Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 47
July 23, 2025
RACHEL BOBBITT Announces Debut Album & Shares New Single/Video For "Hands Hands Hands"
RACHEL BOBBITT
ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM
& SHARES NEW SINGLE/VIDEO FOR
Swimming Towards The Sand out October 17th
on Fantasy Records
(Credit: Ebru Yildiz )
Early praise for Rachel Bobbitt:
“Striking…poignant” - NPR
“Rachel Bobbitt’s tender, shimmering voice has the capacity to carry a massive weight of emotion” - Consequence
“Evocative indie rock” - Brooklyn Vegan
“Over the past couple of years, Nova Scotia transplant Rachel Bobbitt has released stellar EPs back-to-back…In that time, I have tried — and struggled — to encapsulate how special her music is” - Exclaim!
“dreamy, jangly indie-pop…formidable lushness” - Stereogum
“stomach-jilting piece of bedroom alt-pop perfection.” -Paste
Rising Canadian artist Rachel Bobbitt announces her long-awaited debut full-length album today. Swimming Towards the Sand, out October 17th on Fantasy Records, was made in Los Angeles with producer Chris Coady (Beach House, Future Islands, DIIV), but it is rooted in her childhood in Nova Scotia. Written between call centre shifts, hotel rooms, and fleeting homecomings, Swimming Towards the Sand is a reflection on loss, girlhood, coming of age, the thrill of new infatuation, and the confusion and discomfort that accompanies it.
Raised in the windswept Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Bobbitt first found an audience through the lens of internet virality. Growing up in a musical household, where her mom’s side hosted kitchen fiddle parties, Bobbitt amassed a large Vine following, performing covers and originals to hundreds of thousands of followers, leading to Shorty Award nominations and being crowned by Buzzfeed as one of “13 Amazing Singers You Should Follow On Vine.” But instead of running with the fame, Bobbitt took a step back, overwhelmed by the onslaught of opinions—opinions on her career, appearance, voice, image—at an age when she was still figuring out what those things meant for herself.
A dozen years later, after studying Jazz and Vocal Pedagogy at the renowned Humber College, learning the rules of the road while touring with the likes of Men I Trust, Indigo de Souza, and Blonde Redhead, and navigating the music industry from her home base in Toronto, Bobbitt arrives at Swimming Towards the Sand with an unwavering sense of purpose. It’s an album that revisits her roots with the clarity of perspective, the wisdom of experience, and the lessons of resilience that can only come with time. It looks back with an eye both clear and nostalgic and reflects her memories via sharply contemporary music. On this album, Bobbitt wields her jazz-trained voice like a guitar or keyboard, layering harmonies in conversation with herself, for a poignant exploration of grief, girlhood, memory, and return.
Out today alongside the album announcement is “Hands Hands Hands.” The stunning lead single is borne out of loss and grief, melding electric guitar, a deceptively joyful synth, and bashing drums for a dramatic elegy, with Bobbitt pleading “Tell me you’re okay.” Bobbitt says of the track: “Hands Hands Hands” is equal parts dream and experience—the first verse built around the experience of losing a loved one from afar, and the second verse a surreal depiction of the feelings of helplessness and horror that can accompany grief. The chorus is borrowed from a children’s song from the 1870s—a song my grandfather used to sing constantly, called ‘Reuben and Rachel.’” Listen to the song and watch the Jeff Miller-directed video, filmed at sunset over Nova Scotia’s Baxter’s Harbour, HERE.
PRE-ORDER SWIMMING TOWARDS THE SAND NOW
Bobbitt’s North American fall tour dates will support Swimming Towards the Sand. Additionally, she announces a series of free, community-based bi-weekly Park Dates all over Toronto, which will feature performances from local artists in different mediums and a coffee blend made specifically for these events, all curated by Bobbitt herself. Tickets are available via rachelbobbittmusic.com.
Tour Dates:
09/09 - Des Moines, IA @ xBk Live *
09/10 - Milwaukee, WI @ Vivarium *
09/11 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
09/13 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern *
09/14 - Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB *
09/15 - South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground *
09/16 - Portland, ME @ Portland House Of Music and Events (HOME) *
09/18 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall *
09/19 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
09/20 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
09/21 - Washington, DC @ The Atlantis *
09/23 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's *
09/25 - Montreal, QC @ POP Montreal 2025 *
* w/ Night Moves
Swimming Towards The Sand Tracklisting
1. Don’t Cry
2. Hush
3.Light
4. Hands Hands Hands
5. Remember
6. I Want It All
8. Life By The Marsh
9. Ask Again
11. Sweetest Heart
12. Nothing
“The ocean does not care about you at all,” declares Rachel Bobbitt. “That’s what makes something truly awesome—it could and will exist, with or without you.”
The ocean looms, uncaring yet vital, conceptually and actually on Bobbitt’s debut full-length LP, Swimming Towards the Sand. Raised in the windswept Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Bobbitt recorded this album in Los Angeles at Chris Coady’s studio near Glendale’s Verdugo Mountainsm offering a symbolic contrast to the coastal terrain of her hometown. Alongside her musical and life partner, Justice Der, Bobbitt plays through a dozen tracks that are shaped by the East Coast—sinking into memory, floating through loss, and emerging from depths renewed.
