Margaret Glaspy is releasing a new album, “I Am Both”, this Friday via ATO. She has shared the album’s third single, “Reminder,” as well as a live performance video for the song.
Glaspy had this to say about the song in a press release: “That song’s a message to myself for when it feels like I’m doing nothing of value, reminding me that it’s important to keep showing up in lots of little ways instead of giving up altogether. It’s an example of something I never would’ve written if I were still praying to the gods who told me everything needs to be neat and tidy and symmetrical.”
Previously Glaspy shared “I Am Both’s” first single, “Michigan,” as well as a live performance video for the song. “Michigan” .Then she shared its second single, “That Rose,” as well as a live performance video for the song.
“I Am Both” follows Glaspy’s 2023 album, “Echo the Diamond” as well as her 2024 EP, “The Sun Doesn’t Think”, and her 2025 EP, “The Golden Heart Protector”.
Joe Henry (Aimee Mann, Joan Baez) produced “I Am Both”. Glaspy wrote the album longhand and on a typewriter.
“I wrote the title track a while ago; the story is based on a female character that I look up to deeply—a woman who contains multitudes while seeing reality very clearly,” says Glaspy. “It can feel safer to try to fit myself into a category, but I find that embracing my own complexity is much healthier for me.”
She adds: “When I started writing for this record I had a goal of getting my practice back – to walk the walk in terms of how I envision myself as a songwriter. At first it was really hard to break that addiction to social media, but after a while something shifted. It felt like I’d gotten back to original thought instead of being under the influence of so many outside opinions. It was life-changing.
Nautics are a rising New York City-based rock band, newly signed to Bright Antenna Records after spending the last few years making a name for themselves in the city’s thriving alt rock live scene. The band released their latest EP, “Adore”, last year, and they returned earlier this year with a handful of new singles, “Wasteman,” “U23,” and “bum-a-cig.” These tracks are set to feature on their upcoming debut album, “People Only Like Me When Im Leaving”, out on September 25th.
Recorded in bassist Van Cameron’s bedroom and produced by Jasper Harris (Quarters) in his Brooklyn studio, the album finds the band leaning into their hook-heavy songwriting and the high energy performances of their live show, evoking New York’s long legacy of killer rock bands. Today, accompanying the record’s announcement, the band are sharing their latest single, “Knee/Touch,”
After the free-wheeling fuzz rock edges of “bum-a-cig,” “knee/touch” represents a turn towards soft-hued melodicism. Cameron and drummer Levitt Yaffe hang back with steady mid-tempo rhythms while guitarist Kitt Flamer-Calder and vocalist Kenzo Repola pack the song full of intertwined guitars, chiming keys, and lilting vocal melodies. The track is replete with catchy melodies and hazily scrawled guitar solos, but they’re expressed with intimacy instead of bombast, softening the band’s scrappier edges for a lovely and wistful turn. Meanwhile, Repola croons out soft-hearted tributes to love and connection: “Say what you need / Please say what you need / I can’t read your mind / Please say what you need / ‘Cause I need touch / Like you need something to change / Just stop and stare / Like I don’t feel your pain.”
Repola says of the track, “The song came from a slightly near death experience on tour. Realized we weren’t where we wanted to be in our relationships. Realized we wanted to be closer to each other.”
“People Only Like Me When Im Leaving” is due out on September 25th via Bright Antenna Records. You can find the band’s upcoming tour dates below.Records
Irish Four-Piece Continue their Rapid Rise Ahead Of Packed Tour Dates Florence Road have shared new single “7563”, out now via Warner Records.
“7563” pairs hook-laden guitars and soaring vocals, highlighting the melodic pop-rock alchemy the band have built their reputation on. They say of the track: “7563” is about feeling out of place, lost and confused. Not being sure of who you are. It’s about knowing that you need to break yourself out of it, feeling that something is calling at you to wake you up from this ‘bad dream’.”
The single follows “Hanging Out To Dry”, which surpassed 25.3 million global streams, inspired more than 35,000 TikTok creations, and became a No.1 Irish radio hit, making Florence Road the first all-female Irish band to achieve the feat. The band’s monthly Spotify audience has since climbed beyond 2.5 million listeners.
With just two EPs and a 2025 mixtape to their name, the band have built a fanbase spanning indie guitar music and alternative pop, selling out headline tours within minutes along the way.
“7563” arrives ahead of a busy run of shows, including Reading & Leeds, Rock En Seine in Paris, Electric Picnic in Ireland, a sold-out US tour throughout September, and sold-out headline dates across Ireland in November and December.
Florence Road are Lily Aron (vocals), Emma Brandon (guitar), Ailbhe Barry (bass) and Hannah Kelly (drums).
Manchester, four-piece Westside Cowboy are releasing their debut album, “It Goes On”, on August 21st via Island. Now they have shared its third single, “Dobro.” .
