News – 7th Level Music

Omni Sound to release “When There Is No Sun” – a reimaging of the music of Sun Ra.

(Ricardo Villalobos courtesy of Omni Sound)

Omni Sound is excited to announce When There Is No Sun, a global recording project uniting visionary electronic music producers to reimagine the universe of Sun Ra, out March 27th. Commissioned by Omni Sound and curated by Ricardo Villalobos, When There Is No Sun brings together Underground Resistance, Chez Damier & Ben Vedren, Calibre, A Guy Called Gerald, SHE Spells Doom, Barış K, and Ricardo Villalobos himself to draw from Omni Sound’s recordings of Living Sky by the Sun Ra Arkestra and My Words Are Music, a spoken-word album of Sun Ra’s poetry. The producers pull fragments of sound and text into their own creative orbits, passing through the portal that Sun Ra opened into a realm where the impossible is possible.

Invocations by Saul Williams, Anthony Joseph, Mahogany L. Browne, Abiodun Oyewole, Tunde Adebimpe, and Tara Middleton turn rhyme into rhythm and resistance into revelation. Rooted in deep reverence for Sun Ra’s legacy, yet reaching forward as a living, generative force, When There Is No Sun is not a tribute but a continuum. Each contributor balances the pulse of electronic music with the spirit of experimentation, embodying Sun Ra’s conviction that sound is a vessel for transformation.

In conjunction with today’s announcement, Omni Sound present “When Angels Speak” by Underground Resistance featuring Saul Williams. As one of Detroit’s most influential and uncompromising musical movements, Underground Resistance bring their anti-extractive, futurist vision of techno rooted in independence, resistance, and Black empowerment to the title track of Sun Ra’s rare 1966 album, released on their Saturn label. Williams, an internationally acclaimed poet, musician, actor, and filmmaker contributes a distinct blend of lyrical intensity and cultural insight.

Listen to “When Angels Speak” by Underground Resistance feat. Saul Williams

One of the most radical musical pioneers of the 20th century, Sun Ra used jazz, electronics, poetry, and performance to expand the possibilities of sound, identity, and imagination. A composer, bandleader, philosopher, and visionary, Ra didn’t just play music, he invented a universe. At the core of his philosophy is freedom through creation. He taught that the world’s dominant narratives—history, race, time, even gravity—are prisons of the mind, and that through music, myth, and performance, one could transcend these limits and reclaim control of destiny.

The artists featured in When There Is No Sun, in their own way, embody Sun Ra’s conviction that sound is a vessel for transformation. They are not united by genre but by purpose—artists who use rhythm, language, and imagination to rewire perception and open portals to new worlds.

Pre-order When There Is No Sun

When There Is No Sun Release Events:
Tue. March 17 – Cape Town, ZA @ Pan African Space Station (streaming event only)
Fri. March 20 – Wuppertal, DE @ Open Ground (feat: Ricardo Villalobos & Chez Damier)
Fri. April 10 – New York, NY @ Nublu (feat. Sun Ra Arkestra & Chez Damier)
Fri. July 31 – Amsterdam, NL @ Dekmantel Festival (feat. Saul Williams & Underground Resistance)

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Stolen Nova releases funky new single – “Shame.”

Today, LA-based Josh Landau aka Stolen Nova proves he is the intersection of skate grit and art-school cosmic glamour with his video for new single “Shame.”

Landau says, “Shame” is a lament over the death of a relationship. It’s dwells on the struggle of a perfect love no longer sparking and feeling the change happen beyond your control. It’s got a Funkadelic-y bass groove and an Andre 3000 inspired flow to the 2nd verse.

It’s the first Stolen Nova track to feature the London live band of Hattie Steel on drums and Rose Rey on bass. We wrote and recorded the song one Sunday last year with Lava La Rue in South London. Lava also directed the music video with their fabulously unique eye. It’s been a standout at shows for the last year and it’s exciting to let it out into the world.

Stolen Nova is the latest evolution of Josh Landau, an L.A. native raised on the fumes of surf wax, amp feedback, and Dogtown mythology. In the late 2000s, while most high schoolers were discovering MySpace, Landau was immersed in the sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Black Flag, and Black Sabbath, a kid orbiting the punk and skate scenes of Venice Beach and Beverly Hills’ empty swimming pools. His DNA was forged in distortion, rebellion, and sunburned West Coast idealism that refuses to die.

