There are these interesting vocal glitches and flourishes throughout the record, but ‘Horses’ stands out as a closer because it amplifies your voice in this wonderful way that feels so suited to the song. Tell me more about how it came together.
It was the last song that I added to the album. It was going to end on ‘Sonic’ – that’s why it says “Bye for now” at the end – but then I made ‘Horses’ and it just felt like the right end. With a lot of songs on acoustic guitar, I write to the acoustic guitar, but with ‘Horses’, I actually made the drone that goes throughout the song first and just looped this chord building with all this textural stuff happening. It’s two different audio files on Logic, and then I wrote the guitar over that. I was trying to write it on guitar and it just wasn’t landing; it was kind of there, but it wasn’t. Then I made this drone, played it out of my laptop, and started playing along to it. Often when I’m writing, I’ll hear melodies and hum them so I don’t forget them. I was doing the “ah”s with the intention of writing lyrics to them, but the more I played around and freestyled over this drone, none of the words sounded right. It kind of took a life of its own.
Occasionally a song just pours out of you, and for this album, that was the last time I really had that. I wrote it as soon as I got back from a trip to New York. It’s my first queer song, and it’s also a song of acceptance. A lot of the first songs lyrically on the album are very reactionary and sitting in impulse and those consequences, whereas ‘Horses’ is reaching much more radical acceptance, and I think it shows a maturity, maybe, that I hadn’t found when I first started making the record.
Do you feel like being on a long-haul flight or in transit allows you to sit with a feeling or experience in a way that gives you space to write about it?
Yeah, 100%. I hadn’t even thought of that, but that’s probably the main reason I’m so inspired after I go. I always write lyrics and come up with song ideas when I’m in transit – when I’m walking, on public transport, or in the car. It’s never when I’m sat in bed or in a studio. It’s always when I’m in motion, observing, but also reflecting. You’re able to just put headphones in and tune the world out. I guess a flight is a perfect time to do that because you’re forced to.
Some of my favorite lyrics on the record are on ‘Sorry I’ve been busy living’, where you sing, “There goes the way I’ve been feeling, making meaning.” I’m taking the lines out of context, but it got me thinking about how so much can come in the way of just sitting with a feeling, which can be quite fleeting, and making something out of it.
Yeah. It’s funny, because that song is called that because the person it’s about hadn’t seen me in a while. I was like, “Why haven’t I seen you?” and they kind of just said as a throwaway line, “I don’t know, sorry, I’ve been busy living.” I remember going home thinking, “What the hell, who says that?” [laughs] So I wrote it down and made a thing of it. Sometimes there are moments that make you realize it’s time to move on from a person or a chapter of your life. It’s often hidden in weird engagements or unexpected things, because we don’t always get really clear closure unless you ask for it – and even then, it’s not guaranteed. It’s always in those weird little things, like how someone looks at you or acts with you compared to before, that make me go, “Okay, something’s changed, this is done.” Or the opposite for the more hopeful songs. [laughs] There was just a moment where I realized this person had been fueling my fire all this time, but it was time for something else.
I wanted to go back to what you were saying before about some of these moments being real to you and your friends in a different way. The record is titled Something Shameful and traces your relationship to shame, but I was also struck by the phrase “something real” that comes up on ‘Sonic’, which would have been the closer. That’s just as much a theme on the record, the idea of authenticity as something subjective and worth striving for.
I never even realized that; that’s so crazy. That was not deliberate at all, but it does very much sum up how experiences can feel with people that are intense or murky. A lot of this record explores those things – it’s not exploring one relationship from start to end; it’s exploring all these different characters that have in different ways felt like such a huge part of my journey. I think there can be shame in feeling whatever you feel about something that is intense and kind of falls into your life and explodes. But from different experiences, the takeaway can always be the elements of that which I’ll take with me, and that’s real to me. It doesn’t even have to be with that person; it can be how you dealt with something or how you handled it. I feel like so much of being an artist is being delusional as much as it is being real, and art sits in this weird subjective place in the middle. It’s not factual, but it comes from a very raw place that feels real to whoever made it.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
You can make a plain wall into a local attraction. An empty square can become a meeting point. Sometimes it only takes a mural, a sculpture, or a creative design to change the way that people view a place.
