New single ‘Black Box’ infuses this post-punk spirit with spacey trip-hop beats and an irresistible melodic refrain. Izzy says, “The title ‘Black Box’ refers to the black box in a crashed plane. The repetitive synth is supposed to suggest a plane gliding as it crashes/ an alarm distress call. I was listening to the Leonard Cohen album The Future a lot around the time the lyrics were written. It’s a pretty straightforward critique of people that have sold out on a large scale, specifically within creative industries. Thierry Mugler said, “art used to tell money what to do, now money tells art what to do” and the world is a less interesting place because of it.”

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On Is It Now?, Automatic uses perky minimalist grooves and pop melodies as a Trojan horse to wheel in political commentary about automated warfare, mindless consumerism (as on the previously released title track), or the political influence of oil. On ‘Lazy’ they turn their attention to the early days of a relationship plagued by self-doubt and overthinking. The lyrics address a love interest and take back power: “The thing you thought you wanted / Was just the image of control”.

Working with a producer for the first time, Loren Humphrey (Arctic Monkeys, Nice As Fuck, Cameron Winter), and balancing solo lives and varying temperaments, Automatic recorded Is It Now? in New York and L.A. They cast their net of influences wider, too, nodding to longtime favourite Patrick Cowley as well as A Certain Ratio, Air, and the moment in late-1970s British music when dub collided with punk.

‘Lazy’ might be a love song – or an anti-love song – but like all Automatic songs, its message comes with a healthy dose of dark humor and a swing in its step.

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Izzy says the lyrics of new song ‘Mercury’ 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.” Musically, the song was inspired by jazz and trip-hop. When writing the bassline, Halle was heavily inspired by the Stones Throw catalogue, and a breakbeat sample made for an even bigger departure for the band. As Halle puts it, “our old ideas and new ones crashed together and resulted in this third album’s sound.”

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.

Since their last record, 2022’s Excess, Automatic toured with Tame Impala, The Marías and IDLES, while the members’ individual lives took on new meanings. Izzy dove into music production and rescuing stray cats; Halle left behind bad habits for good and enrolled in botany classes; Lola now lives in the country, immersed in nature and spending most of her time with horses. Since forming in 2019, they’ve locked in as a band, discovering their collective synergy as musicians. For their third album, they brought on producer Loren Humphrey (Arctic Monkeys, Nice As Fuck, Cameron Winter). Humphrey encouraged them to play live and loose: long takes, a rhythm section that really breathes.

Much of Is It Now? unfolds at a trance-like tempo, paced so you could either dance along or think contemplatively alongside it – ideally, both. 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.

Is It Now?:

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 (طرفي)

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Singer-songwriter OLI is back with lush soundscapes and feel-good pop songwriting on the new single, ‘Float’. The London based artist’s powerful vocals pierce through the melancholic piano backing, forming a dancing melody that puts the layers of OLI’s incredible voice front and centre. ‘Float’ is the first new music to arrive from OLI since her acclaimed duet with Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan ‘Does That Hurt’, which was released earlier this year. The song begins with intensity, the keys echoing as it progresses, swelling to an outburst of falsetto backing and peaceful rhythmic textures on the chorus. Lyrics filled with emotion and longing on “If I could float up I would see it all how I know I should” tackle the dreamlike aspect of the song as OLI incorporates themes of satisfaction, positivity, space, and wonder on the downbeat pop track. “My dad actually came up with the lead melody, he was playing around on guitar and sent me the idea.” Says OLI, who started her alt-pop songwriting journey as a child growing up in a musical family. “It made me think of all those feel-good Disney songs that leave you really happy and satisfied at the end. The idea of Floating up above everything and everyone fit so perfectly with it too. I think it’s something many people imagine. We are pretty small in the grand scheme of things so it’s easy to feel existential from time to time. I just wanted the song to paint that emotion in a more positive way. I personally take a lot of comfort in knowing how much there is out there.” The new single is also released alongside a visually remarkable Heini Susanne directed music video, which sees the contrast of childlike wonder and summer days with pensive nights by the water in the stunning wilderness settings: “I am extremely proud of the video. It was filmed in Finland by the production company Cocoa. We wanted it to seem slightly dreamy but also darker. Heini and I took inspiration from ‘where the wild things are’ which I think really shows in the end product.”

