Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 170
January 20, 2025
FACS Reveal New single “You Future”
FACS reveal new single “You Future”
Wish Defense— the final album engineered by Steve Albini— out February 7, 2025
See FACS on tour in select markets this April
"...tight, rhythmic and hauntedly abstract as ever, further solidifying their status as one of the best post-punk bands of the 21st century." - Treble
"Everything FACS release sounds like solid gold, their steely minimalism and attention to detail is given radiant clarity..." - Post Trash
"a study in tension and release" - BrooklynVegan
Photo by: Evan Jenkins
With their sixth studio album Wish Defense (incoming Februrary 7, 2025 on Trouble In Mind Records), Chicago trio FACS take a good, long look in the mirror to face themselves. FACS' Brian Case notes that the album's lyrical content revolves around doppelgängers or "doubles,” tackling the idea of facing yourself and observing your ideas and motivations.
"Are you the same as you were?" they ask on "You Future," FACS' latest single and Wish Defense album closer. Case shares: "The final track is also the final action, look in the mirror and ask the questions. It's a future self talking to a 'you' from the past, assessing the path up until this point, questioning who you are. We bookended the album with the two songs that felt the most vulnerable and I think that really works with this idea of examining and challenging who you are and the perception of who you are."
Wish Defense is also the last album engineered by Steve Albini. Two days were recorded at Electrical Audio in early May of 2024 before Steve’s untimely passing, with renowned engineer and friend Sanford Parker stepping in to finish the session 24 hours later, tracking the last bits of vocals and overdubs. Longtime collaborator John Congleton mixed the album as Albini would have, in Electrical Audio’s A room, off the tape, using Albini’s notes about the session.
Listen / share Wish Defense album closer, "You Future"
On Wish Defense, the return of FACS original member Jonathan Van Herik— who stepped away from the group just before their debut album Negative Houses was released, and replacing longtime bassist Alianna Kalaba— brings renewed vigor and a marked angularity from the band’s more recent output. The songs still hit hard, but the approach is sideways; the roles have changed since Van Herik’s original tenure and his previous time with Case and powerhouse drummer Noah Leger in Disappears; now on bass, Van Herik was originally the group’s guitar player and features on the debut, while current guitarist Brian Case played bass. This role reversal has helped the band’s dynamic, offering up a different musical perspective than before, now revisiting the trio’s long-going collaboration with some distance and time.
Wish Defense will be released on February 7, 2025 on compact disc, cassette, black vinyl and a limited white vinyl variant while supplies last [pre-order]. See FACS on tour in Europe throughout February and in select markets in North America in April.
FACS on tour:
Feb. 07 Den Haag, NL - Grauzone Fest
Feb. 08 Amsterdam, NL - OCCII
Feb. 09 Hamburg, DE - Ms Stubnitz Boat
Feb. 10 Berlin, DE - Neue Zukunft
Feb. 11 Brussels, BE - Magazine 4
Feb. 12 Luxembourg, LUX - Rotondes
Feb. 13 Metz, FR - Trinitaires
Feb. 14 Lyon, FR - Periscope
Feb. 15 Nïmes, FR - Paloma
Feb. 16 Marseille, FR - Emma Vortex
Feb. 18 Savona, IT - Raindogs
Feb. 19 Grenoble, FR - Le Ciel
Feb. 20 Zürich, CH - Ziegel Oh Lac
Feb. 21 Trier, DE - Mergener Hof Trier
Feb. 22 Liege, BE - Jaune Orange
Apr. 07 Washington, DC - Songbyrd
Apr. 08 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
Apr. 09 Ridgewood, NY - TV Eye
Apr. 10 Medford, MA - Deep Cuts
Apr. 11 Montreal, QC - Quai des Brumes
Apr. 12 Toronto, ON - Dance Cave
Apr. 13 Grand Rapids, MI - Pyramid Scheme
Apr. 17 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
Wish Defense, cover art:
Art by: by Morgan Cuinet
Wish Defense, track list:
Talking HauntedOrdinary VoicesWish DefenseA RoomDesire PathSometimes OnlyYou Future
January 17, 2025
PHANTOGRAM @ HOB anaheim 01.16.25 // THE PORTABLE INFINITE
All photos taken by Martin Worster
Frank Black Shares 'Teenager Of The Year' Reissue LP, 2025 Tour Dates On Sale l LP Out Now via 4AD
Frank Black Shares Limited Edition 'Teenager of the Year' 30th Anniversary Tour Edition On Double Gold Vinyl
2025 Tour Dates On Sale Now
LP Out Now via 4AD
To celebrate Frank Black’s landmark solo album, Teenager Of The Year turning 30, 4AD release a one-time vinyl pressing on 17th January, to accompany a tour of North America plus Paris and London, where Frank Black and the original band will be performing the album in its entirety.
This special vinyl tour edition of Teenager Of The Year, has been remastered for the first time from its original analogue studio tapes. Sounding as essential as the day it was released, the limited 30th Anniversary Tour Edition is cut at 45 rpm for optimum playback and is being pressed on double gold vinyl. The album also comes in a gatefold sleeve with liner notes by both Frank Black and producer Eric Drew Feldman. A 24-bit digital version is being released on the same day.