A natural progression from Bobbitt’s collection of singles and EPs, including The Ceiling Could Collapse (2022) and The Half We Still Have (2023), Swimming Towards the Sand is her most cohesive and expansive work to date: a poignant exploration of grief, girlhood, memory, and return. It centres itself around memories and dreams, and how one can often feel interchangeable with the other. It is only through careful observation and steady rumination that we start to draw meaning and distinctions. The album is full is such reflections—and like the ocean, turns discarded bottles into frosted glass, these memories and dreams of loss, grief, and girlhood become something tangible and true.
Throughout Swimming Towards the Sand, Bobbitt returns again and again to the ocean—not just as a symbol, but as part of her internal landscape. “Having the water be so consistent and impartial to you, and terrifying and beautiful,” she says, adding, “it is such a strong presence for me.” The album is textured by the loss, yet it resists despair. It offers a return not just to home, but to self: a reclamation of the things that remain after the tide recedes. Bobbitt describes it as her most fully realized work, and it shows.
FOLLOW RACHEL BOBBITT
TOPS shares new single + new album 'Bury The Key' due 8/22
TOPS SHARES NEW SINGLE “ANNIHILATION”
NEW ALBUM BURY THE KEY DUE AUGUST 22ND VIA GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL
TOPS by Aabid Youssef
“Montreal indie pop institution”
EXCLAIM!
“The band's soft-rock jangle beckon[s] us to get with the times no matter what side of the generation line you fall on.”
NPR
“Near-perfect songwriting”
Pitchfork
“Sophisticated production, nostalgic synths and gorgeous tunes”
The Guardian
“Insanely addictive”
DIY Magazine
“Annihilation”
LISTEN: https://ghostly.lnk.to/TOPS-Annihilation
WATCH: https://youtu.be/K8JUH7w6-qY
Bury The Key
PRE-SAVE/ORDER: https://ghostly.lnk.to/TOPS-Bury-the-Key
(July 23, 2025) - Montréal band TOPS shares “Annihilation,” the latest single from their forthcoming album Bury The Key due August 22nd via Ghostly International. The song arrives alongside a lyric visualizer.
Born of a different process than most TOPS songs, "Annihilation" started with a drum part from Riley Fleck before the rest of the band wrote to it, the result is a fill-heavy song that is lyrically inspired navigating a world on the edge of collapse. Speaking about the song, the band shares:
“It’s easy to fear the future but in the end nothing is ever finished and you just gotta follow your heart. It’s like a mix of complacency and surrendering. As we were working on it a lot of cultural ‘greats’ were passing away. People like Sinead O’Connor and Ryuichi Sakamoto have been incredibly influential on our music and it’s sad to think that they’re on their way to being forgotten. We added a part that’s meant to be a wink to 'Behind the Mask' by YMO."
TOPS — musicians Jane Penny, David Carriere, Marta Cikojevic and Riley Fleck — write timeless music that reliably threads immediacy and depth. Bury the Key, their first full-length since 2020 and with new label home Ghostly International, is a captivating reintroduction for the Montréal band: ever refined, undoubtedly masters of their melodic craft yet unafraid of evolving and testing themselves against different, at times darker tones.
Bury The Key faces feelings once locked away, engaging the give-and-take between happiness, hedonism, and self-destruction. While often inhabited by fictional figures, their glowing, grooving, self-produced songs draw from personal observations: intimacy (both inside and outside the band), toxic behavior, drug use, and apocalyptic dread. When recording started, they noticed a shift and leaned in, jokingly dubbed "evil TOPS," says Penny. "We're always kind of seen as a soft band or like naive or friendly in a Canadian way, but we made it a challenge to really channel the world around us." Through the lens of a looming epoch and the clarity that comes with age, TOPS dip into a more sinister disco realm with Bury the Key, giving their soft-focus sophisti-pop a sharpened edge.
Emerging from Montréal's DIY scene in the early 2010s as progenitors of an indie pop sound still radiating its influence across the contemporary landscape, TOPS’ secret to longevity is simple: keep the songwriting honest and open-hearted and the recording unforced yet pristine, allowing for a band dynamic deeply attuned at every level. Their songs outline the silhouettes of life, and as time goes on — now five LPs, countless tours, and various side projects in — TOPS have only gotten better at what they do.
The voice of TOPS is Jane Penny, a songwriter, producer, flutist, and singer whose hushed delivery hosts a deceivingly vast range of expression and has surely informed a wave of today's greats from Men I Trust to Clairo. Her lyrical subjects never go out of style: dynamics of power, desire, struggles to be seen, having love requited or otherwise. Following her move back to Montréal and first solo release in 2024, Penny returns to the neighbourhoods of her former self a step wiser; the sleek cars and forever highways of her songs, penned with her rhythmic counterpart David Carriere, find assured depth in Bury the Key. Carriere, a songwriter, producer, and guitarist with a flair for high-sheen hooks and the relentless drive to match (other projects include DVC Refreshments and Born At Midnite), adds to his bag of tonal and textural tricks. Drummer Riley Fleck, the band's heartbeat since day one and occasional gun for others (Jessica Pratt's live band as of late), broadens his utility, venturing into higher and harder tempos. Keyboardist Marta Cikojevic, who joined TOPS in 2017 just before the landmark I Feel Alive and in 2022 released her breakout debut as Marci (produced by Carriere), expands her role here as well, joining the writing process and backing Penny for some of the record's fullest, most satisfying vocal lines.
