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Erasure release new album World Be Gone: Stream/download

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Today, Erasure have released their new album, World Be Gone, via Mute Records. Apple Music and Spotify users can hear it in full down below.

The 10-track effort represents the 17th (!) studio effort from the London synthpop veterans following 2014’s The Violet Flame. Featuring production by the group’s own Andy Bell and Vince Clarke, the reflective and hopeful record finds Erasure “giving the world and recent political upheavals a thoughtful examination,” according to a press release.

“Obviously the current political climate lends itself to lots of ideas,” Bell explained, adding, “I think there’s an under swell of opinion, and people are slowly waking up. I’m hoping that people will take the album in a positive way, that they’ll use it as optimistic rabble-rousing music.”

World Be Gone Artwork:

erasure world be gone stream album download listen Erasure release new album World Be Gone: Stream/download

World Be Gone Tracklist:
01. Love You to the Sky
02. Be Careful What You Wish For!
03. World Be Gone
04. A Bitter Parting
05. Still It’s Not Over
06. Take Me Out of Myself
07. Sweet Summer Loving
08. Oh What A World
09. Lousy Sum of Nothing
10. Just a Little Love



Chromatics share video for “Shadow” from Twin Peaks — watch

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Twin Peaks returned last night with the first four episodes of Showtime’s revival becoming available for streaming. To cap off the second chapter of the new series, Chromatics take the stage at the Roadhouse to perform a track called “Shadow”. Numerous versions of the song have been released as far back as 2014, and it was originally supposed to appear on the band’s long-delayed fifth LP, Dear Tommy, before Johnny Jewel went and destroyed every copy of the record.

(Read: Recapping Twin Peaks: The Return: Part 1 and 2)

But as Twin Peaks proved, “Shadow” lives on, and now Chromatics have shared a new video for the track. Decked out in suits and under a haze of magenta light, the band performs in front of red curtains that surely bring to mind the Black Lodge. Take a look above.

It was revealed earlier this month that Jewel had become unsatisfied with Dear Tommy after having a near-death experience, prompting him to destroy every finished copy of the record and start again. The whole thing has been remade, though apparently the tracklist remains the same, meaning this version of “Shadow” will likely be featured. No release date has been set, but Jewel recently released his Windswept album, which features songs from Twin Peaks as well as new Chromatics and Desire material.


Washed Out invites you to “Get Lost” on new single — listen

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Photo by​ David Brendan Hall

​​Ernest Greene has marked the return of his Washed Out moniker with a fresh single, “Get Lost”. The hazy song, punctuated with dizzying sax and plucky piano notes, is the first new material from the project since 2013’s Paracosm. Notably, the track was released on Stones Throw as opposed to Washed Out’s usual label home, Sub Pop. Take a listen below via Apple Music or Spotify.

Update: A video for the track has also been shared, and you can watch it below.

“Get Lost” Artwork:

unnamed 26 Washed Out invites you to Get Lost on new single    listen

“Get Lost” also happens to be the name of Washed Out’s upcoming tour. The short trek takes place in the Southeastern US this July, and you can find the full schedule below.

Washed Out 2017 Tour Dates:
07/08 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
07/09 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
07/10 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
07/11 – Charleston, SC @ Music Farm
07/13 – Orlando, FL @ Plaza Live
07/14 – Jacksonville, FL @ Mavericks Live
07/15 – Tampa, FL @ Orpheum
07/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse


OMD share video for hypnotic new song “Isotype”— watch

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The Punishment of Luxury is the upcoming LP from Britain’s Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, better known simply as OMD. Slated to hit shelves on September 1st, it marks the synthpop outfit’s 13th (!) album overall following English Electric in 2013.

Our first look at 12-track effort came with lead single “La Mitrailleuse” earlier this month. Now, OMD have unveiled a second offering in “Isotype”. An expansive cut that clocks in at over six minutes, it’s Kraftwerk-esque and entrancing in nature.

Hear it down below via its equally hypnotic music video. As NPR points out, the Henning M. Lederer-directed clip takes inspiration from Isotope, a 1930s pictorial language system developed by Austrian philosopher Otto Neurath and German artist Gerd Arntz.


Album Review: Bleachers – Gone Now

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Producer, songwriter, and fun. band member Jack Antonoff’s solo project, Bleachers, has never been everyone’s cup of tea. From the moment “I Wanna Get Better”, the first single off Bleachers’ debut record, Strange Desire, dropped in 2014, critics bemoaned the over-dramatic sincerity, embrace of capital-F Feelings, and extremely synthy, saccharine production. But there should be no inherent shame in obvious and emotional music, and Bleachers’ best songs, like “I Wanna Get Better”, feel like an IV pumping vibes of “I understand and I’ve been there and you’re going to be okay” right into the bloodstream.

On Gone Now, the follow-up to Strange Desire, Antonoff dives even further into his impulses and desires, and the end product is much more ostentatious and much less cohesive than his best work.

