The Flaming Lips continue to inch closer to the release of American Head, their 21st (!) studio album. To preview the effort, Wayne Coyne & co. have already shared a pair of singles in “Flowers of Neptune 6” featuring Kacey Musgraves and “My Religion Is You”. A third teaser comes today in the form of “Dinosaurs on the Mountain”. Soft psychedelia coats this ode to the giant reptiles that once ruled the earth. “I wish the dinosaurs were still here now/ It’d be fun to see them playing on the mountains,” ponders Coyne. The single also has a tinge of sorrow about the plight of the T. Rex and others and their tragic helplessness — one that sadly seems relevant to us humans during this very moment in time. “Up on the mountain they’d all be alone/ You can’t just leave them on the side of the r...
Los Angeles “tenderpunks” Illuminati Hotties will release a new mixtape on July 17th. It’s titled Free I.H.: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For and follows their acclaimed 2018 debut album, Kiss Yr Frenemies. This forthcoming effort was written after a major fallout with their indie label, Tiny Engines, which was allegedly involved in shady royalty payment practices. As a result, the new material sees lead songwriter Sarah Tudzin & co. working through the aggression and hurt that came with their ensuing contract-related legal battles. (Hence, the Free: I.H. title.) That assertive bite bares its teeth on the mixtape’s latest single, the lengthily and bluntly named “will i get cancelled if i write a song called, ‘if you were a man, you’d probably be cancelled’”. It’s ...
Synthpop heroes Future Islands are back with their first new song in three years. The track is called “For Sure” and it sees the Baltimore band teaming up with Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, a pairing that sounds seamless in practice. A press release states this is Future Island’s first new music since releasing their 2017 album The Far Field. Technically, though, the band released a standalone single called “Calliope” back in 2018 for Adult Swim’s Singles Series. Regardless, “For Sure” marks a welcome return for the band, especially because there could potentially be more new music on the way. “For Sure” is a soaring number that feels like you’re being filled with hope — something we could certainly use a little more of this year. Armed with their usual blend of synthpop, nonstop drums, and big ...
Sufjan Stevens announced a new album titled The Ascension earlier this week. Today, he’s revealed additional details about the release and shared its lead single, “America”. The forthcoming follow-up to 2015’s Carrie & Lowell was written and recorded almost entirely by Stevens himself over the course of two years. According to a statement, the album was created using just his computer, “working mostly with a drum machine and handful of synthesizers.” In terms of subject matter, The Ascension channels a deep sense of curiosity and reflection. “My objective for this album was simple,” the beloved indie songwriter explained. “Interrogate the world around you. Question anything that doesn’t hold water. Exterminate all bullshit. Be part of the solution or get out of the way. Keep ...
The Front Bottoms have announced a new album called In Sickness & In Flames. It’s due out August 21st via Fueled By Ramen. To celebrate the news, they’ve shared lead single “Montgomery Forever” alongside its own music video. In Sickness & In Flames is the duo’s seventh album overall and follows their 2017 LP Going Grey. Perhaps most notably, it was produced by Mike Sapone. Over the course of 12 songs — one of which is the previously released single “Camouflage” — The Front Bottoms use this new album to celebrate life, purge angst, and push forward with “positive and creative energy,” according to a press release. “Montgomery Forever” sounds like a grown-up version of The Front Bottoms. The acoustic pop-punk sound they found a cult following with is still here, but it sounds more po...
Sad13, the indie project led by Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis, has announced a new album. Haunted Painting is officially due for release on September 25th through Wax Nine, a Carpark Records imprint overseen by Dupuis. The long-awaited Slugger follow-up is comprised of 11 songs and boasts guest contributions from Roberto Lange of Helado Negro, Deerhoof member Satomi Matsuzaki, tUnE-yArDs mastermind Merrill Garbus, and Rick Maguire of Pile. It was written at different studios all over the US, including the Elliott Smith-built New Monkey Studio in Van Nuys, California, and was purposefully recorded with only women engineers. “I worked on Haunted Painting throughout 2019, writing, arranging and recording from home, then finishing the songs in studios around the country in be...
Disclosure continue to edge closer to the release of their first new album in five years, ENERGY. Following up on last month’s title track, the electronic duo is now sharing a second single called “My High”. For the Lawrence brothers, who are used to weaving together house-inflected club tracks, this latest offering incorporates a new fabric: hip-hop, courtesy of guest rappers slowthai and Aminé. Disclosure talked about the collaborative process in a statement: “We always wanted to work with rappers, we just didn’t know any and we had no means of contacting them… There aren’t a lot of rappers in Reigate. Writing ‘My High’ with Aminé was a lot a fun, he’s hilarious and may as well be a comedian. He writes so quickly and it’s amazing to watch. He brought so much energy to this already very e...
UK psych pop band Glass Animals have shared a new single called “Heat Waves”, taken from their forthcoming album, Dreamland. Originally set for a July 10th release, Dreamland has been pushed to August 7th “in order to respect and support the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement,” according to a press release. (Yes, the movement has even hit Europe.) Previously, Glass Animals previewed the album’s release with “Tokyo Drifting” featuring Denzel Curry and the album’s title track. The latest teaser, “Heat Waves”, is a thumping, bass-y daze that finds frontman/producer Dave Bayley trying to untwine himself from a partner. In the accompanying music video, Bayley drags a wagon full of old TVs through an empty London street as quarantined onlookers take cellphone footage from in...
While it’s easy to feel overwhelmed given the current state of affairs, BTS are adamant about remaining hopeful. That’s the advice they’re looking to pass along to their fans in the new music video for “Stay Gold”. In the clip, members of the beloved K-pop group are separated from one another, left to wander alone through dark and dreary spaces. Still, they keep their heads up, dreaming of one day being reunited for a sunny, puppy-filled afternoon. I won’t spoil the cute ending, but let’s just say their patience is eventually rewarded. Watch the “Stay Gold” clip below. The single is off BTS’ upcoming Japanese-language album Map of the Soul : 7 ~ The Journey ~, due out July 15th through Big Hit Entertainment. Editors’ Picks Consequence of Sound recently named BTS’ previous album, ...
Megan Thee Stallion is ready to break the internet… again. The Houston rapper has just released her latest single, “Girls in the Hood”, which flips Eazy-E’s classic rap hit “Boyz-n-the-Hood” on its head. “Girls in the Hood” is an obvious nod to Eazy-E’s famous single both in name and in sound. The track warps the original number’s backing track into something fresh and modern. Of course, Megan Thee Stallion makes the music into something memorable by turning rapid-fire verses into a straight-up vocal flex, flaunting her skills not just as a rapper, but as a musical artist who continues to climb the charts. Hear it for yourself below. This is the latest instance of Megan Thee Stallion stealing the spotlight in the midst of a pandemic. She dropped her star-studded album Suga in March to high...
Los Angeles songwriter Dent May has announced his fifth album, Late Checkout. The project arrives August 21st via Carpark Records, and May is previewing it today with a wonderful new pop-rock song called “I Could Use A Miracle”. Since emerging in the late 2000s as a ukulele-toting psych-pop artist and then pivoting to disco, May has evolved into a much more polished and grandiose songwriter. Fans witnessed flashes of this transformation on 2017’s Across The Multiverse, but this forthcoming follow-up sees May really stepping up to own his new status as a power-pop multi-instrumentalist: not only is the new LP his first to be recorded outside of his home studio, but it’s also his introduction to writing and arranging parts for string players, a horn section, and background vocalist...