Taylor Swift has released a new video for ‘Bejeweled’. It follows the video for ‘Anti-Hero’ which dropped last week. Swift shared her 10th studio album Midnights last Friday, October 21. In usual form, the Cinderella-style visual has Taylor joined by famous friends including Danielle, Alana and Este Haim, Laura Dern, Jack Antonoff, Pat McGrath and Dita Von Teese. Eagle eyed fans have spotted that in a previous trailer for the Midnights visuals, imagery appears that we have not yet seen in the videos released so far, so it’s likely that at least one more will be on the way. In a still from the video, where differently coloured buttons in a lift reflect her discography, fans have also noted that the 13th button shares the colour with ‘Speak Now’, increasing speculation that Taylor’s Version of her 2010 album will be next re-record to arrive. [via Dork]

New York-based trio, Tchotchke releases the ‘50s-inspired music video for their single ‘Wish You Were a Girl,’ following the release of their self-titled debut album. The video, which stars band members Anastasia, Eva, and Emily as distraught runaway-brides and housewives, is a statement on rejecting traditional feminine ideologies. “The entire video plays with this fictitious smokey dollhouse world where the band runs away from all feminine responsibilities and forced ideologies,” director Ambar Navarro shares. Throughout ‘Wish You Were a Girl,’ we see the trio trapped within the confines of heteronormativity, and as it progresses, we see them grow increasingly frustrated, leading to their eventual escape from these age-old ideologies. [via FLOOD]

ella jane has spent the last few months teasing her sophomore EP Marginalia with a string of sugary, heart-pounding pop songs about chasing love and trying to hold onto it. But on ‘Warhol,’ the LA-based singer isn’t searching for a partner—she’s searching for herself. “I’ve been waiting forever to be noticed,” jane sings on the track, “I’ll keep twisting the image ’til I’m not myself at all.” The final cut on the EP is a tender but confident piano number about shapeshifting into someone new and then trying to figure out which version of yourself fits best. “I originally planned for it to be a song about this guy who told me I reminded him of his girlfriend—something kind of fun and stupid,” she shares. “But soon the line ‘’Cause lately I don’t have a shape / I’m blurry lines without a face’ spilled out, and it quickly became obvious that I was writing about myself. I’ve always been a big believer in ‘fake it ’til’ you make it, but the acceptance of my public persona—a much more confident, self-assured girl—as me has made me question who the real ‘me’ actually is. So in short, this song is an exploration of that.” [via FLOOD]

Last fall, Adele returned with 30. The formidable piece of work revealed the singer at her most vulnerable and human, sharing intimate recordings about regrets, panic, and familial love. Now, she’s reminded us that it’s nearly been a year since the release of her most personal album by dropping a video for the Eltonian ballad ‘I Drink Wine’ that was directed by Joe Talbot. Here, in a fairytale forest, Adele lives out one of my dreams: Floating down a lazy river in a couture gown with bottomless rosé at the snap of a finger. And even though it sounds perfect, there’s a sense that this fantasy is too good to be true. “They say to play hard, you work hard / Find balance in the sacrifice / Yet I don’t know anybody / Who’s truly satisfied,” she sings as she passes a charming fisherman who catches her eye. Later, he swims to her and is pushed away by the synchronized swimmers guarding Adele with libations in hand. By the end, Adele wants out of this adult version of the boozy It’s a Small World ride, rejecting the delusion of ego. Heavy stuff. [via FLOOD]

Seattle-based songwriter Puck is among a unique category of artists whose musical career has unfolded in a particularly non-linear fashion. Their debut record Best Friend is set to arrive next month, yet they’ve already performed on SNL and toured the country performing massive headlining gigs playing keyboard and contributing backing vocals to an impressive list of artists most notably including SZA and Maggie Rogers. Yet with Best Friend, Puck is free to follow their own path, with new single ‘Trapped’ demonstrating just how raw and out-there their songwriting instincts can be. The opening track and second single from the collection sets the scene for the record both by spotlighting Puck’s vocal talents and intriguing synth palette while introducing a lyrical “Shakespearean chorus” narrating the full lifespan of a doomed toxic relationship. “I wrote chords that are reminiscent of Michael McDonald,” Puck shares, citing influences on the new single. “Thundercat’s first record, The Golden Age of the Apocalypse, is one of my favorites of all time and was a huge influence for me. The drums are sampled from drum machines lent to Lily Wen and I by Gotye, whose studio was upstairs from Figure 8 where we were recording.” Watch the Devin Gant–directed video for the track, which weaves together reality, fantasy, and horror elements over the course of the track’s five minutes as Puck is seen getting lost in thought as the ice cream slowly drips off their cone and down their hand. [via FLOOD]

