Having announced that their debut album will be set for release this November, Brighton’s Currls have shared an uplifting new single. A colourful ode to female friendship and owning your own unique individuality, ‘Honey‘ is propelled by an empowering energy as lilting, catchy hooks flow alongside frenzied beats and unifying, singalong refrains. And, as the soaring, soulful vocals of front person Holly take the lead, an enlivening dose of twinkling, scuzz-filled garage-rock is created; an energising and compelling anthem of self-love that’ll motivate and inspire on first listen. ‘Honey’ is accompanied by a vibrant, DIY video showcasing femmes coming together to celebrate each other and themselves. The perfect, sparkling energy-boost you need on during this lethargic heat wave. [via Get In Her Ears]
The Australian singer-songwriter Gordi has been doing a lot lately — a single with Troye Sivan, a Dolly Parton cover, a Julien Baker remix. Next month, she’ll release Inhuman, a new EP that she recorded in studios around the world. We’ve already posted first single ‘Way I Go,’ and now Gordi has also shared ‘Inhuman,’ a song about about transforming yourself into a robot as a way of coping with earthly stresses. Gordi was a doctor before she became a full-time musician, and ‘Inhuman’ draws on that experience. Gordi sings through a computerized voice filter over swells of synth and guitar, and she captures a certain sense of sad-but-comforting disassociation. Here’s how she describes the song in a press release: “When I wrote ‘Inhuman,’ I was thinking about the blackened roadsides on my drive from Sydney to Lismore in 2019. I had to turn back halfway because the fires were too out of control. I was supposed to start work in Lismore Hospital on the Monday, where I would meet countless patients who couldn’t be discharged because their homes had been destroyed. Hearing one story after the next made me numb, and being numb to that sort of tragedy feels like forgetting to be human.” Check out the Triana Hernandez-directed ‘Inhuman’ video above. [via Stereogum]
ALASKALASKA will release new album Still Life on October 14. The project truly operate in their own lane, with core partnership Lucinda Duarte-Holman and Fraser Rieley using barbed electronics as a means to dissect pop tropes. Working with Marathon Artists, the group’s debut album provides them with a broad canvas to operate with. Jas Shaw – of Simian Mobile Disco – produces the record, blending Brutalist synths with sharp-edged melodies. New single ‘Still Life’ is out now, the curled digitalism underpinning a hypnotic vocal from Lucina Duarte-Holman. A kind of extra-dimensional pop song, it puts us in mind of everyone from Cabaret Voltaire through to Factory Floor, while still demanding you meet it on its own terms. [via Clash]
Next month, Jennifer Vanilla — the alter ego of New York-based performance artist Becca Kauffman — is releasing their debut album, Castle In The Sky. It includes the previously shared ‘Body Music’ and ‘Take Me For A Ride,’ and now Kauffman is putting out another single, an enticing, svelte, sinister earworm called ‘Humility’s Disease.’ Its Luca Venter-directed music video introduces another alter ego: Johnnifer Vanillo, a devilish figure plagued by two angels. Here’s Jennifer Vanilla’s statement: “Have you ever worried that there was something truly and absolutely wrong with you, deep down inside and from every possible angle? Sat on a secret feeling that you were an unlovable monster, a massive disappointment to the world, utterly rotten at your core? Feared that your instincts were completely fucked, that your anger made you evil, that your mind was an inhospitable trap you would never escape, that your own body would never do, that you ought to be ashamed of yourself, that the world wasn’t meant for you? Don’t be so humble! Johnnifer Vanillo is here to talk you out of it all. Johnnifer Vanillo is my alter ego’s alter ego— Jennifer Vanilla with the skin off, on the verge of spontaneous combustion due to intense internal friction. Toxic sludge is bubbling up, the guck stuck under the surface of the burning nether regions we condemn. Their monologue is an eruption, a confrontation, a coach’s pep talk to let the ego sing— if only to quell the inflammation and then settle into a balanced peace. In this world, the edges around “good” and “evil” dissolve into a puddle of damp, sputtering flames, angels and devil-figure swirling the elements of their supposedly oppositional poles into a perverse reworking of whatever you thought right and wrong ever were. There’s nothing wrong with humility— it’s just that too much of it can destroy you like a disease.” [via Stereogum]
DYLAN shares her anticipated new single ‘Girl Of Your Dreams’, her first release for Island Records UK/Republic Records. The track arrives alongside a new video, co-directed by Dylan and Carla Dauden. ‘Girl Of Your Dreams’ is a headrush of spiky energy that sits somewhere between pop perfection and a classic stadium rocker. The track is defined by a reckless sense of momentum, seamlessly merging alt-rock and pop sensibilities to create a sound that is unmistakably Dylan. Honed into its current form by months on the road, it is the product of a popstar who truly understands the power of live performance. “’Girl of Your Dreams’ is very simple and straight to the point.” notes Dylan. “The day I wrote it, I was feeling a lot of frustration towards someone who sadly had absolutely no interest in me. Ultimately, they hadn’t done anything wrong, so instead of writing a “screw you” song, I wrote a “want me!” song.
