Pop-Rock
The Killers Reveal New Album Imploding the Mirage: Stream
After a brief pandemic-related delay, veteran rockers The Killers have released their new album. Stream Imploding the Mirage below via Apple Music and Spotify. The band’s sixth full-length overall and follow-up to 2017’s Wonderful Wonderful was recorded in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Park City, Utah. Production was handled by Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, Julian Casablancas) and Foxygen’s own Jonathan Rado. Frontman Brandon Flowers spoke about the group’s sessions in Utah, telling NME, “That’s where I fell in love with music for the first time; so it’s interesting to be there again and hear some of that music with the geography matching the sensation.” Editors’ Picks In a separate interview with Rolling Stone, Flowers drew parallels between the recording of Imploding ...
Hayley Williams Covers Björk’s “Unison”: Watch
During the onset of the outbreak, Hayley Williams delivered her rendition of Phoebe Bridgers’ “Smoke Signals” from quarantine. The Paramore leader is back this week with another homemade cover, this time taking on the Icelandic queen herself, Björk. Performing from her own couch, Williams offered up an acoustic version of “Unison”, a track off Björk’s 2001 album Vespertine. “I’d actually hoped to cover a different song of hers live this year, but I guess that will have to wait until some other time,” Williams wrote on Twitter. “anyway, this one has to be in my top 5”. We’re curious to know what songs make up the rest of her Björk list, but we’ll settle for this magical cover in the meantime. Watch video footage below. Editors’ Picks This past spring saw Williams release Pet...
How to Recreate Phil Collins’ Legendary “In the Air Tonight” Drum Fill
There is arguably no drum fill in pop music that’s more iconic than Phil Collins’ epic break in his ubiquitous 1981 hit “In the Air Tonight”. Behind the huge sound of Collins’ drums is a combination of quality gear, choice effects, and luck. It just might be the ultimate air-drumming song. “In the Air Tonight” marked Collins’ first solo single, having already established himself as a longtime member of Genesis. And with the song, Collins kicked off his solo career with a literal bang. Even Ozzy Osbourne, who fronted Black Sabbath and launched a successful solo career of his own, declared, “That drum fill is the best ever — it still sounds awesome.” While it’s one thing to master air-drumming to “In the Air Tonight”, it’s another thing to conquer it behind the kit. Thanks to a recent instru...
HAIM’s Women in Music Pt. III Brims with Nuance and a Smorgasbord of Sounds: Review
The Lowdown: Summertime milestones are shaping up to become a staple in HAIM’s career. Just about a week shy of the three-year anniversary of the release of their sophomore album, Something to Tell You, the trio — composed of sisters Danielle, Alana, and Este Haim — put their latest work, Women in Music Pt. III, out into the world. Like the adorable video of their parents opening their Women in Music Pt. III vinyl in matching “Go HAIM or Go Home” t-shirts (which, if it isn’t already, should definitely be added to all future merch tables) that the band posted on Instagram, the album contains a raw tenderness that drums up its own sense of quiet magic on each track. Equally cool and cozy, Women in Music Pt. III sees HAIM tackle incredibly vulnerable subject matter against a musical smorgasbo...
Dent May Announces New Album Late Checkout, Shares “I Could Use A Miracle”: Stream
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...
Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie Demands Trump Campaign “Stop Playing My Song”
Brendon Urie, photo by Samantha Saturday, and Donald Trump, via YouTube: White House On Tuesday evening, the Trump campaign held a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, during which Donald Trump, Jr., used the entrance song “High Hopes” by Panic! At the Disco. Within hours, Panic! frontman Brendon Urie tweeted out a response, sending a “Fuck you,” to the White House and demanding that the campaign “Stop playing my song.” Trump’s June 23rd rally took place in a tightly packed megachurch, as the state of Arizona reported record numbers of coronavirus hospitalizations. During his speech, Trump referred to COVID-19 by the racist term “kung flu,” and spoke of the need to preserve monuments to Confederate soldiers. “Donald Trump represents nothing we stand for,” Urie wrote. “The highest hope we have is vot...
Hayley Williams’ Petals for Armor Discovers the Strength in Vulnerability: Review
The Lowdown: Hayley Williams once said on the writing of Paramore’s Brand New Eyes album, “Some of it hurt, some of it was like, ‘Am I being too honest even with myself?’’’ Honesty has long been a trend with Williams’ approach to music-making; she’s been the principal songwriter for Paramore since 2005, and her scathing, dynamic vocals have granted her ever-evolving lyrics the perfect expression of painful, angry, at times heartbroken truth. On Petals for Armor, she dives inward at a new level, using dark pop melodies to not only vocalize her innermost thoughts, but also battle them, untangle them, and reckon with them in a way that feels personal to her own experience. She sings on the blistering “Watch Me While I Bloom”, “You only got one side of me/ Here’s something new/ I’m alive in sp...