Originally recorded amid a rich songwriting vein, just as the Pixies had been placed on hold, Frank Black’s ambitious double album Teenager Of The Year came out in May 1994, just one year after his fantastic self-titled solo debut. Recorded with scene legend Eric Drew Feldman (Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band, Pere Ubu, The Residents), Teenager Of The Year, is now widely regarded as the defining statement of his solo career and the best album the Pixies never made.
“Sometime in the early 80s, I'd have to look up the date, I matriculated high school. This school held an awards banquet for some of the departing students at the school. I received an award called the TEENAGER OF THE YEAR award; my brother received the same award the following year. Our award was a 50 dollar credit for textbooks, a TEENAGER OF THE YEAR medallion (my mother still has this), and also the banquet hall dinner, soup to nuts. My brother and I had no complaint about the award (it was given for being all-around-good-guy as best as we could determine). But for such a grand title to be given as TEENAGER OF THE YEAR, I felt the glory had not been amplified enough.
In 1993, I was doing “solo recording” sessions with Eric Drew Feldman in Los Angeles. We had settled on a core band with Nick Vincent and Lyle Workman, occasionally augmented by Joey Santiago and Moris Tepper. Though we had to change studios numerous times for actual forest fires and earthquakes, the whole process was such an addictive musical buffet that Eric and I couldn't stop. We did some vocals at a studio rumored to be owned by Sergio Mendes; in the control room was a wall of television screens broadcasting the brush fire which crept toward us. We eventually evacuated to someplace else. We never met Sergio but we saw him perform a few weeks later when we vacated to Las Vegas after the Northridge earthquake, which had trapped the TEENAGER OF THE YEAR tapes in a studio vault for some time. Our zeal plus empathy from our financiers, they safely observing our travails from London, was enough to keep the money flowing until Eric and I relented and declared “Consummatum est”.
We tried to make it grand. 22 in 62. I called it TEENAGER OF THE YEAR. It is 30 years old now, and the original band will perform the record at various venues in early 2025. 4AD has remastered the LP for a fresh printing. Enjoy.” Black Francis 2024 Meredith, New Hampshire.
Pitchfork placed Teenager Of The Year in their Top 100 albums of the 90’s saying “beneath its veneer lie the moments brilliant enough to rival any of the Pixies’ 1990’s work, and Black’s greatest lyrical achievement.” The album is also included in the book “ 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”, while The Quietus in 2014 said “Teenager Of The Year feels like a lost Pixies album in the way Ram feels like a lost Beatles album. It’s colossal, it teems with innovation.”
"Headache" - Official Music Video“Initially it was a 14-song album. It was mixed. Eric Idle was staying nearby. He kept telling me to change the songs around. Al (Clay)had to run off and go to his next project. We weren’t completely happy with what we had. The solution: record more songs. Eight more were born. Whole shebang was remixed by David Bianco. The day before we were to start the remix, the 1994 Northridge earthquake occurred. Charles, Jean (Charles’ first wife) and I escaped to Las Vegas, ate many shrimp cocktails, and we saw Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and Sergio Mendes and Brazil ’99 perform. Sergio was especially good. After about five days we returned to the mixing studio and the deed was done.” Eric Drew Feldman.*
To order the limited Teenager Of The Year 30th Anniversary Tour Edition go to: https://frankblack.ffm.to/teenageroftheyear30
Performed by:
Frank Black on vocals and guitars
Eric Drew Feldman on bass and keyboards
Lyle Workman on guitar
Nick Vincent on drums
plus features by
Joey Santiago - lead guitar on tracks 8,15,20,21 and 22
Moris Tepper - lead guitar on tracks 11 and 17
The Teenager Of The Year Tour starts on 15th January at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco and includes 11 US and Canadian shows before going over to perform in Paris on Tuesday 4th February and the iconic London Palladium on Thursday 6th February.
Teenager Of The Year Tour Dates:
January
16th - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
18th - LA, CA - The Orpheum
19th - El Cajon, CA - The Magnolia
22nd - Denver, CO - The Paramount
24th - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
25th - Chicago, IL - The Metro
26th - Chicago, IL - The Metro
28th - Detroit, MI - St Andrews Hall
29th - Toronto, ON - History
31st - Boston, MA - House Of Blues
February
1st - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Street
4th - Paris, France - Le Trianon
6th - London, UK - The Palladium
SON LUX Release New EP 'Risk of Make Believe' via City Slang, All Streaming & Digital Sales Going To LA Fire Relief Efforts
SON LUX RELEASE RISK OF MAKE BELIEVE EP
VIA CITY SLANG
ALL STREAMING & DIGITAL SALES OF THE EP GOING TO LA FIRE RELIEF EFFORTS FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE
Photo credit Alex Kozobolis | download high-res here
Son Lux, the band of composers enlisted to score 2023’s genre-defying Best Picture, Everything Everywhere All At Once, is back with their first release of new music since their prismatic 49-track soundtrack. Risk Of Make Believe (out now - January 17th, 2025) is a new EP that encapsulates what made the experimental rock trio a perfect fit for the film: an unlikely alchemy of beguiling sounds and heart-on-sleeve passion. It is further evidence of Son Lux's wild creativity, voracious appetite for experimentation, and ability to distill seemingly disparate universes of sound into a signature unmistakably their own. Listen to the EP here.
