The thirteen-song collection was penned by The Velveteers after a particularly grueling stretch of life on the road – while navigating the typically-unspoken tolls of an industry that can be far from compassionate. A Million Knives follows The Velveteers’ 2021 debut album Nightmare Daydream, which quickly found them playing stadium stages with Smashing Pumpkins, Guns N’ Roses and more. The trio are currently bringing the new album to their live shows across the Western US for the first time.

We asked frontwoman Demi to do an in depth track by track breakdown of A Million Knives for us. Read it below.

All These Little Things
This is one of my all time favorite riffs to play. I wrote the riff after a terrible breakup when I was 19 and the riff stayed with me all these years but I never had any lyrics for it. One day the lyrics just came to me and it definitely felt like I was holding in all these feelings from when I was 19. It was like collaborating with past versions of myself in certain ways and finally putting into words what a painful situation it was.

Suck The Cherry
I wrote ‘Suck The Cherry’ on a hot summer’s day when I was locked away in a cabin in Paonia, CO. All I had with me for entertainment was my guitar, a notebook, a little drum machine and some cherries I had picked up earlier that day from the farmers market. I was messing around on the drum machine and found this beat that ended up influencing the entire song. It had this pop, dance-y feel but at the same time, punk attitude. It had this chorus that was just so fun to sing and it would always get stuck in my head.

See Your Face
This song is about seeing somebody you really don’t wanna see. We tracked this in one take. For this song and many others on the album I went direct-in for my guitar instead of through an amp to get more of a crunchy tone.

Bound In Leather
‘Bound In Leather’ to me feels like looking through a kaleidoscope. I absolutely love this song. We wrote this song with Greg Cartwright (The Oblivians) and Dan Auerbach in Nashville. I came into the studio with this guitar riff and we just flowed with it from there. I loved how the song had such a dancey feel. When we started coming up with the lyrics, I was singing and Dan kept telling me to sing higher and higher. Singing falsetto is something I don’t normally do but it just felt really right for the song. That was a moment where Dan pushed me to do something I hadn’t done before or maybe wouldn’t have ever thought of. I even ended up singing falsetto on a couple other songs too. I hope everybody loves dancing to this song as much as I do.

On and On
‘On and On’ is another really dancey track. We wanted to make sure the song was super heavy but also wanted to take some inspiration from more pop artists like Lady Gaga. It has some drum machines on it, which was something we had been really wanting to incorporate into our sound. Nick Bockrath from Cage The Elephant made a guest appearance on this song with some spacey background guitar sounds.

Sweet Little Hearts
This song feels like the heart of the album to me. This was actually the first song I wrote for the album and it instantly set the stage of what I wanted to talk about and how I was feeling. We all come into the world so pure and as life progresses we all become jaded in one way or another. It’s about grieving your childhood and realizing no matter how hard you try to protect yourself- your heart is gonna break and there’s nothing you can really do about that. It’s a call to nurture your inner child because the world sure isn’t going to do it for you.

A Million Knives
When we recorded the album we went in with around 25 songs. We didn’t have enough time to record everything. ‘A Million Knives’ was one of those songs that didn’t get recorded. We left Nashville super excited about everything we tracked but then we got our initial mixes back a couple months later and we felt like something was missing. We took a trip to Nashville to finish up some mixing and on a whim ended up recording ‘A Million Knives,’ probably in about an hour or less. This song is about the pain of loving something so much that it hurts. I’d do anything for music and art but how much am I willing to put myself through? If you listen close enough you can hear my real heartbeat on this song.

Moonchild
We came into the studio with multiple songs over 5 minutes and Dan definitely thought we were insane for that haha. This was the 5 minute song that actually made the cut though. I love playing this song and if you’ve come to any of our live shows chances are you’ve probably heard it before. It was fun to finally hear this captured in a studio recording.

Take it from The Top
This song was written from more of an imagined perspective and very much inspired by the glam of Hollywood. Inspired by someone who desperately wants to be somebody. Desperately wants to be liked and loved but in turn is lonely in their pursuits of success. Baby wrote almost all the synth and keyboard parts on this album, but the synth on this chorus is one of my favorites!

Go Fly Away
The Black Keys came into the studio one day and had this keyboard sample that we just worked off of. It was one of those songs that came to us. As far as the inspiration behind it, it just all came at once. I think a lot of it had to do with just wanting to run away. That’s where my head space was when I wrote it was just wanting to run away and get away from everything.