Let’s start with the good. Single “Don’t Take the Money” is exactly what you come to Bleachers for: romantic pleading, noble desperation, and pure unabashed effusion. The song knows what it’s doing and does it well, with pounding synths and swooning ’80s theatricality. It’s too much — of course, it’s too much — but that’s why it’s so great. “Don’t Take the Money” is a tasty meal complete with all the food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup.

The rest of Gone Now fares less well. With Bleachers, Antonoff strives to honor and emulate heroes like Peter Gabriel, Billy Joel, and fellow Jersey boy Bruce Springsteen, and he often goes overboard on epic drama at the expense of the actual music. Take “Goodmorning” for example, where he tries to evoke the feeling of being a good boy in real America to the tune of a jaunty piano and some curious, echoey call-and-response oh-ohs. It’s more than a little too Sesame Street, and lines that strive to be poignantly specific fall flat: “I lied to your face in the summer/ I had my hair short then.”

There are essentially two themes on Gone Now: nostalgia and love. Other people’s love always looks a little empty, a little too simple from the outside, so you can hardly find fault with Antonoff for being bold enough to follow the song of his heart on tracks like the exuberant wish-fulfillment anthem “Let’s Get Married” and “All My Heroes”, which sees Antonoff taking several pages from U2’s book. The results, however, laden as they often are with unsubtle production choices like super bouncy horns, elaborate synth marathons, and background choirs, often end up cloying.

Even if I don’t personally like many of the choices Antonoff makes on Gone Now, I can at least understand most of them and appreciate what they’re trying to do. As hard as I try, though, I can’t fathom why he included the track “Goodbye”. It’s a revisiting of “Goodmorning”, but he changes the lyrics to “goodbye” and remakes the song as a tepid ’90s boy band anthem, then runs alongside it a recording of girlfriend Lena Dunham sleepily and intimately discussing her personal memories and emotional struggles. “Goodbye” can be seen as a sweet, fun experiment, if a bit of a self-indulgent one, but with its awkward mixing and outmoded style, it simply doesn’t hold up as a complete piece of music, especially when it’s not even a cheeky album finale but rather track 8 of 12.

There is a moment toward the beginning of single “Hate That You Know Me So Well” when the instrumentals drop out and Antonoff snaps, “And you know what, I hate it.” It’s jarring, in a good way, to hear Antonoff go dry and flat. Throughout Gone Now he’s so over-the-top serious in his earnestness that a moment like that registers as a different, more potent type of seriousness, like when your forgiving sweetheart of a boyfriend actually has had enough. That “I hate it” gives you a sense of where Antonoff, and this record, could have gone if he’d been willing to follow that ugly, striking anger further, like Ethan Hawke busting out his “sweaty-toothed madman” poetry at Robin Williams’ urging in Dead Poet’s Society.

Instead, on Gone Now, we get cheap, sugary sax and blockbuster movie climaxes and revelations like a hand-clapping “everybody’s lost somebody,” which don’t feel much like real revelations at all. Antonoff is incredibly talented: he’s written and produced for pop’s best (Lorde, Sia, Carly Rae Jepsen, Grimes), and Gone Now makes it clear that he knows his way around a chorus — he often jumps right into them at the start of songs — but verses are strained and general while impulses are too often freely indulged, rather than examined and pulled apart in the hopes of building something that looks more like innovation than imitation.

Antonoff’s feelings are valid — and they’re often relatable — and his big, open heart is in the right place, but Gone Now shows that without external voices and perspectives to temper and mold them, those feelings just don’t make for great music.

Essential Tracks: “Don’t Take the Money”


Lorde premieres new song “Perfect Places”— listen

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Photo by Philip Cosores

Lorde is inching ever closer to the release of her sophomore album, Melodrama. Co-produced with the help of fun./Bleachers member Jack Antonoff, the 11-track effort chronicles a major period of transition for the New Zealand pop star: She not only bid farewell to her teenage years, but also experienced her first major breakup.

“My heart broke. I moved out of home and into the city and I made new friends and started to realize that no-one is just good or bad, that everyone is both,” Lorde wrote in an extensive album update last November. “I started to discover in a profound, scary, blood-aching way who I was when I was alone, what I did when I did things only for myself.”

(Read: The 50 Most Anticipated Albums of 2017)

“I was reckless and graceless and terrifying and tender,” she continued, “I threw sprawling parties and sat in restaurants until the early hours, learning what it’s like to be an adult, even talking like one sometimes, until I caught myself. All I wanted to do was dance.”

That sense of dance floor euphoria, coupled with a purging of emotions, can be felt throughout Lorde’s latest Melodrama preview, “Perfect Places”. “Every night, I live and die — feel the party to my bones,” she can be heard singing prior to the track’s all-consuming chorus. “Watch the wasters blow the speakers, spill my guts beneath the outdoor light. It’s just another graceless night.”

