Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 37
August 8, 2025
Global star Tom Odell unveils new song "Ugly"
UNVEILS NEW SONG “UGLY”NEW ALBUM A WONDERFUL LIFE SET FOR SEPTEMBER 5HEADLINE EUROPEAN ARENA TOUR ANDNORTH AMERICAN DATES THIS FALL
Single art; Press photo, credit: Darren Gwynn August 8, 2025—Global star and award-winning singer-songwriter Tom Odell unveils his new song “Ugly”—listen HERE.“Something I’ve never really talked about is some of my own weird shame around mybody, and it feels so uncomfortable to actually say that in a song,” says Odell. “But when you say it, it’s really fucking powerful. ‘Ugly’ is an exploration of what it feels like to be ahuman being - of looking out at the world and feeling like everybody seems to glidethrough life so easily, but the experience of actually living it yourself is so fraught and it’snot pretty.”The song comes ahead of his new album,
A Wonderful Life
, out on September 5—pre-save HERE. In lead up to release, Odell also shared “
Don’t Cry, Put Your Head On My Shoulder
” and “
Don’t Let Me Go
.” Recently, Odell appeared on
CBS Saturday Morning
to perform “Don’t Let Me Go” alongside an interview with Anthony Mason.He will share songs from the album with fans on his headline European arena tour this fall. Dates include stops at London’s O2 Arena, Paris’ Accor Arena, two nights at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome, Berlin’s Uber Arena and more. Odell just wrapped up select European arena dates with Billie Eilish on the sold-out Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour and is currently on the road with The Lumineers for select U.S. arena dates of the Automatic World Tour. Ahead of his headline arena dates, Odell will also embark on a special run of intimate shows across the U.S. and Canada. These club performances provide fans a unique chance to see him in the smallest rooms he’s played in years. Purchase tickets at tomodell.com and see below for a complete list of dates.A Wonderful Life was written partly as a reaction to the news cycle and “the sense, almost every week, that the world is ending in some capacity—which it is, for some people.” Odell’s lyrics channel the despair, frustration and helplessness in the modern world.He recorded A Wonderful Life in Church Studios, HOXA and RAK Studios’ legendary Room One, the space that birthed classic albums from Radiohead, The Pogues, Ultravox and more. Odell and his band recorded everything live with the instruments “bleeding in on one another” for a more authentic sound.His emotionally charged songs detailing love, heartbreak and self-reflection continue to receive critical acclaim, winning the prestigious BRIT and Ivor Novello Awards and garnering praise from The Guardian, The Telegraph, Rolling Stone, The Evening Standard, The Observer, among others.Odell is a renowned British singer and songwriter whose love for music can be traced back to grade school, pivoting from songwriter to singer in his band when they couldn’t hold down a frontman. After studying music in college, he embarked on a decade-long career in which his soul-baring projects have topped charts and won accolades worldwide. Though Odell first came to prominence as a chart-topping artist, it’s never been mainstream success that fuels him. “I never applied to the role of pop star, and I always felt like I was being perceived in the wrong way,” he reflects. As he’s committed further to his own vision—crafting intensely personal songs dealing with mental health struggles, body image issues and beyond—he’s seen the connections spread across the globe. “It alleviates some of the loneliness of existing,” he suggests of why his music has resonated so strongly, “which is what we’re all going through, together.” Odell has amassed a rabid following, with multiple headline world tours, 31 million monthly listeners on Spotify and over 14 billion career streams. His sixth album Black Friday reached number five on Spotify’s Top Album Debut Global Chart and the haunting title track has earned over 700 million combined streams since its late-2023 release. Fans also re-discovered his first ever single, 2012’s “Another Love,” which has become an anthem on TikTok to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine and soared to over four billion plays on Spotify alone. With more imminent from Odell, he continues to push boundaries and unite people through his art.
album art
A WONDERFUL LIFE
TRACK LIST1. Don’t Let Me Go2. Don’t Cry, Put Your Head On My Shoulder3. Prayer4. Can We Just Go Home Now5. Why Do I Always Want The Things I Can’t Have6. Wonderful Life7. Ugly8. Strange House9. Can Old Lovers Ever Be Friends?10. The End of SufferingTOM ODELL TOUR DATESAugust 8—Los Angeles, CA—Kia Forum†August 9—Los Angeles, CA—Kia Forum†August 13—Bend, OR—Hayden Homes Amphitheater†August 14—Bend, OR—Hayden Homes Amphitheater†August 16—Seattle, WA—T-Mobile Park†September 18—Chicago, IL—Vic TheatreSeptember 20—Washington, D.C.—Lincoln TheatreSeptember 21—Philadelphia, PA—Theatre of Living ArtsSeptember 22—New York, NY—Webster HallSeptember 25—Boston, MA—Paradise Rock ClubSeptember 27—Detroit, MI—St. Andrew’s HallSeptember 29—Montreal, QC—MTELUSSeptember 30—Toronto, ON—Massey HallOctober 21—Cardiff, U.K.—Cardiff Utilita ArenaOctober 23—Dublin, IE—3ArenaOctober 24—Belfast, U.K.—The SSE ArenaOctober 26—Glasgow, U.K.—OVO HydroOctober 28—Manchester, U.K.—Co-Op LiveOctober 29—London, U.K.—O2 ArenaOctober 31—Paris, FR—Accor ArenaNovember 1—Cologne, DE—Lanxess ArenaNovember 3—Amsterdam, NL—Ziggo DomeNovember 4—Amsterdam, NL—Ziggo DomeNovember 7—Oslo, NO—Unity ArenaNovember 8—Stockholm, SE—Avicii ArenaNovember 10—Copenhagen, DK—Royal ArenaNovember 11—Hamburg, DE—Barclays ArenaNovember 13—Leipzig, DE—Arena LeipzigNovember 14—Munich, DE—OlympiahalleNovember 16—Budapest, HU—Budapest ArenaNovember 17—Krakow, PL—TAURON ArenaNovember 19—Prague-Bubeneč, CZ—Sportovni Hala FortunaNovember 20—Berlin, DE—Uber ArenaNovember 22—Mannheim, DE—SAP ArenaNovember 23—Vienna, AT—StadthalleNovember 26—Zurich, CH—HallenstadionNovember 27—Milan, IT—Unipol (Mediolanum Forum)November 30—Barcelona, ES—Sant Jordi ClubDecember 1—Madrid, ES—Movistar ArenaDecember 3—Esch-sur-Alzette, LU—RockhalDecember 4—Antwerp, BE—Sportpaleis†with The Lumineers