The band has announced today that all streaming and digital sales of Risk of Make Believe will go to LA fire relief efforts for the foreseeable future.
Friends, today we release our new EP, Risk of Make Believe, on all digital platforms. It feels strange to be sharing new music that has brought us such joy while we’re also feeling such heartbreak for our friends and colleagues experiencing myriad levels of loss due to the LA fires. As someone proud to call this city home, it’s been devastating watching this happen in my own backyard, and while my family and home have been spared any damage, it’s not lost on me that the collective trauma of loss will be deeply felt among our creative community for some time.
With that in mind, we have decided to donate all proceeds from this EP for the foreseeable future to @sweetreliefmusiciansfund, a non-profit who have long been supporting musicians in need. They’re collecting funds to specifically address the loss of music equipment, medical bills related to the event, and vital living expenses. Their website also includes a growing list of mutual aid organizations in the LA area.
This effort feels small in the face of so much need in the world, but it’s at least one thing we can do that feels right. Thank you for listening, and let’s take care of each other. 💙 - Ryan Lott
Patience and ease pervade the EP’s title track, “Risk Of Make Believe.” The song begins with what sounds like drums through a vocoder up in the choir loft. Ian Chang and Rafiq Bhatia join with a precise but pliant groove, drums and bass moving together as if in slow motion. What unfolds is an unhurried song that never feels restless in its gradual evolution. Ryan Lott sings, “What’s the risk of make believe?” weaving a plea to give oneself permission to change through tessellations of crystallizing guitar.
“Don’t Say It’s Too Late,” the EP’s second single (December 5th, 2024), features Grammy Award-winning arranger and string player Rob Moose (Bon Iver, Paul Simon, John Legend, yMusic). The interplay between Lott’s voice, electronics, and strings creates a sweeping winter ballad balancing longing and loss, precariously reaching for the hope of reconciliation.
More traditional tracks give way to a pair of slowly unfurling songs on the meditative back half of the EP. Fans of the band will recognize the minimal, repeated refrains as a return to Son Lux’s roots. “Cocoon” holds space for metamorphosis over seven minutes, its spare, cyclical form belying a steady, relentless revolution. Detuned Tunis drums and prepared guitars shed like a chrysalis from around a choir of Lott’s evolving vocals, propelled by Chang and Bhatia’s sinewy rhythm section sensibility.
The EP closes with “Take Your Time With Me,” a slow-burn anthem that showcases the band's ability to reconcile hooky pop and thrilling experimentation. Spacious clearings of sound give way to technicolor thickets, with Chang’s drumming thrillingly pitting splatter-paint abstraction against nod-inducing viscerality. The EP leaves us right where we began—imagining and longing for whatever reinvention might follow.
Album art by Andrea Hyde | download high-res here
Tracklist
HaikuRisk Of Make BelieveDon’t Say It’s Too LateCocoonTake Your Time With Me
On Son Lux:
“Exhilaratingly unpredictable at every turn.” – Consequence of Sound
“One of the most important bands in contemporary music.” – Under the Radar Mag
On Everything Everywhere All At Once:
“Every bit as chaotic and ambitious as the plot of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Son Lux’s soundtrack is an audacious, exploratory collection of songs.” – The Vinyl Factory
“Son Lux’s score is a remarkable juggling act that oscillates from ominous to awe-inspiring and back again, with a few playful digressions along the way.” – Indiewire
On Tomorrows:
“Embraces chaos with an audacious range and unremitting sincerity.” – Pitchfork
“A three-part series of austere beauty, white light and black rock, rooted in layers of haunting electro-acoustic samples.” – Composer Magazine
Follow Son Lux:
Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear 10th Anniversary Single LP Remastered Edition To Be Released Worldwide From Sub Pop on February 14th, 2025
On February 14th, 2025, Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear, his internationally acclaimed second album, will be available as a single LP for its 10th anniversary along with a digital-only companion release of demos that were initially released on cassette in 2015. The digital companion piece (“I Love You, Honeybear Demos, etc.” ) also includes a solo acoustic performance of Nirvana’s ”Heart Shaped Box” recorded for SiriusXM during the …Honeybear cycle. While his excellent debut, Fear Fun, would “introduce” the world to the singer and songwriter, it was the love and brutal honesty showcased in I Love You, Honeybear that would elevate Father John Misty’s career. The album became his most successful release to date.
Tillman wrote the following for the album’s release: “I Love You, Honeybear is a concept album about a guy named Josh Tillman who spends quite a bit of time banging his head against walls, cultivating weak ties with strangers, and generally avoiding intimacy at all costs. This all serves to fuel a version of himself that his self-loathing narcissism can deal with. We see him engaging in all manner of regrettable behavior…
“My ambition, aside from making an indulgent, soulful, and epic sound worthy of the subject matter, was to address the sensuality of fear, the terrifying force of love, the unutterable pleasures of true intimacy, and the destruction of emotional and intellectual prisons in my own voice. Blammo” (Read full bio here).
Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It appeared on over 70 year-end lists for 2015, with “Album of the Year” honors from the likes of PASTE, Time Out New York, Under The Radar, GQ (UK), and Drowned in Sound with additional Top 20 placements from the likes of Billboard, Pitchfork, Stereogum, Exclaim, BBC, The Guardian, Entertainment Weekly, and Rolling Stone. The album would also earn “Best of the Decade” notices from the likes of Pitchfork, PASTE, NME, Aquarium Drunkard, and Consequence of Sound. Last week, I Love You, Honeybear made Rolling Stone’s The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century list.
The success of Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear led to incredible late-night performances of album tracks “Bored in the USA” on The Late Show with David Letterman, “True Affection” on Late Night with Seth Meyers, “Chateau Lobby (#4 For Two Virgins)” on Later…with Jools Holland, “I Love You, Honeybear” on Conan, “The Ideal Husband” on Jimmy Kimmel Live’s outdoor stage, and “Holy Shit” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Father John Misty also earned a 2016 Brit Award nomination for “Best International Male Solo Artist” alongside Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and The Weeknd.
I Love You, Honeybear single LP edition is available to preorder worldwide from Sub Pop. LP preorders from Sub Pop Mega Mart in North America, Mega Mart 2 in the UK and EU, Father John Misty’s Official Website, and select independent retailers worldwide will receive the limited Loser edition on Pearlescent Red vinyl. There is also a Coke Bottle Clear vinyl available in Canada (all vinyl colors available while stock lasts!). As for the aforementioned I Love You, Honeybear demos, those will also be available on all DSPs on February 14th.
Also in February, Father John Misty will begin his international headline touring in support of Mahashmashana, his acclaimed new album from 2024, which begins February 12th in Chattanooga, TN at The Signal and runs through Wednesday, April 16th in London, UK at eartH Theatre (Rough Trade Outstore).
Wed. Feb. 12 - Chattanooga, TN - The Signal (FJM Only)
Thu. Feb. 13 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern * [Sold Out]
Fri. Feb. 14 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium * [Sold Out]
Sat. Feb. 15 - Louisville, KY - Old Forester’s Paristown Hall * [Sold Out]
Mon. Feb. 17 - Columbus, OH - Kemba Live! *
Tue. Feb. 18 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore *
Wed. Feb. 19 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE *
Fri. Feb. 21 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall * [Sold Out]
Sat. Feb. 22 - Boston, MA - MGM *
Sun. Feb. 23 - Kingston, NY - Ulster Performing Arts Center * [Sold Out]
Tue. Feb. 25 - Brooklyn, NY - Kings Theatre * [Sold Out]
Wed. Feb 26 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre*
Fri. Feb. 28 - Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore Philadelphia * [Sold Out]
Sat. Mar. 01 - Washington, DC - The Anthem *
* w/ Destroyer
April 2025 UK/EU Dates
Thu. Apr. 03 - Oslo, NO - Sentrum Scene + [Sold Out]
Fri. Apr. 04 - Stockholm, SE - Fållan +
Sat. Apr. 05 - Copenhagen, DK - Copenhagen Opera House + [Sold Out]
Sun. Apr. 06 - Berlin, DE - Huxley’s +
Tue. Apr. 08 - Paris, FR - La Cigale + [Sold Out]
Wed. Apr. 09 - Brussels, BE - Ancienne Belgique +
Thu. Apr. 10 - Utrecht, NL - TivoliVredenburg + [Sold Out]
Sat. Apr. 12 - Edinburgh, UK - Usher Hall + [Sold Out]
Sun. April. 13 - Liverpool, UK - Jacaranda Records Outstore [Sold Out]
Sun. Apr. 13 - Manchester, UK - O2 Apollo Manchester + [Sold Out]
Mon. Apr. 14 - Brighton, UK - Concorde 2 (Outstore) [Sold Out]
Mon. Apr. 14 - Brighton, UK - Brighton Dome + [Sold Out]
Tue. Apr. 15 - London, UK - Royal Albert Hall + [Sold Out]
Wed. Apr. 16 - London, UK - eartH Theatre (Rough Trade Outstore) [Sold Out]
Sun. Jun 22 - Leeds, UK - O2 Academy Leeds
Mon. Jun. 23 - Nottingham, UK - Rock City
Wed. Jun. 25 - Gateshead, UK - Glasshouse International Centre for Music
Thu. Jun. 26 - Cambridge, UK - Corn Exchange
Fri. Jun. 27 - Liverpool, UK - L’Olympia
Sat. Aug. 23 - Galway, Ireland - Leisureland
Sun. Aug. 24 - Dublin, Ireland - Collins Barracks (Wider Than Pictures)
Tue. Aug. 25 - Belfast, UK - Ulster Hall
Wed. Aug. 26 - Cork, Ireland - Cork City Hall
Thu. Aug. 28 - Glasgow, UK - Barrowland
Sat. Aug 30 - Birmingham, UK - Moseley Folk & Arts Festival
Aug. 28 - 31 - Dorset, UK - End of the Road Festival
+ w/ Butch Bastard
Anoushka Shankar Announces Final Chapter Of Album Trilogy Series With New Single “Hiraeth”
Listen Here
11x Grammy-Nominated Sitarist And Composer’s New Experimental Album ‘Chapter Iii: We Return To Light’ Out March 14 On Leiter
North American Tour Kicks Off In March With Performances At Big Ears Festival + Stops In Los Angeles, New York And More
PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE ‘CHAPTER III: WE RETURN TO LIGHT’
Friday, January 17th, 2025 – Anoushka Shankar, the acclaimed sitarist, producer, composer, and now 11X GRAMMY-nominated artist, today announces the third and final installment of the trilogy of mini-albums she began in 2023 honoring the ever-shifting nature of her experience on earth through, each seeking to capture singular, fleeting moments in time with an act of trust: choosing new collaborators and walking into the recording studio with no more than an initial creative impulse. Chapter III: We Return To Light will be released on Nils Frahm’s LEITER label on March 14, and today’s announcement is accompanied by the Goa trance-influenced track “Hiraeth,” the first song she composed for the project.
