#kinlaw

Omega Radio for August 29, 2020; #238.

Nazamba “Vex”

Franco Franco & Kinlaw “Cuore Molle Palle Mosc”

Ron Morelli “Disappearer”

Container “Queaser”

Eszaid “Members Stand”

Ishaq “Forest Manned Wolf”

Nghtly “Pay With The Blood”

Teste “Unexplained Bruises”, “Depraved Human Indifference”

Innsyter “Quarentena”

Drvg Cvltvre “I Can Feel The Devil Walking Next To Me”

Sun Electric “In Vitro”

Filth “The Crucial Point”

Delroy Edwards “Close To The Edge”

Heidi Sabretooth “Extra Sensory”

Locked Club “WC”

Rezzett “Rupez”

DJ 3D “How Many Ways” (Refreshers RMX)

Refreshers “Pork Pie”

Employee “A3”

Gladio “Wild Horses”

Entro Senestre “Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars”

Polysick “Juno”

Council Estate Electronics “50 Let Pobody”

Daniel Avery “Slow Fade”

Isolated Gate “Binary Nomad” (Optimized Lathe pre-mix)

Midori (Menace) “Some Things” (solo)

Los Angeles based indie duo Only Bricks have shared their new single and video entitled 'Smile, It’s Over:)' The track marks vocalist Anne DiGiovanni’s last day at her full time day job. "‘Smile, It’s Over :)’ is our swan song for everyone who’s ever raged against corporate America,” Anne says. Featuring 90's inspired guitar riffs, shiny pop punk melodies, and unapologetic spunk fused vocals, the song is the perfect anthem of freedom, while taking listeners on an enthralling musical rollercoaster. The music video is a vibrant collage of scenes featuring the duo, with Anne transforming into a mermaid who is living it up in a “pity pool” of her former co-workers’ platitudes, finally having found her own voice. 

After signing to Father/Daughter Records last year, Annie Blackman is preparing to release her debut album on the label. It’s called All of It, with a release date of April 8, and it features last year’s set of one-off tracks. “It feels more like a collection than an album in that the songs span a five-year period,” she says, “and have seen me through college, COVID, and my first three months living in Brooklyn.” Blackman shares the video for the slowly gutting single 'How.' The track begins with melancholic acoustic strums that intertwine with swirls of electric guitar, giving it a country ping. “Call me crying please / Beg me not to leave you, now / I’ll say on the other line / ‘I would but I don’t know how,'” she sings during the chorus. Blackman’s voice is crystal clear as she sings about the last breaking threads of a relationship. If it wasn’t already poignant enough, the new visual for 'How,' which was directed by Katrina Peterson, gives us that raw, humorous perspective. Two clowns fall in love; one cruelly messes up, and the other is forced to confront them. It’s a wonderfully obvious metaphor for how we humans are all clowns walking around, responsible for our emotions and how our actions affect others. [via FLOOD]

Surfbort have just released 'Lot Lizard 93' as the latest single from their new album Keep On Truckin'. "Dave Sitek made the beat and the lyrics just flew out of me," says bandleader Dani Miller. "It was a time before I found god hence the quote 'god can never find me' and it’s a common feeling of feeling hopeless and nihilistic and alone but feeling comfortable in that. The song sat for a year or so and then when I showed it to Linda Perry and Surfbort we all came together and transformed it into a full rock song." The video for 'Lot Lizard 93' was directed by pro skateboarder, World Cup Champion and Olympian, Lizzie Armanto. "It was such a treat to direct my first music video, 'Lot Lizard 93' for Surfbort," says Lizzie. "Even after listening to the song a thousand times I still love it. The band has incredible energy and that made working with them a breeze." Dani adds, "We teamed up with Lizzie and let her go wild with her amazing ideas." [via Brooklyn Vegan]

