Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 163
January 29, 2025
JakoJako Shares New Track "Lì xì" || Announces New Album 'Tết 41' Out 4/25 On Mute
JAKOJAKO
MARKS LUNAR NEW YEAR WITH THE RELEASE
OF NEW TRACK “LÌ XÌ”
OUT 4/25 ON MUTE
Photo credit: Katja Ruge
Today Berlin-based modular synthesist JakoJako (aka Sibel Koçer) has announced details of a new album, her first for Mute. Tết 41 is set for release on limited edition vinyl and digitally on April 25, 2025.
The album, recorded in Vietnam during the Tết Lunar New Year celebrations is, in many ways, a distillation of ideas Koçer has been exploring for many years. Tapping into a deep understanding of machine-based music and illuminated by references to her heritage, Tết 41 reflects on notions of rebirth and the pursuit of a sonic core. The album was created with a minimal hardware set up and from this simplicity emerges some of her most expansive, unworldly compositions to date.
Koçer explains, “I wanted to collect the atmospheres of Vietnam, and strip it back to my language - electronic music. I don’t have huge ties to the traditions of my Vietnamese family, so being able to experience them with my mother and then bring the Lunar Celebration - the colorful flowers, food and customs - back to Europe through music has helped me realize how important this side of my heritage is.”
Tết 41 launches today, on Lunar New Year, with the first track from the album, “Lì xì” (Vietnamese translation: “Lucky money”, usually referring to the red envelopes gifted at Lunar New Year).
Listen to “Lì xì” HERE.
Pre-order Tết 41 HERE.
A big part of her production process lies in searching for spontaneity, which was heightened during the creation of this album, on just a Eurorack and a Waldorf Iridium Core. While normally she would have a computer to mix and arrange the record, the effects and sequencers of the gear became her tools. She expands: “The more you play with a single machine the more you get to know it. You’ll get muscle memory and play it more like an actual instrument, instead of treating it as a tool.”
Opening and closing with field recordings taken during the Lunar New Year celebrations, she uses the space in between to cast new frameworks, allowing melodic cycles to flow autonomously. Rhythmic fragments weave between analogue processing and harmonic distillations, swirling in organic cycles of warehouse maximalism and sonic minutiae that speak to the somatic and spectral in equal measure.
Engaged in a constant dialogue around the use of hardware in music, JakoJako’s artistic output is informed by the tension and release of techno, but ultimately propelled by ever-expanding forms and structures that play with the contours of the genre. A producer, live artist and DJ who has held a residency at Berghain while touring some of the world’s most respected electronic music institutions, she delves into the mathematical patterns of arpeggios and loops, locating kinetic energies that convert into moments of dancefloor catharsis.
Infinitely curious about the threads that connect different genres, as opposed to the rigidity of genre itself, Tết 41 is driven by a desire to document the potentials of analogue and modular synthesis, and to consider new contexts within which these could exist. It’s also a bold and generous vision of new sonic worlds.
JakoJako’s Tết 41 is out on Mute on limited edition vinyl and digitally on April 25, 2025.
Pre-order it HERE.
JakoJako DJ and Live Dates:
1/29/2025 - Berlin,DE - private album listening party
2/18/2025 - Berlin, DE - Zeiss Planetarium performance of parts of the album live
Tết 41 album art
Track listing:
1. Xin chào
2. Kumquat
3. Lì xì
4. Hoa đào
5. Ghi-Ta
6. Đà Nẵng
7. Dragon Bridge
8. Chim sẻ
9. Gió
10. Cảm ơn
CONNECT WITH JAKOJAKO:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | SOUNDCLOUD
CONNECT WITH MUTE:FACEBOOK | BLUESKY |TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | TIK TOK | WEB
MOLLIE ELIZABETH RELEASES OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO FOR VIRAL DEBUT SINGLE “VEGAS VENETIAN" ON NEON GOLD RECORDS
MOLLIE ELIZABETH RELEASES
OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO FOR
VIRAL DEBUT SINGLE “VEGAS VENETIAN" HERE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST SINGER-SONGWRITER ARRIVES WITH A STUNNING FIRST OFFERING ON NEON GOLD RECORDS
Photo credit: Rachel Demy
Today, 21 year old Washington State-based singer-songwriter Mollie Elizabeth releases the official music video for her long-awaited debut single, the cinematic fever dream “Vegas Venetian”.
After initially finding runaway virality with her self-produced bedroom demo of the track last fall, Mollie teamed up with producer Dean Reid (Lana Del Rey, Marina, Alessia Cara, et. al) to bring the fully realized studio version into the world on vaunted indie label Neon Gold Records (Charli XCX, Marina, Tove Lo, etc). An escapist fantasy dripping in glitter and gold, Mollie built a world worth losing yourself in, a timeless debut fluttering to earth somewhere between Lana Del Rey and Laufey.