Before Stolen Nova, Landau spent the better part of a decade leading The Shrine, the hard-charging power trio that tore across the globe and shared stages with Iron Maiden and Slayer. The Shrine wasn’t just a band, it was a lifestyle emblem for a generation raised on Thrasher Magazine, Dogtown decks, and loud amps. They collaborated with Shepard Fairey (who designed the band’s artwork and invited them to perform at his Damaged exhibition), released a signature Converse skate shoe, and built an official Dogtown skateboard with Z-Boy legend Jim Muir.

When the feedback faded, Landau didn’t slow down, he reinvented. Stolen Nova emerged as his solo experiment in color, texture, and cosmic groove: the sound of a skater-turned-songwriter chasing new energy. After a stretch of couch-surfing in London, he returned home to record “Vortex,” a swirling introduction to his new vision. Then came “Lauren Bacall,” a cinematic single paired with a technicolor video shot in London. The track earned support from Apple Music’s Matt Wilkinson, who spotlighted it on Breaking, and from KROQ-FM’s Locals Only, where it landed in the Top 10 Songs of the Year. Coverage followed from Interview Magazine, Office, i-D, Another, Marvin, and HUCK, confirming that Stolen Nova had fully arrived.

Now, in 2026, Landau’s world is spinning faster than ever. Between playing guitar for 070 Shake on her worldwide tour, opening for TV on the Radio across Australia, and collaborating with Marshall, he’s also set to release “Shame,” his next single co-written and produced by Lava La Rue. He will co-headline Pappy & Harriet’s on March 28 with Mark Mothersbaugh, and his debut full-length as Stolen Nova arrives September 4, 2026.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Alex at Terrorbird Media.]

A Place to Bury Strangers drop “Acid Rain” on all of us.

New-York based band A Place To Bury Strangers release “Acid Rain,” the second single from their new rarities album, Rare And Deadly, out April 3rd via Dedstrange. Following lead single, “Everyone’s The Same,” “Acid Rain” was born out of the first Trump presidency and pulses with unruly energy.

Reflecting on the track and era, Oliver Ackerman says; “Cruelty felt not just normalized, but weaponized. Watching people in power openly coerce others into silence, compliance, and violence was horrifying, and still is. What shook me most was how casual it all felt, how easily people turned their heads while others were being crushed.” In the song’s opening lines, Ackerman sings: “Cover your eyes // Cover your face // Walk in line // Don’t embrace.”

He continues: “The chanting at the beginning was recorded during the George Floyd protests in Manhattan and Brooklyn, real voices, real streets, real fear mixed with hope. For a moment, it felt like maybe people would finally wake up and refuse this racist machinery. But here we are, still watching detention centers, modern slavery, and countless other atrocities continue under different names. ‘Acid Rain’ is rage, grief, and disbelief all colliding at once, the sound of watching history repeat itself while knowing exactly how wrong it is.”

The accompanying video was shot on January 16th, 2026, for one song, one stop and a bridge. A Place to Bury Strangers took over the New York City subway and turned it into a moving stage for a raucous rendition of “Acid Rain.” The track detonates in real time as the train makes its way through the Williamsburg Bridge into the Lower East Side, no choreography, no script. All this industrial pulse and feedback over screeching train tracks was shot guerrilla-style, this video is not a reenactment. It’s a live wire running through a frozen subway car of lucky witnesses who showed up anyway. Bold, relentless and built to last. New York at its finest.

Watch the “Acid Rain” Video

Rare and Deadly cracks open a decade-long vault of raw nerve and sonic chaos from A Place To Bury Strangers. Spanning 2015–2025, this collection of demos, B-sides, abandoned experiments, and forgotten fragments reveals the band at their most unfiltered—caught between breakthrough ideas and beautiful mistakes. Pulled from Ackermann’s personal archive of late-night recordings, blown-out tapes, and half-finished sessions, here the interference is closer, the electricity more dangerous, the edges left jagged on purpose.

What makes Rare and Deadly truly unprecedented is that every format tells a different story. The CD, cassette, vinyl, and digital editions each feature their own unique tracklisting, a fractured release strategy that is almost unheard of. No single version contains the “complete” album. Instead, each format becomes its own window into the archive, revealing alternate paths, missing links, and parallel versions of the band’s inner life. It’s a deliberately unstable document: the album shifts depending on how you choose to hear it, mirroring the chaos of its creation.

Across these recordings, you can hear the evolution of Ackermann’s restless mind. Some pieces feel like prototypes for future chaos, seeds that later bloomed on studio albums. Others are dead ends—ideas too volatile, too strange, or too personal to ever fit the frame of a proper release. But together they form a secret history of the band, a parallel world of possibilities that existed just outside the spotlight. The tracks contain riffs mutated by malfunctioning pedals, songs born from gear pushed past its limits, or delicate melodies overwhelmed by walls of feedback until only their ghosts remain.