Public art gives towns and cities a way to share their stories. It adds color to streets, brings people together, and helps local areas stand out. It can also give visitors a reason to explore places they might have passed without a second look.
But public art does more than beautify a place. It connects people to the local history and culture and to the world around them. With the right idea and careful planning, an ordinary space can become a cultural landmark that people remember for years.
How Public Art Gives Places a Unique Identity
A lot of streets, parks, and town squares look pretty similar. Public art gives these places a distinctive quality.
A large mural might show scenes from local history. A sculpture could reflect the area’s natural beauty or daily life. Even a small artwork can give people a reason to stop and take notice.
These things contribute to a place’s identity. Visitors get a glimpse of what makes the area unique, and residents may see their own stories reflected in the artwork.
Public Art Keeps Local History Alive
There are stories in every community that are worth telling. Public art and cultural heritage can work together to keep these stories alive. Artists can use colors, shapes, and images to tell about the past in ways that people of all ages can relate to.
A sculpture might honor a local figure. A wall painting could show an old farming tradition or an important event. These artworks can start conversations between generations, which help to younger people learn about the places where they live.
When art reflects local life, it gives a community a way to share its history with visitors and future generations.
How Public Art Brings Communities Together
Public art gives people something to share.
Residents Can Shape the Artwork
People often have the most fun with community art projects when they have a say in how they are designed. Artists can ask people what stories from their neighborhood are important to them and what themes show what their neighborhood is like.
Schools, shop owners, local groups, and residents can all contribute ideas. Some may help plan the project, while others take part in painting a mural or preparing the site.
Art Makes Shared Spaces More Welcoming
A well-placed artwork can make the space feel more inviting. A mural can brighten a walking route, while a sculpture can become a meeting point. Good urban public art should also suit the space around it. It shouldn’t get in the way of walking, hide signs, or make it more difficult for disabled people to get around.
The goal is to make public spaces more useful and enjoyable for everyone.
The Role of Planning in Public Art Projects
A good idea is only the beginning. Artists and planners must consider who will use the space and how to maintain the artwork.
These questions connect with wider discussions about land use and development involving people such as Stefan Soloviev. Public art can contribute to these conversations by making shared spaces more welcoming and helping communities to protect local character.
When planning for a project, planners should ask themselves a few simple questions:
Does the artwork fit the area? Its design should reflect local history and culture.
Can everyone enjoy it? Consider safe access and clear walking routes.
Will it last? Choose materials that can handle local weather.
Who will maintain it? Plan for cleaning, repairs, and damage.
What do residents think? Gather local feedback before making final decisions.
If you follow these steps, your creative idea will become something that people will remember.
Public Art and Urban Renewal
Public art can support urban renewal by bringing new life to neglected spaces. A dull wall can become a neighborhood feature, while an empty square can gain a clear purpose.
These changes may encourage people to spend more time outdoors and take greater interest in their surroundings. They can also give local artists a chance to share their work.
Still, art cannot solve every problem. Neighborhoods may also need better lighting, clean streets, safe walkways, and reliable public services.
Conclusion
Public art can turn an ordinary street or park into a place people want to visit and remember. It shares local stories, builds community pride, and gives neighborhoods a stronger identity.
When artists and residents work together, public art can transform everyday spaces into cultural landmarks that remain meaningful for generations.
If raw materials do not get to the next stage of production on time, delays spread throughout an operation. Miners wait for the materials to move, factory workers may run behind schedule, and warehouse workers may have trouble shipping orders during busy periods.
Duties resulting from manual handling often lead to delays, particularly when the goods must travel between workstations or long distances. A properly designed belt conveyor helps to move materials faster, using less force than manual lifting.
However, the right system depends on the type of material being transported, the required speed, and the working environment. Mining operations, for instance, require equipment that handles heavy loads; manufacturers, on the other hand, need precise positioning, and warehouses depend on reliable package movement.
Knowing these differences helps companies find a conveyor that matches their workflow, available space, and production needs. Here are the common belt conveyor applications in mining, manufacturing, and logistics.