The band collectively had this to say about the song in a press release: “This is our strut song, over two minutes in length but just under three. A song for perhaps a younger self? For that moment of waiting and isolation in the hopes of a return. Or it could just be a song about a weird guitar. Who knows!”
Westside Cowboy previously shared the album’s lead single, “Kick Stones (The Boys),” via a music video. Then they shared its second single, “Pin Up Boys,” via a music video.
Westside Cowboy is Reuben Haycocks (guitar, vocals), James (Jimmy) Bradbury (guitar, vocals), Aoife Anson O’Connell (bass guitar, vocals), and Paddy Murphy (drums, vocals). They’ve been gathering momentum and attention due to earlier singles, such as “Can’t See,” They have also supported Geese and Black Country, New Road on tour.
Loren Humphrey (Geese, Cameron Winter, Wunderhorse) produced the album, which was recorded at Greenmount Studios in Leeds.
Of the album as a whole, the band collectively say: “Put simply, we wanted to make an album for our younger selves, one that reminds us of all the bodies of work that made us fall in love with music. We wanted the music to be instant, concise, and honest to us as people today. There will be plenty of time in the future for the sprawling triple album with horns and string sections but for now, it’s young music made by some young(ish) people. We want to make songs that are lean and imperfect. We’re really proud of it and we hope that you enjoy it.”
“It Goes On” Due Out August 21st via Island Records
“Cannonball” is the highly anticipated debut album from Man/Woman/Chainsaw. Produced by Margo Broom (Fat White Family, Big Joanie), and Seth Evans (Geordie Greep, Black Midi), it includes the singles ‘Only Girl’, and ‘Nosedive’. Grand and exuberant, rich with unconventional structures and world-beating choruses, the long-awaited record makes good on the band’s years of hard touring while unearthing new dimensions and unlikely facets in their songwriting; It is a sharp, smart first record, one which presents Man/Woman/Chainsaw exactly as they are right now.
The London six-piece Man/Woman/Chainsaw are releasing their debut album, “Cannonball”, this Friday via Fiction, but before that they are helping us launch our new Bedroom Sessions video sessions, in which we film an artist performing in their bedroom (or in the case of a band, in one of the member’s bedrooms). In this first Bedroom Session, Man/Woman/Chainsaw perform two songs from “Cannonball:“Something Else to Give” and “Nosedive.”
Emmie-Mae Avery sings lead vocals on “Nosedive” and had this to say about the song in a press release: “It’s a song about longing for both comfort and freedom simultaneously in a relationship through the metaphor of being an injured bird needing shelter. We turned it into a danceable upbeat track, which made the tone shift throughout the song as though you find a way to pick yourself up and fly away.”
Vera Leppänen sings lead vocals on “Something Else to Give” and had this to say about it: “‘Something Else to Give’ is a song on love and disappointment. It talks about exerting yourself for someone who doesn’t reciprocate the effort. We wrote it kind of in a flash—the process felt very organic and intuitive; it immediately felt like the obvious closer for the album.”
“Cannonball” was recorded at RAK Studios, Man/Woman/Chainsaw features three lead vocalists who alternate, depending on the song: Billy Ward (vocals, guitars), Emmie-Mae Avery, (vocals, keys/synths), and Vera Leppänen (vocals, bass). The rest of the lineup features Clio Harwood (violin), Lola Cherry (drums), and Billy Doyle (guitars).
“Bootleg” is the sixth studio album by the American experimental rock duo the Garden. It was released on July 10th, 2026 via Epitaph Records. As the slightly ramshackle name might already suggest, the Shears siblings had no particular plans behind the LP:
“Bootleg” is a compilation of songs written and recorded overtime with no particular intent or goal in mind,” the pair said in a statement. “This album is and was purely a pleasurable endeavor by us both. Every track has its own meaning or story, not unlike a chapter book of different narratives.”
As the band demonstrated over their career, musically uncategorizable? Like throwing darts blindfolded. But is it also the best kind of odd and jarring, and a yet another slice of undeniable lo-fi magic from the brothers Shears?
The album was self-produced and self-recorded by the band in Los Angeles. In a statement by the band, they stated that the album lacked a cohesive theme, rather being a compilation of tracks each with their own individual meaning or story. Three singles preceded the albums release, “Ugly”, “5 Mile Ponytail”, and “Eve of Nothing”
Critics described the record as an “anarchist’s dream and a civilian nightmare, built like a moving diorama of a supernatural world set in place with heavy-duty staples.” They praised the albums diversity, stating that the album “careens between punchy punk rock and spectral detours that guide us through the band’s long-running intrigue into the experimental and—more prominently felt—the paranormal.”
