While merging punk with protest is nothing new, Pussy Riot made headlines in 2012 after three members were arrested for staging a guerilla-style concert inside a cathedral. Deemed “sacrilegious” by church officials and the government, the band’s latest single ‘Dance With The Devil’ with rap-cabaret pioneer Boyfriend is extra salt to the wound. Directed by Pussy Riot creator Nadya Tolokonnikova and visual artist Yulia Shur, ‘Dance With The Devil’ captures the claustrophobic hedonism of the underworld. A diverse cast of people lick, suck and writhe underneath the moody lights and the watchful eye of Tolokonnikova and Boyfriend. There’s also a special appearance from iconic club kid and model Amanda Lepore who cradles fake babies near her breasts as she silently embodies a powerful, macabre motherly figure overseeing the pure debauchery taking place. “I believe that Virgin Mary was a feminist, and if she lived today, she’d be making music with Boyfriend and Pussy Riot,” Tolokonnikova tells PAPER. “We’ve co-created this piece with two of my dearest friends, both incredibly strong, dedicated and vocal female artists, Boyfriend and Yulia Shur, and isn’t it everyone’s dream to work with your best friends on something that excites you deeply?” Boyfriend also reflected on the symbolism of the video and the song itself, saying: “I grew up believing in the Devil. Try as they might to depict him as evil, my main takeaway was that he lived in the land of cigarettes and sex… He drank red wine, gambled, had a choir of electric guitars and was the keeper of the orgasm. This song is an invitation to the Devil’s party, where indulgence isn’t a sin and temptation isn’t a threat. It’s also an inversion of the patriarchal depictions of Satan… if God is a woman, so is the Devil, and she’s way more fun to hang with.” [via PAPER]
On the heels of Donzii‘s debut LP Fishbowl comes the newly announced For The People – a collection of their first two sold out EPs repressed together on one vinyl, sandwiched between never before heard tracks. The first of these new offerings is ‘Disco Rosie’ which arrives alongside an official video. Donzii has signed with Born Losers Records for the March 23 release of their vinyl compilation. Aptly arriving on Valentine’s Day, ‘Disco Rosie’ is four minutes of pure musical excess that could fuel any night of strobing lights, full dance floors and swaying sweaty bodies. The official video starring the band and a collective of friends feels like a psychedelic walk through a previous decade. Keeping things short and sweet, the band said, “’Disco Rosie’ is for lovers.”
Oakland band Blues Lawyer joins Dark Entries for their third full-length, All in Good Time, a record of pop-rock songs about living in a world that wants to put your existence on the clock. This week the band shared the Monty Python-inspired video for ‘Make Up’ ahead of the album release on Friday: Rob Miller said: “‘Make Up’ is about reluctantly accepting that a relationship has run its course because neither person is willing to be vulnerable and open with each other anymore. In typical Blues Lawyer fashion, we chose to make light of the song’s lyrical themes and made a Monty Python inspired video where Elyse and I’s characters embark on a heroic quest only to (spoiler alert) meet our demise. The video was directed by Blues Lawyer drummer/vocalist, Elyse Schrock and frequent collaborator, Richard Alex Olsen.”
Iconic singer-songwriter-rapper-artist Brooke Candy arrived fully charged this Valentine’s Day with her new single, ‘Juicy Fruit.’ Co-written by Candy, Jesse Saint John (Britney Spears, LIZZO, Saweetie), Nick Weiss and Cecile Believe, the sex-positive, electro-powered track is joined by an official music video. “It’s unique and a lot different than what I’ve done in the past. The visual taps into a different era that I cherish. It’s a little bit ’80s, and I want to run with that,” Candy tells Jack Irvin or People Magazine. “I’m just happy to still be able to make music, express myself through art and make a living doing it. I feel really lucky.” “If I can make someone smile with this song or video, that’s incredible, and I did my job,” Candy continues about what’s to come. “That’s all I want — to bring a little bit of positivity to the world.”
