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Ahead of the release of their forthcoming LP, Echo Palace (due 5/12), Dutch rock band Iguana Death Cult return with a brand new single entitled "Oh No." Previously, the band shared two stellar singles, "Pushermen" and "Sensory Overload," and this new track continues the hype in anticipation of the record's drop in May.
Wrote the band of the track: "Inspired by Dutch writer Jan Cremer, I decided to write a song about how incredibly amazing I am. This sort of self-mythification seemed funny to me since I spend most of my days wallowing in doubt and worry. In the end it became a metaphor for how we polish up our lives to near perfection on our social media accounts, while mental health problems are becoming more norm rather than an exception."
To accompany the new single, the band has also shared a music video, on which they wrote:
"One night, I played the new record for our good friend Max. When 'Oh No' came on and I heard myself sing the first line, I knew it; We have to get this guy in a knight costume. Max is a 6 foot 5 berserker but also one of the sweetest guys I know. We had so much fun making this video even though it was freezing and we had to hide from the rain every ten minutes. The banter you can have with this guy is unprecedented. One of the sharpest tongues in the game. Everything was filmed in Rotterdam again. Can't represent this beautiful city enough! Because this song has a bit of an old school Iguana feel to it, Hache wanted to use a lot of video distortion like he did back in the day when he made the videos for our first record."
In celebration of their forthcoming album, Iguana Death Cult made an appearance at this year's SXSW (Austin, TX), where they played a total of nine showcases. Following the festival, Paste Magazine noted that the band was one of the "20 Best Acts" they saw there: "I knew I had to see Iguana Death Cult as soon as I heard the band’s name. And they didn’t disappoint. From the word 'go,' the whole crowd was dancing and pushing to their garage and psych-rock extravaganza."
Sam Blasucci, best known as one half of Mapache, a rock duo just as instantly recognizable for their elegant, intertwined guitar parts as they are for their devoted, Nudie-Suit wearing fanbase, shares a new video for second single "Sha La La" off his forthcoming debut solo LP Off My Stars.
Blasucci explains, "this song, originally entitled "Drag," was written in New Orleans in 2020 in our house on Napoleon right before hurricane Zeta. Major social issues were pounding at our doors at the same time as heavy wind and rain. Duct tape hanging from the ceiling and windows. It was a time of terror and bliss not unlike where the world hangs now. Some words that make me think of "Sha La La" are orange, willow, sweet-potato, strut, flame, and storm.
He continues about the video, "living in Ventura County, it seemed only natural that the band would roll into Skating Plus to give our new single "Sha La La" some wheels. Dan Horne and Molly Bremner grace us with surprise visits as well. Thank god nobody broke anything." The video was shot by Bryce Makela, edited by Sam Blasucci and features Dan Horne and Molly Bremner on skates, Bubba McNamara on sax, Rayla Johnson on bass, Steve Didelot on drums, and Stew Forgey on the Rhodes.
Off My Stars is set to be released on June 2, 2023 and can be pre-ordered at this link.
Toronto-based DJ and producer BAMBII has shared her new single “One Touch” - a heady amalgamation of dancehall, jungle and garage, merging deep wonky basslines with smooth vocals and a ceaselessly propulsive and twisting beat.
Speaking on the nostalgia-filled single, BAMBII shares, “Years ago I was in Jamaica and was surprised to hear a jungle track blaring from someone's car that made me stop and listen. I’m trying to give listeners that raw feeling of the dancehall I grew up with but with all the rage and chaos of the rave.”
It makes perfect sense that BAMBII, who helped produce Kelela's recent album, alongside KAYTRANADA, would go on to make music that captures the ecstatic thrill, joy and release of the club. Her legendary queer night Jerk has not only helped build a safe space for queer POCs in her home city but also created a riotous and exhilarating party in the process.