Internet pop artist sophie meiers says their first single of 2022 is "one of the most important songs" they've released to date. Titled 'collar,' the warm, guitar-led cut signals a more optimistic direction for meiers into the New Year, as they innocently sing about feeling "nervous" when a crush is near. "I start to think about you pulling on the collar of my dress" meier admits, their slightly whispered delivery adding to the relatable, anxious undercurrent. "It's everything I love about making music," meiers says of their latest on Epitaph Records. "It’s playful and warm and crunchy and quick-witted and passionate. Honestly, it just fuckin' feels good to listen to. That feeling of sunny contentment when a moment is captured exactly as it is. I am reinvigorated creatively, there is a fire roaring inside of me with the anticipation of what is next to come." For the 'collar' music video meiers teamed up with Director Lindsey Nico Mann to amplify their personal lyrics. Cast in a romantic red glow, they're filmed alone in a bedroom that looks like a location where meiers might've written this intimate love letter. And, of course, they wear a collar to match the song's title, lined with vintage-inspired pearls. Most notably, this is the first time meiers has had "full creative control" over a visual. [via PAPER]

Call Me Loop is ready for competition in her new single, 'Year of the Ex.' The rising English artist, who famously co-wrote The Pussycat Dolls' 2020 comeback, 'React,' sings about 365 days of failed romances — but turns it into a hilarious bop that merely highlights her "process," as she says. "So when I need a pick-me-up, I know it's one of them I'll be calling," Loop warns, before the big, bright chorus: "It was the Year of the Ex/ Doing it over and over/ Which one of you's next?" For her 'Year of the Ex' music video Loop wanted to build a narrative centered on "a love story that showed a constant power struggle," as she herself relates to the dynamic "where you and an ex are trying so hard not to go there, but one of you always breaks or makes the other person break." So they created a "Love Championship," where Loop challenges her ex to different rounds of physical activity, from basketball to badminton and table tennis. The nostalgic visual shows Loop and her former lover "constantly trying to one-up each other, getting super competitive," though Loop ultimately wins. "Whether that's because I got my way and I got him to come back to me, or whether I finally put an end to the Year of the Ex," Loop says. "That's open to interpretation." [via PAPER]

yunè pinku returns with new single 'Affection'. A true original, the rising force blends aspects of UKG production with ravey energy, viewed through a future-pop lens. Out now, 'Affection' continues the rise of yunè pinku, an all-out banger that feels beamed in from another dimension. Part of her incoming debut EP bluff, the single raises the levels yet again. A colour-soaked diorama of yunè pinku's undoubted potential, it blurs the lines between the familiar and the startlingly fresh. She comments... "'Affection' is about all the work we put in to get the attention of a crowd or a person but feeling dissatisfied when you get it. I think it was a really fun one to make because it just had a lot of energy but it’s a bit moodier than other pieces I’ve made." Alice Aires directs the video. [via Clash]

Last June, Grimes took to Discord to tease a new song called 'Shinigami Eyes,' which references both Death Note and her 2019 put-on about getting experimental eye surgery. 'Shinigami Eyes' is billed as Chapter 1 of her new album Book 1, and it arrives with one of her typically elaborate music videos. Grimes wrote the video, which was directed by BRTHR (the duo of Alex Lee and Kyle Wightman) and features Jennie Kim from BLACKPINK, Dorian Electra, and experimental fashion Instagram star Ryon Wu. A press release indicates 'Shinigami Eyes' will appear on an EP called Fairies Cum First to be released before Book 1. Grimes did an interview about “Shinigami Eyes” with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, in which she called it “the label executive decision song.” She elaborates, “Basically, I wrote the whole space opera thing and this is the only song that wasn’t this big narrative plot.” She also announced that Book 1 has expanded into a double album: ” made a bunch of stuff and I just want to make a bunch more stuff. There’s just more kind of sonic, conceptual ideas that I think need to get done to make everything make more sense. And we kind of have two album covers and it seems like a waste to throw on one of them away.” [via Stereogum]

Oxford-based duo pecq share new single ‘Too Far Gone’. Fusing their illustrious penchant for pulsating alt-pop motifs with gorgeous, velvet-smooth vocals, a wide range of crisp instrumentation and bubbling, synthesized atmospherics, this new single sees the pairing at their gleaming best ahead of a freshly-teased new EP project due March 2022. Reflecting on the artistic process behind ‘Too Far Gone’, the duo note that it “came from the experience of trying to ground someone losing their grip on reality. It’s two opposite forces, one anchoring and one pulling away, further and further into their own world. In the drop, we wanted to capture the helpless, weightless feeling as that anchor finally breaks and you both spin out of control.” As has been the theme on their run of recent singles, the video is yet another work of visual art, filmmaker Zak Waston adds: “In 'Too Far Gone', we follow the character into a vibrant, spacious landscape, breaking out of the claustrophobic interiors of parts 1 and 2. Our character is fascinated by her surroundings but wants to find a way out into her true reality, symbolised by blue flickerings amidst the artificial colours of this world - a hint of what’s to come in part 4.” As pecq move through the process of this tantalising new EP, the full, interconnected story of the accompanying videos will continue to reveal itself, resulting in a mesmeric long-form end product.