It is rare to see a band so aligned and complete, self-sufficient, specialized yet agile and ambitious, reaching an elite level of pop precision as their legacy remains largely unwritten. They've toured the world over, from major festivals to the dingiest of dives, sleeping on floors and tour-managing themselves for years, manifesting their success the hard way. Beyond work ethic, it also comes down to chemistry and taste; when pressed for which artists get airplay in their van, some expected names appear, Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan, but dig deeper and the veneer of artists like China Crisis, Prefab Sprout, and Francois Hardy, Missing Persons, and Everything But the Girl start to fill out the playlist. An instinct for luster and thrills, songs both sweet and bleak, brings the band to Bury the Key, a prismatic album polished out of the rough. Grounded by pain and pleasure, the complicated joys of being alive, of being a band from one of our era's finest.
Pre-save/order Bury the Key, listen to "Annihilation" above and find full tour and album details below.
Bury The Key official tour poster
Upcoming Live Shows
9/4 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
9/5 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
9/6 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile (EARLY SHOW)
9/8 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
9/9 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
9/11 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada - Outdoor Stage
9/12 – Houston, TX @ Heights Theater
9/14 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace
9/15 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
9/17 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
9/18 – San Diego, CA @ Belly Up
9/19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
9/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
10/1 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/2 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
10/3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
10/4 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
10/6 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
10/7 – Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall
10/8 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
10/9 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
10/11 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
10/14 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
10/16 – Detroit, MI @ El Club
10/17 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
10/18 – Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Beanfield
11/10 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns
11/11 – London, UK @ Heaven
11/13 – Dublin, IE @ Workmans Club
11/14 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
11/15 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
11/17 – Leeds, UK @ The Brudenell Social Club
11/18 – Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade
11/10 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns
11/11 – London, UK @ Heaven
11/13 – Dublin, IE @ Workmans Club
11/14 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
11/15 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
11/17 – Leeds, UK @ The Brudenell Social Club
11/18 – Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade
11/20 – Kortrijk, BE @ Wilde Westen
11/21 – Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere
11/22 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
11/23 – Vlaardingen, NL @ De Kroepoekfabriek
11/24 – Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher
11/26 – Berlin, DE @ Neue Zukunft
Bury the Key album artwork
TOPS
Bury the Key
Ghostly International
August 22nd, 2025
1. Stars Come After You
2. Wheels at Night
3. ICU2
4. Outstanding in the Rain
5. Annihilation
6. Falling on my Sword
7. Call You Back
8. Chlorine
9. Mean Streak
10. Your Ride
11. Standing at the Edge of Fire
12. Paper House
Connect with TOPS:
Vampire Beach Babes Rebuild Bowie’s Blackstar For New Single, Video
Los Angeles, California: With mere weeks to go before the August 8 release of the much-anticipated The Black Album, Toronto’s Vampire Beach Babes' singular contribution to the collection, a dramatic reworking of David Bowie’s “Blackstar,” is released today as both a startling single and a captivating video. The Grammy Award winning title track of Bowie’s final album, 2016’s Blackstar, “Blackstar” also made history as the longest song (at that time) to enter the Billboard Top 100 - just three seconds short of 10 minutes, it would retain that title for the next three years before being edged out by Tool’s “Fear Inoculum” (10.21). Vampire Beach Babes all but halve the length of Bowie’s original, but lose nothing of its dark mystery and haunted vision, propelling the song’s innate surreality across effervescent electronic rhythms, and lashings of gothic atmospherics. - a magical mood that percolates through to the accompanying video, itself dramatically built around scenes from Cleopatra Entertainment’s forthcoming horror movie Fear Cabin - "to give us some teen-summertime-horror-thriller-chills," as Vampire Beach Babes frontman Baron Marcus puts it. "A true diabolus-ex-machina for summer vacation indeed!" VIDEO: https://youtu.be/HhHcJM9pInASINGLE: https://orcd.co/vampirebeachbabes_blackstar
