On the new album the band said,”Violent Oblivion is that violent break with the outside world, our own emotions, and the encounter with our traumas. Through the songs, it represents the different mental states Violent Oblivion can put us in. The powerful catchy melodies and lively instrumentals conceal deep and strong feelings, mental problems, excitement, fear and despair. Getting out of this Violent Oblivion is a big challenge, so we eventually hang on to find some hope and love to cope”.

Speaking about the new single OAKMAN said “This song describes the feeling of trying to maintain a proper attitude when everything’s going wrong. You’re pretending to be okay when everything’s falling apart inside you and you start to lose it. You’re mad at yourself because you think it’s your fault and people are blaming you. Sometimes it’s too hard to pretend, so you just want to throw it all away.

“This song has a sarcastic tone. When you’re slowly collapsing and people keep complaining and blaming you for everything, while you’re just trying to survive. Not to mention the very negative feelings about yourself you’re confronted with, after some time, you simply want to throw everything away. When things aren’t going well, it’s easy to end up having this “attitude”, that bitchy one I like to call “proper attitude”.

Violent Oblivion:

1. I Am Floating…
2. Ricochet
3. Spiral
4. Proper Attitude
5. Missed Connections
6. Air Hunger
7. I Wish Myself To Be Happier
8. Curse
9. A Letter To Them
10. Violent Oblivion
11. Acte Manqué
12. Love Picture Soundtrack
13. …Faraway In Space, Forever

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Lyon-based trio Oakman have released their brand-new single ‘Air Hunger’. An upbeat masterclass in spiritual survival set to a soaring electronic score, ‘Air Hunger’ sees Oakman collaborate with Aurélien Mariat once again for a beautifully retro and fantastical music video. “’Air Hunger’ is about the profound desire to escape one’s mental state and try to breathe again. Running away from reality is a solution that ultimately brings you back to the same issue” says Marine Lazillotta. She continues “it’s something I often do, something we all do. It’s how we turn life into a redundant anxiety and then we suffocate and struggle for air. Behind those moody notes and a quite joyful atmosphere, hides, as always, a touch of melancholy in Oakman. I wanted to share with you some of my feelings through our music, just what I felt, with honesty.”

Twee-extraordinaire Majorette releases a brand new track titled, ‘One Glove’. The song is the first single off of her upcoming EP, Forever Starts Tuesday, due January 23. ‘One Glove’ listens like a reverse strip-tease: totally bare with just a single vocal track and syncopated drum beat. Slowly layers are added on, culminating in a three-part round. Lyrically, the song is exactly the opposite. Singer Danielle Salomon tells the story of selling off her clothing one season at a time in order to make ends meet, finishing with the lyric “looks like this year, I’ll be completely nude.”Inspired by a lost mitten and an ill-fated water park incident where Salomon resorted to tobogganing in a pair of athletic shorts after selling her swimsuit— ‘One Glove’ is equal parts cheeky and tragic. The new single has been paired with a music video shot entirely on 16mm, featuring Salomon in a variety of vintage period-piece costumes she hand sewn herself. Drawing from pin-up style calendars and MGM musicals- specifically ‘Beautiful Girl’ from Singin’ in the Rain and Leslie Caron’s introduction scene in An American in Paris — the video for ‘One Glove’ is one minute and 30 seconds of decadent delusion. The video was directed by Paul DeSilva (Wetsuit), and shot by cinematographer Martin Parsekian, set design by Elizabeth Chaney, lighting and technical direction by T. Michael Culane. This video marks the 2nd collaboration with this team, after last years’ ‘Crockpot’.

Following a series of successful releases with ‘Love Myself’ and ‘Deadweight’, former Hot Chip and Kano vocalist Valentina drops her much awaited EP All Are Lost. Alongside the EP, she releases the focus track ‘Flutes Over Dudes (The Last Time That You Cried)’ and the accompanying music video. Written back home in London after returning from a soul-searching trip travelling across LA, Mexico and Costa Rica; ‘Flutes Over Dudes (The Last Time That You Cried)’ is a sombre, yet playful musing on the idea of being ‘too much’, after being broken up with in the middle of Costa Rica, and realising she had repeated a pattern that she really wanted to break with that relationship. The lyric “If it seems like I’m too much, maybe you’re not enough. I don’t want more, I want it all” is the beating heart of this track and a line that many others will be able to relate to. With her signature hazy vocals layered over airy pads and atmospheric flute instrumentation, Valentina captures an audience with a hauntingly honest tale of finally putting herself first. Of the track, Valentina said “To the people I’ve had in my life who do not take responsibility for themselves, and who almost wear it as a badge of honour, expecting someone else to do the emotional labour for them – “You’re proud you can’t remember the last time that you cried, but you hurt everyone around you in the meantime”. I wasn’t going to downplay or undermine myself anymore or make myself less intimidating or more agreeable for people. I wasn’t going to pretend I didn’t need things that I needed. It feels like maturing, growing into yourself in a way, and letting yourself inhabit space that’s been squashed or stifled for a long time.” Alongside the focus track, Valentina drops the music video for ‘Flutes Over Dudes (The Last Time That You Cried)’ inviting us into the artistic, minimalistic and somewhat surreal visual imagining of the track. On the video, Valentina says: “Working with the director Alex Corona on this video, we were looking to be playful with the tone and juxtapose against the rawness of the lyrics. The photographic and contemplative setups in black and white felt like it sat in the right space for the theatrical plays on emotional states of being.”