C’est Karma has shared an intoxicating new single, ‘Bubblegum’. It’s the first single from her newly-announced EP Amuse-Bouche which is set to come out this May. A melting pot of identities, 20-year-old Karma Catena (C’est Karma) was raised in Luxembourg by a Portuguese mother and Italian father. The music she makes also goes beyond traditional borders, combining the punk she loved in her mid-teens - NOFX and Jawbreaker - with the hyper-pop - Charlie XCX and SOPHIE - that influences her today. With the release of new single ‘Bubblegum’, Karma releases her boldest work to date and offers a taste of what to expect from her forthcoming EP. Speaking about the song, she said: “'Bubblegum' is a song about my longest friendship. We have known each other since the day we were born and have been very close friends ever since. I wanted to celebrate and explore our differences and the things we have in common. We both went through a lot of changes over the past 20 years of our friendship but somehow, our ends still meet. We now live in different cities but visit each other regularly. This was fascinating to me, how two people can grow up together but live totally different lives, and 20 years later the love for one another did not fade in the slightest.”

Minneapolis, Minnesota-based rock band Scrunchies are sharing their new video, 'No Home Planet'. Scrunchies are preparing to release their sophomore album, Feral Coast, which continues their consciousness of the intersection of personal and political, pushing the edges of soft and heavy with surrealistic lyrics and melodic hooks. Scrunchies Laura Larson chats more about the single and video: “’No Home Planet’ recalls the messy and cathartic energy of late-’80s/early-’90s punk, grunge, and post-punk bands. The video includes animation from Pacific Northwest artist Violet Crabtree, who has also created videos for Tacocat and Mommy Long Legs.” [via New Noise]

If you have been lucky enough to enjoy the strobe lights of clubs as of late, I’m sure you would agree that the department of pulse-raising beat drops has been severely lacking. Just in time for the weekend, LOWES offer up their leading single, 'Late Night Visions', and it packs more intensity than ever before. Following critically acclaimed collaboration with the likes of CamelPhat, LOWES have been working on their highly anticipated EP — injecting their sound with gritty, pulsating pop. 'Late Night Visions' and its visual take audiences on a journey of distorted reality. The single starts with a stratospheric soundscape, reminiscent of the climax of a night out. Suddenly, Evie Ciruela’s vocals cut through the tension, masterfully switching pace and flow, throwing off their listeners. Though the unmistakeable sample from Loleatta Holloway’s 'Love Sensation' maintains a club-like energy, the haunting melodies behind it offer a unique take on pop classics. The visual is at once satanic, etherial and mesmerising — a total encapsulation of LOWES penchant for provocative performance. Talking of the looming release of their EP, the lead singer explains, “For us it’s the first set of songs we’ve put out into the universe that will be totally our own after a year of collaborations…Working with so many brilliant dance producers has been a fantastic, yet unplanned, surprise for us, and we have learnt so much, but now it’s time for us to get back to the pure LOWES vibe we set out to create when we first got together, taking on board a lot of the energy and style that we’ve been immersed in these past 12 months.” [via Wonderland]

Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul have shared another single from their anticipated debut album, Topical Dancer. 'Ceci n’est pas un cliché' ("This is not a cliché") is another banger, powered by slinky bass and a winking sense of humor. “This song is an accumulation of all the cliché lyrics so often used in pop music," the duo say. "It came about when we were touring and heard a song on the radio opening with 'I was walking down the street' which made us strongly cringe. But the thing is, cringing is a shared passion of Bolis and I. So we passionately made a song out of it." The video follows suit, as they note: "Even more passionately we performed ourselves into a video about all the clichés we see in the magic world of musical genres. The musician in all its glory, capturing momentum and delivering a top notch performance, gazing into the light that’s called inspiration. And so for once and for all, please leave Magritte alone…!” [via Brooklyn Vegan]

Brazilian star Anitta has released her new banger 'Boys Don't Cry'. The new single, teamed with a video directed by Anitta and Christian Breslauer, is Anitta's first new single since appearing on PEDRO SAMPAIO's 'NO CHÃO NOVINHA' last month. [via Line Of Best Fit]

West London multi-disciplinarian Lava La Rue returns with new single 'Vest & Boxers'. Part of the vital NiNE8 Collective, Lava's artistry is spilling out into different directions. Fresh from her Butter-Fly EP, new single 'Vest & Boxers' is Lava at her most relaxed, and also her most honest. Bedroom Projects direct the colourful video, while the vest and boxers of the title are actually drawn from Lava's incoming Lazy Oaf collaboration. Speaking on the single, Lava states: "I wrote 'Vest & Boxers' to be deeply relatable of what dating was like for myself and my teen lesbian / nblw friends growing up. I reference all the little moments we joke about - not knowing if you’re on a date or just meeting up as friends, walking into their bedroom for the first time and thinking how good it smells, not coming home for two days after the first night together and deciding to just move in. We were all guilty of it! Vest & Boxers is what we would refer to as our ‘dyke uniform’ - we’d wear it under our baggy denim/oversized suits with the waist band showing as a little signal to all the other gays in the room." [via Clash]

Raveena will release her new album Asha's Awakening on February 11. The left-field R&B queen matches her deep heritage with a future-facing take on what soul music means in the 21st century, resulting in a singular catalogue. Asha's Awakening finds Raveena raising the levels yet again, pursuing deeply personal aims. New single 'Secret' is stunning, a wonderful return that blends evocative, scented production with a killer vocal. Vince Staples guests, and the LA rapper adds something totally different to the mix. Raveena comments... “To me, 'Secret' is a song about love that traverses through different dimensions. People on Earth are starting to have sensual dreams ignited in them by a space princess - someone they feel like their body knows, but whom they also do not know and cannot reach in this dimension. What if your lover was enticing you from space and you couldn’t reach them in this realm? What if a spirit from an outer dimension ignited your sacral chakra? This is what 'Secret' explores.” A solitary auteur, Raveena directs the video herself, accessing Asha's alien-like realm. [via Clash]

The original plan was for Alice Glass to release her debut solo album PREY//IV this week. Glass has been working on this LP for a long time, and she’s already shared the early singles 'Suffer And Swallow,' 'Baby Teeth,' and 'Fair Game.' But now, Glass has announced that the album’s release date has been pushed back to next month. She’s also dropped another single. The latest PREY//IV track is called 'Love Is Violence,' and it’s about all the ways that a bad relationship can make you feel trapped, to the point where trauma and affection become a poisonous melted-together whole. Musically, it’s a pop song that lurches and splatters in different directions, refusing to settle into a groove. Director Bryan M. Ferguson‘s video starts out romantic, and then it turns horror-movie gory. Here’s what Glass says about the song: "Almost everyone can relate to the sometimes unbearable ups and downs that occur in relationships. But for those of us who have dealt with manipulative or toxic partners, there is a whole other layer of pain. Any person who uses their partner’s “love” to control, use, and hurt them is using one of the most cruel and disgusting manipulative tactics in human experience. Disguising power struggles and calling it “Love,” it’s a form of violence against a partner. I want to help people to see those red flags and encourage them to remove themselves from those types of toxic situations." [via Stereogum]

Atlanta-based duo Mattiel unveil their new single 'Lighthouse', the second offering from their forthcoming third album Georgia Gothic, due March 18 via ATO Records. Speaking about the meaning behind 'Lighthouse', Mattiel and Jonah share, “We hope ‘Lighthouse’ is a positive, uplifting song for anyone who hears it. If you’re working toward something and it feels like an uphill battle, that can be a sign that you’re headed in the right direction. And there’s always someone or something to help guide you through it.” [via FEMMusic]