Up Here
‘Up Here’ is a song about reclaiming your power and letting go. Towards the end of the album I feel like there is a lot of cathartic release. “the world at my feet, and the stars in my palms” felt symbolic and powerful. It was something I needed to be reminded of. For production we drenched the song with reverb to really give it a dreamy feel and we had Nick Bockrath from Cage The Elephant add some lap steel to tie it together.

Heaven
Heaven is all about the drama. This song took many forms and it was just a couple days before we arrived in Nashville to record that it finally felt right. Baby and I will stop at nothing and often times drive ourselves crazy if we believe in something and this song always felt important and magical to us.

Fix Me
A few days before we left to record Baby was going through demos I had sent earlier in the year and ‘Fix Me’ just felt like it was calling out to us. The choruses on this song are so big and epic, it felt like the perfect way to end the album. You’ll hear throughout the album what I call the “A Million Knives” theme which happens in the chorus of ‘Fix Me’ and also in ‘A Million Knives’. The album is dedicated to my grandmother, Marjorie Lu. In the very beginning and end of ‘Fix Me,’ the music box you hear playing was hers.

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UK pop riser Chloe Qisha returns with ‘Sexy Goodbye’. If you’re new to Chloe Qisha’s world, then don’t worry – there’s a lot more to come. The pop force-in-waiting will share her new EP on November 15, boasting recent single ‘I Lied, I’m Sorry’ and ‘VCR Home Video’. Deliciously decadent pop thrills, Chloe ups the ante on her latest single. Out now, ‘Sexy Goodbye’ flips the script for a song of departure – it’s about relishing your own worth, and leaving someone with your head held high. Perfectly sculpted, it’s a slinky pop number with a chorus that stays lodged in your mind for days on end. Chloe Qisha comments… “It’s super rare as a songwriter to create a song that you can truthfully say is one of your favourite songs ever (because we’re usually so critical of our own work), but ‘Sexy Goodbye’ is that song for me. The song is about wanting to leave a relationship on your best form – fighting the urge to be sad and hoping that their last impression of you is, ‘damn, they look good.’ We really wanted it to be painfully honest and funny; and we definitely leaned into that as much as possible for the lyrics. I love writing sad/happy songs. I want people to be crying in the club to this song!” [via Clash]

The Velveteers are opening the campaign for their sophomore album, A Million Knives, on a bit of a historic note. The just-released first single, ‘Go Fly Away,’ is a collaboration with the Black Keys — and, in fact, marks the first time Dan Auerbach, who signed the Denver trio to his Easy Eye Sound label and produces the group, and Patrick Carney have produced something together for another act. “Pat’s played drums on some records I (produced) and stuff,” Auerbach tells Billboard. “With the Velveteers he was very hands-on, and it was all of us working in the studio.” Velveteers frontwoman Demi Demitro says Carney was a periodic visitor to the A Million Knives sessions, which took place last December at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound Studio in Nashville. “We didn’t know it was that first time, but it was really cool to work with both Dan and Patrick,” Demitro says. Carney, in fact, started the songwriting process off with the opening keyboard line, which Auerbach says came from a music sample library. “We just kind of worked off it from there,” Demitro recalls. “Patrick’s drumming on the song, both of the drummers in my band (Baby Pottersmith and Jonny Fig) are playing, then I added this heavy guitar for the after-chorus. After we sat with the song for a little bit we added some overdubs, just to kind of put the little sparkling touches to it.” Auerbach says the idea of a Velveteers-Black Keys combination was organic — and perhaps inevitable. “We’d done some touring together and all of us are friends,” he says, “and I think Pat was excited to get in the studio, too, and work on a song with them. That was a really cool experience.” [via Billboard]