Stream it below.

Melodrama, the follow-up to 2013’s Pure Heroine, lands on shelves June 16th. For more, give a listen to “Liability”“Green Light” and its corresponding Chromeo remix.

Melodrama Tracklist:
01. Green Light
02. Sober
03. Homemade Dynamite
04. The Louvre
05. Liability
06. Hard Feelings/Loveless
07. Sober II (Melodrama)
08. Writer in the Dark
09. Supercut
10. Liability (Reprise)
11. Perfect Places


Phoenix share smooth new song “Goodbye Soleil”— listen

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Photo by David Brendan Hall

Next week, on June 9th, Phoenix return with their first album in four years, Ti Amo. The Bankrupt! follow-up is said to have the pulse of “summer and Italian discos,” and the two previews we’ve heard thus far — “J-Boy” (and its retro video) and the title track — affirm this, flare pants and all. The third offering, today’s “Goodbye Soleil”, continues that trend.

(Read: The 25 Most Anticipated Tours of Summer 2017)

“Let’s pretend I don’t care,” vocalist Thomas Mars sings, embodying both the track’s sentimental nature and breezy stride. The French indie pop outfit effortlessly take us back to the ’70s, where the soft glow of synths and funky guitar convinced folks to keep strutting the dance floor well past curfew.

Hear it down below.

“Goodbye Soleil” Artwork:

phoenix goodbye soleil Phoenix share smooth new song Goodbye Soleil    listen


Zola Jesus announces new album, Okovi, shares “Exhumed”— listen

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Photo by Tim Saccenti

After a go with Mute Records for her 2014 album, Taiga, gothic pop artist Zola Jesus has returned home to label Sacred Bones for the follow-up. Titled Okovi, it’s due for arrival on September 8th.

According to a press release, much of Okovi echoes her early work released on Sacred Bones, the music “written in pure catharsis” and its sound “heavy, dark, and exploratory.” The LP serves as “a profound meditation on loss and reconciliation,” following a number of personal tragedies in Zola’s life over the years. She explains further in a lengthy yet poignant accompanying statement:

“Last year, I moved back to the woods in Wisconsin where I was raised. I built a little house just steps away from where my dilapidated childhood tree fort is slowly recombining into earth. Okovi was fed by this return to roots and several very personal traumas.

While writing Okovi, I endured people very close to me trying to die, and others trying desperately not to. Meanwhile, I was fighting through a haze so thick I wasn’t sure I’d find my way to the other side. Death, in all of its masks, has been encircling everyone I love, and with it the questions of legacy, worth, and will.

Okovi is a Slavic word for shackles. We’re all shackled to something — to life, to death, to bodies, to minds, to illness, to people, to birthright, to duty. Each of us born with a unique debt, and we have until we die to pay it back. Without this cost, what gives us the right to live? And moreover, what gives us the right to die? Are we really even free to choose?

This album is a deeply personal snapshot of loss, reconciliation, and a sympathy for the chains that keep us all grounded to the unforgiving laws of nature. To bring it to life, I decided to enlist the help of Alex DeGroot, who has been the only constant in my live band and helped mix the Stridulum EP back in 2010. It will be released on Sacred Bones, the closest group of people I’ll ever have to blood-bound family.”

As a first teaser, the musician born Nika Roza Danilova has shared “Exhumed”, the ominous and rattling lead single. Stream it down below.

Okovi Artwork:

zola jesus okovi sacred bones album 2017 Zola Jesus announces new album, Okovi, shares Exhumed    listen

Okovi Tracklist:
01. Doma
02. Exhumed
03. Soak
04. Ash to Bone
05. Witness
06. Siphon
07. Veka
08. Wiseblood
09. NMO
10. Remains
11. Half Life

In support of the new album, Zola will tour North America beginning in September.

Zola Jesus 2017 Tour Dates:
09/16 – Hudson, NY @ Basilica Soundscape
09/21 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
09/22 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
09/23 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
09/25 – Dallas, TX @ Kessler Theater
09/26 – Austin, TX @ North Door
09/27 – New Orleans, LA @ Siberia
09/28 – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5
09/29 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
09/30 – Washington, DC @ U Street
10/01 – Boston, MA @ ICA Boston
10/03 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
10/04 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
10/06 – Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall
10/07 – Detroit, MI @ Assemble Sound Church
10/08 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
10/09 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
10/10 – St. Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar & Hall
10/11 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
10/14 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Amsterdam Bar & Hall
10/16 – Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club
10/17 – San Francisco, CA @ Independent
10/19 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
10/20 – Portland, OR @ The Old Church
10/21 – Vancouver, BC @ Venue
11/07 – London, UK @ Village Underground



Cody & Danz imagine living the luxe life on new song “If I Only Had $ome Money”— listen

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Cody Crump, better known simply as Cody, is a Los Angeles-based electronic music wizard whose pieces have seen placement on shows such as HBO’s The Leftovers and ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder. Brooklyn songwriter Danielle “Danz” Johnson performs under acclaimed synthpop alter ego Computer Magic. Though about 3,000 miles separate these two musicians, their minds meet on one project, their collaborative debut EP, Only The Hits.