Electro-pop powerhouse artist Dragonette, aka songwriter/producer Martina Sorbara, returns with the final focus track ‘T-Shirt’, lifted from the new full-length album Twennies out now through BMG. Regarding ‘T-Shirt’ she added, “This song came together so fast that I can barely remember the process of writing it. Every songwriter has had the experience of leaving the studio to get a drink or take a pee and inadvertently coming back with one of the missing keys to the song. I have a strong memory of that with the chorus of this song. But I literally have no memory of writing the verses. It’s like they pre-existed the session. Every song writer has that experience as well. The result is feeling like you just got given a present, out of nowhere, and it’s not even your birthday. I love this song for its lush cuddle of warmness while lyrically it most definitely does not want to cuddle.”

London indie pop songwriter Eaves Wilder returns with new melter ‘I Stole Your Jumper’. 2022 ends with a bang for the London artist, who has just inked a deal with independent powerhouse Secretly Canadian. It follows a string of impeccable singles, fusing indie rock tropes with pop to create a raucous yet melodic sound. A full EP is slated to land in January, with Eaves opting to kick off her new era with ‘I Stole Your Jumper’. A rabid, three-minute cruncher, it’s a song about the pettiness of a break-up, and learning to re-assert yourself in fresh ways. Thirsting for revenge, ‘I Stole Your Jumper’ amplifies her early charms, laying down a marker for what could follow. As she puts it, “it’s a very British and passive aggressive revenge fantasy.” [via Clash]

A couple years back, the Los Angeles band Suzie True released their charming debut album, Saddest Girl At The Party. Now, they’re back with their first new track since then, the fuzzy and bright ‘Backburner.’ “I wanna get drunk on the metro/ Yeah, I wanna cause a scene/ Want you to kiss me in the rain/ Like some romantic comedy,” goes one of its punchy, ramshackle verses. “I wanted ‘Backburner’ to feel really sentimental both lyrically and musically,” the band’s Lexi McCoy said in a statement. “The song is about being in love with someone who keeps you on the ‘backburner’ instead of prioritizing you. You would do anything for them, but they don’t really care about you, they’re just having fun and toying with your emotions in the process.” McCoy continued: “Once all the instruments come in, the song feels like it takes off running, like how your imagination might run wild with dreams of being with this person in the song. The choruses slow down to feel sad and melancholy, coming to terms with the fact that you’re being used by this person. We wanted the instrumentation to sound angsty but wistful—wistfully angsty!! The way it ends feels unsure and sad because that’s how the situation has led you to feel.” [via Stereogum]

SZA has finally released ‘Shirt,’ a single that she first teased on Instagram in early 2021; that snippet ended up going viral with an accompanying dance on TikTok, and SZA preformed the track for the first time in a livestream later that year. The track was also teased in the music video for SZA’s last proper single, ‘Good Days,’ a song that came out nearly two years ago. ‘Shirt’ is the latest (maybe) dispatch from SZA’s sophomore album, the long-awaited followup to 2017’s CTRL, which marked its 5th anniversary earlier this year with some bonus tracks. The song’s Dave Meyers-directed video, co-starring LaKeith Stanfield, ends with a lengthy tease of another new song called ‘Blind.’ There’s also a license plate with a “DEC” sticker in the corner, which has some fans speculating that a new SZA album called NO CTRL could be dropping in December. [via Stereogum]

After dates in New York, Boston, and Atlanta, Automatic have shared a new video for ‘Teen Beat’, taken from their new album Excess (out now via Stones Throw), On the song, the band explain “The title was taken from a preset on a dinky drum machine, and the song is about the chaos of climate change descending upon Gen Z.” [via Northern Transmissions]

Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul are closing out the year with a gauzy video for Topical Dancer track ‘Mantra.’ In a press release about the song, Adigéry and Pupul said, “’Mantra’ is a reworked version of our Yin Yang Self-Meditation, the audiovisual meditation tape which we released back in 2019. We used elements from this original recording in ‘Mantra’ such as the stream of consciousness and the the heartbeat which we sped up to use as one of the bass drums in ‘Mantra.’ Whereas Yin Yang Self-Meditation invites you to look inward, we invite you to express yourselves with ‘Mantra.’” [via Pitchfork]

There’s something breezy and refreshingly uncomplicated about the indie-pop sounds of Daisy the Great—even when the subject matter of their music delves into the complex realms of causality and relativity raised by the hypothetical existence of time travel. With their sophomore record All You Need Is Time out now, the pair are sharing one last single with the swooning sci-fi anthem ‘Time Machine,’ which Kelley Nicole Dugan and Mina Walker wrote alongside Coyle Girelli and Carter Matschullat—and which they call their favorite song they’ve ever written. “As we were all talking at the beginning of the session, Coyle brought up an article that he’d read that morning about a group of physicists who were researching the potential for electrons to move backwards into the recent past, which was being billed as evidence that time travel might be possible,” they recall. “We got so locked on that idea and we all kept talking for a really long time about time travel, fate, regret, second chances, loss, love… “Eventually,” they continue, “we started to imagine writing this giant song, set at the end of the world. Kel sat down at the piano and started playing these really epic, crunchy chords and Min started yelling ‘Are you listening to the clocks in this house / They are growling at me saying, how can it be that the whole world is falling apart.’ That became the intro, and then the rest quickly spilled out of us. After that day, the song became an immediate favorite in our tour set and we could not be more excited to be releasing it.” [via FLOOD]

Bad Waitress have released a video for their new song ‘Racket Stimulator’. The video was directed by Danny Alexander. The song appears to be a standalone single and is out now via Royal Mountain Records. Bad Waitress released No Taste in 2021. [via Punk News]

Dropping a string of singles throughout the year, Derbyshire-born but London-based singer and songwriter Sophie Kilburn releases her new EP Not Bitter, Just Bored via Luna Sky Recordings. A five-track collection detailing her journey through the stages of overcoming heartache, from the initial pain to rebuilding her self-worth and confidence, it’s a body of work that showcases Sophie’s best work to date. Listing influences through the decades including 70s rock icons Fleetwood Mac, 80s pop frontrunners Blondie and Kate Bush, and modern songwriters Haim and Lucy Dacus, Sophie’s stellar alt-pop-slash-rock makes for a thrilling listen – and this EP is solid proof of that. Rife with addictive pop melodies, the EP explores heartache in all its forms. Touching on heavy themes by diving into gender conditioning and internalising pressures that transform into harmful behaviours during adulthood, Not Bitter, Just Bored investigates unlearning these early behaviours to enable us to have healthy relationships in the future. The EP’s lead single, ‘Love Condition’ [produced by Lloyd Hinhelswood (Mabel, Liz Dawson, San Soucis)], takes the form of a raucous blend of guitars and hearty bass patterns that showcases the light-hearted side to Sophie’s songwriting. Wrapped in warm synths and punchy percussion, the single aims to empower those who are finding themselves. Watch the Blind Date-inspired video above. “I wanted to find the funny side of frustration of heartache because it gets to a point particularly with selfish or toxic behaviour that it is just so predictable,” Sophie explains. “We all want to be loved but all have habits that suggest otherwise.”

NYC-based singer, poet, and musician Stella Rose is making her official debut with an electrifying, yet haunting single entitled ‘Muddled Man,’ released alongside a theatrical accompanying video. Wrote Stella Rose of her debut single: “With anger as it’s mother and disorder begging on its knees, Muddled man, Is grease in a comb, Cowboy killers in the left jacket pocket, A murder of your most precious possession.” ‘Muddled Man’ was produced by Yves Rothman (Yves Tumor, Girlpool, Blondshell). Stay tuned for more music from Stella Rose, out via KRO Records.

