Lana Del Rey previously said that her second album of 2021, “Blue Banisters” , would be out on July 4th, which came and went, and now she has given the album a new release date of October 22nd via Polydor/Interscope and shared its fourth single, “Arcadia.” Lana wrote and produced it with Drew Erickson, and self-directed the video, and similar to the three earlier tracks, it finds Lana sticking to her minimal, ethereal side.
Listen and watch the video below.
I guess you could say this album is about what it was like, what happened, and what it’s like now. f you’re interested go back and listen to the first three songs I put out earlier. They chronicle the beginning. This song hits somewhere in the middle and by the time the record drops you will hear where we’re at today. As much as the on going criticism has been trying, it at least has pushed me to explore my own family tree, to dig deep, and to continue to exhibit the fact that God only cares about how I move through the world.
And for all of the skepticism about feigning fragility and unreasonable explanations of not showing general accountability- I must say I’ve enjoyed moving through the world beautifully- as a woman with grace and dignity. Thank you to my friends over the last 18 years who have been an example of attraction not promotion. I’ve never felt the need to promote myself or tell my story, but if you’re interested this album does tell it- and does pretty much nothing more.
Deeper’s Origins date back to 2014 when prior to releasing any material an abrupt line-up change left the Chicago based band looking for a new direction. Singer and guitarist Nic Gohl along with childhood friend, guitarist Mike Clawson and drummer Shiraz Bhatti threw out all of their old songs and brought on bassist Drew McBride to round out the line-up. The subsequent demos leaned on intricate guitar interplay, direct “of the times” vocals and a spirit that speaks to the band’s collective place in this pit of endless internet.
Deeper honed their sound over the course of 2015 & 16’ in basements, lofts, and anywhere that would have them. Touring the demos and landing at a fully realized inflection point. Call it Post-Punk, call it Indie Rock, it’s a record that steps in and out of boxes filtered through an unmistakable midwestern lens.
As social norms and political ideologies distort, writing and creating art was the only way to control the growing voice in the band’s collective head. The conceptualizing of the album started and stopped over that two year time warp culminating in a few feverish tracking sessions in late 2017. What was left is a stark shimmering portrait of a modern American experience.
Deeper is a band based in Chicago, Illinois and consists of Shiraz Bhatti, Nic Gohl, Drew McBride and Kevin Fairbairn
Dehd are releasing “Flower Of Devotion” Remixed next week, which finds the band handing over songs from their latest album to Lala Lala, Freak Heat Waves, Lionlimb, and more to be reworked. The band have just shared the remix of “Loner” by Detroit’s Protomartyr, who take the track in some surprising, cool ways, delivering more of a dancey version than you might expect.
“I have a suspicion that this is the most badass a Dehd song will ever sound simply because Protomartyr are so badass,” says Dehd’s Jason Balla. “They have a way of making gloomy optimism and ‘Loner’ is swimming in it. I got to tour with them a few years back and their live performances have really left an impression on me. I think it was also on this fated tour that our tour manager introduced me to the music of Detroit house producer Moodymann, which has been a big inspiration to me and to the idea of making this remix record.”
“I want nothing more than to be a loner,” Emily Kempf sings early on “Flower of Devotion”, the album by Chicago trio Dehd. It’s a startling admission coming from a songwriter who, just a year ago on Dehd’s critically acclaimed Water, wrote eloquently about the joys and pains — more than anything, the necessity — of love, compassion, and companionship. But then, “admission” isn’t really the right word here, given the stridency of Kempf’s tone. “Loner” is a declaration.
The record ups the ante on Dehd’s sound & filters in just enough polish to bring out the shining and melancholy undertones in Jason Balla and Emily Kempf’s song writing, even as it captures them at their most strident. Balla’s guitar lines at times flirt with ticklish cosmic country, while at others they reflect the dark marble sounds of Broadcast. Kempf, meanwhile, establishes herself as a singer of incredible expressive range, pinching into a high lonesome wail, letting loose a chirping “ooh!,” pushing her voice below its breaking point and letting it swing down there. When she and Balla bounce descending counter-melodies off one another over McGrady’s one-two thumps, or skitter off over a programmed drum pad, they sound like The B-52s shaking off heartache.