Due out July 14th via Channel 9 Records in the USA and Tugboat Records in Japan (where Danz happens to have a wild following), the EP finds Cody & Danz fusing together a little bit of their respective solo projects. At the same time, the duo also taps into a new well of sound “aimed at having fun, not taking life too seriously, and being yourself,” according to a press release.

The latest single off Only The Hits, “If I Only Had $ome Money”, is all about imagining the good times, especially those that involve a hefty, nonstop cash flow. Music-wise, it’s also a carefree party akin to a 2017 synthpop basement jam session crossed with a 1960s doo-wop showcase. There’s even a bit of woozy psychedelia thrown in for good measure — the kind you obviously want to hear when tossing $100 bills in the air (like you just don’t care). Hear it below.

“We wrote this song during tax season,” Danz tells Consequence of Sound. “Everyone takes money so seriously sometimes, it makes people crazy, and we wanted to make a fun song about it. I always hear people say ‘if I only had some money I would do this or I would do that.’ I like the lyric if I only had some money I would bring people together or change the world, cause I’m not sure how many people would actually do that if they hit the lottery.”

Cody added: “This one is pretty self-explanatory — if you’ve ever felt like you were being held back, or that you would be able to get so much more done if you had a bit more money – then you can probably relate to this little badboy of a song.”

Pre-order the EP here.

Only The Hits EP Artwork:

cody danz only the hits album Cody & Danz  imagine living the luxe life on new song If I Only Had $ome Money    listen

Only The Hits Tracklist:
01. Living in a Different Reality
02. Make It In America
03. If Only I Had $ome Money
04. So Small
05. Running Scared


Phoenix perform three songs on fake ’70s Italian variety show Ti Amo Speciale — watch

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Photo by​ ​​David Brendan Hall

Phoenix will rise again this Friday, June 9th when they release their latest album, Ti Amo. The record embraces “a fantasized version of Italy”, as we’ve already seen in the videos for “Goodbye Soleil” and “J-Boy”. It now turns out that latter clip is actually the first part of a fake Italian variety show the band created to promote the record. Today, the full version of Ti Amo Speciale has been released via Apple Music.

The nearly 18-minute special finds Phoenix performing a trio of songs: “J-Boy”, “Goodbye Soleli”, and a stripped down rendition of “Ti Amo” during which the band sits around a tiny table. Filling out the video is an interview segment with the show’s two mordant hosts. Although they don’t provide any particular insight into the album, the hosts ask about band members Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai’s Italian heritage, who’s the most romantic and shiest (Deck d’Arcy for both), and which one of them would sacrifice themselves for the others if they were stranded on a desert island.

You can watch the whole special on Apple Music, and take a look at some previews below.


Here’s the “J-Boy” video that is a part of Ti Amo Speciale:

Next Monday, Phoenix will appear on an actual TV program, Jimmy Kimmel Live, during which they’ll perform “Ti Amo”.


New Order’s Bernard Sumner comments on Manchester bombing, recording Technique at keynote discussion in Ibiza — watch

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Three days after the bombing that rocked Manchester Arena claimed 22 innocent lives, Bernard Sumner was set to deliver the keynote discussion at the International Music Summit in Ibiza. Seeing as Sumner’s iconic bands Joy Division and New Order hail from the city where the tragedy occurred, it was only fitting that moderator and BBC Radio 1 host Pete Tong asked him about the terrible events.

“It breaks my heart,” Sumner said at the beginning of the discussion. “What pointless loss of life, pointless act of brutality. Obviously, it’s my home city, it strikes a note with me. It’s just gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking what’s happened to mainly teenage girls at the concert in Manchester. It just seems completely barbaric and pointless. It breaks my heart.”

The incident could have been even more painful for Sumner if not for a stroke of fate. The daughter of his former bandmate Peter Hook happened to be at the Ariana Grande concert the night the bombing took place. Thankfully, she was marked safe following the attack.

Back on Ibiza, the discussion shifted to less tragic topics. In particular, Tong focused his questions on Technique, New Order’s 1989 album that was largely recorded in and influenced by the Spanish island. The discussion found Sumner recounting his first encounters with club culture, discovering Ibiza electronic music, and how Technique came about. He remarked that he thought the type of dance music the record had was “ahead of its time,” which explained why it wasn’t as well received in the US as it was back in Europe.

In the full, hour-long talk, Sumner also touched upon how New Order’s heavy partying lifestyle burned them out on tour, how their old performing style caused riots in Boston, and what fans attending The Manchester Festival at the end of June can expect from the band’s five shows. “We’re going to do something special,” he revealed. “We’re going to play I’d say about 90% songs that we don’t normally play live … We’ve pulled the molecular structure of those songs apart and there’s a orchestration being score for them at the moment. But instead of playing with a real orchestra, we’re going to be playing with a synthesizer orchestra. Which has been difficult because we’ve had to make new sounds for the old material again.”