www.tomodell.com
Dose Makes The Poison And Rosetta Stone Make An All-Time Classic New Album
Los Angeles, California: Truly classic Goth albums… the ones you know you’ll be playing for years to come… don’t come along too often these days. So, when they do, it’s worth jumping in on the very first day - and that’s exactly what is happening now, as legendary UK goth veterans Rosetta Stone uncage Dose Makes The Poison, founding member and sonic architect Porl King’s deep dive into a world of quiet (and not so quiet!) Disarray. A subtle yet urgent commentary on the creeping erosion of empathy, tolerance, and truth in the modern age, it’s an elegant embrace of the cold vivacity and propulsive rhythm that longtime fans cherish, but with a seasoned maturity that speaks to the band’s evolution. It’s been a busy year for Rosetta Stone - 2025 is barely halfway through and Dose Makes The Poison is already the band’s second album of the year, following the so aptly-titled all-covers collection Nothing Is Sacred; and that appeared just months after the almighty Under The Weather. In addition, Rosetta Stone also appear on the upcoming Black Album compilation, with a spine chilling take on Cliff Richard (!)’s 1976 hit “Devil Woman.” “Subject matter has never really been a problem for me,” King explains. “There’s always something to ‘observe’ and, for good or bad, I am and always have been highly opinionated. “Social media, friendships, far right conspiracists, anti-vaxxers, indifference, ignorance and apathy are all in there somewhere. I read a lot of social media although I don’t engage - I’ve nothing to gain from it in that sense.” Nothing, that is, aside from a sense of blazing injustice. As he told Sonic Seducer, “The album as a whole relates to a lack of nuance in social interactions - contradiction and inconsistency. Misinformation - the choices people make relating to what they want to believe - as opposed to simply seeking the truth.”
That misinformation, those choices, were more than a guiding spirit, however. Dose Makes The Poison, he says, originally came to life from what he read on “a huge board on which I wrote phrases and words that I would see in my social media feed. It really helped when I came to write the lyrics.” For example, “I still have a real issue with how society dealt with Covid during the emergency phase, and the current ‘approach’ we have collectively in terms of simply ‘living’ with it” - frustrations that fed directly into the album’s opening track and Rosetta Stone’s own next video, “Dive Down Spiral.” King’s own favorite track on the album, “Dive Down Spiral” is based around “society’s impatience to return to normal at the outset, whilst thousands were dying and hospitals were overwhelmed. “People who I had deemed intelligent were crying over wanting to eat in restaurants or go to the gym - the preposterous notion that wearing a mask somehow impeded a person’s freedom. It affects me to this day - it’s truly changed the way I view society.” What has not changed is King’s musical imprimatur - if anything, he admits, his attitude and approach have circled back to a time when Rosetta Dstone were still effectively unknown, those first days of the 1990s, as their debut album An Eye for the Main Chance, came together. “I’m not trying to innovate or surprise people,” he says, “because that’s never particularly served me well in the past. There is an attempt to follow ‘expectations’. “But I am also trying to write ‘real’ songs as opposed to just sounding ‘goth’.” And that, as is demonstrated by the aforementioned paucity of classic albums within the genre, is what makes Dose Makes The Poison such a magnificent monster. You really need to try a couple of spoonfuls today. CD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=rosetta+stone+dose+makes+the+poisonDIGITAL: https://orcd.co/rosettastone_dosemakesthepoison Track listing1. Dive Down Spiral2. Connect The Dots
3. Kick The Can
4. Scars
5. Dose Makes The Poison
6. Unfriended
7. Ill Informed
8. Another Exit Wave
9. On Which We Die
10. Dead To Me
11. Source Neutral
CLEOPATRA RECORDS, INC.Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Cleopatra Records Store www.CleopatraRecords.com
Tamar Berk’s “stay close by” is quietly devastating alt-pop
TAMAR BERK
SHARES LEAD SINGLE AND MUSIC VIDEO “STAY CLOSE BY”
OUT NOW
NEW ALBUM OCD, OUT SEPTEMBER 5TH
ALBUM RELEASE SHOW: SEPTEMBER 27 AT SCHUBAS TAVERN, CHICAGO
“Tamar Berk's effortlessly hooky power-pop arrives with as much bright polish as it does effervescent energy.”
- Bandcamp
"With less to prove than aspiring superstars of the teenage dream catcher circuit, Berk allows her maturity to shine in her lyrics"
- CREEM Magazine
“Sweet-spot-bullseye power-pop”
- KCRW
"a maturity seldom heard in today’s pop."
