LA-based musician Wallice shares another brilliant video for her latest single ‘Funeral’. The track comes from her new EP 90s American Superstar, out now via Dirty Hit, on which Wallice envisions herself as a fictional celebrity idol, charting her own rise and fall across five tracks. On ‘Funeral’, Wallice crafts a funny and slightly tragic tale as her protagonist fantasises about her own memorial, a surrealist affair complete with her “casket in a muscle car.” Teaming up with director Phil Stillwell again to bring the story to life, we see Wallice pursued through the Californian desert by a band of grim Reapers, before accepting her fate and embracing her memorial as one last rock show. She tells us “The video for ‘Funeral’ was really important to me. It’s my favourite song that I’ve made so far. I pictured a concert-like celebration instead of a traditional solemn funeral, sort of taking the heaviness of a funeral and treating it lightly. In my videos I like to incorporate my lyrics in a literal way, but I also try to capture the tone of them as well. This video walks the line between melodramatic and sarcastic in a way that really captures my sense of humor. The video is also more broadly a symbol for how I’m evolving as an artist– the “death” of cowgirl Wallice is meant to mark the end of that era and the beginning of the next.”
Over the last several months, Dehd have been rolling out their new album Blue Skies. We’ve heard several songs from it already, including ‘Bad Love,’ ‘Stars,’ and ‘Empty In My Mind.’ The album is out now and the band is back with one more single/video. Dehd’s latest is ‘called ‘Window.” “‘Window’ is about being obsessed with true love and the construct of ‘the one,’” Emily Kempf said in a statement. “I wrote it to address my addiction to the terrible and wonderful pursuit of perfect love.” ‘Window’ comes with a video directed by Kempf alongside Kevin Veselka. [via Stereogum]
Katy J Pearson has released a third outing from her Sound of the Morning album titled ‘Alligator’, which is accompanied by a video starring Paul McGann (Doctor Who, The Three Musketeers, Luther). Pearson said of the new outing, “I wrote this track with Dan Carey at his Streatham studio. The day we did so I was having the worst morning ever; I was really stressed as I had a £500 electric bill that I had to pay. I burst into tears at the studio and from that feeling, the song just surfaced from all my anxieties. The lyrics are quite literal and were born from the idea of dissociation when experiencing anxiety. The chorus note ‘it felt just like a dream, and it keeps on happening’ refers to when you are really stressed, things just don’t seem real. There is this juxtaposition between the lyrics and the soaring chorus which is quite euphoric – it’s quite tongue in cheek and I like that about it. Dan played the bass on this track and Yuri from the band Honeyglaze played drums which really gives the track some gusto!” Sound of the Morning will follow Katy J Pearson’s 2020 debut album Return, and is co-produced by Ali Chant and Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey. The new album features contributions from Orlando Weeks (after Katy J Pearson contributed to his January album Hop Up) and Pet Shimmers’ Oliver Wilde. “I want people to feel things with my music, but I don’t want to cause my listener too much trauma,” Katy J Pearson said. “Counselling is expensive, so you’ve got to pick your battles…” [via Line Of Best Fit]
Brooklyn musician Zannie Owens (Really Big Pinecone, Potted Plant) will release their debut album as zannie, How Do I Get That Star, on August 19 via Kill Rock Stars. It was conceived as an homage to The Golden Record, the album of earth sounds and greetings that Carl Sagan and Lynn Margulis created to send into space with the Voyager probe in 1977. “I was following this narrative idea about an alien on Earth trying to find their way back to their home planet,” says zannie. How Do I Get That Star includes last year’s ‘mechanical bull’ single, and zannie has now released ‘a rose for every puppet,’ a very charming, gently bouncing song that’s somewhere between Feist and Angel Olsen. Above you can view the song’s whimsical video which was conceptualized by zannie, and shot and edited by G. William Duncanson. “This video was made in collaboration with my three good friends Geoff, Richard, and Will at the Cuneen-Hackett Theater in Poughkeepsie,” zannie says. “The theater opened in 1881 and the energetic history is palpable. The video is designed to be a Henson-ian daydream sequence from the perspective of a janitor. This character is a wink both to the origin of the word janitor (from the Roman god Janus, keeper of metaphorical doors, transitions, and the unification of dualities), and the late night warriors and dreamers of our world doing the unseen dirty work. The hands of fate are more tolerable when holding your friend’s hand. or a puppets hand. or your friend’s hand is a puppet holding your hand, etc.” [via Brooklyn Vegan]