Listen to “Hiraeth” here: https://ltr.lnk.to/Hiraeth
“Three chapters, three geographies,” Shankar scribbled in a diary at a café in Goa on New Year’s Day two years ago, manifesting the ambitious trilogy with nods to her roots, across continents and collaborators. Where Ch I: Forever, For Now – produced by Arooj Aftab and featuring Nils Frahm – conjures the immense stillness and beauty of a sun-kissed garden, the Peter Raeburn-produced Ch. II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn veiled the garden over, giving rise to the womblike power of darkness. The second chapter is up for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album at this year’s GRAMMYs, and her featured role on Jacob Collier’s song “A Rock Somewhere” is up for the Best Global Performance, marking Shankar’s 10th and 11th nominations.
Watch an impassioned live performance from the two recently in Amsterdam here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgVRqM_PT5k
Central to Ch. III is the mindfulness of India at the root of all her music. For the record, she joined with London-based, Indian multi-instrumentalist Sarathy Korwar, a leading voice in the British jazz scene along with composer and sarod player Alam Khan, son of the famed Indian classical guru, Ali Akbar Khan. Together, the three tap into Shankar’s fascination with Goa Trance – India’s electronic music export - which began in her twenties, when she escaped to the beach state and chased dance floor epiphanies in secret forest raves, participating with wild, youthful abandon.
“Hiraeth,” the first song the trio worked on together, features looping melodies and backward sarod lines, an idea seeded by Khan and developed with Korwar and Shankar. For close listeners, it features an Easter egg in the form of the popular Hindu classical, Raga Palas Kafi, created by Ravi Shankar. Similarly, “Dancing on Scorched Earth” sees the artists locking into each other’s rhythms, radiating a collective intensity built on a foundation of hypnotic simplicity. “I discovered my love of a POG pedal on this track to really enjoy that lower octave crunchiness on my sitar,” says Shankar.
On Ch. III, Shankar fully embraces a looping and bending sound technique, adding a further dimension to her voice and bringing her music outside of Western definitions of “neoclassical” and even further away from sub-continental norms of “fusion,” a dated, catch-all banner for collaborative, experimental music.
The trilogy closes with “We Return to Love,” based on one of Shankar’s favorite ragas, “Manj Khamaj,” played on a beautiful major scale with a twinge of nostalgia. It’s an apt conclusion as the recording was made famous by Shankar and Khan’s fathers who famously concluded many concerts and recordings with it.
This is where the story ends, where the music returns to ancestral echoes while carving a path for modern Indian sounds, where all three artists step into a space of deep-rooted celebration. Ch. III’s final frame is of someone stepping out from a forest rave into the quietude of a shoreline. The feeling is a mix of nostalgia and renewal. It echoes Shankar’s journey through those Goa raves where all she could do was follow a sign and a person, except it’s now Shankar who is signposting the listener. With Chapter III: We Return to Light, feet meet the water, marking the end of a journey, a return to love, and a place of rest—a perfect, radiant conclusion to the trilogy.
Following the album release Shankar will perform at Big Ears festival in Knoxville and begin a headlining tour with stops in Los Angeles, Houston, Toronto, New York City, and more. See below for a full list of tour dates and stay tuned for more to come from Anoushka Shankar.