Watch the entire keynote discussion above.


Death From Above side project American Lips premiere new song “Definition”— listen

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Yesterday, Death From Above 1979 officially knocked the numbers off their name, as well as returned with single “Freeze Me”. That’s not all from the DFA camp this week, either: The band’s drummer Sebastien Grainger is pulling double duty with his new garage punk side-project American Lips.

The Montreal/Los Angeles-based outfit, which also features singer/guitarist Adrian Popovich and singer/bassist Jessica Bruzzese, is teasing its upcoming debut album by revealing the opening track, “Definition”. A quick, two-minute burst of spiny guitars and sing-shouted vocals, it’s meant to be the sonic equivalent of a punch in the kisser, as American Lips explain to Consequence of Sound:

“Definition” is a song about romance, nostalgia and boredom. We wanted the music to sound like you were getting whooped in the face with a sock full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Delicious, and potentially deadly. The ghost of Wilson Pickett haunted the recording session. It was really scary.”

Stream the song below.

Debut album Kiss the Void arrives June 16th through Ancient Fashion Records. It was co-written by Popovich, a well-known producer back in Montreal, and wife Bruzzese. In addition to drums, Grainger found time to help mix the record after one of DFA’s tour got canceled last minute. Pre-order it here.

Kiss the Void Album Artwork:

 Death From Above side project American Lips premiere new song Definition    listen

Kiss the Void Tracklist:
01. Definition
02. Heat Wave
03. Kiss the Void
04. Knock Knock
05. Depreciate
06. Lionz
07. Beyond the 7/11
08. I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight
09. What Haunts You
10. Turn It Off


Album Review: Phoenix – Ti Amo

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During 2015’s Bataclan massacre, Phoenix guitarist Christian Mazzalai spent a nervous night locked down by police in a Paris studio, watching along with the rest of the world as the story of the concert hall’s unthinkable invasion and heartbreaking loss of life played out across social media. The story offers a small but indelible connection between France’s premier rock band and the tumultuous mixture of violence, anti-immigrant fear, and right-wing reactionism that’s shaken western Europe’s political order.

And yet, despite the upheaval, summer still comes to the Mediterranean. This year, it brings along Ti Amo, Phoenix’s sixth record and first since 2013’s uneven but intermittently thrilling Bankrupt! Although Thomas Mars and company haven’t morphed into a political agitpop group in those intervening years, they have steered their signature brand of romantic impressionism towards an unmistakeable reaction to the west’s most recent political flash points.

Italy is the most obvious source of inspiration here; in press materials, the band cites everything from pistachio gelato to ’70s film stars Monica Vitti and Marcello Mastroiani as ingredients in their “fantasized” version of the country. They also draw deeply from the country’s vintage dance floors, eschewing the colder side of Italo disco in favor of its bubbly excesses of groups like Scotch and Fun Fun.

However, Europe’s creeping sense of unease rears its head early and often, especially on the record’s singles. The effervescent “J-Boy” paints a picture of a romantic meet-cute against the backdrop of an unnamed dystopian collapse. Just one track later, the sleazy-in-a-good-way title track repeats the phrase “I love you” in English, French, Italian, and Spanish, a come-on that’s “100% lover, 0% violence” and a multi-lingual call for unity that reminds listeners of the things they can all agree on (in this case, getting sexy at the beach).

Fans of Phoenix’s early Strokes-like strut will continue to find disappointment on Ti Amo, but even the hardest of leather-jacketed hearts will soften at expansive synthpop heights reached by the record’s best tracks. “Tuttifrutti” is an early Balearic standout, a scoop of musical ice cream that approaches peak ’88 (right down to the surgical use of a nostalgic synth choir patch) without descending into pastiche. Elsewhere, the joyful arpeggios of “Lovelife” recall the more playful sides of synth pioneers from Kraftwerk to Yellow Magic Orchestra to whoever wrote the theme song to Doogie Howser, M.D.

Perhaps the best song on the record is one that doesn’t exist yet; built around a Fela Kuti beat, “Fleur De Lys” and its irresistible first 15 seconds just beg to be blown out into an extended house remix.

Ti Amo isn’t a perfect record; things sag slightly when the tempos drop, and the tracklist doesn’t quite have a year-defining hit in the caliber of “Lisztomania” or “1901”. However, while it may not be an instant classic, it also feels like required listening for a summer that seems destined to be sun-drenched and scary at the same time.

In a recent New York Times profile, Mars denied that his band had used the Ti Amo sessions to escape the world’s grim realities, and that rings true. However, that diligent studio time did produce a more responsible (and timeless-sounding) type of sonic escapism. By letting the world’s darkness in and finding a way to dance anyway, Phoenix helps listeners remember that while evil isn’t going anywhere, neither are the sunsets of Italian beaches or the soaring romantic nights that follow.