She introduces herself: Hi there, my name is Mollie (aka doeyedfairie), and I am a singer and songwriter from the woods of Washington State’s Cascades. To me, every melody is a tiny world that invites you in—an invitation to be both fierce and delicate, and to celebrate who you are, who you have been, and who you are becoming. My music isn’t just for listening—it’s for wandering, for imagining, and for finding a piece of yourself in a place you’d forgotten. I hope my songs resonate with you!
Listen / download Mollie Elizabeth “Vegas Venetian”
Watch the official music video
https://www.tiktok.com/@doeyedfairie
https://www.instagram.com/doeyedfairie/
https://neon.gold/
https://futures.music/
https://www.wearefoundations.com/
Fly Anakin announces new album + enlists $ilkmoney, Quelle Chris & Big Kahuna OG for lead single
FLY ANAKIN ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM
(THE) FOREVER DREAM
EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY QUELLE CHRIS
SHARES NEW SINGLE/VIDEO “MY N*GGA” FEATURING
QUELLE CHRIS, $ILKMONEY & BIG KAHUNA OG
(THE) FOREVER DREAM OUT APRIL 25
VIA LEX RECORDS
Big Kahuna OG, Fly Anakin, $ilkmoney & Quelle Chris by Will Pippin (Download Hi-Res assets HERE)
“My N*gga” feat. Quelle Chris, $ilkmoney & Big Kahuna OG
WATCH: https://youtu.be/imtglQEmUK4
LISTEN: flyanakin.lnk.to/TheForeverDream
“tongue-twisting verses seem effortless”
The FADER
“bulletproof with something for the rap purists, underground aficionados and casual listeners alike”
HipHopDX
"one of underground hip-hop’s greatest talents"
HotNewHipHop
"a star in his own right"
SPIN
(January 29, 2025) - Richmond, Virginia’s Fly Anakin announces his new album (The) Forever Dream, out April 25 via Lex Records. The new LP commemorates an embrace of newfound creative freedom for Anakin, partnering with executive producer Quelle Chris to craft casually conceived songs that register among the most experimental and ambitious tracks he’s ever made. Combining Anakin’s decade-spanning reputation of being an incisive and masterful lyricist, with Quelle’s free-wheeling, yet intentional production style, the duo are polar opposites and a match made in heaven. Beyond Quelle, Anakin also enlisted collaborators both familiar and new on (The) Forever Dream, including Pink Siifu, BbyMutha, The Alchemist, $ilkmoney, lojii, Nickelus F, Turich Benjy, Demae, and of course, Mutant Academy brethren Big Kahuna OG and Sycho Sid.
Alongside the announcement of the album, Anakin also shares standout single “My N*gga”, a glacially smooth synth-heavy track that caters to the razor-sharp delivery of Anakin, along with featured guests Quelle Chris, $ilkmoney and Big Kahuna OG. The song is accompanied by a DEV-directed video, conceived by ILLIMITEWORLD.
Having spent the majority of the past decade honing his craft with consistent Mutant Academy releases as well as a prolific run of solo projects, Anakin broke new ground in 2020 with his widely-celebrated joint album with Pink Siifu, FlySiifu’s, and the accompanying $mokebreak EP a year later. That project opened up a new sound and community for Anakin who has seized on that project’s success to cement himself as a leader in rap’s underground renaissance with his critically-acclaimed studio debut album Frank in 2022, which landed on best of the year lists at Bandcamp, HipHopDX, OkayPlayer, Uproxx and more. His subsequent dual-sided mixtape series with Foisey, Skinemaxxx, demonstrated that he could be versatile and adapt to more experimental and boisterous production, leading to Pitchfork describing him as "the single best pure rapper in the scene."
Listen to “My N*gga” featuring Quelle Chris, $ilkmoney and Big Kahuna OG above, see below for more album details and stay tuned for more from Fly Anakin coming soon.
Fly Anakin
(The) Forever Dream
Lex Records
April 29, 2025
1. Good Clothes (feat. Demae)
2. Teen Summit
3. My N*gga (feat. Quelle Chris, $ilkmoney & Big Kahuna OG)
4. Lil One (Intro)
5. Lil One
6. CheckOnMe (feat. lojii)
7. NOTTOOSHABBY (feat. Quelle Chris, Nickelus F & $ilkmoney)
8. Lord Forgives, I Hold Grudges (feat. Denmark Vessey & Pink Siifu)
9. The Times
10. Forever Dream (Interlude)
11. Forever Dream
12. Corner Pocket (feat. Quelle Chris & BbyMutha)
13. Dr Phil [skit] (feat. Psycho Sid)
14. YOUGOTME!!
15. Foreverever Dream (Interlude)
16. Say Thank You (feat. Pink Siifu & Turich Benjy)
Connect with Fly Anakin:
Lookers Announce Debut LP, Share "Bury You Under" Single via Paste | 'Deeper' LP Due April 25th via Almost Ready Records
Share "Bury You Under" Single via Paste
Read Spill, Psychedelic Baby and V13 Features
Deeper LP Due April 25th via Almost Ready Records
Photo by Chris Mongeau LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Lookers - "Bury You Under"YouTubeThe genesis of Lookers began when vocalist and poet Muggs Fogarty and guitarist/frontman Rafay Rashid sparked as a songwriting duo in the 2010’s. They recruited notables from the Providence, RI music scene, including bassist/violinist Florence Wallis, guitarist Nick Politelli, and drummer Bryan Fielding.