- Shindig! Magazine
August 8th, 2025 - Acclaimed indie power-pop artist Tamar Berk shares “stay close by,” the shimmering and emotionally charged lead single from her upcoming album ocd, out on September 5th on all music platforms. Although it opens the album, “stay close by” was actually the final song Tamar wrote. It was an impulsive, late-night effort to create the perfect introduction that would pull listeners in while hinting at the emotional spirals that lie ahead.
The result is a lush, unexpected mix of distortion, loopy rhythms, and aching vocals that reflect the tension of longing for connection while trying to protect your heart. Berk blends gauzy guitars with a retro, low-end Big Muff fuzz and layered synth textures, creating a sound that feels both melancholy and warm. Lyrically, the song captures that in-between space of dreaming and doing. It lingers in those tender, half-serious plans we make with someone close, like the refrain: “we always say we should get high… and go for a ride.”
PRE-SAVE OCD | STREAM "STAY CLOSE BY"
“I wanted the first track and single to feel a little mysterious, a little off-center,” Tamar says. “Something that sounds familiar but also surprises you and makes you curious about what’s coming next.”
With ocd, Tamar explores themes of anxiety, repetition, and the constant struggle to stay in control of our emotions. It's an album shaped by spirals of thought, fear, and memory. “stay close by” acts as both an invitation and a mission statement, setting the tone for everything that follows.
The official video for “stay close by,” directed by longtime collaborator Brandon Mosquera, is out now. Intimate and vulnerable, it mirrors the song’s quiet emotional pull and offers a visual window into Tamar’s inner world.
ocd, Tamar Berk's fifth solo album, captures her at her most emotionally raw and musically ambitious, exploring the intricacies of identity, anxiety, and self-inventory with fearless honesty.
From her roots in Cleveland to her rise in Chicago’s vibrant alternative scene of the 1980s and 1990s, Tamar Berk’s musical journey has been shaped by bold reinvention. She emerged as a founding member of bands like Starball and Sweet Heat, releasing music on indie labels such as Thick Records, Minty Fresh, and Kill Rock Stars. Later, she formed the electro-punk duo The Countdown with her husband, and after relocating to Portland, performed in garage and prog-influenced projects including The Pynnacles and Paradise. Now based in San Diego, Tamar has spent the past five years carving out a celebrated solo career. Each of her previous four albums received a nomination for Best Pop Album at the San Diego Music Awards, and her music has continued to evolve with depth and clarity.
ocd is the culmination of this evolution. It is not just an album but a full-body map of overthinking, emotional spirals, and obsessive introspection. With fuzzed-out guitars, dreamy synths, rich piano lines, and confessional lyrics, Berk has created her most vulnerable and self-aware work to date. The album builds on themes explored in earlier releases; grief, hope, identity, motherhood, and resilience, but ocd dives further inward, unearthing the chaos and beauty of the mind at its most unfiltered.
“There’s a linear order and a bigger picture to the way my brain works,” says Berk. “It’s the same way I build songs. Every track is like a single word in a much larger sentence.”
The opening track and first single “stay close by” sets the tone with its dreamy atmosphere and emotional inertia. It feels like a long, deep exhale, a gentle plea for connection amid uncertainty. “This song is about a hopeful optimism that hasn’t quite panned out yet,” Tamar explains.
ocd was recorded in Tamar’s home studio and co-produced with drummer Matt Walker (Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, Filter, Morrissey). Berk played a wide array of instruments including guitar, bass, piano, Wurlitzer, Prophet and Farfisa organs, synth, harmonica, and percussion. The album features performances by longtime collaborators Matt Thomson (Maita), Allen Hunter (Eels), Chris Marsteller, Jonathan Gordon (Suzanne Vega), and Steve Denekas, with additional contributions from Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless), Charlee Berlin, Justin Thorpe, trumpet player Everett Kelly, and cellist Erdis Maxhelaku.
Tamar will mark the release of ocd with a special hometown performance opening for Material Issue at Schubas Tavern in Chicago on September 27th. It is a fitting return to the city where she first found her voice and began a lifelong pursuit of honest, emotionally resonant songwriting. Tickets to the show in Chicago can be purchased HERE.
With ocd, Tamar Berk offers her most deeply personal and sonically ambitious record yet. It is an album about unraveling, understanding, and reclaiming. In every track, she makes sense of the mess and turns it into something unforgettable.
TAMAR BERK BIO
Tamar Berk crafts emotionally raw indie rock and alt-pop that blends fuzzed-out guitars, dreamy textures, and lyrics that linger like a thought you can’t shake. Her songs channel the quiet chaos of overthinking: melancholic, melodic, and wired with an unfiltered honesty. It’s music for when your thoughts are spiraling, the lights are too bright, and you're searching for meaning in the mess.
Raised on classical piano and early Disney soundtracks, she later found creative kinship in The Beatles, David Bowie, Liz Phair, and Elliott Smith. These artists shaped her instinct for melody and emotional truth. Fiercely independent, Berk writes, records, and produces her own music, turning personal unraveling into sonic catharsis.
After years immersed in the scenes of Chicago, Portland, and San Diego, she launched a solo career rooted in a DIY ethos. Her first four albums — The Restless Dreams of Youth, Start at the End, Tiny Injuries, and Good Times for a Change — earned praise from KCRW, CREEM Magazine, Bandcamp, The FADER, SHINDIG, and more, along with nominations from the San Diego Music Awards. She’s collaborated with notable producers and musicians including Matt Walker (Morrissey, Garbage) and Sean O’Keefe (Beach Bunny, Motion City Soundtrack).
ocd, the upcoming fifth solo album from Tamar Berk, will be available across music platforms on September 5th, 2025. It is Tamar Berk's boldest and most immersive yet. It's a reverb-soaked deep dive into looping thoughts, emotional undoing, and the strange beauty of obsession.