Others also highlighted the albums diversity, exclaiming that the band “continue embracing the beautifully uncanny instrumentation that has become synonymous with The Garden’s identity, stitched together by visceral production the pair meticulously sculpted themselves.”
An Official Music Video for “Eve Of Nothing” by The Garden from the album ‘Bootleg’
It’s an “aggressive and vulnerable, chaotic but intentional, nostalgic yet completely unfamiliar.” Moreover, believing the album to embrace a heavier 80s-punk sound when compared to past releases by the band, while still retaining the unpredictability the band is known for.
Neil Young has announced the upcoming release of his new album, “Second Song”.
It will be his second album with the band the Chrome Hearts and his first album since “Talkin to the Trees, his 2025 debut with the group, which includes drummer Anthony LeGerfo, bassist Corey McCormick, guitarist Micah Nelson and keyboardist Spooner Oldham.
“Second Song” was recorded in analog at Malibu’s Shangri-La Studios and produced by Lou Adler, with Neil Young and Niko Bolas, who are credited as the Volume Dealers. According to a press release announcing the album, “Second Song” is mostly an acoustic record. “Talkin to the Trees” was an electric album, closer in spirit to the band Crazy Horse.
“Second Song” features seven tracks written by Young. While five of the songs are new, two date back years, though these are new recordings with the Chrome Hearts.
“Casting Me Away From You” first appeared on 2009’s The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972 as an unreleased 1965 recording made with Comrie Smith.
Likewise, the new album’s closing track, “I’ll Love You Forever,” also appeared on the 2009 box set in a previously unreleased recording made with his band the Squires in 1964.
2017’s Sad Clowns & Hillbilliesis another album from Mellencamp’s very strong late career run. It is also a bit of a detour in that the album is billed to John Mellencamp featuring Carlene Carter, a noted country musician in her own right and the daughter of June Carter Cash and stepdaughter of JohnnyCash. Carlene Carter contributes co-lead vocals to five of the thirteen songs here on Sad Clowns & Hillbilliesand prominent backing vocals on several others (with country star Martina McBride singing on one more). This female presence and dynamic lends Sad Clowns & Hillbillies a sound and dynamic that sets it apart from most of Mellencamp’s other albums, although it never really feels like the work of anyone other than him either.
Sad Clowns & Hillbilliesopens with the song “Mobile Blue”, a song that we have already covered as Mellencamp would also include it on his covers record Other People’s Stuff a year later (and we covered that album already). That said, “Mobile Blue” is an excellent way to open this record, a rootsy update to the delta blues that sets the tone for Sad Clowns & Hillbillieswonderfully. Even better is the rambling and yearning “Battle Of Angels”, which finds Carter showing up on the album for the first time with perfectly placed backing vocals. “Battle Of Angels” feels like a song that could have been a massive hit for Mellencamp in the late 80s just written thirty years too late.
Across the album Carlene Carter serves as a perfect foil and balance to Mellencamp and she is given co-lead vocal credits on “Indigo Sunset”, “What Kind Of Man Am I”, “Damascus Road”, and “My Soul’s Got Wings”, as well as a solo lead vocal turn on “Sugar Hill Mountain”. “Indigo Sunset”, largely written by Carter, is a warm, lovely ballad that sounds like modern alt-country or roots rock like Jason Isbell or The Wallflowers. “What Kind Of Man Am I” is a dark ballad about a man at a crucial turning point in his life. “Damascus Road” was written entirely by Carter and is one of a handful of songs here that show the roots of the album as a gospel album. Mellencamp had originally approached Carter to make an album of new songs that felt like traditional religious and gospel songs.
The album ultimately moved in a different direction, but echoes of that original intent can be heard here. Those same religious/gospel roots can be heard as well in “My Soul’s Got Wings”, a poem by Woody Guthrie that Mellencamp set to music and sang a co-lead with Carter on.
The final Carter lead vocal is “Sugar Hill Mountain”, a song Mellencamp wrote for the Meg Ryan film Ithacaand that Carter sang for the soundtrack originally. Because Mellencamp and Carter were working together on Sad Clowns & Hillbilliesincluding “Sugar Hill Mountain” made sense. The song is a fun, modern version of a 1920’s styled song that adds a touch of levity and a sense of history to Sad Clowns & Hillbilliesand one of the best things on a strong record, in my opinion. As mentioned before, Carter would also sing backup on several other songs, but these are her prime contributions on Sad Clowns & Hillbilliesand they are key to the album’s greatness.
“Grandview” is a delightful, humorous rocker about wanting to live a simple life with his girlfriend in a trailer home placed in Grandview trailer park. The woman agrees to live with him (sung with a perfect twang by Martina McBride), but only if he will buy her a brick house like her mama. The narrator gives in but never gives up his trailer park dream and the song ends with his youngest daughter moving out and him getting ready to move his brand new trailer home down to Grandview, no matter what his wife (ex-wife?) wants any more. It is a fun, rootsy rocker with a sense of humour that not only features Martina McBride but former Guns ‘N Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin and former Tom Petty & The Heartbreaker drummer Stan Lynch, as well.