Last year, Noga Erez released a new album called Kids, plus an acoustic version called Kids (Against The Machine). We last heard from her back in January, when she returned with a live cover of Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow’s ‘Industry Baby.’ Now, she’s back with a new song of her own. Erez’s latest is called ‘Nails.’ “‘Nails’ is a song about jealousy, and how being jealous of people, in this particular case another woman, makes you idealize that person in a very weird and dark way,” Erez said in a statement. [via Stereogum]
Chicago post-punkers Ganser are great at making brooding, propulsive songs with twitchy, swaggering hooks, and they’re coming up in the world. The band released the breakout album Just Look At That Sky in 2020, and they followed it last year with Look At The Sun, a remix EP that featured contributions from people like Bartees Strange, Sad13, and Algiers. Now, Ganser have announced the impending release of Nothing You Do Matters, a new three-song EP that was produced by Liars frontman Angus Andrew. Ganser co-leader Alicia Gaines tells Rolling Stone that Angus Andrew pushed the band to mess around with vintage synths: “Having Angus in a room, like, conducting as we were doing vocals and just really pushing us to go above and beyond where we’ve been before was a joy.” Opening track ‘People Watching’ moves with itchy purpose, driven by an erratic rhythm section and stabby, revved-up guitars. The new Ganser EP will also feature a Liars remix of ‘People Watching,’ and the song has an impressive video made by Ganser themselves. Ganser’s two leaders, Alicia Gaines and Natalie Garofalo, co-directed the ‘People Watching’ video, and it shows Garofalo’s bandmates burying her alive. Garofalo works in the film industry, and the band filmed the video with an LED Volume backdrop — the same advanced projection-screen technique that Disney uses to film shows like The Mandalorian. [via Stereogum]
Last month, Lorely Rodriguez returned with a new Empress Of song called ‘Save Me.’ Turns out that is the title track and opener of a new EP, billed as a transitional work between 2020’s I’m Your Empress Of and whatever Rodriguez has in store next. It’s out in late June. Along with the announcement, Rodriguez has shared another new song called ‘Dance For You.’ Much of the EP reflects on the end of one relationship while looking forward to the possibilities of new ones, and that’s a factor in ‘Dance For You.’ “I love the lyrics on this song,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “I made this in Minneapolis with BJ Burton. It was freezing outside. I was in a cave-like studio in the snow literally dancing as I wrote this. ‘Surrender to me like this’ is a touching lyric for me because I’m not hurt over this person anymore. I’ve come out the other side.” Like ‘Save Me’ before it, ‘Dance For You’ comes with a video directed by Alexis Gómez. [via Stereogum]
If you’re looking for a good old-fashioned, noughties break-up banger, CARR is here to help with ‘Cold Charlie’, taken from her new EP TV Boyfriends, out now. Recounting a frustratingly one-sided relationship, ‘Cold Charlie’ is bringing you that angsty, punky slacker pop that we all love to revisit. The single is taken from her new EP giving effortless, nostalgic indie-punk sounds with a modern twist in her strikingly honest lyrics. This is as much for anyone looking to revisit the 2000s as it is for the new generation who need a coming-of-age soundtrack. [via Gigwise]
Vera Blue has shared a striking new preview of her forthcoming second album, winding back the energy for a soaring ballad titled ‘The Curse’. Drawing parallels to her 2017 hit ‘Mended’, the new song centres Blue’s rich and reverberant tenor against a backdrop of bold grand piano chords, synthesised strings, modulated vocal clips and stabbing 808s. Thematically, ‘The Curse’ is described as “what happens when true love can feel like torture”, inspired by an acquaintance of Blue’s that fell in love with a close friend and had to “reckon what that might mean for the friendship itself”. The track arrives with an accompanying video directed by Tim Madden, showing Blue playing along to it on a piano in a pitch-black studio, before snow begins to rain down on her. In a press release, Blue further described the ways she gleaned inspiration from her friend’s turbulent experience: “When I see my friends hurting or going through something, it hurts just as much as it would if it were myself. I am a big empath so raw emotions immediately come to the surface. When writing ‘The Curse’, I’ve found myself inspired by the lives of those I’m close to, yet all these things that I’m writing about, I relate to 100 per cent and have happened to me. It’s almost like it’s happening all over again, but my perspective is on the outside.” She noted that it had “been a long time since [she’d] put out a song like this”, and teased more songs in the melancholic vein of ‘The Curse’. “I think it’s time to show those raw emotions again,” she said, “in more of a deep, heavy way, with more sadness.” ‘The Curse’ marks the first song Blue co-wrote with her partner and producer, Billy Johnston, who came into the mix after Blue wrote an early version solo on her home piano. On the process, she said: “I think the most unique thing for me was the trust and openness we had when writing together. I felt a new level of fearlessness to say certain things I normally wouldn’t.” When it came to making the song’s video, Madden “didn’t want edits or the usual music video tricks to be an unnecessary distraction”, so he endeavoured to film it in one continuous shot – entirely in slow-motion, with no special effects or convoluted set pieces – so that the clip would “allow us time to feel Vera Blue’s emotion, as it’s a very raw and emotional song”. The director continued: “[Blue] is a fantastic performer and on a really challenging shoot, when there’s no cuts, everything has to go right or you could get 90 per cent into a take and have to start over because the smallest thing went wrong. Not to mention, the video is in slow-motion too, meaning Vera had to perform everything twice as fast, the snow had to fall at the right time, the crew had to move lights into position mid-take, it’s like a dance.” [via NME]
Toronto indie pop singer-songwriter Alex Porat is back with another new single, ‘Sensitive’. ‘Sensitive’ sees Porat once again deftly balancing confessional songwriting and insistent pop hooks. Porat confronts her own insecurities and frustrations, confessing, “I hate that I’m so sensitive / All the time / I can’t say what’s on my mind.” However, the track’s ruminative bent comes wrapped in potent alt pop songwriting, bolstered by lustrous synth passages, punchy drumming, and tightly layered vocal melodies. Together, these make for a delirious pop delight, one that is full of introspective intimacy buoyed by sharp melodic sensibilities. Porat says of the track, “I’ve always known that I’m an overly sensitive person,” Alex shares about the track. “I definitely cry a lot and I let my emotions take control of me. My default is reading into situations, taking a lot of things personally, and constantly overthinking. I make my own life harder than it needs to be and that’s the whole concept behind Sensitive. Sometimes I’m convinced it’s a secret super power being able to pick up on all the little things but sometimes those little things are all it takes to bring me down.” [via Under the Radar]
Emily C. Browning is a singer-songwriter, musician, and producer from New Zealand. Not too long ago, she released a dreamy music video for her lovely indie-alternative single, entitled, ‘Andy.’ In the video, Emily and Andy nearly drown at the local swimming pool while drifting in and out of reality. ‘Andy’ tells a heartfelt tale about Emily C. Browning’s recent date with a chain-smoking guy named Andy. Apparently, they were getting along, having a nice conversation, and their eyes were always locked on each other. During their intriguing dialogue, she learned that Andy has a thing for a pretty girl on TV, someone she admires. Months later, she apologizes to her date, “Andy, if you’re listening, I know I dropped the ball, and the rulebook of attraction is elusive at most. Hope you’re doing well, hope you like the way I tell it. ‘Cause, it’s at best an apology, Andy, I’m sorry.” ‘Andy’ contains a relatable narrative and tender vocals that will resonate well with fans of Billie Eilish, Kimbra, and King Princess. The likable tune possesses mellow synths and piano-laden instrumentation flavored with alternative and indie-pop elements. Furthermore, ‘Andy’ serves as a tasty appetizer to what listeners can expect to hear from Emily C. Browning in the near future as she continues to release new music. “I wrote this song about a real date with Andy. It went really well and we talked for hours. But I just couldn’t find that real spark and I was so annoyed with myself for not being into him, so the song is kind of an apology to him!” Emily C. Browning explained. [via Bong]
