Former IZ*ONE member Choi Yena has officially made her debut as a soloist. The 22-year-old idol has unveiled a bubbly new music video for her debut single ‘Smiley’ featuring singer-songwriter BIBI. Her mini-album of the same title was also released at the same time. In the vibrant new visual, Choi embarks on a mission to bring smiles to the faces of patrons of a hotel, urging them to get up and dance with her. When she leaves, BIBI shows up as a villain and begins to frighten the patrons and staff. “And I say hey, I’m gonna make it smile smile smile away / I’ll make a beautiful smile and let it go / Just smile away, just smile away / To forget about pain, sadness and loneliness,” sings Choi on the upbeat chorus. [via NME]
Kyla La Grange has delivered her first single of 2022, 'Nurture', which is lifted from her forthcoming album While Your Heart's Still Beating. 'Nurture' is the third track to be shared from Kyla La Grange's first in over seven years, following last year's 'Neverland' and rework of N-Trance's 'Set You Free', and is teamed with a Alexandre Prod'homme-directed video. Kyla La Grange said of the new release, "'Nurture' is the most personal song I've ever written, a storybook of relationships, from childhood to adulthood. I nearly didn't record it because it made me cry too much, and I was scared to release it because it feels so raw and exposing, but something about the writing of it felt very necessary for me, like it was a way of paying tribute to certain things and then closing a door on them, putting them to bed." [via Line Of Best Fit]
Partner, who’ve succinctly summed up their vibe with the subgenre tag “Canadian lesbian post classic rock,” are back with an extremely catchy new song. 'Time Is A Car' commemorates the 30th birthday of Josée Caron, the younger of the two Partner members, with some immensely appealing ’80s pop-rock rock vibes. “Lightning McQueen, take us away,” goes the Cars-referencing chorus. “Put distance between us and those cursed days.” A statement from the band: "This is a song that we wrote while reflecting on the years that have passed and the way that the passing of time offers fresh perspectives. Fittingly enough it’s ready just in time for us to present it to you on Josée’s 30th birthday. Time sure does fly!!" 'Time Is A Car' arrives with a video by Partner pal Lesley Marshall. According to the band, it was a highly successful long-distance collaboration: "We had a distinct idea for the visual accompaniment to this track and we knew there was one person who could bring it to light; our beloved and frequent collaborator Lesley Marshall. However, when we were informed that the time to make a video was upon us, it seemed close to impossible that we would be able to make the trip to meet with her. While she is close to our hearts, we were separated by 4580km (2845 miles for our USA/UK friends). However, Lesley and the team at MAVN thankfully remained undaunted by such concerns. The result is one of our very favourite videos to date." [via Stereogum]
Canadian alt-pop artist GRAE, who crafts new-wave pop which draws heavily from her nostalgic influences, has dropped her new track 'Room In The Desert' with its stunning video. For 'Room In The Desert', GRAE cites Cocteau Twins’ 1990 track 'Cherry-coloured Funk' as her original source of inspiration. She adds. “'Room In The Desert' was written on a day when I was lacking inspiration. I came into the session with my producer Connor Seidel not knowing what to write about and instead of trying to fight that feeling, I embraced it. I decided to write a song about nothing, from nothing, using some random and interesting words we could find. At the time of writing, it had no real meaning, which was the intention, but now I actually find meaning in it which is interesting. I hope those who listen are able to find their own unique meaning too.” 'Room in the Desert' is taken from GRAE's upcoming debut album Whiplash which is due in April.
Big news from the world of indie: Peaness have announced their debut album. To be titled World Full Of Worry, it'll arrive this May and gets its first single in 'How I'm Feeling'. Released via their own record label Totally Snick Records, the album has a strong start in 'How I'm Feeling', which uses indie punk riffs, catchy melody and some lovely harmonies to kick ass. “In an unfulfilling job? Need a shake up with something in your life or you’ll go mad? Well, that’s ‘How I’m Feeling’ and it can’t be ignored anymore!" [via Gigwise]
Accompanying the announcement of her new album, It Was A Home, Chicago native KAINA has released her effervescent new single, 'Apple'. Presenting itself as a psychedelic odyssey of a track, 'Apple' floats through passages of progressive soul to soaring synth-led choruses, taking us on KAINA Castillo’s journey of self-discovery and personal growth. As KAINA laments how she wishes she were more like the “Apple” that the song takes its name from, there is a gradual shift in the track’s tone from funk riffs to short splashes of wonder as she comes to appreciate her imperfections. Speaking about the subject matter, the singer and producer says, “like most people, I often overthink a lot and it’s sort of just a silly song about wanting to appreciate the way I am and the way I exist at the purest form possible. I talk about being in my own way a lot, despite how hard I work and have good things going for me. Ultimately, I realise that it’s up to me to have the compassion, patience, and care for myself as well as a little humour about things.” Taking influence from being raised by her Guatemalan and Venezuelan parents in Chicago, Castillo uses her experiences of being a first-generation kid and states that “through my songwriting, I’m able to reframe how I view those experiences by adding context and nuance.” Here, on this latest single, we see this used to great effect as she comes to terms with her identity. While her home city boasts several artists in adjacent musical lanes - stylistically pushing the boat out and testing the limits of pop, neo-soul and R&B - it’s those KAINA has worked closest with that appear to have had the greatest influence. Whether it’s the smoothness of Jamila Woods (who she has previously toured with), the outright zaniness of former label-mate NNAMDÏ or the slickness of co-producer Sen Morimoto, all elements are seemingly melded together in perfect balance on 'Apple', culminating in one essential listen. [via Line Of Best Fit]
In December, Girlpool returned with a new song called 'Faultline.' That was just the first taste of a whole new Girlpool album. It’s called Forgiveness, and it’s out in April. Girlpool teamed with producer Yves Rothman to, as a press release puts it, achieve an “intersection of Hollywood futurism and post-grunge sincerity.” Along with the announcement, they’ve also shared a new song called 'Lie Love Lullaby.' “‘Lie Love Lullaby’ is a song about a time where I felt that my innocence affected my ability to choose a person who was good for me,” Avery Tucker said in a statement. “In the past, it’s been painful to choose somebody that didn’t believe in me, and I think the most painful part was that I allowed myself to pick a person that didn’t recognize my entirety. I wrote this song wondering, did I recognize it myself? If I had the wherewithal to tolerate their minimizing perspective?” 'Lie Love Lullaby' also comes with a video directed by Amalia Irons. [via Stereogum]
The Let Go drop their new single ‘Last Year’s Model Club’, the latest offering from one of the most exciting new bands in the UK. ‘Last Year’s Model Club’ showcases yet another string to The Let Go’s bow, a sweet slacker banger from the perspective of a jilted ex, showcasing Cole’s smooth vocals and the pair’s pitch perfect production, with additional production from Oscar Scheller. Cole explains, “Everyone goes through that one relationship that breaks you, and this song shows that being in the ‘Last Year’s Model Club’ isn’t freeing or relieving, but more so sends you into being the chaotic crazy ex-girlfriend.” The accompanying video is co-produced, co-directed, co-edited, and co-wrote by Cole and Scout with Frankie Beanie, and is released alongside the announcement of the duo’s debut EP Delete My Feelings, due on March 18.
After the release of her stunning single 'Spinning Tops' in October last year, emerging artist and award-winning composer, ELDR, has now returned to announce the details behind her eagerly-awaited new EP HÖLY STRANGER, showcased by the new offering 'Friends'. HÖLY STRANGER looks to continue the broad and ethereal guise she first introduced herself with. Channelling her raw and adventurous approach to production and songwriting, her newest collection looks to add the next vibrant chapter in her ever-growing catalogue, cementing her as one of the more exciting new names emerging right now. Her newest effort 'Friends' stands as a perfect reflection of what we can expect on the new EP. With its warm live energy, and her own powerful voice soaring atop a bed of distorted guitar and driving drums, she is looking to pursue larger captivating tones this time around, adding breadth and levity to her aesthetic throughout. The latest offering also comes accompanied by a stunning new video, shot by Miles Ridgway (Arlo Parks) and directed by Philip James McGoldrick. The new visuals perfectly demonstrate the unique world-building aesthetic ELDR has been cultivating since her earliest origins. With its rich and powerful imagery, we are beginning to see a full sense of where she plans to take us on her next absorbing journey. Speaking about the video, ELDR said, "The 'FRIENDS' music video is a dystopian sci-fi meets spiritual orgy! It explores a yearning for intimacy and the sanitised detachment from our own humanity caused by recent things like social distancing. The main characters begin trapped in themselves, masked and dressed in hazmat suits. My character is intended to be a kind of 'alien swan' who activates them with music, inviting them to become more feral and free."
FKA Twigs has shared the official video for her latest single ‘Meta Angel'. The song appears on the singer-songwriter’s new mixtape Caprisongs, which came out January 14. The track’s accompanying visuals find Twigs in a London park before a bow and arrow-wielding alter-ego of the artist takes to the roof of a city skyscraper. Once in position, the latter character sets her sights on the FKA Twigs on the ground and shoots. The arrow flies above the capital’s streets, with drone-shot footage taking us along for the ride. After being struck in the middle of her chest, Twigs sings along to ‘Meta Angel’ as she lies on the grass. You can check out the Aidan Zamiri-directed video above. [via NME]
Everything's coming up Chelsea Jade! The LA via Aotearoa pop princess follows up her 2018 debut Personal Best with forthcoming sophomore album Soft Spot and shares the exciting news of signing to international label Carpark Records. Along with the new album announcement, Chelsea Jade lifts the lid on single 'Optimist' and her self-directed, edited, choreographed and animated video to boot. The dreamy, alt-poppy goodness of 'Optimist' is paired with Chelsea Jade's signature off-kilter dance moves and a crème de la crème of local creatives, from award-winning video-makers Alexander Gandar and Amanda Jane Robinson, to The Beths' Elizabeth Stokes credited with 'Assistance'. [via Under The Radar]
Singer-songwriter and actress Lola Kirke has returned with news of her second album Lady For Sale, and has unveiled new cut 'Better Than Any Drug' as the first taster. 'Better Than Any Drug', teamed with a Alex O Eaton-directed video, is Kirke's first new material since her 2019 EP Friends And Foes And Friends Again, and also arrives as the first preview of her upcoming second record. Kirke's Lady For Sale album will follow her 2018 debut Heart Head West, and is produced by Austin Jenkins (White Denim, Leon Bridges). "I am over the moon about sharing this album with people because I just think it's such a good time and frankly I’ve felt a bit rude keeping all that fun to myself!" Kirke said. "It was inspired by some of the baddest women in 80/90s country, disco, and rock and designed to blend those references into the thing you didn’t know you wanted but do! Or maybe you don’t. But that’s probably ‘cause you’re square :) Anyway I just hope people sing and dance and feel powerful when they listen to it." [via Line Of Best Fit]
Russian collective Pussy Riot have unveiled new single 'Punish', which is co-written by Tove Lo. 'Punish' is Pussy Riot's first outing of 2022, following last year's appearance on an updated version of MARINA's 'Purge The Poison', and is teamed with a Ksti Hu-directed video. Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova says of the release, "'PUNISH' is the first audio-visual artwork from Pussy Riot's upcoming cycle that introduces a super(s)hero character who owns magic superwoman-like qualities and uses these powers to fight sexism. She's a strong dominatrix figure, and serves justice by punishing Weinsteins of the world. Talks about the vengeful shero are spreading, and now men are scared to misbehave, because they're well aware that revenge is coming." Co-writer Tove Lo adds, "Getting to enter Nadya’s world and be a part of this project is my pussy power passion project! She’s an iconic artist with an incredible life story who goes into everything with a bigger purpose. I hope we all get to live in the Pussyverse!" [via Line Of Best Fit]
Capturing the turbulence of youth, London based Gretel Hänlyn’s third single is an extravagantly emotive record, allowing herself to be “young, stupid and confused.” Co-produced with Mura Masa, 'Motorbike' is a boisterous, brooding track from 19-year-old Gretel Hänlyn. Untangling a recent breakup, “this track was written and that, alongside the reawakening of my social life, ended up heavily inspiring my lyrics,” Gretel offers. “I learned that if you take life and love too seriously then you’re probably not having enough fun. I think I was listening to a lot of The Strokes at the time and I had ‘Bad Decisions’ on repeat before getting to the studio, which maybe you can hear the influence of in the guitar hook.” Mura Masa’s deft hand shapes the track into an emotional ravine. Inspired by the music of his youth, the sounds and textures from his memory flood into the sonic landscape. “Mura’s got this hyper-intelligent skill of being able to capture and romanticise entire emotions with just his production. His second album R.Y.C is one of my favourites ever because of that”, Hänlyn tells Best Fit. “He lends that skill so well in ‘Motorbike’ and you can hear the emotions of growing up in the music.” Lifted off her forthcoming debut EP, Slugeye, the track’s visuals are beautifully cinematic - swept with strokes of rock and roll splendour. Directed by Jasper Cable-Alexander, the video features her parents as the iconic punk duo Sid and Nancy - striking in their matching leather jackets. “Motorbikes don’t really have anything to do with what the song is about,” Gretel explains. “It was a passing lyric I wrote because Alex (Mura Masa) told me a motorbike pulled up outside the studio before I arrived at his place and he thought it was me. I’d always wanted to shoot my dad’s biker group, Honda Owners Club, for an MV, and obviously, it stuck and became the title of the song.” Filled with exuberant guitars, the track reaches its climax in the chorus as it takes a sudden, distorted foray into noise. Drenched in reverb, the soundscape is made up of Gretel “in hysterics laughing, then crying, moaning, hyperventilating and giggling”. It’s wonderfully cathartic, processing her grief through warped textures and spiked electronic rhythms. “To me, the break up feels more secondary to this song's meaning. Breakups are just a part of growing up. I’d written the verses light heartedly and then I reached the chorus and was a little stumped for words - how do you sum up years of youth and good/bad times with just a few lyrics?” she reminisces. “So Alex hit record and I just made these sounds instead. When he stopped recording I felt like I was gonna pass out. He layered them perfectly into the music so that you could feel my emotion rather than me having to sing the words that will explain it." "I haven’t got a clue, what I’m supposed to do tonight,” Gretel laments at the track’s opening. Although a familiar feeling at the demise of a romantic relationship, the young artist instead appears to find comfort in this shadowy chaos. [via Line Of Best Fit]
ALTO ARC are a new supergroup that consists of hyperpop producer Danny L Harle, Hundred Waters’ Trayer Tryon, Deafheaven singer George Clarke, and makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench. That’s a pretty eclectic and exciting group of people, and now they’re announcing their self-titled debut EP, out next month on the great heavy music label Sargent House. The band’s first official song together was 'Nocebo,' which was included on the soundtrack to one of Euphoria‘s special episodes last year. And now we’re hearing the EP’s bracing lead single 'Bordello,' which comes with a music video from Elizaveta Porodina starring Clarke and Ffrench. “Working with Elizaveta to see her vision through was wonderful and I couldn’t be happier with how beautifully this song was interpreted and captured,” Clarke says. “I have thoroughly enjoyed working on this video,” Porodina adds. “Telling this story felt like opening an old book and uncovering a sinister fairy tale. An eerie vibrating presence fell over the rooms we built up, and it felt like oscillating from one dark world to another. It’s a privilege to witness such rare and magical moments.” [via Stereogum]
After making waves with singles 'Cornflower Blue' and 'Back To You,' melancholic indie artist Flower Face is proud to officially announce her forthcoming full-length album The Shark In Your Water due out May 27 via Nettwerk. Accompanying the announcement is the release of her most dynamic song to date. 'Sugar Water' kicks into high gear with intricate, descending guitar lines and dark melodies. The push and pull tension of the chorus perfectly match the lyrics of obsessive love. The music video is an artfully crafted take on the Rock Band-style video games of the early-00s. McKinnon plays the game’s avatar, trying her hand at each instrument, not only highlighting her multi-faceted musical abilities but her visual aesthetic as well. The video was both directed and edited by McKinnon who holds a BFA in Fine Arts. "'Sugar Water' is a song about being completely infatuated with someone, to the point where you're in too deep but you don't care because everything is so exciting and colorful and beautiful. The world looks better through rose-colored glasses, so you keep them on. You don't see any problems or failures until they hit you in the face. I wanted to do something bright and fun with the music video. When I was younger, I loved all those music-based video games: Dance Dance Revolution, Rock Band, Karaoke Revolution. I thought something sort of tongue-in-cheek, in that Y2K video game style would be fun. The video has my avatar going through each verse and chorus as if it's a "level", playing a different instrument in each one. Virtual me is super psyched, because it's so much fun and everything is neon pink and purple and I get to wear this really cool outfit, so I don't even realize I've failed until the very end. It's like the crash and burn of those kinds of relationships - it doesn't hit you til it's over."
Swedish forward-thinking pop star Tove Styrke has shared her exciting, unexpected and sexy new single ‘Show Me Love’, which follows recent releases ‘Start Walking’ and ‘Mood Swings’ released by RCA/Sony Music. New single ‘Show Me Love’ was co-written and produced with Elof Loelv (Rihanna) and Sophia Somajo and sees Tove continue to intrigue and inspire with her uplifting alternative pop sound. Nostalgically inspired by classic pop songs from the 50´s-70’s paired with an acute modern presence, the track displays Tove’s impressive vocals with a heartfelt soaring chorus. The dreamlike video echoes the meaning of the song, but in a fun and lighthearted way. This is not just another love song, it is a track about sexuality and raw hardcore emotions. Tove says: ”I wrote it for someone I was madly in love with. Every word went directly from emotional parts of me, that I usually keep hidden, straight into the mic. It’s rare for me to write without any hesitation like that. We chew up love like fast food, yet when we truly fall for someone it’s always the same big, amazing, dangerous thing. Slow love. Hard love. It grows, it hurts and it bends and it breaks. These feelings are like candy paste and cement at the same time. We’ve got that fun, fast food, easy side to it but it can also evolve into a war. I’m scared and obsessed with it.” And about the video (directed by Oskar Gullstrand): "The video consists of three parts. The performance, where I wanted to channel classic starlets from the silver screen and pay hommage to voguing. The fantasies, where the mass scenes and the birth of Venus to me are representations of sex and feminine energy. And lastly, we have the Rapunzel guitar solo as a metaphor for masturbation. This is one of my absolute favourite videos I’ve made. It’s fun and weird and serious at the same time and I think it really shows how I feel about this song.”
Before joining nothing,nowhere. on the road this spring, carolesdaughter has just shared a brand-new single, 'Target Practice'. As the title and accompanying video suggest, this is tune is "an anthem for the misfits" according to carolesdaughter (real name Thea Taylor), with the alt. artist explaining: "My mom always told me if you got made fun of in school, it meant you were going to do well in life – and this song is what I wish I could’ve said." Hell yeah – now that's an attitude we can get behind. [via Kerrang!]
Bas Jan astounded with their last track ‘You Have Bewitched Me’ and this new single from the London-based outfit is just as beguiling, using subtle beats and close harmony to explore something which might be real, or might be a huge joke… The vocals on this are immense and using almost dubstep-esque beats to back this odd and actually quite eldritch track – “you won’t name names…” – there is of course the shadow of The Wickerman images and songs looming over this as well, but they deal with it well, separating them from it, but definitely referencing it… It is another storming track from Bas Jan, and bodes well for their album Baby U Know, due out at the end of January. [via is this music?]
Hindsight is 20/20. Just a few years ago, it looked like Tinashe was out of place and struggling to find her footing in the music industry. Today, it’s clear that she was just ahead of her time. Since 2020, a new wave of Black pop singers has emerged, working very much from a blueprint for which she helped lay the groundwork, including such breakout stars as Chloe and Normani. Then, in 2021, Tinashe returned with her album 333, coming full circle to land at the forefront of the movement she helped to start when no one else really “got it.” Now, she released the latest single from that album, 'X,' with a high-concept music video that slyly nods to the way she saw the future before anyone else did. Featuring a subtly comedic framework of a teenage Tinashe encountering a street hustler peddling visions of the future in his crystal ball, the video shows off the LA-based singer’s high-fashion sensibilities and acrobatic choreography with a team of dancers and a stunning wardrobe that is best described, in the words of her video co-star, as a “snakeskin octopus dress.” Unfortunately, featured artist Jeremih was unable to appear, as he’s been recovering from a vicious bout of COVID since 2020, but his verse remains intact. Either way, Tinashe makes her point; she could see what no one else could in her crystal ball and now, her vision is coming to life. [via UPROXX]
Lilyisthatyou isn’t a pure girl — and she wants you to know it. On Friday, the Canadian songstress released her single 'Purity' as she channeled evil, sexy cheerleader realness in the punk-pop track’s music video. “The video was everything I could have dreamed of and more,” Lily tells Rolling Stone. “It was chic-villain-euphoria-cheerleader-Harley-Quinn-girl-power-shower-sex-scene madness. I slammed a bedazzled baseball bat until lockers were dented and the jewels hit the floor.” The video follows the singer — in Harley Quinn-esque pigtails that made her “feel like a fucking superhero” — as she embraces that “sex is a weapon” and owns her femininity in a high school setting. “Call me a slut, call me a whore. It’s obvious you’re insecure,” she sings. “There’s no such thing as purity anymore.” And the steamy sex scene? That’s her and her boyfriend Caleb, who produced 'FMRN,' her debut single. “We stripped and made out in a shower while [director] Leah Lalich caught it on a camcorder,” she says. [via Rolling Stone]
Before Annie Goodchild, there used to be Sam. After taking an Ancestry DNA test, the acclaimed singer, songwriter and recording artist learned that before being adopted, she used to be named Samantha. This realisation marks the starting point for their new single, ‘Gentle’. The track is the first single to be taken from her upcoming EP of the same name, an explorative new collection of cinematic, left-field pop, and Goodchild’s first release under their new creative moniker I Used To Be Sam. To accompany the release, Annie also shares a haunting music video. On a gruelling five-day songwriting trip in Berlin - mostly run by white men - Annie met a producer who was a queer women of colour, and began to speak candidly about meeting her birth father for the first time, and the agony of trying to reconnect with her biological mother. Her attempts to reconnect with their birth mother were met by re-rejection, leaving Goodchild feeling like “I was her dirty secret and a mark of shame”. As the artist recounted her experiences, “I looked up and the producer was bawling,” she says. “At that moment the name I Used to Be Sam came to me. This is the music I need to be writing. I came home and everything shifted. I can’t make Annie Goodchild music anymore, because Annie was who I had to be to get to this point. Now I need to start making movement.”Emboldened to dig deeper, Goodchild struck up conversations with other transracial adoptees (TRAs) and sharing overlapping experiences informed the incredibly personal nature of I Used To Be Sam’s debut EP. With this new music, she aims to use it as a vessel to bring people with shared experiences together, and open up the narrative around transracial adoption. The release of the EP’s title track marks the first of many chapters for I Used To Be Sam, it’s the mark of the artist making the bravest, freest and most confronting music of their prolific career. The track soars and skitters with crisp beats, sampled bodily sounds retooled as percussion, and cyclical snippets of recorded vocals that bring a melodic pulse; Goodchild’s voice wavering and roaring with a rawness that comes straight from the pit of their stomach. The songwriting is every bit as experimental as the journey that its author went on while writing their most ambitious and honest release yet.