Mining Operations and Bulk Material Handling
Mining sites move materials from the extraction area to crushers, screening machines, processing plants, and storage areas. Conveyor belts route coal, crushed stone, sand, and ore along a route prescribed for each transfer point, avoiding the need for trucks or loaders at each transfer point. This helps maintain a steady supply of material to processing equipment.
Thebelt conveyor must suit both the material and the route. Heavy or abrasive loads require durable belts, sturdy supports, adequate drive capacity, and impact protection where materials land on the belt. Long routes also require correct tension and alignment to minimize slippage and uneven wear. Dust, moisture, and temperature can affect component selection.
Maintenance teams should inspect belt surfaces, rollers, and pulleys on a regular basis. Small alignment issues can cause spillage or damage if ignored. Designing the whole transfer route is necessary to ensure reliable mining transport, not just selecting a belt with sufficient capacity.
Manufacturing and Automated Production Lines
Manufacturers use conveyors to move parts between assembly, testing, finishing, and packaging stations. This stream of parts maintains production flow and reduces worker time spent carrying parts. Conveyor systems are also used to link machinery and automated handling equipment involved in electronics, automotive, plastics, and medical device production.
The configuration of drive belts depends on the products being handled. Single-belt drives are suitable for small items, and dual-belt drives allow for access for inspection or work beneath the products. Tandem drive belts can support larger, more rigid pieces via parallel belts. For each setup, the frame, belt width, and motor must be specified to meet the loads and available space.
Modular framing also makes production lines easier to adjust when products or processes change. For example, the guide rails and conveyor sections can be positioned around the work stream, while variable-speed drives help movement occur. Still, it’s always advisable to plan your layout for the slowest stage of production to avoid bottlenecks.
Logistics, Warehousing, and Distribution
Warehouses and distribution centers move cartons, totes, parcels, and other goods from the receiving, sorting, packing, and shipping areas. Belt conveyors provide a consistent route for transport and reduce the need for repeated lifting and carrying.
Flat belt conveyors provide a continuous surface for package weights that need to be supported. The belt can carry all of the biggest items in the normal workload, and its speed can match that of scanning equipment, sorters, or packing stations.
Layout is just as important as speed. Systems need maintenance access, safe working areas, and smooth transfers between sections. Where the floor space is limited, modular conveyor systems can connect multiple stages without needing to be completely redesigned. Regular checks of belt tracking, rollers, drives, and safety controls help maintain reliable operation throughout each shift.
Selecting a Belt Conveyor and Estimating Its Cost
Start by recording product dimensions, weight, travel distance, incline, operating environment, and available floor space. These details help determine the belt material, width, frame, and accessories. Speed and control requirements must also match the connected machinery.
How do you choose the right belt for a conveyor or elevator system?
Consider the material and operating conditions. Abrasive loads require wear resistance, delicate products may need a gentler surface, while inclined routes may require extra grip to prevent slipping. Temperature, chemical exposure, load capacity, and cleaning requirements also matter.
How much does a belt conveyor cost?
Pricing depends on dimensions, load rating, motor, controls, accessories, installation, and any special requirements. For instance, a workstation belt conveyor system will have different costs from a heavy-duty bulk handling system.
Compare belt conveyor systems based on their configuration and intended use. Ask suppliers about maintenance intervals, installation requirements, replacement parts, and compatibility with existing controls before making a decision.
Final Thoughts
Belt conveyors help mining, manufacturing, food packaging, and logistics operations move materials with less manual handling and more consistent flow. These systems ensure mining systems handle heavy loads as required, production lines are accurately positioned, and warehouses benefit from reliable package movement.
However, before choosing any belt conveyor system, assess the load, route, throughput, operating environment, and connections to existing machinery. You should also plan for maintenance access and future changes, and check if replacement parts are readily available. These considerations can help limit downtime, support safer material handling, and keep the conveyor useful as production requirements evolve.
Cara Delevingne is no stranger to the spotlight. She got her first modelling gig when she was only 10 years old. Moreover, she has been working steadily since 2011, seamlessly switching from modelling to acting to music.
Her net worth should be impressive by now, right? Here’s what we know about Delevingne’s earnings.
She built her fortune by exploring her multiple talents. While Delevingne had appeared in a Vogue Italia editorial as a child, her professional breakthrough came in 2011, when she made her runway debut at London Fashion Week.