Many of the original Bowie album’s reviews pinpointed “Blackstar” as the best track on the record… Pitchfork even described it as “"closer to the cocaine-fueled fantasias of 1976’s Station to Station than almost anything [Bowie’s] done since". And Baron Marcus agrees. "So here I was with an epic quest – record a Vampire Beach Babes cover of David Bowie’s song ‘Blackstar’ for Cleopatra Records… THAT epic song for THAT epic record label – and here I am just a humble Vampire Beach Babe. "Mind you, I’ve always seen the Vampire Beach Babes as a true vampire of pop music; 30 years on and ‘Gothic Surf-a-rama’ can still be heard haunting the finest of playlists. So, who else could risk facing the ‘thin white Duke’ other than myself, Baron Marcus. "And this, his dying song. "I needed to treat this song with the sacred respect it deserved (an almost overwhelming consideration), and at the same time make this into a gothic-surf dark-electronic club banger! "Would this be sacrilege or homage? "I knew the magic would lie in both taking this dead-seriously, and also having fun with it. And so I did. "So what you are hearing is exactly that – Bowie’s concerned arched eyebrow, breaking to a gentle mirthful nod. I specifically produced the track to be open enough for remixes – a foundation of reflections to come. Enjoy." Vampire Beach Babes' "Blackstar" could easily grasp the same “best in show” mantel on The Black Album, as Bowie's did on his record. But the competition is certainly ferocious. From the haunted first wave goth of The Danse Society to the industrial punch of Aesthetic Perfection, PLUS new offerings from Rosetta Stone (“Devil Woman”) and Corpus Delicti (a mind-melting “Dancing In The Dark”), this compilation is cohesive yet varied, a love letter to darkness in its many forms! All the classics are here: Los Bravos’ mid-1960s hit “Black Is Black,” as seen through the minimalistic eyes of The KVB; Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath” given a fresh lick of darkness by Belarusian post-punks Nürnberg; the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” redecorated by Darkways; Deep Purple’s “Black Night” taken home by Rotersand. Other highlights include Priest’s thunderous take on Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” Then Comes Silence’s alchemical recasting of “I Put A Spell On You,” Buzz Kull’s shadow-shaping reimagining of the Human League’s “Darkness”; and there’s even room for some traditional Americana, as Kirlian Camera revisit “The House of the Rising Sun” and Bloody Dead and Sexy get to work on “Black Betty.” Don’t you dare refer to it as an exercise in nostalgia, though, or even black-clad novelty. Drawing from more than a century’s worth of classic songwriting, The Black Album is a vital reawakening of the post-punk, deathrock sound that has lingered in the margins of the shadows for years, now rising to claim center stage! CD: https://cleorecs.com/products/the-black-album-cdVINYL: https://cleorecs.com/ products/the-black-album- black-vinyl-lpDIGITAL: https://orcd.co/theblackalbum Track List:1. Black Is Black - The KVB2. Into The Night - Forever Grey3. Black Sabbath - Nürnberg4. Fade To Black - Aesthetic Perfection5. Paint It Black - Darkways6. Black Hole Sun - Priest7. Welcome To The Black Parade - Vampires Everywhere!8. Devil Woman - Rosetta Stone9. Darkness - Buzz Kull10. Dancing In The Dark - Corpus Delicti11. Black Night - Rotersand [CD ONLY]12. House Of The Rising Sun - Kirlian Camera [CD ONLY]13. I Put A Spell On You - Then Comes Silence [CD ONLY]14. Black Roses (HiFi Remix) - IKON [CD ONLY]15. Black Betty - Bloody Dead And Sexy [CD ONLY]16. Dark Horse - The Danse Society [CD ONLY]17. Blackstar - Vampire Beach Babes [CD ONLY]18. Every Day Is Halloween (Leæther Strip Remix) - Ministry [CD ONLY] CLEOPATRA RECORDS, INC.Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Cleopatra Records Store www.CleopatraRecords.com
INTRODUCING: pôt-pot. Share new single "Sextape" from debut album 'Warsaw 480km', out on Sept 19 via felte.
PÔT-POT- Share new single "Sextape"
- Debut album 'Warsaw 480km'
- Out September 19th on Felte
Photo credit: Celeste Burdon Today Lisbon-based Irish quintet pôt-pot share a second look at their forthcoming debut album ‘ Warsaw 480km’ , set for release on September 19th via Felte.
The band infuse the propulsive grooves of krautrock with a phosphorescent psych-rock radiance, all underscored by harmonium drones, hypnotic vocal harmonies, and deep layers of rough-hewn texture.
Following first single “WRSW”, today they share a second glimpse at the record with an understated track about trust, entitled "Sextape". The track highlights several of pôt-pot’s many strengths: melodious bass and laid-back drums create the framework for controlled feedback and honeyed vocals that are massive in their presence, yet still buoyant as a cloud above the steady pulse and swirls of vibrant, harmonic grace.
Commenting on the track, lead vocalist Mark Waldron-Hyden comments: “This song came from a spontaneous jam between all of us, not written by myself like the other tracks. Elaine named it half as a joke when we first saved the phone recording and despite efforts to rename, nothing else stuck.
What was lovely about this track was that the lads wrote their parts but gave me full control to orchestrate the song as I wished, and trusted me with the bits they wrote to make a full track, which really meant a lot to me. I guess the song title stayed as it’s essentially a song that came from an intimate trust between us, which lines up with what should be involved in making a sextape I suppose — intimate trust between parties that whatever each person brings to the scenario will be treated with respect, but that’s me taking a retrospective look on things.
The lyrics also stem from themes of trust between people — a quiet, unspoken understanding of each other’s idiosyncrasies “You don’t have to say what you are, I already know” repeated over and over.”
"Sextape" lyric video: https://youtu.be/-dmeCKTVjzc
‘Warsaw 480km’ album pre-save links: https://felte.lnk.to/pot-pot
Evolved primarily from demos by multi-instrumentalist and lead vocalist Mark Waldron-Hyden during a period of grief and personal upheaval, the album came to life through a series of live, full-band studio sessions that document an exceptional array of talents, unified in an embrace of raw catharsis with a sweetly sinister edge.
