Synth Pop
MUNA Perform “Anything But Me” on Ellen: Watch
MUNA made their daytime television debut on Monday, April 18th, when they stopped by The Ellen Degeneres Show to perform their recent single “Anything But Me.” Watch the lighthearted performance below. Clad in coordinated, purple-and-black outfits, Katie Gavin, Naomi McPherson, and Josette Maskin brought their signature synth pop flamboyance to the talk show, a fittingly upbeat atmosphere for the strong-willed breakup storyline of “Anything But Me.” “You’re gonna say that I’m on a high horse/ I think that my horse is regular-sized/ Did you ever think maybe you’re on a pony/ Going in circles on a carousel ride?” Gavin sings, while McPherson and Maskin sway beside them. Advertisement Related Video The tongue-in-cheek banger is the latest jovial single from MUNA, whose Phoebe Bridgers co...
Superorganism Drop New Song “It’s Raining” Featuring Stephen Malkmus: Stream
Superorganism are back with another look at their forthcoming album, World Wide Pop. This time around, they’ve shared “It’s Raining,” which features Pavement singer Stephen Malkmus and UK rapper Dylan Cartlidge. “It’s Raining” is a swaggering hip-hop track, with a slinky, bass-heavy beat, a mess of synthesizers, and a glitchy Scott Walker sample coalescing at full force. The single comes with an animated music video, directed by AEVA with illustrations by Risa Kazama, where an anthropomorphic raindrop slides along with the grooving passengers of a bullet train. Check it out below. Superorganism discussed the origins of “It’s Raining” in a statement. “We’ve been enormous fans of Stephen Malkmus forever, and we loved the idea of combining Malkmus and Scott Walker into a strange almost b...
Soft Cell Team Up with Pet Shop Boys for New Single “Purple Zone”: Stream
Soft Cell have revealed *Happiness Not Included, their first studio album in nearly two decades, has been pushed back to May 6th. To tide fans over until then, the British pop duo have shared the new single “Purple Zone,” an ’80s dream-team collaboration with Pet Shop Boys. “Purple Zone” blends the best of both Soft Cell and Pet Shop Boys, layering a dazzling synth riff and dance floor-ready beat with anthemic vocals. The track laments feeling stuck in the monotony of everyday mundanities: “Let’s get out of this life/ I’m afraid and alone,” goes the chorus. “Paralyzed in the purple zone.” The music video for “Purple Zone,” directed by Yassa Khan, centers around a cast of different people going about their conventional schedules: working at a restaurant, doing laundry, cutting hair. These p...
Superorganism Announce New Album World Wide Pop, Share “Teenager”: Stream
Superorganism have announced their sophomore album World Wide Pop, out July 15th. As a preview, they shared the lead single “Teenager.” The band also unveiled 2022 North American and European tour dates. In the four years since Superorganism’s 2018 self-titled debut, our former Artist of the Month have whittled down from an eight-piece to a core lineup of Orono, Harry, Tucan, B, and Soul. To help fill out the sound of World Wide Pop, the band brought in Stephen Malkmus, CHAI, and Pi Ja Ma — each of whom contributed to multiple tracks on the album — as well as Dylan Cartlidge, Boa Constrictors, and Japanese pop superstar and actor Gen Hoshino. Recording the 13-track album marked the first time that the bandmates spent time together in person; Superorganism’s debut effort was completed befor...
Barrie Shares New Song “Concrete”: Stream
Barrie has previewed her new album Barbara with a new single called “Concrete,” just in time for her upcoming world tour. Listen to the song and check out her forthcoming tour dates below. Warm with pulsating, reverb-heavy synths and Barrie Lindsey’s gentle voice, “Concrete” builds a shimmering soundscape while remaining relatively subdued. In a statement, the artist acknowledged this juxtaposition, touching on the awkward process of coming into your own. “[“Concrete”] is about taking the time and energy to figure out who you are. Learning to take up space and be yourself, unapologetically,” Barrie said. “This process can feel selfish and even sinister, depending on how you are conditioned socially… but the major modulation in the final chorus is about finding power and confidence in ...
Jenn Wasner’s Flock of Dimes Shares New Songs “Pure Love” and “Time”: Stream
Wye Oak singer Jenn Wasner has shared “Pure Love” and “Time,” two new songs from her solo project Flock of Dimes. “Pure Love” and “Time” arrive as part of the singles series from Sylvan Esso’s Psychic Hotline label. Co-produced by Wasner and Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sanborn and recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the singles offer a welcome respite from pandemic-induced darkness. “After spending so much time over the past two years sitting with my grief — both personally and creatively — I’m thrilled to offer up two songs that center joy, hopefulness, and pleasure,” Wasner said in a statement. “What can I say about ‘Pure Love’? It’s a fun pop song about how wanting more is the cause of so much suffering! To me, overall, it’s a song about reaching for a more pure way of being...
