New Music Video Releases
Justin Bieber and Chance the Rapper Get Religious on New Song “Holy”: Stream
When he’s not hosting illegal, maskless birthday parties, Justin Bieber spends his days attending church and practicing Christianity. While he’s gone on the record to say he doesn’t consider himself “religious” per say, the pop star appears comfortable acknowledging his faith in song now — or at least that’s the case with “Holy”, his new collaboration with Chance the Rapper. Bieber teased the track throughout this week by promising fans it was the start of a “new era.” Sure enough, it features the usual bass-forward momentum of a pop song, but it’s guided by something completely fresh for Bieber: a gospel choir literally praising god. It’s anthemic and inspiring, the exact type of track that’s meant to be blasted full volume to get others to sing along. “Holy” also comes with a short film-...
Rico Nasty Shares New Single “Own It”: Stream
Rico Nasty is back today with a new single called “Own It”. Easily one of the Maryland MC’s most accessible tracks to date, the song is built on a rhythmic beat that rolls along muted exotic tones just hinting at a Middle Eastern vibe. Fittingly for a track called “Own It”, Rico Nasty makes no excuses for herself in the lyrics. “Talk my shit, I ain’t gonna stop,” she confidentially professes. “When I walk in, jaws gonna drop.” The song’s music video continues this unapologetic self-proprietorship. Featuring a number of wild outfits and an abundant use of a fisheye lens, the clip aligns the very 2020 artist with the weirdos of ’90s rap. Take a look below. Editors’ Picks “Own It” follows a number of singles Rico Nasty has dropped throughout the year. In addition to her solo cuts like “...
Bootsy Collins Announces New Album, Shares “The Power of the One”: Stream
Veteran funk bassist Bootsy Collins is gearing up to release a new album called The Power of the One. The guest-filled record is due to drop October 23rd via Bootzilla Records/Sweetwater Studios. For Collins, who rose to prominence working with James Brown and then Parliament-Funkadelic, this forthcoming solo effort marks his 10th solo overall. It was begun prior to the pandemic, but completed during lockdown at his own Boot-Cave Studios in Cincinnati. The entire record was produced, written, and arranged by Collins himself. Although quarantined in his own space, the 68-year-old artist was able to assemble long list of special collaborators, some of whom contributed from afar, including Snoop Dogg, fellow James Brown bandmate Christian McBride, bassists Larry Graham and Victor Wooten,...
Faye Webster Shares New Song “Better Distractions”: Stream
Faye Webster has returned with a new song called “Better Distractions”. Additionally, our former Artist of the Month has announced her first full-band livestream performance of 2020. “Better Distractions” follows the excellent one-off single “In A Good Way” from April, and marks the second offering since her 2019 LP Atlanta Millionaires Club. As with its predecessor, today’s track continues to push Webster’s sound in a gorgeously singular direction. It finds harmony between smooth R&B and minimalist indie rock, with the added bonus of a weepy slide guitar lead and a meandering jam in the vein of Kurt Vile or Courtney Barnett. In a statement, Webster revealed that the song flowed out of her with very little intention or purpose. “It’s a kind of free association, just thoughts running st...
Yusuf / Cat Stevens Reveals New Duet Version of “Father and Son”: Stream
Yusuf / Cat Stevens is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Tea for the Tillerman with a new version of the classic album. Titled simply Tea for the Tillerman², it consists of re-recordings of all 11 of the original songs. Some of the updates are more straightforward, while others, such as today’s rendition of “Father and Son”, have been completely reimagined for 2020. The narrative of this reworking of “Father and Son” remains the same, recounting the strain and discord that often exist in families as a result of a stark generational gap. What makes this version stand apart, however, is that it features Yusuf’s original 1970 vocals alongside voice arrangements recorded in 2020 — in effect allowing for the songwriting legend to “duet” with himself as both father and son. Neat trick, huh? “‘...
Finn Wolfhard’s Band The Aubreys Share New Song “Smoke Bomb”: Stream
Shortly after the breakup of their band Calpurnia late last year, singer-guitarist Finn Wolfhard and drummer Malcolm Craig decided to team back up to form The Aubreys, a new indie rock band that’s more influenced by Jay Reatard than The Strokes. Today, the duo is back with a brand new song under that moniker called “Smoke Bomb”, and it comes with an excellent on-brand music video, too. This is the second track we’ve heard from The Aubreys so far following “Getting Better (otherwise)”, their debut single. It doubled as a contribution to the soundtrack for thriller The Turning, too. Whereas that track was meant to be an angst-filled burst of fuzz, though, “Smoke Bomb” is full guitar-pop bliss, complete with scruffy feedback tones. In the music video for “Smoke Bomb”, Wolfhard and Craig photo...