Minneapolis trio VIAL have been having fun this year, whether that means taking on the bold task of covering Nirvana’s ‘Territorial Pissings’ or unleashing an angsty ska-like song called ‘just fine.’ Now, they’re back with more antics: a track called ‘ur dad.’ ‘ur dad’ is, essentially, a gender-swapped ‘Stacy’s Mom.’ At under two minutes, it packs in enough father-seducing to kill a Victorian child: “And, I hope this doesn’t make things weird between me and you/ But I loved seeing him at his barbecue/ Grilling weenies in his cute little apron/ Oh GOD, he really gets me going.” [via Stereogum]

Dove Cameron has released a new video from her debut album. ‘Sand’ follows on from recent drop ‘Lethal Woman’, and is from her full-length Alchemical: Volume 1, out now via Disruptor Records/Columbia Records. “‘Sand’ is about a person who I loved very much, and who I thought I was going to spend my life with,” she shares. “It’s about the experience of having that seemingly perfect relationship end so suddenly and without warning, the feeling of shock and overnight disintegration of the future you built together, realizing no matter how much I gave of myself, I still had so little of him in the end, and the feeling of being unable to get back even the smallest pieces of myself that I had given away. I hope when you hear this song, it helps you learn to trust your instincts when you fall for someone, and hold out for the one where the more you give, the more they give. Don’t be afraid to lose the ones who can’t possibly see you, not because you aren’t incredible, but because they never could in the first place.” Of the album, she adds: “Alchemical: Volume 1 is a report from the void of my own personal experience with love, sex, loss, trauma, darkness and eventually transformation and healing. I hope you hear yourself and we can meet in these moments in time together.” [via Dork]

For nearly a decade now, Albuquerque-based rockers Prism Bitch have evolved their balance of garage-rock riffing and playful theatricality that bleeds into much of their discography (to say nothing of their famously over-the-top videography). They’ve released a slate of singles since 2021’s PERLA LP—most recently this past April’s ‘Woman,’ which mercilessly drags just about every song with that title written by a man over the past 50 years—and now they return with their most fascinating period piece to date. ‘City Nights’ is a pastiche of mid-’80s haze, with the electronic drumbeat and ambient synths bringing to mind the decade’s stadium-filling pop hits and the muscular guitars and cowbell of the chorus swinging in the direction of the glam metal fad (all of which makes Lilah Rose’s occasional exaggerated butt-rock vocals feel ahead of their time). The track, of course, comes paired with a ludicrous video which continues to pay homage to the ’80s by using James L. Brooks’ romcom Broadcast News as a jumping off point as it depicts the local news in comic tones. “We were able to get all this help from our community in Albuquerque and ended up making something really fun,” the band’s Lauren Poole shares. “It’s important not to disengage from the world around us with all the intense and very scary things happening. It’s also important to keep fun alive, and we really hope that this song and video will brighten someone’s day.” [via FLOOD]

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SCP, an acronym for “sugar-coated pill,” is the band’s third EP which follows up their sophomore EP, Plastic World, released back in 2018.

The EP shines a light on the trio’s growth through the addition of 80’s style synths, punchy drums and a groovy bass, all the while keeping their core pop-punk energetic guitars.

We asked the band to break the EP down track by track for us. Read it below.

Night
Night is the first concrete song that came out. It set the tone. During covid-19, we had written a lot of little things. We were satisfied but we felt that it was not enough. Something was missing. Then something bad happened to me, I went to the hospital, I almost died there, but in the meantime, Geremia was unknowingly writing the hook of our first single. When I listened to it, it was obvious. I knew right away what to do, I was very inspired by the vibe. The melody, the lyrics, the production, everything was simple and flowing. It is the first song we worked on with Bertrand Poncet at Alias studio and actually our very first time working with a producer.This song is very important for us because it allowed us to see more clearly in our writing but also reminds us through the lyrics how much life and all that it brings us is a treasure that we must cherish before I close my eyes.

Murder
We weren’t really looking to do a song like that. I was exploring synths sounds, learning about them when suddenly I came across this bass sound that I thought was pretty cool. I randomly pressed a G# on my midi keyboard. So I thought, what if I just imitate the way an arpeggiator plays just to see how it would sound. And then it went like ta ta ta ta ta ta ta and I was like “Woah so cool, that really inspires me!»Sometimes it really starts from nothing. That’s the magic of it all!Then the melody for the verse came pretty much instinctively and were mixed of real lyrics and chewed up lyrics. Quickly, I had the verses, the chorus with 60% of the lyrics. I was really inspired but definitely not ready to finish it. I didn’t work on it for 8 months. Then one day it finally happened, Murder was done.Sometimes you just have to give it time even if it started pretty well.

Fantasy
I don’t know why but this song often makes me think of the jungle. Don’t ask me why.Fantasy is a bit like a strange dream, a bit crazy and whimsical.Again, it was finding the synth hook that inspired us to write everything else. It was very difficult to be inspired during Covid-19 by anything other than sadness and depression. So I tried to imagine my tiny apartment in a different way, like a child. I imagined that I was in a daydream and that everything was moving and changing around me. That there were crazy characters and that my life was like a strange dream, like in Alice in Wonderland.No I assure you I am not crazy. But it was necessary to boost my imagination a little, especially when spending most of the time locked up.Finding meaning in the lyrics often inspires me to build the song. I like to talk about hope, renewal, self motivation. So this song is a bit of all that.