What makes Flower of Devotion so impressive is how its creation seems to have strengthened its creators, both as individuals and as a unit, even as they’ve stared down their own limitations. It’s also striking just how much fun they seem to be having in the process. “It’s okay to be light hearted in the face of despair,” Kempf says. It’s a theme that runs through the album, from the opening back-and-forth build of “Desire” to the click-clacking chorus of “Haha,” which finds them deflating their own history.
“The aural equivalent of a gleam of hope.” – Bandcamp
“An effortless, elegantly rumpled strain of indie rock with a light touch, ample reverb, and killer vocal harmonies.” –Pitchfork (Best New Music)
“One of the most lively and inspired rock albums to come down the pike in recent memory.” – Variety
Dehd’s “Flower Of Devotion”Remixed out September 17th on Fire Talk Records.
black midi’s new album “Cavalcade” is a dynamic, hellacious, and inventive follow-up to 2019’s widely-praised Schlagenheim, “a labyrinth with hairpin-turn episodes and lyrics full of dourly corrosive observations” (New York Times, Best Albums of 2019). It scales beautiful new heights, pulling widely from a plethora of genres and influences, reaching ever upwards from an already lofty base of early achievements.
black midi’s “Cavalcade”, released this spring, is “an avant-rock labyrinth of maddening intricacy”. Landing on multiple “Best Albums of 2021 ” lists, it remains one of the year’s most praised releases by critics and fans alike. They present a new single, “Cruising” previously only available as a bonus track on the Japanese “Cavalcade” CD release.
Taken from the same sessions as Cavalcade “Cruising” was recorded with John ‘Spud’ Murphy. It slows the pace down with great dynamism, as muted percussion and softly thrumming bass and guitar open the track. As it continues, Greep’s ominous voice hovers in and the instrumentation grows more melancholy and tense. “Cruising” champions black midi’s astounding musicianship. It is without a doubt one of the best guitar albums released in the last five years. The curation and musical precision of the band have resulted in a sumptuously brilliant album.
Cavalcade is an album of extremes, fluctuating between lounging wizardry and an angular, prog-rock nightmare. It’s smart and well-calculated, expressing their range as musicians. Most importantly, it’s the best path forward to keep speculators on their toes.
black midi will tour extensively across the UK, EU and USA beginning later this month. Full dates listed below and tickets are available from black midi’s website.
The record is a dynamic, hellacious and inventive follow-up to 2019’s widely-praised debut Schlagenheim. It scales beautiful new heights, pulling widely from a plethora of genres and influences, reaching ever upwards from an already lofty base of early achievements.
black midi – Geordie Greep (guitar, primary vocals), Cameron Picton (bass, vocals), and Morgan Simpson (drums) – envisage Cavalcade’ssongs as a parade of larger than life figures strolling seductively past them. These include a cult leader fallen on hard times, an ancient corpse found in a diamond mine and legendary cabaret singer Marlene Dietrich, among others.
London-based band Caroline have release their latest single “SkydivingOnto The Library Roof” on vinyl.
The much anticipated 12-inch edition features the track along with b-side Everything for everyone. It is the band’s second release for Rough Trade Records following their debut, “Dark Blue” in March last year.
The new signings to Rough Trade RecordsCaroline shared their debut single ‘Dark blue’ backed with new track ‘BRJ’. Watch the video for “Dark Blue” directed by the artist Joe Namy. Both tracks are available to listen to now and they will also be released as a 12″ Single.
On the video for Dark blueCaroline say: “We see ‘Caroline’ as being ‘systems-based’ music in the way that all the musical parts are mutually interdependent and none are expendable. This video shows a city and explores how, with it’s similarly interconnected roads, tracks, tunnels and rivers, it shares something with this characteristic of our music and of this song in particular. A city’s architectural features, and the ways that they coexist with each other, became analogies for the musical parts that knot together in ‘Dark blue’.
“We’ve always been interested inpatterns and repetition and that definitely features in a big way, although rather than there being a minimalistic, mechanical precision to therepetition, each one is unique,” the group explain of the track.“The essence of the song -the broken loop -came early in the process and everything else seemed to naturally evolve out of it, as if the other parts were already contained within the broken loop and just needed to be unpacked.”