It’s all fun and games until your cheer squad tries to kill you. That’s the premise of Jackie Cohen’s new visual for ‘Moonstruck,’ the creeping, frenzied lead single off her forthcoming album Pratfall. In the video, directed by Sloppy Jane’s Haley Dahl, Cohen joins two pals for dance practice on a tennis court, but what starts out as a sunny choreo session eventually turns into a bloodthirsty chase through the hills. It’s a wild, campy ride, perfectly in line with the adrenaline and doom Cohen channels in the song. “Haley was really thoughtful about creating this video,” says Cohen. “She wanted to help me tell a story that was cinematic but also true and cathartic, and the cannibal-cheerleader concept came about sort of as a response to the cutesy, peppy, performative version of myself that exists but is actually pretty dislocated from the reality of me. I always felt like it was my responsibility in my life to remain small, unobtrusive, palatable, accommodating, and I developed this self-abandoning way of being in the world that was really corrosive to my identity,” Cohen continues. “We talked a lot about trauma, emotional fracturing, horror, the uncanny, the death moth that’s been following me around—appearing in the last shot as a charm—and about the relationship between femininity and screaming. So much of this record has to do with realizing in a split-second of delayed sentience and absolute panic that the quaint, idyllic, well-kempt, well-rehearsed dream has become a nightmare.” In ‘Moonstruck,’ that dream-turned-nightmare comes in the form of homicidal cheerleaders, but it also comes in the form of heartbreak and suburban dread. The song’s title, meanwhile, is a nod to the 1987 film of the same name, which co-starred Cher and Nicolas Cage. “Get the knife, get the big knife,” Cohen screams in the bridge, almost gleeful in her sense of duty, like a survivalist taking charge at the end of the world. But Cohen doesn’t sound fatalistic—she sounds energized. [via Flood]
In ‘Nomad’, ZADA confesses and even prides herself in being one.. “Pick up myself, and dust off this place/I’ll be the stranger with something to say/Constantly changing it’s been my way” she thoughtfully rhymes with a graceful Hip-Hop swagger that cuts through the air with very precise intent- with this song, she isn’t just letting us now that her transatlantic journey has turned her into who she is, but that it’s likely in her DNA too, and that a Nomad she will remain as she hops from stage to stadium across the globe in the years to come. It bears mentioning that the video features some absolutely stunning nature shots of beautiful British Columbia, and ZADA looks completely enamored with the place as she re-enacts scenes from her own pen. [via Ladygunn]
Bella Poarch has released her second proper single, and it’s got a video where Poarch and Grimes get into a super-powered sci-fi fight scene. Poarch’s Billie Eilish-ish new song is called ‘Dolls,’ and she recorded it with Sub Urban, the New Jersey producer who also worked on ‘Build A Bitch.’ Grimes didn’t have anything to do with the song, but she’s key to the video. Director Andrew Donoho‘s ‘Dolls’ clip is full of cameos from YouTube and social media personalities who are extremely famous to anyone under 20 and probably completely foreign to anyone who’s older than that (that’s me!). They include Bretman Rock, Dream, Valkyrae, Chloe Cherry, Ludwig, and Madison Beer. It’s got a storyline about Poarch, playing a one-armed robot, leading some kind of AI revolution. The clip ends when Poarch tries to attack the boss figure, played by masked Minecraft streamer Dream. Dream’s bodyguard is a glowing-eyed Grimes, who gets into a fairly well-choreographed fight scene with Poarch. There’s probably heavy stunt-performer involvement in this one, but the two performers had to do at least some of the John Wick stuff themselves. [via Stereogum]
Ellie Goulding is back with her first release of 2022, ‘Easy Lover’, which sees her team up with Big Sean. ‘Easy Lover’ is Goulding’s first outing as the lead artist since her 2020 Brightest Blue album, although she did feature on Silk City’s ‘New Love’ last year, and sees her collaborate with Big Sean. Goulding says of the new single, which is accompanied by a Sophia Ray-directed video, “I wrote ‘Easy Lover’ in LA with Julia Michaels after conversations about the age-old tale of being infatuated by someone cool and beautiful knowing that they will never quite feel the same. It’s about going back to the same dangerous person to feel alive when you know they have hurt people again and again before you. Having the legendary Greg Kurstin produce any song of mine is always a dream come true. He always understands the assignment!” [via Line Of Best Fit]
Demi Lovato has dropped a raucous new single, ‘Substance.’ The anthemic pop-punk number is the second track off their forthcoming eighth studio LP, Holy Fvck, out August 19 via Island Records. The song arrived with a video directed by Cody Critcheloe that nods to late ’90s and early ’00s pop-punk music videos. In the clip, Lovato stomps into a board meeting, joins some pals at a diner, and gets wild at a house party. The video ends with an appearance on a red carpet that features a cameo from Paris Hilton. ‘Substance’ was written by Lovato, Oak, Keith Sorrells, Alex Niceforo, Laura Veltz, and Jordan Lutes, and produced by Oak, Sorrells, and Niceforo. “I’m so excited to share another taste of what’s in store for this album,” Lovato explained in a statement. “We can all relate to searching for something more in life, and I want this song to make you feel like you’re having a damn good time while doing it.” [via Rolling Stone]