Today, they are announcing their debut album, Deeper , due for release April 25th via Almost Ready Records. With songs that tease and thrash, Lookers’ forthcoming record, will leave you spent and wanting more. Recorded and produced by Bradford Krieger at Big Nice Studio, Deeper speaks to the complexity of desire, its erotic absences and desperations, its thrills. With songs originating deep in the shuddering heart of the band, most tracks pull from Muggs Fogarty’s language and Rafay Rashid’s musical instincts.
Our first taste of Deeper comes in the form of lead single "Bury You Under," a gritty, synth track. "Picture banging out this war cry on an oil drum in an abandoned city, singing out a vengeful fantasy. Pure catharsis that melts into beautiful chaos. “They didn’t stop you then / They won’t stop me now” A promise against oppressors, a seed to plant or bury."
"Bury You Under" is out today on all DSPs. Deeper is due for release on April 25th via Almost Ready Records.
Lookers - "Bury You Under"
Deeper - TRACK LISTING
01. Midnight TV Dinner
02. Deeper
03. Animal
04. Alone
05. Bury You Under
06. Body Bag
07. Depressed
08. Thing
09. Crisis
10. Dead
Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify
January 28, 2025
SUNFLOWER BEAN Announce New Album & Tour, Share "Champagne Taste"
SUNFLOWER BEAN
ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM,
PLOT NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
& SHARE “CHAMPAGNE TASTE”
Mortal Primetime out April 25th
Praise for Sunflower Bean:
“Spirited interpreters of rock ’n’ roll’s eternal truths…Sunflower Bean are equally adept at studio finesse and raucous live noise.” - The New York Times
“it’s amazing to see and hear this band’s maturation…Cumming’s vocal is strong and confident, and the classic rock riffs conjure up comparisons to Joan Jett….ridiculously talented ” – NPR
“a contemporary take on lo-fi psychedelia, wearing shrewd influences on stylish sleeves.” - The New Yorker
“one of the best bands in America” – Billboard
“Though Sunflower Bean’s sound nods to past decades, it’s not vintage: The mash-up of influences — T. Rex, the Velvet Underground, Tame Impala, the poet Dylan Thomas — makes it new.” - T Magazine
“…moody psychedelic magic with exactly the right attitude, the NY trio are one of the most exciting things in music” – i-D
“Listening to…Sunflower Bean is a bit like flipping through some smart stoner’s impeccably refined record collection. All the correct drone-rock references are present: the Velvet Underground at their beachiest, the Autobahn liftoff of vintage Seventies Kraut-rock, the Eighties drug-punk of Spaceman 3, recent garage-grind aesthetes like Ty Segall, and the entire college-jangle canon from early R.E.M. to the Smiths to Real Estate and beyond. Sunflower Bean take these influences and shape them like Silly Putty into sweet, ingenious psych-pop songs” - Rolling Stone
Beloved rock band Sunflower Bean return reinvigorated with the most hard-fought and vulnerable album of their career: Mortal Primetime. In the three years since their last LP Headful of Sugar, the members of Sunflower Bean drifted from one another as they pursued new projects and confronted personal challenges, tragedies and transformations. But Mortal Primetime – the band’s fourth album, but first self-produced – finds Sunflower Bean with a renewed sense of purpose after nearly losing everything they built together. “You get to decide what your prime is, and you fight for it,” bassist and vocalist Julia Cumming says. “This is ours, and that can’t be taken away by circumstance. We can’t take it away from each other. This moment, where we are now, is what we’ve always fought for.” With mixing by Caesar Edmunds (The Killers, Wet Leg) and engineering by Sarah Tudzin (Illuminati Hotties, Boygenius), Sunflower Bean were inspired by alternative rock, dreamy psychedelia, and arena-sized ambition to create a sound that’s undeniably theirs on Mortal Primetime; a record that celebrates their history while hurtling toward the future.
PRE-ORDER MORTAL PRIMETIME - OUT APRIL 25 VIA LUCKY NUMBER
The first single off of Mortal Primetime is “Champagne Taste,” a fuzzed-out anthem of reckless determination. A nod to Sunflower Bean’s long-time alias when performing secret shows to test out new material, “Champagne Taste” features feral guitar riffs, soaring power chords and vocals that find Cumming channeling Iggy Pop circa The Idiot. The band explains, “This song came after a period that felt like rock bottom for the band. It is about feeling beaten down but still driving forward, to keep faith, to grow and to continue to create on our own terms, our Mortal Primetime." Listen to “Champagne Taste” now HERE, and watch the Isaac Roberts-directed music video below.
