lunes, mayo 19, 2025

New Music: Disintegrate

           

Suede just announced the released of their 10th., studio album "Antidepressants" due for this September 5, meanwhile, the band shares the first single from the album called "Disintegrate" which is a truly intense rocker tune just like Suede fans truly expected, great lyrics and remarkable sound as usual, the video shows the band playing with juxtaposed images and declarations.

News: Suede Announces Their New Album "Antidepressants"

Suede will release their 10th studio album, Antidepressants, in September. Their new album was "recorded live" with the band's long-time producer Ed Buller and frontman Brett Anderson describes it thus: "If Autofiction was our punk record, Antidepressants is our post-punk record. It's about the tensions of modern life, the paranoia, the anxiety, the neurosis. We are all striving for connection in a disconnected world. This was the feel I wanted the songs to have. The album is called Antidepressants. This is broken music for broken people."

"This is a widescreen and ambitious record", says bass player Mat Osman. "It’s a big stage record and it’s taking it up a gear". The recording sessions took place Belgium’s ICP Studios, London’s RAK, Sleeper Sounds, and RMV in Sweden. Their new single "Disintegrate" is available now.

The new album will be released on CD, cassette and various vinyl editions including a store-exclusive picture disc. The deluxe CD features three bonus tracks and there’s also a limited edition ‘flip-top’ box set, which contains black vinyl, the deluxe CD and "a patch, fanzine & tote bag".

In conjunction with the new album, Suede are announcing Suede Takeover – a special concert series over four nights hosted in different venues across London’s Southbank Centre throughout September 2025. The performances will see Suede present their live show "in completely new ways". The first two dates on 13 and 14 September (at the Royal Festival Hall) will be concerts of “loved classics, hits and brand new music", while on the 17 September will see the band play the Purcell Room for an “unusual and intimate off-mic evening". The residency closes on 19 September in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, with Suede’s first-ever full orchestral headline show, in collaboration with the Paraorchestra.

Antidepressants will be released on 5 September 2025 via BMG.
 
Antidrepressants Track List Deluxe CD:  
 
1. Disintegrate
2. Dancing With The Europeans
3. Antidepressants
4. Sweet Kid
5. The Sound And The Summer
6. Somewhere Between An Atom And A Star
7. Broken Music For Broken People
8. Trance State
9. Criminal Ways
10. June Rain
11. Life Is Endless, Life Is A Moment
12. Dirty Looks
13. Sharpening Knives
14. Overload

domingo, mayo 11, 2025

New Music: Spirit

           

Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke are releasing Tall Tales, their debut album as a duo,. And as a reminder, they've released a video for its centerpiece and highlight single, the uplifting, "The Spirit." Directed by Jonathan Zawada—the artist billed as the duo's informal third member, having made eerie shorts for all the prior singles—the new video depicts a limber skeleton delivering sparkling souls across a digital sea.

New Music: Inland Ocean

           

Berninger is sharing his new album's opening track "Inland Ocean" Berninger co-wrote his new song with the Walkmen's Walter Martin, and it's got backup vocals from Julia Laws, otherwise known as Ronboy. The song rests on an echoing, staccato guitar riff and some saxophone that's been absolutely drenched in echo, althought musically it's not so different from what Berninger does with the National. The lyric video has been directed by Dale Doyle for Holotype and the X-Ray photography by Nick Veasey.

viernes, mayo 09, 2025

Rocktrospectiva: The Underrated "Theodore And Friends" Turns 40

Released on May 1985 "Theodore And Friends" was the debut album from the Northern Irish rock band the Adventures, released in 1985. The album spawned four singles "Another Silent Day", "Feel The Raindrops", "Two Rivers" and the brilliant "Send My Heart". 

The Adventures were a rock band formed in Belfast in the 1980s who moved to London where they had hits in the UK Singles Chart during the 1980s.  Released back in 1985, "Theodore and Friends"was an album that proved The Adventures were one of the most underrated bands around at that time.  
 