CONNECT WITH TAMAR BERK:
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | SoundCloud | Bandcamp | Spotify | Website
Katie Schecter effortlessly emerges as the 'Empress' — announces new album out Oct. 17th
KATIE SCHECTER EFFORTLESSLY EMERGES AS THE
‘EMPRESS’ — ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM
SET TO ARRIVE ON OCTOBER 17— PRE-SAVE
ARTFULLY SIDEWINDS LIFE'S TRIALS ON NEW SINGLE
“RUN RIVER RUN” — STREAM
RECORD FEATURES CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF
CAGE THE ELEPHANT AND THE ARCS
“Run River Run” single artwork by CJ Harvey
“...Schecter coolly assures us. And what she says, goes.”
“Katie Schecter is a Nashville-based and New York City-bred singer and songwriter who does not belong to any one genre or style…shines with a dutiful sense of where Schecter has been while signaling to the new heights she is set to scale.”
“Katie Schecter’s a psychedelic chick with the style to match.”
Today, Nashville’s Katie Schecter announces her new album Empress will be released on October 17. Recorded live to tape at New York City’s legendary Diamond Mine Studio while she was pregnant with her daughter, Schecter feels transcendent in her femininity, knowing she is safe to cherish her imperfections. Holding life within her while creating this album, she knew this body of work is also a gift that will be left behind as part of her personal archeology — Pre-save / pre-order.
Along with the announcement of her album, Schecter today releases the new single “Run River Run.” Slinky, sultry and driving with few glances to the rearview mirror, she exists in her own class of cinematic sophistication, straddling the lines of rock, soul and pop — Stream.
“‘Run River Run’ is about bypassing self-doubt and the art of resilience, inspired by the master himself, Bruce Lee,” she shares. “It is about gracefully moving with and around life’s challenges rather than confronting them head on, and occasionally looking back to see how much I’ve overcome by going with the flow.”
Produced by her husband Nick Bockrath of Cage The Elephant, the album’s rhythm section is held down by Nick Movshon and Homer Steinweiss known for their work with The Arcs, The Black Keys, Mark Ronson and more. Empress also features Russ Pahl on pedal steel and Leon Michels on piano.
Press photo by CJ Harvey
Last year, Schecter released the album’s first single, the infectious “Pay It No Mind.” As much a song as a personal mantra, she reminds herself not to sweat the small stuff.
ABOUT KATIE SCHECTER:
Katie Schecter, born and raised in New York City and currently based in Nashville, defies the limitations of any single genre with her distinctive musical fusion. With the upcoming release of her highly anticipated third studio album Empress, Schecter envisioned creating “one unified listening experience in a time of consistent polarity. I wanted to focus on what we all share as human beings – that we all dream, love, fear, have control, and lose it entirely.”
While imagining Doris Troy, John Lennon, Amy Winehouse and Bill Withers all collaborating on an album at The Black Ark, Schecter describes her new record as “dubbed-out Supremes.” Recorded at The Diamond Mine in NYC while pregnant with her daughter Only, Empress is a testament to Schecter's evolution as an artist while stepping into her divine feminine power as a mother. Produced by her husband Nick Bockrath, the album features the powerhouse rhythm section of Nick Movshon and Homer Steinweiss, with additional contributions from Russ Pahl on pedal steel and Leon Michels on piano, informing the record’s soulful core temperature.
Katie Schecter's journey as a solo artist began with a self-titled EP in 2017, followed by her second full-length release Bad For Business in 2020, solidifying her place on the map as a boundary-pushing musician. Recent career highlights include performing at a sold-out show opening for Beck in Nashville while 8 months pregnant and opening for The Zombies at SXSW Bloody Mary Morning in 2023. Additionally, her vocal talents are featured on Cage the Elephant’s most recent Grammy nominated album Neon Pill as well as the 2020 Best Rock Album winner Social Cues.
###
For more information on Katie Schecter, please visit:
Instagram |Twitter |Facebook |Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music
August 7, 2025
CABARET VOLTAIRE - Stephen Mallinder & Chris Watson announce Roundhouse, London show for Oct 2026 - Supports announced for 50th Anniversary dates start 25 Oct 2025 in Sheffield
STEPHEN MALLINDER & CHRIS WATSONANNOUNCE NEW SHOW FOR 2026 DUE TO PHENOMENAL DEMAND
ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON – 22 OCTOBER 2026
SUPPORTS ANNOUNCED FOR OCT / NOV 2025 DATES
[Cabaret Voltaire credit Pete Hill]
Due to phenomenal demand, Stephen ‘Mal’ Mallinder and Chris Watson have added a show at London’s Roundhouse on 22 October 2026 to their eagerly awaited series of dates that kick off with a performance in Sheffield on 25 October for Sensoria Festival before Cabs play Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Brighton – full details below.
The October and November dates celebrate 50 years since Cabaret Voltaire first performed live. The performance, at the Sheffield Students Union Refectory on 13 May 1975, was the live launch of one of Britain’s most influential and pioneering electronic bands.
Support for the autumn dates has been confirmed: Soborgnost, lo-fi dubwave dancepunk mutation from Jim Osman, will join the bill at Sheffield’s FORGE Warehouse and London’s ICA; dark experimental pop musician, producer and performer Greta Caroll aka CURRENTMOODGIRL will support at Glasgow’s SWG3 Warehouse, Manchester bass-pushing experimentalist and member of Afro-Futurist performance collective Brownton Abbey, I Am Fya, will support at Manchester Gorilla; engineer turned artistic world builder, Gareth Smith, brings Vanishing’s evocative music and resonant lyrics to Birmingham’s Xoyo and Alexander Tucker’s electronic guise, MICROCORPS, brings heavy mutant techno modular systems to Brighton’s ACCA.