Sparks Kick Off North American Tour at Walt Disney Concert Hall: Recap + Photos
As Edgar Wright’s exhilarating documentary The Sparks Brothers illustrated so well, Ron and Russell Mael, aka Sparks, are “your favorite band’s favorite band” for good reason. The duo have been making delightfully dramatic, experimental yet accessible art rock for over 50 years. Whether they were prancing on Top of The Pops in the ‘70s or blasting from transistor radios on KROQ 106.7 FM in the ‘80s, they never really “fit in” with what was popular at the time. But last night (February 7th) at Los Angeles’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, illuminated by an array of multi-hued stage lights and backed by a solid five-piece band, they were a splendid fit. The Hall is home to the LA Philharmonic, and its grand aesthetic and layout (inside and out), not to mention its unmatched acoustics, make seeing ...
How 2021 Band of the Year CHVRCHES Navigated a COVID-Challenged Galaxy
Our 2021 Annual Report continues with the announcement of CHVRCHES as our Band of the Year. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. The last couple of years have undoubtedly been chaotic — and while many artists have used these uncertain times to provide a distraction, others, like CHVRCHES, our 2021 Band of the Year, have embraced that chaos to create profound and inspired works. CHVRCHES’ fourth studio album, Screen Violence, features the band working at the highest level since their debut, and with a little bit of cinematic horror and drama added to the mix, they sound like a band renewed. Tracks like “How Not To Drown (featuring Robert Smith),” which landed at No. 8 on our...
M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming Turns 10: An Enduring Era of Indie
I’ve heard M83’s “Outro,” the final track of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, in more TV commercials than I can count. Never mind the widespread usage in TV shows, films, and trailers: I’m talking strictly 30-60 second advertisements, the commercials you’d like to mute, tune out, or fast forward through. The usage of the song in media was arguably the most widespread around 2014, but even today, ten years after its release, music supervisors still gravitate towards “Outro” because of its humongous, cathartic climax, a waterfall of synths cascading into a vast cosmos of sound. Upon listening to Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming for the first time ten years ago, I doubt many people heard “Outro” and thought to themselves, “This is the sound of leasing a new Mazda.” Nevertheless, the song and album truly end...
Twin Shadow Announces Self-Titled New Album, Shares “Get Closer”: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-21T14:39:47+00:00“>May 21, 2021 | 10:39am ET Twin Shadow has announced his fifth full-length, a self-titled release due out July 9th via Cheree Cheree. As the latest preview of the LP, the artist aka George Lewis Jr. has shared the new single “Get Closer”. Twin Shadow comes three years after Lewis Jr.’s last album, Caer. It also marks a major sonic shift from that and Lewis Jr.’s other past projects, something that’s already been hinted at with early singles “Alemania” and “Johnny & Jonnie”. Twin Shadow made his name on synthpop deeply indebted to cinematic ’80s styles, but Twin Shadow owes more to the golden age of soul and Lewis Jr.’s Dominican heritage. In fact, some ...
Kat Von D Announces Debut Album Love Made Me Do It, Shares “Exorcism”: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-14T17:05:58+00:00“>May 14, 2021 | 1:05pm ET Because tattoo artist and reality star aren’t enough, Kat Von D has decided to add musician to her list of accomplishments. To that end, she has announced Love Made Me Do It, her new album out August 27th, and shared its lead single, “Exorcism”. In a smart move, Von D didn’t attempt to record the LP without recruiting some major assistance. Clocking in at 12 tracks, Love Made Me Do It saw her collaborating with some big names, including Dave Grohl, Linda Perry, Peter Murphy, Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio. According to a press release, the self-described “collection of all my hopeless romantic thoughts poured into one album” has bee...
Computer World at 40: How Kraftwerk Predicted Our Techno-Utopian Fate
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-10T16:42:08+00:00“>May 10, 2021 | 12:42pm ET Memory is subject to corruption, but some of us can still recall a very primitive era for personal computers. In the late seventies, early prototypes included the Apple II, Commodore PET and the TRS-80. Programmed with obtuse software, their joys and intrigues remained esoteric, elusive. Beyond the hardware, the Internet was an unknown realm; email and social media were not yet invented, and video chats were simply science fiction. Despite all of these limitations, the rich geography of a Computer World was envisioned by German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. Released on May 10th in 1981, Kraftwerk’s eighth studio album was informed by ...