A defining element of ' Warsaw 480km' is its impressive range of influences and atmospheric topographies. As Waldron-Hyden describes, “I wrote the first batch of songs while not really living in one place, so I think they have a kind of transient feel to them – developing them with the band helped me process an era in which I was emotionally freewheeling, so they remind me equally of the beautiful experience we shared as a creative unit and the difficult times that inspired them.” Lead single, “WRSW”, exemplifies this complexity, as its rugged rhythmic backbone carries tremolo guitars, woozy harmonium, and a half-spoken, Lou Reed-indebted vocal line in which the verse and chorus beautifully blur together.
Above all, Warsaw 480km is an album that achieves its richness and aura from deliberate economy, as Waldron-Hyden explains, “Ollie [Oliver Smith] and Sara [Sara Leslie] are experts at getting the most out of one pedal, a shitty amp, and a guitar they borrowed, a result of innate talent and years of experience; they use some modulation for dronier passages, but it’s their playing styles and understanding of ‘the vibe’ that are the secret ingredients.” This kind of intuitive connection and collaboration is incredibly rare, and with these ten pieces, pôt-pot accomplish something truly rapturous as they alchemize deep pain into a luminous reverie.
pôt-pot are Elaine Malone (she/her), Sara Leslie (she/her), Mykle “Ollie” Oliver Smith (he/him), Joe Armitage (he/him) and Mark Waldron-Hyden (he/him).
'Warsaw 480km' track list:
01. 132 Spring St
02. 22° Halo
03. Sextape
04. WRSW
05. Fake Eyes
06. I AM!
07. Can't Handle It
08. The Lights Are On
09. Hot Scene
10. Change Your Life
July 22, 2025
Automatic Announces 'Is It Now?' LP out 9/26 via Stones Throw | Unveils “Mercury” Single | Nat'l Fall Tour
AUTOMATIC
Announces New Album Is It Now?
due out September 26 via Stones Throw
Unveils New ‘Dark Lullaby’ Single, “ Mercury ”
Available across platforms here
US Tour This September & October
Tour dates below + here
Singles: “
Is It Now?
” “
Mercury
”
Photo credit: Erica Snyder
Cybertrucks are overtaking the streets. No one’s embarrassed about ‘selling out’ anymore. Wendy’s wants to be your friend. Automatic encourages us to confront our complicity in the structures destroying us with the kind of song you can’t get out of your head. Balancing irreverence with sharp commentary, the LA three-piece approached their third album – Is It Now? due out September 26 via Stones Throw – with a dark sense of humor and a swing in their step.
For the new collection, they brought on producer Loren Humphrey (Arctic Monkeys, Nice As Fuck, Cameron Winter) who encouraged them to play live and loose: long takes, a rhythm section that really breathes. Following early teaser track “It It Now?,” the band today reveals lead single “Mercury,” a propulsive trip-hop cut heavily inspired by the Stones Throw catalogue with a breakbeat sample. Izzy shares, the lyrics of the new track are a reminder “not to fall into nihilism or cynicism, to instead see life through a bit of a spiritual lens.” She adds, “Despite the horrible shit constantly happening, life can still be mysterious and beautiful. I wanted to lean into a sense of dreaminess, and to have the verses feel like a dark lullaby.”
Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Halle Saxon (bass, vocals), and Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) believe that the message of change is best served with a backbeat and a cheeky groove, and on Is it Now? they demand we look at the world’s oppressive structures with fresh urgency. Since their last record, 2022’s Excess, Automatic toured with Tame Impala, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Marías and IDLES. The band hits the road once again for a co-headlining tour with Sextile this fall; see dates below.
Perky minimalist grooves and affable pop melodies are a Trojan horse for Automatic to wheel in playful political commentary. Is It Now? doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, but it might just inspire you to ask better questions — or at least dance yourself awake in the search.
Automatic tour dates - TICKETS
9/16: Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
9/17: Denver, CO @ Meow Wolf Denver
9/19: Chicago, IL @ Outset
9/20: Detroit, MI @ Tangent Gallery
9/21: Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground
9/23: Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Fairmount
9/24: Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
9/25: Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
9/26: Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry @ The Fillmore
9/27: Washington, DC @ Black Cat
9/29: Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall
9/30: Nashville, TN @ The Blue Room at Third Man Records
10/1: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
10/3: Dallas, TX @ Studio at The Factory
10/4: Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
10/5: Austin, TX @ Mohawk (Outside)
10/6: El Paso, TX @ The Lowbrow Palace
10/8: Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
10/9: Las Vegas, NV @ Swan Dive
10/10: San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
10/11: Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
Is It Now? tracklist
1. Black Box
2. mq9
3. Mercury
4. Lazy
5. Country Song
6. Is It Now?
7. Don't Wanna Dance
8. Smog Summer
9. The Prize
10. PlayBoi
11. Terminal
Cold Gawd share new single/video “Golden Postcard”, embark on U.S. tour
COLD GAWD share new single/video “Golden Postcard”
See them on tour with newmoon now, supporting High Vis later [NYC, CHI, AUS, LA // SEA, PDX, SLC, DEN, BOS...]