Sunflower Bean is known for their blistering live show, which has graced the stages of countless festivals like Glastonbury and Lollapalooza, to tours with Beck, Interpol, and The Pixies, and sold-out international headline shows. So the band is wasting no time in celebrating Mortal Primetime on the road, and announce a massive North American tour. See below to find a show near you and get your tickets HERE when general on-sale starts Friday at 10 am locally.
Tour dates
2/13 - Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy Glasgow ^
2/14 - Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo ^
2/16 - Wolverhampton, UK @ Uni of Wolverhampton at The Civic Hall ^
2/17 - London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton ^
2/18 - London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton ^
2/20 - Cologne, DE @ Palladium ^
2/21 - Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle ^
2/23 - Amsterdam, NL @ AFAS Live ^
2/24 - Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique ^
2/26 - Paris, FR @ Zenith ^
2/27 - London, UK @ George Tavern
3/10 – 3/15 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
5/15 - Troy, NY @ No Fun
5/16 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas *
5/17 - Boston, MA @ Deep Cuts *
5/22 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw #
5/23 - Washington, DC @ The Atlantis #
5/24 - Raleigh, NC @ Kings #
5/25 - Asheville, NC @ Eulogy #
5/27 - Nashville, TN @ Third Man Records #
5/28 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl #
5/30 - Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves #
5/31 - Austin, TX @ The Ballroom #
6/01 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Upstairs #
6/04 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar #
6/05 - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah #
6/06 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room #
6/07 - San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel #
6/9 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios #
6/10 - Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s #
6/12 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
6/13 - Fort Collins, CO @ The Coast #
6/14 - Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
6/17 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry #
6/19 - Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village #
6/20 - Detroit, MI @ Third Man Records
6/21 - Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
^ with Cage The Elephant
* with Laveda
# with Gift
(Credit: Anna Nazarova)
Track Listing:
1. Champagne Taste
2. Nothing Romantic
3. Waiting For The Rain
4. Look What You’ve Done To Me
5. I Knew Love
6. Take Out Your Insides
7. There’s A Part I Can’t Get Back
8. Please Rewind
9. Shooting Star
10. Sunshine
More on Sunflower Bean & Mortal Primetime:
Time marches relentlessly on, but it can pass unnoticed unless you find a way to capture it. For the entirety of their remarkable career, Sunflower Bean has made monuments of fleeting moments, by turning them into art, bottling them as song. They broke onto the scene as teens wise beyond their years with Human Ceremony, captured the melancholia of nascent adulthood on Twentytwo in Blue, and confronted the alienation of life under late capitalism on Headful of Sugar. Now in their Saturn Return, the band is back with the most hard-fought and vulnerable album of their career: Mortal Primetime.
That confidence is earned, because Mortal Primetime almost didn’t happen. In the years since Headful of Sugar, the members of Sunflower Bean drifted from one another as they pursued new projects and confronted personal challenges, tragedies and transformations. Synonymous with New York, the band lost guitarist/vocalist Nick Kivlen to California, leaving vocalist/bassist Cumming to write songs alone for the first time in the band’s history. Soon after, she separated from her long-time partner, informing much of her songwriting. Additionally, drummer Olive Faber birthed a new project, Stars Revenge, after coming out as transgender around the last album cycle. Despite the wealth of success they’d experienced together as a band, Sunflower Bean struggled to tend to their collective fire and tensions rose. The three friends grew up together and spent their twenties in the spotlight, but away from it, they struggled to make sense of who they were outside of Sunflower Bean. The future seemed finite – it felt like time was up.
“Coming close to losing something you fought for, for over a decade, is a really good way to get close to your heart as an artist,” Cumming says. “Every long-term relationship, experiences challenges – you either stop or you go deeper. What is a band but a relationship with a body of work?”
Reinvigorated, Sunflower Bean chose to keep the faith and go deeper. “Faith is just another word for a healthy dose of delusion,” Faber says. “We make good music together – how could we walk away from that?” All three original band members convened in Los Angeles, encouraged by the team that’s uplifted them from the very beginning. They doubled down by choosing to self-produce the album, tracking it live to ensure that the immediacy of the performances so essential to Sunflower Bean’s mystique shined through. “It’s such a rare and special thing for a band to have played together this long, so we wanted to lean into the skills we’ve built and take an old-school approach to the recording—which is maybe the most subversive thing we could do at a time when it’s so easy to copy and paste,” says Kivlen. With mixing by Caesar Edmunds (The Killers, Wet Leg) and engineering by Sarah Tudzin (Illuminati Hotties, Boygenius), Sunflower Bean were inspired by alternative rock, dreamy psychedelia, and arena-sized ambition to create a sound that’s undeniably theirs on Mortal Primetime; a record that celebrates their history while hurtling toward the future.