The more Mellencamp centered songs include the first two – “Mobile Blue” and “Battle Of Angels” – as well as “All Night Talk Radio”, “You Are Blind”, “Early Bird Cafe”, “Sad Clowns”, and “Easy Target”.
“All Night Talk Radio” points out how many people are lonely and desperate that they stay up all night to share their problems and feel connection with an unknown DJ who doesn’t really know them, just to feel a sense of community with those in a similar situation. The song makes an insightful point that perhaps helps to explain modern America and is a pretty strong song musically as well. “You Are Blind” is a traditional sounding folk/country ballad about loving a chaotic and difficult woman. Mellencamp rarely writes such direct love songs as this, but this one really works. “Early Bird Cafe” is a good song, but more pleasant album filler than a major song. Still, it fits the album’s sound and tone well and is good while playing. “Sad Clowns” is a vintage throwback that is even recorded to sound like it was made in the 30’s or 40’s. It is a short and humorous song that adds to the vibe more than anything, but I like it.
The record ends with “Easy Target”, a moody piece of social commentary that calls out the racism and poverty still felt by too many directly and allowed by those who could do something about it. It ends the album with a sense of purpose, but it isn’t the best song here musically. It hardly matters though as Sad Clowns & Hillbilliesproves to still be a very strong and very interesting album.
Diiv have made a stealth announcement of a new album, “Zirp!“, via a hotline number mailed to fans and teased on social media. Produced by A. G. Cook, the follow-up to Frog in Boiling Water is due October 30th. The hotline presents a telemarketer-style message heralding the LP as “the future of alternative multimedia entertainment,” Stereogum notes; Diiv’s own website playfully touts the record as an emissary of “the new alternative: a new genre for the 21st century.”
DIIV surprised us with this one. For one thing, we aren’t used to such a quick turnaround from Z. Cole Smith and friends. They tend to take a fairly long time between albums, but the masterful “Frog InBoiling Water” came out just over two years ago, so the recent teasers for a forthcoming DIIV LP called “ZIRP!” were unexpected.
Even more startling was the news that the band had teamed up with A. G. Cook, the PC Music founder and sonic visionary now best known for his close working relationship with Charli XCX. Cook was cooking up rock music long before “Rock Music,” but a hyperpop pioneer is an intriguing fit for DIIV given their mastery of the grungy shoegaze dirge. Now we get to hear them in action together.
“The Fountain” is very much a DIIV song, full of whispery vocals and ominous guitars. But the oscillating synth-powered beat that kicks in at the end along with the woozy lead guitar line is something new and exciting for this crew. It’s certainly not the first time a dreamy rock band has ventured into the world of electronic pop, but it’s one of the best iterations of the post-“Soon” paradigm I’ve heard in some time.
Cook says when DIIV first approached him, “it was in the spirit of destroying & rebuilding their demos, Screamadelica-style, into a finished product, but that hybrid, half-remix approach felt completely wrong to me.” Instead, he started going to DIIV shows and developing a grand theory of their music.
Coming two years after “Frog in Boiling Water”,” Zirp!” will mark the quickest turnaround for a Diiv LP yet, despite a chaotic interim period in which Zachary Cole Smith and his wife welcomed a second child and lost their home in the Altadena wildfires. Last May, the band released a stopgap single, “Return of Youth,” addressing the fallout from the fires.
the new album “ZIRP!“, out October 30th, 2026 via Fantasy Records.
In the latest issue of MOJO we take an exclusive look inside the new, expanded edition of “Rubber Soul”, dig into the story behind the Fabs’ first masterpiece, and reveal all about newly unearthed, long-lost Beatles song, “Little Girl!“
Also in the issue: Johnny Marr speaks frankly, David Bowie – the unheard tapes, Joy Division – Live! Queen take on Trump! The Afghan Whigs spill the beans, Wishbone Ash tune into the cosmos, the wonderful world of Kate & Anna McGarrigle, and Beastie Boys’ Mike D discusses tabloid infamy, grief, Bob Dylan’s “pro-smoking concert” and his surprising new solo album.
Plus! The Mary Wallopers, Flamin’ Groovies, Phoebe Bridgers, The Cure on film, Generation X, all back to Arthur Brown’s place and more!
This month’s covermount CD is Spread The Word! The Soul Of The Beatles. Fifteen R&B bangers John, Paul, George and Ringo were digging in 1965. Featuring: Little Richard, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Patti Labelle, Wilson Pickett, Larry Williams and more!
The latest issue of MOJO is in UK shops from Tuesday 11 August
The Fat Angel Sings 