Brooklyn-based choreographer, performance artist and musician Kinlaw releases a new music video for 'The Mechanic.' Their album The Tipping Scale came out this past February on Bayonet Records and features an introspective collection of dance-inducing, ornate dark-pop tracks that explore deeply humanistic themes of empathy, loss, confusion, regret, power and hope. On the video, Kinlaw had this to say: “The remixes are playful. It doesn’t take itself too seriously but is still exploratory. Video brought new life into these recordings initially, so I worked with Colin Alexander to weave SFX with the choreography, turning the dance into this added musical element within the track.” [via FEMMusic]

Co-written and produced with long-time collaborator Lee Newell, XYLØ's 'aliens' is a dark, brooding pop song that explores the feeling of disconnection within society. “‘aliens’ was written after a night with my childhood friends“, XYLØ shares in a press release. “We all come from different backgrounds and upbringings, but the one thing that joins us is the commonality of feeling lost. No matter how much or how little we have. And rather than being afraid of it, going along for the ride.“ XYLØ also shared the accompanying visuals for the song. The video itself was actually shot on analog Kodak film and therefore creates a more cinematic feel for the viewer. It follows the life of the singer and her alien friends as they try to escape the monotony of life by – quite literally – going for a ride. For the visuals, XYLØ recruited her parents as well as co-songwriter Lee as actors. The song was written and produced by XYLØ herself with Lee Newell and arrives as the first teaser off of her debut album unamerican beauty, set for a release in 2022. [via CelebMix]

Amber Mark has finally released her debut album Three Dimensions Deep after bubbling under for a few years. To commemorate the very special occasion, she treats fans to a gorgeous visual for album track 'Bliss.' The video for 'Bliss' opens with Amber lying on a bed covered in silk and flowers set adrift in a shallow ocean. She soon stands to dance joyously around as she celebrates finding an inner happiness she wasn't expecting. The scene then changes to her sitting in a glass cube in the midst of a wooded area. She steps outside of her box to explore the nature around her as she professes her newfound love of self among the natural beauty. The clip eventually fades to black at the end before revealing Amber bathed in deep blue light. She appears to be meditating as a fiery glow emanates from her hands and spreads throughout her body. She stares in awe before she becomes encompassed completely in the light and then evaporates into the ether. [via Soul Bounce]

In the music video for her latest single 'A Temporary High,' Norwegian singer and songwriter Aurora is enthralled by the past, present, and future of time. The track appears on her recently released third studio album The Gods We Can Touch, out now via Decca. Throughout the Sigurd Fossen-directed video, Aurora is soaked in various sources of light. She stands out under a spotlight in a sea of people searching for connection. The recurring image of the singer watching the sand drain from an hourglass parallels with the time sensitivity of the lyrical concept. “When you’re ahead, she’s coming after / And when you run, she’s running faster,” she sings. “And when she loves you better hope her / Love is not a temporary high.” Speaking with Apple Music, Aurora shared: “‘A Temporary High’ is inspired by a woman that is very fascinating. If she was your present, she would be confusing; if she was your past, you wouldn’t be able to escape her. If she is your future, you won’t be able to keep up with her.” [via UDiscoverMusic]

Katatonic Silentio - Prisoner of The Self REMIXED (Bristol NormCore, 2021)

After releasing their album Play With Fire last year via Suicide Squeeze Records, Californian punk trio L.A. Witch are sharing a new video for their standout track 'Motorcycle Boy'. Speaking about the video, L.A. Witch singer and guitarist Sade Sanchez said "The song is inspired by Moto Boys like Mickey Rourke, Marlon Brando, and Steve McQueen, so of course we took a lot of inspiration from our favorite biker movies like The Wild One, Rumble Fish, On any Sunday, Easy Rider, Hells Angeles '69 and The Girl on a Motorcycle. I had worked with (director) Ambar Navarro and Max on another project and loved their other work, so we wanted to work with them on this. They definitely did their homework and came up with a cool story line. I got to feature my bike that I'd been rebuilding during the pandemic. It was nice to shoot a video where you get to do two of your favorite things, riding motorcycles and play guitar."