Hamburg based artist and producer Deniz Çiçek aka Kraków Loves Adana and former Chromatics members Ruth Radelet & Adam Miller have shared their collaborative track ‘When The Storm Comes’. The song is the first single off Kraków Loves Adana’s upcoming 7th album Oceanflower, out February 14, which Çiçek wrote between the winter of 2020 and 2021 in her home studio. The announcement comes with a Wesley Doloris directed music video for ‘When The Storm Comes’, where the musicians filmed contributing scenes in Los Angeles and Hamburg. While exchanging several song ideas for the new record with Adam Miller the demo for ‘When The Storm Comes’ especially stood out. “I came up with the title and the chorus almost 10 years ago but never managed to build a proper song around it. When I showed the demo to Adam it immediately struck a chord with the both of us”, Çiçek remembers. Both melancholic and anthemic, the song is about overcoming hardships and looking optimistic into the future. Ruth Radelet shares on the collaboration: “I became friends with Krakow Loves Adana after playing some shows with them in 2019. I am a big fan of their music and they are fantastic people as well, so I was excited when Deniz asked me to contribute guest vocals on ‘When The Storm Comes’. Filming the video was a fun project too – Adam and I had a great time running around LA together, and I love how Wesley Doloris’ shots of us work so well with Deniz’s footage from Germany.”

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Award-winning country soul singer-songwriter Tami Neilson has shared ‘Careless Woman,’ available now via Outside Music. The rebellious country-blues anthem is accompanied by a spectacular official music video – co-starring New Zealand-based actress Olivia Tennet (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Power Rangers RPM) and Ling Zhang of Parris Goebel’s esteemed Royal Family Dance Crew. “‘Careless Woman’ was inspired by a 1938 collection of ‘Dating Tips’ in Parade Magazine,” says Neilson, “one of which read, ‘Careless Women never appeal to gentlemen. Don’t talk while dancing, for when a man dances, he wants to dance.’ Director Abe Mora was inspired to bring this era to life and built an amazing coin-operated music box for me and my band of Careless Women to perform in, like a human jukebox. As the song plays, the women in the bar are empowered and begin to dance and throw off the oppressive rules of propriety.”

Beija Flo is back with a spectacular new video for her latest single ‘Waiting for the Sun’. The new visuals directed by Sam O’Leary (notable for his work with hit BBC series ‘Inside No.9’ and supernatural videos for the likes of Witch Fever and Bleach Boy) are as surreal as they are sublime and bring a whole new dimension to Beija’s latest release. Bearing witness to the day the laughter dies, the viewer is drawn into the back streets of Liverpool to the most unusual of murder scenes. Starring Beija herself, along with a cast of clowns and a sprinkling of psychedelic animation from the mind of Sam O’Leary, the results are a lysergic blend of tragedy and comedy that make for an engrossing watch. Speaking about the new video, its director Sam O’leary says: “I’m so grateful that Beija doesn’t say no to silly ideas. Because silly doesn’t mean you’re not taking it seriously. I think we’ve walked the tightrope between drama and comedy well. The clowns were fantastic and INCREDIBLY patient as we were shooting this in one take over and over again until there was no more sunlight left. And as the whole video is in slow motion, we had to do everything in one go at twice the speed. I always love making music videos for Beija, and ‘Waiting for the Sun’ is such a fantastic song to work from, especially in terms of getting to subvert expectations.” The video offers a fitting companion to ‘Waiting for the Sun’, a track which fuses a Sharon van Etten-esque sense for drama with a climactic orchestral bombast born for the widescreen. Initially written shortly after Beija was diagnosed with MRKH syndrome and experienced heartbreak for the first time, it’s a track born from under the darkest of clouds. Having lived with Beija almost her entire adult life until its release this year, the song has taken on many meanings and guises for her as an artist, but that sense of raw emotion is as vivid and palpable now as it was when she first penned it. Opening-up about the release, Beija says: “I suppose I find talking about ‘Waiting For The Sun’ so difficult because it’s a medal. It’s a big medal I wear across my chest, day in, day out. It was born in the middle of a war, and is now a growing series of very precious battle scars. It’s hope…. It feels like such a milestone in my life to finally be releasing it.”

