Electropop
Aluna of AlunaGeorge Announces Solo Album Renaissance, Shares “Get Paid”: Stream
AlunaGeorge frontwoman Aluna Francis is finally stepping out of her electropop group’s spotlight. Today, the pop star has announced her debut solo album as Aluna. It’s called Renaissance and it’s due out August 28th via Diplo‘s label Mad Decent. Renaissance spans 14 tracks in total, including Aluna’s debut solo single, “Body Pump”. There’s a handful of guest contributors throughout, including Kaytranada, Princess Nokia, and Jada Kingdom — the latter two of whom appear on Aluna’s new song, “Get Paid”. In a press release, Aluna explained why “Get Paid” takes on an especially personal meaning for her. “It’s an aspirational celebration about black women and women of color getting paid, in opposition of the reality that we are consistently undervalued for our work,” she said. “On the other...
Glassio Shares the Origins of New Single “One of These Days”: Stream
In our new music feature Origins, we give artists an opportunity to bring listeners closer to the influences behind their latest single. Today, Glassio shares the story behind “One of These Days”. With all that’s going on out there in the world, it seems a lot of nastiness is coming to the forefront. In reality, it’s always been there, it’s just something about the current socio-political atmosphere has pushed it even further out of the shadows. As an Irish-Iranian who immigrated to the US in the thick of post-9/11 unrest, Glassio’s Sam R. knows too well what this rash of hate feels like. But instead of wallowing in the unpleasantness of other people, he’s issuing encouragement to dance through it all on his latest single, “One of These Days”. “I wanted to write a song that could help...
Rina Sawayama has a Bloody Breakdown in New “Bad Friend” Video: Watch
Rina Sawayama, our April Artist of the Month, is back with a new music video for “Bad Friend”. It comes in support of SAWAYAMA, her recently released debut album of “brilliant” and “lyrically complex, refined pop.” Directed by Ali Kurr, the film noir-style clip sees Sawayama play the role of a man drinking down his breakup sorrows at a bar. Though initially reserved and private in nature, after a few too many shots, he completely lashes out and attacks his drinking companion. For Sawayama, this was the first time doing her own stunts and working with prosthetic makeup. Editors’ Picks In a statement, the Japan-born, UK-based pop artist talked about the purposefully shocking tone of the visual, “The song is about the heartbreak of losing a friendship and realizing that you were the cau...
Charli XCX’s How I’m Feeling Now Offers Honest Expression for Uncertain Times: Review
The Lowdown: Throughout her musical career, Charli XCX, born Charlotte Aitchison, has occupied both sides of pop stardom — the radio mainstream and the small, sweaty clubs where experimental pop flourishes. Coming onto the scene in 2012 with “I Love It”, Icona Pop’s chart topper, which was written by and featured Aitchison, was quite the breakout, reaching car-commercial levels of unavoidability. Not long after that, Aitchison’s feature on “Fancy”, which she co-wrote with Iggy Azalea, was named Billboard’s song of the summer, and her song “Boom Clap”, featured in teen-favorite The Fault in Our Stars, rivaled “Fancy” for that title. Despite Aitchison’s ability to craft radio hits, her affinity for experimental hyperpop is what makes her a cult-pop icon who continually pushes the genre forwa...
How Kraftwerk and David Bowie Paved the Way for Music As We Know It Today
In 1976, David Bowie introduced his bravest new world yet. Zig-zagging across Europe and North America to promote his 10th studio album, Station to Station, he set the scene, night after night, with spliced footage from Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s surrealist masterpiece Un Chien Andalou. It was a strange yet enthralling scene for fans, but had the artist, then known as The Thin White Duke, had his way, four motionless Germans would have graced the stage instead. The request, of course, was made, but a firm yet friendly “nein danke” from Kraftwerk later led musical history to opt for another course. Midway through the Station to Station live run, also known as the “Isolar Tour”, Kraftwerk co-founders Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider met with Bowie at their Kling Klang Studio in their h...