Before long, she became a fixture at major fashion shows, worked with prestigious brands, and cemented her status as one of the most successful models of her generation.
Acting-wise, Delevingne made her feature-film debut in 2012, as Princess Sorokina in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina. She then appeared in psychological thriller The Face of an Angel before landing a lead role in Paper Towns, the adaptation of John Green’s successful young-adult novel. She also played a mermaid in Pan, a reimagining of the Peter Pan story.
In 2016, the actress joined DC’s Suicide Squad as Enchantress, followed by a lead role in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Turns out, blockbusters were right up her alley. At the same time, she kept showcasing her versatility by jumping between genres. Her resume includes titles like Tulip Fever, Her Smell, London Fields, Life in a Year, and Tell It Like a Woman.
Delevingne has appeared on television as well. She had big parts in Carnival Row, Only Murders in the Building, and American Horror Story: Delicate. In 2024, she made her West End debut as Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret at London’s Playhouse Theatre.
Besides acting and modelling, Delevingne is a successful musician. She has contributed to film soundtracks and released a debut studio album earlier this year. Plus, she continues to collaborates with brands, co-founded a prosecco company, and worked as a producer.
Cara Delevingne Salary
While actor salaries are typically kept under wraps, Cara Delevingne has previously made the Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid models. Her earnings were estimated at $9 million in 2015 and $10 million in 2018.
Back in 2014, Vogue also reported that the model made around £6,500 per day, so approximately $8 per minute.
This year, fans can catch Delevingne in acclaimed comedy-drama Club Kid. She also made a cameo in Taylor Swift’s music video for Patient Zero. Next up, she’ll appear in Salma Hayek’s directorial debut, Arena.
After releasing three albums on three different labels, Twisted Teens frontman Caspian Hollywell figured the band’s fourth might reap a lifetime’s worth of cash. Not because the singer-guitarist, who went without electricity for much of his 20s while squatting in an illegal shack in NYC, decided to clean up the garage rock group’s prolifically ramshackle approach for their Sub Pop debut, or because the indie label titan could now magically bestow permanent financial security, but because, on vacation in a little beach town in Albania, he found himself heartbroken. “If you go make a record right now, this fucking lame breakup will pay for the rest of your life,” he recalls thinking in the press bio. So after the blood, sweat, and tears of this year’s Blame The Clown and Florida Water Blues, The Holy Cross Tigers is where the temperature drops and the night thickens, abstracting even Twisted Teens’ preternaturally hook-filled sound. “To confuse is to complicate/ So it’s not so stupid to keep it simple,” Hollywell sings on ‘Armed with a Vision’. Trying hard as they might to stick to that MO, the duo’s music shines just as bright when it’s tangled up in blue.
1. Stalks
The opening track feels like starting up the engine with a knot in your throat – sure, you’ll get the car running, but make sure insurance’s got you covered. The chorus is brazen and allusive, not quite ready to wallow, but by the first verse the music’s twang bleeds into the emotional realm: “I’ll be out licking on an open wound/ Tasting all and the iron too,” Hollywell howls. As he readies himself to taste the dark side of the moon, RJ “The Razor” Santos’ piercing pedal steel and Hollywell’s colourful solo streak out both sides of the prismatic spectrum while staying on the same wavelength.
2. When We First Met
Instantly one of the most infectious songs in the band’s catalog, ‘When We First Met’ is draped in nostalgia but tinged with the anticipation of love gone awry. Hollywell even injects some youthful drama to his voice, which remains naturally weathered; he may not be able to alter the course of time, but he can control what’s on his mind, so he starts thinking about all the things they used to do together. It’s over before you realize it – the future doesn’t even need to wait out the length of an average song.
3. Be an Angel
This track, ironically, drags itself out to be the longest on the album, even as the chorus finds Hollywell pleading, “Let life quicken.” Santos’ weeping pedal steel counteracts the bitterness in his words with a touch of sentimentality. “I’m not angry/ Just confused as why I’m knowin’ you so long,” he states plainly, allowing himself to linger in the feeling a little longer.