CABARET VOLTAIRE LIVE - 202525 Oct – Sheffield, FORGE Warehouse (Sensoria Festival) w/ Soborgnost – SOLD OUT17 Nov - Glasgow, SWG3 Warehouse w/ CURRENTMOODGIRL – SOLD OUT18 Nov - Manchester, Gorilla w/ I Am Fya – SOLD OUT19 Nov - Birmingham, Xoyo w/ Vanishing – FINAL TICKETS AVAIL 21 Nov – London, ICA w/ Soborgnost – SOLD OUT22 November – Brighton, ACCA w/ MICROCORPS – SOLD OUT
CABARET VOLTAIRE LIVE – 202622 October – London, Roundhouse – TICKETS ON SALE 10AM FRI 15 AUG
In the current climate of social turmoil and political manipulation, the prescient work of Cabaret Voltaire continues to be necessary. The sounds, words, images and films of the band still resonate loudly, continuing to challenge the status quo.
The events in 2025 and 2026 will curate this essential work and to acknowledge the timeless energy and to mark the continuing significance and power of what Cabaret Voltaire achieved. Original members Chris Watson and Stephen Mallinder are committed to stay true to the enduring vision of Cabaret Voltaire. The performance will cover the arc of their formidable output - from early experiments, and the first Rough Trade / Factory releases, through the band's Doublevision video label and into the work with renowned producers such as Adrian Sherwood and Marshall Jefferson.
Stephen Mallinder explains, “The live set is built from scratch but faithful to the original tracks. Everything has been painstakingly reconstructed with the original technology and processes to build the tracks. But as with all Cabs live shows there is an element of unpredictable, the new. Chance meets causality.”
Chris Watson goes on to say, “I’m delighted and totally thrilled to make a contribution to the band’s 50th anniversary. To share a stage once more with Mal and to honour Cabaret Voltaire's legacy will be a unique privilege, whilst remembering that in the current times – as back then - the Dadaist interventions of Cabaret Voltaire remain essential.”
Follow Cabaret Voltaire - Instagram / Facebook
Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds First Shows Of 2025 begin September 9th
Photo by Gilbert Trejo Celebrating the fact that the That Delicious Vice album has gone into it’s second pressing, Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds are playing their first shows of 2025 next month, with a run of dates in the Midwest and Canada beginning September 9th. The band also recently shared the video for “
Silver For My Sister
” - the song, taken from the album, was inspired by the sentence “A wish to crawl”, which was jotted on a post-it note when Kid was laid up in bed, unable to walk unassisted for 5 months, after a bicycle accident left him with a shattered tibia plateau. At the same time, he was also mourning the death of a long time friend, Julie Long Gallegos, who was the jeweler with “red lipstick hair”; she was an advocate for wolf preservation and loved all wolf symbolism, so the song took shape as a tribute of sorts as it veered into storybook-land. Video directors Max Flick and Ambar Navarro capture the mood perfectly, with gorgeous surreal settings and fantastic stop motion animation. Punk icon Alice Bag also appears in the video as the jeweler - her and Kid's paths first crossed paths in 1977, during the early days of the Hollywood punk movement. Their friendship, rooted in a shared passion for raw, boundary-pushing music led to a new creative partnership and dynamic musical duo, Juanita & Juan, that transcends genres and defies labels, although the two refer to their sound as “Loud Lounge." Their debut album, Jungle Cruise, was released in April on In The Red Records, and they have been playing select dates on the West Coast, and will open for Redd Kross at the Levitt Pavilion in Los Angeles on August 30th. Juanita & Juan:8/30 Los Angeles, CA, Levitt Pavilion w/ Redd Kross Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds:9/9 Kansas City, MO Record Bar9/10 Omaha, NE Reverb Lounge9/11 Green Bay, WI UFO Museum Shop & Records9/12 Minneapolis, MN Palmer's Bar9/13 Milwaukee, WI X-Ray Arcade9/14 Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen9/16 Detroit, MI Lager House9/17 London, ON Palasad Social Bowl9/18 Toronto, ON Monarch Tavern9/19 Hamilton, ON The Bright Room9/20 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop9/21 Cincinnati, OH MOTR Pub
That Delicious Vice
and
Jungle Cruise
are available on In The Red Records Kid Congo Powers' Some New Kind Of Kick: A Memoir available through
Hachette Books
Artwork by Ryan Hill / Artwork by Larry Hardy Website / Instagram / Facebook / Bluesky
Goldie To Release 30th Anniversary Issue of "Timeless" album on November 7th
GOLDIE’S ALBUM TIMELESS TURNS 30
A LANDMARK ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF A SEMINAL RECORD
30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF TIMELESS SET FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 7 – PRE-ORDER/SAVE
[LONDON RECORDS]
CONFIRMED TO PLAY III POINTS FESTIVAL
IN MIAMI, FL OCTOBER 17
PRE-ORDER/SAVE
TIMELESS 30TH ANNIVERSARY
2025 LIVE DATES
08/07 – NeoPop Festival – Porto, Portugal**
08/08 – FOLD – London, UK
08/09 – Boomtown Festival – Winchester, UK**
10/10 – Metalheadz Antwerp – Antwerp, BE
10/17 – III Points Festival – Miami, FL**
10/19 – DUCTWORK at SILO Dallas – Dallas, TX
**Festival Appearance
Today, London Records proudly celebrates the 30th anniversary of Goldie’s era-defining debut album, Timeless, with a remastered & repressed vinyl edition of the seminal record.