Eaves Wilder has shared new single ‘Are You Diagnosed?’ The London songwriter has signed to Secretly Canadian, with her debut EP Hookey set to land on March 24. Dubbed by its maker as being “about bunking off”, it touches on some incredibly personal topics. New single ‘Are You Diagnosed?’ is a case in point. A tongue-in-cheek indie burner, it actually touches on mental health, and the (lack of) services available to those in need. Still only 19 years old, it discusses her experiences with the British mental health service CAMHS – while also asking for a bit more help for those who need it. So, over to Eaves… “I first entered the Child and Adolescent Mental Health services – or CAMHS – when I was eleven. Although they did finally help me, and I left at the age of fifteen, ‘Are You Diagnosed?’ is basically a stream-of-consciousness, scream for help rant/report about what it’s like in those awful, quiet waiting rooms, and consulting rooms. As CAHMS is so dangerously underfunded by the government, the deal is- the closer you are to death, the higher up the waiting list you go. Which on average is around 16 months. And people with eating disorders are competitive anyway, so it’s very easy to look around the waiting room, and think, ‘I need to be the most ill person here. I need to get … ill-er than the girl with the bandages on her arms, or the tube up her nose – or I’ll never get treated. I’m going to make my way up that list.’ The key thing is getting your diagnosis. There’s no treatment until diagnosis. You don’t know what is happening to you. And a lot of people doubt you are ill anyway. They (friends, family, teachers) think that you’re making it all up, I think that’s easier for them. And so the biggest question is, over and over: “Are you diagnosed? Are you diagnosed?” [via Clash]
Next month, Gisela Fulla-Silvestre, the singer and producer who records as NOIA, will release her full-length debut gisela. Now, NOIA has teamed up with Ela Minus, the Colombian dance-popper who released the great ♡ EP with DJ Python last year, on a new single called ‘didn’t know.’ On ‘didn’t know,’ NOIA and Ela Minus sing in both English and Spanish over a slinky synth-beat that never sits still. It’s a haunted, evocative synthpop jam that still really moves. Lola Blanc directed the track’s very stylish video. In a press release, NOIA says: “’didn’t know’ is an ode to my friends in nyc. an ode to all the bad dating we’ve done in this city and how we’ve survived through staying together and laughing together. it’s also an ode to the nightlife of this city. I borrowed a couple of dialogue lines from Mad Men for the lyrics: this song is playfully centered around the idea of singing to the ultimate fuckboy, don draper. I have collected so many whatsapp audio messages (or whatsapp podcasts lol) from my friends sharing their late night experiences, so I wanted to bring those bits and pieces of dialogue into the song, that’s why there’s that sound design club bathroom moment in the song and that’s why you can hear them discovering the magic of autotune towards the end of the song. I had to invite Ela Minus to sing this song as a duet: she is one of my good friends with whom I’ve shared these experiences with, endless dinners in Brooklyn laughing away our love adventures. but also, when i started this beat (with a drum machine and not in the box as I usually make beats) I realized I was getting inspired by her amazing beat making style. so I sent the track to her during the pandemic and she recorded her beautiful airy vocals in it, half in English, half in Spanish. Musically this is my Prince song, it’s definitely a hot pink song. I wanted the voices to feel like a wall of airy rhythmic sexy vibes. but then the beat and the bass to feel chaotic and industrial.” [via Stereogum]
Paramore have released the music video for their latest single, ‘Running Out of Time’, from their recently released album This Is Why. Of the track, Hayley Williams says, “When we first started writing the album I wanted to challenge myself to write about ordinary things. I am horrific at time management and that feels about like the most mundane thing anyone could talk about… seemed like a fun challenge. It kept me from getting all deep and dark which is actually an easier place, internally, for me to dwell. Then again, expanding on those feelings isn’t all that different from the anxieties a lot of us feel about living on planet earth in 2023.” [via Dork]
Black Honey returns with punchy new rocker ‘OK’. The band’s new album A Fistful Of Peaches lands on March 17, led by comeback single ‘Up Against It’. Frontperson Izzy Bee Phillips used the lyrics to urge fans to be kinder to themselves, and these mental health themes permeate their new single. Out now, ‘OK’ punctures the happiness myth, and asks if something OK is actually something we should all strive for. If the guitar-based songwriting carries a real impact, then perhaps that is to drive the point home. Izzy Bee comments… “‘OK’ is a love story I wrote for my friend who was getting high all the time to dull anxiety. I didn’t want them to be struggling anymore and this song is like ‘I will stand by you and if you need a weird 10 mins where you smoke weed after drinking 8 pints till you whitey. If that’s what you need to do then it’s okay’. It’s too much to expect someone to be happy so just okay is enough. I’m also criticising myself for trying to be a Romeo-style hero when I’m so utterly ill-equipped to help anyone. I also somehow have the feeling of devotional dedication to a person that only rom coms ever show you and I didn’t really believe was real.” [via Clash]