SCP
SCP which stands for “Sugar Coated Pill” is the last song we wrote. On this track, we wrote the instrumental first and for a while I had no inspiration to write any lyrics. I thought the song was too poppy, too catchy for what I wanted to express in words. Finally after a lot of listens, each time I found that there was a sarcastic side. I didn’t really want to write about something sarcastic but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. At the same time I was watching a show called “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” where the character reminded me of a part I had played when I was doing theater. After talking to the guys, they had the same feeling I had about that track. And that’s how we wrote the lyrics for SCP.In terms of instrumental, the construction was very much done around the little guitar gimmick and the drums. For the record, I was very sceptical at the beginning about this song, I couldn’t get into it. But I’m very happy with what we managed to do with it in the end. Sometimes you have to trust blindly.

Lucky Charm
Lucky Charm is the oldest song. It was just a piano song at the start. I didn’t know at that time what direction to take it but I didn’t want it to be just that. We thought together about how to make it different but every time, it was pretty much a fail.. I was thinking too logically.It wasn’t “what would I do with this piano version” but rather “what wouldn’t I do with this piano version”. So I started stepping out of my comfort zone and worked on it in a way that I wouldn’t have thought at first.It was difficult because I had no idea how to do it since I was going against my inspiration. But at the same time, my inspiration was leading me nowhere for this song. So I didn’t have much to lose. Bertrand added the perfect touch and the right one to conclude this track. In the end, without knowing it, it was the version I had always imagined for this song. Very different from the rest of the EP but very stimulating as an artist. Lyrically, I was thinking of all those stories of people who have loved each other all their lives and I pictured them, probably remembering their past life together, their love for each other.

All The Way Up
All the way up was thought to be an intro song of an album or EP and it is finally the song which closes this EP.For this one, we wanted something that felt like a fresh start. That excitement when something new is waiting for you. That desire to embrace life, new challenges, new paths. It’s a great feeling. Very precious.I started with this little guitar intro and Jessie followed up with some toms. We love how toms could sound. It’s pretty powerful, especially live.This track was also an opportunity to geek out on analog synths. It was the first song we tested out to see if we felt comfortable with using synths. I always wanted to dig into it but never had the opportunity. This track was the right one.For the record, I had a preset on my DAW called All The Way Up and that’s how I found the title. Actually, I didn’t have any lyrics. I knew what I wanted to talk about but I needed like a «sign» , finding the title paved the way…up……

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Björk has released ‘atopos,’ the lead single from her upcoming album Fossora, which is out at the end of the month. “it is a good intro …. kinda like fossora´s passport,” she wrote in a tweet. “sonically a heavy bottom-ended bass world we have 6 bass clarinets,punchy sub drilling,nesting and digging us into the ground.” She officially announced Fossora last week, revealing that she worked on the album with Indonesian duo Gabber Modus Operandi and had contributions from serpentwithfeet and El Guincho. Prior to that, she teased that the album would sound like “clubbing in the living room.” [via Stereogum]

Sorry are about a month out from releasing their sophomore album, Anywhere But Here. They’ve shared two singles from it so far, ‘There’s So Many People That Want To Be Loved’ and ‘Let The Lights On’ and now they’re back with another great track, ‘Key To The City.’ It’s gloomily groovy and gloriously bitter and sad. “I know that you’re somewhere out there, out there, getting fucked in someone else’s bed,” Asha Lorenz sings on it. “You said I always looked like a deer in the headlights in the headlights/ I still look lost in this city, in this city.” “‘Key to the City’ is a song that stemmed from a very specific situation in my life but that I hope has a more universal resonance,” Lorenz said in a statement, continuing: “It’s meant as a kind of tender ‘fuck you’ at the dying moment of a relationship you don’t necessarily want to end – when it’s hard to reconcile feelings of anger, jealousy, resentment etc. with the undeniable love you still have for that person. That crossover of pride and vulnerability led me to an image of a deer in the headlights. It’s about trying your hardest to retain control when you know you’re exposed emotionally, sexually, spiritually, everything. In the nude of the headlights, in the nude of someone’s love. The song came together after the original recording session and stemmed from Louis experimenting with new tunings to give us a bit of a push. This one has a Nick Drake feel. We wanted it to sound cinematic and lonely.” [via Stereogum]

Sudan Archives’ Natural Brown Prom Queen is out now. She’s also shared one more single , which joins previously released tracks ‘Home Maker,’ ‘Selfish Soul,’ ‘NBPQ (Topless).’ This one’s called ‘OMG BRITT,’ and it’s hard-hitting and concise, a celebration of what happens when you let loose. [via Stereogum]

Em Beihold takes viewers on a tour of the museum of anxiety and offers advice on how to overcome a panic attach in new video for ‘12345’ directed by Scott Felix. The singer says: “In writing ‘12345,’ my co-writers Dallas Caton, Alex Veltri and I wanted to bring attention to the 54321 method used to help ground you during a panic attack. The method involves naming 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Panic attacks are scary, but the point of this song is to remind people of ways to help stop them and to also remind everyone that they’re not alone.”