4. Blue Rose
The first obvious instance of the band messing with the album’s rough-and-ready presentation, ‘Blue Rose’ twists itself apart at the end, as if the song could get sucked back into tape as quickly as it emerged. And this song does strike like lightning in a bottle, so visceral and driving you might not realize the lyrics turn towards poetic philosophizing, just wonky enough to avoid veering towards Instagram caption material: “So when the seed was driven from the room/ Another garden will a different flower boom.”
5. I Spend My Time Crying
Another immediate highlight, ‘I Spend My Time Crying’ loosens itself up and slows the record’s flow down. Hollywell’s guitar, acoustic this time, leaves space for Santos to trace an indelible melody, and it’s all beautiful enough for our protagonist to admit that “I was mad at you rowdy rider/ ‘Cause it was easier than being sad.” So wallow this track does, letting Santos go off with a pedal steel solo as potent and smooth as the singer would like his drink to be. If only it could help him weather the storm.
6. Blue Flower
Rising from the ashes of ‘Blue Rose’, the one-minute instrumental is a reminder that Twisted Teens aren’t your regular garage rock band, capable of mutating their sound in order to break the appearance of linearity: these things, while true, are all reconstructed from faulty memory.
7. I Bring
The distortion is dialled back up on ‘I Bring’, which seethes with frustration about little gifts slowly stripped of their meaning: a magic ring, a joke, the picture of someone in your mind. You can bring and bring and bring and still find yourself scrambling for scraps.
8. Look in the Mirror
Even more confrontational, ‘Look in the Mirror’ begins as if being dropped mid-flight – or, more accurately, in the middle of an argument. The pedal steel takes on a dreamy quality over Hollywell’s power chords, which grow more prickly the more he begs the other person to take a good look at their reflection – not just in the mirror, but “the waters of the pools of the rain as they shake with the movement of the pavement,” he sings, as if each syllable adds another second to a staring contest.
9. Lock and Key
In an interview with The New York Times, Hollywell somewhat pushed back against the idea that The Holy Cross Tigers is a breakup album, bringing up ‘Lock and Key’ – which was “inspired by a drug-running neighbor who snitched on the cartel he was working for” – as an example of off-the-cuff, circumstantial songwriting. Ten songs in, of course, it scans as an outlier on a record brimming with a hell of a lot of heartache, playful in both its narrative and stylistic details.
10. Figure It Out
Keeping the previous track’s country infections, ‘Figure It Out’ is as insistent in its rhythm as it is in its personal affirmations – the drums are as flavorful as the tune is naturally melodic, so much so that when they match up with Mel Billiard’s soaring guitarwork (appearing here for the first time on the album), cutting the outro off after less than a minute feels a little criminal.
11. Armed With a Vision
Once again beefed up by Billiard’s layered guitar, the song’s titular statement rings all the more true with each repetition. It’s as simple and meta as it sounds, though Hollywell’s clarification is not to be dismissed: “And this vision is a gun fired on confusion.” The passive voice is a little evasive; it’s not so unclear who’s holding the trigger.
12. Every Flower
Following an ambient outro, the band tends to their penchant for the surreal and apocalyptic on ‘Every Flower’, circling back to the album’s floral metaphor and even including a spoken-word passage. You can’t say that it neatly wraps up the singer’s preoccupation with the cycle of life and death, but it affirms there’s more to Twisted Teens’ music (and heartbreak) than meets the eye.
13. Darker The Night Is the Brighter I See
Hollywell does come up with a conclusion, though: ‘Darker The Night Is The Brighter I See’. After warping the arrangement slightly on ‘Every Flower’, the band maintains the ominous mood while opting for a singalong of a closer. The singalong part, of course, is the eeriest of all, “bah-bahs” fractured as if living in the same planetarium as Phoebe Bridgers’ Lost Weekend, of all things. Come morning, anything sounds possible for Twisted Teens.
When you go to the emergency room, the last thing you want is for the situation to get worse. However, a surprisingly high percentage of ER cases end up involving misdiagnoses or malpractice. By one estimate, more than 5% of ER visits result in at least a minor mistake, and more than 2% lead to serious concerns. At the same time, the seriously harmful cases are less than a percent of all visits each year, which still means hundreds of thousands of permanent disabilities or deaths that come down to malpractice.
