by Sarah Downs

Norwegian duo Smerz announce debut album Believer, out February 26

Norwegian duo Smerz have announced the release of ‘Believer’, their debut album, coming on 26 February 2021 via XL Recordings. The announcement is accompanied by a music video for the title track. “The lyrics for this song were written over a period of almost two years,” the duo recall. “So it ended up having a natural development parallel to our lives.”

‘Believer’ is another taste from the forthcoming album that pushes Smerz far beyond their previous EP releases, 2017’s Okey and 2018’s Have Fun. Since releasing the ‘Believer’ trailer back in October 2020 followed by a video for the tracks ‘I don’t talk about that much/Hva hvis’, the duo of Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt have slowly revealed a new auditory world. The duo meld sonic touchstones from their youth, like musicals and classical music, with swirling, trance-indebted synth lines and hip-hop plus R&B vocals that is distinctly Smerz.

The video Smerz have released today is for the album’s title track and is the third video for the project to be directed by Benjamin Barron (who also directed the artwork,) with costumes by Bror August and starring Smerz.

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by Sarah Downs

Midnight Sister release new single/video ‘Satellite’ off new album out Jan 15

Midnight Sister, the shapeshifting, multi-disciplinary duo of Los Angeles artists Juliana Giraffe and Ari Balouzian, are readying their sophomore full-length, Painting The Roses, for this Friday Jan 15 on Jagjaguwar. Simply put, this is a MOVIE.

But Friday can’t come soon enough! So, behold ‘Satellite‘, the latest in a string of videos sprung from Midnight Sister’s imagination. A sultryand sauntering groove sets the tone early, double- downed by Giraffe’s nonchalant delivery. Like swimming in a pool filled with funhouse mirrors, Giraffe warps and ripples, bends and multiplies, creating a world of illusion.

Giraffe had this to say about ‘Satellite”, “Satellite explores delusion and the way memory is influenced by perception. The video, shot through a funhouse mirror, finds clarity by embracing distortion.” 

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by Sarah Downs

Future Islands release ‘For Sure (Dan Deacon Remix)’

Future Islands release ‘For Sure (Dan Deacon Remix)’, an expansive 9-minute remix from the fellow Baltimorean artist where he incorporates stirring strings, piano and an electronic crescendo to the original track.

Dan Deacon says, “Like most people, the last year has made me realise how important my friends are to me, and how much I miss being with them. When the guys released ‘For Sure’, it really brought me back to memories of when we lived together and I could hear them practicing in the basement. I kept listening to it over and over and wanted to hear it “more,” if that makes sense. I wanted to hear the individual parts, and I wanted to hang out with them and interact with them. When I got the stems I didn’t really have a plan for the remix other than I wanted to hear Sam’s voice with piano and strings, and it just started growing from there in an organic way. It was a comforting project that brought me close to people I love and missed very much. One of my favourite things about being a musician are the friendships and bonds that are made through it. It’s hard to imagine my life, let alone my music, without having met these bozos.

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by Sarah Downs

Julien Baker releases new single/video ‘Hardline’ off new album Little Oblivions out Feb 26

Julien Baker has shared a new taste of her forthcoming album Little Oblivions by way of a new single ‘Hardline’, which she releases today.

Julien says, “A few years ago I started collecting travel ephemera again with a loose idea of making a piece of art with it. I had been touring pretty consistently since 2015 and had been traveling so much that items like plane tickets and hotel keycards didn’t have much novelty anymore. So I saved all my travel stuff and made a little collage of a house and a van out of it. I wanted to incorporate it into the record and when we were brainstorming ideas for videos we came across Joe Baughman and really liked his work so we reached out with the idea of making a stop-motion video that had similar aesthetic qualities as the house I built did. I don’t know why I have the impulse to write songs or make tiny sculptures out of plane tickets. But here it is anyway: a bunch of things I’ve collected and carried with me that I’ve re-organized into a new shape.”

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by Sarah Downs

The Antlers announce Green to Gold, their first new album in seven years, out March 26

Acclaimed indie act The Antlers are announcing the new album Green to Gold today. Their first new record since 2014’s ‘Familiars’, Green to Gold will be released on March 26 via ANTI-. Watch the new video for ‘Solstice’ HERE. A continuation of the music videos from the 2020 singles ‘Wheels Roll Home‘ and ‘It Is What It Is‘, this film is the third in a series of ten created for Green to Gold in collaboration with directors Derrick Belcham and Emily Terndrup and world-renowned contemporary dancers Bobbi-Jene Smith and Or Schraiber.