France based pop/rock trio, OAKMAN is thrilled to announce their upcoming EP, SCP, will be out September 30 via Rude Records. SCP, an acronym for “sugar-coated pill,” is the band’s third EP which follows up their sophomore EP, Plastic World, released back in 2018. The EP shines a light on the trio’s growth through the addition of 80’s style synths, punchy drums and a groovy bass, all the while keeping their core pop-punk energetic guitars .Alongside the EP announcement, the band has also shared the title track of the EP. The pastel-soaked video for ‘SCP’ goes hand-in-hand with the nostalgic instrumentals and vocals as OAKMAN brings a taste of the 1980’s to the modern day while infusing it with their own unique brand of indie-pop/rock. About the song, the band says, “Marine was watching a show during lockdown called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The main character reminded her of a character she had played when she was doing theater. After the foundation of ‘SCP’ was written, she wrote the lyrics about these two characters. ‘SCP’ is a sarcastic and second degree track about the fear of loneliness and not being loved at all costs with a neurotic side.”

Exploding out of their hometown of Toronto, MONOWHALES have been putting a new lease on the alt rock genre. ‘Change###’ sets the tone for their brand new record, Tunnel Vision, produced by Dave Schiffman (Vampire Weekend, PUP). Hook-heavy, but more groove-based, ‘Change###’ pushes the boundaries of what a rock song can be. The focus track features an explosive rhythm-section in the guitar solo and lead vocalist Sally Shaar’s Robert Plant-esque wailing of emotion carries into the final chorus. Drummer Jordan Circosta explains, “We wrote’ Change###’ at a time when it felt like the world was spinning out of control. I’ve never seen so much division in my life. People were in a lot of pain, and the media was taking advantage of that, pitting people against each other like caged animals. Some of it was valid, some of it wasn’t, and at a certain point it became almost impossible to tell the difference.” He continues, “The Tunnel Vision mindset had us staring into the void through our phones, trapped in the echo chamber. But that same focus, when pointed towards music and our love for each other, helped us navigate hopelessness, nervous breakdowns, and worse. Like we say in the song, all we could do was focus on ‘keeping it straight, under the weight of all this ‘Change###’.'”

Iconic singer-songwriter-rapper-artist Brooke Candy embarks on her next musical era with her first new single in more than three years. ‘Flip Phone’ is available now at all DSPs and streaming services. The uncompromising electro-powered new track is joined by an official self-directed music video, produced by PAPER Magazine – the NYC-based magazine’s first ever foray into music video production – with South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster. “I wanted this to be the first song I came back with because I had the most fun making it, and I’m just having fun right now,” Brooke Candy shares exclusively with PAPER. “The video was a challenge to make because I wanted it to come out so perfect. And it did. We rented a rain room in LA and just went all out with the help of PAPER and Gentle Monster. Some parts were inspired by Pamela Anderson in Barbed Wire.”

Rising artist LUCI (pronounced Loo Chē) will release her debut EP Juvenilia on September 23 via UK label Don’t Sleep. Across the EP LUCI’s incomparable vocal dexterity and incredibly self aware and reflective mindset are on display as she explores everything from empowerment, self reflection, pride and completely unfiltered self expression. Written over the course of 2 years, it was brought to life through collaborations with a number of artists and producers including Glass Animals’ Edmund Irwin-Singer, who mixed the entire EP. Now fans can experience another taste of Juvenilia via LUCI’s new single ‘Gnarly’ which was recorded with Tickle Torture (Elliott Kozel) and and Safe Jazz (Jesse Schuster). Of the song she notes, “This song is just about being in your bag. Poppin yo s and backin it up! My music is about digging deeper inside to find your gold. You don’t have to bury or tame anything. You need to be diligent and sure – people love to be struck with striking authenticity. The video feels a lot like I am lighting the world up from the sunken place.” [via Broadway World]

Petite Meller hopes to influence the world through music she dubs “peace pop”. The French-Israeli pop singer advocates for peace among nations through music. Sporting her signature porcelain doll makeup complete with rouge cheeks and bleached hair Petite Meller takes the spotlight in the music video for her new single ‘The Drummer’ where she dances, marches and gallavants in a world completely occupied by children. Petite says the peace she is advocating for is for children, “In this song I’m shouting for peace. Piece of existence. Peace of mind. That’s why I call it “peace pop.” Particularly children brought up in countries like her native Israel that are often defined by violence, “Having grown up with war around, I like to give a stage to kids who come from tough backgrounds. So they can navigate it by wandering into and getting involved with art.” Those who know Petite’s music adore her, her fans are devoted and enjoy the fantastical elements she brings to her videos paired with shots of Petite embracing the dress and scenery in various countries. Many of the moments in ‘The Drummer’ were shot in Russia during 2021. The song is inspired by and takes its name from the book The Tin Drum by Günter Grass published in 1959. It seems like an obscure book for a twentysomething-pop singer to reference but not to Petite. The singer holds a Masters in Philosophy and utilizes her education when conceptualizing new projects that comment on global issues through her creative work, “Music videos allow me to create realities I can live in. Realities where I can cry out and sing at the same time and meet real people all over the world. Discover their culture and folklore. And together we create a new public movement in moments that raise us up, as we dance our pain away. ‘The Drummer’ is the pop singer’s first video in a year, her new album is set to be release in 2023. Petite Meller will also be selling her outfits worn in the video via Instagram and is donating the proceeds to raise money for scholarships for children of the Rockwell Dance Center who danced alongside her in ‘The Drummer’. [via V Magazine]

Don’t let the facial piercings and D.I.Y. snarl fool you, carolesdaughter (née Thea Taylor) has the power to transmute turbulence into strangely soothing alternative pop anthems awash in lo-fi glitch, bedroom acoustics, and gutter goth elegance as heard on her newest single ‘sunshine and roses.’ The trailblazing alt-pop artist’s haunting track has been paired with an ethereal music video companion piece showcasing carolesdaughter’s love for the dramatic and cinematic.

