Irish indie favorites Soda Blonde are delighted to reveal the music video for their latest single ‘Bad Machine’, the first from the band’s upcoming Dream Big album, due for release on September 8. ‘Bad Machine’ fuses warm vocals with fuzzy synths, bringing a sense of sonic pleasure with its self-acceptance message. Indie pop and vibrant electronica combine to create a song with vigor and excitement. When discussing the single’s new music video, guitarist Adam O’Regan writes: “For this video we wanted to explore the idea of ‘malfunction’. In an age of increasing automation, artificial intelligence etc, it’s easy to imagine the many ways things could go awry. But also, we just wanted to break stuff! Our talented & hardworking production designers built the set in 2 days, and we destroyed it in 10 mins of 16mm film.”
Tove Lo has unveiled the official music video for her latest single, ‘I like u’. Made in collaboration with innovative Tokyo-based anime project, Shinsei Galverse, the video features hand-drawn anime artwork and original character design by the video’s director, Japanese storyboard artist Ayaka Ohira. The video was produced by Shinsei Galverse and ARCH Inc, and animated by SoK LLC. The creative fusion offers up the perfect pairing. Tove’s summer smash is a sonic nod to 90s dance music, while Galverse Director Ayaka Ohira brings her ‘nostalgic x futuristic’ visuals to life, combining the aesthetic of classic sci-fi anime with cutting-edge techniques and technology. The video finds Tove’s anime persona stepping beyond her own creative world into the style and story of Shinsei Galverse. Her robot lover, Annie from her seminal ‘No One Dies From Love’ and ‘Borderline’ videos returns in flashbacks. Even as Tove’s planet comes under attack from hostile aliens, she pines for her lost lover. Awakening to her true form, as a badass scorpion-tailed Gal, we learn the dark secret at the core of her new powers – Scorpions consume their mate to survive in harsh conditions. Speaking about the music video, Tove Lo reveals, “I’m so excited for all of you to enter GALVERSE; a powerful and beautiful creation by Ayaka Ohira. I’m so honored to have the final chapter of me and Annie take place in this Universe. It’s been such an amazing experience watching this come to life by Ayaka and her team, and the fact that my character gets to be a part of the heroines in Galverse is so god damn cool. I hope you love this video and feel all the creativity and hard work that went into it <3 R.I.P Annie.” The director adds, “I wanted to create something like a science fiction spectacle. I thought a lot about how to combine the sadness of love and a story on a cosmic scale. Tove and I talked about how we wanted to express the insecurity, vulnerability, and powerful strength of women, as well as the intense and bizarre side of Tove’s character.” [via Prelude Press]
Brisbane/Meanjin duo WIIGZ (Hannah Brydon and Zoë Hilditch) return with their new single ‘French Tips’ and announce their debut EP is on the way. A dreamy, beat heavy banger that fuses electronic pop with the spacey strut of 1990s house, it’s primal beat compels you to move and is nothing short of hypnotic. “We are so hyped for you guys to hear our new single ‘French Tips’,” WIIGZ say. “From playing lots of live shows and growing as artists, we’ve got so much new shit to give to you all. Buckle up because we’re going to take you to a new WIIGZ universe.” Also out is the music video for ‘French Tips’. With a storyline created by WIIGZ, it was directed by Charles Buxton-Leslie with cinematographer Brianna Da Silva and sees the duo go on a crime spree from the inner city to a rural church. “We are known for running around, being wild and chaotic, so we wanted to show this in the music video,” they say. “The concept is tongue n cheek, it’s silly but it even gets a little gruesome at the end. That’s WIIGZ it feels like, taking things a little less serious, silly, fuck you pay us, spotlight in the room pop-star energy. Lol. Come join the party.” [via Women In Pop]
Annie Hart (formerly of Au Revoir Simone) releases her fourth full-length studio album, The Weight of A Wave, via Uninhabitable Mansions. The album arrives with this slightly disturbing video featuring album opener ‘Boy You Got Me Good’.
Phoenix-based singer-songwriter Sydney Sprague has shared a brand new track following the announcement of her highly anticipated sophomore album – somebody in hell loves you (due out September 15 via Rude Records) last month. “I wrote ‘nobody knows anything’ during lockdown in 2020 when everyone became an expert on infectious disease and government response to disaster ,” explains Sydney on the song out now. “Everything sucked and being trapped at home, all that pent-up anxiety had nowhere to go but social media. When you’re face to face with someone, it’s a lot easier to find common ground in normal interactions, but since all of that communication was happening online we lost the filter of social awareness and all hell broke loose. It was all extremes. I felt like I was seeing a different side of people I’d know my whole life and it was shocking. So many people I know severed friendships and even relationships with their families during that time because they just couldn’t reconcile their differences. The internet/world is so full of conflicting information and at this point I don’t really feel like there’s a reliable source in the world,” Sydney continues. “The only thing I know for sure is that I don’t know anything for sure, and I don’t think anybody else does either. I don’t see the point in arguing.”
Korea-based multinational girl group XG have released their new single called ‘TGIF’. The music video for XG’s ‘TGIF’ feature trippy imagery, form floating blobs of slime to mystical creatures the girl group ride on. “VVS’s got nothing on me / Want it, got it, flaunt it, I am queen / Pleased with blessings, look at my body / Wake up, look up in the mirror / T-G-I-F,” they sing on the chorus. ‘TGIF’ will appear on XG’s upcoming debut mini-album New DNA, which is set to be released in September. The project will also feature the previously released single ‘GRL GVNG’. [via NME]
Mckenna Grace has shared a new single, ‘Casual Kisser’. The track marks the first to be taken from the Los Angeles-based actor/singer-songwriter’s debut album, due next year. “‘Casual Kisser’ is about how for me, kissing and dating is a really big deal!” she explains. “It’s about trusting someone enough to venture out of your comfort zone and going along with them, just to have that trust betrayed. Telling them how what you’re doing and the relationship you’re in is important to you and you don’t just kiss anyone, just for them to not take it seriously in the end. In the song I say, “did you hear what I said?” because I’m genuinely asking, “did you hear what I said?!” because if you did, how could you treat my feelings and my boundaries so carelessly? It’s a bit of a bitter song as well – that feeling of being love bombed into feeling safe, only to have that pulled out from under you. I’m truly so excited for all my new music to come, I think I’m really starting to find my sound and space as a songwriter and artist. I’ve had a lot of new life experiences that I’ve funneled into this music, and I can’t wait to share it.” [via Dork]
