Swedish artist Kristian Matsson returns with “Just Beyond Endless Mountain”, his eighth album as The TallestMan on Earth. Matsson’s folk sensibilities still loom large on this LP, but they lean more on his Swedish heritage than his previous interest in Americana. The Nordic tradition of the polska runs through this album like a vein, livening even the slower songs with a zip of rhythm and layers of strings. Matsson’s voice is familiar as ever, charmingly coarse and rough, sweetened by musical patterns of great urgency (“Colors”) or soothing balladry (“The Village”).
On “Overboda” he is joined by fellow Swede Sofia HK for a duet of charming tenderness. The excellent “Deliver Me From Trying” has the dark urgency of a prayer, thickened beautifully with guitar arpeggios and fiddle. “Just Beyond Endless Mountain” is a great turn from Matsson; brooding without being boring, gentle without being twee.
Swervedriver. Formed in Oxford in 1989 by frontman Adam Franklin, guitarist Jimmy Hartridge, bassist Adi Vines, and drummer Graham Bonnar, Swervedriver rose with the wave of shoegaze that took over England in the late eighties. But what set them apart was the heavier approach of their 1991 debut LP “Raise” and its acclaimed 1993 follow-up “Mezcal Head”, shaped largely by pre-grunge bands from the States like Dinosaur Jr. and Hüsker Dü.
Swervedriver is celebrating thirty-five years of “Raise” this month with an expanded, remastered reissue that includes a second LP of B-sides and previously unreleased rarities collected by the band. To mark the occasion, we’re looking back at Swervedriver’s ten best songs.
Swervedriver’s seminal debut LP “Raise” turned 35 this week (30th September 2026 to be precise) so the band are releasing an expanded, double vinyl 35th Anniversary Edition Friday 2nd October through the CMG label. The original album has been remastered with the second disc featuring the B-sides from their first three EPs (“Son of Mustang Ford”, “Rave Down”, and “Sandblasted” plus two tracks originally released on a limited edition seven-inch “Surf Twang” and “Deep Twang” that came out with the first edition of “Raise”
They’re also putting out a collection of demo recordings from that same period entitled “Raise: Demos”, which is set for release on Friday 23rd October via Outer Battery Records. “Raise: Demos” is a unique collection of recordings that documents how the songs took shape that eventually became the band’s much-lauded debut. Released on CD and silver vinyl as well as limited edition runs of 300 cassettes and 400 red vinyls, “Raise: Demos” serves as a fascinating companion piece to the album itself.
The current line-up of the band features founder members Adam Franklin (vocals, guitars) and Jimmy Hartridge (guitars) plus Mick Quinn (bass) and Mikey Jones (drums), and last year saw them release their first new music since 2019 in the shape of four-track EP “The World’s Fair”
Both releases come with sleeve notes from original bass player Adi Vines,
“How Does It Feel to Look Like Candy?” (Ejector Seat Reservation, 1995)
With their third album “Ejector Seat Reservation”, Swervedriver sweetened things up. Their sound veered closer towards the Britpop of their countrymen, their lyrics got more psychedelic, and their outlooks became rosier. But the jangly “How Does It Feel to Look Like Candy?” is Swervedriver at their most saccharine, with Franklin fawning over an elusive love interest who isn’t just the cat’s pajamas, but all of the “cat’s nine lives.” Sometimes the sugar crash is worth it.
“Feel So Real” (Raise, 1991)
Getting lost in the uncanny valley of dreams might be some of the most well-worn lyrical territory for nineties shoegaze bands. Call “Feel So Real” cliché if you like—“When it seems so real / I can hardly believe that it’s true” isn’t particularly groundbreaking, after all—but do we ever stop surprising ourselves with the fantasies and nightmares we create? Complete with a piercing synth riff and blistering drum fills, “Feel So Real” echoes twilight’s disorientation.
“Harry & Maggie (Dragging It Under)” (Mezcal Head, 1993)
Like many great shoegaze bands of their era, Swervedriver’s lyrics are rarely direct or transparent. But Franklin mines real life for inspiration on “Harry & Maggie (Dragging It Under),” a pedal-heavy “Mezcal Head” highlight he wrote about a friend who made his living as a stonemason and, apparently, once worked on the Houses of Parliament. “He carved out ‘Maggie Sucks’ on the backs of every one,” Franklin sings, an if you know, you know nod to an imminent political revolution.
“Juggernaut Rides” (Son of Mustang Ford EP, 1990)
Beneath all its addictive shredding and pop-forward melodies, “Juggernaut Rides”—a cut from Swervedriver’s debut EP that never made it onto a proper studio album—is an anthem of self-destruction. “Did you ever feel so removed / So that you couldn’t move?” Franklin asks, presumably to a partner he’s reluctant to get too close to. “Juggernaut Rides” feels frenzied and tightly wound, almost as if it, too, could wreck anything in its path.
“Sandblasted” (Sandblasted EP, 1991)
Franklin continues the ambivalent narrative of “Feel So Real” on “Raise’s” very next track. “How does it feel to feel / You know it’s for real?” he asks on the next track, “Sandblasted,” which kicks things off with a languid, minute-long instrumental intro before combusting into a sludgy anthem. Franklin explains that the song is “all about being out of it,” searching for meaning and lucidity on a stroll down the coastline.
“Girl on a Motorbike” (Mezcal Head, 1993)
A mid-tempo groover on the comparatively mellow side of the Swervedriver spectrum, “Girl on a Motorbike” opens with grisly imagery: “It fucks with your head / When you’re tryin’ to sleep at night / With a gun across your bed.” Inspired by the rising threat of fascism following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, the song laments the oblivious submission of the general public. The “girl on a motorbike” Franklin’s narrator sees might not be a love interest in the traditional sense, but a reassuring sign that some are willing to move against the current.
“Son of Mustang Ford” (Son of Mustang Ford EP, 1990)
It’s easy to forget that Swervedriver aren’t from the United States. They set that precedent with their debut single “Son of Mustang Ford,” a song influenced by American literary hero Hunter S. Thompson and the automotive plant Franklin used to walk past on his way to school growing up in Oxford. Here, a trusty pony car becomes God, promising unbridled autonomy to those willing to worship it. “I got clean out of control,” Franklin sings, speeding towards self-indulgence.
“Rave Down” (Rave Down EP, 1991)
For all the Americana imagery present throughout Swervedriver’s discography, “Rave Down” offers a less romantic perspective about the restlessness that emerges when you’re stuck in a dead-end town. Over the steady chug of headbang-worthy guitars, Franklin sings about characters like the uproarious kids on the street and the retired cop who can’t seem to shake off his old habits: “He blasts flies with his gun because swatting’s no fun / Your town ain’t hypin’ up no more.” But in all its observational melancholy, there’s a hopeful air of something greater on “Rave Down”—the awareness that life needn’t feel so lifeless.
“Never Lose That Feeling/Never Learn” (Never Lose That Feeling EP, 1992)
After the moderate success of “Raise” made Swervedriver more visible, the band crossed paths with Alan Moulder, who’d already made a name for himself engineering dreampop and shoegaze classics like Loveless, Ride’s Nowhere, and The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Automatic. Swervedriver, intent on making their next record bigger and bolder, enlisted Moulder as their new producer. His prowess is most salient on “Never Lose That Feeling/Never Learn,” a gorgeous twelve-minute two-parter that lets the wall of guitars rage on without ever getting too muddled. “Never Lose That Feeling” is shoegaze at its liveliest, while “Never Learn” gives way to a hypnotic, free-jazz-inspired sprawl.
“Duel” (Mezcal Head, 1993)
By the time they unleashed “Mezcal Head’s” lead single, Swervedriver had already shown many of their greatest strengths: grungy guitar tones floating in a dreamy ambiance, extended outros, and amped-up choruses. But no one song captures all those specialties better than “Duel,” which seamlessly flits between metallic chords and breezy refrains before descending into a winding, wordless coda that lasts two minutes. The music is the main focus, but you can’t miss Franklin’s mantra: “I’m goin’ down, down to the market place / Goin’ to learn to give.” It’s probably not a coincidence that Swervedriver’s best song is also their most hopeful.
“Unpeople have a simple response to anyone telling them what they should be doing to get ahead: They’re not buying it.
That defiance drives the single “Clouds“, a ferocious blast of crushing riffs, huge hooks, harmonies and heavy breakdowns from the British four-piece. Unpeople use the song to push back against trend-chasing and the constant pressure musicians face to shape themselves around somebody else’s idea of success. For frontman Jake Crawford, that pressure became especially noticeable during the band’s early days. “Clouds” is essentially about not letting yourself be influenced by what other people think you should be doing to get ahead artistically, and trusting your own vision and process,” Crawford explains. “I could feel myself being pulled in lots of directions when we started the band and I’m glad we stuck to our guns.”
That philosophy extends beyond the music itself. Crawford says the band’s refusal to chase quick fixes applies equally to how Unpeople sound and how they present themselves as a unit. The result is a song that makes a pretty persuasive argument for following your instincts.
Crawford, Luke Caley, Em Lodge and Richard Rayner have built Unpeople around the collision of powerful lyrics and heavyweight riffs with a melodic accessibility that keeps their songs immediately memorable. “Clouds” captures that balance particularly well, shifting between aggressive instrumentation and hooks designed to be shouted back at the band. There’s also a larger idea embedded in the group’s name.
“Unpeople” refers to those considered politically unimportant or without value, a concept the four musicians have embraced as part of their identity. Their music is intended to speak to people who have felt overlooked or undervalued and give them somewhere to find a sense of connection. That mission has developed quickly. With only one EP behind them, Unpeople have already produced songs like “The Garden” and “Waste”, establishing a sound built around hook-heavy choruses, thick harmonies and bone-crunching breakdowns.
They’ve also had opportunities to test that music on some enormous stages. Unpeople have supported Metallica and Coheed And Cambria, putting their songs in front of audiences accustomed to heavy music on a grand scale. That live experience suits a band whose recordings frequently feel engineered for communal shouting as much as headphone listening.
Unpeople are a band all about inclusivity, and the belief that there are far more things that unite rather than divide us. With their debut album, the band offer 12 songs that will define the start of their career and that aim to bring us all together with their unmistakably unique blend of sound and compositions. We are Unpeople. You are Unpeople. We are all Unpeople.”
This week’s pick goes for the best albums goes to the one and only Cameron Winter and his new album “Live At Carnegie Hall”
Say what you will about the polarising Geese frontman, he has captured a large audience (including filmmaker P.T. Anderson who filmed this very show) with his unusual voice and often times stranger lyrics, and both are on full display on this recording captured at one of the most prestigious venues in the world. This performance encompasses most of the material that Cameron Winter has released as a solo artist up to this point in his career, and the pure power and expression of his singing and songwriting here is undeniable.
The signs of a good songwriter show when their material is left bare, stripped of all the bells and whistles of layered instruments and supporting musicians. This one is obviously up your alley if you like Cameron Winter, Geese, or generally any kind of idiosyncratic singer/songwriter.
Alone at the piano, he reshapes songs from his acclaimed debut “Heavy Metal” and debuts three previously unreleased compositions, each one pointing toward where his songwriting is headed next. There is an undeniable sense of occasion running through the performance, capturing the momentous feeling of witnessing an artist stepping into the spotlight in real time. The release preserves one unforgettable night while cementing Winter’s emergence as one of the defining voices of his generation, with the sense that this is only the beginning.
The year 1976 was one of considerable transition for Frank Zappa. Following a whirlwind that yielded suchcelebrated albums as “Over-Nite Sensation”, “Apostrophe (’)”, “Roxy & Elsewhere”, “One Size Fits All” and “Bongo Fury”,Zappa entered the year on the road with a stripped-down quintet that gave him ample room to stretch out as a guitarist. The extensive tour took him through Europe, Hawaii and Australia, as well as Japan for the first and only time. By spring, however, major changes were underway. Zappa had split with his longtime manager after a decade, and his latest band had effectively dissolved, leaving Zappa and drummer Terry Bozzio as the nucleus for what came next.
That next chapter was the album “Zoot Allures”, a leaner, guitar-forward record that would become an important entry in Zappa’s vast catalogue. Working primarily at The Record Plant in Los Angeles with engineers Michael Braunstein and Davy Moire, Zappa assembled an eclectic cast that included Bozzio, Ruth Underwood, Roy Estrada, Dave Parlato, Denny Walley and Captain Beefheart (credited as Donnie Vliet) on harmonica.
Zappa himself took on an outsized role, handling guitars, bass, keyboards and vocals across the sessions. The resulting nine-track album paired two of his signature guitar pieces, “Black Napkins” and the hypnotic title track, with such enduring favorites as “The Torture Never Stops”, “Disco Boy”, “Ms. Pinky” and “Find Her Finer”. “Friendly LittleFinger“, meanwhile, provided the first released example of Zappa’s innovative “xenochrony” technique, in which performances from unrelated sources were synchronized to create entirely new rhythmic relationships.
In celebration of its 50ᵗʰ Anniversary, “Zoot Allures” will be released December 4th in a variety of newly expanded editions, led by a six-disc Super Deluxe Edition. Produced by Zappa Vaultmeister Joe Travers, the 61-track collection presents the album newly remastered in 2026 alongside more than five hours of additional audio, including Zappa’s original two-LP incarnation of the album, “Night Of The Iron Sausage“, a complete, previously unreleased 1976 concert from Paris, unheard studio outtakes, alternate mixes and edits, radio ads and other rarities. The collection was mastered by John Polito. The lavish Super Deluxe Edition is completed by an expanded booklet filled with rare outtakes from photographer Gary Heery’s “Zoot Allures” cover shoot and additional archival images by Neil Zlozower. New essays by Travers, music journalist Jason Pettigrew and engineer Braunstein offer three distinct perspectives on the album, its creation and its enduring place in Zappa’s catalogue.
In conjunction, fans can go behind the scenes with Vaultmeister Travers in a new video about the archival excavation and production behind the “Zoot Allures” 50th Anniversary Edition. In the clip, Travers gives a demonstration of how the original recordings are prepared for release using the original tape machines from Zappa’sUtility Muffin Research Kitchen.
At the heart of the collection is the first-ever release of “Night Of The Iron Sausage“, the working title for Zappa’s original double-album conception of “Zoot Allures”. Before reducing and reshaping the project into the familiar single LP, Zappa had constructed a considerably different two-LP sequence. The surviving evidence in The Vault includes hand-cut acetate reference discs made at Kendun Recorders in 1976 and a singular reel of tape containing Side 4. By identifying the corresponding early mixes preserved in The Vault, Travers and the team were able to recreate this early incarnation of the album, allowing “Night Of The Iron Sausage” to be heard in its entirety for the first time 50 years later.
The 11-track “Night Of The Iron Sausage” presents a striking alternate view of “Zoot Allures”, opening with an early mix of “Disco Boy” and incorporating the instrumentals “Sleep Dirt”, “The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution” and “FilthyHabits”, which ultimately didn’t make the final single LP, alongside alternate mixes and edits of “Ms. Pinky”, “Black Napkins” and “The Torture Never Stops”. Several of these compositions would eventually emerge elsewhere in Zappa’s discography, but here they can finally be heard within the context of the sprawling “Zoot Allures” configuration he was considering in 1976.
The Super Deluxe Edition also contains two discs devoted to a complete, previously unreleased concert recorded March 8, 1976, at the Palais Des Sport in Paris, France. Discovered by Travers while researching The Vault’s Record Plant-era tapes, the concert survives as a remarkably complete stereo line recording made by Moire. Zappa is joined by Napoleon Murphy Brock on saxophone and vocals, Andre Lewis on keyboards and vocals, Roy Estrada on bass and vocals and Bozzio on drums and vocals, capturing the short-lived five-piece lineup near the end of its run and shortly before the Record Plant sessions that resulted in “Zoot Allures“.
The Paris performance provides a particularly vivid snapshot of Zappa’s guitar playing during the period, with expansive renditions of “Black Napkins”, “Advance Romance”, “Chunga’s Revenge” and “Zoot Allures” alongside “Filthy Habits”, “The Torture Never Stops”, “Stink-Foot”, “Dirty Love”, “Muffin Man”, “I’m The Slime” and more. With the exception of a brief patch at the beginning of the encore taken from Zappa’s own Nagra recording, the concert survives complete from Moire’s original tapes.
Rounding out the five CDs are two collections of “Bonus Allures“, bringing together studio outtakes, alternate and monitor mixes, vintage radio advertisements, mono DJ singles and other rarities. Among the highlights are a previously unreleased studio outtake of “Zoot Allures”; the nine-minute instrumental jam “Muff Diver”, featuring Walley on slide guitar; alternate versions of “Wind Up Workin’ In A Gas Station”, “Black Napkins”, “Ms. Pinky”, “Find Her Finer, FriendlyLittle Finger” and “Disco Boy” and the “Hofstra Segment”, material captured on Zappa’s Nagra recorder in a dressing room at Hofstra University and subsequently incorporated into “Friendly Little Finger”.
Another major discovery is Son Of Canard Du Jour, an unreleased piece found on the original two-inch, 24-track session masters that would eventually become Outside Now, featured on Joe’s Garage. For the 50ᵗʰ anniversary collection, Zappa band alumnus Arthur Barrow recorded a new bass part for the track in 2026.