Sultry vocals, an alluring cadence and a velvet-coated soundscape: the very components that coax us into Tristan’s brand new single, ‘Human Allergy’. It’s “about a break-up where several people are hurt,” explains the Belgian artist. Mimicking the watery movement of her spellbinding production, the accompanying visual for ‘Human Allergy’ shows Tristan performing routines of fluid contemporary dance — allowing her lyrics to soak deep into the skin of whoever bears witness. “There is a You, She and He, and I always speak from an omniscient perspective about how they think, what they feel when these are just ideas I impose on myself. For example, the voice in the pre-chorus is a kind of ‘devil on the shoulder’ that only whispers negative things in my ear,” says Tristan. Touching on sentiments that resonate with anyone who has been unlucky in love, the lyrics unfold stories of deceit and adulterous thoughts while the devil-like pre-chorus continues to hold the melody hostage — eventually causing Tristan to cave into temptation and become the object of her initial despise. Elaborating further on the concept, she explains, “The video is a kind of translation of all the voices in your head, which are all projections. I chose a kind of dream-like atmosphere that feels very unnatural, so I also wanted to work in scenes where only very small details sometimes return from previous scenes because in dreams nothing actually seems logical and yet everything can feel very realistic.” Plunging us into an almost dreamlike state, it is safe to say Tristan has made us all succumb to the aftereffects of a ‘Human Allergy’. [via Wonderland]

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About the song, the band says, “‘All The Way Up’ represents this long journey in a life between fear, hesitation and the desire to never stop going further. Since we were born, we all have dreams that we never stop fighting for. For which we will always be regarded as an alien by others because we are often misunderstood and not supported. And when everything else gets in the way, it’s often psychologically hard to continue to find strength. But every day is a new day and every day brings a new strength to keep going all the way up.”

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Following the extra-curricular electronica of her Projections EP for Technicolour released earlier this year, Polish techno misfit VTSS takes another sharp turn as an artist in ascendance with the vocal-led mutant pop of her long awaited and highly speculated debut for Ninja Tune, Circulus Vitiosus. Across four tracks, her musical character steps further into the light, backed up by razor-sharp production. VTSS (real name Martyna Maja) shares hypnotic new single ‘Incredibly Annoying’ alongside a striking video directed by Furmaan Ahmed and Vasso Vujovic (who have previously shot Willow Smith, SOPHIE and Dorian Electra).

Los Angeles punk-leaning four-piece Reckling (led by Kelsey Reckling) is back with the announcement of their forthcoming EP, Human Nature. The new project is introduced with the release of its first single, ‘In My Hair,’ released alongside an accompanying music video directed by Ambar Navarro. Following their raw and scuzzy self-titled debut release in 2018, Reckling went into an actual recording studio this time around to record their still raw, but louder and more energetic EP Human Nature. The goal was to showcase how the band’s sound has evolved since their 2018 release, and to more accurately reflect how they sound during their live shows.

Claude—the Chicago based existential dream pop solo project of Claudia Ferme—has shared ‘roses’, their second and final single off their upcoming debut full-length, a lot’s gonna change, produced with Michael Mac (Tenci, Tasha, Devin Shaffer, Mia Joy) and out August 12 via American Dreams Records. The single ‘roses’ arrives alongside a Reilly Drew-directed music video. On the track, Claude issued the following statement: “‘roses’ was inspired by a line in Love in the Time of Cholera where the protagonist starts eating flowers and roses because of how obsessed with someone he is. I think in the novel it’s supposed to symbolize how his obsession became all-consuming but I thought about a rose and the thorns on its stem and how someone eating a rose was a perfect metaphor for how as humans we’re so self-torturous, mentally and emotionally, and very unforgiving of ourselves. In the video, we wanted to show this imagery in a more abstract way while still including actual roses – I made the purple top and gray dress and am wearing other pieces that have peaks and spikes and that play with the making and release of tension to show the back and forth we have with ourselves in certain situations.”

New York City-based indie-pop singer-songwriter, Aubrey Haddard shares an electrifying fourth single, ‘Future Boxes,’ along with its stunning black-and-white, Jean Cocteau-inspired video. Haddard’s second full-length album, Awake And Talking, will be out August 19 via Beverly Martel Records. On dense, electric ‘Future Boxes,’ Aubrey Haddard peers into her future, attempting to imagine what lies ahead. She ponders the idea of going through life the way others expect one to, and aims to avoid making life all about checking boxes rather than living in the present. Haddard sings, “Future boxes Make you feel good / Doing things everyone says you should / My four sides are more like suggestions / Maybe I’ve got too many questions.” The track begs the question, though it feels good to do things in a conventional way, might there be more fulfilling alternative paths? “We all have, at some point, an idea of what our lives could look like. We take the steps we can to get there, checking some boxes, with or without that bigger picture in mind,” says Haddard about ‘Future Boxes.’ “At the end of the day, none of us are uniquely ambitious but some will find more fulfillment in carving out their own paths.” The Josh Rob Thomas-directed black-and-white video, between quick shots and an array of angles, zooms and kaleidoscopic effects, shows Haddard alone inside a house, often breaking the fourth wall and examining her own reflection, and conceptually lends itself to the primary themes of her forthcoming LP. “I had a lot of fun making this video because we got to take every tiny detail of my Jean Cocteau obsession and see if we could pull it off. It’s a total testament to the concept of the record as a whole,” shares Haddard.

