art pop
Song of the Week: Fiona Apple Reads Tolkien Poetry on “Where the Shadows Lie”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Fiona Apple makes a fantastical return with “Where the Shadows Lie.” The music of Fiona Apple has a way of making itself feel suspended in time. From the straightforward, piano-heavy compositions of her 1996 debut Tidal to the raucous, ramshackle qualities of 2020’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters, the iconic musician might’ve been a spokesperson of turn-of-the-century doom — but her sound is void of a specific era. Really, it’s a trait that Apple shares with the Lord of the Rings franchise...
NNAMDÏ’s Not Weird — He’s Wonderfully, Amazingly, Authentically Himself
On Friday (October 7th), pop experimentalist extraordinaire NNAMDÏ will unleash his newest album, Please Have A Seat. The record, his debut for Secretly Canadian, features some of his poppiest, most ear-worm tunes to date while remaining within the weird, outsider approach NNAMDÏ has become known for. But, is it really that weird? For years NNAMDÏ himself would say so, prefacing his music with a quick “it’s kind of weird” whenever sharing it. He even named his 2014 release Feckin Weirdo, and the branding stuck. The word would pop up in interviews and reviews, following the Chicago artist as he continued to make art that was true to himself. “It was kind of like, not a palate cleanser, but something preemptively being like, ‘Okay, it’s weird,’” he tells Consequence. “Just so they go in and ...
Björk Is as Vibrant as Ever on the Moving, Earthy Fossora
Aside from her unmatched ability to constantly and successfully reinvent herself, one of Björk’s greatest qualities is her deft, poignant interrogations on the complex ties between humanity and nature. On her previous album, 2017’s lovely Utopia, the Icelandic experimental pop singer envisioned a world beyond ours, contrasting ethereal imagery and feather-light production with her growing concerns about the environment and her lingering grief around her divorce. Fossora — the followup to Utopia and her 10th overall record, out Friday (September 30th) — finds Björk coming back down to Earth, surveying the decay of our natural world and meditating on its debilitating effect on our own relationships. We don’t take care of our planet, Björk seems to suggest, because we fail to take care o...
Kate Bush’s 10 Best Songs
This article originally ran in 2014 and has been updated in celebration of Kate Bush’s birthday on July 30th. Top Songs is a feature in which we definitively handpick the very best songs in an artist or band’s catalog. Sounds simple, right? Oh, if only. Considering the formidable back catalog of someone as musically gifted as Kate Bush, the inevitable dilemma is what to leave out of any top 10. With 10 studio albums and 33 singles to ponder, it’s a particularly tough ask. Advertisement Despite Bush’s status as a national treasure in the UK and considerable success around the world, her career has never really taken off in the US — until this year’s “Running Up That Hill” explosion, that is. Indeed, Bush’s genius is finally getting the recognition it deserves in the States (though this list...
Angel Olsen Delivers Country-Sized Emotions on Big Time
Angel Olsen has never repeated herself. Her debut Half Way Home introduced Olsen as a psych-folk songwriter with a powerhouse voice, before the lo-fi indie of Burn Your Fire For No Witness reframed her within the context of a band. Two years later, My Woman upped the production value and saw Olsen at her most intense and confrontational. All Mirrors wiped clean any pre-conceptions of Olsen, and even when she literally repeated herself with Whole New Mess, it felt like an entirely new statement. Since the one-two punch of All Mirrors and Whole New Mess, Olsen has kept fans guessing on which direction she might be headed next. In 2021, she released her Sharon Van Etten collaboration “Like I Used To,” a victory lap of an indie rock song for two of the genre’s most accomplished singer-songwrit...
Talking Heads in 10 Songs
This article originally ran in 2017; we’re resharing it as David Byrne celebrates his birthday on May 14th. Ever felt overwhelmed by an artist’s extensive back catalog? Been meaning to check out a band, but you just don’t know where to begin? In 10 Songs is here to help, offering a crash course and entry point into the daunting discographies of iconic artists of all genres. This is your first step toward fandom. Take it. In any other band’s history, the 40th anniversary of the release of their debut album would inspire all manner of promotional hullabaloo and creaky onstage reunions. When that band is Talking Heads — the art pop group that released its debut, Talking Heads: 77, in September 1977 — this kind of milestone is going to slide by with zero fanfare and even less attempts at recon...