Margo Price has shared a new music video for 'Hey Child', said to be the heart and “centerpiece” of her acclaimed 2020 album That’s How Rumors Get Started. It’s directed by Kimberly Stuckwisch. In the moving visual, the country star confronts the demons of her past. There are scenes referencing the time she spent in jail for substance abuse, as well as others depicting her struggles with addiction and depression. Price’s vulnerability is on full display here, and she ultimately uses it to heal and find strength again. Watch it down below. According to Price, 'Hey Child' was originally written back in 2012 “not long after my husband Jeremy and I lost our son Ezra.” She continued, noting how fellow country star and album producer Sturgill Simpson helped encourage her to release it: “'Hey Child' was a song that was written back in 2012 not long after my husband Jeremy and I lost our son Ezra. We were playing shows with our rock and roll band Buffalo Clover and occupying most of the bars in East Nashville. We had begun hanging with a rowdy group of degenerate musician friends and partying harder than The Rolling Stones…The song was about how many of our talented friends were drinking and partying their talents away but after a few years had passed, we realized it was just as much about us as our friends. I had retired it when the band broke up but Sturgill Simpson resurrected it when he asked me if I would re-record it for That’s How Rumors Get Started.” [via Consequence of Sound]

NYC collective MICHELLE has today unveiled their first new single of 2021. Titled 'FYO,' the track powerfully recounts the four lead singers’ experiences growing up with mixed race identities. The track arrives alongside a music video directed by the band’s own Layla Ku and Emma Lee. Speaking on the message behind the song, Jamee Lockard from the band shares: “'FYO' is about belonging to different worlds but feeling rejected by both. Growing up as a mixed-race minority in the US, my self concept was warped by other people telling me what I am and am not, pushing and pulling me between identities. Although my feelings of cultural dissonance still ebb and flow, now I have the vocabulary, support system, and perspective to unpack that inner conflict on my own terms. We should never give others the authority to define who we are."

With her new album Homecoming set for release on April 2 via Daemon T.V., Du Blonde is sharing the video for ‘Medicated’. Featuring Garbage’s Shirley Manson, Du Blonde says of the song, “‘Medicated’ is a letter to my 27 year old self who didn’t want to live anymore, from my now medicated, functioning and content self. It might sound depressing or concerning, but really it’s quite joyful. Like ‘look at how things can be if you hang around’. Shirley and I had talked about her adding vocals to a track and when I wrote Medicated it seemed like the perfect fit. She’s been a voice of reason for me many times when i’ve been struggling and it felt really appropriate to have her. I shot the video in my childhood bedroom using a green screen Girl Ray gave me at the start of lockdown,” she continues. “The spiders are a reference to a hallucination I had in my early teens where I pulled back my bed covers to see thousands of spiders writhing around in my bed, which now I see as a result of extreme anxiety. A lot of the scenarios in the video are a celebration of the things about me that I feel people might feel shame about. There’s so much stigma around taking medication in order to ease mental health conditions, so I wanted to express my feelings on the subject which is basically ‘I take medication and i’m stoked about it because thanks to that i’m still alive’.” [via DIY]

Back with her powerful Y2K sound, Spain's Rakky Ripper channels PC Music and Rina Sawayama on brightly catchy new single 'Whatever'. The new EP Xtra Cost is released  February 19. If you are over the age of 25, odds are that you can recall a very specific kind of pop that graced our launch into the new millennium. Since coined as "Y2K", chart music of that short era was flush with R&B beats, synthetic arrangements and sickly sweet hooks. Britney was the industry’s honey-highlighted princess whilst Christina made it dirrty. It’s something that Rina Sawayama has made 2020-relevant again with the release of her debut album Sawayama, whilst PC Music and Charli XCX took it to another extreme with the redefinition of what it means to be pop. Meanwhile, over in Spain, the alt-pop scene is flourishing courtesy of artists such as Rakky Ripper and her own unique blend of Y2K-meets-hyper-pop. Already gaining Charli XCX approval when the Mercury Award nominee asked Rakky to join her onstage at her Madrid show, the Granada talent shows crossover potential with her new single 'Whatever'. Punchy beats and playful synths capture the sticky heat of pop done well whilst its fuzzy guitar gives it an alternative edge, however it’s its hook-riddled chorus and Rakky’s Spanglish lyrical mix that make 'Whatever' a standout moment. “‘Whatever’ is the pop girl in my new EP Xtra Cost,” shares Rakky of her new release. “It’s my 2021 version of Britney, *NSYNC and the Spice Girls. The new video tells the story about two people who are in love but one of them pretends not to care, so the other person is always chasing.” [via Line Of Best Fit]