Sunflower Bean has never fit neatly into a scene, and Mortal Primetime will remind listeners why. They draw from a wide swath of influences most bands wouldn’t dare namecheck together in a sentence, and that daringness has made them undefinable. “Sometimes I think of this record as Belle and Sebastian meets Alice in Chains,” Cumming says. “In the past, we’ve been told to tone down who we are, and this album is our refusal to be anything but ourselves,” Faber says. “It’s the purest expression of who we are.” These songs are the most honest of Sunflower Bean’s career – unvarnished, exposed.
On Mortal Primetime, the members of Sunflower Bean carry each other’s pain in all of its complexity, even when the band itself is the source. By embracing discordance and uncertainty, they created the bravest album of an already storied career. When Sunflower Bean set out to make music together as kids, they knew they wanted to go the distance, to create something that could stand up to the unforgiving passage of time. “The further you move through life, the more you realize how precious every moment is,” says Cumming. “This album is about choosing the present as our prime, but also being in touch with the transient and fleeting nature of this existence.” However fleeting this existence is, with Mortal Primetime Sunflower Bean offers up another monument that will withstand the weathering of time.
Follow Sunflower Bean:
RAISSA RELEASES "TODO CANTA" MUSIC VIDEO FROM CUTE THREAT EP (NEON GOLD RECORDS)
RAISSA RELEASES CUTE THREAT EP
ON NEON GOLD RECORDS HERE
TODAY RAISSA RELEASED "TODO CANTA" VIDEO HERE
(dir. Daniel Holliday)
“CUTE THREAT” VIDEO HERE
RAISSA “NO GENIUS” FT RAHIM REDCAR
AKA CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS HERE + MUSIC VIDEO HERE
Raissa - Cute Threat EP artwork
The multilingual, multinational worldpop superstar-in-waiting Raissa released her Cute Threat EP on Neon Gold Records and today, she’s releasing the “Todo Canta” music video directed by Daniel Holliday.
Earlier she release the music video for the track “Cute Threat” here. Born in Spain, Raissa inherited a mastery of French and Spanish from her parents and a love of songwriting from Leonard Cohen. She spent her childhood between Beijing, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, and London - as a result, she draws from a deep well of creative influences, everything from antique Gothic literature to vintage anime.
About the EP, she says: “Cute threat is about contrast and contradiction. It’s about being deceptively capable and powerful in spite of how you may be packaged. It’s relishing the fact people don’t see you coming and finding freedom in that. It’s a playful and braggadocious celebration of self”.
Listen / download Raissa - Cute Threat EP
Currently LA-based, Raissa is a unique talent whose work creates a sense of hope and the urge to fight for truth and love. She champions courage, vulnerability, and what it means to be young and enthralled by it all.
Last month, Raissa released “No Genius” featuring her close friend and collaborator Rahim Redcar aka Christine and the Queens. The collaboration is the latest in a long line of meaningful collabs and co-signs, including Mark Ronson, Mura Masa, and more. A singular pop storyteller whose honest lyrics, vibrant soundscapes, and unique visual storytelling exhibit her artistry.
About “No Genius” she adds: "Lyrically guided by a channeled frustration at our increasing alienation from each other. It doesn’t take no genius to know that those who seek to divide us are up to no good. I was channeling some frustration during a particularly difficult time in the world. I think people as a collective are smarter than we give ourselves credit for. It’s some tough love for myself and my fellow human. A reminder that it doesn’t take no genius to know that those who seek to divide us, are probably up to no good".
Raissa - Cute Threat EP - tracklist:
1. PENITA
2. NO GENIUS ft Rahim Redcar
3. CUTE THREAT
4. TODO CANTA
5. A LA MODE
6. KNIFE
Raissa bio:
A creative force unlike any other in music today, Raissa embodies the kind of bold contradictions that make for truly transcendent pop: she’s wildly inventive yet refined in musicality, sensitive yet self-possessed, fiercely intelligent yet deeply attuned to the sensory pleasures of melody and groove. Not only the outcome of her global upbringing—a journey that includes being born in Spain, then spending her childhood in Beijing, Sydney, and Kuala Lumpur—the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter/producer’s potent originality stems from her limitless imagination and eclectic mix of influences (early-millennium hip-hop, ’80s art-pop, tropicália, West African dance music, and much more). Newly signed to Neon Gold Records, Raissa is now set to deliver a new body of work affirming the depth and power of her one-of-a-kind vision.
“In the past I’ve felt frustrated with the fact that I don’t fit neatly into any type of box—I belong to so many things, but at the same I belong to nothing,” says Raissa. “Now I’m finally starting to see that as a strength, and maybe the most important thing about me as a person and an artist.”