Essential Tracks: “J-Boy”, “Tuttifrutti”, and “Fleur De Lys”


London Grammar share new album Truth Is A Beautiful Thing: Stream/download

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Today, London Grammar release their new album, Truth Is A Beautiful Thing. Apple Music and Spotify users can stream the LP in its entirety down below.

Due out through Metal & Dust/Ministry of Sound, Truth Is A Beautiful Thing serves as London Grammar’s sophomore record following the well-received If You Wait in 2013. In the studio, the CoSigned dream pop trio was joined by renowned producers Paul Epworth (Adele), Greg Kurstin (Sia, HAIM), and Jon Hopkins, who’s worked with Coldplay and Purity Ring and is himself a Mercury Prize-nominated artist.

In an interview with Under the Radar magazine, singer Hannah Reid talked about the difference between the new LP and its predecessor:

“My lyrics are quite subconscious. The theme of [Truth is a Beautiful Thing] is different, so is the aesthetic, and the sonics. The first album was a heartbreak album about interpersonal relationships and love songs about romantic relationships. This one’s about an experience I had with myself being on the road — but love is always in there.”

Truth Is A Beautiful Thing Album Artwork:

london grammar truth beautiful thing album London Grammar share new album Truth Is A Beautiful Thing: Stream/download

Truth Is A Beautiful Thing Tracklist:
01. Rooting For You
02. Big Picture
03. Wild Eyed
04. Oh Woman Oh Man
05. Hell To The Liars
06. Everyone Else
07. Non Believer
08. Bones of Ribbon
09. Who Am I
10. Leave The War With Me
11. Truth Is A Beautiful Thing


Toro y Moi announces new album, Boo Boo, shares video for “Girl Like You”— watch

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Photo by Andrew Paynter

Toro y Moi will return with his fifth studio effort on July 7th. Titled Boo Boo, the follow-up to 2015’s What For? is said to be “the most personal work to date” for Chaz Bear (formerly Chaz Bundick).

The intimate and revealing nature of the LP’s 12 tracks is the result of a confusing identity crisis, in which the synthpop musician found himself struggling to settle into life as a “famous” person. “My dreams had become my reality, yet I was somehow unable to accept this new environment,” Bear explained in a press statement.

“I felt as though I no longer knew what it was that I actually wanted and needed in and out of life, and at times I felt unable to even tell what was real.” To help cope, Bear turned to music, and not just his own. He counts material from Daft Punk, Frank Ocean, and Oneohtrix Point Never as major influences on Boo Boo.

To preview the LP, Bear has shared “Girl Like You”, a lead single built on late-night romantics and soft grooves. Check it out below via its corresponding music video, which stars Bear up close and personal.

Read Bear’s full statement on Boo Boo:

“After 7 years of touring and recording, I found myself becoming self conscious about my position in life as a ‘famous’ person, or at least my version of whatever that is. My dreams had become my reality, yet I was somehow unable to accept this new environment. I couldn’t help but fall into what might be described as an identity crisis. A feedback loop of fearful thoughts left me feeling confused. I felt as though I no longer knew what it was that I actually wanted and needed in and out of life, and at times I felt unable to even tell what was real.

During this time of personal turmoil, I turned to music as a form of therapy, and it helped me cope with the pain that I was feeling. I’d listen to the same ambient song over and over again, trying to insulate myself from reality. I fell in love with space again.

By the time I felt ready to begin working on a new record, I knew that this idea of space within music would be something that propelled my new work forward. The artists that were influencing what I was making included everyone from Travis Scott to Daft Punk, Frank Ocean to Oneohtrix Point Never, Kashif and Gigi Masin. I recognized that the common thread between these artists was their attention to a feeling of space, or lack thereof. I decided that I wanted to make a Pop record with these ideas in mind. That idea for a record is what eventually became Boo Boo.”

Boo Boo Album Artwork:
toro y moi boo boo album new Toro y Moi announces new album, Boo Boo, shares video for Girl Like You    watch

Boo Boo Tracklist:
01. Mirage
02. No Show
03. Mona Lisa
04. Pavement
05. Don’t Try
06. Windows
07. Embarcadero
08. Girl Like You
09. You and I
10. Labyrinth
11. Inside My Head
12. W.I.W.W.T.W.



Lykke Li, Miike Snow, Peter Bjorn and John supergroup LIV share “Heaven”— listen

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Photo by Boe Marion

LIV is the Swedish pop supergroup formed by Lykke Li alongside Andrew Wyatt and Pontus Winnberg of Miike Snow and Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John. The group landed with “Wings of Love” back in October, and followed that single up with “Dream Awake” in November. They’ve been silent ever since, leaving interested fans with nothing to hear during all of 2017 so far. Finally, the band has returned with another new track, “Heaven”.

