In our new music feature Origins, musicians give fans an inside look at the some of the inspirations behind their latest song. Today, July Talk tell us how they found their “Identical Love”. “I want to be changed/ I want to be rearranged,” go the first lines on July Talk’s new album, Pray for It. The words set the tone for the whole effort, as the Toronto rock outfit set out to find renewal in rebirth — both for themselves personally and their band’s sound. Both types of restoration are denoted in the LP’s latest single and opening track, “Identical Love”. Though known for their snarling indie rock, “Identical Love” shows July Talk operating with a gentler touch. Synths beat like a pulse in the chest of someone slowly reaching out to their lover in a profound moment of truth. A glorious sa...
Jerry Seinfeld isn’t one to linger. He’s the master of his domain, to borrow from his own words. That’s why we’re not surprised to hear he’s likely finished with Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Or that his new Netflix special, 23 Hours to Kill, might be his last. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Seinfeld digressed on the former Crackle series, saying: “We haven’t planned anything with that show, I kind of feel like if I did that tour.” He went on to stress how it’s actually a harder show to shoot than the series lets on, adding: “I don’t know, I feel like I may have done that exploration at this point.” He also feels the same about standup specials, contending: “Don’t overstay your welcome.” Again, this isn’t much of a shocker seeing how it took him 22 years to follow...
Next month, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are set to drop their sophomore album, Sideways to New Italy. In the video for the album’s latest single, “Falling Thunder”, the Melbourne outfit return to old Italy, the place of singer/guitarist Tom Russo and bassist Joe Russo’s ancestral heritage. Th intention of the video was to juxtapose shots of Italy with an Italian-founded venue in Melbourne. However, as Tom Russo explained in a press release, things didn’t exactly go as planned: “Our friend Jamieson Moore shot the footage of Sicily, Sardinia, and the Aeolian Islands on her phone while on vacation last year. The Aeolian Islands is also where my and Joe Russo’s ancestors are from. We were also planning to shoot the band playing in Eolian Hall in Melbourne (it’s a community hall founde...
Grimes and Elon Musk (photo via Getty Images), X Æ A-12 (photo via Twitter/@elonmusk) On Monday, Grimes and Elon Musk welcomed a new baby boy into the world. Upon sharing the news on Twitter, Musk told his followers that the baby is named “X Æ A-12”, which seems like a joke until you remember this is Grimes and Elon Musk’s baby. Now, Grimes has seemingly confirmed the name while providing some context for its meaning. According to Grimes, “X” refers to “the unknown variable” and “Æ “is “my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence).” If you guessed “A-12” refers to the Lockheed A-12 OXCART, the reconnaissance aircraft built for the CIA, you’d be right. “No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent,” Grimes explained. Additionally, the “A...
Joe Exotic and his legal team are launching a campaign to ask Donald Trump for a pardon. The formal request will come in the next few days, TMZ reports, with the hope that he’ll be able to plead his case to the president, one criminal reality star to another. The subject of Netflix’s Tiger King was sentenced to 22 years in prison, having been found guilty of trying to hire a hitman to kill Carole Baskin, his nemesis, as well 17 counts of (and this is a technical legal term) being a dick to animals. But Exotic has maintained his innocence, and his defense basically boils down to, “Would I have told everyone I would pay good money to have Carol Baskin killed if I was actually going to do it?” So far, his strategy for presidential outreach involves wrapping a bus in an eye...
Bob Odenkirk and David Cross are reuniting for another Mr. Show gig. They’re calling it the Mr. Show Zoomtacular Annual Business Call Event for Charity and all proceeds will go on to benefit LIFT. The reunion goes down Wednesday, May 13th at 8:00 p.m. EST and 5:00 p.m. PST. Fans can expect a number of familiar faces, specifically Paul F. Tompkins, Scott Aukerman, Tom Kenny, Jill Talley, Jay Johnston, Brian Posehn, Brett Paesel, and John Ennis. There will also be additional music from Eban Schletter. Tickets are $10 — plus a $2.20 service fee — and you can grab ’em here. To prep, revisit Mr. Show on Hulu and check out Odenkirk and Cross’ last reunion when they teamed up in 2015 for Netflix’s Bob and David. To get you motivated, revisit one of their best bits below… [embedded content]
If you thought Vice President Mike Pence refusing to wear a mask at the Mayo Clinic was peak ridiculousness for this administration, you should’ve known better. Today, Donald Trump visited a Honeywell factory in Arizona that had been converted to manufacture N95 masks. Not only did the president not wear a mask, he toured the facility while Guns N’ Roses’ cover of “Live and Let Die” played on the sound system. Because let’s face it, considering how little this administration seems to understand or respect science, why would we expect them to pick up on irony? According to Washington Post reporter Zach Purser Brown, the music playing over the speakers appeared to be the same playlist from Trump’s rallies — except “Live and Let Die”, which was newly added. “The White House must have picked i...
Fontaines D.C. will let loose their sophomore album, A Hero’s Death, on July 31st through Partisan Records. As a preview of the follow-up to 2019’s warmly received Dogrel, the post-punk outfit has today unveiled the album’s title track. The forthcoming collection spans a total of 11 songs, produced by Dogrel collaborator Dan Carey (black midi, Bat for Lashes) in his London studio. Whereas the Dublin group’s debut LP bristled with rambunctious and undeterred post-punk, A Hero’s Death is described as a more restrained affair, one that puts an emphasis on patient “spectral balladry.” To tap into this kind of energy during the songwriting process, Fontaines D.C. found inspiration in Leonard Cohen and The Beach Boys, as well as contemporaries like Beach House. The new album is sa...
Chicago rap prodigy Polo G has announced his sophomore album, and it’s arriving in just a matter of days. Titled THE GOAT, it’s set to drop May 15th through Columbia Records. The upcoming effort arrives less than a year after his breakout debut, Die a Legend, which included highlights like “Pop Out” and “Finer Things”. Whereas that 2019 record saw the young hip-hop star mourn the deaths of close ones, THE GOAT is “a celebration of life and legacy,” per a statement. Its cover artwork, seen below, fittingly features the 21-year-old Polo and his son Tremani. A full tracklisting for the new album hasn’t been revealed, but it is expected to include the two previous singles “DND” and “Go Stupid”. There might also be a song that pays tribute to the late NBA star Kobe Bryant, according to Com...