Following the release of her March debut album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead, CMAT is sharing the video for ‘Peter Bogdanovich’. “I wrote the song Peter Bogdanovich after listening to a podcast about the making of the film The Last Picture Show,” CMAT explains. “To cut a long story short, Peter ran away and left his wife for yungwan (the lead actress in the film, Cybill Shepherd). I was taken by this particular story because I love his early films, and I loved finding out that his wife, Polly Platt, was the player who was actually responsible for what I love most about his films. I was really interested in everyone’s motivations – Peter for acting so selfishly, Cybill for throwing a bomb on a marriage and her work, and most of all Polly, for staying to work on the film even after the affair came out. I think it is a great allegory for the role that the construct of gender plays in all of our decisions, and how if gender and sexuality wasn’t really seen as such a rigid ‘thing’, our lives would be very different. I approached director Jake Passmore with the idea of doing a video where I was in Boy Drag because a) it worked with the theme of the song b) I thought it would be really fun. Himself and Sam Brautigan, who co-directed, then came up with a brilliant abstract treatment around me playing Peter Bogdanovich that involved choreography, Orson Welles and a puppet. What more could I possibly want? These are all my favourite things, and all of the actors and crew were wildly talented and so pulled it off, which I don’t think was easy given how weird the joint is.” [via DIY]

Following her outstanding debut EP far from home, Swedish singer and songwriter Mimi Bay shares a tender moment on the emotive track ‘helium cowgirl’. This lush return from the artist sees us entering the world of heartbreak with grace, charming our way through the pain with a dose of Bay’s incredible vocal range. On the new single, Bay strips back any bold instrumentation to allow her vocals to float gently over a minimalistic piano melody. A subdued moment in Bay’s catalogue, ‘helium cowgirl’ is a transcendent offering from an artist that has already impressed with previous releases. Resisting the urge to return with an outlandish statement, Bay’s calming, hazy and soft-in-the-centre single provides the goods without losing its impact. “‘helium cowgirl’ is about trying and failing to keep someone around and realizing there’s nothing you can say or do to change their mind,” Bay says. “Like gravity having no effect on helium.” The single comes paired with a silky 50s-inpsired visual that sees Bay in all her minimalistic glory. An evocative visual that pulls on the heartstrings, ‘helium cowgirl’ promises the recovery of heartbreak will be sad but short, an important moment in life where we truly find ourselves questioning our next move. Bay honestly confronts the notions of wanting to keep that person in your life because you believe you’d be lost without them. But in a few months time? You’ll be back out in the world, shining brightly with a new lease of life. [via Earmilk]

Kynsy has returned with a new single, ‘Point Of You’. “’Point Of You’ is me trying to work my way through the different sides of romance, happiness and disappointment,” she explains. “It’s about being stuck in the same cycle of falling in love with people who don’t or will never love you back and the feeling of tiredness that comes from attempting to have romantic relationships with people that never go your way. It’s about being love hungry for an honest and pure connection but being so fed up and dissatisfied by trying and trying that you start to ask yourself, ‘what’s the point’?” The new track comes alongside an accompanying video, of which she reveals: “We wanted to try and portray the pain and mental chaos that comes with rejection. We focused on the idea of a patient in therapy trying to unravel a failed relationship and slowly losing her mind as she analyses the relationship and herself. We wanted to try and create a visual representation of the chaos of an overactive mind by strange movement within a singular space.” [via Dork]

Ailbhe Reddy has a disarming sense of honesty. Lyrically, she’s an over-sharer – funny, astute, and always on-point, the Irish artist pours her feelings into her music, and let’s the world listen on their own terms. Her debut album Personal History landed back in 2020, was amid widespread acclaim it climbed to the shortlist of the Choice Music Prize. Surging into fresh areas, Ailbhe Reddy returns with fuzzy-buzzy new single ‘A Mess’ and it’s a riotous ear-worm. A helter-skelter pop song, ‘A Mess’ tries to pin down why those old patterns of behaviour forever shine through, a kind of self-analytical blast of guitar pop energy. She comments: “‘A Mess’ is about not feeling good enough in a relationship and examining old patterns and habits. It’s about feeling fed up of going around in circles, while focusing on a throw away comment that ‘no wonder it was such a mess’.” Georgia Kelly of CLTV directed the super-fun visuals, which match both the exuberance of the arrangement and the quiet melancholy of the lyric. Ailbhe adds: “I wanted to keep the playfulness of the music alive in the video and make sure it was tongue and cheek rather than very serious. Georgia came up with a few scenarios that were funny representations of feeling ‘not good enough’ and giving up.” [via Clash]