Clocking in right under the two-minute mark, morgen’s new single ‘Mom Jeans’ is straight to the point fun. As a first taste of her upcoming second EP, ‘Mom Jeans’ arrives alongside an official video that feels like a page ripped from a Lisa Frank coloring book. A lighthearted jab at anyone who has ever told her how to dress, morgen unleashes all the creativity that has been bubbling up in her as she, like many others, had to watch her adolescence speed by while trapped at home. morgen’s second EP is slated to arrive this Fall via Avoca Drive and Sony Music Australia. “’Mom Jeans’ is the first time I’ve truly spoken out in a song,” says morgen. “It’s about body image and how people’s opinions shouldn’t affect the way you present yourself, because you deserve to wear whatever makes YOU feel good.”

The video for November Ultra‘s ‘Come Into My Arms’ encapsulates the song’s themes in a story that’s as touching as it is tender. A young girl is woken by falling rain, which prompts her to head out on an adventure. She leaves home, catches a train, and then glances upwards as she reaches her destination. At this point, the rain stops and a twist emerges: the girl is a drawing by her creator, another young girl, and their reunion stops her tears – the rain – from falling. Visually, it was inspired by animations which blend big emotions with a palpable sense of nostalgia, such as Bambi or the work of Studio Ghibli. The video was produced by the renowned French creative team Remembers. Headed by Felix de Givry and Ugo Bienvenu, Remembers’ previous work includes striking animated visuals for CHANEL’s Métiers d’art show, the Opéra national de Paris, and the music video for ‘At The Door’ by The Strokes. Tamerlan Bekmurzayev says, “When I draw, I am to go in search of what is magical and beautiful in our world. To be a child again; to find magic in every moment and to be amazed by everyday life, by the sight of a tree or a cat. November Ultra sent me some photos of her as a child and I was able to imagine a character who looked a bit like her, so that her voice could blend into my universe and this visual could be ours. I wanted to create a dream-like memory which might seem ordinary for an adult, but which is new, adventurous and therefore significant for a child. My goal for this video was to create a light, poetic comfort – one that helps us find and console ourselves, just like the little girl does.”

Philly-based punk rockers Vixen77 return with their newest single and video ‘Record Store,’ distributed via Megaforce Record. This rowdy jammer is about discovering that your seemingly well-cultured ex is now dating someone with terrible taste in music. What conversations could they possibly be having? The accompanying colorful video sets the scene, complete with an unexpected outcome at the end. Guitarist Elizabeth, who initially came up with the concept of the song, expands, “It’s about when you first start dating in high school, making mix tapes for each other, and you find someone who loves music as much as you do. If you break up with someone, at the very least, I hope you got a couple of new bands to listen to. That’s what ‘Record Store’ always comes back to — loving music.”

La Shana Latrice has dropped visuals for her latest song, ‘Say No More’. Throughout ‘Say No More’, La Shana focuses on self-love, mentioning that if she had a choice to be anything she wants La Shana would be herself. With the assistance of Regina ‘Regg’ Smith, La Shana packages a great song with her euphonious vocals working well alongside the beat. The visuals come in the form of a colourful public service announcement which La Shana uses to speak to the ladies and fellas to hammer in her important message on loving yourself. [via GRM Daily]

LA indie pop act Jazzie Young drops ethereal track ‘wonderland is wonderless’, capturing the sweet, honeymoon stages of a relationship. With a slow-burn piano-led soundscape built around Young’s sultry yet bold vocals, the soaring track is all about the initial sparks we feel in a relationship before the fairy tale romance crumbles and falls away into gritty reality. Taken from her forthcoming sophomore EP, ‘wonderland is wonderless,’ is infused with vibrance and vulnerability equally, accompanied by a lush, rose-tinged music video paying ode to the Alice In Wonderland references in the song writing. Shot and directed by an all-female team, helmed by Jazzie herself as executive producer, creative director, and stylist, the music video has empowerment at its base despite themes of heartbreak and pain framing it. [via Earmilk]

Confronting dark themes sparked by a turbulent past two years on new album We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong (released in its entirety in May with no advance singles), Sharon Van Etten has unveiled suitably unsettling visuals for standout industrial-pop anthem ‘Headspace’. Directed by Ashley Connor, the leather-clad US songwriter is joined in her stylishly minimal video by dancers Coco Karol and Miguel Angel Guzmán — writhing around on a bed as Van Etten is consumed by the omnipresent white glow of a monitor screen. “When I was writing this song, I wanted to talk about domesticity and intimacy frustrations under the tensions of working at home and seeking connection while being tied to our devices and still trying to reach each other as lovers, parents, humans… Reminding each other that there is still a primal attraction even in the midst of the mundane and repetition of everyday life,” she says. [via Under The Radar]