Timeless is widely considered one of the most important in electronic music history and was Goldie’s groundbreaking debut which brought the genres of jungle and drum & bass - as well as Goldie himself - to a level of worldwide cultural impact and mainstream significance like never before.
To commemorate this landmark anniversary, a series of very special limited edition physical versions of Timeless will be released: 2LP White Vinyl, 2LP Gold-on-Clear Vinyl and Transparent Blue Cassette. These are available for pre-order starting today and will be released on November 7.
In addition, a unique collaboration with The Vinyl Factory sees Goldie return to the source, joining friend and fellow drum and bass pioneer Grooverider at the record pressing plant, to hand-press a run of 500 limited edition Timeless records. These exclusive editions feature hand-stamped sleeves and custom colorways selected by Goldie himself. These are available for purchase starting today and 10% of proceeds will be donated to War Child, supporting children affected by conflict around the world – a cause close to Goldie’sheart.
Watch a behind-the-scenes video documenting this process HERE .
Originally released in 1995, Timeless was a revolutionary moment in the UK music landscape. Including the legendary track “Inner City Life” featuring the vocals of the late Diane Charlemagne, Timeless seamlessly merged jungle, ambient and orchestral elements into a sonic journey that changed the face of drum and bass.
Upon its release, Timeless received widespread critical acclaim for its ambitious scope, genre-defying production, and emotional depth. The Los Angeles Times called it “a visionary work,” adding “what you have is a 103-minute gem that is hauntingly futuristic: a chilling soundtrack to the ‘Blade Runner’ world that may soon be upon us,” while SPIN Magazine declared “Goldie has mastered the twin juggernauts of jungle music: hyper fast snare drums that teeter on the edge of collapse, and dubby bass so deep it bubbles in your innards like real fear.” The Guardian hailed it as one of the 50 key events in the history of dance music, with NME proclaiming it “astonishing...a symphony of whizzing breakbeats, fluid soundscapes and mind-warping moodswings”. Mixmag have since remarked that Timeless “has gone down in history as the absolute pinnacle of drum 'n' bass LPs”. The album was also nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1995 and won Goldie a MOBO Award for Best Jungle Act in 1996.
Timeless continues to be cited as a foundational influence by producers across genres, with its legacy secure as a cultural and musical milestone that brought the underground sounds of jungle and drum & bass into mainstream consciousness. Its 30th anniversary edition comes out November 7 via London Records and is available for pre-order starting today.
Goldie is currently touring across the UK and Europe this summer, performing both live and DJ sets. He’ll return to the U.S. this fall with scheduled appearances at III Points Festival in Miami, FL on October 17 and at DUCTWORK at SILO in Dallas, TX on October 19. For a complete list of upcoming shows and to purchase tickets, visit: www.goldie.co.uk/tour.
Pre-order/save the 30th Anniversary Edition of Timeless HERE .
Out November 7.
Goldie pressing ‘Timeless’ on vinyl.GOLDIE
INSTAGRAM | X | TIKTOK | OFFICIAL WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC | AMAZON
HAERTS RELEASE "THE LIE", ALONG WITH A JULIAN KLINCEWICZ-DIRECTED MUSIC VIDEO
HAERTS RETURN
SECOND SINGLE “THE LIE” OUT TODAY
WATCH THE VIDEO DIRECTED BY JULIAN KLINCEWICZ HERE
NEW ALBUM LAGUNA ROAD OUT 10.3 HERE
A FOURTH ALBUM FRAMING A CONFESSIONAL PORTRAIT OF FAMILY, MEMORY, AND THE SACRED MESS OF GROWING A LIFE TOGETHER
“WOMAN ON THE LINE” with JENN WASNER of FLOCK OF DIMES
Today, indie duo Haerts release “The Lie,” the second single from their upcoming album Laguna Road, alongside an evocative new video directed by longtime collaborator Julian Klincewicz (Beyoncé, Virgil Abloh, Tame Impala, etc.). Watch here.
“The Lie” is an ode to bandmates and life partners Nini Fabi and Benny Gebert’s youth — a memory of young love — its freedom, its weight, and its strange wisdom. “It’s about the dreams and the pain that brought us together,” says Fabi, “the same forces that at times tore us apart.” Klincewicz’s video strips the visual down to raw emotion.
Julian Klincewicz adds about his creative partnership with Haerts: "Working with Haerts has been my longest running music collaboration, and one that always reinvents itself naturally - whenever I hear a new song, whatever direction it pulls, I always feel something deeply personal that inspires something visual, and there's always a two way understanding between Nini & benny. Sometimes it's a simple as a portrait - slowed down to feel every nuance of emotion. Sometimes it's like pulling a thread. With this video - the song strikes some deep personal chord, and there's a nakedness - uncovering one's emotions, just like taking off make up in the mirror."
The duo returned with the announcement of their fourth album Laguna Road, which will be released October 3rd. Thematically, the album frames a confessional portrait of family, memory, and the sacred mess of growing a family together. The duo, composed of Nini Fabi and Benny Gebert, wrote and recorded the album at home on Laguna Road, in the in-between spaces of everyday family life. They left the house in early 2025, having completed the album, to return to New York.
“Laguna Road is about looking back, a “piecing it together'” album. Sonically we moved away from what we had done on our previous records. We wanted this album to feel raw and vulnerable. The songs move slowly and we leaned into that with a light hand on production.” adds Benny Gebert.