It is important to understand how often ER mistakes occur. Likewise, you need to know what your legal options are. Here is a look at what you ought to know if the unthinkable happens during your emergency room care.
The Frequency and Type of ER Mistakes
Roughly 130 million emergency room visits occur each year. Unsurprisingly, a quarter to a third of those visits involve people who come to the ER one or more times during the same year. Chronic conditions and the consequences of prior misdiagnoses are among the biggest reasons people end up back in the ER. Both create challenging situations that lead to more malpractice.
Just five conditions account for nearly 40% of cases that lead to serious harm. Stroke is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed problems because the symptoms can be hard to detect, and patients sometimes struggle to convey that something is wrong.
Heart attacks also go improperly treated, sometimes mistaken for digestive issues. Also, doctors have a documented history of being more dismissive of female patients who report heart attack symptoms. Likewise, non-white patients suffer higher rates of misdiagnosis for heart attacks.
Aortic aneurysms or dissections are among the scariest of the top five issues. These can lead to the aorta losing blood into the body cavity. Left undiagnosed, they are frequently fatal.
Blood clots are another source of concern. Blood clots occur for natural reasons, such as existing conditions or a healing body. Some people experience blood clots following inpatient surgeries.
Spinal damage goes unnoticed because the symptoms often manifest as nerve pain or other neurological issues. A spinal cord compression or injury requires specialized testing to catch. Also, spinal abscesses can be especially tricky to diagnose if a doctor’s starting point doesn’t already make them suspicious of the condition.
According to research from Johns Hopkins, nearly 800,000 people each year in the United States suffer a permanently disabling injury or death due to an emergency room visit. While diagnostic accuracy is high, the consequences of malpractice are too severe to ignore.
What Drives Mistakes in the Emergency Room
Omissions are among the most common mistakes that occur in the ER. By one estimate, 50-60% of mistakes boil down to either failing to order a test at all or someone ordering the wrong test. The intake process frequently fails to develop a sufficient understanding of the patient’s medical history. Likewise, the physical exam might fall short or not happen, especially if doctors and nurses are trying to stabilize a patient’s condition.
Delayed treatment is another common class of omission. In particular, patients often suffer because no one orders antibiotics soon enough to ward off the onset of sepsis.
Just because tests happened doesn’t mean they lead to correct treatment. Sometimes, a hospital shift simply misses the handoff as crews change. Consequently, a test just sits there with results and no one reading them because no one knows to check. Also, a doctor might look past an abnormal test result.
Medication errors are another big issue. A doctor might prescribe the wrong drug or dose. Likewise, the doctor might get it right, but a nurse, a pharmacist, or a technician might mess up the order. Emergency rooms also frequently fail to fully test for potential interactions with a patient’s condition or their other prescriptions. Antibiotics, anticoagulants, and opioids are among the most common sources of trouble with drugs in the ER.
System errors and fatigue are just as problematic. Simply failing to document treatment or documenting something incorrectly can throw off a person’s treatment enough to be disabling or lethal. Hospital staff members are oftentimes overworked and tired, especially during night shifts and holidays. This leads to even more lapses in vigilance. Throw in crowded hospitals, lack of staffing, and unexpected events, and you can see how things go badly wrong.
Is It Medical Malpractice?
Many people avoid talking with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer like the attorneys atThomas Law Offices because they think they don’t have a strong case or they assume the hospital acted in good faith. While not every mistake constitutes medical malpractice, it is worth talking with an attorney if you feel something went seriously wrong.
A claim of medical malpractice starts with whether there was any harm. If a nurse gives you aspirin instead of Tylenol, but nothing comes of it, then there was no harm and therefore no medical malpractice.
If there was harm, then the next question involves the standard of care. For every condition, there is a standard for how a doctor would typically treat it. Because all doctors do things at least a little differently from others, the issue is more about whether another doctor would be shocked by the omissions or choices. If a doctor used a slightly outdated procedure that is still performed, for example, that probably isn’t malpractice. If a doctor ignored guidelines to never perform a procedure, then that might be malpractice.
