Canadian singer-songwriter Dana Gavanski started releasing music in 2017 and has two albums and one EP under her belt. Now, she’s announcing her third LP Late Slap and sharing the effervescent single ‘How To Feel Uncomfortable.’ “I realized that in order to become stronger I needed to get used to being uncomfortable,” Gavanski said about the track in a statement, explaining that she had lost her voice during the making of her previous record, When It Comes. She cites Susan Sontag as an influence for the song and album overall, summoning a quote from her 2003 book Regarding The Pain Of Others: “It is passivity that dulls feeling. The states described as apathy, moral or emotional anesthesia, are full of feelings; the feelings are rage and frustration…” “The album holds together the seemingly disparate aspects of my character that I have sometimes tried to repress,” Gavanski explained. “With this album I’m letting them into the room, celebrating them for all their strangeness — a strangeness which I think we all, on some level, share.” Watch director Ella Margolin’s video for ‘How To Feel Uncomfortable’ below. [via Stereogum]
Following the announcement of their striking debut album, ANTI-FUN PROPAGANDA (set for release on February 23 via Marshall Records), alt-punk collective Gen and the Degenerates reveal their latest offering in the form of ‘KIDS WANNA DANCE,’ a spiralling, dystopian anthem for the disenfranchised. Speaking on the themes of their new single, vocalist Genevieve Glynn-Reeves (she/they) comments: “This song is about trying to reconcile the knowledge that the future of our world is very uncertain, getting up each day and trying to build a life for ourselves. Beyond that, we all want to find a way to make those lives enjoyable. Not only is the quality of life getting lower, but our politics and economy are volatile; we have to ask ourselves questions like ‘Is it even ethical to have children?’ because of the state that previous generations have left the planet in. It seems that if people want to spend all their time making stupid videos on TikTok or spend all their money frivolously, then why shouldn’t they? There are no stable careers, and they won’t be able to afford a house anyway. We all need to find the joy we can and each our way of dancing through the end times.”
Any Other, the project of Italian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Adele Altro (they / them), has shared their new single ‘If I Don’t Care’. The track, a rousing ode to letting go of anger, is the final cut to be shared from their forthcoming third album, stillness, stop: you have a right to remember which is due out on January 26 via 42 Records. Of their new single, Adele says: “This song is about me learning to let go of things that make me angry – both personal and societal stuff. It’s reasonable to be angry about inequalities, but at some point you need to distance yourself from that stuff just a little, otherwise it will impact your mental health in an even more negative way. I’m still learning how to do that!” Together with the new single, Any Other is releasing a video for ‘If I don’t care’, produced by EDERA (Milano) and directed by Giulio Rasi, with art direction by Cecilia Grandi. “When emotions arise they can manifest in different forms and colours – learning to understand and recognise them is not always an easy task. In the video for ‘If I don’t care’, half way between a dream and a mythological tale, the difficulty of controlling one’s emotions is narrated, and how sometimes the only thing we can do is stop resisting them and let them flow through us,” says Grandi.
Dora Paphides directs a playful gothic fantasy for Ella Eyre‘s comeback video, featuring Tiggs Da Author. The promo for ‘Head In The Ground’ features Ella in her girly bedroom – which happens to be six feet under. Up above in the Beetlejuice-style graveyard, Tiggs arrives you encourage Ella to step up from her resting place and enter the real world, reflecting the song’s theme that she’s ready to make up for past mistakes. Anchored by lively performances and complete commitment to the visual world – composed by production designer Sasha Hilton – it’s a standout concept with confident direction from Paphides, following up from up recent co-directing outings with Harv Frost for The Last Dinner Party and Chinchilla. [via PromoNews]
This week sees the return of raw and honest storyteller Jess Locke with the announcement of her fourth album, Real Life, out on May 3, through Dot Dash / Remote Control Records. The celebrated Melbourne/Naarm-based songwriter shares a sample of the long play that explores mortality with ‘Uncomfortably Happy.’ Setting the tone for the forthcoming album, ‘Uncomfortably Happy,’ says it all in the title. Backed by fuzzy guitars and swelling synths, Locke questions the temporary aspect of living. The buoyant chorus attempts to sweep these anxieties and overanalyses away – a celebration of chaos and letting go of control, of failure even, because all of it is just temporary. Locke admits, “It’s something I write about a lot, maybe because I am still trying to become comfortable with the idea that life is temporary and meaningless and that’s a good thing.” [via v13]
Ariana Grande has returned with her first solo single and video since 2020 ‘Yes, And?’. In the short, she stages a performance for a crowd of snooty critics, inevitably winning them over in party-starting fashion; it is inspired by Paula Abdul’s 1988 music video for ‘Cold Hearted,’ as Variety notes. Check out the Christian Breslauer–directed video below. [via Pitchfork]
LØLØ has released a new single that sadly pokes fun at us and our skinny jeans-wearing ways. Waaaah… A track about a toxic relationship, the excellent ‘2 of us’ opens with the line, ‘You still wear skinny jeans and that should have been my first sign,’ and addresses some of the challenges of cutting things off with someone, even when you know it’s the wrong person. “I wrote ‘2 of us’ at a time where I felt very dumb,” LØLØ explains. “I couldn’t shake someone who was terrible for me. I thought they were being so thoughtless and stupid, but then I realised I was being just as stupid for even giving them the time of day. “P.S.,” she adds, “I’m sorry to my fellow emos who will be offended by the skinny jeans line… it was just a really good diss, okay? I felt very sassy while writing this one, so a couple of the lines are pretty funny lol.” [via Kerrang!]
BRIT-nominated South London singer-songwriter Lola Young shares her gritty new single, ‘Wish You Were Dead’ via Day One / Island Records. ‘Wish You Were Dead’ details a toxic relationship and overflows with Lola’s sharp, honest storytelling and dynamic vocal performance.