The blend of dancehall, jungle, garage and R&B that permeates the record may be coming out of a unique space that Bambii has carved out for herself in Toronto but there’s also big hits of UK flavour in there too. Once again, this can be linked to BAMBII’s sonic explorations of her own heritage. “I am hugely influenced by the UK music scene,” she says. “I feel like it's one of the main places where Caribbean music has pushed the electronic realm at large. I am equally invested in nostalgia as much as the future and try to convey that on every track.”
Catch BAMBII on tour over spring/summer:
6th April, Manchester, UK - 15 Years of PAN @ The White Hotel
7th, April, Amsterdam, NL - De School
8th, April, Glasgow, UK - Peach @ SWG3
27th, April, London, UK - Space 289
29th, April, Barcelona, Spain - Nitsa
5th, May, Berlin, Germany - Panorama Bar
28th, May, Bakersfield, CA - Lightning in a Bottle Festival
1st, June, Sydney, Australia - Settings @ Universal (Vivid Festival)
11th, June, Melbourne, Australia - Rising 2023 @ Melbourne INT Festival
8th, July, London, UK - Wireless
The acclaimed singer-songwriter, Nick Waterhouse, releases final single "(No) Commitment" ahead of new album The Fooler out April 1, an immaculate record that offers up new riches and fresh perspectives with every spin.
The Fooler is a song-cycle of sorts, the arc of the album telling a tale of a city and its denizen, partly a farewell to and reclamation of a version of Waterhouse’s past existence framed by a city that is part dream, part reality and part potential. A place filled with 45s produced by people like Bert Berns or released on Scepter, Wand, Atlantic and Verve and heard on the jukeboxes in iconic San Francisco institutions like Tosca, Specs and Trieste in North Beach.
Of the single, "(No) Commitment," Waterhouse explains: "The party is on the third floor: all the hallways are dingy and the steps’ runner threadbare. You hear the music blaring through the walls from the stairwell corridor. Behind a decayed blue door it’s all the same faces as the last long barroom you’d passed through. The same words, the same patterns, the same concerns. They’ve played out on screens almost as much as they’ve hung like smoke in these leather and denim realities. Heavy, hairy heads hanging down to hear words from slouching corner bound figures… Tune in, like a radio antennae, to the din of the room, the chatter and the laughter and the poses, the murmur and rumble of dingy apartment rooms crammed full of these hanger-outers. The double bass turns everything slow motion and descends, the hard hand of the drummer pushes his stick into his ride cymbal in time with the snare.. a bell tolls with the lowest piano hammer of your mind."
Maria Chiara Argirò is releasing a deluxe version of her acclaimed concept album Forest City, which includes brand new track "Unreal."
Something of a palette cleanser ahead of Maria's new album - which she is laying finishing touches to now - Unreal is a reworking of a track that found its way into Maria's live set whilst supporting Emma-Jean Thackray last year. It quickly became a crowd favourite and was recorded in the summer of 2022, beautifully merging hypnotic beats with swelling synths and a soaring brass section.
On the track, Maria offers: ‘This song is inspired by a tune I wrote a few years back. I explored the concept of real and unreal, blending and pushing both organic and electronic sounds. I wanted to create a steady rhythm blurred together with looped vocals and a synthy dreamlike soundscape.’
"Unreal" arrives alongside a mesmerising video, with AI generated visuals synchronising the timing and intensity of the noise in the animation to the rhythm and dynamics of the music using over 15,000 different images. Directed by Edoardo Ottone.
Forest City has graced Italian end of year polls, with radio support from BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, KCRW, KEXP, RAI 2, FiP, and has been featured in Vogue, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Fader and Pitchfork. With fans like Four-Tet, as well as album track Greenarp being featured on Netflix series Elite, Maria had an amazing 2022 and there is only more to come this year. She will be supporting Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith at Kings Place in April, and playing The Great Escape in May. Earlier this year, Forest City remixes dropped from Byron The Aquarius, Salami Rose Joe Louis and Terracassette.