‘Solstice’ is a flashback to the infinite days of peak childhood summer, innocent barefoot hikes, staying outside all afternoon and late into the evening, well past it being too dark to see,” lead singer and songwriter Peter Silberman explains. “But it’s remembered from the vantage of a present day that feels unbearably long rather than joyously endless. It’s an invocation of those simpler times, an attempt to conjure the lightness of youth, before life got so damn complicated.”

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by Sarah Downs

Claud shares new track ‘Cuff Your Jeans’ off debut album ‘Super Monster’ out February 12

Already earning an avalanche of critical acclaim and multiple placements on “Artists To Watch” lists for 2021, Claud has released the third track from their forthcoming debut album. ‘Cuff Your Jeans’, another perfectly constructed lovelorn pop gem, is out now on Saddest Factory Records. Claud’s debut album, Super Monster, will be released on February 12th via Saddest Factory Records. 

Says Claud of the new track, “‘Cuff Your Jeans’ is a song about yearning. I wrote it after having a fever dream about trying to get on a train to see my friend but missing it over and over and over because there was always some obstacle in my way. The dream left me in a cold sweat and extremely frustrated. All elements of this song are a much needed form of rebellion against my redundant lifestyle, and my pitched down vocals in the verses – which appear in a few more places throughout Super Monster – are a way to further a more courageous and outspoken persona.”

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by Sarah Downs

emo-rapper guccihighwaters shares new single/video ‘hold somebody’ feat. Powfu, announces debut album out Jan 22

Singer/producer guccihighwaters has released his poignant new single ‘hold somebody’ featuring viral sensation Powfu, the mastermind behind the platinum certified and inescapable summer smash ‘deathbed (coffee for my head).‘ The track is the latest from guccihighwaters’ forthcoming full-length album, jokes on you, out January 22 on Epitaph Records, and is accompanied by a music video showcasing snapshots of a couple attending a high school prom that spirals into chaos as guccihighwaters performs as the front man of a band hired to perform at the event. 

Despite his recent success, which has him poised for pop stardom, Morgan Murphy, who creates under the moniker guccihighwaters, hasn’t always embraced attention or popularity. In fact he was and often still is an introverted and sensitive soul. “I was very shy…I didn’t say much. I was always nervous to be in social situations,” Murphy confesses. However, when he uncovered the ability to namelessly create on internet, a feeling of freedom came over him and he found a sense of belonging, admitting that “it was like a secret party that I just discovered.”

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by Sarah Downs

Teenage Wrist share ‘Yellowbelly’, off new album out February 12

Los Angeles band Teenage Wrist have released ‘Yellowbelly,’ the next single from their forthcoming sophomore album Earth Is A Black Hole due out February 12 via Epitaph. 

According to vocalist and guitarist Marshall Gallagher, ‘Yellowbelly’ represents the core of Earth Is A Black Hole. “It came out early in the writing process and really informed the rest of the record,” explains Gallagher. “It’s partly about death, or the inevitability of it being a motivator for reveling in life. It’s about not letting fear, doubt or ego stop you from making connections, because the opportunity could end at any moment. I’ve personally spent a lot of time being pessimistic and isolated and whatnot, but I decided I’d rather test the limits of my love and free will. That’s going to be a lifelong endeavor I think, and will take some time to learn but it’s better than dying, knowing I didn’t try as hard as I could.”  

Today, the band shares the music video directed by Gilbert Trejo (Chelsea Wolfe, Blackbear).

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by Sarah Downs

Ben Harper shares inspiring new song ‘Black Beauty’ featured in the film ‘Black Boys’

Ben Harper has released ‘Black Beauty’, an original song for the 2020 film ‘Black Boys’. Listen to it HERE.

“It was an honor to have been asked to write a song for this culturally vital documentary,” Harper said. “After watching ‘Black Boys’ and discussing it in depth with [director] Sonia Lowman, I went immediately to work on composing ‘Black Beauty.’ I am old-school and still love getting players in a room together, so a production of this scale during a pandemic was challenging, with quarantine. I was fortunate that the incredible musicians in my circle have taken it upon themselves to become circumstantial recording engineers, and thanks to modern recording technology and some FaceTime sessions, I was able to work by sending tracks back and forth over the Internet.”

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by Sarah Downs

Aaron Frazer Presents New Single, ‘Can’t Leave It Alone’ & releases debut album

“The backbeat drums bring listeners to the dance floor even as Frazer laments the darkest moments of a breakup in the soulful single.” – Billboard, on ‘Over You’.

“Dan Auerbach has been producing gems for his Easy Eye Sound label, and his latest collaboration with Aaron Frazer — one of my favorite modern sweet soul singers — is no exception…the tune’s got a great hook and a killer groove, and Frazer’s vocals have never sounded sweeter.” – NPR Music, on ‘Bad News’.

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