The Fat Angel Sings

Florence Road is an Irish rock band formed in Bray, County Wicklow in 2019. The group consists of lead singer and guitarist Lily Aron, guitarist Emma Brandon, bassist Ailbhe Barry, and drummer Hannah Kelly. They gained recognition in 2025 following the release of their single, “Heavy”, but had built a platform on TikTok prior to this by covering music from other artists.

The band signed to Warner Records the fast-rising Irish band released their mixtape ‘Fall Back’ in June. This was their first release on a major label, and followed-up by the breezy single ‘Break The Girl’, in September. Over recent weeks, the group have been on tour around Australia opening for Royel Otis, and during the run, they made an appearance on an Aussie radio station to perform a one-off cover version of Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘Georgia’ for the ‘Like a Version’ series.

“Obviously, we were quite wary of being seen as just a TikTok cover band or not a real band, and that was something we were nervous about,” singer Lily Aron said. “But since we’ve started releasing and doing a whole bunch of gigs, the response has been so wonderful and it’s been a nice sigh of relief.

“We played a headline gig for the EP release, and I took my ear out during ‘Heavy’, and people were screaming the lyrics. The feeling is so crazy, that we created these words, and people are really feeling them.”

Coming this spring is Florence Road’s debut mixtape, ‘Fall Back’. Spearheaded by their knockout debut single ‘Heavy’, the mixtape sees the girls get in the room with big-name producers faster than they could’ve ever imagined.

Cigarettes After Sex the American dream pop band formed in El Paso, Texas, in 2008 by Greg Gonzalez. The band is known for its ethereal, limerent, and often dream-like musical style, lyrics often based on the themes of love and romance, as well as Gonzalez’s voice, which has been described as androgynous. While marketed as an ambient pop band, Cigarettes After Sex are maybe considered to be shoegaze, slowcore and indie rock.

The band’s debut extended play, ” I.”, was released in 2012, with the song “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby” eventually becoming a bit of a sleeper hit through commercial licensing. After the release of the standalone single “Affection” in 2015, the band released their self-titled debut studio album in 2017 to positive reviews. The second Cigarettes After Sex studio album, “Cry”, followed in 2019. A third album, “X’s”, was released in July 2024.

Cigarettes After Sex  According to Gonzalez, the name came to thought after he had a “friendship with certain benefits” with a woman who smoked after they were together.

In 2012, the band recorded their debut EP,” I.“, in a four-story stairway at his alma mater, University of Texas at El Paso, calling the experience “basically an accident; kind of an experiment”. The EP’s cover art used a photograph by Man Ray, titled “Anatomies”, which featured Lee Miller with her head thrown back. In 2015, they later relocated to Brooklyn, New York, where the band’s single “Affection” was recorded and released in 2015 along with a cover of REO Speedwagon’s “Keep On Loving You”.

Around early 2016, years following the release of ” I.”, Cigarettes After Sex gained recognition after a fan upload of their song “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby” which became popular on YouTube. That same year, the band signed onto Partisan Records, and released their first single under the label, “K.”, in November .

On March 21, 2017, the band announced their debut studio album, Cigarettes After Sex. On the same day, they released the second single from the album, “Apocalypse”. In May they unveiled the album’s third single “Each Time You Fall in Love”. Their self-titled album was released in its entirety on June 9, 2017, being their first full-length release under Partisan Records.

In August 2019 the band announced their second studio album, titled “Cry”, along with the single “Heavenly”. The album was released on October 2019.

With the combination of band name and album title this one’s always going to be a bit of a tearjerker, packed with self-reflection and self-loathing. No regrets, though, as Greg Gonzalez muses on sensuality, the loss of those we care about, the loss of self to another and the endless yearning of the human heart. Shades of Lord Huron and a wealth of gloomy shoegazers can be felt, but even though “Cry” represents a next step for Cigarettes After Sex – edging into more minimalistic territories – it’s still immediately identifiable as this band, and so won’t fail to instantly resonate with avid fans. Packed with an exquisite, opiate balladry at once heartfelt and heartbroken, it’s hard to tell whether this is exactly what you need to hear when living through your blue period or precisely what you shouldn’t listen to. Either way, it’s quiet impact is immense.

The band released the single “You’re All I Want” in 2020, and later released a single titled “Pistol”, in November 2022.

In July 2023, the band released a pair of singles, “Bubblegum” and “Stop Waiting”. In December 2023, the band released a cover of Radiohead’s song “Motion Picture Soundtrack”.

February 2024, the band announced their third studio album” X’s”. On the same day, they also announced that they would embark on the X’s World Tour in support of the album, taking place throughout 2024 and 2025, and released its lead single “Tejano Blue”, in which Gonzalez stated was inspired by his years growing up in his hometown. To further the album’s promotion, “Dark Vacay” was released on April 2024, as the album’s second single, with “Baby Blue Movie” following it on June 2024. “X’s” was released on July 2024, to favourable reception.

October 2025, the band released another single, an original song titled “Anna Karenina” which was named after the novel and a cover of The Doors’ song “The Crystal Ship”.  April 2026, Gonzalez was as a special guest for Karol G’s headlining set at Coachella 2026, joining her onstage where they performed a new track, “Después de Ti”, which later saw an official release on streaming platforms on April, May 2026, the band released the single “Twizzler”.

Cry

 With the combination of band name and album title this one’s always going to be a bit of a tearjerker, packed with self-reflection and self-loathing. No regrets, though, as Greg Gonzalez muses on sensuality, the loss of those we care about, the loss of self to another and the endless yearning of the human heart. a wealth of gloomy shoegazers can be felt, but even though “Cry” represents a next step for Cigarettes After Sex – edging into more minimalistic territories – it’s still immediately identifiable as this band, and so won’t fail to instantly resonate with avid fans. Packed with an exquisite, opiate balladry at once heartfelt and heartbroken, it’s hard to tell whether this is exactly what you need to hear when living through your blue period or precisely what you shouldn’t listen to. Either way, it’s quiet impact is immense.

In a feature for Noisey by Vice, Christina Cacouris describes Cigarettes After Sex as “elemental, hazy and romantic, but with a noir edge underneath Gonzalez’s voice” as well as “sweet and sentimental”. “As the band’s name suggests, it’s reminiscent of lying in bed, but its ambient qualities don’t prevent it from being music you can dance to.” Gonzalez cites Françoise Hardy as his favourite singer and Miles Davis as having great impact. In an interview he also noted films such as L’Avventura and The Double Life of Veronique were influential to the feel and sound of the music in “Affection” and their LP. The band also includes the Cowboy Junkies’ album The Trinity Session, Julee Cruise, and Cocteau Twins as influences. The music blog Eardrums Music describes the band as “slow, dreamy and beautiful with gorgeous, tender vocals and very good lyrics” and compares it to Mazzy Star. Music bloggers behind Swell Tone describe Cigarettes After Sex as a band producing “melancholy, slow pop that will sweetly rock any listener into a listless stupor.”

Clocking in at nine songs, “Cry” is a compact collection but its brevity belies its depth. While the band’s sound may be most associated with the romantic pop music of the late 50s and early 60s, Greg Gonzalez pushes into more unexpected sonic territory on “Cry”, reaching back to his childhood in El Paso, Texas, to draw subtle melodic influence from 90s Tejano stars like Selena and mainstream pop country artists like Shania Twain.

Gonzalez pushes himself lyrically on the album too, tackling sex with the graphic frankness of Henry Miller or Leonard Cohen as he renders unabashed, sometimes explicitly erotic scenes with a casual candour. Writing with a filmmaker’s eye, he captures tiny moments with a rich, cinematic detail that manages to locate the profound within the mundane.

Cigarettes After Sex continue to defy what it means to be one of the biggest cult bands in the world. Five years from the release of their breakout self-titled debut, they have recently seen several viral moments on TikTok unlock new levels of audience growth and album sales. At almost 15M monthly listeners on Spotify and climbing, they are currently the 343rd highest streamed artist on the platform. As the debut album re-enters Top 200 charts globally (including US+UK), Cigarettes After Sex have returned with their first new music in over two years, “Pistol,” a song that brings together all of the elements that have made CAS such a celebrated band, while also introducing a subtle yet impactful increase in tempo. Equal parts transportive and romantic, the song’s driving rhythm meets a stark, minimalistic atmosphere that is given dimension by dreamy, washed-out guitars, swelling synths, and intimate, yearning vocals from Greg Gonzalez.

released November 2022

“Bubblegum” and “Stop Waiting” are the latest pair of singles from Cigarettes After Sex, and was their first new music of 2023. The double single will be released on Tuesday July Syrupy, sensual, subterranean dream-pop is set against vocals from bandleader Greg Gonzalez that walk the subtle line between croon and whisper. The songs are a perfect distillation of the starry-eyed atmosphere that the band has claimed as their signature in the six years since the release of their globally successful self-titled debut. Behind billions of streams and over 17M monthly listeners on Spotify, Cigarettes After Sex continue to defy what it means to be one of the biggest cult bands in the world.

Reviewing “Affection” for Independentmusicnews.com, Jae Pyl concludes that “there’s just such an intimacy to Cigarettes After Sex’s sound that it’s impossible to not let it into the pit of your belly.”

The opening track on Cigarettes After Sex’s self-titled debut album is a slow-as-molasses alt-rock ballad simply titled “K.” It chronicles lead singer Greg Gonzalez’s infatuation with a girl named Kristen, and pinpoints the very moment their relationship shifts from strictly casual to something more substantial. “We had made love earlier that day, with no strings attached/But I could tell that something had changed,” Gonzalez croons in a voice close to a whisper. And while he seems to have cinched the deal with the girl in question, the song ends on an elusive note: “Stay with me/I don’t want you to leave…”

Kristen’s initial is also the death knell of modern romantic communication, the wretched abbreviation for “OK,” the text message equivalent of rejection by indifference. Without a doubt, Cigarettes After Sex is an album of love songs, but it’s tempered with a millennial ennui that gives the songs an extra layer of relevance in 2017. Instead of relying on lovey-dovey, pastoral lyrics to tell stories of budding relationships, each song is set to a backdrop of ultra-downbeat dream pop, its somber moods leaking into fleeting vignettes of sexy iPhone videos and bittersweet hookups. The record plays like a cryptic guidebook to navigating the world of contemporary love affairs, or the slightly depressing diary of some 21st century Don Juan.

Sonically, Cigarettes After Sex is an impressively even-keeled, slowcore collection—so even-keeled that it borders on ambient. It’s easy to write a bunch of slow songs with similar chords, but it’s an altogether different feat to produce, mix, and compile them in a way that their similarities become their strengths, gradually setting an unshakable mood. At first the repetition of certain elements—echoing guitars, soft hi-hats, elastic basslines—seems overbearing. But after multiple listens, Cigarettes After Sex’s less-is-more ethos is clear, and their heady melange of several genres of subdued indie rock begins to make more sense.

The album possesses strong aspects of alt-country in its reverberated, plucked guitars and shuffling snares, immediately bringing to mind groups like Cowboy Junkies and Mojave 3. But then you encounter a track like “Sunsetz,” whose dreamy intro owes a considerable debt to mid-era Cocteau Twins, before dropping almost all instrumentation in its verse to showcase Gonzalez’s boyish vocals. “Sunsetz” is so loose, and with so much space, that it should be boring; instead, it’s electric, the emptiness forcing you to focus on Gonzalez’s stark lyrics and clever composition. “So you open your dress and show me your tits/On the swing set at the old playground,” he sings, not really as a command, but almost as a general observation.

The theme of sexual encounters as fodder for quiet introspection continues throughout Cigarettes After Sex, but it’s delivered in such a nonchalant way that it avoids corniness. “Sweet” opens with the line “Watching the video that you sent me/The one where you’re showering with wet hair dripping,” before turning into a song about longing to touch a loved one’s skin through a screen. A catchy late-album highlight, “Truly”’s chorus goes, “Truly, know that you really don’t need/To be in love to make love to me.”

Much like relationships themselves, these songs are full of contradictions. The objects of Gonzalez’s desire are both achingly close and tantalizingly far, in his phone and in his bed, on his couch and in his head. Through wallowing in its own mire and coming out the other side, Cigarettes After Sex becomes one of those restrained, low-boil albums where tempo, repetition, and muted composition construct an entire story within the pauses between the notes and the ideas between the lines.

X’s

Monochrome dream pop band Cigarettes After Sex release their third studio album “X’s”, following up the pre-release ‘Tejano Blue’. As romantic and wistful as ever, the album is an avowed haunt-jaunt through a series of ‘slow-dance pop ballads’ – no change there – albeit this time concerning the brutal reckoning with relationship breakdown and loss, personally borne by lead musician Greg Gonzalez during the recording of their prior self-titled album. Also a lover letter to Gonzalez’ hometown of El Paso, Texas, the album draws on themes of the music scene and atmosphere of the city, in dialogue with a subsequent move to New York and the culture shock that followed

With ” X’s”, Cigarettes After Sex finally takes centre stage as not just one of today’s preeminent indie bands, but as one of the most globally accomplished acts across any genre. Their often unconventional path to superstardom has helped reshape the very definition of success for artists in the modern era.

Filled with raw, imagistic, sometimes smutty vignettes set to entrancing, slowburn pop songs, bandleader Greg Gonzalez captures every emotion a romantic arc inspires. But where previous albums have drawn from an amalgam of relationships, “X’s” centralizes on just one relationship that spanned four years.

“The record feels brutal,” admits Gonzalez. “I could sit and talk about this loss to someone, but that wouldn’t scratch the surface. I have to really write about it, sing about it, have the music, and then I can start to analyze and learn from it. Or just relive it—in a good way. I don’t have that Eternal Sunshine-thing of wanting to forget.”

While continuing to observe classic pop song structures, Gonzalez has moved away from the prior sonic touchstones of the ’50s and ’60s, finding himself now drawn to a ’70s/’80s slow dance. While (in typical Cigarettes style) these changes may be subtle, the overall resulting energy is akin to disco ball-refracted tears on the dance floor.

Cigarettes After Sex’s “Twizzler” is arguably the most upbeat (dare we say uptempo?) track the band has ever committed to record: a standalone single in the most exciting sense of the term, existing slightly outside their established orbit while losing none of the dreamy, slow-burn sensuality that’s made them one of the most-streamed bands in the world. Greg Gonzalez’s hushed, unmistakable vocal still floats at the center, but everything around it feels brighter and more buoyant, stitched together from cinematic snapshots of a sun-drunk romance, a moon necklace at the Standard West, lips to a Twizzler outside the Cinerama Dome, a whispered promise. It’s a Cigs song through and through, just one that happens to be smiling.

released May 2026

Few artists command the kind of respect Buddy Miller has earned over the last four decades. A Grammy-winning songwriter, guitarist, producer, and singer, Miller has become one of Americana’s defining figures, whether lending his unmistakable touch to records by Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, Linda Ronstadt, Elvis Costello, John Fogerty, Patty Griffin, Richard Thompson, and Steve Earle, or helping shape the sound of countless others behind the mixing console.

On September 11th, Miller returns with “Buddy Miller”, his first solo album in 15 years – out on New West Records . Produced by Miller, recorded by Mike Poole, and mixed alongside Alasdair MacKenzie, the 12-song collection follows 2023’s acclaimed collaborative album “In the Throes” with his wife and longtime creative partner, Julie Miller. While the new record is unmistakably rooted in country soul, it also draws freely from gospel, early rock and roll, and classic rhythm and blues, reflecting the broad musical vocabulary Miller has cultivated throughout his career.

The album brings together an extraordinary cast of collaborators, including Emmylou Harris, The War and Treaty, Lee Ann Womack, Shawn Colvin, Ashley Monroe, Elizabeth Cook, Jim Lauderdale, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, and legendary songwriter Dan Penn. Anchoring the sessions is Miller’s seasoned band—Fred Eltringham on drums, Viktor Krauss on bass, Tim Lauer on keyboards, Steve Fishell on pedal steel, and frequent contributions from The McCrary Sisters—whose understated chemistry gives the record its warmth and effortless groove.

While Buddy Miller was conceived as a country soul record, its final shape emerged organically. Miller began with dozens of songs before narrowing the tracklist to a carefully curated mix of originals and inspired reinterpretations, including an early Temptations classic, a Jesse Winchester composition, and “Till the Wheels Come Off,” a heartfelt tribute written for Buddy and Julie Miller by Ashley Monroe, Elizabeth Cook, Angaleena Presley, and Meg McRee.

The result is an album that feels both timeless and deeply personal. Rather than chasing grand statements, Buddy Miller finds its power in subtlety—graceful performances, unhurried arrangements, and songs that speak to love, devotion, and the quiet wisdom that comes with experience. Fifteen years after his last solo effort, Miller sounds exactly where he belongs: making soulful, unpretentious music that values emotional truth over flash, reaffirming why he remains one of Americana’s most trusted and influential voices.

Along with the album announcement, one of the album’s highlights, “Don’t Look Back,” which finds Miller collaborating with the legendary Dan Penn, whose songwriting helped define Southern soul through classics including “The Dark End of the Street,” “I’m Your Puppet,” and “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man.” Their friendship stretches back more than three decades, beginning with an unlikely meeting over a tape machine for sale.

“I met Dan around 1994 when he came over to look at a Studer 24-track tape machine I’d listed in the PennySaver,” Miller recalls. “He passed on the Studer, but I gained a hero as a friend. His songs have been recorded by Aretha, Otis, Janis, Linda Ronstadt, and so many more,” Miller says. “And his singing is as soulful as ever.”

The admiration has only deepened over the years, and you can hear it all over this track with its smooth-as-molasses country soul that is complemented by a touch of horns and background singers to give it a little bit of that Memphis sound. The addition of sharp and bluesy guitar and twangy pedal steel imbues it with the country and Americana sound Miller is mostly known for, and his duet with Penn exudes the kind of warmth and natural chemistry that can only come from years of friendship. Ultimately, “Don’t Look Back” captures Miller in fine form and is guaranteed to get both casual and diehard fans excited for this long-awaited solo effort.

From the new self-titled album out September 11th on New West Records‬.

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Off the back of a huge year, The Reytons return with their fourth studio album “A Love Letter To A Broken Town“, building on a rise that has seen them become one of the U.K.’s most exciting and unstoppable independent band. Releasing entirely on their own terms, with no label backing, the Rotherham four-piece have continued to defy expectations and storm the charts, with “What’s Rock and Roll?” hitting No. 1 and “Ballad Of A Bystander” climbing to No. 2, cementing their place at the top of the U.K. music scene.

From their breakthrough debut ‘Kids Off The Estate’ in 2021 to selling out 20,000 tickets in Rotherham’s Clifton Park, iconic nights at Wembley Arena and making history as the first independent band to headline Tramlines Festival, their journey has been nothing short of remarkable, driven by word of mouth and a connection with fans that few can rival.

Rooted in the grit and honesty of everyday life, The Reytons continue to channel the spirit of their origins into everything they do. “A Love Letter To A Broken Town” stays true to their roots while pushing their sound forward, capturing both the raw energy of their early days and the confidence of a band at their peak.

Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis has created a paean to weird women on “1331”, her latest solo mixtape under the Sad13 moniker. Glitchy and medieval, the record is a whirlwind of JRPG chamber orchestration, cavernous organs, and programmed drums. Over thirteen brief songs (the LP clocks in at a slim, self-contained 15 minutes), Dupuis creates a haunted, futuristic universe of millennial malaise.

Three years after the most recent Speedy Ortiz record, “Rabbit Rabbit”, Dupuis returns to her side project, Sad13, for 16 delightfully cluttered minutes. “1331” sometimes comes across like indie rock’s answer to “Whack World:” Besides ultra-short songs, the two records share a capacity for quick-witted wordplay and emotional worldbuilding that elevates them beyond exercises in economy. 

On “Art Institute,” a fleet-footed, distorted game of word association, she purrs, “I want immunity to this world’s beauty so that I can rest beyond the bars of sunlight.”

On “Watermelon Manicure,” jagged, dissonant instrumentations recall an ancient, dangerous machine revving up for the first time in a long time; synths swirl around melty vocals. “People’s Loser” is all guitar and drum, a Liz Phair song on shrooms: Dupuis smirks, “The assholes elected do not do what we want. They just do loser shit” over crashing electronics. 

“1331” is the product of an overactive imagination and an anxiety diagnosis, the forbidden child of an indie rock album and a videogame soundtrack. Winking, expert, and whimsical, it leaves the listener wanting more.

Sadie Dupuis is still a hot mess—“like, infinite degrees,” to be exact. On “Six Ways,” her humblebrags surf programmed drumrolls that tick like a faulty gas stove and riffs that punch like the ones on Sleigh Bells’ debut. It’s been over a decade since the Speedy Ortiz record where Dupuis dubbed herself “caller of the shots” and “the best at being second place”; now, the cool-loser laureate fancies herself an “armchair head cheerleader.” It’s a juxtaposition that sums up Dupuis’ niche as a hardworking oddball putting her slacker vocal fry and poetry MFA to use in tongue-twisting, slice-of-life pop rock songs.

 Wishy are led by songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites, and their new single “Lovesick” is absolutely awesome. The Indianapolis band are channelling the fuzzed-out college rock of the 1980s, the big-hearted indie pop of the 90s, and ladles of power pop in the chorus. Encapsulating the freedom and escape of the open road, the sheer abandonment of caring in a chaotic world, and the heart-bursting technicolour of finding love and its bittersweet ups and downs. Pouring it all into a giant chorus that’s a soaring boy-girl sing-along, carried aloft by chiming riffs, that urges a love interest to “cut the shit” is utterly impossible to resist!

This winter will see the release of Wishy’s second album “Nature’s Pill” on Winspear, and on it Pitchkites, Krauter and co. embrace the madness of the contemporary moment. The label describes the record as a “jubilant remix of the past” which manages to tackle the uncertainty and anxiety of the present while retaining their charming side.“Being in an indie band feels bizarre when the world is on fire,” as Krauter explains. “What can you do at the end of the day other than carve out some space—at the very least I have my imagination and I can invite others to join me there. At a certain point you need to say fuck it and roll with it.” 

Wishy Share Video for New Song “All the Rage”

Wishy are releasing a new album, “Nature’s Pill”, on October 2nd via Winspear. Now they have shared its second single, “All the Rage,” via a music video. Vocalist/guitarist Kevin Krauter had this to say in a press release: “Hello Lovelies and welcome to the official Wishy press blurb for the second single !!!! Yayyy the song is out we are so happy!! 🙂 Some *~Fun Facts~* about this song number 1. i wrote it after seeing artificial go and good flying birds play an awesome show major inspo 2. my roommate judah gave me some good pointers while i was writing it shoutout to him and 3. the band played all together while recording this one 🙂 ok thanx enjoy!!!”

“Nature’s Pill” is the band’s sophomore album, the follow-up to 2024’s “Triple Seven” and 2025’s “Planet Popstar” EP.

Wishy is vocalist/guitarist Nina Pitchkites, vocalist/guitarist Kevin Krauter, guitarist Dimitri Morris, bassist Mitch Collins, and drummer Conner Host. The Indianapolis shoegaze/dream-pop band recorded the album in Los Angeles with “Triple Seven” co-producer Ben Lumsdaine.

Krauter had this to say in a press release: “Being in an indie band feels bizarre when the world is on fire. What can you do at the end of the day other than carve out some space—at the very least I have my imagination and I can invite others to join me there. At a certain point you need to say fuck it and roll with it.”

Nature’s Pill” Due Out October 2nd via Winspear

The incredible Arab Strap’s new album “Half-Told Tales” will be released on Rock Action Records on 4th September 2026; arriving almost three decades to the day since the influential band’s first single was released.

The Scottish duo return with their third post-hiatus LP.

Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton burrow down new routes and explore new turns on a record which remains unmistakably Arab Strap. Two years on from ‘I’m totally fine with it don’t give a fuck anymore and the pair are back on Rock Action, once again balancing moody, stripped-back instrumentals with conversational lyricism dealing in distant introspection, abstract focuses, and their typical uneasy humour.

Arab Strap’s ninth album, “Half-Told Tales“, adds another chapter to a catalogue built on emotional candour, dry humour and uneasy beauty. Following I’m totally fine with it ???? don’t give a fuck anymore ????, the duo continue to balance Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton’s familiar mix of wit and darkness, moving between hushed introspection and moments of unexpected force.

Featuring the single ‘You You You’, the album stretches their sound in new directions, including what the band describe as a “disco-metal incantation that might make you dance”, without losing the atmosphere and tension that has long defined their work. Recorded with longtime collaborator Paul Savage, “Half-Told Tales” finds Arab Strap exploring new corners of their sound while remaining unmistakably themselves.

This week they shared its second single, “Glamour Magick,” via a horror-themed music video. The song makes light of the various beauty regimes people go through to look young and in the video Moffat goes through various procedures, with Middleton as the doctor’s assistant, but things take a dark twist. David Arthur directed the video, which also stars Jenny Ryan.

Moffat had this to say about the video in a press release: “‘Glamour Magick’ is about the pressure to look youthful, and how far we might go to hide our natural selves. It started with a few things I use regularly in middle age—caffeine shampoo, whitening toothpaste, eye cream etc.—and then I wondered how much further I’d be willing to go. New teeth, new hair, liposuction, eye-lifts, facial fat injections … how long until there’s nothing really left of me? It’s nothing new, of course—the end of the song mentions the Fountain of Youth and Greek goddess Hebe—and looking young has always been an inherent human desire. Time is our enemy, and we’re all spending money on trying to fight it – it’s just a question of how much we’re willing to pay.”

“We’re 30 years old this year,” says the duo in a press release. “So we decided to celebrate by doing what we enjoy most: by making new music.” “Half-Told Tales” will come out almost exactly 30 years after the release of the band’s debut single, 1996’s “The First Big Weekend.”

Middleton says of the album: “The excitement comes because me and Aidan like and hate different things. There are things in the record that individually we might not choose but that’s why I like this album so much, because it’s not the one I wanted to make. I don’t think it’s what Aidan wanted to make either, it’s this bit in the middle. It might not be 100% what we want but it’s good for the band, and it works.”

Released on 2LP,

Penelope Isles After a brief disappearance into solo records and restless touring, The Wolter siblings Jack and Lily resurface with a new recording simply titled “3”: a record drenched in salt and sun, with the tide pulling at its edges. Written on a monthlong surf trip to Lagos, Portugal, these are songs with sandy feet and sunburnt shoulders, hooks that glow and harmonies that ache. Beauty built carefully, like a perfect sandcastle on a summer holiday, only to be flattened in an instant by your auntie’s passing cruelty. There’s sweetness here, but it comes with teeth.

Penelope Isles previously shared the album’s lead single, “Thinking Seat,” via a music video.

 This week they shared its second single, “I Loved You, Robert Pattinson,” which is inspired by Lily’s love of The Odyssey actor back when he was in the Twilight films.

The new album follows 2021’s “Which Way to Happy” and the debut 2019’s “Until the Tide Creeps In”. Not only has it been five years since Penelope Isles’ last album, it’s also been three years since their last live show. In that time, the duo have been busy with solo projects—Jack with Cubzoa and Lily with My Precious Bunny (who released “A Moment in My Eyes” in May; . Jack also toured with CMAT on guitar.

“Penny Isles is such a big part of our personalities,” says Jack in a press release. “So it was about time we got back to it.”

The album features Joe Taylor on drums and was recorded live in the studio, at Black Bay Studio on the Isle of Lewis off Scotland’s northwest coast. Prior to that, the album was written on a monthlong surf trip to Lagos, Portugal.

A month ago, punk youngsters The Linda Lindas announced that they were jumping over to Reprise/Warner Records for their next chapter. The news landed alongside the release of their single “Burning Out,” their second of the year so far (if you’re including their cover of the Ramones’ cover of “California Sun”), which also happened to be the first track to be revealed from their forthcoming third album “Gotta Get Out“. With the project formally announced today, we’re also getting its second single, “Closer,” which features guest vocals from serial collaborator Hayley Williams. 

The soaring tune continues The Linda Lindas’ evolution into the type of hard-hitting pop-punk Paramore specialized in during their earliest era of moody post-hardcore. “It feels perfect that Hayley Williams was down to collaborate on this song with us,” the band shared, “because we’ve been fans of her throughout so many of her different eras—and she’s seen us grow up over the last 10 years! We’ll always be honored that we got to write and get emo with the queen of emo herself.”

The collab with the “queen of emo” arrives alongside the news that the band’s third album and debut for Reprise/Warner, “Gotta Get Out”, will drop August 28th.