Photo by Tori Siperly
Southern California shoegaze squad COLD GAWD released their second and most supreme suite yet of crushing downer bliss, I’ll Drown On This Earth, last August on Dais Records. The album is a perfect storm of distortion and dreampop, cracked love songs cloaked in swooning walls of noise.
Now, the band has returned with a new single "Golden Postcard" as they embark on a U.S. tour with Belgium's newmoon. The tour runs through August 9 and following, COLD GAWD will be supporting High Vis on the road from September 23 through October 12. Tickets are on sale now.
Bassist/vocalist Duck Burris says of "Golden Postcard": “It’s for new lovers: something that evokes the rush of a burgeoning relationship. It’s lustful, hopeful and consuming. Those feelings might be idealized but they’re nevertheless palpable.”
Watch / share "Golden Postcard" on YouTube
COLD GAWD’s classic but contemporary vision of shoegaze manifests intriguingly in outlier moments; theirs is a muse as vivid as it is varied. Don't miss COLD GAWD on the road this summer + fall.
COLD GAWD on tour:
Jul. 22 Brooklyn, NY — The Woodshop ^
Jul. 23 Richmond, VA — The Camel ^
Jul. 24 Washington, DC — Songbyrd Music House ^
Jul. 27 Chicago, IL — Cobra Lounge ^
Jul. 29 St. Louis, MO — The Sink Hole ^
Jul. 30 Kansas City, MO — The Record Bar ^
Jul. 31 Oklahoma City, OK — Resonant Head ^
Aug. 01 Denton, TX — Rubber Gloves ^
Aug. 02 Austin, TX — Come and Take It ^
Aug. 03 San Antonio, TX — Paper Tiger ^
Aug. 06 Mesa, AZ — The Nile ^
Aug. 07 San Diego, CA — Soda Bar ^
Aug. 08 Los Angeles, CA — The Echo ^
Aug. 09 San Francisco, CA — Thee Parkside ^
Sep. 23 Vancouver, BC — Rickshaw +
Sep. 24 Seattle, WA — Neumo's +
Sep. 25 Portland, OR — Wonder +
Sep. 27 Los Angeles, CA — The Regent +
Sep. 30 Las Vegas, NV — Swan Dive +
Oct. 01 Salt Lake City, UT — Urban Lounge +
Oct. 02 Denver, CO — HQ +
Oct. 03 Lawrence, KS — Bottleneck +
Oct. 04 St. Louis, MO — Red Flag +
Oct. 05 Chicago, IL — Bottom Lounge +
Oct. 06 Detroit, MI — Edgeman +
Oct. 08 Boston, MA — Paradise +
Oct. 09 Brooklyn, NY — Warsaw +
Oct. 10 Jersey City, NJ — White Eagle Music Hall +
Oct. 11 Philadelphia, PA — Underground Arts +
Oct. 12 Baltimore, MD — Ottobar +
^ with newmoon
+ with High Vis
HAAi Shares New Track "Hey!"|| New Album 'HUMANiSE' Out 10/10 On Mute
NEW ALBUM HUMANiSE OUT 10/10 ON MUTE
LIVE DATES CONTINUE
Photo credit: Sophie Webster
“… her solo work — which includes psychedelic electronica, massive breakbeat sounds, anthemic synth-kissed songs and remarkably fun D.J. sets — continues to cement her reputation as a stand-alone talent.” - The New York Times, May 2025
London-based, Australian-born producer, songwriter and DJ, HAAi (aka Teneil Throssell) has shared the latest track from her eagerly anticipated new album HUMANiSE, that is out on October 10, 2025 via Mute on limited edition clear double gatefold vinyl and limited-edition CD in eco card packaging.
The new album - an immense evolution from her acclaimed debut - reckons with what it is to be human in an increasingly digital world, as AI threatens to eclipse everything and our screens separate us from each other.
Listen to “Hey!” HERE.
Talking about the new track, Teneil explains, “‘Hey!’ is dedicated to the unmatched human connection we feel on the dance floor. The repeated lyrics “can’t live without you” is a nod to my love for the club and the people in it.”
“Hey!” follows recent tracks “Satellite” (feat. Jon Hopkins & Obi Franky & ILĀ & TRANS VOICES) and “Can’t Stand To Lose,” both A-listed by BBC Radio 6 Music, plus her collaboration with KAM-BU, “Shapeshift.” With a busy summer ahead (and behind her: recent DJ sets include Coachella, Movement, Glastonbury, helming her community-focused night in London, UNiSON, as well as a drop in on Glamcult TV to record this intimate version of “Can’t Stand To Lose”), keep an eye out for dates in Ibiza, at Body Movement and across North America. Full details are listed below.
In all of her work, Teneil has always sought to conquer new frontiers in electronic music and on the new album she’s drilling deeper into the grid. HUMANiSE reckons with what it is to be human in an increasingly digital world, as AI threatens to eclipse everything and our screens separate us from each other. The result is an ambitious and thrilling epic: embodying a sonic step up, exploring the sweet spot between machine-led dystopia and emotion-filled utopia.