They released the first piano ballad, “Women On The Line” with Jenn Wasner of Flock of Dimes HERE. The quietly powerful, heart-on-the sleeve lyrics in “Woman On The Line”: So don’t you tell me to be happy. I’m just a woman on the line. And don’t you tell me not to lose it. How could this be the best of times…are accompanied by a heart-stirring composition.
About “Women on the Line”, Nini Fabi explains: “The song is about taking ownership of my story and the choices that shaped me as a woman. It’s about the distance between how things look and how they feel—the pressure to keep it together while inside your world is coming apart.
It’s about isolation, acceptance, and the fragile nature of truth, and it came from a moment when I let it all fall apart.” “I was sitting on the steps at Laguna Road, the house we had just moved into with our daughter. On paper, I had everything: a beautiful family, a home with the lemon tree, the hummingbirds, and the piano in the living room. But I was numb, isolated, and anxious in a way that felt permanent. I was at the edge of my thirties and on the verge of some kind of breakdown, and I kept asking myself how I had ended up here.”
In the coming months, more singles will be shared leading up to the full Laguna Road album release on October 3rd.
About Haerts:
Haerts is the creative union of singer/songwriter Nini Fabi and multi-instrumentalist/composer Ben Gebert - a duo born in Munich, Germany, and artistically reborn in New York City. Lifelong collaborators, Fabi and Gebert, began weaving songs together as teenagers under the name Nini&Ben, a prelude to what would later become Haerts.
After moving to Brooklyn, they signed with Neon Gold and Columbia Records, where their debut single “Wings” took flight in 2012, becoming an early blog-era anthem and receiving heavy rotation on KEXP and SiriusXM. Their first EP, Hemiplegia (2013), produced by St. Lucia’s Jean-Philip Grobler, further revealed their luminous sound. The track “All the Days” was featured in the 2013 film Carrie and was crowned “Song of the Summer” by Elle magazine - a testament to the duo’s cinematic sensibility and emotional pull.
Their self-titled debut album HAERTS (2014) followed to critical acclaim, establishing the band as masters of melancholy-drenched pop - intimate yet expansive, nostalgic yet timeless.
With a voice like a memory and music that echoes wide open spaces, HAERTS has toured across the U.S. and Europe, sharing stages with London Grammar, Rhye, Washed Out, Shout Out Louds, and Michelle Branch. They’ve performed at Coachella, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and Governors Ball, carving out a space for their ethereal anthems on the world’s biggest stages.
In 2016, they released POWER/LAND, a visual EP made in collaboration with artist Julian Klincewicz (Beyoncé, Virgil Abloh, Miu Miu), blending analog film and dream-pop textures into a multidisciplinary narrative. Their creative partnership continued with the evocative video for “For the Sky,” a song featuring Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear that was hailed for its haunting beauty.
Their second and third albums - New Compassion (2018, Arts & Crafts) and Dream Nation (2021) - delved deep into themes of personal evolution, longing, and spiritual endurance, reflecting the band’s ever-growing emotional landscape.
Haerts’ music has found a lasting home in pop culture, with placements in Good Grief, Moonshot, 13 Reasons Why, Love, Simon, Pretty Little Liars, Grey’s Anatomy, and Hightown. Their live performances have graced The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS), Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) and further cemented their role in the modern indie canon.
In 2020, Gebert released his solo album, Triptych, via Arts & Crafts, a meditative and minimalist work that was nominated for a Libera Award. Two years later, the duo left the city and relocated to Pasadena, California. There, at a house on a quiet stretch of Laguna Road, a new chapter began. It’s from this place - sun-washed and soul-searching - Haerts’ fourth forthcoming album Laguna Road was born. Moving further away from the synth sounds of their earlier albums, the music on Laguna Road - centered around its confessional lyrics and warm, introspective vocals - is a fusion of minimal instrumentation and expansive string arrangements.
Laguna Road album pre-save HERE
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Modern Nature Announces East Coast Leg of Nat'l Tour | "Alpenglow" Single/Video | LP out August 29
Modern Nature
Celebrate the Elusive Beauty of Existence
with “ Alpenglow ” Single + Video
Announces NEW East Coast Leg
of North American 2025-2026 Winter Tour
Tour dates below + here
The Heat Warps LP out August 29 via Bella Union
The Heat Warps album pre-order link
“Richly sensual and radical in its approach” – Pitchfork
“Their best LP yet....” – Uncut, 9/10
Singles: “
Pharaoh
” “
Source
” “
Alpenglow
”
Modern Nature will release their hotly anticipated new album The Heat Warps on August 29 via Bella Union, a deceivingly encouraging collection through which Jack Cooper – the band’s main creative force – continues to explore themes of collectivism, our relationship with the natural world, the weight of consciousness with more directness and purpose. Early singles “Pharaoh” and “Source” have already earned accolades spanning Under The Radar, BrooklynVegan, Earmilk, Aquarium Drunkard, FLOOD and more. Today, they announce a new January east coast leg to their North American tour and share the new album cut “Alpenglow”, a breathtaking song that encapsulates the beauty of its namesake.
Jack shares, “Alpenglow is an optical phenomenon and the name given to the colours around a setting sun. It ties in with the album title in terms of how unseen forces affect the physical world.
I wrote the words in their entirety after a long drive through New Mexico in 2024. It was beautiful... mini-tornados (dust devils) in the distance, US government surveillance drones in the sky over the Mexican border and for a moment, a Will-o'-the-wisp on the prairie. A strange fire that moved through the undergrowth. I'm sure there was a logical explanation, but sometimes it feels better to believe in something more elusive. It's about borders, folklore magic and letting something feel euphoric at the expense of logic.