Things are afoot in the FKA twigs camp. In October, the R&B star revealed that her third album had been completed during quarantine. Now, she’s back with a new song called 'Don’t Judge Me'. It's her first since dropping the masterful album MAGDALENE in 2019. In addition to a stunning performance from FKA twigs, the track features UK rapper Headie One and producer Fred again…, who’s worked with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Brian Eno. 'Don’t Judge Me' appears to be something of a companion release or sequel to 'Don’t Judge Me (Interlude)', an early 2020 collaboration that also featured all three artists. Unlike the intentional vagueness of that song, the themes on this version are a lot more direct. During her verse and the hook, twigs begs her lover to hold her and appreciate the “precious love” she sends their way with a devastating urgency. Headie One takes a different approach in his verse and goes off about racial injustice and police brutality. “Know more about my people from the streets than from my teachers/ I done a million speeches/ No justice, no peace, ’cause we in pieces/ Officer, am I allowed to breathe here?,” he raps with a conversational directness. It’s a really powerful pairing from two different yet complementary artists with voices that demand the listener’s full attention. Check it out above via a dazzling video co-directed by FKA twigs and Emmanuel Adjei, who was heavily involved in Beyonce’s Black Is King visual album. Like all of FKA twigs’ clips, this one is truly something to behold. [via Consequence of Sound]

Girl Friday have delivered a surrealistic visual for 'Earthquake,' the powerhouse lead single from Androgynous Mary, their acclaimed album of 2020 out now on Hardly Art. 'Earthquake' is one of the band's most gloriously raging moments and sees the group power through three and a half minutes of unadulterated catharsis. Girl Friday’s Vera Ellen, who directed the new video, offers this, “The greatest love story is between a song and a video. I wanted to deconstruct the creative process. How do ideas find each other? What happens when the artist lets outside forces get in the way of an idea? How is an idea affected by us, the audience and our expectations? What does an idea have to do to become it’s complete, purest, self. Beyond anything, it’s a story of fighting for true liberation. This will look different for everyone but I hope people can project their own struggle onto the story, and relish in the freedom experienced by the characters (if only for a moment)."

J-Pop girl-group, FAKY has released their first single of 2021, 'The Light' with an accompanying music video. This song was selected as a campaign song for the horror film Jukaimura (Suicide Forest Village), the most recent work by the master horror director, Takashi Shimizu, who also directed The Ju-on (The Grudge) and Inunakimura (Howling Village). This up-tempo and cheerful track was created to add another layer of eerieness and uncertainty to the hair-raising storyline and themes of the movie. 2020 was a successful year for the girl group. FAKY hopes to further their success in 2021 starting with the release of 'The Light'. “Our new single ‘The Light’ is an uplifting song with its pop melody, powerful live band sound, and motivating message to move forward towards the light” - FAKY. The music was composed by up-and-coming music producer, Maeshima Soshi (Hypnosis Mic, Hey! Say! JUMP, Rinne and Sorane). 'The Light' expresses that moment when your heart quivers, just when you are about to change, with the theme being about overcoming conflict and having “power to strike out into the world.”

Kinlaw's dark-pop quest has seen her shatter boundaries. Snapped up by Bayonet Records, her piercing, roving eye deconstructs her personal feelings, illuminating electronic structures in their stead. New album The Tipping Scale is out this month, and it expertly reflects the vagaries of winter, the spartan landscapes and the self-examination. Taken from the record, new single 'Haircut' deals with shifts in her life, with the urge to propel herself into something fresh. "I cut my hair to confuse myself," she comments. "It started as a mission to change who I was, to make a new and better version, but ended with my feeling like I no longer knew what I was mourning." A song about leaving trauma behind and embracing the possibilities of the present, 'Haircut' carries some inspired connotations for these troubled times. Kinlaw says the single offers "a question of personal power, and even speaking on this song today has been challenging because it was written when I was unsure if I had any power left. I think 'Haircut' can be a lot of things to many different people, particularly those who identify with the juxtaposition of in-depth, internal dialogue paired with everyday coping strategies. There is a sweetness to it, but also such substantial, unwavering difficulty. Today, I prefer to think of 'Haircut' as an anthem of resilience and an ode to the ways we keep going, we shapeshift, and we reinstall that there is a way to find what it is we are hoping to find." The visual leans on the intimate, opening up a window into Kinlaw's life, and her true feelings. [via Clash]