A multilingual talent whose lyrics shift from English to Spanish to French, Raissa partly attributes her near-encyclopedic knowledge of music to her parents, who raised her on pop iconoclasts like Prince and David Bowie and songwriter/poets like Leonard Cohen—an essential catalyst for her own musical development. “When I was 12 I watched a documentary about Leonard Cohen, and he talked about how he’d started writing songs after learning to play just a few chords on guitar,” she recalls. “I thought, ‘That doesn’t sound so hard,’ and then I started writing songs too.” After teaching herself GarageBand at age 14, Raissa began self-recording and quickly amassed a sizable but entirely secret stash of songs. “At the time I was living in Malaysia and didn’t know anyone who’d even attempted to make music, so the idea of turning it into something bigger seemed impossible,” she explains. Upon heading to London for art school at 19, however, Raissa felt an overwhelming need to take her music to the next level. “I was alone in this big city and felt really low, and music became a lifeline,” she says. “I started making music with a friend just for fun, and then one day I randomly uploaded a song to SoundCloud.” By the next morning, that track had surpassed 20,000 streams—a turn of events that caught the attention of several established producers looking to collaborate, and soon found her flying out to L.A. to set her music career in motion.
Since making her debut with the tender but unapologetic 2020 single “BULLYING BOYS,” Raissa has continually turned out songs that match their exquisitely detailed and high-energy sound with lyrics that subtly transform our perception of the world—a dynamic in full effect on her new EP Cute Threat. Mainly co-produced by Raissa and her longtime creative partner Evan Voytas, her debut project for Neon Gold encompasses everything from the tongue-in-cheek swagger of its title track to the raw catharsis of “No Genius”: a galvanizing collaboration with Rahim Redcar (aka Christine and the Queens), built on gorgeously strange beats and Raissa’s hot-tempered but hypnotic outpouring of frustration. “That song came from thinking about how the most powerful entities in the world profit from creating division among the most vulnerable,” says Raissa, who refers to “No Genius” as “some tough love for myself and my fellow human."
Follow Raissa:
https://raissa.komi.io/
https://www.tiktok.com/@thisisraissa
https://www.instagram.com/thisisraissa/
Spotify
YouTube
Emma-Jean Thackray announces new album due 4/25 + shares new single and music video
EMMA-JEAN THACKRAY ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM
SHARES NEW SINGLE AND SELF-DIRECTED VIDEO
WEIRDO DUE APRIL 25TH VIA BROWNSWOOD RECORDINGS/PARLOPHONE
Emma-Jean Thackray by Alex Waespi
Weirdo
PRE-SAVE/ORDER: https://emmajeanthackray.lnk.to/weirdo
"Wanna Die"
LISTEN: https://emmajeanthackray.lnk.to/wannadie
WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfpgPePorRU
(January 28, 2025) - Emma-Jean Thackray, the visionary producer, composer, and instrumentalist, announces her highly anticipated second album, Weirdo, set for release on April 25th via Gilles Peterson’s celebrated record label Brownswood Recordings. Known for defying musical boundaries, Thackray's latest work is a deeply personal and utterly original exploration of selfhood, grief, and gratitude.
Drawing on an eclectic mix of influences—grunge, pop, soul, p-funk, and jazz— Weirdo is a triumphant celebration of survival and individuality. Written, performed, recorded, mixed, produced and arranged entirely by Thackray in her South London flat, the album stands as a testament to her extraordinary musicianship and fearless self-expression.
The brand new single “Wanna Die” is a striking blend of frenetic energy and emotional vulnerability. With its scattered, uptempo beat driving the track forward, the song juxtaposes its rhythmically playful foundation against poignant reflections on mortality and resilience. Thackray’s lyrics wrestle with heavy themes, moving between moments of despair and determination. The result is an audacious exploration of life’s fragility, delivered with raw honesty and wrapped in a percussive soundscape that feels simultaneously chaotic and cathartic.
Originally conceived as a meditation on neurodivergence and mental health, Weirdo evolved after the unexpected loss of her long-term partner from natural causes in January 2023, resulting in an album that feels deeply personal and universal. With intricate compositions, raw emotion, and an unflinching authenticity, Weirdo is more than an album; it’s a masterpiece of resilience, a celebration of individuality, and a bold leap forward for an artist at the forefront of British music.
Speaking on the album she shares: “Initially the album was a way to process and accept my own mental health issues. It then turned into a grief diary and inevitably, my form of therapy. In many ways, making Weirdo saved my life. I want the music to resonate with others who might be going through similar experiences, to let them know that there’s a way through it all, and that it’s OK to express whatever’s on your mind.”
The album features standout collaborations with American artists Reggie Watts and Kassa Overall on tracks like the recently released “Black Hole” and “It’s Okay,” but its essence is rooted in Thackray’s unique voice. Blurring the lines between genre and emotion, Weirdo evokes comparisons to Meshell Ndegeocello, Kate Bush and Nirvana—on the dancefloor.
Emma-Jean’s journey to becoming one of the most talked-about figures in contemporary music has been anything but conventional. Born in West Yorkshire and classically trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Trinity Laban Conservatoire, she spent her early career defying musical boundaries with her genre-blending sound. Her rise to prominence included her self-released EP Walrus (2016) and the Jazz FM award-winning Yellow (2021), which solidified her position as one of the UK's most innovative musicians and saw her performing at iconic venues and festivals, from the London Symphony Orchestra to numerous Glastonbury slots.