The song is a cool embrace of strumming guitars, shimmering synths, and echoing vocals. I know it’s hell/ I know it’s helpless,” goes the chorus. “But it feels like heaven is waiting for us/ I know it’s hard/ To feel so heartless/ But I know that heaven is waiting for us.” Taken a listen via the karaoke-style lyric video below.


Top 25 Albums of 2017 (So Far)

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“We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” begins The White Album, journalist Joan Didion’s mosaic essay collection about the late American ’60s and early ’70s. In the opening essay, Didion finds herself at a point in her life and time in our nation’s history where the old narratives begin to fail her. What was once explainable, predictable, and able to be plugged into proven formulas and woven into familiar plot lines with tried-and-true outcomes no longer fit so neatly. Maybe it’s because I’ve been devouring short stories recently and outlining a novel, but so many of the albums that made this list struck me as having narratives with little precedent or guarantee of a happy ending.

Take some of the unlikely narratives these albums fit into. One of his generation’s most prolific artists gets his heart broken, binge-writes 80 songs, and spins his bewilderment into arguably the finest album of his career 16 records in. A seminal band returns to the studio for the first time in 22 years and somehow manages to recapture the same magic that influenced so many others during their absence. After penning what could be considered the Ulysses of hip-hop, the reigning king realized if you can’t go grander in your vision, then go more grounded and direct to the masses. How about these premises? An album in which no men exist. An album in which an artist memorializes his wife’s dying of cancer and documents his subsequent search for answers in almost real time. Again, not your typical stories.

The artists alluded to above each found themselves as Didion once did: part of a story that they hadn’t planned on taking part in and one of which they likely didn’t know the outcome. But when the world takes it upon itself to alter, rearrange, or upend our lives for us, we can only have faith that our art can also shift, bend, and transform to help us make sense of our newfound circumstances. Each of the 25 albums on this list has its own story to tell, and together they form the first half of a narrative that will no doubt keep us listening straight through to the final scene — whatever that may be.

–Matt Melis
Editorial Director

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Washed Out announces new album, Mister Mellow, shares trailer — watch

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Photo by Eric Tra

On June 30th, Washed Ou’s Ernest Greene will return with his first album in nearly four years, Mister Mellow. Due out through new label home Stones Throw, it serves as synthpop songwriter’s third LP to date following 2013’s Paracosm.

Helmed over a period of two years, Mister Mellow takes a hard look at our generation’s tendency to be apathetic and unhappy despite our blessings. “Boredom. Laziness. Complete apathy. Is it a quarter-life crisis or just an excuse to never grow up?” a press release asks, before explaining the new album’s role in this line of questioning:

“In classic Millennial fashion, most young adults’ perception of their own lives are overblown and over-dramatized to the point of absurdity — as are the many ways they distract themselves from the insecurities faced on a daily basis (see social media, fantasy, drugs, music). Mister Mellow shines a light on the humor found in this paradox — how we can be so bored and unhappy in what is often a very privileged, contented life?”

The statement goes on to note that Washed Out was influenced by various genres like free jazz, house, hip-hop, and even psych. Accompanying the LP is a full-length visual piece featuring every form of animation, including collage and claymation. Each clip “reflects the handmade, ‘paint outside the lines’ style of Greene’s music – and again is a reaction against the sterile, hyper-realistic renderings of most modern digital-based art.”

The 12-track effort includes the previously released single “Get Lost”. Revisit that below, followed by a new trailer for the LP.

Mister Mellow Artwork:

washed out mister mellow Washed Out announces new album, Mister Mellow, shares trailer    watch

Mister Mellow Tracklist:
01. Title Card
02. Burn Out Blues
03. Time Off
04. Floating By
05. I’ve Been Daydreaming My Entire Life
06. Hard to Say Goodbye
07. Down and Out
08. Instant Calm
09. Zonked
10. Get Lost
11. Easy Does It
12. Million Miles Away

Greene has a handful of US tour dates lined up for the summer.

Washed Out 2017 Tour Dates:
07/08 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
07/09 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
07/10 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
07/11 – Charleston, SC @ Music Farm
07/13 – Orlando, FL @ Plaza Live
07/14 – Jacksonville, FL @ Mavericks Live
07/15 – Tampa, FL @ Orpheum
07/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
08/12 – Dallas, TX Gorilla vs Bear Festival


Odesza announce new album, A Moment Apart, share two songs “Meridian” and “Corners of the Earth”— listen

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Photo by Tonje Thilesen

Odesza resurfaced in April with not one, but two brand new songs, “Line of Sight” and “Late Night”. Now, they’re back with more exciting news for their fans: The Seattle electropop duo of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight will release their third album, A Moment Apart, on September 8th via Counter Records.

The follow-up to 2014’s In Return collects together 16 tracks and a handful of special collaborators in Regina Spektor, Leon Bridges, and RY X. Alongside the LP announcement, another pair of songs has been let loose by Odesza. Below, check out the pulsing “Meridian” and the soulful, RY X-featuring “Corners of the Earth”.