Spillage Village Announce New Album Spilligion, Share “Baptize”: Stream
Hip-hop supergroup Spillage Village have reunited after four years for the release of a new album called Spilligion. As a preview, the Atlanta artists have shared the first single, “Baptize”, featuring group members EarthGang and J.I.D. Spilligion is the collective’s fourth album overall, following on the ursine trilogy Bears Like This (2014), Bears Like This Too (2015), and Bears Like This Too Much (2016). By the time the latter record was released, the Village had grown to include EarthGang, J.I.D., 6LACK, Mereba, JurdanBryant, Hollywood JB, and Benji. They were bearly barely getting started when, in late 2016, 6LACK broke out with the single “Prblms”, followed by EarthGang and J.I.D. signing to J. Cole’s Dreamville label the next year. The gr...
Sylvan Esso Shares Video for New Single “Frequency”, Directed by Moses Sumney: Watch
On September 25th, electropop duo Sylvan Esso will let loose their third studio album, Free Love. The follow-up to 2017’s What Now is being teased today with a new single dubbed “Frequency”, as well as its video directed by friend and fellow musician Moses Sumney. Here, Amelia Meath’s vocals roll gingerly over the track’s glitchy blips and beeps, rising and falling like a frequency wave. She sings about being irresistibly drawn to someone’s energy field, to the point that she’d like to be a part of it, too. This abstract idea is visualized pretty literally in Sumney’s corresponding clip. In it, a soaked Meath is seen dancing alone outside on a suburban lawn. Slowly but surely, though, more and more people — a delivery person, golfer, neighbor, etc. — are pulled into her orbit and join her ...
Aesop Rock Announces New Album Spirit World Field Guide, Shares “The Gates”: Stream
Beloved Portland MC Aesop Rock has announced a new album called Spirit World Field Guide, due out November 13th. The forthcoming project marks Aesop Rock’s first solo LP since 2016’s The Impossible Kid, and follows his 2019 collaborative record with Tobacco as Malibu Ken. Notably, Spirit World Field Guide has no listed featured rappers among its 21 tracks, meaning this is an entirely independent affair. Fans of the famously wordy hip-hop artist, rejoice! According to a statement, Spirit World Field Guide is meant to be something of a concept album, “a guide to an upside-down world illustrated across 21 insightful chapters.” It promises to offer “firsthand know-how of the terrain, wildlife, and social customs of our parallel universe, rife with hallucinatory images of ki...
Colin Meloy and Laura Veirs Join Raye Zaragoza on New Song “They Say”: Stream
Colin Meloy (photo by David Brendan Hall), Raye Zaragoza (photo by Cultivate Consulting), and Laura Veirs Folk artist and protest music songwriter Raye Zaragoza has announced a new album, Woman in Color. Due out October 23rd through Rebel River Records, it’s being previewed today with a single called “They Say”, featuring harmonica from The Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy and banjo arrangements courtesy of veteran folk musician Laura Veirs. A timely number, it finds Zaragoza taking the US government to task for its piss-poor response to the coronavirus crisis. “This song is about the dysfunction of American power structures. It’s about how the systems built to support the people don’t support all people,” she explained in a statement. “Especially during a pandemic, it’s been ex...
Plants and Animals Share Origins of New Song “Le Queens”: Stream
With our new music feature Origins, artists have the chance to pull back the curtains on the stories behind their latest single. Today, Plants and Animals discuss the je ne sais quoi or “Le Queens”. After four years away, Plants and Animals are set to return with their new full-length, The Jungle, on October 23rd. Early singles like “House on Fire” and “Sacrifice” portended a collection of catchy but chaotic sonic landscapes. The latest sample of the effort, “Le Queens”, offers a counterpoint to that aural bedlam — with a touch of Quebecois. A haze of distorted guitars and synthesizers, “Le Queens” is a much mellower tune than the previous Jungle singles. But there’s still a sense of disorder in the background, with percussive samples running ramshackle beneath the kaleidoscopic flow of th...
Julia Stone Reveals New Song “Unreal”, Produced by St. Vincent: Stream
St. Vincent (photo by Ben Kaye) and Julia Stone (photo by Brooke Ashley Barone) Julia Stone returned this past July with her first solo single in eight years, “Break”, produced by St. Vincent. It turns out there’s quite a lot more to come from this pair, as a “greater body of work” is eventually coming down the line, according a statement. As another preview of this larger collaborative project, Stone and St. Vincent are now sharing a new track called “Unreal”. Not unlike her previous offering, Stone again sidelines her folk roots here, leaning further into synthpop territory. It’s a new look for the veteran Australian songwriter, but one that works in much the same way acts such as Sylvan Esso have built electronic music using the foundation of folk stylings. According to Stone, this late...