Where previously she’s been hidden by a laptop, or obscured behind the decks, more recently she was, “inspired to return to my songwriting roots and use my voice more in my own music.” “Throughout the album, I kept thinking about a machine with a human heart,” she says. Vocals are front and center, stunningly delicate and giving a newfound dimension to her kinetic productions. “It took a long time to get there, it’s such a vulnerable thing to do,” she continues, “but for this album, it was important for me to allow this ‘human heart’ to be front and center.”
The human heart has another focus on the album: unity and community. HAAi explains, “Even though HUMANiSE is about how the world is starting to change beyond our control, it’s important to keep a sense of togetherness and hope.” These ideas of community and a sense of belonging is of utmost importance, and she has returned to work with friends including Jon Hopkins, Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip, singer Obi Franky, rapper KAM-BU, artist Kaiden Ford, poet James Massiah, who guests on “All That Falls Apart”, and two choirs: TRANS VOICES with choir leader ILĀ and a gospel choir led by Wendi Rose. But this is no clique, the community she surrounds herself with is inclusive, with ample space for the listener on a journey where you are suspended in dreamlike euphoria, drawing the most human part of you to the surface, the part where nothing matters more than family, friends and togetherness.
HUMANiSE is out on October 10, 2025 via Mute on limited edition clear double gatefold vinyl and limited edition CD in eco card packaging. Pre-order it HERE.
HUMANiSE is HAAi’s first album release since her acclaimed DJ-Kicks compilation in 2023, which RA described as “a thrillingly eclectic journey through sound, where industrial beats meet warm melodies with finesse.” The compilation, which includes a new version of her collaboration with Jon Hopkins titled “Always Ascending,” came soon after her debut album, Baby, We’re Ascending, which opened up her boundary-pushing blend of psychedelia, techno and powerful beats to new avenues, prompting the likes of Dazed to say, “[HAAi] transcends to new planes of existence on her full-length debut” and NME to praise her “high-flying, vibrant electronic wonderland.” 2023 also saw the release of “Lights Out,” her collaboration with Fred again.. and Romy, a single that solidified HAAi’s place at the forefront of electronic music.
Outside of her own productions, HAAi is known for her dynamic, tempo-shifting DJ sets. In 2024 HAAi played over 100 shows across 5 continents, 30 countries, and 91 cities. She took to the biggest stages at festivals like Glastonbury, Sonar, and EDC Las Vegas, while also delivering sets at local parties including Japan’s Rainbow Disco Club, Berlin’s RSO and Paris’ Iconic Rex Club, where she performed a year-long residency. In-between, HAAi was playing b2b’s with friends like KI/KI, Jennifer Cardini, The Blessed Madonna and Solomun.
2024 also saw the launch of UNiSON, her community focused party that is a platform for HAAi to uplift rising talent while creating an inclusive and boundary-pushing space for club culture.
TOUR DATES:
7/26/2025 - Malta, MT - Mochakk Calling, UNO
7/27/2025 - Bloemendaal aan Zee, NL - Woodstock ‘69
7/29/2025 - Nice, FR - Place de l’Hotel Amour
8/1/2025 - Waterford, IE - All Together Now
8/6/2025 - Ibiza. ES - Hï
8/9/2025 - Gothenburg, SE - Stay Out West, Surr Arena
8/14/2025 - Ibiza, ES - Amnesia
8/16/2025 - Zeebrugge, BE - Wecandance
8/22/2025 - Lincolnshire, UK - Lost Village
8/24/2025 - London, UK - Body Movements, London, United Kingdom
8/27/2025 - Ibiza, ES - Pacha
8/29/2025 - Chicago, IL - Arc Festival
8/30/2025 - Miami, FL - Skate Rave
9/5/25 - Washington, D.C. - Flash
9/6/25 - Dallas, TX - It’ll Do
The Dandy Warhols and Kula Shaker - are joining forces for a North American tour 2025
This fall, two titans of psych-rock - The Dandy Warhols and Kula Shaker - are joining forces for a North American tour that’s sure to be a mind-melter in all the best ways. The co-headline run kicks off in Texas and winds its way West, but both bands are also doing their own thing on either side of that stretch - with Kula Shaker launching headline dates starting September 16 (including Chicago and NYC), and The Dandy Warhols kicking things off solo with two shows in Salt Lake City and Denver on September 22 and 23.
On the Dandy side: they’re fresh off their Rock Remaker EP, which reimagines tracks from 2024’s Rockmaker (featuring Slash, Debbie Harry, Frank Black) via the minds of Ride, Trentemøller, and more. The EP's a total fuzz-drenched fever dream, and their live show? A full-throttle psych-garage blitz that’s being called “sonic noir” and “badassery” incarnate. Also worth noting: this may be their last tour for quite some time - as Courtney says, “a bit of a last hurrah.”
Meanwhile, Kula Shaker is in the midst of a full-blown resurgence. Their 2024 album Natural Magick topped the UK indie charts and was hailed as their best yet. They’ve recently released a new single (“Charge of the Light Brigade”) and are bringing their trademark spiritual psych-rock - with help from the Mad Alchemist Light Show - to a full U.S. stage experience for the first time in a while. (Single #2 off Kula Shaker's forthcoming album will be released on August 1st.)
Whether you want to cover the co-headline stretch or one of the solo headline shows, there’s a lot to dig into: two iconic bands from opposite sides of the Atlantic, each with new material, deep legacies, and wildly immersive live shows.
