Happy Monday, loopers! Here are this week’s most exciting new releases (subscribe to our weekly New Music newsletter here)…
1. MORRISSEY — SPENT THE DAY IN BED
On his comeback single, Spent the Day in Bed, former The Smiths frontman Morrissey offers some sage advice:
“Stop watching the news! Because the news contrives to frighten you. To make you feel small and alone.
To make you feel that your mind isn’t your own”
Spent the Day in Bed is the lead single to Morrissey’s upcoming 11th solo album, Low In High School, which is out November 17th and follows up 2014’s World Peace Is None of Your Business.
To promote the album, Morrissey has announced a series of North American tour dates. So head on over to the Concerts tab on his LetsLoop page to grab yourself some tickets before they all run out.
2. LIV — HURTS TO LIV
It’s been a few months since we’ve heard from Lykke Li’s supergroup / side-project liv, but they are back with a gorgeous new track called Hurts To liv dedicated to Lykke’s mother and her bandmate Andrew Wyatt’s father, who both passed away recently.
Lykke discussed the deaths and the birth of her first child, Dion (the father is fellow bandmate Jeff Bhasker), in a recent interview with Vogue. Here’s what she had to say:
“It’s been a very spiritual, beautiful, and life-awakening cycle. Creating and giving birth to a baby boy, losing a mother — as well as Andrew’s father — and to be able to put into song life’s suffering before it even happened. Sometimes we forget to live and be loved, cause it hurts to live.”
And here’s an official statement about the song from the band’s YouTube page:
“There’s nothing more life awakening than the beginning and end of life, love and art. This song is a tribute to my mother and Andrew’s father, who passed away.”
Hurts To liv will be joined on the band’s highly-anticipated debut album by the recently released singles: Heaven, Dream Awake and Wings Of Love.
lf you’re wondering exactly who liv are, they’re a supergroup formed by Lykke Li and her boyfriend / producer Jeff Bhasker, and featuring Miike Snow members Andrew Wyatt & Pontus Winnberg, and Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John.
Their upcoming debut album will be Lykke Li’s first release since her excellent 2014 album, I Never Learn; whilst Peter Bjorn and John released Breakin’ Point last June and Miike Snow released iii in March. Andrew Wyatt also featured on Some Minds with Flume back in 2015.
3. MAGGIE ROGERS — SPLIT STONES
Maggie Rogers, the American singer-songwriter who rose to fame after demoing her breakthrough Alaska single to a speechless Pharrell Williams when she was studying at NYU, has shared a new song called Split Stones… and it could be her last one for quite a while.
Described in a scribbled note on her Instagram account as her “parting gift” and a song she wrote alongside her debut Now That the Light Is Fading EP when she was back in college, Maggie went on to say:
“This is me saying goodbye for a little while. Here’s to the end of the beginning and the start of everything else.”
Referring specifically to her debut EP, she also said:
“My EP told you everything I felt during my last semester of college. It’s time for me to tell you the story of everything that’s happened since.”
So, it looks like we won’t hearing from Maggie for a while. But don’t despair, she left us with a lovely parting gift and when she comes back it should be with a debut album to share with us all. We can’t wait!
If you’d like to hear some more of Maggie’s work, in addition to the wonderful Alaska, we highly recommend listening to On + Off, Dog Years, Better and Color Song.
Oh, and if you want to see her floor Pharrell with her demo, you can watch the video here.
4. TORRES — HELEN IN THE WOODS
Helen In The Woods is the latest track to surface from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter TORRES (aka Mackenzie Scott)’s 3rd album, Three Futures, which is out September 29th and follows up 2015’s excellent Sprinter. It will be joined on the new album by the recently released Three Futures and the excellent lead single, Skim.
In a recent interview with W Magazine, Mackenzie states that Helen In The Woods is loosely based on a friend’s experiences with a stalker, but inverted:
“A really scary man is the stereotypical stalker story, but in this case it was flipped and it was a woman. I wanted to write a song about obsession; there’s that fine line between innocent obsession and then, you know, stalker territory, which I’m kind of constantly flirting with in my own life.”
Going on to discuss the album, Mackenzie said:
“This record, it’s a record about the body and it’s a record about movement, and in many ways it’s a record about desire and lust and obsession… it’s about reaching a new place in life where I’m no longer ashamed of just being a sexual being and a sensual being and feeling like I don’t have to keep a veil over my sexual self. These are, I suppose, parts of living I didn’t realize I had access to as I was growing up.”
You can read the full interview here.
5. CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG — DEADLY VALENTINE
Deadly Valentine is the 2nd single from French singer-songwriter Charlotte Gainsbourg’s upcoming fourth album, Rest, which is out November 17th and follows up 2009’s stunning IRM. The track is produced by SebastiAn and is accompanied by a self-directed video starring Blood Orange’s Devonté Hynes.
Here’s what Charlotte had to say about her new single and video:
“Each video came from personal, resonating ideas. This song mixes wedding vows with an offbeat tone. I wanted to express the idea of a lifetime engagement; a couple running to church, from childhood to old age, a lifetime path. I asked my friend Dev Hynes if he would play my partner, and he very graciously agreed. It was fun finding our younger and older selves!”
Rest will also feature the recently released lead single and title track, Rest, alongside guest appearances from Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Paul McCartney, Owen Pallett, Connan Mockasin and more. It will be Charlotte’s first official release since 2011’s Stage Whisper (a series of previously unreleased live versions and outtakes from the IRM sessions) and her 2013 Jimi Hendrix cover Hey Joe.
If you’re wondering what Serge’s daughter has been up to since her last album, she’s been focusing mainly on her acting career with roles in Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist, Melancholia and Nymphomaniac, Independence Day: Resurgence and the upcoming Michael Fassbender film The Snowman.
6. KRISTIN KONTROL — CONCRETE LOVE
Kristin Kontrol (aka Kristin Gundred, aka Dee Dee from Dum Dum Girls) has shared a stunning new single called Concrete Love produced by long-time collaborator Andrew Miller and mixed by Alex Tumay, who has worked with artists like Young Thug, Metro Boomin and Kanye West to name but a few.
Concrete Love is Kristin’s first new single since her stunning debut solo album, X-Communicate, which was released last year and is definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of artists like Shura and Robyn.
Kristin has also announced that she and Andrew Miller are working on the score for the upcoming Nicholas Cage thriller Looking Glass, so stayed tuned for more from the duo soon…
7. ANGEL OLSEN — SPECIAL
Critically-acclaimed indie singer-songwriter Angel Olsen has announced details for an upcoming collection of B-sides, demos, and previously unreleased tracks called Phases.
Our first taste of the new album is a song called Special, that was first recorded in 2016 during the sessions for her breathtaking My Woman album. It will be joined on the new album by Fly On Your Wall, which was first released back in January as part of the Our First 100 Days compilation.
Phases will be out November 10th and will feature tracks recorded as far back as 2010 when she first embarked on her solo career after a stint in Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s band.
8. MILEY CYRUS — WEEK WITHOUT YOU
Week Without You is the 3rd single from Miley Cyrus’s highly-anticipated 5th album, Younger Now, which is out September 29th and follows up 2013’s Bangerz.
Like her recent singles, Week Without You sees her going back to her country roots with lyrics inspired by a recent break-up:
“I know that I gave you my heart, but you stomped it to the ground. And that’s what’s got me wondering what it’s like to not have you around.”
Here’s what Miley had to say about her latest single and upcoming album:
“This writing process has been a really different experience because I’ve never put out an album this way. People have been asking me, ‘is this like a re-introduction of yourself?’ But it’s not that at all. Actually, it’s more like, I am this person who embraces all my past selves. This album is the most me for right now that I can be.”
Younger Now will also feature the recently released Inspired and the excellent lead single, Malibu, which she apparently wrote in the back of an Uber on the way to filming NBC’s The Voice.
9. COLD CAVE — GLORY
Glory is the breathtaking new single from Cold Cave, aka darkwave artist Wesley Eisold. It is his first new single since last year’s The Idea Of Love and is expected to feature on his much-anticipated 3rd album.
Cold Cave’s last studio album was 2011’s glorious Cherish The Light Years, which was followed by a compilation album called Full Cold Moon in 2014. Fingers crossed this new single means album #3 is on the way soon!
You can buy Glory now over on Bandcamp.
10. MACKLEMORE — GOOD OLD DAYS (FEAT. KESHA)
Grammy Award winning rapper Macklemore has teamed up with Kesha on Good Old Days, the third single from his much-anticipated second solo album, GEMINI, which was released last Friday (September 22nd) and follows up his 2005 debut album, The Language of My World.
GEMINI also features his recent Lil Yachty collaboration, Marmalade, and the excellent lead single Glorious, which features Wisconsin singer-songwriter Skylar Grey.
Speaking with Zane Lowe about the lack of Ryan Lewis on his new songs, here’s what Macklemore had to say:
“It was a mutual decision back about a year ago. Ryan is doing some amazing things. He just put out Praying with Kesha and I got the new album coming out. Ryan and I have always collaborated with people, too. So nothing on that front is different. This album has definitely been a different experience and in a lot of ways, a lot of fun.”
Prior to releasing his latest singles, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis released two albums together: 2016’s This Unruly Mess I’ve Made and their 2012 multi-Grammy Award winning breakthrough album, The Heist.
ALSO WORTH CHECKING OUT THIS WEEK:
- Angel Olsen — Fly On Your Wall
- Baths — Yeoman
- Beach Slang — Thirteen (Big Star cover)
- Curtis Harding — Need Your Love
- Cut Copy — Haiku From Zero (album)
- Gengahr — Carrion
- Hurts — Hold On To Me
- Macklemore — GEMINI (album)
- Mastodon — Cold Dark Place (EP)
- Moses Sumney — Aromanticism (album)
- Paloma Faith — Crybaby
- Stars — Alone
- The Neighbourhood — Hard (EP)
- Weaves — Scream
- Wolf Alice — Heavenward
