Los Angeles alt-pop trio lovelytheband take the first step towards their third album with their emphatic new single “sail away”. Dubbed iHeartRadio’s “Best New Rock/Alternative Artist” in 2019 on the heels of the Billboard-nominated hit “broken”, lovelytheband have continued blazing ahead, delivering “sail away” as the first peek into their highly-anticipated third studio album.

Frontman Mitchy Collins delivers an instantly memorable hook, both sung and whistled, over punctuated percussion. The aquatic-themed trio groove effortlessly over a bassline that sways like a lapsing wave, rising and falling in a sea of layered chant vocals. While clocking in at just under three minutes, lovelytheband switch-up “sail away” with a bridge that harmoniously pairs the track’s powerful hooks together via bright organs and alluring vocal backings.

The up track’s upbeat reverie is like a mirage on the horizon – the type of seeking-elsewhere that can only happen in the vastness of the open sea, as the band explains,

“The song is a daydream. It’s a fantasy of escaping the overwhelming pressures and anxieties of everyday life. In those moments it would be easier to just drop everything and sail away. Even from your own mind. Leave everything as is with no goodbyes.”

– Mitchy Collins

In addition to their late 2021 North American tour supporting their sophomore album ‘conversations with myself about you’, the trio also notched collaborations “Miss You A Little” with Bryce Vine, “games” with Tessa Violet and Matt Squire and more. lovelytheband also recently rocked coast-to-coast shows in New York for The Bowery Presents’ Summer Concert Series at Hudson Yards and Switchfoot’s BRO-AM in San Diego, which “[gives] back to the San Diego community by heightening the profile of and providing grants to nonprofit organizations that provide services to homeless, at-risk and disadvantaged youth, with a special focus on programs related to music, art and surfing.”

Adding to a string of hits dating back to their debut smash “broken”, which broke the record for longest running entry on the Billboard Music Alternative Charts at 76 weeks, and lush sad-pop anthem “loneliness for love”, “sail away” is the first hint of what’s to come from the group’s third studio album, due later this year.

The Afghan Whigs announced their first studio album in five years How Do You Burn?, which is set for release on September 9th via Royal Cream/BMG. Also out now is the second song taken from the new album titled “The Getaway.”

The band will embark on an extensive tour in support of How Do You Burn? this fall in the United States and Europe, kicking off in Minneapolis on September 9^th at the Fine Line and ending at the newly reopened KOKO in London on November 6^th.  Tickets are on sale now for all fall shows.   

How Do You Burn?, their ninth album overall and following on from the brace of widely acclaimed records they’ve made previously since re-grouping in 2012, Do to the Beast (2014) and In Spades (2017). How Do You Burn? picks up the baton laid down by each of those records and runs it to the horizon. Work on it was begun in September 2020 – the COVID pandemic having forced Whigs frontman/songwriter Greg Dulli to abandon plans to tour his highly praised solo album, ‘Random Desire’ – and continued over the next 14 months. 

The global pandemic dictated also that the band record largely apart from, and in different locations to, each other: Dulli, his co-producer Christopher Thorn and drummer Patrick Keeler together in California; bassist John Curley, guitarist Jon Skibic and strings man Rick Nelson laying down and engineering their own parts in Cincinnati, New Jersey and New Orleans, respectively.  

“Once we got the system down, we started flying,” says Dulli. 

For his supporting cast, Dulli called upon several serial collaborators including the late Mark Lanegan, who was a regular in Dulli’s Twilight Singers, a partner in The Gutter Twins and a close friend.  Lanegan makes his Afghan Whigs debut singing backup vocals on two tracks.  “It was Mark who named the album,” Dulli remarked.

Susan Marshall, who sang on the Whigs album 1965, returns to the fray for “Catch A Colt,” one of the album’s standout tracks, loose-limbed like Some Girls-era Rolling Stones and with the liquid polyrhythms of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk. 

The multi-talented Van Hunt, who toured with the Whigs in 2012 and guested on Do to the Beast, brings his stacked-up, wall-of-sound vocals to both the plunging, voodoo-blues of “Jyja” and the audacious “Take Me There”, transforming the latter, says Dulli, “into this feral gospel song. We sing really well together, but what Van does production-wise… it’s unrelenting.”

Then there’s Marcy Mays, lead vocalist on ‘My Curse’, the torch-song highlight of 1993’s seminal ‘Gentlemen’ album, reprising her role here on the celestial “Domino and Jimmy”, playing Stevie Nicks to Dulli’s Lindsey Buckingham. “I wrote that song with Marcy in mind,” says Dulli. “No-one sounds like her; she’s got an incredibly unique, emotional and evocative voice.”

The Afghan Whigs – Dulli, Curley, Nelson, Keeler and with Christopher Thorn now joining the band on guitar – will take How Do You Burn? out on the road beginning this spring.  Beyond that, says Dulli, their future is gloriously wide open.

How Do You Burn? Track List 

1. I’ll Make You See God 
2. The Getaway
3. Catch A Colt 
4. Jyja
5. Please, Baby, Please
6. A Line Of Shots 
7. Domino and Jimmy
8. Take Me There
9. Concealer
10. In Flames

U.S. MAY 2022 TOUR DATES  

Florence + the Machine unveiled a new single, “Free,” yesterday with a video starring acclaimed actor Bill Nighy as Florence’s anxiety and directed by Autumn de Wilde. The track is the latest from Florence’s forthcoming fifth LP Dance Fever, out May 13.

Florence has shared three songs from Dance Fever thus far—“My Love” (plus remixes from co-producer Dave Bayley of Glass Animals and Meduza), “King” and “Heaven is Here”—all of which arrived alongside videos by the acclaimed director de Wilde featuring choreography by Ryan Heffington.

Tickets for Florence’s North American headline dates this year are on sale now. The tour kicks off September 2 in Montreal with further stops at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl and many more. Arlo Parks, Sam Fender, King Princess, Yves Tumor, Japanese Breakfast and Wet Leg will join as support on select dates. One dollar from every ticket sold will benefit Choose Love to aid refugees worldwide. See full routing below and visit florenceandthemachine.net for more information.

Additionally, Florence will play two very special, intimate shows this spring: April 29 in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Theatre and May 6 at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York—both shows sold out in seconds.

Dance Fever was recorded in London over the course of the pandemic in anticipation of the world’s reopening. It conjures up what Florence missed most in the midst of lockdown—clubs, dancing at festivals, being in the whirl of movement and togetherness—and the hope of reunions to come.

The image and concept of choreomania—a Renaissance phenomenon in which groups of people danced wildly to the point of exhaustion, collapse and death—became a focal point of inspiration. Forced off the road for the first time in more than a decade, dance offered Florence propulsion, energy and a way of looking at music more choreographically.

Starting, as ever, armed with a notebook of poems and ideas, Florence had just arrived to New York in March 2020 to begin recording when Covid-19 forced a retreat to London. Holed up at home, the songs she had begun started to transform, ultimately arriving somewhere that Florence describes as “Nick Cave at the club.”

Dance Fever is an album that sees Florence at the peak of her powers, coming into a fully realized self-knowledge, poking sly fun at her own self-created persona, playing with ideas of identity, masculinity and femininity, redemption and celebration.

Dance Fever was produced by Florence, Jack Antonoff and Dave Bayley of Glass Animals.

Following their recent release “Fire and Stone”, which offered a dose of escapism through its beautifully layered instrumentals and nostalgic undertone, Essex band Black Pines keeps the ball rolling with yet another powerful flame, “Get What’s Coming”, which released earlier this month.

Backing the tremendous response to breakthrough singles “Heaven’s Son”, “Power” and “Hope” in 2020,  their stripped-back collection Isolation Tapes in early 2021, and their soulful single “Chains” in 2021, the talented five-piece captures listeners with addictive melodies and explosive vocals.

“Get What’s Coming” is a chilling soundscape of blues-tinged rock blended into a denser contemporary rock that speaks to anyone with a taste for rhythm. With its bold guitar riffs, soaring vocal powerhouse, and deeply emotive lyricism, the single has a rousing disposition that is rich with authenticity.

When speaking on the new release, Black Pines said “Get What’s Coming is a song about overcoming addiction. It’s a rally cry to pick yourself up and start again.”

The 2021 All Things Go Music Festival returns on Saturday October 16th and makes a major move to the 20,000 capacity Merriweather Post Pavilion venue. The festival continues their female-forward billing with this year’s headliner and Grammy Album Of The Year nominee, HAIM – in addition to St. Vincent , Charli XCX and LAUV at the top of the bill.

Those artists will be joined by a slew of up-and-coming artists — Girl In Red, Cautious Clay, Beach Bunny, Soccer Mommy, Gus Dapperton, Tkay Maidza, Jelani Aryeh, Role Model, Tai Verdes, Blue DeTiger, Isaac Dunbar and Del Water Gap — all taking over two stages at the iconic Merriweather Post Pavilion, making it one of the largest independent festival on the east coast. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at https://www.allthingsgofestival.com/

For the third consecutive year, the festival will also host a conference and panel discussion as part of its programming, featuring some of the most notable voices in music, entertainment and journalism. The conference will be free to enter with RSVP – more details will be announced later this summer. Previous panel programming has included festival artists Maggie Rogers and mxmtoon in addition to Puja Patel, editor-in-chief of Pitchfork Music and many others.

The earlier festival installments were held at Union Market, with headliners such as Billie Eilish, Maggie Rogers, CHVRCHES, Carly Rae Jepsen, Foster the People, Kygo, Sylvan Esso, Vince Staples, Bleachers, Future Islands, Tove Lo, Young Thug, Empire of The Sun and Passion Pit alongside culinary partners such as James Beard Award-nominated chef Erik Bruner Yang, Shake Shack and Jose Andres’ Beefsteak. 

The festival is known for their female-focused billing and equal representation in the music industry in general, for instance the Saturday of All Things Go 2018 spotlighted an all-female lineup specially curated in collaboration with Maggie Rogers and LPX (Lizzy Plapinger), both All Things Go friends, and Plapinger, a previous partner on the All Things Gold club nights in Washington DC. 

Alex Frankel (Holy Ghost!) released his Still Got It EP with two remixes by France’s Breakbot (La Fiesta Remix and Club des Vedettes Remix), a Choices Remix and the instrumental version of the single. Earlier Alex Frankel shared the video for “Still Got It”, an anthem for embracing the next step whatever it may be, all out now on CASUAL / Ed Banger. Alex celebrates everybody’s return to the dancefloor with a wildly fun video that finds him dancing outside some of France’s iconic dance clubs and reveling in front of party flyers. The photos of French club exteriors featured in the video were pulled from Prost’s book After Party. He teamed up with motion designer Dixsaut to turn them into the dance party on the streets the video invites us to join.

“Still Got It” is a glimpse into Alex’s world as he works towards a full length in 2022.

“Still Got It” finds joy in resilience and celebrates the personal spark each of us has that fortifies our optimism even in hardship. It’s a quick glance back while dancing into the future that invites everyone, “Let’s have a toast to staying young as we get old”. The song plays with some of the hallmarks of classic 80s pop and reimagines them for this moment, with a wave of euphoria that keeps rising as it builds from just Alex’s voice to a choral arrangement performed by the East Coast Inspirational Singers choir. 

The Breakbot remix of “Still Got It” (Breakbot Club des Vedettes Remix) was shared by Adult Swim Singles as part of their 2021 program, and puts a playful and synthy spin on the single. The rework, by French electronic mainstay Breakbot, is especially fitting as the original single marked Alex’s initial release for Ed Banger, rendering him the first American signee to the legendary European label. Listen to it here. Alex also shared a celebratory new DJ mix last week on Magnetic Magazine to kick off the summer with his blend of house, funk and disco. 

Alex says of the songs origins, “I played the demo for Thibaut ( Breakbot) one night at Bernie’s Restaurant while we were outside on a smoke break  (back when, you know… people still ate dinner out) and on the spot he demanded we go try it on the audience at his gig that night. The response was great and after that, I knew I had to finish it. I called the East Coast Inspirational Singers, my favorite gospel group in NYC and they came by to help me get it there.”

Alex Frankel first emerged as one half of beloved NYC duo Holy Ghost! whose hybrid of synth pop, disco, and a range of electronic music made them an international dancefloor and festival staple. Along with their own albums and EPs for DFA and West End, the group have been in demand remixers sought out by their peers like LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, and Cut Copy. Alex has also done remixes for US Girls, Naeem, Neon Indian and Moby.

The song is the first single from Lorde’s forthcoming third studio album which will be released via Universal Music New Zealand on August 20^th. The album includes 12 tracks and is produced by Jack Antonoff who she collaborated with on her chart-topping last album, Melodrama.

Of the album Lorde says, “The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors. In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I’ve learned to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through.”

Of the single she adds, “The first song, also called SOLAR POWER and written and produced by myself and Jack, is the first of the rays. It’s about that infectious, flirtatious summer energy that takes hold of us all, come June…”

To honor the natural world the artist is presenting the album in a first-of-its kind, discless format. An eco-conscious Music Box will be available for purchase as an alternative to a CD. This innovative offering will contain extra visual content, handwritten notes, exclusive photos, and a download card. The card will give purchasers a high-quality download of the music, two exclusive bonus tracks, and access to some special surprises along the way.

When talking about the concept Lorde says, “I decided early on in the process of making this album that I also wanted to create an environmentally kind, forward-thinking alternative to the CD. I wanted this Music Box product to be similar in size, shape and price to a CD, to live alongside it in a retail environment, but be something which stands apart and that’s committed to the evolving nature of a modern album.”

Solar Power Tracklist:

1. The Path
2. Solar Power
3. California
4. Stoned in the Nail Salon
5. Fallen Fruit
6. Secrets From a Girl (Who’s Seen It All)
7. The Man with An Axe
8. Dominoes
9. Big Star
10. Leader of a New Regime
11. Mood Ring
12. Oceanic Feeling

LORDE TOUR DATES:

Good stories and good music are two things everyone wants more of, especially in their podcast feeds. With their extensive experience in music and podcasting, Nevermind Media, led by Peabody Award-winner Sean Cannon (Striped: The Story Of The White Stripes, The Guestlist) and music journalist Melissa Locker, set out to give the people what they want. Nevermind Media combines the emotional power of music with irresistible storytelling and immersive audio experiences that take a deep dive into music history and fandom. On June 16, Nevermind Media will launch its latest podcast, Songs in the Key of Death, a historiography that combines music, true crime, history, and edge-of-your-seat storytelling. 

Hosted by music critic and author Courtney Smith (Refinery29, MTV, Record Collecting For Girls), Songs in the Key of Death looks at the historic true crimes that inspired a selection of murder ballads, with season- one exploring some of the most notorious and well-known crimes of the early 20th century. Each episode focuses on a single murder ballad that has been passed down by scores of singers, with each generation telling their own version of events and putting a new spin on stories of very real, often gruesome slaughters. After being told and retold, these songs and the murders that inspired them have become legends. The show looks at the violent criminals we can’t stop singing about, the grisly history they reflect, and the underrepresented voices of victims who didn’t get to tell their own stories. 

Brilliant artists SAD13 and Will Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy) take turns creating new versions of the songs featured in each episode. Episode 1 of Songs in the Key of Death focuses on “Delia,” written about the Christmas night killing of a 13-year-old Black girl in Georgia — although you wouldn’t guess that from the version popularized by Johnny Cash. Today, fans can hear SAD13’s updated take titled “Delia ”, debuted with Rolling Stone, in which Delia gets her revenge on the boy who killed her, ahead of the episode’s launch on June 16. 

Subscribe now to get season 1 of Songs in the Key of Death everywhere you listen to podcasts. 

18 year old rising star Alfie Templeman has released his brand new mini-album Forever Isn’t Long Enough on Chess Club Records (MØ, Mumford and Sons, Jungle etc). Previous EP Happiness In Liquid Form followed Templeman’s trio of rapturously received EP’s – 2018’s Like An Animal, and 2019’s Sunday Morning Cereal and Don’t Go Wasting Time – in introducing the world to a prodigiously talented young musician, songwriter, producer, and performer. The Bedfordshire-born teen, self-taught on 10 different instruments, has enjoyed a meteoric rise and cemented his place as one of UK indie’s brightest lights.

Templeman’s latest single “Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody” is currently on the B List at BBC Radio 1, following his fourth consecutive Hottest Record in the World with Annie Mac. Templeman has also shared the music video for mini-album track “Wait, I Lied”, directed by Thomas Davis.

Speaking about the new video Alfie says: “We filmed “Wait, I Lied” in a couple hours. The thing that I love about it is that the whole video was just ideas myself and Thomas came up with on the spot, it’s totally spontaneous, we didn’t plan anything and just went for it. I hope people appreciate my amazing dance moves, I think it’ll be my next career if this music thing doesn’t work out!!”

Alfie Templeman will also embark on a Spring 2022 headline tour – including his biggest show to date at London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on Mar 16 – as well as supporting Declan McKenna in the UK and heading out on a maiden US headline tour, alongside shows with Chloe Moriondo later this year. Full list of live dates below. 

Featuring rapturous singles “Forever Isn’t Long Enough” and the aforementioned “Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody”, the new mini-album is Templeman’s final and most substantial body of work before recording starts on his proper debut album. Templeman explains: “I wanted to make a refined and focused pop record – something more widescreen than an EP but more concise than a full-length album -with a feel somewhere between Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Tame Impala’s Currents. In making Forever Isn’t Long Enough I realised that I needed to slow down a little and work on things carefully. The songs took anywhere from one day to 4 months to 2 years to finish for this record, but I made sure each one was perfect and I’ve never been more proud of how they all came out.” 

With an impressive 106k Instagram followers since his first post in 2019, over 1 million monthly Spotify listeners, and a cumulative streaming figure of over 60 million,  Alfie Templeman has come a long way since the release of debut track “Like An Animal”. At one point in 2020, Templeman had three songs in the Music Moves Europe Talent Chart Top 20; was featured as the cover star of Dork Magazine; was included in the FIFA 21 soundtrack; in February, was H&M Artist of the Month in the UK, with accompanying store visuals and playlist support. Templeman was previously handpicked by Apple from a global shortlist of rising artists to front their #shotoniphone campaign and was chosen by YouTube Music to be a worldwide ‘Foundry Artist’ in 2020, following in the footsteps of artists such as Dua Lipa and Rosalia, featuring on 90-foot billboards in Times Square in NYC and Central LA.

See Alfie Templeman live in 2021/22:
July 22 | Truck Festival, Steventon 
July 29 | Kendal Calling Festival, Penrith 
Aug 12 | 110 Above Festival, Atherstone
Aug 25 | O2 Academy, Bournemouth (with Declan McKenna)
Aug 27-29 | Reading & Leeds Festival
Sep 3 | Neighbourhood Weekender Festival, Warrington
Sep 9 | O2 Academy, Leicester (with Declan McKenna)
Sep 18 | Brixton O2 Academy, London (with Declan McKenna)

Nov 23 | Bowery Ballroom, New York (with Chloe Moriondo)
Nov 24 | Brighton Music Hall, Boston (with Chloe Moriondo)
Nov 26 | Velvet Underground, Toronto (with Chloe Moriondo)
Nov 28 | The Crocodile, Seattle
Nov 29 | Holocene, Portland
Dec 1 | Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco
Dec 3 | The Roxy Theatre, Los Angeles
Dec 4 | Voodoo Room, San Diego

Mar 2 | The Cluny, Newcastle
Mar 3 | Saint Luke’s, Glasgow
Mar 4| Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Mar 5 | Gorilla, Manchester
Mar 8 | Leadmill, Sheffield
Mar 9 | Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Mar 10 | O2 Institute, Birmingham
Mar 11 | Thekla, Bristol
Mar 12 | Patterns, Brighton
Mar 16 | O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Mar 18 | The Academy, Dublin
 

Alfie Templeman – Forever Isn’t Long Enough – tracklisting:
1. Shady
2. Forever Isn’t Long Enough
3. Hideaway 
4. Wait, I Lied 
5. Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody 
6. Film Scene Daydream 
7. To You 
8. One More Day (feat. April)

Luck Presents is proud to announce the lineup for Luck Summit: Planting the Seed, their inaugural cannabis convention which benefits HeadCount’s Cannabis Voter Project. Presented by Rocket Seeds and hosted by Nathaniel Rateliff, the multi-day summit seeks to destigmatize, educate, and promote cannabis culture in an informative and entertaining way. During the summit, which runs virtually April 26-29, Luck and fellow cannabis-advocate partners will showcase the cannabis plant through the lenses of history, science, entertainment, and culture. 

“In the first year of the event, it is important to us that we create a bi-partisan, stigma free conversation around cannabis in its many forms,” stated Matt Bizer, co-founder of Luck Presents. “We truly believe that Willie Nelson has been a unifier for so many in his years as both a cannabis activist and humanitarian. With Willie as our landlord we are able to set a stage and a platform for this unique conversation here in Texas and throughout the country.” Team Luck unveiled a highly curated lineup that is both entertainingly enlightening and recreationally educational, with keynote addresses by Steven Hawkins, interim CEO of the United States Cannabis Council, and legendary activist and artist Willie Nelson.

The summit is the latest in Nelson’s long history of supporting legalization and normalization of cannabis use. He has been in the legal business since 2015 when he co-founded GCH. In 2016, the company launched Willie’s Reserve, the premium cannabis brand where Nelson serves as Chief Tasting Officer. In 2019, they expanded to introduce Willie’s Remedy, a line of hemp infused products for the natural food and wellness market. 

Luck Summit: Planting the Seed will feature something for everyone-from the cannabis curious to the long-time 420-friendly-on all aspects of the cannabis plant: economics, logistics, agriculture, legalities, legislative approaches, culture, and revenue streams. 

Luck Summit: Planting the Seed will also include musical performances by Early James, Devon Gilfilian, Marcus King, Jonathan Tyler, Aaron Lee Tasjan, The Nude Party, and more. 

Additionally, team Luck has partnered with the much-loved podcast, Great Moments in Weed History. The episodes released in partnership with Luck Summit: Planting the Seed will dive deep into humanity’s 10,000+ year relationship with cannabis to find the humor, heart, and historical importance of this very special plant. As part of Luck Summit, hosts Abdullah Saeed and David Bienenstock proudly present five short films tracing Willie Nelson’s 60-year love affair with cannabis-from his first toke in Fort Worth, Texas in 1954 to the creation of his very own cannabis companies, Willie’s Reserve and Willie’s Remedy. The first episode, “Willie and Weed: The Origin Story,” is available now, and features Ethan Hawke and Charlie Sexton. Click here to watch. 

Sponsors for the event include Rocket Seeds, Koan, Willie’s Reserve, GRAV, Greenbelt Botanicals, Gibson, Clay Imports, Dad Grass and Weed, and Whiskey News.