Kula Shaker and Dandy Warhols co-headline tour: * indicates Kula Shaker only / ^ indicates Dandy Warhols only Sept 16 - Chicago, IL @ Metro *Sept 18 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House *Sept 19 - Montreal, QC @ Le Studio TD *Sept 21 - Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall *Sept 22 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza *Sep 22 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall ^Sep 23 - Denver, CO @ Washington's Foco ^Sep 25 - Dallas, TX @ Longhorn BallroomSep 26 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk (Levitation 2025)Sep 27 - Houston, TX @ The Heights TheaterSep 29 - Santa Fe, NM @ The BridgeSep 30 - Phoenix, AZ @ MarqueeOct. 2 - Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory OCOct. 3 - San Diego, CA @ Humphrey'sOct. 4 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet'sOct. 6 - Los Angeles, CA @ BellwetherOct. 8 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
Scottish sibling duo The Cords announce their debut LP for Slumberland/Skep Wax, share "Fabulist"
FFO: Tiger Trap, Dolly Mixture, Heavenly, Shop Assistants
VIDEO: "Fabulist" -
Youtube / Streaming Services
The last few years have been quite a whirlwind for Scottish pop duo The Cords. Sisters Eva and Grace take their cues from forebearers like Dolly Mixture, Shop Assistants, Heavenly and Tiger Trap, reinvigorating the C86 sound with style and infectious enthusiasm. Since starting in 2023 they've released a cassette single and a Christmas flexi that garnered airplay and breathless press from around the International Pop Underground, and played with everyone from The Vaselines (their first show!) to Shonen Knife, BMX Bandits, The Go! Team and Camera Obscura.
Recorded over the course of six days with Jonny Scott (CHVRCHES), their self-titled debut album (out on Slumberland / Skep Wax on Sept. 26) is some of the most vital indiepop we've heard in years, bursting with boundless energy, youthful confidence, lively melodies and most importantly terrific tunes. From album opener (and first single) "Fabulist" to the heads-down rush of "October," from the punk-ish thrill of "You" to the instant classic "I'm Not Sad," The Cords have crafted a debut that handily transcends their influences and shows their firm grasp of all that makes great, timeless *pop*. By the time the dreamy slow-dance closer "When You Said Goodbye" rolls around you can't help but have fallen in love with indiepop all over again, and the only thing to do is lift the needle, flip the record, and start it over.
The Cords
The Cords
(Slumberland / Skep Wax)
Street Date: Sept 26, 2025
Pre-order HERE
1 Fabulist
2 Just Don't Know (How To Be You)
3 October
4 Vera
5 Doubt It's Gonna Change
6 You
7 Bo's New Haircut
8 I'm Not Sad
9 Yes It's True
10 Weird Feeling
11 Done With You
12 Rather Not Stay
13 When You Said Goodbye
THE CORDS LINKS:
Bandcamp
Instagram
Slumberland Records
Long Beach's Sweet Nobody shares new Joanna Newsom covers EP
Bandcamp / SoundCloud
Today Sweet Nobody is sharing three covers of songs from Joanna Newsom's classic debut LP, The Milk-Eyed Mender. Honoring Newsom's wishes to keep her music off of Spotify, this covers EP is only currently streaming on Bandcamp and SoundCloud.
"Someone put The Milk-Eyed Mender on my iPod forever ago and I’ve loved Joanna Newsom ever since. Early on in the band it was a shared love of ours and Brian had the idea to cover 'Bridges and Balloons' at live shows. Whenever we’d play it, there was a Joanna super fan or two who would inevitably make their way up to talk to us about it after the show. We originally recorded it for We’re Trying Our Best, but ultimately decided to stick with original songs for that project. It became a track without a home for a while, which we always thought was a bit sad.
The other two covers were privately commission by a good friend of ours as a birthday gift for her partner. It was an easy yes! These are recordings that we’ve come back to listen to many times, so it feels fitting to finally release them for other folks to enjoy." - Joy Deyo / Sweet Nobody
Sweet Nobody BIO:
Combining a deep love of melody with a penchant for noise emanating from suburban garages everywhere, Sweet Nobody writes anthems for the soft-spoken, the unassuming, the overlooked, and the under appreciated. Formed in 2017 and continuing despite the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Sweet Nobody has managed to release two albums recorded and mixed by LA indie rock wizard Joel Jerome—Loud Songs for Quiet People (2017) and We’re Trying Our Best (2021)—both of which have garnered acclaim and singles featured on tv and radio.
Their upcoming album, Driving Off to Nowhere sees them expand on their garagey jangle pop sound to include the New Wave transfiguration of late 50s/early 60s teenage pop, post-punk tones, unabashed 80s radio power pop and it’s heartland rock intersection, the romance of shoegaze / dream pop, college rock and those r&b influenced moments of 80s UK indie.
Sweet Nobody
Sweet Nobody Plays The Songs Of Joanna Newsom
(Self-Released)
Street Date: July 22, 2025
Track List:
01. Bridges & Balloons
02. Peach, Plum, Pear
03. The Book of Right On
SWEET NOBODY LINKS:
Instagram / TikTok / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube
