“’Please Me’ is about faking it till you make it,” say the band. “The lyrics are so cocky and overconfident, almost like an inner monologue of affirmations that you’d tell yourself on the way to a party. It’s about embodying the cool girl mindset until everyone has a big fat crush on you.

“These are the things you’d tell yourself and end up feeling sexy and cool and like everyone in the world is obsessed with you, even if you’re actually just super delusional and maybe had one too many Cruisers.”

The Linda Lindas included Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers’ debut album I Love You in their favorite albums of 2023 for Brooklyn Vegan. Which was a lovely surprise to the band, they’re longtime fans. When it came time to record ‘Please Me,’ Teen Jesus knew there was a call they had to make: “We just had to collaborate with The Linda Lindas on this one, because the musical style of ‘Please Me’ is very inspired by them! Their song ‘Oh!’ has been one of our favourites for a long time so we knew they could help take ‘Please Me’ to another level.”

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Katy J Pearson shares new single and music video for ‘Maybe’, four mesmerizing minutes of glorious ultra-melodic pop music. September 20 sees the release of Katy’s third long player on Heavenly Recordings, the outstanding Someday, Now. Talking about ‘Maybe’, Katy said: “I’ve had this song with me for years now — it took a while to get there… When I was in the rehearsal room with Huw Evans [H. Hawkline], a few lyric tweaks happened. The chorus used to be maybe I need your love / to show me that I’m good enough and he was like why are you being like this to yourself? It should be the other way round! And I was like oh, ok, thank you, feminist ally in the room. When a man’s telling me what to do in a studio I can get my back up pretty quickly, so it was brave of him to suggest it, but he was right. When we changed the sentiment of the song [now maybe I don’t need your love / to show me that I’m good enough] my whole feeling about it changed, and it meant that we managed to actually get a handle on what it was meant to be like sonically. It just shows that it’s really important who you choose to have in a room with you…” The track is accompanied by a wonderful video directed by Edie Lawrence and based around an archery competition, a sport widely recognized as pioneering equality for women’s participation. Talking about the video, Edie said: “Katy and I first met on the ‘Alligator’ shoot, the last video I shot for her. Since then we’ve been great friends and excited to collaborate again. We’re both keen to support each other and other women in the creative industry, both being more than aware of the gender inequality in both of our fields of work. The concept for this video is again about female empowerment. Throughout history, archery has had a link to female strength and empowerment. It is known as the sport that pioneered equality for women’s participation, being one of the first sports to include a women’s event in the Olympics in 1904. This video is all about celebrating sisterhood and women working together. With a mostly female crew again, it wouldn’t have been made without the expertise of our extremely talented choreographer Sophie Chinner and costume designer Kiera Saunders. Sexism and misogyny is still rife in this world which is why celebrating and supporting other women is so important.”

The latest track from Pearly Drops, the Finnish duo composed of Sandra Tervonen and Juuso Malin, might give the careful listener déjà vu. Their new single, ‘Lost In The Dark,’ is a haunting reimagining of their song ‘Breathless,’ previously released in 2020. But that doesn’t mean that the music is stale– Tervonen and Malin instead show off their growth, further establishing themselves as a force within synth-pop that cannot be ignored. Pearly Drops are unique in their ability to draw inspiration from their own earlier work. Compared to ‘Breathless,’ the lyrics to ‘Lost In The Dark’ still draw on the same themes of dissociation and dismalness. In a distorted voice, Tervonen sings, “All that’s sweet / And prime in me / Hides somewhere inside so deep / Hibernating / I’m hibernating.” The chorus solidifies this feeling of stuckness and remove, with the deceptively sweet vocals continuing, “Lost n the dark / I couldn’t breathe.” Against a background of bouncing synths, the bleak lyrics feel like an invitation to dance away (or perhaps toward) the darkness. ‘Lost In The Dark’ shows proof of development from the group– While ‘Breathless’ was catchy and cute, this new track contains a depth that is perhaps less apparent in earlier releases. ‘Lost In The Dark’ comes with a short film directed by Joonas Lind. The video is creepy, strange, and absolutely stunning, with Andrea Villarreal confidently leading the macabre ordeal in her role as The Bride. The film depicts a dangerous and devilish relationship between a bride and her groom, with Villarreal dancing and writhing beside a deliciously menacing Sebastian Freiberg as The Man. Lind‘s direction brings a creative edge that amplifies and adds onto the otherworldly texture of Tervonen and Malin‘s work. In a music landscape that is increasingly focused on short form video content and clickable short clips, it’s refreshing to see artists create a more involved narrative that will really engage the audience. [via High Clouds]

In 2022, Fievel Is Glauque released their debut album Flaming Swords. Now, the enigmatic duo is announcing its follow-up, Rong Weicknes, and sharing the mystical lead single ‘As Above So Below.’ About ‘As Above So Below,’ Zach Phillips said: “This phrase comes from the Emerald Tablet, a 9th century hermetic text foundational for alchemy and later occultist movements; it refers to the reciprocality between heaven and earth, the knowable and unknowable, the here and the hereafter. Sounds heady, right? But as usual, the title came out of nowhere, gleaned from phonetic murmurings during the writing process, and Ma and I laughed a lot making this one… Normally we write linearly, improvising bit by bit using only piano and voice, but we ended up constructing As Above out of scattered song sections we’d recorded with my laptop mic in free software over a loop from a ‘70s drum sampling record, which drummer Gaspard Sicx and percussionist Daniel Rossi reinterpreted in the studio. After writing upwards of 35 songs over the course of a couple 2023 writing trips, we were surprised to knock out probably our most conventional tune yet. The lyrics could be said to both troll and co-sign typical pop lyricism. Thom Gill’s blazing guitar solo gets me every time… When [music video director] Joey Agresta asked what I was imagining visually, all I could muster was, “The Sound Of Music, Ma spinning in a field, ‘90s ‘positivity,’ Dido… Phillips and Ma Clément recruited a crew of collaborators for the LP: Thom Gill on guitar, Logan Kane on bass, Daniel Rossi on percussion, André Sacalxot on saxophone and flute, Gaspard Sicx on drums, and Chris Weisman on guitar and electric sitar. They all convened at a farm and music studio in upstate New York called the Outlier Inn with recording, mixing, and mastering engineer Steve Vealey.” [via Stereogum]

Earlier this year, Okay Kaya returned with ‘The Groke,’ her first new music since 2022. Now, the Norwegian-American alt-pop musician is announcing her fourth album Oh My God – That’s So Me and releasing the radiant single ‘Check Your Face.’ “Clive James said, ‘Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing,’” Kaya Wilkins explained in a statement. She continued: “Wrote this slacker disco song About wanting to be, if not a not a brightsider, then at least a belly laugher Sometimes tricky to access just that bliss but if you’re happy and you know it, check your face! It was fun and warming to make this track in frigid winter on the island It was a quiet time without much social stimuli If you’re gonna dance alone in your basement Might as well make a song to dance match.” The animated video directed by Lou Beauchard matches the playful energy of the tune; watch it below. [via Stereogum]

Peach PRC is having the time of her life. The breakthrough Australian singer, songwriter, and pop sensation reveals new single entitled ‘Time Of My Life’ out now, following the announcement of Peach PRC’s return to the UK headlining the icon Brixton Electric in London on the 4th of October. The official music video for ‘Time Of My Life’ is directed by Josh Harris, the director behind Peach PRC’s breakthrough singles, ‘Josh’ and ‘Like A Girl Does.’ With three alternative character endings, Peach PRC wrote the treatment, made the outfits and designed every intricate detail of ‘Time Of My Life’, collaborating with Josh to bring her vision to life. The music video director, Josh Harris, comments, “This is my third time collaborating with Peach, and her unique vision never fails to inspire. The initial idea was to blend the visual aesthetic of a gritty women’s prison with Peach’s own unique style. ‘Time of My Life’ is about reflecting on a chaotic past with a sense of fondness or nostalgia, and Peach’s performance, staying lost in her own world while everything erupts around her, reflects this. I’m really proud of the cast and crew who worked on this project – they really poured their hearts into it – and their creativity and hard work has brought it to life”.

Last month, Blackpink’s LISA released ‘Rockstar,’ her first solo material since 2021. It was produced by Ryan Tedder and Sam Homaee, serving as her debut on LLOUD Co. and RCA Records. Now, the pop sensation is back with ‘New Woman’ featuring Rosalía. ‘New Woman’ is produced by Max Martin and ILYA, as well as co-written by Tove Lo, who also co-wrote George Daniel’s recent debut single ‘Screen Cleaner.’ ‘New Woman’ is a summery banger with a killer beat change and it comes with a music video directed by Dave Meyers and shot in Los Angeles; watch it below. [via Stereogum]

For AUDREY NUNA, every track lends itself to its own audiovisual world. The one she’s created for her latest single ‘Suckin Up’ draws from worlds very familiar – her hometown ‘hood of downtown New York City – and worlds apart in galaxies far, far away. This juxtaposition is emblematic of NUNA’s artistry as well, which is particularly evident on the just-over two-minute track which sees the musician address her thoughts on the superficiality of modern society. “Yeah, I talk, talk pretty, and I stink, and I’m smelly, if you / If you’re super jelly, don’t say sh*t about my belly,” she sings on the first verse before hitting the chorus. “Restart, don’t need puppy lovin’, cut the leash off / Tryna profit off me, I’m like Mona Lisa.” The track comes accompanied by a striking music video, which finds NUNA galivanting across the Lower Manhattan Chinatown streets – as well as fitted in another futuristic “fashion-as-a-weapon”-inspired outfit in a dreamscape universe. “Thankful for every drop of blood, sweat, tears, [and] urine that went into the audio-visual experience,” she shared on Instagram of the single. “Creating this video in New York/New Jersey made me feel young and naive again, and for that I am very grateful.” [via Hypebeast]

Critically acclaimed, rebellious political-punk act Lesibu Grand (pronounced Le-SEE-boo) has released their debut album Triggered via Kill Rock Stars. They’re thrilled to share the Blondie-influenced final album cut ‘Oh Erica…’, a song of conflict between supportive love and the worry of being left behind, written for a fearless and adventurous friend of the band. The band worked with Liliana Penagos (Mastodon, Cardi B, Lizzo) for the accompanying animated official video also released.

Pale Waves have shared new single ‘Gravity’. The Manchester goth-pop group are back, with new album Smitten set to land on September 27 via Dirty Hit. Heather Baron-Gracie is driving their maturity forwards, the lyrics show a broadening sense of self. New single ‘Gravity’ displays her exacting sense of creativity, a song that took Pale Waves months to bring to completion. Lyrically, it deals with the push-and-pull of a blossoming relationship, with the object of Heather’s affections torn between her feelings, and her religion. She sings: “She’s pulling me like gravity everywhere she goes / Am I in too deep, or out of my reach? Little does she know…” Speaking about the track, Heather comments: “’Gravity’ is about a woman who chose Jesus over me. It took the longest of all of the songs on the album to finish, I think we must have rewritten it millions of times to get it to where it is now.” [via Clash]

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As with all of the other songs on LAND TRUST – including the record’s first two singles, made with Kathleen Hanna and Kim Gordon respectively – the song was the result of a remote collaboration between Lyle and Cooler that began in the early days of the pandemic. Lyle approached Cooler with the idea that they’d write songs together via file sharing ask their friends in their music community to add vocals, lyrics, and bass. Then they’d make the results available as a benefit record.

Lyle says, “When we came up with the music for this one, it just felt like a rager and it brought to mind for me the pure exuberance of The Linda Lindas, so I suggested we invite them to sing on it. I thought of asking Kathi to add bass because I just remember how much we all enjoyed playing with and being around The Linda Lindas when they opened for Bikini Kill at The Palladium in 2019. Having them on a track with Kathi also really fit with the general theme of the record we were making which was shaping up as an intergenerational lineup of lady rocker badasses.”

Lucia of The Linda Lindas commented on the songwriting process: “We all liked the idea of a call-and-response vocal thing in the verse, which really just took after the instrumental part. It’s about feeling overwhelmed by everything bottled up in your brain and getting so lost in yourself you become unaware of your surroundings.”

Bella chimes in: “In the bridge, there’s this chaos. It’s meant to represent how sometimes there are so many ideas or thoughts or just things on your mind, which gets so busy, and it’s supposed to feel like just the right amount of too much.”

‘Lost in Thought’ brings out the punk roots of The Linda Lindas (collectively made up of teenagers Eloise Wong, Lucia de la Garza, Mila de la Garza and Bella Salazar), who deliver chaotic, high energy vocals that are complemented by Cooler’s animalistic drumming, and Lyle’s fierce punk riffs which are grounded by Kathi Wilcox’s smooth bassline. Cooler says of the collaboration, “I grew up learning to drum to records that Wilcox played on. It was a surreal experience to get to work with someone who has written so many great songs. And The Linda Lindas feel similarly – and they really elevated the collaboration with their incredibly perfect vocal contributions.”

While all of the artists involved have worked to raise funds for various organizations they believe in, this song in particular is a benefit for Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust (NEFOC) – a grassroots, Indigenous-led group who acquire land in order to return it to Indigenous nations and POC farmers. Lyle says of NEFOC, “They help farmers purchase the land and set up legal land trust structures so that the land is collectively owned in perpetuity. They also help fund the start up of black-owned farms and lobby big corporate landholders to simply give land back to Indigenous and POC groups”. 100% of the proceeds from the record will go to the purchase of new land.

Eloise had this to say: “It’s the best when people not only make music that sounds cool, but music that can actually make a difference. All I want is to be able to make a difference and effect change in the world, and music provides a great outlet for us to do that. It’s so awesome how even if it’s just one song, music can be so powerful and do so much.”

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Creating a dreamy and chic soundscape, Gorgeous Dyke’s latest offering is a noticeable shift from their post-punk roots. Still running off the energy of a catchy, Bauhaus-esque bass line, ‘No Approval,’ differs in its more obvious house direction. The lyrics paint a picture of an unflappable woman heading steadfast wherever life may take her – despite whatever criticisms or judgments that may come her way – ultimately finding refuge in outward self-expression. Their accompanying music video brings this philosophy into motion as the two get ready to make the world their runway alongside their pup. There’s also a pizza in the oven, which may or may not represent more than just a case of the munchies. Fans can still expect the grooviness of Deee-Lite, the sleek, understated vocals of Gina X Performance, and the commanding bass lines of ESG but with a new synth sound that switches things up from their previous releases.

Deep within The Stolen Moans HQ, on the top shelf of an antique bookcase, lives a turquoise-colored hard drive marked “experimental”. This is the Mad Kingdom, a surrealist laboratory, where tunes deemed too reckless for mainstream consumption, remain locked in lead-lined boxes like Madame Curie’s notebooks. Oddities with unknown half-lives, pieces to a still-undiscovered puzzle, sitting, waiting. However, before we can talk about how one of these “experiments” escaped, we first must tell the story of the person who always supported the bands pursuit of the weird and wonderful, Micheal (MP) Peters, their beloved friend, and the “best-dressed roadie in show business”. “MP was a true child of the sixties and grew up at a time when cults and mayhem found fertile soil in sunny California,” say the band. “The recounting of his storied misadventures never failed to astound and entertain. We were always delighted when he drove up (in his veggie oil-powered Mercedes hearse) wearing impeccably tailored 3-piece suits, to help out at shows. He was the epitome of the saying “it’s the journey, not the destination that matters”, and encouraged us to always stay open to the crazy magic that happens along the way. Loud Rock & Roll was one of his passions but he especially loved it when songs got weird! The first time we first played ‘Pu Num Tu’ for MP, his response was, “Whoa, Mondo!”, which was pretty much the highest compliment you could receive from him. The story of how the companion music video came to be is another bizarre tale of happenstance but the abridged version is, we spent a weekend having messy fun in the dark with fellow artist-adventurers. This of course brings us back to the music and why we’ve dedicated the song a video to MP. Tragically he caught the coronavirus in 2020 and passed away within days of becoming sick. He was with us for so much of the journey and would be absolutely delighted that ‘Pu Num Tu’ is finally getting released. If Surrealism’s goal was to revolutionize the human experience by attempting to find magic and beauty in the unexpected than ‘Pu Num Tu’, is a Surrealist Affirmation in the pursuit of joy and freedom. MP buddy, the lunatics are now running the asylum, and YES, this Pu is for you… Rest in peace Michael XO, SM.” The music video was shot and directed (including the stop motion animation) by female director Hannz Mulligan. The band found her student reel online and really clicked in person. “The video was as much fun to make as it is to watch.”

The joyous, experimental Japanese group CHAI recently released their single ‘WHOLE’ and collaborated with Sondre Lerche on his song ‘Summer In Reverse.’ Now, CHAI have come out with a new single called ‘SURPRISE.’ It’s a giddy song that manages to be soothing and explosive in equal measures, and it’s got an extremely colorful music video that the band shot with director Yoshio Nakaiso in Los Angeles. In a press release, CHAI say that the ‘SURPRISE’ video is based on the band’s experience of having their tour trailer stolen in America but still playing all their shows thanks to the support and generosity of other people. In the clip, the members of the band go on a magical quest to find the instruments that they’ll need to play shows. Here’s what CHAI say about the song itself: “We all have that precious “something” that we can’t express in words. But sometimes those things happen to make it out as words, and we want to feel and love that “surprise”. Those become the surprises of our lives, and I become a brand new me♡. That’s what we had in mind when we wrote ‘SURPRISE’. Check it out♡” [via Stereogum]

Vancouver’s Kamikaze Nurse shares ‘Come From Wood’, the second single from Stimuloso which arrives June 3 on Mint Records. Of the song, Kamikaze Nurse said, “’Come From Wood’ wrote itself after KC pondered the simplistic mystery of the Pixies’ b-side ‘Into the White’ on repeat for many months. The song unfolds like a dream, as the archetypal apple and an enchanted forest stage a familiar scene with unfamiliar imagery in the mind of the listener.” Along with the single, the band shares an imaginative music video, the concept of which was realized in collaboration between director Jaewoo Kang and Kamikaze Nurse’s KC Wei. About the video – Director’s quote from Jaewoo Kang: “’Come From Wood’ includes motifs from fairy tales – red apple, forest, moss fields – and re-imagines the idea of sensuality, closeness, entanglement and passion from the perspective of worms and an apple. Visual elements of the video have been inspired by the lyrics, which came to life with an incredible performance by the band members and the dancers. Vibrant set design and gelatine mould of the main character’s body is decomposing, juxtaposed with the animated, visceral movement of the dancers. The video attempts to capture the feeling of familiarity mixed with the uncanniness of the decomposing body to create a more nuanced expression of intimacy and pleasure.”

Desire release their first album since their self-titled debut in 2009 with new record Escape, which is out now via Italians Do It Better. To coincide with the release, the band have also shared a new video for their single ‘Black Latex’ from the record.

Tove Lo returns with a brand-new track and official music video, titled ‘No One Dies From Love’. Co-written with long-time collaborator Ludvig Söderberg, neon keys illuminate a runway to the centre of the dancefloor as her voice resounds over a disco break, “No one dies from love, guess I’ll be the first.” The song signifies a new and exciting chapter for the Sweden-born, Los Angeles-based artist. Tove recalls on making the song, “when you’re with someone for a long time and it ends all of a sudden, it’s like a part of you has died. This person is now a stranger to you. All of the memories are tainted. For the first part of the breakup, you believe you’re not supposed to feel good about anything you had together. What I believe I do best is ‘heartbreak you can dance to.’ The song is that.” The video for ‘No One Dies From Love’ was filmed in Mexico City and was directed by the Brazilian duo Alaska, whom Tove previously collaborated with on the video for ‘Are U gonna tell her?’ Speaking about the video, Tove reveals, “All the songs on the album are very cinematic, dramatic and grand, so for the visual story I want to attach a character to each song. For No One Dies From Love it’s the classic vulnerable, lonely starlet looking for connection. This mini movie is a different kind of love story.”

Aldous Harding has shared the animated video for ‘Tick Tock’. The song is taken from her new album Warm Chris. ‘Tick Tock’ gains a neat visualiser which transforms its narrative. Aldous Harding steered the clip, working alongside animator and film-maker Chris McD. Colourful, cute, and lackadaisical, ‘Tick Tock’ taps into an alternative side of Aldous Harding’s psyche. [via Clash]

Maryam Qudus is a producer and studio engineer based in the Bay Area, and she’s worked with artists like Toro Y Moi, Tune-Yards, and Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis. Qudus also makes her own music under the alias Spacemoth, and she’s just signed with Dupuis’ Wax Nine label. This summer, she’ll release her debut album No Past No Future. As Spacemoth, Qudus makes synthy, fizzy indie-pop. It’s got a deadpan catchiness that reminds me of ’90s vintage-synth explorers like Stereolab and the Rentals. Qudus has just shared her new single ‘Pipe And Pistol,’ and she’d already released one called ‘This Shit.’ Both songs are driving pop songs with all sorts of historical currents flowing through them. In a press release, Qudus explains ‘Pipe And Pistol’: “’Pipe and Pistol’ revolves around a wobbly synth and distorted drum loop, played with and processed by a Korg MS-20. The song was inspired by my parents, who immigrated from Afghanistan in the late ’70s, and explores the challenges faced when building a new life in America.” Interweaving colorful psychedelic visuals and blue collar employment, Ambar Navarro’s video for ‘Pipe and Pistol’ speaks to the surreal and confusing experience of navigating a new life in America in the late 1970s. [via Stereogum]

Indie-pop cover stars Beach Bunny are currently anticipating the release of their sophomore album, Emotional Creature, out in July. Ahead of the release, the Chicago group, led by Lili Trifilio, have shared lead single ‘Oxygen’ and ‘Fire Escape.’ Now, they’re sharing a new video for ‘Karaoke,’ which features a cameo from Bob Odenkirk and is very much in line with the band’s previously explained “full-blown sci-fi aesthetic” for Emotional Creature. As a press release lays out, ‘Karaoke’ is just part one of Beach Bunny’s Star Wars-meets-Star Trek “galactic adventure” visual series, though one character in the video certainly resembles Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen. As for Odenkirk, the Better Call Saul star plays the band’s “Star Captain.” “‘Karaoke’ is a song about having a crush — it’s about infatuation, fleeting feelings, and the bittersweet nature of uncertainty,” Trifilio explains. “It’s about learning pieces of who someone is and liking them before even knowing the whole story.” [via Stereogum]

Placing perfectly next to her previous single ‘Best of Luck’, ‘Heart Emoji’ is the latest pop release in the signature style of Sukie. ‘Heart Emoji’ is Sukie’s gently grasping hand as she guides her listener down memory lane. Dealing with change, loss and moving on, Sukie opens upon another of her personal experiences whilst using her alt-pop tendencies to bed her honest narrative. Glancing into her good old times of ‘going out with the girls’ whilst being young and reckless, Sukie reminds herself of what she cherished the most. Layered with love, nostalgia and topped with colourful synths, ‘Heart Emoji’ is as wistful as it is an endearing single. In Sukie’s own words, she explains; “Covid hit when I was in my last year of uni and I ended up moving away from all my friends in the midst of lockdown. Most people I didn’t get to say goodbye to. It was such a crazy contrast going from being surrounded by all my best friends to moving to a city where I knew no-one. It took me a year to make any new friends and I was really really lonely – that’s where heart emoji came from. I missed my friends so much! I missed feeling sexy and getting ready with my girl friends, helping each other do our hair and makeup. I missed the silly drama and getting too drunk and stupid dancing in a club with a sticky floor. I even missed the hangovers. I wrote the song about mourning the loss of that carefree life, knowing that I’d never get it back. I feel like this was such a universal feeling at the time, when we were all stuck inside for months on end, and I wanted the music video to capture that lonely experience.”

Manchester’s Abbie Ozard releases new single ‘Rose Tinted’ – the final preview of new EP Water Based Lullabies, out July 1 via House Anxiety (WOOM,Carpetgarden; formerly King Krule, Courtney Barnett, Vagabon). Slowly coming into focus, ‘Rose Tinted’ blends a blurry intro into a commanding rhythm. Sonically, it occupies a glistening dream-pop space, over which Abbie delivers restrained, authentic spoken word before a freeing earworm of a chorus takes hold. Talking about the song, Abbiesays: “’Rose Tinted’ was a poem I wrote a few years back when I realised all my friends were growing up and I felt kinda left behind. I found myself covering up these feelings with clothes and messing with the way I looked. I even tried meditating, which I hated because it made me think way too much. It’s an observation on how 20 somethings cope with transitioning into adulthood, how they share their morning routines online, meditate to stay calm, buy new outfits -that whole ‘don’t get depression vibe’. I want to be able to soundtrack my generation.”

girlcrush write songs about lives that don’t meet the heteronormative ideal. They portray their own feelings and experiences as non-monogamist, queer and transgender with a mutual vision to lend their voices to those who can’t be heard and create a feeling of recognition and community for queer and marginalized people. This Spring, girlcrush are ready with the brand new single, ‘Dysphoria! At the Psych Ward’ – a song that criticizes the gender normativity inherent in the medical system. The feelings of alienation and loneliness of being a trans person in a rigid society are delivered with both anger and irony by guitarist Nat. “Being in a mentally vulnerable place while being met by a lack of understanding of gender diversity by medical personnel is an incredibly difficult position to navigate in. A simple thing like asking for help can be hard to do. While trauma and mental illness can affect anyone, trans people are at a higher risk of developing depression, anxiety, eating disorders, PTSDand of committing suicide. We wanted to write a song addressing this theme,” Nat says. The title is a reference to the emo band Panic! At the Disco – a nod to the music of Nat’s own troubled teenage years. ‘Dysphoria! At the Psych Ward’ is the sound of girlcrush and their distinct style of catchy melodies delivered with honesty and fragility, backed by unrelenting drums and good amounts of distortion. ‘Dysphoria! At the Psych Ward’is one of twelve tracks on the album, I don’t feel so good, all of which show different colors of mental illness as experienced by the band members. girlcrush are drummer and vocalist Andrea (all pronouns), bass player and vocalist Marie (she/her) and guitarist and vocalist Nat (they/them and he/him).

Taiwanese-Australian singer, producer, songwriter, and multimedia artist Jaguar Jonze is thrilled to unveil her latest single ‘PUNCHLINE,’ the final track to be shared ahead of the release of her debut album BUNNY MODE out June 3 via Nettwerk. ‘PUNCHLINE’ is a playful diary entry about navigating the industry as a woman of colour, while also wanting to authentically represent her culture. Her sharp-edged humour shines through in its lyrics (“Can’t remember if it’s east or west or in the tropics;” “We love culture but make sure it’s to our very liking / Make it milky, make it plain and not too spicy”), cheekily sung through the many eye rolls that come with the turf when making art as a marginalised person. The video, which was directed, edited and produced by Jaguar Jonze, welcomes back the Asian women and non-binary folk who featured in the visuals for ‘WHO DIED AND MADE YOU KING?,’ as they all related strongly to the message behind ‘PUNCHLINE’ and wanted to make their voices heard.

Astralwerks has released Alison Wonderland’s new album, Loner – the follow-up to 2018’s Awake. Loner captures the triple threat producer-singer-songwriter at her best; an exhilarating juxtaposition of lyrics and sound, it’s as bright as it is brash. “My life was going a certain way before something pulled everything out from under me,” Alison Wonderland explains. “I felt like I had hit my rock bottom.” Throughout her career, Alison has been a courageous advocate for mental health discussions and honest about her own struggles with depression. Staying true to her message with Loner, she writes with a captivating new assuredness in the light that comes after the storm. “It’s the most positive, hopeful album I have ever written,” she says. “It acknowledges the darkness but creates its own euphoria through it.” That sense of triumph and euphoria shines brightly in the official video for ‘Something Real’. Working with a 3-D scan of Alison, director Tyler Lampe (who has created stunning visuals for her projects and live shows over the past year), immerses her in a vibrant, surreal world. As she journeys from total darkness to sunshine to sunset, Alison travels through trippy portals that encompass and transcend her previous realities and experiences the sense of weightless the song describes.

Los Angeles trio Lost Cat share a music video for ‘L.O.S.T.,’ the first single off their upcoming self-titled debut album, Lost Cat, due May 27 via Lolipop Records. Mixing classic riot grrrl and the flair of a 60s girl group a la The Dick Clark show, Lost Cat exists at the crossroads between old and new. On the track’s accompanying music video: “Brought to you by the minds of Expo Aktuel & Lolipop Records. In this first mystery driven episode of Lost Cat’s upcoming video mini series, the group gets caught between the claws of an evil villainess who aims to take down the rockin’ band of Femme Fatales. However, Lost Cat is not going down without a fight! ‘L.O.S.T.’ is the first of three action packed video/episodes which feature their upcoming singles out this month on Lolipop Records! Tune in this month to find out the fate of Los Angeles’ favorite new girl group Lost Cat!”

Carly Rae Jepsen shares her highly anticipated new single ‘Western Wind.’ Produced by Rostam Batmanglij ‘Western Wind’ is available now at all digital retailers via 604 Records. ‘Western Wind’ inhabits a warm and hypnotic atmosphere achieved through a delicate tapestry of elements: sunlit guitar tones, soulful piano melodies, the luminous textures of Hammond B3 organ, an elegant patchwork of percussion. Graced with Jepsen’s radiant vocal work, the result is a spellbinding backdrop to her lyrical storytelling, infusing the song’s mood of nostalgia and longing with a lovely euphoria. Like all her output to date — such as her critically lauded and culture-shaping 2015 album EMOTION — ‘Western Wind’ embodies a charmed quality that invites a certain daydreaming on the part of the listener. As Jepsen reveals, the song emerged from the deep solitude of quarantine, a period of time that compelled her toward her most introspective songwriting yet. Complementing the beauty of the song is an equally stunning video shot in the natural elements of Southern California by Taylor Fauntleroy.

Indie-pop artist Cody Frost has unleashed her debut mixtape TEETH. Following her debut EP, 2021’s IT’S NOT REAL, TEETH has a considerably sharper edge than Frost’s previous work, clearly influenced by heavier music and the current wave of hyper-pop. To accompany the mixtape’s release, Frost has also dropped a video for the mixtape cut ‘Redundant’. Like the rest of TEETH, ‘Redundant’ sheds the relatively stripped-back emotionality of Frost’s early singles to reveal a beautifully abrasive, happily aggressive set of sounds. Instead of the easy-on-the-ears aesthetic that helped her reach the finale of BBC’s version of The Voice, ‘Redundant’ sounds like a cross between Billie Eilish’s neo-gothic pop and Yves Tumor’s dancy experimentalism. It’s a track you’d imagine playing at London’s most intimidatingly hip club. Juxtaposing party visuals with sequences of a Bowie-esque Frost alone on a soundstage, the video embodies the new stylings of TEETH. Frost is quite literally in your face for a majority of the song’s runtime, as she rushes the fisheye camera to sing of seedy attention-seekers common in the British party scene. “I work in a bar and the lyrics are really about the type of customers I have served in the past,” she tells Consequence. “I wrote the line ‘and with every bit I feel the dirty napkin they dropped on the floor crumple in my fist’ in the back room whilst seething over a rude customer.” With TEETH’s change of pace, it’s exciting to think of what Frost may have in store for future projects. Will she continue to embrace her “heavy roots” or switch up the sounds once again? “I’m super excited for what is coming next for me musically,” she says, before stopping herself from revealing too much. “I can’t say much but I will say that some of my biggest dreams [are] becoming true in the works!” [via Consequence]

The Haunt are a South Florida band helmed by a sibling duo of vocalist Anastasia Haunt and her guitar-wielding older brother, Max. Last week, they dropped their latest single, the gnashing, bombastic and wildly catchy ‘I’M NOT YOURS,’ which was produced by Escape the Fate’s Kevin Thrasher, and now they’ve shared its accompanying music video. The black-and-white visual features alternating shots of Anastasia running and struggling to emerge while tied to a chair, as well as footage of the band jamming out cathartically in a small space. “‘I’M NOT YOURS’ is about being done with the bullshit and taking back your power from someone who tried to rip it out of your soul,” Max says. “I was in a relationship that made me feel very small, so when it was finally over, I had a lot of work to do to build myself back up again. And writing this song was really the biggest ‘fuck you’ I could think of. PSA: Your feelings are fucking valid and if you have a feeling about something or someone, you’re probably right, trust your Mf instincts!” [via Revolver]

Cape Town-based duo Emerger deliver a shimmering, hook-filled Alt-Pop gem with the release of their latest single ‘Aeroplane Park,’ a nostalgic fever dream about love and longing, set at the turn of the millennium. The track, produced and mixed by co-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Gerry Matthee, is a meticulously crafted mid-tempo affair that drapes Emma de Goede’s intimate and pristine vocals in lush soundscapes backed by a percolating beat. “I think it’s safe to say it’s one of our favorites so far,” says Matthee, who recorded and mixed the track at the duo’s recently launched SoundBorough Studios. He also mixed the track in Dolby Atmos, the spatial audio technology that creates a fully immersive listening experience, which can be streamed on Apple Music. ‘Aeroplane Park’ speaks to universal feelings about the innocence of youth, the longing for connection and the pain of separation; a meditation on the roads we travel and the choices we make. De Goede, keyboardist and chief lyricist of the duo, does not shy away from how personal the song is for her. In fact, ‘Aeroplane Park’ is a real place – a playground near the singer’s childhood home – and the song reflects the early days of the relationship between the two band members, who are life partners as well as musical ones. “Memory is fleeting, and I wanted to capture some of what I remember from my childhood,” says De Goede. “This song is a bit of time travel for me – to reflect on a specific time, place and person. How I recall feeling about it then and what it means today when seen through the eyes of an adult.” Matthee agrees: “We can never truly appreciate the points in time that accumulate as a lifetime of experience. We often need to do more living to give it all context. We have a few more miles on us since those days at the playground – it’s nice to reflect on how we’ve both grown since then.” Emerger remembers with great fondness the days when MTV played music videos 24/7. For ‘Aeroplane Park,’ the duo set out to tell a story about first love blooming at the turn of the millennium while also paying homage to the favourite network of their formative years. The video, written, directed and edited by the duo, finds the adult De Goede cavorting in a mid-20th century home with her younger self (played by Stella van Zyl) and replaying her memories of the special connection that formed with her childhood friend Matthee (played by Michail Etsebeth) while spending time in the aeroplane-themed playground near her home. ‘Aeroplane Park’ was shot on location in Cape Town, lensed by cinematographer/director of photography Kyle Wesson and with technical and design support from Divan Putter and Pascale de Brandt. [via PR Newswire]

Los Angeles alt-pop artist, MOTHICA has shared her latest single, ‘Last Cigarette’ featuring Antiguan-German singer-songwriter Au/Ra. The track is taken from MOTHICA’s forthcoming album, Nocturnal, alongside previously released singles, ‘Sensitive’ and ‘Casualty’. “I wrote ‘Last Cigarette’ about someone I met who reminded me of myself in a toxic way,” shares MOTHICA. “We shared a lot of pessimistic tendencies, and it reminded me of trying to quit cigarettes, something that we all know is bad for you, but there’s still this allure to be caught in a negative cycle.” [via Prelude Press]

Great Time has dropped a new video for their single ‘I could Be.’ The track is off the Philadelphia band’s forthcoming release Was I Right, scheduled to drop on June 9. Singer/multi-instrumentalist Jill Ryan has been the touring saxophonist with Cassandra Jenkins, Japanese Breakfast and Kristine Leschper. This video was directed by lead singer of Mannequin Pussy, Marisa Dabice Quote from Jill Ryan: “Filming the music video for ‘I Could Be’ was a really special experience. It was incredible to be directed by Marisa Dabice. I felt so comfortable in her presence. She commands a room not only on stage performing with Mannequin Pussy but also on set. Getting direction from her was empowering. You really have to trust the person that’s telling you what to do and how to move in order for you to perform your best and most authentically and I felt very connected and safe with her to do that. This song is a reaction to traditionality, patriarchy, “the man” and everyone that wants to make me feel small.” [via Northern Transmissions]

Sir Chloe‘s new single and accompanying music video, ‘Company,’ consummates camp and kink, latex and leather. The visual, which follows ‘Mercy’ and their 2020 Party Favors EP, opens inside a seedy hotel room that adds an absurd sensuality to the alt-rock band’s latest release. Filtered through yellow lighting, frontwoman Dana Foote stands alone at the beginning, before turning her gaze to the camera and revealing a handful of leather-clad baddies who stand opposite her. Tension builds so thick it could be cut with a knife — perhaps even one of Sir Chloe’s, from her past life as a “knife salesman.” Best described by Foote as “a song to flex your muscles to,” Sir Chloe’s single makes listeners beg for release. “I want to hear you want it,” she sings on the chorus. “I want to hear you ask for more.” Whether walking her “dog” to the bank or making them crawl to her, Foote languishes in the lewd — and makes us want to, too. [via PAPER]

The Linda Lindas have released a music video for ‘Why.’ The track comes from their debut album, Growing Up. The visual was directed by Elizabeth Ito and Suzie Vlček and features punk legend Kathleen Hanna as the voice of an interviewer. The punk quartet spoke about the video in a press release. “The ‘Why’ music video is a tribute to The Decline of Western Civilization, the legendary 1981 documentary about LA punk by Penelope Spheeris, and Spirited Away, one of our favorite Miyazaki movies,” the band say. “It is set at an imaginary Save Music In Chinatown show, part of the series of all-ages matinee fundraisers for music education at Eloise’s school, where we played some of our earliest gigs with some of the musicians from Decline — Alice Bag, Phranc, Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski — who are now our friends. The art was drawn by Eloise, the flyers are real and no dessert was wasted!” [via Alt Press]

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