XG has unveiled the music video for their new song ‘IYKYK’. This track is the second pre-release from their upcoming second mini-album, AWE, set to launch on November 8. The song showcases XG’s mission to break boundaries through new challenges, featuring the members as they explore the limitless universe at lightning speed. Notably, ‘IYKYK’ samples m-flo’s classic track ‘prism,’ originally released in 2001, lending it an old-school vibe that complements XG’s modern sound. The newly released music video diverges from XG’s previous visual style by presenting a unique perspective on their world. The theme explores how their surroundings might appear through their eyes, capturing a mystical and surreal ambiance. The storyline revolves around each member’s sensory abnormalities, suggesting that by embracing these differences, they can perceive true light. This concept is artfully depicted throughout the video, blending captivating graphics and imagery that align with XG’s ethereal style. The music video is a visual feast, featuring outdoor scenes with pastel colors that evoke a dreamy atmosphere. The dance vibes resonate throughout, with engaging transitions that shift between real-life footage and cartoon characters, enhancing the whimsical quality of the visuals. The forest setting adds to the enchantment, making for a well-crafted and imaginative viewing experience that resonates with fans. Overall, ‘IYKYK’ is a delightful blend of nostalgia and innovation, reflecting XG’s artistry and their homage to m-flo’s influence. [via Tokyo Hive]

Alexis Lucena – known by her stage name LEXXE – has journeyed from the refined worlds of ballet and classical music to breaking new ground in the realm of pop. LEXXE has been forging a distinctive path in her blossoming musical career, releasing a string of dark-pop-infused singles such as ‘Labyrinth’ and ‘Queen of the Night’, each of which has heightened the anticipation for her latest creation, A Haunted House. Blending elements of electronic and dance music, A Haunted House is a bold and striking debut that immediately establishes Lucena as a key player in the contemporary dark-pop scene. The project’s moody, atmospheric production, combined with LEXXE’s inherent gift for storytelling-infused lyricism, creates a captivating experience. A standout track, ‘All Black Mansion’, opens with infectious synth-driven production and breathy ad-libs, which effortlessly draw listeners in. The track also receives a visually compelling music video that immerses viewers in the full LEXXE experience, bringing the hyper-pop anthem to life in vivid detail. [via Wonderland]

Following the release of their sophomore album, Fantasy Now!, Detroit’s garage-psych trio Shadow Show returns with a new double A-side 7″ ‘Baby Yaga / Spy Balloon’ (Rogue Records). While both tracks journey around bombastic grooves and treasured psych-pop impulses, the new single emphasizes the group’s utilization of the studio as an instrument with inclusions of synthesizers, tape delays, and other various overdubs to their harmonious wall of sound. On the songs the trio say: “Both singles were written and recorded at the same time last year, and always meant to be paired as a unit. Despite both new songs have different sonic influences, they share the same spirit and revolve around themes of obsession, hysteria, and the allure and mysticism of The Unknown. The narrative of ‘Baba Yaga’ was directly inspired by the Italian giallo film of its namesake by Corrado Farina. ‘Spy Balloon’ was written during the spy balloon hysteria in American media last year. Together, they showcase our flexibility as a band, and that’s why we chose to represent them equally as a double a-side. That, and because “The Beatles did it.” On the video they continue: “It was an unforgettable adventure in and of itself. For the ‘Spy Balloon’ portion, we drove four hours north to the Sleeping Bear Dunes in the middle of the night to beat the sunrise and mid-July heat to film with our director Cooper Arent and his assistant Tommy Barnes. A few weeks later, we filmed the ‘Baba Yaga’ portion on the hottest and muggiest day of the summer, and barely survived mosquito assaults. Chaos follows us wherever we go, and yet we still manage to have an unforgettable time.” [via Paperface]

Sister Thieves is a NYC-based doomy rock band known for their heavy grooves overlaid by eerie female vocals. Their unique sound weaves together 70s psychedelic and 90s alternative rock to create something entirely new. Formed as a trio in 2017, Sister Thieves released its self-titled EP in 2019 and played extensively around NYC. However, the pandemic and personal setbacks derailed their momentum, leading to a hiatus. In 2023 Steph and Aaron regrouped as a duo, crafting an album with their strongest material to date. Aaron took on recording and mixing duties from his basement studio as Steph directed and edited the music video for their new single ‘Be Bad.’ The band’s new album, CRAWL, drops October 25. [via Ghettoblaster Mag]

Warm Human has officially released her latest album, Hamartia, via Chicago based label mainstay Sooper Records. This marks her first album for Sooper and with a label. Produced and written by Johnston, along with Conor Mackey (Lynyn, NNAMDI, Mobobody), the album follows last year’s alternative rock-leaning Hometown Hero and swings back towards Warm Human’s more electronic roots, while retaining some guitar-infused elements from the former. The new album is also accompanied by a new stunning runway inspired music video for the album’s focus track, ‘Hamartia.’

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