New Music
Deb Never Surprise Releases New Benefit EP Intermission: Stream
It’s the era of the quarantine album, and Deb Never has added her voice to the chorus. The Spokane native has shared a surprise new benefit EP, Intermission, recorded entirely during isolation. The eight-track effort features sparse instrumentations — largely just Never herself on guitar — though production assistance from Michael Percy, Shlohmo, Nedarb, Hoskins, D33J, and Clayjay give the songs a rich bedroom feel. Lyrically, the collection captures much of the milieu of these strange times, touching on “solitude, post-apocalyptic metaphors, and an overall longing for simplicity.” Available for purchase via Bandcamp, proceeds from Intermission will go to Direct Relief, an organization providing PPE and other essential supplies to workers on the frontlines of the pandemic. The choice of ch...
IDK and ASAP Ferg Score Big on New Collaboration “Mazel Tov”: Stream
IDK served as the music supervisor, composer, and narrator for Kevin Durant’s new Showtime documentary Basketball County: In the Water. As part of the gig, the Baltimore rapper also recorded new music specifically for the project. Earlier this month, we heard IDK rep his and Durant’s hometowns on “495” featuring Rico Nasty. Today, IDK is dishing out a new single dubbed “Mazel Tov”, and it includes guest bars from fellow East Coaster ASAP Ferg. Editors’ Picks Co-produced by Ronny J and IDK, the slowly percolating cut includes references to NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, Tesla, and Kylie Jenner. Check out “Mazel Tov” below via its official music video. IDK and Ferg previously linked up on the latter’s “Kristi YamaGucci” single from 2018. (We’re sensing a sports-related theme between thes...
Gia Woods Is Anything But “Naive” in Her New Song: Stream
Persian indie pop artist Gia Woods is back with a new song called “Naive”. It’s the latest track she’s shared from her new CUT SEASON EP, and it very well may be the next anthem for her LGBTQ+ community. “I can’t wait to perform ‘Naive’ on electric guitar. It sounds insane,” Woods said during her recent Ask Me Anything on Reddit. “It’s my personal most favorite song I’ve ever written and I hope y’all love it just as much as I do!” Lyrically, the song sees Woods reflecting on past relationships and the lessons she’s learned from them, namely to stand by herself, even when she’s made to feel crazy. “I’ve been in two long-term relationships and when they ended, both my exes said, ‘You never felt like my girlfriend.’ At the time, it was jarring to hear,” she said in a statement. “Looking back ...
100 gecs Throw a Backyard Rave on New “stupid horse” Remix: Stream
Earlier this month saw 100 gecs member Dylan Brady contribute extensively to how i’m feeling now, the quarantine album from Charli XCX. Now, 100 gecs proper are back with new material of their own: a remix of “stupid horse” featuring UK pop singer GFOTY and producer Count Baldor. Compared to the original version found on last year’s acclaimed 1000 gecs debut, today’s rework capitalizes further on the duo’s manic, off-the-wall brand of experimental, futurist pop. Guitar parts have been swapped out for shredder-like synths and the whole thing feels like a Blink-182 and Sleigh Bells mashup on the verge of implosion. Check out the remix below via an official video directed and edited by Weston Allen. As to be expected from 100 gecs’ Brady and Laura Les, it’s a bonkers watch filled wi...
Faith No More’s Roddy Bottum Debuts Single “Daddy” from His Man on Man Project: Stream
Faith No More keyboardist/guitarist Roddy Bottum and his boyfriend, Joey Holman, have launched a new project called Man on Man, and they’ve just debuted their first single, “Daddy’”. Bottum and Holman describe the project as “gay lovers making gay music” on their Instagram page, and appear in tighty-whities in both the promotional photos and the music video for “Daddy”. Bottum told Rolling Stone, “There’s enough representation in the gay community of young, hairless pretty men. It feels good to represent a faction of our culture that isn’t squeaky and manicured.” He added, “Based on the ageist and homophobic responses posted in the comments section of a straight publication that ran our photo, I’m happy to be those faces on the queer map.” As for the song itself, the music leans more...
Coriky (Ian MacKaye, Joe Lally, Amy Farina) Share New Single “Too Many Husbands”: Stream
Coriky is Ian MacKaye’s new band with his Fugazi bassist Joe Lally, as well as MacKaye’s spouse and co-founder of The Evens, Amy Farina. Together, the group has shared the new single “Too Many Husbands”. They’ve also announced an altered release plan for their self-titled debut album, which now drops on streaming services on June 12th. All three of MacKaye, Lally, and Farina are singers. But while the trio harmonized on lead single “Clean Kill”, the new cut “Too Many Husbands” is a showcase for Farina’s expressive vocals. She overflows with attitude: sneering, blustering, and crackling with wit. Her performance is complemented by staccato bursts of guitar punctuated with furious walls of noise. Check out Coriky’s “Too Many Husbands” below. When the rockers first revealed the record back in...