FKA twigs’ 10 Best Songs
FKA twigs, born Tahliah Barnett, made a name for herself as a proponent of the avant garde. She’s a true multi-hyphenate — she’s a vocalist, she writes her music, she’s an incredible dancer, and a large part of her music video repertoire is self-directed. Regardless of the type of track she releases, FKA twigs has managed to find a way to ensure that a listener can immediately identify a piece of her work. She’s not afraid to explore genres and sounds, and her discography so far could be described as R&B, electronic, hyperpop, and trippy — and all of those categorizations would be true. This Friday (January 14th), she’ll be releasing a new collection of music in the form of a mixtape called CAPRISONGS. To celebrate, we’ve rounded up ten of her best tracks so far. Advertisement Check ou...
Tori Amos Unveils New Album Ocean to Ocean: Stream
Tori Amos has released her sixteenth studio album, Ocean to Ocean, via Decca. Stream it below. The studio effort is the pianist’s first full-length since last 2017’s Native Invaders, and was preceded by singles “Speaking with Trees” and “Spies.” “The goal was to make a sonic potion that would give people hope and make them feel, I don’t know, like magic does exist. For all of us. Even through these crazy times,” Amos said in an interview for Kyle Meredith With… about the new album, which she wrote and recorded in lockdown at her house in Cornwall, in the southwest of England Related Video The art-pop artist also revealed during the chat that album cut “Metal Water Wood” was the first song she penned after the LP’s thematic direction changed drastically around the start of the year. “I thin...
Sparks Reveal Details of Annette Soundtrack, Share “So May We Start” Music Video: Watch
The Sparks-issance is in full swing this year. The art-pop icons had a documentary from Edgar Wright, The Sparks Brothers, debut at Sundance, and their new movie musical, Annette, just opened Cannes. Today, the duo have announced details of the Annette soundtrack, in addition to sharing a music video for the single “So May We Start”. Due out August 6th via Milan Records, Annette (Cannes Edition — Selections from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) collects 15 of the songs composed and performed by Sparks for the film. In addition to performing the band themselves, vocal performances come from Annette stars Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, and Simon Helberg. The vinyl release will also feature a gatefold sleeve and an exclusive version of the Annette pos...
Sparks Reveal Details of Annette Soundtrack, Share “So May We Start” Music Video: Watch
The Sparks-issance is in full swing this year. The art-pop icons had a documentary from Edgar Wright, The Sparks Brothers, debut at Sundance, and their new movie musical, Annette, just opened Cannes. Today, the duo have announced details of the Annette soundtrack, in addition to sharing a music video for the single “So May We Start”. Due out August 6th via Milan Records, Annette (Cannes Edition — Selections from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) collects 15 of the songs composed and performed by Sparks for the film. In addition to performing the band themselves, vocal performances come from Annette stars Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, and Simon Helberg. The vinyl release will also feature a gatefold sleeve and an exclusive version of the Annette pos...
Sparks Unveil New Song “So May We Start” with Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-28T15:03:29+00:00“>May 28, 2021 | 11:03am ET Art pop icons Sparks will be debuting their new musical film Annette at the 74th Cannes Film Festival. Via Pitchfork, Sparks’ Ron and Russell Mael wrote the screenplay and provided original music, including newly-released song “So May We Start” featuring vocals from Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, and Simon Helberg. Annette follows a stand-up comedian (Driver), his famous opera-singer wife (Cotillard), and the opera’s conductor (Helberg), after the singer gives birth to a daughter, Annette. The project started off as a concept album with a strong narrative thrust, perhaps something along the lines...
Sparks and Todd Rundgren Reunite for New Song “Your Fandango”: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-23T15:05:08+00:00“>April 23, 2021 | 11:05am ET Sparks have reunited with the producer who gave them their big break, Todd Rundgren, on the new song “Your Fandango”. While calling themselves Halfnelson in the late 1960s, brothers Ron and Russell Mael came to the attention of Rundgren while he was working for Albert Grossman. At Rundgren’s urging Grossman signed Halfnelson, and after the duo rebranded as Sparks they had their first minor hit with “Wonder Girl”. The rest is art pop history. Their latest collaboration is bonkers fun. “Everybody loves it when you do your fandango,” Sparks sing. “When you do your fandango/ When you do your fandango.” There’s a harpsichor...