The Rhode Island born,  Los Angeles based singer, songwriter, musician and actress Emeline is known for her work with Thievery Corporation's Rob Garza as well as her solo music full of biting lyrics and catchy hooks. Her new music video for '6 Foot Deep' was filmed at the infamous Westerfeld Mansion a.k.a “House of Legends.” Icons like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin have lived there, as well as the founder of the Church of Satan. Covered in satanic etchings and scratches from his pet lions, the energy within the house added to the feel of the music video. Also previously used for the Russian Embassy, the house has featured on "Ghost Hunters" for it's haunted happenings.

The Charli XCX-crafted Nasty Cherry have returned with their first single of the year, 'Lucky'. The new track follows last year's Season 2 EP, and arrives as first taster of a new EP landing this spring. The band say of their new single, "'Lucky' is a song we wrote for each other during the pandemic where the six weeks we got to spend together felt incredibly precious and introspective. It's a reflective, sweet and spiky little song." [via Line Of Best Fit]

Griff has premiered the video for her incredible new single ‘Black Hole’. Launched as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World last week, the striking new visual sees Griff examine a past relationship through a surreal, Alice in Wonderland’-esque journey from the sewing room into self-discovery (directed by duo SOB). [via With Guitars]

Poppy Ajudha has shared her new single 'Weakness' in full. The London based artist blends together jazz, soul, R&B, and a whole lot more besides, resulting in a sound that is truly her own. 'Weakness' is a song about love, and it finds Poppy capturing that nuanced dichotomy between the rush of pleasure and an innate fear of being out of control. In a note, Poppy explains that her new single is "about feeling out of control and at the mercy of someone else because of how crazy they make you feel, but also feeling bittersweet about it, because you’re a bad b*tch and you don’t have time for that ish." The songwriter steered the video, too, a self-admitted "control freak" who oversaw the neat mixture of animation and a superbly styled set. "Self-directing was really fun," she comments. "I’m a control freak so it was great to get stuck into all the facets of making a music video. Choosing the team, the makeup looks, directing the styling ideas, writing the narrative, working out how to build the set. It definitely felt like a challenge to direct, star-in and perform choreographed moves for the first time but I love to push myself and am really glad I did." [via Clash]

GG McG’s latest single, ‘Good Morning’, is her first release this year and second overall, following ‘Boom’ in 2019. The song was written on GarageBand during lockdown and was produced by Japanese Wallpaper’s Gab Strum, mixed by Konstantin Kersting and mastered by Andrei Eremin. “‘Good Morning’ is about the total, complete chaos of the past year and the feeling of waking up every morning, reading the news and being blown away by just how much worse things were than the day before,” McGauran said in a statement. [via the Music Network]

Singer HyunA dropped her seventh mini album I’m Not Cool on Thursday, singing of the ups and downs of being the “cool girl” on stage. The album’s title song 'I’m Not Cool' sings about the nice things she tells herself. “It’s really about my originality. I try to compliment myself before going onto the stage. I tell myself it’s not bad to be myself. I’ve long dreamed of this moment right now, and I feel like I’m a bird flying freely in the sky or a flower blooming in the field. I know I cannot be loved by everyone, but I become perfect with just one person’s love. The song is about these kind of every day thoughts.” Donned in exotic outfits and flashy makeup, HyunA said she “became a snake” in the song that sings “No one’s as intense as I am, like salmosa. I tried to show as much of myself as I could in the music video. I wanted to show how intense the ‘not cool’ HyunA could become when fully set,” she added. The creativity behind the title track comes from the unique minds of herself, singer and the founder of her agency P Nation Psy, and her best colleague and boyfriend Dawn. “We worked on the song while just chatting about it endlessly with each other,” HyunA said. “When Psy threw in a big catchy chunk, Dawn would creatively unfold this, adding fun elements to make it fit my style and state of mind. I personally like writing those rebellious lines. Mingling these three minds together, every day, was just so much fun.” [via The Korea Herald]