Parquet Courts have announced a new album “Sympathy for Life”, and shared its first single “Walking At ADowntown Pace” via a frantic video for it featuring New York City street life. “Sympathy for Life” finds the band embracing their more danceable electronic side and is due out October 22nd via Rough TradeRecords, with a visual album featuring videos for every song premiering two days earlier. They have also announced some unique global events connected to the album. New York City street photographer Daniel Arnold directed the “Walking at a Downtown Pace” video.
Sympathy for Lifefollows the band’s acclaimed 2018 album “Wide Awake”, also released via Rough Trade. In June the band released a new limited edition 12-inch single, “Plant Life” that isn’t currently available digitally. “Plant Life” is included on the album.
For Sympathy for Lifethe band worked with producers Rodaidh McDonald (The xx, Hot Chip, David Byrne) and John Parish (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding, Dry Cleaning). The album was made mainly from improvised jams and inspired by New York clubs, Primal Scream, and Pink Floyd.
“Wide Awake! was a record you could put on at a party,” co-frontman Austin Brown said in a press release. “SympathyFor Life” is influenced by the party itself. Historically, some amazing rock records have been made from mingling in dance music culture—from Talking Heads to [Primal Scream’s] Screamadelica. Our goal was to bring that into our own music. Each of us, in our personal lives, has been going to more dance parties. Or rather, we were pre-pandemic, which is when this record was made.”
“Most of the songs were created by taking long improvisations and moulding them through our own editing,” Brown adds. “The biggest asset we have as artists is the band. After 10 years together, our greatest instrument is each other. The purest expression of Parquet Courts is when we are improvising.”
Co-frontman A Savage had this to say about the “Walking at a Downtown Pace” video: “We see New York City from the vantage point of someone busily hurrying through it. That’s what life can be like here; a world of constant motion surrounds you while you’re just walking toward where you need to be. There’s a lot of beauty that can be missed, and it wasn’t until the streets were virtually empty that I did miss it. The song was written before all quarantine, but eerily enough the lyrics echo that longing. Now the city is back and, so it seems, are Parquet Courts.”
Feel Free – Sympathy For Life, Visualised will be a livestream of 11 videos, one for each song on the album, each directed by a different visual artist. It will stream on October 20th and is a ticketed event. Tickets cost $15 (or $10 if you buy them in the next three days) and ticket-holders will also get access to exclusive merch. You can buy tickets here.
Finally, Parquet Courts have also announced The Power of Eleven, which will be 11 global events, or “happenings” as a press release calls them, each in a different city (including London, Tokyo, Paris, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Austin) and each tied to a different song on the album and a different piece of exclusive merch. The first happening has already happened, when last week the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corp (LGBAC) Marching Band marched through the streets of downtown Manhattan and performed “Walking at a Downtown Pace” while also flying a custom-made Parquet Courts flag (find a recap on the band’s website here). More info on future The Power of Elevenevents can also be found on the band’s website.
Australian band Amyl and the Sniffers release their second album, “Comfort To Me” , on Friday 9/10. Made during the pandemic, you can feel the pent-up tension and energy of being stuck in lockdown, not being able to play shows, across its 13 ripping tracks. The album doesn’t let up, but it’s also rather sweet and tender.
Amyl & The Sniffers to tell us about some of the inspirations for the new album, and their list includes everything from Power Trip and Minor Threat to The Stone Roses, Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Junglepussy, and more. The whole band — Amy Taylor, Bryce Wilson, Dec Martens, and Gus Romer — contributed to the list.
Already renowned for a ball-tearing live show, The Sniffers made their international debut as one of the hottest tipped acts at The Great Escape in 2018. Soon afterwards, they signed deals with both Rough Trade Records and ATO Records, made a massively hyped appearance at SXSW, and finally released their self-titled debut album in 2019, landing them an ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Award for Best Rock Album, capping off a wild year for the lunatic, likeable punks.
Late in 2020, Amyl and The Sniffers went into the studio with producer Dan Luscombe to record their sophomore album, Comfort To Me. Written over a long year of lockdown, the album was influenced by and expanded on a heavier pool of references – old-school rock’n’roll (AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Motörhead and Wendy O Williams), modern hardcore (Warthog and Power Trip) and the steady homeland heroes (Coloured Balls and Cosmic Psychos). Lyrically, the album was influenced by Taylor’s rap idols and countless garage bands and in her words ‘I had all this energy inside of me and nowhere to put it, because I couldn’t perform, and it had a hectic effect on my brain. My brain evolved and warped and my way of thinking about the world completely changed.’