The first single from the album "Another Silent Day" peaked at No. 71, "Feel The Raindrops" peaked at No. 58,  "Two Rivers" peaked at No. 96,  but the superb "Send My Heart" - a top quality 80's single which made it into the UK top 40 and became a hit in Italy and Germany, this helped the single to be featured on the soundtrack to the horror movie Demoni the same year. The album reached #65 in Germany, but did not chart in the UK. In the US, the album was released under the title The Adventures with a modified track listing and different cover artwork. 
During promotion for the follow-up album, member Pat Gribben stated that he wasn't fully happy with Theodore and Friends stating that "You could hear the production problems". In 1990 he commented favourably on the track "When the World Turns Upside Down" saying that unlike the other tracks it remained fresh whereas the rest of the album relied too heavily on current production and musical trends. 
 
The single "Feel The Raindrops" that was a massive radio and chart hit also in certain areas, this was a sparkling 80s guitar pop of the highest order, one of the best songs on here, which are many, will make you come back to it and leave a strong first impression, definitely the strenght on this record was the sound of the guitars whos had a nice shimmer, not over done, but enough to let the songs breathe. the album after this is good, but this album is stellar. another silent day is an awesome song and can be seen and heard on youtube. 
 
There were many great tracks on this record but unfortunately they were just another band with so much potential, but a combination of poor marketing and underexposure doomed them to relative obscurity outside, even thought "Theodore and Friends" is striking and of course "Send My Heart" was a masterpiece, the album didn't had the recognition it deserved. 

Theodore And Friends Track List: 

1. Always
2. Feel The Raindrops
3. Send My Heart
4. Two Rivers
5. Don't Tell Me
6. Another Silent Day
7. When The World Turns Upside Down
8. Love In Chains
9. Lost In Hollywood
10. These Children 

jueves, mayo 08, 2025

Rocktrospectiva: The Smart And Accesible "Wilson Phillips" Turns 35

Released on 8 May 1990 "Wilson Phillips" was the debut studio album by the US Band "Wilson Phillips" the album was full of smart, accessible songs, and peaked at No. 2 on Billboard 200, selling over 5 million copies in the USA and 8 millions worldwide. Five singles were released from the album, with "Hold On", "Release Me" and "You're in Love" all reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "Impulsive" reached number four, and the fifth single, "The Dream Is Still Alive", peaked at number 12. The album and its singles earned the group five Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. 

Wilson Phillips seemed to have arrived out of nowhere, though it was actually the result of several years' hard work by three young, Los Angeles-based vocalists and songwriters with a distinguished Californian heritage. Chynna Phillips was the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips, formerly of The Mamas And The Papas, while the Beach Boys’ legendary Brian Wilson was the father of Carnie and Wendy Wilson.The trio's collective pedigree meant that Wilson Phillips' music inevitably attracted scrutiny. 

However, Chynna, Carnie and Wendy were determined to stand or fall on their own merits. Crucially, the trio's collective decision not to rush-release music also worked in their favor. They wrote the songs for Wilson Phillips over a three-year period, with Chynna Phillips telling the Los Angeles Times the group took that time to evolve – the more we practiced, the more we sang together, the easier it became, and we began to have our own sound.

Overseen by producer Glen Ballard and featuring an all-star musical cast including the Eagles’ Joe Walsh, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, and Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne, Wilson Phillips was a highly consistent collection – and a timely reminder that well-crafted pop songs illuminated by sparkling harmonies and catchy melodies will never really go out of style. With almost every song sounding like a potential hit. The lyrics based in part on Chynna Phillips' own personal struggles with drugs and an abusive relationship, struck a chord with listeners worldwide, something which didn't entirely surprise Wilson Phillips. “It’s funny, because I knew when the song was being written that it was inspired by something greater than myself,” Phillips told the Los Angeles Times. “I knew that it was going to touch a lot of people, and it did. And that’s a wonderful feeling.”In the wake of “Hold On,” the Wilson Phillips album also touched music fans worldwide, yielding multi-platinum sales and a series of Grammy nominations as the record decamped inside the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 for a whole year.

The critics were mixed but highlighted the record as a pleased album that taken 'em away from their "Mamas And Papas" influence,  an engaging high-gloss album of pop-rock songs that deal mostly with the complications of young love, but the slick production and the fact the gals harmonize nicely can't mask a shallowness so profound.
 
Wilson Phillips Track List:  

1. Hold On
2. Release Me
3. Impulsive
4. Next To You (Someday I'll Be)
5. You're In Love
6. Over And Over
7. A Reason To Believe
8. Ohh You're Gold
9. Eyes Like Twins
10. The Dream Is Still Alive

Rocktrospectiva: The Good Crafty Pop On "Goodbye Jumbo" Turns 35

Released on 8 May 1990 "Goodbye Jumbo" was the second studio album by Welsh-British band World Party. The album received generally positive reviews from critics and peaked at No. 73 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 36 on the UK Albums Chart. The album spawned three singles "Way Down Now", "Put The Message In The Box" & "Thank You World". In the case of "Way Down Now", the album's lead single, spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, and follow-up single "Put the Message in the Box" reached No. 8.

Definitely 1990 was a pretty good year in rock and pop, and this rare-ibis emerged out of nowhere to coquer the radio airwaves, the album was curiously enough one of the best albums of that year according to Q magazine and dozens of critics.  Karl Wallinger, formerly of the Waterboys alongside Mike Scott, had embarked on a promising solo career with his band World Party

He confirmed his particular gift for late-period Fab Four-inspired music on Goodbye Jumbo, an album of effortless melodicism and adult pop with allusive lyrics about God, the green revolution, love in many forms and much more. With a tidy 12 tracks, potentially huge hits in the trippy pop of "Put The Message In The Box" and the rocky "Way Down Now", Goodbye Jumbo was the great album that went past just about everyone. Wallinger wasn't a man for swagger: his lyrics were cleverly crafted and his music - which he wrote and often performed almost every part himself in the studio - was subtle, discreetly referenced in his role models sometimes the Stones as much as the Beatles and he could cleverly incorporate a line from Iggy Pop as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Goodbye Jumbo bristles with musical ideas, but they are all contained within the pop-rock format. The gritty "Way Down Now" cuts right back for an intimate central section and the lyrics offer bewildering post-psychedelic confusion; "Ain't Gonna Come Till I'm Ready" is a sly nod to soft psychedelic Curtis Mayfield-soul; he fades up "When the Rainbow Comes" just as the Beatles did with Eight Days A Week and it hits its peak in ringing chords and an optimistic invitation to "step out of the open door . . . build a new house down by the sea". But definitely "Put The Message In The Box" is gentle power pop and slightly prescient in its lyrics if you think that Oasis were on their way

This was an album of the old style where every note in every song mattered, and where each song was memorable and distinctive. It moves easily through different styles but every one is within Wallinger's confident grasp. And it didn't sound overly studied or too clever-clogs. Whether it be a piano-framed ballad like "God on my Side", the studio-funk of "Show Me To The Top" or the trippy "Thank You World", Karl Wallinger proved he had what it took.

Wallinger and World Party made other albums, none as good but his finest hour still stands today with this record, no wonder why, this album was named the best for many critics and media, called it a "winning opus" and applauding Wallinger's unabashed enthusiasm and ability to craft killer pop tunes also because the album displayed an ambition as broad as the emotional range of its music
 
Goodbye Jumbo Track List: 

1. Is It Too Late?
2. Way Down Now
3. When The Rainbow Comes
4. Put The Message In The Box
5. Ain't Gonna Come Till I'm Ready
6. And I Fell Back ALone
7. Take It Up
8. God On My Side
9. Show Me To The Top
10. Love Street
11. Sweet Soul Dream
12. Thank You World  

miércoles, mayo 07, 2025

New Music: War

           

Welsh musician Gwenno is releasing a new album, Utopia, on July 11 via Heavenly. Now she has shared its second single, "War,". The song is inspired by a World War II-era poem by Welsh artist and poet Edrica Huws entitled "Vingt-Et-Un." Saunders had this to say about the song in a press release: "I’ve loved this Edrica Huws poem for a really long time. She was an artist and poet, and she wrote this at the start of the Second World War. It kept resonating with me over this period where we've really normalized the idea of war, and actually at times have perhaps been quite enthusiastic from our sofas. I think her poem is really worth something in an age where we’re obviously tumbling towards something catastrophic. Those words have really reminded me of that very small window you have before it happens—the chance to be considerate, and more vigilant, and aware. It’s the elegance of her writing, the calmness of her writing, the wisdom." the video credits belongs to Clare Marie Bailey 


martes, mayo 06, 2025

Rocktrospectiva: The Succesful "Nervous Night" Turns 40

Released on 6 may 1985 "Nervous Night" was the second studio album by the so-called fab Philly band The Hooters. The album features two of the band's biggest and best-known hits, "And We Danced" and "Day by Day". It also includes the minor hit "All You Zombies", which was a rerecorded version of a single that had first been released in 1982.  

Different versions of three songs on Nervous Night — "All You Zombies," "Hanging on a Heartbeat," and "Blood from a Stone" — were originally released on The Hooters' independent album release Amore in 1983.

The album got off to a slow start, the  first single, "All You Zombies," peaked at No.58 not bad for a song which actually was based about stories from the Holy Bible. Then, the band got a huge boost on July 13, 1985, when they were featured as the opening band at the American version of the Live Aid benefit concert.  Outside of Philadelphia, they were the least known band at Live Aid.  

Curiously, the promoter Bill Graham wanted The Hooters to perform at Live Aid, against the wishes of organizer Bob Geldof, who asked in an interview, "Who the fuck are The Hooters?"  Ironically, many years later, Bob Geldof ended up being the opening act for The Hooters somewhere in the world.

The second single and the album's opening song, "And We Danced," peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received heavy airplay on the MTV, indeed, The Hooters were nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in a Video for “And We Danced.” 

"Day By Day," the second song, became the band's third – and highest-charting – single, and helped propel the album to a No. 12 on the Billboard 200 album chart.  And finally "Where Do The Children Go?" was the fourth single released from the album and was a collaboration between The Hooters and fellow Columbia Records label mate, Patty Smyth (of Scandal), peaked at No. 38

Other songs on the album include the rare "Don't Take My Car Out Tonight", "South Ferry Road," which was a faithful cover of Love’s 1966 hit, "She Comes In Colors," The title track, "Nervous Night," did not make it on the LP release, but it did appear on the cassette and CD versions.

The album was a landmark for the band, praising them for the excellent use of dynamics and innate talent for penning hit songs full of melodic hooks, also it had a hard-driving energy and muscular their debut album on a major record label

Nervous Night Track List: 
 
1. And We Danced
2. Day By Day
3. All You Zombies
4. Don't Take My Car Out Tonight
5. Nervous Night (CD/Cassette only)
6. Hanging On A Hearbeat
7. Where Do The Children Go
8. South Ferry Road
9. She Comes In Colors
10. Blood From A Stone

domingo, mayo 04, 2025

New Music: Shells

           

Westside Cowboy have gone from strength to strength, including recently winning Glastonbury's emerging talent competition. It does feel like they could be on the verge of something special. In many respects, "Shells". The same influences remain, and their chemistry is palpable, the new single takes its time to get going. It lures you in to a place of quiet contemplation, before coming to life and dragging you along for the ride. If the start was all nerves, by the end it's a completely different beast. Still earnest and genuine yet assured of itself; a mature offering for a band that still feel like they have so much more to give.