Leicester-born, London-based Shivani Day releases her new single, ‘Blue Car’ via FAMM. Channeling her thoughts on self-worth and closure, ‘Blue Car’ offers an insight into Shivani’s inner thoughts capturing an amalgamation of feelings. Co-produced by Shivani and 23Sunz (BXKS, Joe James), the dark-yet-ethereal sonics make for a textured backdrop for Shivani’s contrasting vocals. The cinematic ambiance is inspired by the Tron Universe and it’s pulsating ice-blue palette referenced in the Jay Green-directed (Biig Piig, Lava La Rue, Izzi De Rosa) video. Over the past three years, Shivani has governed her creativity with a sound that carries her South Asian heritage, the influences garnered in her life and a refined synergy between instrumentation and her voice. “I began the process of ‘Blue Car’ in 2022, and it was initially a freestyle to express a stream of emotions. Working closely with 23Sunz was great, he pushed me to use my voice as an instrument and carve the final sonics in an abstract way. Creating it in the summer, paired with the darkness of the beat and lyrics resulted in a beautiful contrast. It was important to let the track breathe and allow the production to have its moment too.”

Singer, songwriter and producer Rosie Lowe triumphantly marks her musical return with a new single and accompanying video, ‘Mood To Make Love’, setting the scene for a fresh chapter in her celebrated career. The release not only showcases Lowe’s evolution as an artist but also serves as her first solo endeavor since 2021’s Now, You Know a compelling collection of self-produced demos, and her collaborative album Son with longtime friend and kindred spirit Duval Timothy. The self-produced ‘Mood To Make Love’ unveils a captivating blend of soulful melodies, intricate rhythms and delicate vocal work, all crafted with Lowe’s signature minimalist finesse. Lowe invites listeners on an intimate journey, exploring themes of desire, self-worth and human connection. In her own words; “‘Mood To Make Love’ was written on a warm evening in Spain and we wanted it to sound like our surroundings. It is a moment of self love and an acknowledgement of what I have to offer my partner.” Accompanying the release is a visually sumptuous music video, directed by Lowe’s brother, Louis Hemming-Lowe. Through languid visuals, the video brings the song to life, offering viewers a cinematic experience. From its striking cinematography which plays with angles and perspectives, to its raw, emotive performance shot through with surrealism, the ‘Mood To Make Love’ music video is a testament to the creative synergy between the siblings. Rosie says, “I knew I wanted to keep the team small and work with people I know, trust and love so I decided to collaborate with my big brother, a director, on the music videos. We wanted the visuals to feel much like a dream sequence. We shot it on a very cold January morning on a small rowing boat on a river in Devon, and somehow lucked out with the 1 x sunny day we got in January!”‘ Hemming-Lowe adds, “I wanted to create an abstract, fantasy feel with hand drawn animation elements and dream sequence symbolic connectivity. Themes of nostalgia, looking back, looking forward, time and repetition, the reliving of episodes and memories, beginning and ending, life and death. I wanted the viewer to do the work to figure these out, much like waking up from a dream and trying to decipher the meaning.”

After releasing the single ‘runrunrun’ last year, My Chérie has already doubled her 2023 output this year with February’s ‘Don’t Compare Yourself’ and her new tender sonic exploration of the intricacies of human existence, ‘Darkness & Gold’. An addictive combination of hip hop and alt-pop, ‘Darkness & Gold’ features a boom bap inspired beat alongside some tasteful guitar licks and atmospheric synths with My Chérie’s engaging vocals alternating from warm, inviting dulcet tones to spitting laidback bars to great effect. Speaking on her new single, My Chérie explains “‘Darkness & Gold’ is my candid portrayal and deep dive into my human experience of the internal struggles we all face. In confronting themes of strength, vulnerability, and the pursuit of self-improvement, I want to acknowledge the efforts of trying and the tricky journey of figuring ourselves out.” Meanwhile, the music video shows this journey in fantastical form, with My Chérie transported from the comforts of watching Betty Boop in her living room to an enchanted forest type setting with everything not being as it first appears. “The music video brilliantly captures the essence of our inner dichotomy. It delves into the juxtaposition of embracing our ethereal, confident personas while also confronting the raw vulnerability of our human experiences. The intertwining narratives in the forest setting vividly portray the complexities of our inner selves, from our stories and pain to our dreams and aspirations”, explains My Chérie. [via Pilerats]

Okay Kaya, the Norwegian-American alt-pop artist born Kaya Wilkins, is back with her first new single since 2022’s SAP. This past winter, Wilkins wrote her new single ‘The Groke’ on a small island at a temperature of -25 degrees Celsius (that’s -13 Fahrenheit, Americans). It’s billed as a pop song about our ever-changing ecological landscape. “I was thinking about The Groke as an apt lore of the Nordic countries brutal seasons, and about how climates around the world are getting more temperamental,” Wilkins says. “The chorus end sentence is borrowed from Timothy Morton’s Dark Ecology.” Below, watch director Julia Patey’s video for the track. [via Stereogum]

Daphne Guinness releases her new single ‘Dark Night of The Soul,’ from her eagerly anticipated fourth album, Sleep, out June 21 via Agent Anonyme Recordings. The baroque ‘Dark Night of The Soul,’ featuring strings arranged by Tony Visconti, drips with loss and builds with a cataclysmic tension towards the final chorus, where Daphne’s vocals vault into her upper register like a glimmer of hope. ‘Dark Night of The Soul’ is accompanied by a hypnotic and mesmerising video. Speaking about the single, Daphne says, “That song is speaking to the fact that in the loneliest moments of one’s existence there is hope and there are other people who are going through the same thing. Yes, we’re living in a state of uncivilisation and we’re living on the edge of many catastrophes, but we are human beings! We need to bind ourselves together in these bleak moments. It’s about that feeling of being alone but also recognising that there are other people there. When you’re at the depths of despair it’s a reminder that there is something there. The first line in arcadia ego is a reference to a painting by Nicolas Poussin. The lyric ‘We’re living in intemperate times/In the twilight of our gods’ is a reference to a schism in society. All the established religions are slightly off course. But before the last two millennia of gods, there was another way. And also, the idea of God and religion manufactured into some relatable human form. Captured in a suitably stylish and timeless monochrome, David LaChappelle’s video for ‘Time’ turns the clock back to Berlin in the 1930s. The setting is backstage at a cabaret and tensions are running high, leading to a violent conflict between Daphne’s character and a club boss – played by David himself. But the show must go on. Daphne’s performance is beguiling and magnetic: her star quality enamouring an audience of larger-than-life characters. Yet a little of that earlier schism remains…”

Cross Dog have released a video for their new song ‘Jane Roe’. The video was directed by lead vocalist Tracy A and the video features appearances by Valerie Knox and Emily Bones of The Anti-Queens (who also provide backing vocals). The description for the video contains links to Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights and Plannet Parenthood. The song is off there upcoming album All Hard Feelings which will be out on June 7 via Stomp Records. Cross Dog released their album Hollow in 2019. Check out the video below. [via Punk News]

La Luz have released a new album, News of the Universe, via Sub Pop. Now they have shared its fourth single, ‘I’m Always in Love With You,’ via a music video. The band is led by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Shana Cleveland. She had this to say about the new single in a press release: “To me this song is the heart of the album. I get emotional every time I hear it. Lyrically it’s about realizing that love is the only thing that matters and that it’s always a choice that I’m able to make. It’s hard to explain how huge that is, but if you get it you get it. In the guitar solo that closes the song I can hear myself blasting through all the fear and stress of the year before, the most difficult time of my life, and moving past all of that propelled by the dedication to live in love. The video for this song is inspired by the Japanese camp horror film House.” [via Under The Radar]

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Leicester-born, London-based Shivani Day releases her debut single, ‘Rhetoric’ via FAMM. Laying fresh roots into untouched soil, ‘Rhetoric’ was co-produced by Shivani and close collaborator Minas who weave traditional South Asian musical forms into textured elements of Electronica and R&B. Having discovered her moral compass at an early age, the creative process encouraged Shivani to re-visit early memories to inspire themes of identity, equality and integrity. The Erea Ferreiro(Ojerime, Odeal) directed video resembles ‘Rhetoric’ according to Shivani’s vision – and her initial mood board – with subtle nods to her heritage, from styling details to a mesmerising snake which is an integral symbol in Indian mythology. Dedicated to conquering her self-inflicted limitations, Shivani intends to let her carefully curated soundscape speak for her inner thoughts.

Directed by Maegan Houang, Mitski‘s ‘Star’ video feels timeless, and like a modern film by famed Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi boiled down to its most abstract elements. “Unlike the more narrative/concept driven videos Mitski and I have done together in the past, I wanted this video to encapsulate the impressionistic circularity we all experience. Our lives oscillate between light and dark repeating itself in an endless cycle where nothing is permanent. The best moments are fleeting, but so are the bad,” states Houang. The ‘Star’ video was filmed on a small pond overnight in summer 2023 and presents Mitski performing on a boat in real water amongst painted pieces of wood, creating the illusion of mountains in the background and eliciting what Houang describes as “an otherworldly, atmospheric feeling” to perfectly match the song. Mitski and Houang have a history of collaborating.

Glaswegian alternative indie-pop artist Zoe Graham shares new single ‘Evilin’ – a brass-backed journey of confusion created by a person who’s no good for you. Guitars curdle with plush synths and tautly machined drums, as Zoe draws influence from Kate Bush (she shares a knack for catch-you-off-guard choruses with the ‘80s icon), St Vincent (Daddy’s Home was a regular backing sound during writing sessions), and Beck (“he’s very free as a songwriter; everything’s thought through, but it’s not painstaking”). She leans on David Bowie’s advice not to stay grounded in your deep pool of ideas, but rather to push up and off, and let your toes just brush the floor from time to time. “’Evilin’ is a battle cry” says Zoe. “It reads like a reenactment of how it feels to be purposely confused. Evilin is a channeller of emotional exhaustion. Someone you feel like you depend on and feel scared of all at once. Someone you will put before yourself, and not in a fun way. She isn’t good for you, but there’s something about her you wish you could be more of yourself, a determined independence, relentlessness but a lack of empathy.” The track is accompanied by a video starring Evilin (played by Zoe’s mum, Annette Staines), a cook and 70s star who becomes trapped in her own television show. “Imagine if Fanny Cradock and Killing Eve’s Villanelle were forced into a room together to make a prim and proper cooking show. What would that look like? How would the chaos ensue? How would these two ferocious women work with each other? Well, I knew I was going to be involved, but the only way I was really ever going to create such drama, such stylish feist, was to call my mother and ask her to star in my music video.” said Zoe. “Watching your own mother smash up cakes and jelly soundtracked to my new single, using rolling pins and spatulas as props was utterly wild. It may have been the strangest day of 2024 so far.”

The Brooklyn-born, LA-based singer Zsela has spent the early years of this decade popping up all over the cooler corners of the music industry. Her debut album Big For You, coming this June via Mexican Summer, includes contributions from Marc Ribot, Nick Hakim, Casey MQ, and Jasper Marsalis (Slauson Malone 1), and Zsela’s co-produced it with Daniel Aged and Gabe Wax, who’ve worked with names like Frank Ocean and Soccer Mommy. Zsela teased the album last month with the release of the fizzy, funky, sophisticated synth track ‘Fire Excape.’ Now, along with the proper announcement, comes opening track ‘Lily Of The Nile.’ It’s a slow-burn art-pop song that makes abundant use of Zsela’s low bellow, and it arrives with a video directed by Chester Raj Anand. A statement from Zsela: “It was important for me to stay open in this process, finding the truth of what the songs want to be. That meant breaking them down and building them back up again and again, not being precious and trying to listen… At the heart, it touches on the causal versus intentional dance we play between being “full of you” and “full for you” — the complexity and magnitude of the space we take and fill up for love.” [via Stereogum]

Hayley Mary has returned with a new single and a music video ‘One Last Drag’, which is a pop song about glorifying self-awareness. The song is co-written and co-produced by Hayley’s husband who also happens to be the DMA’s guitarist, Johnny Took. They happened to write the song in a hotel room! The song is also co-produced by the producer of The Jezabels’, Lachlan Mitchell. “I was sitting on the balcony with a wine, borderline chain-smoking, knowing that I would be regretting the cigarettes in the morning but unable to stop. He started looping a guitar intro that he was working on for Gwen Stefani and I just started writing a poem to it in my head. I asked him if I could record it so I wouldn’t forget it, and those draft vocals ended up being the final vocals you hear in the verses.” explains Hayley Mary. The song is a dark post-punk banger that talks about cigarettes and addiction. The cigarette in the song portrays anything that looks or feels good at the moment, but eventually ruins one’s life. It talks about how addiction is harmful to everyone. “I fell for the excitement, the promise of relief, of sexy malaise when real life was too high definition. In recent years, however, I’ve become aware of the potential emptiness of that promise as well,” says Hayley. [via Music Feeds]

Grab your roller skates, baby, Bonnie McKee has news. She’s ramping up to release a new album and trying to steal your man (but only musically and jokingly). In her latest single, ‘Jenny’s Got a Boyfriend,’ she gets campy, sassy and dancey as she falls for your boyfriend in a gender-swapped take on the ’80s hit ‘Jessie’s Girl.’ “I’ve always wanted to write a song that had someone’s name in it like ‘Jessie’s Girl’ or ‘Hey Mickey’ or ‘Billie Jean,’ McKee tells PAPER. “I had this experience because I had a friend who had a boyfriend who was just such a flirt. He was incredibly hot and he knew it. He was always giving me the wrong idea. Not just me, me and all of the girlfriends in the group. We were all convinced that he had a secret crush on all of us. Nothing ever happened. He was such a rake, I guess is what they call him, and I wrote a song about it. Then me and my girlfriends would bop around in the car to it.” The visuals for ‘Jenny’s Got a Boyfriend,’ are a neon, retro, skating-rink fantasy. “I’ve always wanted to do a skating music video, I can skate but I’m not like amazing,” she says. “I’ve always been obsessed with Boogie Nights and Xanadu. I love the ’70s and ’80s roller skating style — the whole aesthetic of that. The song feels like a roller Boogie moment.” In the video, McKee’s part of a “love triangle between Jenny and Jenny’s boyfriend” as they all work together at the rink. “I needed to have some story I could tell that made sense,” she says. “So it seemed like a workplace romance made the most sense. I just put us in little uniforms, and we were in the roller rink after hours. And things get spicy. I love that.” [via PAPER]

Bristol-based artist Emily Perry – AKA Pem has announced her forthcoming EP, cloud work, alongside the new single, ‘grips’. On the new single, Pem says: “A song about wanting to hold on tightly to other people to escape and “forget” everything else for a while. It is inspired by my favourite song ‘Forget About’ by Sybille Baier.” cloud work is a collection of five songs that Pem wrote during an intensely challenging chapter in her life. Full of references to water, sky, flight, memory, and birds, these are the metaphors and symbols that helped her work through the grief of losing her father last year. She says, “the process of creating cloud work enabled me to find beauty, meaning and comfort in a very difficult time.” [via Line Of Best Fit]

Softcult share a final preview of their blissful EP with ‘One Of The Pack,’ a fuzzy inclusionary anthem that depicts their idea of Heaven as one that champions ALL women. Mercedes and Phoenix explain: “When we wrote this song, we wanted to celebrate women supporting women, and of course that includes POC and transgender women. It’s sad that that’s something that I feel I need to specify and include in a statement like this, but the truth is there are some TERFs out there trying to exclude certain communities from feminism and even the term ‘woman.’ We pride ourselves on being intersectional feminists, even introducing riot grrrl feminism and activism to the shoegaze community in our own way, and we want anyone listening to our music to know that POC, trans women, and non-binary people will always be a welcome and crucial part of our grrrl gang. This song is hopefully one you can sing to your best friend to let them know; ‘I know you have to deal with a lot of bullshit from other people, but I will always be here for you. I see you, I’ll support you, and I love you.’”

This is already an iconic Eurovision collaboration: Aiko (Czechia 2024) and TEYA (Austria 2023, as part of Teya and Salena) have released a song together. In the song ‘Hunger’, Aiko and TEYA sing about the experience of feeling like you need to have a certain body to fit in with societal standards. For women in particular, they address the pressure to appeal to the male gaze. With this powerful message, they show that women are taught from an early age to eat less so they can fit in, seeing their bodies as the enemy, hence the title ‘Hunger’. In the video, you can see them walk on treadmills, emphasising this point as well. It is a great song with an important message, and yet it is catchy at the same time! Aiko and TEYA did a great job by combining their songwriting skills. [via ESCXTRA]

In November 2022, Christine And The Queens released Redcar les adorables étoiles, which was followed by PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE in June 2023. Now, the French musician is back with a new song called ‘rentrez chez moi.’ ‘rentrez chez moi’ was written, composed, and produced by Chris. The music video was directed by Sasha Mongin, produced by Premier Cri, and shot in Paris and Hanches. [via Stereogum]

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