“Meridian”:

“Corners of the Earth”:

A Moment Apart Album Artwork:

odesza moment apart album 2017 Odesza announce new album, A Moment Apart, share two songs Meridian and Corners of the Earth    listen

A Moment Apart Tracklist:
01. Intro
02. A Moment Apart
03. Higher Ground (feat. Naomi Wild)
04. Boy
05. Line of Sight (feat. WYNNE and Mansionair)
06. Late Night
07. Across the Room (feat. Leon Bridges)
08. Meridian
09. Everything at Your Feet (feat. The Chamanas)
10. Just a Memory (feat. Regina Spektor)
11. Divide (feat. Kelsey Bulkin)
12. Thin Floors and Tall Ceilings
13. La Ciudad
14. Falls (feat. Sasha Sloan)
15. Show Me
16. Corners of the Earth (feat. RY X)

In support of the LP, the two-piece will tour the world for the next couple of months, including dates across Europe, Australia, and the US.

Odesza 2017 Tour Dates:
06/23 – Rothbury, MI @ Electric Forest
06/25 – Heber City, UT @ Bonanza Campout
07/14 – Louisville, KY @ Forecastle Festival
07/15 – Birmingham, AL @ Sloss Festival
07/22 – Centre Hall, PA @ Karoondinha Festival
09/03 – Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot
09/14 – Auckland, NZ @ Great Hall
09/15 – Melbourne, AU @ Forum
09/16 – Sydney, AU @ Enmore Theatre
09/29 – London, UK @ 02 Forum Kentish Town
09/30 – Paris, FR @ Elysee Monmartre
10/03 – Brussels, BE @ AB Main Hall
10/05 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
10/07 – Berlin, DE @ Astra Kulturhaus
10/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Staples Center
10/22-22 – Phoenix, AZ @ Lost Lake Festival
10/24 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl
10/26 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
11/03 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum
11/08 – Minneapolis, MN @ Myth
11/10 – Madison, WI @ Alliant Energy Center
11/11 – Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
11/14 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple
11/17 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
11/21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
12/15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center


Tegan and Sara announce The Con 10th anniversary tour

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Photo by ​Philip Cosores​

Tegan and Sara really came into their own with 2007’s The Con. Though it was their fifth album overall, songs like “Back in Your Head” and the title track helped propel the record to become the duo’s first to chart on the Billboard 200. As the Canadian twin sisters celebrate the 10 year anniversary of their breakthrough release, they’ve announced plans to perform the album in full on their The Con X: Tour.

Set to take place this fall throughout North America, the 16-date trek will find Tegan and Sara performing special acoustic arrangements of The Con’s 14 tracks. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Tegan and Sara Foundation, which supports LGBTQ girls and women causes. There’s also the promise of further dates to come — as well as another, yet unrevealed project celebrating 10 years of The Con — so stay tuned for more.

Tickets are available beginning June 16th here. Find Tegan and Sara’s complete itinerary below.

Tegan and Sara 2017 Tour Dates:
06/24 – New York, NY @ Pride Island, Pier 26, Hudson River Park
06/30 – Victoria, BC @ Spirit of 150 Victoria
07/01 – Calgary, AB @ City of Calgary Canada Day Festival
07/06 – Milwaukee, WI @ SummerFest
07/08 – Ottawa, ON @ RBC Bluesfest
07/27 – Halifax, NS @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium *
07/28 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre *
07/29 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom *
07/30 – Oro-Medonte, ON @ WayHome Music and Arts Festival
07/31 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues *
08/02 – Covington, KY @ Madison Theater *
08/03 – Chicago, IL @ Park West (Official Lollapalooza Aftershow) ^
08/04 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/05 – Saint John, NB @ Area 506 Festival
08/06 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
08/12 – Regina, SK @ Regina Folk Festival
08/17 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Frederik Meijer Gardens Amphitheater
08/18 – Columbus, OH @ Fashion Meets Music Festival
09/09 – San Bernadino, CA @ High and Low Festival
09/15 – Flushing, NY @ The Meadows Music and Arts Festival
10/20 – San Diego, CA @ Balboa Theatre #
10/21 – Las Vegas, CA @ The Pearl at The Palms #
10/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel #
10/25 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic #
10/26 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall #
10/27 – Seattle, WA @ The Moore #
10/28 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre #
10/30 – Calgary, AB @ Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium #
10/31 – Edmonton, AB @ Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium #
11/03 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre #
11/05 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple #
11/08 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre #
11/09 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre #
11/10 – Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre #
11/13 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle #
11/15 – Austin, TX @ Paramount Theatre #

* = w/ Japanese Breakfast
^ = w/ FRENSHIP
# = The Con X: Tour Acoustic Show

Revisit the video for the title track to The Con:


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