A few years ago, Becca Kauffman started performing as the alter ego Jennifer Vanilla while they were still in the art-rock band Ava Luna. JV has become Kauffman’s main concern over the past couple years, resulting in a lot of stray singles and 2019’s J.E.N.N.I.F.E.R. EP. Last month, they shared a single, ‘Body Music,’ and now they’re announcing a whole Jennifer Vanilla album, Castle In The Sky, out in August. Kauffman wrote and produced it with their longtime collaborator Brian Abelson. “That’s what the process of living inside of an alias has been for me, a way to identify the vision, see where you’re at, and close the gap,” Kauffman explained of the project. “I started Jennifer Vanilla so I could learn in front of people, and display a kind of curiosity and openness which I would probably be far too fearful to do without the cover of an alternate identity. It’s a distinctly Jennifer kind of courage to be curious out loud in this exhibitionistic way.” Jennifer Vanilla is sharing a video for new single ‘Take Me For A Ride.’ [via Stereogum]

Brooklyn-based musician and songwriter Grace Ives’ new album Janky Star is out now via True Panther/Harvest. Grace also has a new video for Janky Star track ‘On The Ground,’ directed by Sara Magenheimer. “Grace was one of my students who eventually became my assistant and friend,” Sara says. “I have been rooting for her for years, so in a way this video is a love letter to her, a way of showing how much I see in her and how truly incredible I believe she is. This video is also a celebration of music videos as an art form. I referenced Warhol’s work for MTV and Deee-Lite’s videos to honor the way in which this humble form has acted as a Trojan Horse, bringing experimental moving image art into homes across the world. I love the punk vibe of this medium and this video embraces its young wild history.” [via Brooklyn Vegan]

New York-based audiovisual project Sound of Ceres are sharing their new single and visual ‘The Fawn’ taken from their new album Emerald Sea. The remarkable visual (directed by Jacob Graham and cinematography by Michael Vanderpool) includes an appearance by conceptual performance artist Marina Abramović, who also provides narration across the record. Speaking about new track ‘The Fawn’, project member Ryan Hover says: “Venus Physica, Universe incarnate, completes their transformation into Venus Verticordia, changer of hearts. This is the final struggle of the human mind, a defiant creation of meaning within the cloud-tides of entropy, a last fever rage against the slow but unstoppable hand of time.”

Rina Sawayama has shared the visuals for her recent single, ‘This Hell’. Sticking to the country theme of her recent live performances, we see Rina making her way to wedding featuring cowboy boots, a stretch limo and a dance routine. The video was directed by Ali Kurr. Speaking about the filming, Rina shared: “It was amazing to get back together with director Ali Kurr (‘XS’, ‘Bad Friend’) for the video for ‘This Hell.’ We always like to tell engaging stories through film together so this one was about love and community in the face of hatred and dissent.” [via Dork]

Nova Twins have shared their new single and video, ‘Choose Your Fighter’. The song is taken from their 5* second album Supernova, out now via Marshall Records. They explain: “‘Choose Your Fighter’ is a motivational track. It’s got that go-get attitude that you need! There will always be obstacles thrown at you but this tune is about powering through, no matter what!” [via Dork]

Queer whimsical ethereal alt pop artist Summy has shared a new otherwordly video. Entitled ‘Said It After’, Summy confides that “this is a song about being in love with someone whose words can put you into a deep trance by saying all the things you want to hear. Only to realize that it was all a cover up for their demons and battles that were placed on you and ultimately, broke you. So when their words come out again, they mean nothing anymore because they ‘Said It After’ struck the heart for the last time.” The fantastical video is an immersive cinematic fairy dreamland. Watch above.