Willow Kayne has dropped a video for her new track, ‘White City’. “White City is an interesting place to live,” she explains. “Everyone’s experiences are completely different to one another, like many places in London it seems. Gigantic new buildings appear constantly, old buildings are being destroyed everywhere I look. When I walk down the street here, it is a complete mixture of people. I don’t know any of them and I like it here because they certainly don’t know me. We are simply all out here for ourselves.” Of the video, she adds: “Since moving to London, a lot of my music revolves around this idea of my inner child’s perspective. Finally I got to bring this idea to the table for White City, bringing out the mini Willow. The video is taking the lyrics in another direction, creating a surreal version of London. We covered the city in weird monsters and gave the buildings eyes in the process. I found Hati (@hatti.hatti.mas) on tiktok a while ago and just knew he was the perfect guy to bring that to life for us. I love nothing more than juxtaposition so that’s exactly what we went for with this video; a child’s perspective on a scary scary world. Like my other videos, we always crank up the saturation to add to the child’s perspective. When I was a kid, the world was a lot more colourful… I still chase that in a way. I love working on videos with my friends and Tommy Davis is one of my favourite people to do that with!!” [via Dork]

After years and years of sharing protest bangers, Pussy Riot’s first full-length project is finally on the horizon. The Russian pop group/art collective have announced that their debut mixtape MATRIARCHY NOW will be released on August 5 on Neon Gold Records, and as a preview, they’ve shared its lead single ‘PLASTIC’ featuring ILOVEMAKONNEN. MATRIARCHY NOW includes a handful of collaborators, including Slayyyter, Big Freedia, and Tove Lo, the latter of whom also executive produced the project. Its release date comes just ahead of the 10-year “anniversary” of when three Pussy Riot members were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred,” and spent two years in jail for protesting Russian president Vladimir Putin. On ‘PLASTIC,’ Pussy Riot parody society’s unrealistic expectations for women to be demure, reticent, and submissive at all times: “I don’t shit, I don’t eat/ I don’t even fucking breathe/ If you cut me, I don’t bleed/ You’re the only thing I need,” the band’s ringleader Nadya Tolokonnikova raps over a bouncy pop beat. In the surreal, Haley Bowman-directed music video for ‘PLASTIC,’ Pussy Riot are miniature versions of themselves dressed in frilly lingerie, waiting to be deformed and dismembered by a young boy — think an R-rated version of Sid’s bedroom in Toy Story. [via Consequence]

Twenty-year-old Zoe Wees returns with her new single, ‘Third Wheel.’ While upbeat and infectious, the highly relatable song explores the heartbreak of loving someone who’s still obsessed with their ex. The track was produced by Patrick Pyke Salmy and Ricardo Muñoz, who helmed Wees’ debut EP, Golden Wings. The official video for ‘Third Wheel,’ which was directed by Gabriella Kingsley (Fireboy DML x Ed Sheeran, ArrDee x Aitch), scales the song’s musical highs and plumbs its emotional depths as the singer is taken from a sunflower-packed room to a darkened bedroom to an exuberant performance with vibrantly-clad dancers. Speaking about the song, Zoe Wees said, “It’s so awkwardly heartbreaking to be the third wheel in any relationship. Although this song’s meaning comes from a really tough moment in my own life, I hope this song will make some people reminisce about their own similar experiences as times when they learned to grow.”

OAKMAN have released a new music video. The new music video, for the track ‘Murder’, is the brand new single from the French pop-rock trio and follows on from their last single, ‘Fantasy,’ which was released back in May. The new music video was directed by Aurélien Mariat. Speaking about the new song and its accompanying music video, the band says, “this song pictures sexual harassment and abuse. It tells how it can affect a person’s life and continue for the rest of their life and grow into pure hate. So in the music video, the victim, represented by Marine, finally becomes the murderer and the murderer becomes the victim. We are inside Marine’s head, in her revenge. But at the end we realize that she is still imprisoned and stuck in it and that she can’t escape this trauma.” [via Distorted Sound]

Award-winning French pop trio Hyphen Hyphen share the official music video for their new song ‘Too Young’. The video, directed by Daniel Zak and Hyphen Hyphen with styling by Pierre Cardin, is taken from the band’s forthcoming new album C’est la Vie due this fall. The video was shot at the Observatory of Nice, their hometown. “There is a light. You are not alone,” says Hyphen Hyphen. “When we crafted this song, we dreamt of an anthem that could combine all our energy and hope. For the music video, we pushed our imagination up to the stars!” [via Broadway World]

Jack River has returned with her first new music of the year, sharing a sunny new single titled ‘Real Life’. The summery track sees the singer-songwriter pivot to a dance-oriented sound, with hints of disco, funk and soul. Its upbeat production comes courtesy of Xavier Dunn and The Belligerents‘ Lewis Stephenson, who helped River create the song. An accompanying music video also arrived with the cut, as vibrant as the single itself. Directed by W.A.M. Bleakley, its use of bright, neon colours radiates ’90s energy, featuring clips of River, butterflies and some old men sunbaking in their budgie smugglers. “One sunny afternoon in the depths of lockdown I was over feeling feelings,” River explained in an Instagram post. “I just wanted to swim with strangers in some sparkly foreign sea, see a mariachi band walking by on the sand, and maybe have a conversation with a friendly dolphin underwater. Anything to get me away from death scrolling and endless headlines about how awful the world is. I wanted to get back to Real Life. Whatever that was.” [via NME]