Seventeen songs were recorded in the Comfort to Me sessions and the top 13 made the cut. They were mixed long-distance by Nick Launay (Nick Cave, IDLES, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and mastered by Bernie Grundman (Michael Jackson, Prince, Dr Dre).
“Comfort To Me” demonstrates the same irrepressible smarts, integrity and fearless candour as their debut but as you’d expect of any young band five years on, their sound has evolved, in Amy’s words it’s ‘raw self expression, defiant energy and unapologetic vulnerability.’
New album ‘Comfort To Me’ is out on September 10th,
Pavement have announced a UK/European reunion tour happening in fall of 2022. It’ll be their first tour since 2010 and that’s in addition to the indie rock icons’ performances at the Primavera Sound festivals in Barcelona and Portugal in June that were originally supposed to happen in 2020. Dates include a four-night stand at London’s Roundhouse, Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom, stops in Paris, Oslo, Stockholm, Berlin, Amsterdam, and more. All dates are listed below.
As for what else is in store for Pavement in the future, who is to say. Hopefully North American shows. One song that will likely be in their 2022 sets is “Harness Your Hopes,” the b-side to “Spit on a Stranger” (from their final album, Terror Twilight), that became an unlikely streaming hit thanks to Spotify’s algorithm. As to the long-rumored “Terror Twilight” Deluxe Edition, Matador coyly notes in their press release, “Eventually, we’ll surely celebrate it with an extravagant package of some sort or another – perhaps one of the band’s canonical and not-yet-reissued LPs.
UK dates go on-sale Saturday, September 11th at 10am BST.
We are so excited to announce the ten year anniversary deluxe reissue of “Made The Harbor!” We recorded it when we were smelly freaks eating kimchi and Camembert in a too small car driving around and playing campfire shows. To kick off with, here is a vibey cover of Kid Like You by Arthur Russell
In 2009, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, Amelia Randall Meath, and Molly Erin Sarlé came together as a band known as “Mountain Man”, creating powerful folk music that maximized vocal harmony to a disarming effect. A year later they released their debut album Made the Harbor. Now, a decade after that, the debut is getting a deluxe reissue with unreleased recordings, live sessions recorded at Bennington College’s Greenwall Auditorium at the project’s inception, and covers of the Mills Brothers and Arthur Russell. The deluxe packaging will also include a personal collage from the band and an essay by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.
Today, we get their stunning take on Arthur Russell’s “Kid Like You,” which was recorded live in 2011 at Big Car Gallery in Indianapolis. “We are so excited to announce the ten year reissue of Made the Harbor!” the band said in a press statement. “We recorded it when we were smelly freaks eating kimchi and Camembert in a too small car driving around and playing campfire shows.”
Made the Harbor is out 11/5 via Psychic Hotline, and features a bonus disc of unreleased material, The deluxe reissue, features an essay by Jeff Tweedy.
Last year, North Carolina duo Sylvan Esso released their third album “Free Love”. One of the album’s highlights, “Numb,” spoke to an itch that we’ll probably be scratching at for years to come, a wormy electronic cry to feel. The song details a new dance movement called “shaking out the numb” that Amelia Meath craves for: “Give me hot water / Give me freezing air / Give me the gossip / And a reason to care.”
Sylvan Esso are still shaking out the numb, as we all are, and will continue to do so with their newly announced tour. In celebration of the announcement the duo have released a video for the Teddy Geiger remix of “Numb.” The video, directed by Marc Levy and Marc Salomon, finds the duo and their team getting ready for their return to live performances. There’s sound checks and costume fittings, but the warmest scenes are ones of long-awaited gatherings. There’s a team feast and joyous embraces of friends back on the road.
“One of things that really sticks out from filming with Amelia and Nick is how Sylvan Esso is really this tight-knit family of artists and technicians who come together and share their time and energy to make something so special,” Levy shared. “Everything is personal and considered for them. And while we were filming with them, they completely welcomed us into their family, which was heart warming and is something for which we are grateful.”