We wanted the music to represent that and to make music that people might move to. I like songs that creep up on you and then before you know it; you're moving! A song that sat alongside “I Want More” by Can, Malcolm McLaren's “Double Dutch” or “That's Us/Wild Combination” by Arthur Russell.”
Watch / Share: “Alpenglow” Video
In the time Modern Nature has been a band, the world has undoubtedly changed. For all the grimmer realities of 2025 that the new album wrestles with, it is ultimately not a record entirely consumed by anxieties. Jack Cooper explains, “Every day we’re confronted with a confusing and scary world. Making music and creating things can sometimes feel flippant or unnecessary, but my own world view was defined and influenced by art and artists who weren’t afraid to highlight and offer solutions: Public Enemy, The Smiths, and a wider American counterculture.” The refreshingly optimistic record's themes and lyrics are directed toward the community they've built in their immediate life and with their fans who are "struggling to reconcile how they fit into an increasingly cruel world." It acts as a siren call to the community to double down with the hope that making an album that’s open, uplifting and ambitious is in itself can be part of the solution.
The Heat Warps features the core trio of Jack Cooper (vocals, guitar), Jim Wallis (drums) and Jeff Tobias (bass guitar) augmented by a new guitarist – Tara Cunningham. Be sure to catch Modern Nature on tour in the US this winter & UK this fall.
Tour Dates - TICKETS
West Coast
12/10/25: Arcata, CA @ The Miniplex
12/12/25: Seattle, WA @ Clock Out Lounge
12/13/25: Portland, OR @ Holocene
12/14/25: Point Reyes, CA @ Dance Palace
12/15/25: San Francisco, CA @ 4 Star Theater
12/17/25: Los Angeles, CA @ Gold Diggers
12/18/25: Los Angeles, CA @ Gold Diggers
East Coast
1/13/26: Boston, MA @ The Rockwell
1/14/26: Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
1/15/26: Toronto, ON @ Monarch Tavern
1/16/26: Detroit, MI @ Moodor Cafe
1/17/26: Chicago, IL @ Constellation
1/19/26: Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
1/20/26: Asheville, NC @ Ayurprana Listening Room
1/21/26: Durham, NC @ Perfect Lovers
1/22/26: Washington, DC @ DC9
1/23/26: Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy
1/24/26: Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
John-Robert returns home to Virginia on ode to his grandmother "Other Side"
JOHN-ROBERT RETURNS HOME TO VIRGINIA
ON ODE TO HIS GRANDMOTHER
“OTHER SIDE” — STREAM
OFFICIAL VIDEO STITCHES TOGETHER DECADES-SPANNING
HOME MOVIE FOOTAGE — WATCH
RECENTLY ANNOUNCED TOUR DATES SUPPORTING
FELLY THIS FALL — SEE ALL DATES HERE
“Once you hear his tone it’s undeniable that it’s unique, but with a hint of Jeff Buckley’s qualities of honesty and grit.”
“With each release, the rising star tells a beautiful story inspired by real-life experiences, allowing listeners to enter into his mind as he croons his lyrics to the masses.”
Steeped in the deep folk music traditions of Appalachia, and further molded by his prodigious young success, singer-songwriter John-Robert today releases the new single “Other Side.” His first new release since 2023’s Garden Snake EP and first release as an independent artist, “Other Side” was written in remembrance of his grandmother, as a gift to his mother. Opting for an alternative tuning on his guitar, there’s a richness in the song’s woody tone, counterbalanced by a feeling of melancholy. Both raw in its production and emotional sentiment, the meditation on familial love and loss ends with a funeral-like organ fading in and out — Stream.
“My grandmother was in hospice care while I was living in Los Angeles, and I was getting updates on her condition from my mother over the phone. I thought about my mom and how she was losing her mother. I thought about how I’d feel losing my mother,” remembers John-Robert. “I’m ashamed to say mom-mom and I weren’t extremely close. After her passing, I felt like I lost out on getting to know someone who heavily influenced and created my favorite person. She was caring, kind, quick witted and smart. When you talked with her, you felt like the only person left on planet earth. Our last conversation, we shared an agreement that there should be no stigma around adults climbing trees.”
In early 2025, John-Robert made the move from LA back to his home of Edinburg, Virginia (pop. 1,070). After spending 6 years on the West Coast, he knew that the best way to prioritize his mental health was returning to the place where he first fell in love with music and with himself. Put simply, John-Robert shared that the people in his hometown “want more for me than they want from me.”
Surrounded by familiar faces and bathed in the Shenandoah River, John-Robert’s upcoming music is a nostalgic scrapbook of memories he’s ready to let listeners leaf through. This is seen in today’s official video for “Other Side” where he digitized decades worth of family home videos — Watch.
Press photo by Ethan Hickerson
At the end of September, John-Robert will hit the road alongside Felly. Beginning in Kentucky on September 23, John-Rober’s support dates will make major stops in Brooklyn, Chicago and Nashville, before coming to a close on October 10 in Alabama. See all dates here and below.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
August 14 - Malibu, CA - Aviator Nation Dreamland
September 23 - Louisville, KY - Headliners*
September 24 - Indianapolis, IN - HI-FI Indianapolis*
September 26 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg*
September 27 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair*
September 28 - Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry*
September 30 - Pittsburgh, PA - Thunderbird Music Hall*
October 1 - Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups*
October 3 - Ferndale, MI - The Loving Touch*
October 4 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall*
October 7 - Nashville, TN - The Basement East*
October 9 - Atlanta, GA- Terminal West*
October 10 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn*
*supporting Felly
All tour info here