Photo Credit: Carly Hildebrant
PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE ‘CHAPTER III: WE RETURN TO LIGHT’
‘Chapter III: We Return To Light’ Tracklist:
DaybreakHiraethDancing On Scorched EarthWe Burn So BrightlyAmritaWe Return To Love
Anoushka Shankar 2025 Tour Dates:
March 13 - The Moore Theatre, Seattle
March 14 - Bing Concert Hall, Stanford
March 15 - Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles
March 16 - Epstein Family Amphitheater, San Diego
March 18 - Eisemann Center, Richardson
March 19 - Cullen Theater, Houston
March 20 - Hodgson Concert Hall, Athens
March 22 - Auburn University, Auburn (Alabama)
March 23 - Ruby Diamond Concert Hall, Tallahassee
March 25 - Massey Hall, Toronto (Canada)
March 28 - Town Hall, New York
March 30 - Big Ears - Tennessee Theater, Knoxville
YOLA Releases EP 'My Way'
CREATIVELY UNBOUND NEW EP
MY WAY
OUT TODAY VIA S-CURVE RECORDS
LISTEN HERE
YOLA ANNOUNCES THE SOVEREIGN SOUL TOUR, WITH USA DATES THROUGH MAY AND JUNE IN NEW YORK, NASHVILLE AND MORE
LISTEN TO “TEMPORARY,” LEAD SINGLE AND F**KBOY ODE, HERE
THE GREATEST VOCALIST OF OUR GENERATION RETURNS WITH NEW EP CELEBRATING HER CREATIVE FREEDOM, AND A SINGULAR GENRE-FLUID VISION ENCOMPASING PROGRESSIVE R&B, CLASSIC FUNK AND SOULFUL POP
YOLA PERFORMS ON CBS THIS MORNING SATURDAY SESSIONS TOMORROW
GRAMMY MUSEUM TO HOST A NEW YORK EVENING WITH YOLA ON WEDNESDAY JANUARY 22
“In the world of entertainment, Yola is a one-of-one.”
BET
“‘Combines synth-driven electronica with R&B and dance vibes and signals a new musical direction for the six-time Grammy nominee.”
Billboard
“Chunky, slow-building soul-rock that has her wailing and rasping and leaping up to her soprano”
The New York Times
“The long-awaited return sees the vocalist stepping even further into her power.”
Consequence
“Yola completely resets expectations”
GRAMMY.com
“A stylistic change of pace that sees the country singer dive into electro-pop.”
PAPER
“Yola’s natural born talent as a vocalist has been known to induce full-body-shivers.”
KCRW
“Yola is ready to flex her soaring vocals”
Rated R&B
“A voice that commands attention”
Madame Noire
“Expect a groovy cut of tracks to belt along and boost your sense of self-worth”
Pitchfork
January 17, 2025 – Today, Yola released her highly anticipated new EP My Way, released via S Curve Records. Drawing influence from progressive R&B, classic funk and soulful pop, it marks a new era for the six-time GRAMMY-nominated artist.
Listen to My Way HERE // Listen to single “Temporary” HERE
Niambi releases debut solo EP 'Taboo' + performing at Cafe Erzulie tonight in NYC
NIAMBI RELEASES DEBUT EP TABOO OUT NOW
VIA EASIER SAID
SHARES VIDEO FOR “NO BUDGET”
TABOO RELEASE SHOW IN NEW YORK CITY TONIGHT AT CAFE ERZULIE
Niambi by Folajimi
Taboo
https://easiersaid.lnk.to/taboo
“No Budget”
WATCH: https://youtu.be/nhXO44hKi00
(January 17, 2025) - Today, DMV-raised and Puerto Rico-based multidisciplinary artist Niambi releases her debut EP Taboo via Easier Said. Alongside the EP, Niambi shares the visuals to the track “No Budget” directed by CEOJAY, which cinematically portrays the multitudes of Niambi as a mother, spiritual leader, and young woman.
Taboo is ultimately a celebration of freedom, with Niambi letting loose and showcasing her confidence. The project follows Niambi’s move from New York City to Puerto Rico embracing the natural surroundings of Puerto Rico’s environment. Niambi shares about Taboo, “On this project, I’m giving myself permission to say what I need to say and do what I want to do. I’m allowing myself to take up more space. And I love it here.”
To celebrate the EP release, Niambi will be performing at the iconic Cafe Erzulie in NY tonight.
As a whole, Taboo explores the various sonic inspirations that have surrounded Niambi her whole life. Those inspirations can be heard on her singles “Ain’t Shit,” which explores R&B, “Soccer Mom,” which has a trap-like beat and was highlighted by Rolling Stone and CLASH Magazine, and “Rocksteady,” which has a Jersey Club air, along with the previously unreleased tracks “No New Friends,” which pulls from Niambi’s rock band days, “RUN IT!,” which echos 90s rap and “No Budget,” which hails inspiration from alternative rap. Additionally, “Soccer Mom” was also followed by a MajorStage live session featuring Portia Rolle on guitar, who is the grandmother of Niambi’s child and has played on records for artists including Elton John, Notorious B.I.G. and Lil Kim.
After establishing herself as one-half of the neo-soul / hip-hop duo OSHUN, Niambi is jumping headfirst into solo waters for the first time with Taboo. During their tenure, OSHUN received acclaim from outlets like Billboard, Rolling Stone, The FADER, NPR, PAPER, and collaborated with artists like Princess Nokia, Jorja Smith & LION BABE. The duo have also performed at Glastonbury, Afropunk and Melt! Festival, and were direct support for Lauryn Hill’s 2020 North American tour. In 2022, OSHUN released their final album, vol. ii.
Listen to Taboo above, check out full EP details below and stay tuned for more from Niambi to come very soon.