Burgeoning young singer-songwriter Maddie Zahm unveils the single and video, ‘You Might Not Like Her,’ taken from her forthcoming debut EP of the same name out later this summer on August 12 via AWAL. ‘You Might Not Like Her’ is a deeply personal track that highlights Maddie’s emotive vocals and allows her powerful storytelling abilities to shine. The release is accompanied by an equally moving video, directed by Gus Black, that acts as a tribute to her past and sees her current self reflecting on some of her most vulnerable moments. On the track, Maddie shares “‘You Might Not Like Her’ was the easiest song I wrote on the EP. Most of my past work has been about my relationships with other people and never about my relationship with myself. This was the first time I allowed myself to be truly vulnerable in my music and it kickstarted my project. It means the world to me because it’s how I came out to myself and my family.” [via Broadway World]

Maddy Jane has released her new EP Island Time, marking its arrival with a music video for the lead single ‘Eddie’. ‘Eddie’ is an anthemic cut from the Tasmanian singer, who screams “I don’t give a fuck, then I think too much / I’d rather be a woman than just keep my mouth shut” through the song’s chorus. Its accompanying clip was directed by Tas Wilson, and features Jane in a variety of settings, including a small bedroom, a tiger-striped chair, and a room with “Eddie” written all over the walls. [via NME]

From Naarm/ Melbourne comes the soaring melodies of art-pop singer-songwriter Georgia Fields. Making her debut in 2009, Georgia has an impressive collection of releases under her belt, as she introduces us to a new era with her latest single ‘Holding My Hands Out’, a vulnerable and fearless taste of what’s to come on a forthcoming album. With a steady foundation built by warm and wobbly key’s chords and intricate yet minimalistic beats, ‘Holding My Hands Out’s swirling synth melodies and layers of strings steadily build to a climax, Georgia’s vocals taking the lead dynamically as they dance between sincere and soft to powerful and soul-moving. Beautifully composed and delivered between gritty and dainty moments, the release is a testament to Georgia’s abilities as a songwriter and a vocalist. [via Pilerats]

Amidst a fast-paced world where social media likes and follow counts define our self-worth more than anything else, it can be all too easy to lose sight of what is really important in life. Having experienced this herself, LA-based indie pop artist Jazzie Young turned towards her tune-crafting to create ‘wallflower’ — a spellbinding tale of a woman clawing her way back to herself. Released alongside a moving music video, Jazzie buries herself in fallen petals as she reminds herself of the times she has spread herself too thin to please others. Under a blanket of sombre notes and uplifting synthesisers, ‘wallflower’ builds a narrative that is not only relatable to all but also has reassurance baked the whole way through it. As the track draws to a close, when the rising melody reaches a point of triumph, Jazzie regains her wings and learns to be there for herself in times of loneliness — a welcomed departure from the usual boy-saves-lonely-girl narrative. Elaborating further on the track, Jazzie explains, “‘wallflower’ is a song I wrote about the pieces of myself I had lost or changed in my attempt to please the people around me. It’s an intimately produced song that tells the story of how I ended up disconnected from myself and through that admission, how I was slowly returning to a more authentic and whole place. The accompanying music video reflects the ups and downs of this process through imagery of loneliness, coinciding with metamorphosis and a heavy emphasis on shadows vs light.” [via Wonderland]

There’s a cold, unfeeling place where young entrepreneurs enter as the “World’s Best Entry Level Employees” and exit as cash-chasing nightmare bosses. And Automatic just captured that hell in a lone, shiny ‘Skyscraper.’ The Los Angeles band dropped a video to accompany their single ahead of their forthcoming album Excess, due out June 24 via Stone’s Throw. The Alex Thurmond-directed vid conveys a detached corporate dystopia where morale plummets with the stock market and “every dollar gets you off.” Her carefully-place visual gags — such as a “please no crying the lobby” bulletin — match the caustic bite of lyrics like “No country or cause / You’re lost in the fog / Your skin is so tight now / You can’t move at all.” “’The pitfalls of capitalism and corporate life can be easy to fall into,” shares Thurmond. “American Psycho and Office Space were both points of reference, the glorification of monotonous tasks and success measured by climbing the corporate ladder. Those movies have such an over-the-top, satirical quality that really matches the tone of the song, and it was fun to play that up.” [via Vanyaland]

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