Music

Pastoral harmonies dance alongside a quiet percussive beat in “A Little Less Gone,” but as incredible as they are in this track, they’re just as spellbinding in the up-tempo “Magazine Rack,” mischievously melodic “Hi Lonesome,” traditional bluegrass homage “Red Top Mountain Road” and deeply evocative “I’m Not Afraid.” Donna Ulisse sings with every bit of

Andy Cohn is stepping down from his role as President and Publisher of The FADER, Variety reports and Pitchfork can confirm. The decision comes after The FADER commissioned an independent investigation to look into the “company’s workplace policies and systems.” Cohn was at The FADER for 16 years. The FADER’s co-CEOs Jon Cohen and Rob

2019 has been a really excellent year for adult contemporary artists, and few know that better than Dr. Rob Alexander, whose new single “Never Gonna Let You Go” and album Being Myself are lighting up the underground this fall like nobody’s business. “Never Gonna Let You Go” is a pretty simplistic power ballad that comes to us

Kvelertak are back with a new album. Splid, the follow-up to 2016’s Nattesferd, is out February 14, 2020. It’s their first LP since singer Erlend Hjelvik left the band last July, to be replaced by Ivar Nikolaisen, formerly of the glam-punk outfit Silver and Norse punks the Good, the Bad & the Zugly; it’s also

In late October, hundreds of artists signed an open letter urging other members of the music community to boycott festivals and events sponsored by Amazon. Amazon Web Services has contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other branches of law enforcement. The artists supporting the No Music For ICE movement aim to abandon

Grimes recently gave an interview where she discussed artificial intelligence’s role in the future of art and music. “I feel like we’re in the end of art, human art,” she said. This sparked a debate with musicians including Zola Jesus. Zola Jesus called Grimes “the voice of silicon fascist privilege” in a since-deleted tweet. “approaching

Billboard is changing its rules on “bundling,” The Wall Street Journal and Billboard report. Bundling is the practice of selling merchandise along with a download of an album (typically for free) in order to boost sales numbers. Under the new rules, which go into effect January 3, 2020, the merchandise/album bundle must now cost at

After returning to Instagram earlier this month, the Weeknd is back with a preview of his new song, “Blinding Lights.” The clip premiered in an advertisement for Mercedes-Benz’s new EQC model. The Weeknd stars in the commercial, which you can watch below. [embedded content] In addition to debuting “Blinding Lights,” the ad announces that a

As compelling as they are painfully honest and raw, the lyrics that David Leask sings to us in his new single “When You Think No One Loves You” are only one of the many components in the track that can be described as being evocative, but there are some moments in the song, such as

Iggy Pop has released a brand new music video from his latest album Free. The bizarre visual for “Sonali” was directed by Mac DeMarco, and stars a familiar face: The Lizard Man. The well-dressed reptile steers his fur-covered convertible through rush hour traffic en route to his lizard girlfriend (played by DeMarco’s real-life human girlfriend

Animal Collective’s Avey Tare has announced a new EP. Conference of Birds / Birds in Disguise features studio recordings of live fan favorites organized. The record arrives on 12″ vinyl and digital formats December 5 via Domino. Avey Tare has shared Side A of the EP ahead of the official release. Give it a listen

Kanye West wasn’t front and center on the Hollywood Bowl stage until the debut performance of his opera Nebuchadnezzar reached its curtain call. He clasped hands with Sheck Wes, who starred in the opera’s title role, and bowed in front of a massive team of singers and performers. Kanye served as the show’s offstage narrator,

MGMT debuted a brand new song during a concert in Las Vegas last night (November 21). It’s called “In the Afternoon,” and you can watch them perform the track below (via Consequence of Sound). [embedded content] “In the Afternoon” marks MGMT’s first new song since 2018, when they released their fourth studio album Little Dark

King Princess was the musical guest on last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live. She was introduced by host Will Ferrell, and played “1950” and “Hit the Back.” Check it out below. King Princess released her first studio album Cheap Queen just last month, and collaborated with Fiona Apple for a new version of Apple’s

Former Fischerspooner member Casey Spooner has accused Madonna and French producer Mirwais of failing to credit or compensate him for contributions to her song “God Control.” “God Control” appears on Madame X, which came out in June. In a series of Instagram stories posted and viewed by Pitchfork on Saturday, Spooner said that in December

Kanye West recently detailed his first opera, Nebuchadnezzar which is “based on the biblical story of the Babylonian King from the Book of Daniel.” It is set to premiere tomorrow, November 24, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET. Now, it’s been announced that Tidal will be live streaming

Eric B.—one half of hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim—was recently arrested on an outstanding warrant that was issued back in 2002, after the rapper failed to appear in court for sentencing in a legal case where he had pleaded guilty to eluding arrest and aggravated assault. The rapper spent two weeks in jail before

Yesterday, music manager Scooter Braun addressed his increasingly fraught professional relationship with Taylor Swift publicly for the first time ever. During a Q&A at the 2019 Entertainment Industry Conference, Braun spoke to Variety’s Shirley Halperin about “toxic division” on social media, and how he didn’t want to participate in that kind of communication. Now, Braun

GK Films—the production company of Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King—is developing a new biopic based on the life of Michael Jackson, reportedly working with the late singer’s estate to secure the rights to his music, which will appear in the film, according to Deadline and Rolling Stone. King has also reportedly tapped screenwriter John Logan

With so much good music being released all the time, it can be hard to determine what to listen to first. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services. This week’s batch includes new albums and projects from Blood Incantation, Coldplay, Davido, Beck, Tinashe, and 03 Greedo and Kenny

Jlin has shared a remix of St. Vincent’s MASSEDUCTION cut “Smoking Section.” It’s taken from the forthcoming remix project Nina Kraviz Presents MASSEDUCTION Rewired, which arrives December 13 (via Loma Vista). Listen to “Smoking Section (Jlin Remix)” below. [embedded content] Last year, Jlin released Autobiography (Music from Wayne McGregor’s Autobiography). The previous year, she dropped

Selena Gomez is releasing her next album on January 10 (via Interscope). Gomez has not revealed the title or full tracklist, but the LP will include the recent songs “Lose You to Love Me” and “Look at Her Now.” Watch Gomez’s new album trailer below. Selena Gomez’s next record will follow 2015’s Revival. In recent

There aren’t many bands in popular music willing to go with an instrumental track as a single, but conga player par excellence Robert Starks and his band mates aren’t your usual grouping of R&B musicians. Their two new singles “21st Century Grandma” and “Text-MEE-Baby” do a little bit of everything on their way to providing audiences

Nick Cave will release an illustrated autobiography in March 2020, publisher Canongate has announced. Out March 23, 2020, Stranger Than Kindness will combine images with “commentary and meditations” from Cave and writer Darcey Steinke. The book, priced at £35 (about $45), “asks what shapes our lives and makes us who we are, and celebrates the

London label Blackest Ever Black has announced it is shutting down. Its final release is the ten-track compilation A short illness from which he never recovered, which features several artists from the label’s nine-year history. Check out the comp’s opening track, Scythe’s “Flower Drop,” below. Blackest Ever Black was founded in London in 2010 by