TABOO RELEASE SHOW
1/17 - New York, NY @ Cafe Erzulie
Taboo EP cover artwork, photographed by Folajimi
Taboo
Niambi
January 17, 2025
Easier Said
1. Soccer Mom
2. No Budget
3. Ain’t Shit
4. No New Friends
5. Rocksteady
6. RUN IT!
Taboo EP back cover artwork, photographed by Folajimi
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Mallrat Releases 'Pavement.' Forthcoming Album 'Light Hit My Face Like A Straight Right' Out February 14
MALLRAT ENTERS 2025 WITH GLITTERING SAMPLE LADEN 'PAVEMENT'
NEW ALBUM LIGHT HIT MY FACE LIKE A STRAIGHT RIGHT OUT FEB 14, 2025 - PRE-SAVE/PREORDER HERE
LISTEN
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WATCH
"PAVEMENT"
Mallrat today unveils her final single ‘Pavement’ ahead of her full album, Light hit my face like a straight right ’s release on Feb 14 via Nettwerk. LISTEN + WATCH HERE + PRE-ORDER LP HERE.
A self-proclaimed early highlight – “this might be my favourite on the album?” – ‘Pavement’ is a vibrant closure to Mallrat’s string of singles priming her upcoming record. Written and produced with Buddy Ross (Frank Ocean, Miley Cyrus, Bon Iver) with additional production by return collaborator Styalz Fuego, ‘Pavement’ is an animated demonstration of the misty, club fuelled electronica at the centre of Mallrat’s forthcoming record. Sleek with a gritty underlayer that sees the return of DJ Zirk’s ‘Born 2 Lose’ sample (previously featured in ‘Hocus Pocus’), and Cub Sport’s ‘Beg U’, delivering a masterclass of the vocalist’s creative instinct and production prowess.
Mallrat shares, “I love this song because there are two very contrasting samples in it. Cub Sport are a band from my hometown Brisbane and my best friends. I have been obsessed with ‘Beg U’ since Tim from Cub Sport sent me the demo a few years ago. Tim and Sam from the band are married and their first dance was to a Buddy Ross song. So ‘Pavement’ feels very full circle. Sampling is my favorite thing about making music, even more so than writing lyrics. It's exciting to be able to imagine sounds in new ways, even if it's just sampling my own voice. It builds a story and injects vivid characters into the song; it feels more from my heart.”
Visually continuing her collaboration with Tom Carroll, 'Pavement's music video presents a nightcore iteration of Light hit my face like a straight right's earlier singles. With a cameo from Cub Sport's Tim Nelson in line with 'Beg U's sample, Mallrat takes to dimly lit cityscapes where rainfall and Carroll's CGI animals run wild. Under the veil of nightfall and the fluorescent glow of skyscrapers, underground tunnels and dashboards, she basks in the reflection of moonlight and rainfall - the 'straight right' impact they manifest in her creative universe. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.
Her new album Light hit my face like a straight right , born from a world of magical realism in Australian suburbia. With an ounce of influence from her time growing up in Brisbane, Mallrat consistently seeks out (real or imaginary) magic in the otherwise ugly and everyday, as a means to understand the people and world around her. Twelve songs bound with expressive breaks, heartfelt moments, and dance floor ready beats, primed with earlier singles 'Horses', 'Ray of Light' and 'Hocus Pocus', the record’s sum isn’t abstract or tied to didactic stories, but instead, presented as its own inherent being – the music Mallrat loves making most captures a feeling or time that words alone don’t do justice.
Light hit my face like a straight right explores the intangible and mysterious allure of human connection, held together by curious investigations. In Mallrat's vision of the world, light is more than photons and electromagnetic radiation hitting the eye — it’s a moment of divine intervention. “I love the idea you can let your fate be decided by rays of light,” she shares. A bold step into the art of world-building, Mallrat breaks new artistic ground with her intuitive songwriting and clever, studied production. Light hit my face like a straight right balances the picturesque with the acerbic in both narrative and sound, presenting an all new cohesive statement for a creative at the top of her game.
LP TRACKLIST
My Darling, My Angel
Pavement
Something for Somebody
Virtue
Defibrillator
The Light Streams In And Hits My Face
Hocus Pocus
Hideaway
Love Songs-Heart Strings
Ray of Light
The Worst Thing I Would Ever Do
Horses
“Butterfly Blue, establishes her as an artist with ambitions bigger than the bedroom-pop genre that once defined her” - Pitchfork
"Mallrat proves she hasn’t just metamorphosised on her debut – she breathes fire" - NME
"Butterfly Blue is arguably the sound of an artist reaching her current peak, with forewarning that there’s plenty more highlights set to come" - Rolling Stone
"Poised on the precipice of world domination" - The Guardian
ABOUT MALLRAT
Mallrat has been breaking barriers since her influential debut in 2016 – accumulating over half a billion career streams in her discography and ARIA Platinum status. The project of Grace Shaw has shared stages with Maggie Rogers, Post Malone, King Princess, Conan Gray; collaborated with Azealia Banks, The Chainsmokers, BENEE, Blu DeTiger, Cub Sport; a late night TV debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden; headline world tours amongst globally recognised festivals Reading and Leeds, Austin City Limits, Laneway, Splendour In The Grass, Listen Out and boasts multiple triple j Hottest 100 entries from 2017 – 2020. The adored songwriter and producer catapulted Mallrat across the globe with critical acclaim from NPR, Stereogum, NME, NYLON, PAPER Magazine, The New York Times, Billboard, Noisey and more further affirming Mallrat as a beacon primed for the world stage.