G Flip has shared a poignant new single titled ‘Waste Of Space’, wherein they reflect on and celebrate their non-binary identity. It comes in commemoration of International Non-Binary People’s Day, which is observed globally today (July 14). The song puts a unique spin on Flip’s established alt-pop style, with the artist singing emotively over a tight, droning electric guitar line and simmering string harmony. As the intensity of their vocal performance builds, so too does the instrumental, before it erupts into an explosive, drum-heavy crescendo around the two-minute mark. ‘Waste Of Space’ arrives alongside a music video directed by Nas Bogado, produced by Ash Davis and filmed by Sasha Paskal. In addition to Flip theirself, it features an eclectic cast of 19 people, all of whom are either non-binary or genderfluid. In addition, as Flip noted in a press release, over 85 per cent of the video’s crew identify as queer, and 55 per cent are gender non-conforming. “For everyone involved with ‘Waste Of Space’, it wasn’t just another day at work,” they said. “We are all passionate about the overall mission of my project to bring queer and non-binary representation to the world. Alongside the new single’s release, Flip shared an essay expounding on their personal journey as a non-binary person. “I wasn’t sure if I would ever release this song,” they admitted, explaining that they were polarised by the attention they’d received after coming out last June, but ultimately decided to release ‘Waste Of Space’ because “I know that if I had this song as a kid, it would have changed my entire life”. They wrote: “A few months ago, my gender identity was thrown into headlines and talked about more than I ever thought was possible. I’ve been flooded with messages and questions about being non-binary. There have been many positive messages including from parents reaching out and asking on how to best support their non-binary children, as well as messages from people who just want to understand what being non-binary is and means. But there have also been a lot of hateful messages about my gender identity and people even telling me that I’m not non-binary. As I receive more and more of these messages, I realise how much education the world needs when it comes to gender identity. Even though I wasn’t sure if I’d ever release this song, the more I thought about it, I realised how much the world needs this song.” Flip went on to discuss the ways their upbringing affected their relationship with the social construct that is gender. “My first memory of being confused about my gender was when I was seven,” they wrote. “I played with the boys and wore the boys uniform to school because I thought I was one of them. One day, the boys told me I couldn’t play with them anymore because I was a girl. I went to the girls table in hopes that I would belong there. But they also told me I couldn’t play with them because I was dressed like a boy. I was left in the middle, with no one to play with. The kids would call me a ‘waste of space’ and I was ostracised. This left me confused.” On how they currently perceive theirself in relation to the gender binary, Flip said: “When you Google ‘non-binary’ it says neither a man nor woman, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a spectrum. I’m not neither, I feel like I’m both. Everyone lies on a different part of the spectrum, even those who identify as a girl or a boy. Representation in the media matters. I, along with so many other gender non-conforming souls, are here. We are present and we are going to make noise so that this generation and future generations aren’t ostracised for being their beautiful, authentic selves. To anyone who’s ever felt like a waste of space, you’re not. You’re important, you matter, and you have purpose in this world.” [via NME]
Rose Gray has shared a brand new EP, Synchronicity. Featuring previous singles ‘Last Song’ and new track ‘Cupid’. On ‘Cupid’, she says: “’Cupid, cupid why are you so stupid? Don’t you think before you shoot it?’’ – do I need to say any more?! I wrote this song about how sometimes we fall for the wrong person. Cushioned between heavy breakbeat drums and 90’s house chords, I playfully joke about falling victim to love – again. When I wrote this song I remember thinking this truly captures that feeling of being out of control. I sometimes question if Cupid really is up there in the clouds with a bow and arrow.” [via Dork]
IC3PEAK‘s new track ‘Kiss Of Death’ is out now accompanied by a music video. The importance of Russian folklore is crucial in IC3PEAK’s work. The ‘Kiss Of Death’ music video features numerous elements of Russian culture. For instance, the men consume baranki and “blood” from the samovar. Additionally, the musicians stayed true to their typical simplicity and avoided any semantic puns. ‘Kiss of Death’s meaning is straightforward: “a woman feels upset that, while she is succeeding, she is not needed. She is only necessary while she is struggling.”
Never has an artist’s name felt more fitting than Spacemoth; Maryam Qudus’ sound is able to transport you into alien worlds, while still managing to feel ethereally light. In the lead up to her July 22 debut LP No Past No Future, Qudus’ liminal sound is slowly taking form. Latest single ‘Round in Loops’ continues to showcase her penchant for woozy distortion. ‘Round in Loops’ is a glittering haze of stardust. The track feels like a smear of nostalgia, distorted synths and gently muffled vocals unsettling yet oddly comforting. Snapshots of memories float by as Qudus’ experimental sound lures you in, the entire experience a quirky psych-pop delight. The single perfectly fits in with the tracks teased thus far; ‘Waves Come Crashing’ and ‘This Shit’ in particular are similarly jagged, capturing that same distorted tranquility of Spacemoth’s enticingly alien realm. Qudus’ push for unique sound has been somewhat of an uphill struggle due to her background; “Women are often discouraged from pursuing music in the Afghan & Muslim community, and those who follow that path receive a lot of heat,” Qudus has previously noted. Yet, despite those who may attempt to limit her art, Qudus is instead thriving, making a name for herself as a well-respected producer and composer in the scene. And, with her debut on the horizon, it’s finally time for her to allow her own wistful and complex mind to be heard. [via Clash]
Tami Neilson new album Kingmaker is out now with title track ‘Kingmaker’ now on video. Tami Neilson said of the clip: “It felt so fitting to work with an incredible team of women on this video for a song of empowerment, led by Director Alyx Duncan and Producer Emma Mortimer. Alyx really poured her heart and soul into making ‘Kingmaker’ come to life with her incredible attention to detail and she suggested approaching the owner of the historic St James Theatre located in the heart of downtown Auckland. The once-grand theatre that had hosted Queen Elizabeth herself in 1963 is now crumbling and dilapidated, shuttered for years as work to renovate it came to a standstill. This created the perfect symbolism for ‘Kingmaker’ – a group of women, alive and powerful, rising from the ashes of the old colonial institutions that once excluded and oppressed them. Art director and stylist Evie Kemp created the throne room and my crown, like a renaissance painting come to life. I wanted the visuals to reflect the cinematic feel of the song, which includes a choir of some of my dearest friends, Julia Deans, Anna Coddington, Bella Kalolo and Zoe Moon – all incredible New Zealand artists in their own right. I asked each of them to dress in what they viewed as regal and what made them feel powerful. (Bella wears Samoan traditional dress, Zoe wears cowrie shells- the ancient pan African symbolism of wealth and fertility, Anna wears a Maori necklace carving and a feather shrug that nods to the traditional Maori kākahu by indigenous designer Kiri Nathan) Having these women who support and surround me both in music and in friendship serves as a reminder that when we are united, we are so much stronger.” [via Muzic.Net]
Tell Elon, she said, “zoom, zoom!” On Friday, Cyn dropped her single ‘House with a View,’ the track she wrote while handling the not-so-fun aspects of being a new mom, as she manifests a good-ass life and luxury for herself (and her baby boy Etienne). “I felt like I was washing like baby bottle after baby bottle, and I was sitting there at the sink thinking, ‘If this is my life, like, it would be so much better if I could look out at a beautiful landscape,’ ” Cyn — the pop star signed to Katy Perry’s Unsub Records and behind the bop ‘Drinks’ — tells Rolling Stone over Zoom, hiding in her backyard, so her baby doesn’t see her on the phone. “Sometimes, I even pretend like I am on the ocean.” In the new song, she sings about wanting “that debt-free attitude” and hoping to see her “son with a trust fund by the time he’s four.” She also stars in a silly music video for the track, where she house and dog-sits for a “rich bitch living on Rich Bitch Avenue,” played by Katy Perry, while she’s away in Las Vegas for “literally 24 hours.” “I was like, how can I make this storyline work? Katy made perfect sense,” Cyn says. “I’m a songwriter trying to get a start in life with my art and my music. This is her way of being there for me as a mentor.” Perry describes Cyn’s new song succinctly to Rolling Stone: “Cyn is a savant songwriter and knows how to perfectly put into words the soundtrack to your late-night Zillow scrolls, and a musical middle finger to that student loan life.” In the video, Cyn completely takes over Perry’s house and pretends to live a lavish lifestyle in the mansion, bringing in an ice sculpture of her face, a personal guru, and an Architectural Digest-inspired photoshoot. Most of the folks featured in the video are a lot of the people who actually “support my art” IRL — including her fiancé Kyle Newman, who directed the video. “You’d think it would be something special, or it would be weird, but it just felt very natural,” she says of working with her fiancée. “I thought I was gonna be more nervous because he’s seen me give birth, and now we’re doing a music video. We’re collaborating on a lot now: children and careers. It was perfect!” [via Rolling Stone]