The accompanying Blu-ray Audio disc presents the newly remastered nine-track album along with “Zoot Allures” (Studio Outtake), “Muff Diver” and “Son Of Canard Du Jour” in immersive 24-bit/48kHz Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound mixes by Karma Auger and Erich Gobel at Studio1LA. Auger and Gobel also newly mixed select bonus material included in the collection. The disc includes 24-bit/192kHz and 24-bit/96kHz PCM stereo options, with the three bonus tracks accompanied by bespoke visualizers showcasing rare and previously unseen photography.
Although “Zoot Allures” emerged during a period of upheaval, the circumstances helped produce one of the most distinctive records of Zappa’s mid-’70s output. With much of his previous band gone, the sessions frequently became a tightly focused collaboration between Zappa and Bozzio, leaving unusual amounts of space for Zappa’s guitar and studio experimentation. Familiar collaborators moved in and out of the sessions, with Underwood contributing marimba and synthesizer, Beefheart adding harmonica, Walley supplying slide guitar and L.A. Philharmonic harpist Lou Anne Neill appearing on the title track.
The album also pointed toward Zappa’s immediate future. With “Zoot Allures”, he retired The Mothers name and moved forward simply as Frank Zappa, while Bozzio and soon-to-be bandmember Patrick O’Hearn helped establish the foundation for the next phase of his touring and recording career. What resulted was an album with its own unmistakable atmosphere: Muscular yet spacious, darkly funny and experimental, and dominated by some of Zappa’s most expressive guitar playing.
Five decades later, “Zoot Allures 50ᵗʰ Anniversary Edition” opens the doors to those sessions wider than ever before, presenting Zappa’s original two-LP conception for the first time, unearthing a remarkable concert from The Vaultand illuminating the experimentation that surrounded the finished record.
Los Angeles based five-piece Dummy are back with their latest do you love the colour of the sky?
“do you love the color of the sky?” Is chock full of dynamic beats and melodies throughout. I especially loved the sound you achieved on the opener “April Limousine”. The vocals on any given track pair so well with the melody, which is especially highlighted by the percussion for me. What were some of your inspirations for the landscape you were building musically?. A prolific touring band. I think I read you recently completed about 113 shows in 150 days.
On Dummy’s new album, “do you love the color of the sky?“, the Los Angeles five-piece open up their sound with fresh textures, rhythms, and a sharper sense of intention. It’s their third album and first for Polyvinyl, recorded between their home studio and Studio 22 with collaborator and engineer Joo-Joo Ashworth.
Leaning into downtempo dance beats, electronics, and adventurous guitar work, the band push their songwriting somewhere new without losing their core identity. Alex Ewell’s production and sound design run throughout, while “Full Spectrum Dominance”, “Alluvial Fan”, and “Heaven’s What You Make Of It” highlight the album’s pop instinct and Emma Maatman’s strongest vocal delivery yet.
The exchange between guitarists Joe Trainor and Nathan O’Dell adds real immediacy, bringing a gorgeous new directness. The result is Dummy’s most ethereal and sincere record to date, balancing feminine, delicate undertones with the gritty, noisy textures they’re known for.
Classic Traffic — vocalist/guitarist Andy Altadonna, bassist Dogmeat and drummer/lyricist Dante Fotino — formed in 2022 and the New Jersey band have been on a tear ever since. They’ve racked up three full-lengths and collaborative covers EP and have been making a name for themselves with a particularly revved-up brand of power-pop that falls somewhere between Teenage Fanclub and Thin Lizzy. “Real Music” takes Classic Traffic’s core sound and pushes it further into the red.
The recording is sharper, the guitar theatrics are wilder, the hooks are bigger–these are the kinds of songs that hit you in the guts and put a smile on your face. Or as Dogmeat evocatively puts it: “So much shit is just bullshit. Real music blows your dick back. I know bands are shy about liking their own music but what’s the point in that? I think our music is fucking awesome.
That pretension-free mentality seems key to Classic Traffic’s approach and their lyrics are no exception. Fotino is the band’s sole lyricist, citing fellow drummer/songwriters like Rush’s Neil Peart and Descendents’ Bill Stevenson as comparisons. He keeps things earnest and forthright, leaning into evergreen themes of longing and frustration with the same gusto that Altadonna applies to the timelessness of a ripper guitar solo. Good rock ’n’ roll music exists on a continuum, the fun is in taking these time honored elements and somehow wringing even more life out of them — it’s not about blazing a new trail, it’s about hurtling down the existing trail with the windows down and the speakers blaring.
“Real Music” certainly accomplishes that goal. Tracks like “My Rage or Running Joke” combine the guitar pop precision of Matthew Sweet with the outsider edge of Tenement, while elsewhere “Ballad Of The Storm Shelter” and “Wanna Wish” pile on the intricate harmonies and inventive chord changes like Jellyfish filtered through an N.J. punk basement. By the time the album comes to a close with stunner Sorry Songs you’ll have no choice but to admit: This really is real music. The kind of rock ’n’ roll that, when done right, has the ability to bypass all reason, all hangups, all hesitations, and just sound… real good.”
Classic Traffic are here to make things a lot simpler. Their latest album is eight tracks of loud, catchy rock ’n’ roll that’s so elemental, so confident, and so satisfying that you’ll have no choice but to agree that it does in fact deserve its title
What makes a life well lived? Career, home, savings, family: these are the milestones that make adulthood legible as success. Friendship, meanwhile, is often treated as something that either endures or doesn’t, more a matter of luck than a relationship requiring its own devotion, maintenance, and care. When really, as the world becomes more isolated and artificial by the day, friendships may be the most important thing a person ever builds.
“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,” says Chastity Belt drummer/vocalist Gretchen Grimm. “But then I reflect on my adulthood, and my top priority has largely been my friends, which I do not regret at all.” That priority feels like the guiding principle on the band’s sixth album, “All My Friends”. Not that they set out to make an album about friendship—during mixing the band’s longtime collaborator and engineer, Samur Khouja, pointed out that a lot of the songs referenced the subject. Which makes a lot of sense.
Julia Shapiro (guitar/vocals), Lydia Lund (guitar/vocals), Hunter Truscott (bass/vocals), and Grimm have been making music together for 15 years. Friendship has sustained the Chastity Belt project as its members have grown alongside one another, both as people and as musicians. Across a resonant catalogue, they’ve moved from the raucous wit of their early records toward the lush, introspective moods they’ve refined on each album since via trademark intertwining guitars, meticulous rhythms, and double exposure of melancholy and optimism.
“All My Friends” comprises songs recorded across multiple years, time zones, and studios, including Seahorse Sound in LA, Way Out in Woodinville, and a centuries-old house on the Greek island of Hydra. The oldest track dates back to around 2018; the newest were finished within the past year. These days, the band spans three cities (Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago); less writing/rehearsal time means songs are often worked out in the studio, relying on the spontaneity and instinct that comes from knowing one another so well. The result is rawer and less polished than their last couple of records, closer in spirit to the band’s roots.
England’s Florence Road have released new single “Wish Upon You,” out via Warner Records, alongside the announcement of their biggest tour to date, taking in major venues across the UK and Europe in 2027. Pre-sales sold so quickly that a second night at London’s O2 Kentish Town Forum has been added.
“Wish Upon You” opens with a piano intro before Lily Aron’s vocals take over, building to a soaring chorus. The band debuted the song live at their recent New York show.
They say of the track: “We didn’t have a plan for the song, but it became a love song without us really meaning for it to. It’s about that point when you’re with someone and everything just feels a bit easier. You’re not thinking too much about it, you’re just happy to be around them. Looking back, it’s probably one of the most uncomplicated resolute songs we’ve written, and I think that’s what makes it mean something to us. There’s no great sadness behind it or complicated story. It’s just about being happy, letting yourself believe in something good, and not feeling the need to talk yourself out of it.”
The single follows August’s “7563”. The band’s catalogue has now passed 112 million streams, and their monthly Spotify audience has topped 2.5 million listeners.
Florence Road recently completed a sold-out U.S. tour. During the run, their gear was stolen from a van in Los Angeles, and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam stepped in to lend them equipment so the tour could continue.
The band end this year with sold-out headline dates across Ireland in November and December,
Star Moles is the project of the Philadelphia-based Emily Moales. She released a new album, “Highway to Hell”, back in February and this week it was announced that she has signed to Dead Oceans, who will be putting out the album on vinyl for the first time. She also shared a new song, “Born Again,”.
Kevin Basko (Rubber Band Gun) produced the album and Moales worked with him again on “Born Again.” He mixed and recorded the song at his New Jersey studio.
Moales had this to say about the song in a press release: “The thing about writing something that’s true is that it basically can’t be narrative. If you’re angry or sad or in love, the feeling itself is an exaggeration. Trying to tell the truth in a song by saying ‘here’s what happened’ isn’t satisfying to me.
‘Born Again’ is a painting of real frustration, and the best way I can express that feeling is with a strong voice and words that mythologize. I wouldn’t say I’m religious, but I think sometimes my emotions are.”
“Highway to Hell” is released on 4th December 2026 via Dead Oceans
