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The Staves Announce New Album ‘All Now’, Share Video for New Single

The Staves have announced their next album, All Now. Produced by John Congleton, the follow-up to 2021’s Good Woman will be released on March 22, 2024 via Communion Records. It’s already been previewed by the single ‘You Held It All’, and the title track is out today. Check out its James Arden-directed video and find All Now‘s details below.

“It’s a stream of consciousness about frustration and feeling overwhelmed with modernity,” the band said of ‘All Now’ in a statement. “Kind of a rejection of the performative way we have to express ourselves now in order for it to be deemed valid.”

“We were in love with the old footage of singer-songwriters performing in shows like ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’, and the way the audience hung on the singer’s every word,” they added of the visual. “We wanted to play with the idea of ‘All Now’ being an ideology and a message. Something that came from artists and creatives, but is then hijacked and commodified by corporate creeps, preaching the message to gain power.”

All Now Cover Artwork:

All Now Tracklist:

1. All Now
2. I Don’t Say It But I Feel It
3. Fundamental Memory
4. Make A Decision
5. The Echo
6. I’ll Never Leave You Alone
7. After School
8. Great Wave
9. Recognize
10. So Gracefully
11. The Important One
12. You Held It All

Stranger Ranger’s Isaac Eiger Shares Debut Single as Threshold, ‘Dream All Night’

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Isaac Eiger – a founding member of the band Strange Ranger, who recently announced they were breaking up – has released his debut single as Threshold. Listen to ‘Dream All Night’ below.

Over the past few years, Eiger has putting out music under the moniker Hollow Comet. Following a self-titled debut in 2019, he released Cues, Vol. 1 in 2020.

Lana Del Rey, Matty Healy, Nick Cave, Perfume Genius, and More Recorded New Covers for ‘The New Look’ Soundtrack

Lana Del Rey, Matty Healy, Nick Cave, Perfume Genius, Bleachers, Florence Welch, beabadoobee, and more have contributed new covers of early to mid-20th century songs to the soundtrack for the upcoming Apple TV+ series The New Look. Jack Antonoff, who just announced a new Bleachers album, produced the “immersive and contemporary soundtrack,” per Deadline.

Created by Todd A. Kessler, The New Look follows fashion designers Christian Dior, Coco Chanel, and their contemporaries as they revolutionized fashion against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Paris. Starring Ben Mendelsohn, Juliette Binoche, Maisie Williams, John Malkovich, and Emily Mortimer, the show premieres on the streaming service on February 14, 2024.

Porno for Pyros Share ‘Agua’, First New Song in 26 Years

Porno for Pyros are back with ‘Agua’, their first new song in 26 years. Inspired by close encounters with dolphins the band members had while surfing in the ’90s, the song is set to appear on an EP that will come out next year. Listen to it below.

The band – Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins, Peter DiStefano, and Peter DiStefano – recently announced the rescheduled dates of their 2024 tour, which is now billed as a farewell tour. “Now we’re here, and that same heart, that same desire to make music together, has returned,” frontman Perry Farrell said in a statement. “Getting together with these guys has been some of the most fun, the happiest times in my life.”

Frankie Cosmos, Told Slant, Why Bonnie, and More Contribute to GUNK’s ‘For Palestine’ Benefit Compilation

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Frankie Cosmos, Told Slant, Why Bonnie, Elijah Wolf, Mutual Benefit, and more have contributed to For Palestine, a new benefit compilation from the indie music blog GUNK. The album is available for sale exclusively via Bandcamp. Listen to its opening track, Adelyn Strei’s demo of ‘Innocuous Night’, below.

According to the compilation’s Bandcamp description, “100% of donations of For Palestine will support Palestinian organizing efforts worldwide and relief in Gaza, splitting between the Palestinian Youth Movement — a transnational grassroots and independent movement of Palestinian and Arab youth struggling toward the liberation of Palestine, and Anera’s rapid response relief aid: distributing hygiene kits, food, and blood donations in Gaza.”

Sprints Share Video for New Song ‘Shadow of a Doubt’

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Sprints have dropped ‘Shadow of a Doubt’, a new single from their forthcoming debut LP Letter to Self. Following previous cuts ‘Adore Adore Adore’, ‘Literary Mind’, and ‘Up and Comer’, the track comes with an accompanying video from director Ellius Grace. Watch and listen below.

Discussing the new song, vocalist Karla Chubb said in a statement:

Shadow Of A Doubt is our most vulnerable moment to date. It very bluntly deals with the experience of trauma, depression and the aftermath. It was written quite selfishly – to take the weight of some of those feelings off myself by placing them on a page in an attempt to feel like I was healing, or ridding myself of them. An entirely cathartic process.

The slow and intensifying build, the crashing drums, swirling guitars and chaotic climax all symbolise that pure terrifying fall into darkness, and the almost silent call for help. It’s the feeling of loneliness, abandonment and exile. It’s shouting out into the void and thinking everyone can hear you, but they can’t.

The vocal was recorded in three takes with jagged breaths and some misstepped lyrics purposefully left in. Here, we felt emotion was more important than perfection.

Letter to Self is slated to arrive on January 5 via City Slang.

Gulfer Release New Song ‘Clean’

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Montreal quartet Gulfer have released a new song, ‘Clean’, their first new music of 2023. Check it out via the accompanying video below.

Speaking about the visual, guitarist and vocalist Joe Therriault said in a statement: “The choice for us to set the video by the pool was a way for us to twist some of the song’s darker lyrics (There were two ports in the storm / fish him out in his uniform) into something bright and upbeat – that tension between the lyrics and the instrumentation is part of the song itself.”

Julie Byrne Shares New Single ’22’

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Julie Byrne has shared a new single from her upcoming EP with Laugh Cry Laugh, the project that features Taryn Blake Miller and Emily Fontana. ’22’ follows first offering ‘Velocity! What About The Inertia!?’, and you can listen to it below.

Julie Byrne with Laugh Cry Laugh arrives this Friday (November 17) via Ghostly International. In July, Byrne released her album The Greater Wings.

Album Review: PinkPantheress, ‘Heaven knows’

You’d be forgiven for not realizing PinkPantheress is singing about death. Sure, ‘Another life’ kicks off her debut studio album with the eerie sound of a church organ, setting up the darkly cinematic mood that was promised in the one-minute album trailer – but once those featherlight synths, breakbeats, and wispy vocals rush in, it seems like just a cheeky framing device. But as the song elicits the familiar warmth of PinkPantheress’ early output, you notice the words: “Guess you died today/ And I can’t believe it/ You lost your soul, you know that you can’t start this.” PinkPantheress carries the song with such ease that her disbelief nearly scans as dispassion, the scene fresh yet foggy enough for the listener to project their own memories of loss. “Overall, I wanted to make everyone feel a bit depleted and sad,” she said in an interview with The Guardian, and for anyone worried her newfound confidence and slick production would compromise the dejected vulnerability of 2021’s To hell with itHeaven knows strikes a satisfying balance. PinkPantheress flexes her muscles as a producer and is intent on pushing her sound forward, but she’s haunted by the same universal concerns, navigating the strange mingling of anxiety and desire.

In more ways than one, the album is a refinement of its predecessor, more ambitious and fully realized. But more remarkable is the fact that it doesn’t sacrifice To hell with it‘s appealing qualities even as it widens her pool of collaborators. ‘The aisle’ sparkles with pop detail, disco strings and all, and PinkPantheress has no issue breezing through it with elegance. The booming electro-pop of ‘Feelings’ seems designed to hint at her rise to stardom, but she cuts through the veil by using it as a site of intimacy, singing, “I realize that I’m peaking too early/ But I don’t want that making you worry/ ’Cause no one ever told me to.” She floats atop the jittery production of ‘Nice to meet you’, a track co-produced by Cash Cobain and Count Baldor, buzzing with a fervor that culminates in a killer hook: “I pray that I’ll die before my baby/ I’ll take a risk if anyone tries to touch my baby.” It’s only Central Cee’s guest appearance – far more monotonous and hardly effective as a point of contrast – that deflates the song at the end, but every other feature, from Kelela to Ice Spice’s by now instantly recognizable turn on ‘Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2’, are on-point.

PinkPantheress’ ambition to switch up and stretch out her style leads to a few missteps, particularly when it has the effect of overshadowing her voice. With the exception of ‘Another life’, this is particularly true of the Greg Kurstin-assisted tracks on the front end of the LP: the songwriting on ‘True romance’ feels too literal and the production falls flat, while ‘Mosquito’ hovers on thoughts of mortality without giving them much weight. PinkPantheress’ singing may be casual and airy, but it’s also intricate and longing in ways that later tracks do a better job of matching. ‘Ophelia’ pairs the tenderness of the harp with robust drums, mirroring the fluttering anticipation in her story and the very real feelings of fear and regret that quickly take over it.

So while the sound is generally more upbeat, darkness looms large, and PinkPantheress far from abandons her habit of dotting love songs with uncertainty and hesitation. She just proves there’s more than one way to frame it. Nothing quite tops the simplicity of ‘Boy’s a liar Pt. 2’, tucked here as a closing track, except the song that utilizes almost the opposite approach: more than double the length of many songs on to hell with it, ‘Capable of love’ dazzles with its meticulous and dynamic arrangement, conveying how much stock she’s put in the relationship – and how much she stands to lose. PinkPantheress’ music can still be suggestive, pillowy, and nostalgic, but though in the past these characteristics could pleasantly mask her high-stakes songwriting, here she goes all in, soaking in the feeling a bit more. In the world that she creates, at least, it’s worth the payoff.

How to Choose A Birthday Present for The Little Guy In Your Life

Finding the perfect birthday gift for the little boy in your life can be a delightful yet challenging task. Whether he’s your son, nephew, grandson, or a close family friend, selecting the right gift requires careful consideration. It sounds simple but boys gifts should reflect their interests, age, and personality, making the process both thoughtful and rewarding. To help you navigate this exciting journey, we’ve compiled a guide to help you select a birthday present that will bring joy to that special little guy.

Understanding His Interests

The first step in choosing a birthday present for a young boy is to understand his interests. Boys tend to be drawn to specific activities or hobbies, which can serve as a valuable guide for your gift selection. Pay attention to the things he talks about, his favourite TV shows, or the activities he enjoys most when he’s playing with friends. Whether he’s into superheroes, dinosaurs, sports, or arts and crafts, his passions will provide valuable insights into the perfect gift.

Age-Appropriate Gifts

When selecting a gift for a little boy, it’s crucial to consider his age. Children’s interests and abilities evolve as they grow, so you’ll want to choose a gift that aligns with his developmental stage. For example, a toddler might be thrilled with a colourful set of building blocks or a plush toy, while an older child may prefer a board game, a remote-controlled car, or a science kit. Ensuring the gift is age-appropriate will not only keep him engaged but also safe.

Promote Creativity and Learning

Many parents and caregivers appreciate gifts that promote creativity and learning. Educational toys, books, and art supplies can be excellent choices. For example, consider gifting a puzzle that challenges his problem-solving skills, a science kit that allows him to conduct fun experiments, or a set of paints and brushes to nurture his artistic talents. These types of gifts not only provide entertainment but also encourage growth and development.

Personalised Touch

Adding a personalized touch to a gift can make it even more special. Consider items that can be customized with the child’s name, initials, or a special message. Personalized clothing, backpacks, or even a custom-made storybook can create a unique and memorable gift that he will cherish for years to come. Personalization shows that you put extra thought and effort into the present, making it all the more meaningful.

For those in Canada looking to elevate a special occasion, exploring the best gift basket in Toronto might be the perfect addition to these personalized items. These baskets can combine both the delight of discovery and the thoughtfulness of personalized elements, creating a comprehensive gift experience. Additionally, the penguin store offers unique and charming options that can add a delightful touch to your gift.

Consider His Wishlist

If the little guy in your life has a wishlist, pay attention to it. Children often share their desires and preferences with their parents or guardians, and these lists can serve as a valuable resource for gift ideas. While it’s great to surprise him with something unexpected, fulfilling a wish from his list ensures that he receives a gift he truly desires, ensuring a big smile on his birthday.

Quality Over Quantity

When it comes to selecting a birthday gift for a little boy, it’s essential to prioritize quality over quantity. Instead of buying multiple inexpensive items, consider investing in one high-quality gift that aligns with his interests. A well-crafted toy or a durable piece of equipment will not only provide more long-term enjoyment but also demonstrate your commitment to giving him something special.

Consider His Parents’ Preferences

While the focus is on the child’s enjoyment, it’s also considerate to take his parents’ preferences into account. Check if there are any restrictions or guidelines they have for gift-giving, such as avoiding certain types of toys or favouring educational items. This ensures that your gift aligns with the family’s values and makes everyone happy.

Think Beyond Material Gifts

Sometimes, the best gift for a little boy isn’t a physical item at all. Experiences can be incredibly meaningful and memorable. Consider gifting an experience like tickets to a sports event, a visit to a theme park, or enrollment in a class or activity he’s passionate about. These experiences create lasting memories and can be even more valuable than material possessions.

Gifts That Encourage Bonding

Choosing a gift that encourages bonding between the little boy and his family or friends can be a wonderful option. Board games, puzzles, or outdoor activities like a kite or a soccer ball can provide hours of entertainment and bring loved ones together. These gifts promote social interaction and create opportunities for memorable moments with the birthday boy.

In conclusion, selecting the perfect birthday gift for the little guy in your life requires thoughtful consideration of his interests, age, and personality. By understanding what makes him tick and prioritising quality over quantity, you can choose a gift that will bring joy and create lasting memories. Whether it’s a personalised item, an educational toy, or an experience to share, your thoughtful choice will make his birthday extra special. Remember, it’s not just about the gift itself but the love and care that goes into the selection.