Doll Spirit Vessel’s second single ‘Something Small,’ taken from the band’s forthcoming debut album What Stays, is out now. The Philadelphia-based trio of Kati Malison, Max Holbrook, and Lewis Brown debuted just last month with ‘Train Brain Rot,’ a captivating indie rock song full of rollicking grooves, angular guitar licks, stirring, emotive vocals. ‘Something Small’ is decidedly dreamier in nature, with its slower beat and hypnotic, reverb-laden guitar creating a summery sun-drenched beach vibe. A welcome haze, the song invites us all to take a step back from our bustling lives and find our inner peace: A state of balance and bliss. “I think it’s pretty common for songwriters to want to express something specific or profound through a particular song, and that does happen, but you often can’t decide what’s there at the surface and ready to come out,” Doll Spirit Vessel’s songwriter and lead vocalist Kati Malison explains. “‘Something Small’ came about a couple of summers ago when I was doing a song-a-day project with some friends – the day before I wrote it I had really toiled over an old song shard, trying to make it something it wasn’t ever going to be. It felt similar to how trying to remember my past sometimes can feel, like I’m grasping for something I both know is there and know I won’t find. ‘Something Small’ is the answer and antidote to that frustration.” Doll Spirit Vessel’s accompanying music video invariably captures the spirit of ‘Something Small.’ Made by Malison along with Jon Cox, Veronica Magner, Priyanka Padidam, and Mark Morley, the visual stars Malison’s dog, while also creating a sensation of space, ease, and circular motion. Interspersed about a primary shot of the dog playing with a large ball in an open cemetery, we see Malison spinning on a playground merry-go-round, a light bulb being screwed in, a hamster in a ball, globe spinning ’round, a basketball twirling on a finger, and so on… It’s a lightly dizzying experience, and one that simultaneously captures the weight of needing things to be perfect and just as you want them to be, and the act of relinquishing said weight and letting things be. “My dog’s favorite activity is herding playballs, and I thought it would be fitting to capture the simultaneous playfulness and intensity of her playing with them for the ‘Something Small’ video. After spending so much time and energy on the video for the first DSV single, I kept insisting this one would be simpler. But when we all got together to plan for the shoot, a whole world organically emerged for the song. We started by brainstorming cyclical things and then thought of all the ways we could have them invade each other’s space.” [via Atwood Magazine]

Nashville power-trio The Foxies recently announced the September 23 release of their debut LP, Who Are You Now, Who Were You Then?. Now, the band is thrilled to share their cinematic new single and accompanying Ryan Sheehy-directed video for ‘If Life Were A Movie,’ which follows on the heels of the euphoric ‘Headsweat.’ Their full-length debut is the sound of a band boldly embracing their wildest and most unpredictable impulses. Speaking on ‘If Life Were A Movie,’ vocalist Julia Bullock reflected on the song’s themes: “When I listen to this song, I see a horror rom com. It’s built around the cynicism I have from giving so much love and somehow never being able to have it reciprocated. So, In a movie… all my exs would be killed off first, and nobody wants to be that guy.” [via Music Existence]

Alt-pop artist Madeline The Person has released her new single, ‘Why I Broke Up With You,’ an endearingly honest peek at a relationship going down in flames. The song arrives alongside a video, which finds Madeline reflecting on her past relationship through a doll-like lens, frustratingly watching as the zombified version of her ex-partner tears down the house they built together. The track is taken from her upcoming EP, CHAPTER 3: The Burning, out July 15. On the song, Madeline focuses on the liberation that can come from a particularly painful breakup. “Growing up, I dealt with my father’s addiction, so I have known from a really young age what an absent mind looks like. I knew how it felt to be talking to a completely different person, who you knew wouldn’t even remember what you were saying. My ex’s dependence on a substance uprooted the trauma of having to take care of an addicted adult as a little girl. I just couldn’t be that little girl again, so I left. That was what was healthy for me.” [via Prelude Press]

Isabella Manfredi has announced the release of her debut solo album, izzi, alongside the release of a sizzling new single titled ‘Naive’. Teaming up with rapper PRICIE, who delivers a fierce and commanding guest verse, the sultry track sees Manfredi take command of two equally important aspects of her life – motherhood and music. Throughout ‘Naive’, Manfredi shares a sparkling tale of colliding worlds with a solid confidence and smooth melody. izzi is set for release on Friday September 2 via Island. In a statement, Manfredi said of her debut solo album: “[It’s] unique in that it felt like an exploration and development of a new artist and also the culmination of a decade’s vision. It is like a beginning and an ending in that sense. That’s why I called it izzi. “I wanted to capture her essence but also create space for my true adult self to have longevity and move beyond her if I needed to. I am ‘izzi’ but she is not me.” [via NME]

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“The meaning of this song is deep and quite tricky to explain. It’s about sexual abuse and everything that is related to it,” says lead singer, Marine. “I know that ‘Murder’ is a strong word, but I wanted to represent through it the hatred, anger and sadness that the trauma of rape or sexual abuse can leave on a life. The character in the song finds herself constantly imprisoned by her traumas, which end up killing her from the inside. So in her dreams, she hopes to kill her abuser the same way that he ‘killed’ her. Very often, the extent of such acts is underestimated or even ignored for the abuser, while the victim will have to live with it all their life. I think this song can speak to anyone who has experienced a traumatic situation where they were the victim. The topic doesn’t matter. It’s your life, your experience. We all have dark times in our lives.”

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