Jessie Ware has shared a new video for her single ‘Pearls’, taken from her upcoming album That! Feels Good! The video, which was directed by Sophie Muller (Kylie Minogue, Rihanna) and Theo Adams (Elton John, Years and Years), sees Ware in a variety of dreamy, neon-drenched settings, which perfectly aligns with the ’90s-infused track. The song is a collaboration between Ware and Stuart Price, Sarah Hudson, and Coffee Clarence JR, and as Ware explains in a press release, it’s “a record that doesn’t take itself too seriously but demands you to have a dance. It’s inspired by divas like Donna Summer, Evelyn Champagne King, Teena Marie and Chaka khan and I guess attempts to show—in lightness—all the hats I try to wear (usually at the same time).” That! Feels Good! is the follow-up to Ware’s critically acclaimed album What’s Your Pleasure? In a statement, Ware said of the new record: “That! Feels Good! stems from over 10 years of understanding who I am, and who I enjoy being as an artist and the thrill of performance. It’s a record to be enjoyed, to sing and shout the words back at me and to each other. It’s a culmination of hard work and total pleasure appreciating the job I have and the worlds I get to dive into. I have never felt so ready for people to hear something I’ve made.” [via Dork]
LA-based pop trailblazer Grace Gaustad has shared their new single and video ‘The Cloud’. ‘The Cloud’ appears on Gaustad’s forthcoming multimedia concept album PILLBX: whts ur fantasy?, which will culminate this summer in an epic cinematic film. ‘The Cloud’ is a delicate and glowing art pop track, where Gaustad’s vocals are swirling and haunting around soft electronics. It’s an incredibly considered and mature track for the 21 year old, with the video depicting physical isolation in an overconnected digital world, featuring a cameo from Emmy and Golden Globe winner Mariska Hargitay. Speaking further about the track Grace says “‘The Cloud’ is a song about the epidemic of loneliness we all feel from the primary relationship we have with our cell phones. We’ve become so dependent on our phones that we now store the best parts of our life somewhere in the cloud, as opposed to enjoying them while they’re happening.”
Rising indie-pop trio Bailen has announced the release of their second full-length album, Tired Hearts, due out May 5 via Fantasy Records. The New York City based siblings have also shared the album’s first single, the alt-pop anthem ‘Call It Like It Is,’ along with its cult classic thriller style video. The sparkling ‘Call It Like It Is,’ co-written by Bailen and X Ambassadors’ Adam Levin and Sam Harris, is “an anthem for anyone who refuses to be taken advantage of,” the band stated. “It unmasks the ugly truth behind shiny veneers.” The track’s beautifully rendered, cinematic video, directed and edited by David Bailen, is a fictionalized account of a scary ‘catfishing’ episode Bailen recently experienced while on tour. “To save money on the road, we often stay with friends, family and fans instead of staying in hotels,” the group explained. “It goes to show what it takes to be in a touring band these days just to break even.” [via udiscovermusic]
Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Bea Miller released a new song ‘cynical’ on February 15. The song is the second single under her own label Gauche Records, following ‘lonely bitch’ released back in January. It was written by Bea Miller, Cara Salimando, and Colin Brittain. Produced by Colin Brittain. Bea Miller said of the song, “’cynical’ has always been a word I’ve used to describe the way I view love and romance. When my last relationship ended, I felt like it had been destined to crash and burn. Because I was already prepared for that, it didn’t hurt me as much as it should’ve. I don’t think that’s great necessarily, but there was something oddly satisfying about being right.” The accompanying music video was directed by Gina Gizella Manning. It serves as the second installment of her twelve-part visual compendium, entitled “BEA MILLER’S CABINET”. She said, “In the video for ‘cynical,’ we wanted to showcase the monotony I’ve felt in relationships by essentially filming the same shot over and over again, with varying emotions.” [via pmstudio]
Following up the release of her ephemerally dreamy, glittery cyber and otherworldly EP, Dear Diary, Alex Sloane has premiered the music video for the sweet but venomous single, ‘Mine.’ A vintage decor princess bedroom, pages detailing nothing but one repetitive line of “Everything is ok,” the hauntingly sweet music video gives nods to Kubrick’s 1980 classic, The Shining. Featuring a breathlessly thrilling tempo and Sloane’s honey smooth, quaint but beyond recognizable vocal, ‘Mine’ perfectly infuses electronic influence with lo-fi and hyperpop. Displaying the movie-set reality behind the picturesque, cottage-core bedroom at the end of the music video, Sloane again reveals the danger of delusions, reiterating the main focus of ‘Mine’ once more. [via Earmilk]
Honey Revenge have released a new single and video, ‘Are You Impressed?’ The duo – vocalist Devin Papadol and guitarist Donovan Lloyd – continue to make their mark following previous singles ‘Rerun,’ ‘Ride’ and ‘Distracted,’ with their latest effort following their standard set so far of incredibly catchy and relatable. ‘Lost sight of what I’m working toward / It’s the same shit different day / Battles I have fought before / Will they ever go my way?’ go the lyrics of the second verse, with Devin explaining that, “Are You Impressed? is about dealing with a need to constantly be productive and well liked in a world where everything we do is documented and put online.” [via Kerrang!]