Notably, the law gives some leeway in the provision of ER care. The law understands that these are difficult conditions. However, the law also notes that the difficulties do not wipe out the duty of care. Emergency treatment calls for serious attention to mistakes by doctors, nurses, and technicians. You do have the right to pursue a claim if you feel that you were the victim of medical malpractice.
In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on November 6, 2026.
Twisted Teens, The Holy Cross
Twisted Teens have dropped their Sub Pop debut, The Holy Cross, their third – and possibly best – album of 2026. The New Orleans duo of Caspian Hollywell and RJ Santos put out Blame the Clown on Chain Smoking Records in January and Florida Water Blues via Going Underground in July. Though it was recorded in the wake of a romantic split, Hollywood pushed against its characterization as a breakup album in an interview with The New York Times, saying, “Our albums are more like what was happening that week.”
Shygirl seeks to reintroduce herself on Swallow!, her 11-track album out now via Because Music. Since releasing her debut LP Nymph, Shygirl has been busy fronting Burberry campaigns, opening for Charli XCX, and appearing in Madonna’s Confessions II – The Film. In capturing the emotional extremes of falling in love, the album balances Karma Kid’s maximalist tendencies with Casey MQ’s delicate production, according to a press release. “I want people to remember how big the world is even when you feel so small and singular,” she explained. “SWALLOW! is the soundtrack to that experience. This record is my message in a bottle. Let’s see who picks it up.”
Chastity Belt’s latest LP serves as an unabashed celebration of friendship. It was during the mixing of All My Friends that the band’s longtime collaborator and engineer, Samur Khouja, pointed out that a lot of its songs (the oldest of which dates back to around 2018) revolve around friendship. “I got to spend my 20s and early 30s traveling the world with three of my best friends, and I wouldn’t trade it for anythingm,” bassist/vocalist Hunter Truscott said in press materials. “Friends and community are everything.” Drummer/vocalist Gretchen Grimm added, “A lot of times in life I feel like a late bloomer, like I’m still trying to get my shit together in a way that other people have already figured out. But then I reflect on my adulthood, and my top priority has largely been my friends, which I do not regret at all.”
Katie Gregson-Macleod’s debut album, Albatross, takes its name from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in which the albatross transforms from a symbol of good fortune into a burden. It struck Gregson-Macleod as a fitting metaphor for her early career, which began with her busking in Inverness before a viral moment with the single ‘complex’ led to international recognition. She recorded the album live over two weeks in Frome with producer Dom Monks and co-producer Will Taylor of Flyte. Deeply poignant and poetic, it was preceded by the singles ‘Sometimes’, ‘Good Guess’, ‘Nothing Really Changes’ and ‘I Don’t Think of Kissing You’.
As riveting as it is chaotic, PEACE + WAR is Bassvictim’s most ambitous outing so far: 19 tracks of abrasive, rough-around-the-edges indie pop that hardly lets up. It features the recent singles ‘White Flag’, which we named one of the best tracks of October, and ‘Jagódki (Blueberries)’. The LP follows a run of early released by the duo of vocalist and songwriter Maria Manow and producer Ike Clateman, including Basspunk and Basspunk 2, their 2025 debut album Forever, and this year’s ? EP.
daine’s debut album, In Endless Awe & Agony, is as vast and ambitious in its emotional scope as the title suggests. The record is framed around a Jungian individuation arc, wrestling with identity, desire, fear, and transformation as it does away with some of the digital processing of daine’s earlier releases for something more raw. The singles ‘Wishing Well’, ‘Product of Profit (P.O.P.)’, ‘I Used To Kill’, and ‘PQC’ arrived ahead of the album’s release.
Oso Oso, the Long Island project of Jade Lilitri, has a new album called an exchange of information. The follow-up to 2024’s life till bones was written largely before recording began, taking shape over two weeks at BirthdayLand Studios outside Albany, where Lilitri worked the singer-songwriter worked with producer Dan Maddalone. “I think my songwriting is probably rooted in wanting to be loved but not domesticated, enlightened but not disillusioned, wanting to be your own person but also belong,” Lilitri explained. “These things all seem impossible; I don’t know if that’s pessimistic but it feels real. That’s the truth I’m trying to dig at. That’s what has always seemed like the point of all of this for me as an artist: exploring and sitting in the balance whatever this rollercoaster is.”