Tove Lo Releases Expanded Edition of Sunshine Kitty, Shares New Song “sadder badder cooler”: Stream
Tove Lo has released a new expanded version of her latest album, Sunshine Kitty. Dubbed the Paw Prints Edition, the special release adds eight songs to the tracklist, including the newly revealed single “sadder badder cooler”. Much of the additional material on Sunshine Kitty (Paw Prints Edition) is made up of previously released tracks, including the FINNEAS-produced “Bikini Porn” and “Passion and Pain Taste the Same When I’m Weak”, as well as Tove Lo’s cover of Swedish artist Veronica Maggio’s “I’m Coming”. Also present are a pair of Live at Vevo recordings (“Sweettalk My Heart” and “Mistaken”), Heavy Baile’s remix of “Are U Gonna Tell her”, and the Team Salut remix of “Sweettalk My Heart”. As for the new track, “sadder badder cooler” is an empowering electropop jam that truly lives up t...
Owen Pallett Releases Surprise New Album Island: Stream
Owen Pallett has returned with a surprise album titled Island. Check it out below via Bandcamp, in addition to a new video for “A Bloody Morning”. Island marks the Canadian composer’s first full-length since In Conflict, a stellar release from 2014. It consists of 13 almost entirely acoustic songs, many of which were initially written on an old-fashioned acoustic guitar. According to a statement, the new album also boasts Pallett’s “grandest ensemble” yet in the London Contemporary Orchestra, whose arrangements were recorded at the famed Abbey Road Studios. In addition to revealing the self-produced LP, the Arcade Fire associate has released a clip for “A Bloody Morning”, conceived and directed completely during the pandemic. Helmed by director Vincent René-Lortie, who filmed foo...
Migos Team with YoungBoy Never Broke Again on “Need It”: Stream
The trap gods of Migos have teamed with YoungBoy Never Broke Again on their new single “Need It”. The track is all about money — but as the title implies, it’s not about merely wanting cash, it’s about doing anything and everything to get it. The structure involves pairs of rappers trading bars, with most of the song given over to a lyrical tennis match between YoungBoy and Offset. “I said I need it!” YoungBoy sneers, and Offset hits the ball back in his court with, “This Draco undefeated!” With those two on the first verse and chorus, Quavo and Takeoff are relegated to the second verse. That means every part of the song benefits from a high-energy tenor and a smooth-talking baritone, and that tried-and-true formula sure sounds easy on the ear. Listen to “Need It” below. The collab is anot...
Carly Rae Jepsen Drops Surprise New Album Dedicated (Side B): Stream
Surprise! Carly Rae Jepsen has returned with a companion album to her recent full-length, 2019’s Dedicated. Aptly titled Dedicated (Side B), the 12-track LP includes contributions from Jack Antonoff, Dev Hynes, and Ariel Rechtshaid. Stream it below. “So yes there have been whispers and I’m bad at keeping secrets. Side B for Dedicated is out now babies and I couldn’t be more thrilled to shares these tunes,” Jepsen said in a statement. “I hope it makes yah dance your pants off! Thank you for all the joy you shared with me on this last year of touring. I owe yah one… or like two albums turns out.” Earlier this year, Jepsen released an anti-Valentine’s Day track called “Let’s Be Friends”. Editors’ Picks Dedicated (Side B) Artwork: <img data-attachment-id="1038628" data-perma...
Elliott Smith’s Self-Titled Sophomore Album Gets 25th Anniversary Reissue
This July marks the 25th anniversary of Elliott Smith’s sophomore self-titled album. To celebrate the occasion, Kill Rock Stars has announced a deluxe reissue of the LP, set for release on August 28th. Official Smith family archivist Larry Crane pulled the closest possible recordings to the original Elliott Smith mix downs from scores of reels, cassettes, files, and DAT tapes to give the album a fresh remaster. The special edition comes housed in a 52-page coffee table book featuring handwritten lyrics, stories from Smith’s friends and collaborators about the era, and two dozen previously unreleased images from photographer JJ Gonson. One of those new photographs is the original image that became the album’s cover art. What’s more, the collection includes the previously unreleased Liv...
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande Drop Collaborative Single “Rain on Me”: Stream
With just a week to go before the arrival of Chromatica, Lady Gaga has unveiled the album’s most highly anticipated collaboration: “Rain on Me” featuring Ariana Grande. Check it out below via its official music video. On the new single, the two pop powerhouses take turns belting out lines like, “I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive.” The pair took a similar empowering stance in all of the track’s various promos on social media, which featured Gaga and Grande striking poses in outfits straight out of a sci-fi flick. In an interview with Apple Music on Thursday, Gaga recalled how the partnership came together, “I said to her, ‘OK, now everything that you care about while you sing, I want you to forget it and just sing. And by the way, while you’re doing that, I’m going to dance in ...