DOWNLOAD PHOTOS HERE
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Paris Paloma Releases Re-Imagined Version Of "HUNTER (the cacophony)" Off Lauded Debut Album Cacophony
PARIS PALOMA RELEASES RE-IMAGINED VERSION OF “HUNTER (the cacophony)”
OFF LAUDED DEBUT ALBUM CACOPHONY
EMBARKS ON SOLD-OUT 15-CITY NORTH AMERICAN HEADLINE TOUR, KICKING OFF MARCH 4 IN ATLANTA
Photo credit: Phoebe Fox
"'striking debut album” – The New York Times
“Prepare to fall in love.” – British Vogue
“The English singer-songwriter’s debut swings big, tackling themes of death and patriarchal oppression through earthy imagery and dense alt-pop arrangements.” - Pitchfork
“One of new music’s most vital voices.” - DIY
"If there is a way for music to emulate dripping wax, freshly blown-out candles and the discomfort of being stared down by a table of men, Paris Paloma has done it." - The Washington Post
“Her music is powerful, evocative and supremely moving. Her debut album ' The Cacophony' captures all that grandeur and majesty, highlighting Paris as a vital new alt-pop voice.” - DORK
January 17, 2025 – Today, Paris Paloma releases the re-imagined version of “HUNTER (the cacophony),” reprising the idea behind 'LABOUR (the cacophony)', where over 250 fans lend their voices to the empowering track. Listen HERE.
"Once again it’s been so emotional to hear the voices of hundreds of fans coming together to join me on a new Cacophony version of this song,” expresses Paris. “Hunter is one of the most personal songs on the album, it’s a story of the internal triumph over darkness and pain at one of the most mentally turbulent times in my life. Seeing people relate to this song, to come out in force to sing it with me feels so powerful, and a testament to the strength of so many people who find my music resonates with them, it makes me feel so empowered and proud.”
Paris returns to North America this March for her anticipated 15-city sold out headline tour, starting March 4th in Atlanta and wrapping March 27th in Los Angeles. This follows her previously sold out UK, EU and US runs, where she has cultivated a dedicated fan community who have made her live shows a magical experience, from trading fairy messages to swapping books to impromptu fae circles.
Paris is a powerful new voice in indie folk, redefining the genre with her unnerving storytelling, haunting vocals, and a fiercely feminine perspective. Her breakout single “labour” has become an enduring cultural anthem for women’s rights, driving over 2 billion views on social media alone. This led to performances on BBC’s Later…with Jools Holland and The Kelly Clarkson Show, an invitation to support the legendary Stevie Nicks at London’s Hyde Park, and early support and acclaim from The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Boston Globe, PAPER, Bust, CNN, NME, Billboard, Trackstar and more. She was also named YouTube’s Trending Artist on the Rise, Breakthrough Artist to Watch 2024 by Amazon, as Spotify Juniper Artist to Watch and as Spotify Equal Ambassador. Adding to her accolades, Paris was recently hand selected to perform “The Rider,” featured in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. She follows in the footsteps of past performers like Ed Sheeran, Annie Lennox, Enya and more.
Cacophony, her critically-lauded 2024 debut album, landed on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart at #23 and received praise from The New York Times, Pitchfork, DIY, Dork, and many more. The album tells stories of grief, love and trauma through the lens of Greek mythology, gothic literature, and patriarchal oppression. Listen to Cacophony here: https://parispaloma.ffm.to/cacophony
Paris Paloma Headline Tour Dates:
2025
March 4 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West - SOLD OUT
March 5 - Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl - SOLD OUT
March 7 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer - SOLD OUT
March 8 - Washington, D.C. - Lincoln Theatre - SOLD OUT
March 9 - Boston, MA - Royale - SOLD OUT
March 11 - New York, NY - Webster Hall - SOLD OUT
March 13 - Toronto, ON - The Opera House - SOLD OUT
March 14 - Detroit, MI - The Majestic - SOLD OUT
March 15 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall - SOLD OUT
March 17 - Kansas City, MO - The Truman - SOLD OUT
March 18 - Denver, CO - The Gothic Theatre - SOLD OUT
March 21 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom - SOLD OUT
March 23 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox - SOLD OUT
March 25 - San Francisco, CA - The Regency Ballroom
March 27 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda - SOLD OUT
April 12 - Zermatt, Switzerland - Zermatt Unplugged 2025
June 5 - Manchester, United Kingdom - Albert Hall
June 6 - London, United Kingdom - O2 Sheperds Bush Empire - SOLD OUT
June 8 - Dublin, Ireland - 3Olympia Theatre - SOLD OUT
June 13 - Bergen, Norway - Bergenhus Festning
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