Computerwife, the project of NYC musician Addie Warncke, has dropped a new LP called Born From a Wish. Out now via Danger Collective, the dreamy yet dynamic record came together in the aftermath of 2023’s Computerwife, capturing Warncke’s life during a transitional period in Atlanta and New York. According to a press release, the last time she listened back to the album in full was a year ago, when she approved the final mix. “I can hear all these different thoughts I had in little moments,” she recalled. “It feels like small pieces of what I was going through. I sound so much younger, and definitely more lost.”
Catherine Elicson, the guitarist and singer of the noise punk band Empath, has come through with a noisily introspective record titled River of Fat. Aided by longtime collaborator and audio engineer Shaun Sutkus, she began laying down the record using a droning Korg, a Roland SP-404, a vintage Stratocaster, and a Tascam 4-track tape machine. She performed each song live to tape in its entirety, drawing inspiration from legends including John Cale and The Urinals as well as contemporaries like Amen Dunes.
untitled (halo)’s self-titled debut album has landed. Written over a year in the band’s Glassell Park studio, the album revolves around how we construct our personal mythologies while preserving a sense of enigma and ethereality. “Our self-titled feels a bit like a conclusion that everything we want and need is around,” the band shared. “When we started halo, things felt unknown; exciting; new. Things still feel that way, but a bit more understood, a bit more still. The chase can be forever, but I think we are all at a point in our lives where we want to stand still and make music, make art together as friends.”
Sufjan Stevens, Worst Christmas Ever!; Boys Noize, 7LLVSION; Kings of Leon, O My Beloved; Rex Orange County, Dream Fatigue; Sam Gendel, Advanced White Trash; Party Dozen, 21 Bum Salute; Sylvie, New Season; Jess Kerber, The World Is Dark, but I Want It to Be Funny; Statik Selektah, Expensive Taste; Library Card, Peeling An Orange in Just One Go; Oisin Mod, Canary; Hudson Freeman, Doom Country; Willi Carlisle, The Universal Bubba; Coliguns, Everything We Love, We Destroy; Bryan Adams, How’s It Goin’; Bilal Nasser, Every Martyr Is a Universe.
Slayyyter has dropped yet another track from wor$t man in america. The frantically sparkly ‘hey boyyy’ is accompanied by a self-directed video that finds the singer dragging a golden skeleton around Hollywood and Paris. Check it out below.
Olivia Rodrigo has shared her first-ever Christmas song. It’s called ‘take me home (4 christmas)’, and it was produced by Dan Nigro, who co-wrote it with Rodrigo and Amy Allen. It also comes paired with a music video featuring Sex and the City‘s Cynthia Nixon and Saturday Night Live‘s Ben Marshall. Check it out below.
Twisted Teens have dropped their 
Shygirl seeks to reintroduce herself on 
Chastity Belt’s latest LP serves as an unabashed celebration of friendship. It was during the mixing of 
Katie Gregson-Macleod’s debut album, 
As riveting as it is chaotic, PEACE + WAR is Bassvictim’s most ambitous outing so far: 19 tracks of abrasive, rough-around-the-edges indie pop that hardly lets up. It features the recent singles ‘White Flag’, which we named one of the 
daine’s debut album,
Oso Oso, the Long Island project of Jade Lilitri, has a new album called an exchange of information. The follow-up to 2024’s life till bones was written largely before recording began, taking shape over two weeks at BirthdayLand Studios outside Albany, where Lilitri worked the singer-songwriter worked with producer Dan Maddalone. “I think my songwriting is probably rooted in wanting to be loved but not domesticated, enlightened but not disillusioned, wanting to be your own person but also belong,” Lilitri explained. “These things all seem impossible; I don’t know if that’s pessimistic but it feels real. That’s the truth I’m trying to dig at. That’s what has always seemed like the point of all of this for me as an artist: exploring and sitting in the balance whatever this rollercoaster is.”
Computerwife, the project of NYC musician Addie Warncke, has dropped a new LP called Born From a Wish. Out now via 
Catherine Elicson, the guitarist and singer of the noise punk band Empath, has come through with a noisily introspective record titled 
untitled (halo)’s 