The new project heralds the start of a new musical chapter for Emma-Jean as part of the revered Brownswood Recordings (Yussef Dayes, Kokoroko). An institution proudly rooted in London’s diverse music community, the label has become a hub for eclectic genre-defying music and feels like the perfect home for a boundary-blurring musical force such as Thackray.
Weirdo album artwork
Emma-Jean Thackray
Weirdo
April 25, 2025
Brownswood Recordings/Parlophone
1. Something Wrong With Your Mind
2. Weirdo
3. Stay
4. Let Me Sleep
5. Please Leave Me Alone
6. Save Me
7. Maybe Nowhere
8. What Is The Point
9. Black Hole ft. Reggie Watts
10. In Your Mind
11. Tofu
12. Fried Rice
13. Where’d You Go
14. Wanna Die
15. Staring At The Wall
16. I Don’t Recognise My Hands
17. It’s Okay ft. Kassa Overall
18. Remedy
19. Thank You For The Day
About Brownswood Recordings
Brownswood Recordings is an independent record label founded by the DJ and Broadcaster Gilles Peterson in 2006. With a strong ear for the most singular artists, the label has built a platform that has acted as a springboard for many - as well as creating a space for more established artists to experiment and create something different. At almost 20 years old Brownswood stands proud as a pioneering record label driven by the idea that music can bring people together.
Connect with Emma-Jean Thackray
Peter Bjorn and John Return to US with ‘Writer’s Block’ Tour in May!
Photo by Johan Bergmark
New York, NY – Noon EST, 28th January 2025 – Acclaimed Swedish indie-pop band Peter Bjorn and John are bringing their iconic Writer’s Block album back to life on a highly anticipated U.S. tour in May 2025. This marks the band’s first stateside shows in six years and commemorates the 19th anniversary of their breakthrough LP, originally released in 2006. The announcement follows news of the band’s appearance at this year’s Just Live Heaven Festival in Pasadena, CA on May 10th where they’ll be playing alongside Vampire Weekend, Rilo Kiley, Bloc Party and TV on the Radio.
Writer’s Block is widely regarded as one of the most influential albums of the mid-2000s. The LP was one of Pitchfork’s “Best New Music” picks and had The Guardian calling it “A delight, from start to finish.” The album’s single “Young Folks,” featuring Victoria Bergsman, became an era-defining anthem, earning widespread and long-lasting acclaim. The song’s infectious whistling has been spotlighted in numerous cultural discussions and earlier this year The New York Times featured “Young Folks” in their “In Praise of Whistling in Pop Music” newsletter and playlist “The Amplifier.” In addition, the song was featured prominently in two of the period's biggest TV shows – Gossip Girl and How I Met Your Mother.
Furthermore, several album tracks caught the ear of some very well-known rappers. Kanye West rapped over “Young Folks” for his 2007 mixtape Can’t Tell Me Nothing, and in 2009 Drake sampled “Let’s Call It Off” on his track of the same name and Azealia Banks rapped over “The Chills,” retitling the track “The Chill$.”
This milestone tour offers fans a chance to relive Writer’s Block in its entirety, along with other beloved hits from Peter Bjorn and John’s extensive discography. The band’s innovative approach to songwriting and their knack for crafting timeless melodies have solidified their place as indie pop pioneers, and this tour promises to celebrate their enduring legacy. Confirmed dates are below and for the most up-to-date information please visit www.peterbjornandjohn.com.
Click Here for Ticket Info!
09 May: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
10 May: Pasadena, CA @ Just Like Heaven
13 May: Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
14 May: Denver, CO @ Bluebird
16 May: Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
17 May: Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
19 May: Toronto, ON @ Great Hall
21 May: New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
22 May: Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
23 May: Washington DC @ Black Cat
Stay Connected with Peter Bjorn and John
Official Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | www.ingrd.com
Glare Announce Full-Length Album, ‘Sunset Funeral’
Glare announce debut full-length album Sunset Funeral
Out April 4th on Deathwish Inc. + Sunday Drive Records
Share single / video for first single, "Guts"
Photo by: Sam Tellez | Hi-res here
When you hear music like this—the wild, loose and woozy drags of guitar; the impossible beauty of it all—what kind of landscape presents itself in your mind? Vistas big enough to be forgotten in. Deserts which stretch back to the beginning of time. Infinite horizons melting into pink bokehs. It’s Texas, isn’t it?
Formed in 2017 in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, Glare aren’t so much genre traditionalists as they are painters of wide realms and intense moods. The four-piece band has already accumulated a large audience, both in the flesh with their reputation for sell-out shows, and on the internet, a place where people go to short-circuit feelings through their screens.
Sunset Funeral, the band’s debut LP (out April 4 on Deathwish Inc. + Sunday Drive Records) is a fog of dreamy grief, where feeling supersedes language. On first listen, the album—which scans as vast as desert sand—may overwhelm the senses. But look closer, and you’ll find a multiplicity of heavily crushed textures, treasures. Take first single "Guts," with its sweetly chugging guitar line, that dissolves the borders between bliss and despair. The band comments: "‘Guts' is about an all consuming love. One that’s exciting and new it makes you feel anxious. A love that feels like it could last an eternity." They continue, "‘The song had several iterations before it was finalized. Months after getting the final mixes back, the lyrics were reworked and vocals were rerecorded. It’s a special song for us because we mulled over the tone, trying to get it right."
Listen / share / playlist "Guts" on DSP's
Watch / share "Guts" on YouTube
One of the great charms of Sunset Funeral, and of Glare overall, is how they approach such a large, celestial sound with humble materials. Among the shoegaze revivalists, Glare come to the canvas with a more resourceful, DIY perspective than many of their peers. Glare’s music is too sublime, too huge to sound like it came from any kind of manmade instrument, tiny amp box or otherwise.
The music drifts heavenward, though it’s still tethered down by steady foundations. It’s beautiful. It’s humid. It’s delirious. It’s music made by people whose feelings speak louder than their words. This is music, as guitarist Toni Ordaz puts it, “for people who don’t know how to talk about how they feel.” An album that’s been years in the making, Sunset Funeral is a document of unspeakable grief, charting the process of mourning and how it travels through our subconscious and dreams.
Pre-order Sunset Funeral here.
Glare, on tour:
Jan. 30 New York, NY - LPR
Jan. 31 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Feb. 02 Boston, MA - Roadrunner
Feb. 04 Glasgow, UK - Room 2
Feb. 05 Newcastle, UK - The Cluny
Feb. 06 Bristol, UK - Exchange
Feb. 07 London, UK - The Dome
Feb. 08 Brighton, UK - Dust
Feb. 09 Birmingham, UK - Mothers
Feb. 10 Manchester, UK - YES Pink Room
Sunset Funeral, cover art:
Sunset Funeral, track list:
Mourning HazeKiss The SunSaudade2 Soon 2 TellChlorine HouseNu BurnTurquoise DreamGutsSun GraveDifferent HueKinski announces new LP, 'Stumbledown Terrace' on Comedy Minus One, shares "Experimental Hugs"
Kinski announces new LP, Stumbledown Terrace on Comedy Minus One, shares "Experimental Hugs"
STREAM: "Experimental Hugs" -
Bandcamp
Today Seattle band Kinski announces its 10th LP, Stumbledown Terrace, due March 7 on the Comedy Minus One label. Check out the new single "Experimental Hugs" and pre-order the vinyl HERE. The band has tour dates in March to celebrate the LP's release with ONEIDA (see full dates below).
The band gives a bit of context for "Experimental Hugs":
"A 70s style keeper. It's sort of a nod to Doctor Feelgood, except that I've never really heard them except for that live video on YouTube that is so amazing."
***
Kinski’s journey through experimental melody and noise is a full-bore sensory thrill ride.
Described by NME as being “like Sabbath in a washing machine during a power surge,” Kinski is back to its original power trio format with Chris Martin on guitar, Lucy Atkinson on bass, and Barrett Wilke on drums.
After 25 years and 9 albums, including 3 on Sub Pop, Kinski has toured internationally with the likes of Acid Mothers Temple, Mission of Burma, Dead Meadow, Comets on Fire, and somehow, even Tool.
With their upcoming release, Stumbledown Terrace, Kinski continues their exploration of heavy, provocative guitar-driven songs, sonorous rhythms, and emotional release.
Recorded with legendary producer Tim Green (The Nation of Ulysses / The Fucking Champs) at Louder Studios, the new album fully captures the unmatchable energy and power of Kinski’s live shows. They’ll be touring in advance of and following the album release.
"You can always trust them to give 110 percent and to raise your pulse rate."
— Dave Segal, The Stranger
“One of the finest rock bands Seattle has produced.” – The Seattle Times
B&W photo credit: Bobbi Barbarich
Color photo credit (below): Karri Peery
Download hi-res images HERE
TOUR DATES:
3/15/25 – Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s (early show)
3/16/25 – Vancouver, BC @ Green Auto
3/17/25 – Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown
3/18/25 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
3/19/25 – Arcata, CA @ The Miniplex
3/20/25 – San Francisco, CA @ Kilowatt with Terry Gross
3/21/25 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar with Terry Gross
3/22/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room with Terry Gross
all dates w/ ONEIDA
Kinski
Stumbledown Terrace
(Comedy Minus One)
Out March 07, 2025
Pre-order it HERE
Track List:
Do You Like Long Hair?
Gang of 3
Stumbledown Terrace
Experimental Hugs
Staircase Wit
Slovenian Fighting Jacket
Her Absence Feels Like a Presence
RELATED LINKS:
Official Site
Instagram
Bandcamp