Rare and Deadly is less a compilation and more a documentary—an aural snapshot of how sound takes shape before it hardens into something finished. You hear the room, the accidents, the restless experimentation, the immediacy of a moment being captured before it disappears. It’s a reminder that A Place To Bury Strangers has always thrived in this in-between space: the tension between control and collapse, melody and noise, beauty and distortion.

Pre-order Rare And Deadly

Watch:
“Acid Rain” video
“Everyone’s The Same” video

Rare And Deadly Tracklists Per Format

A Place To Bury Strangers Tour Dates:
Tue. April 7 – Hamburg, DE @ MS Stubnitz
Wed. April 8 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
Thu. April 9 – Praha, CZ @ Futurum Music Bar
Fri. April 10 – Brno-město, CZ @ Kabinet múz
Sat. April 11 – Bratislava, SK @ PINK WHALE BAR
Sun. April 12 – Budapest, HU @ A38
Mon. April 13 – Belgrade, RS @ Karmakoma
Tue. April 14 – Sofia, BG @ Mixtape 5
Wed. April 15 – București, RO @ Control Club
Fri. April 17 – Thessaloniki, GR @ Eightball Club
Sat. April 18 – Athina, GR @ Gazarte
Mon. April 20 – Rome, IT @ Monk Club
Tue. April 21 – Florence, IT @ Ex Fila
Wed. April 22 – Bologna, IT @ Social Center TPO
Thu. April 23 – Milan, IT @ Santeria
Fri. April 24 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Sun. April 26 – Brussels, BE @ Magasin 4
Mon. April 27 – Cologne, DE @ Gebäude 9
Wed. April 29 – Utrecht, NL @ De Helling
Thu. April 30 – Deventer, NL @ Burgerweeshuis
Fri. May 1 – Eindhoven, NL @ Fuzz Club Festival 2026

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

A Place to Bury Strangers set to release “Rare and Deadly” rarities album on April 03, 2026.

New-York based band A Place To Bury Strangers announce their new rarities album, Rare And Deadly, out April 3rd via Dedstrange, and release the lead single, “Everyone’s The Same.” Following 2024’s Synthesizer, Rare and Deadly cracks open a decade-long vault of raw nerve and sonic chaos from A Place To Bury Strangers. Spanning 2015–2025, this collection of demos, B-sides, abandoned experiments, and forgotten fragments reveals the band at their most unfiltered—caught between breakthrough ideas and beautiful mistakes. Pulled from Oliver Ackermann’s personal archive of late-night recordings, blown-out tapes, and half-finished sessions, these tracks pulse with the unruly energy that has always defined APTBS, but here the interference is closer, the electricity more dangerous, the edges left jagged on purpose.

What makes Rare and Deadly truly unprecedented is that every format tells a different story. The CD, cassette, vinyl, and digital editions each feature their own unique tracklisting, a fractured release strategy that is almost unheard of. No single version contains the “complete” album. Instead, each format becomes its own window into the archive, revealing alternate paths, missing links, and parallel versions of the band’s inner life. It’s a deliberately unstable document: the album shifts depending on how you choose to hear it, mirroring the chaos of its creation.

Across these recordings, you can hear the evolution of Ackermann’s restless mind. Some pieces feel like prototypes for future chaos, seeds that later bloomed on studio albums. Others are dead ends—ideas too volatile, too strange, or too personal to ever fit the frame of a proper release. But together they form a secret history of the band, a parallel world of possibilities that existed just outside the spotlight. The tracks contain riffs mutated by malfunctioning pedals, songs born from gear pushed past its limits, or delicate melodies overwhelmed by walls of feedback until only their ghosts remain, as on today’s single, “Everyone’s The Same.”

Reflecting on the track, Ackerman says: “I had a dream where a man led me to a brook, peaceful and calm. When he turned his head slightly, I saw the most evil smile imaginable. But when I looked directly at him, it was just the back of his head again. Beauty and horror coexisting in the same space. It felt like hell leaking into something serene. Maybe that’s reality sometimes. And maybe pretending otherwise is a kind of survival.”

Stream “Everyone’s The Same”

Rare and Deadly is less a compilation and more a documentary—an aural snapshot of how sound takes shape before it hardens into something finished. You hear the room, the accidents, the restless experimentation, the immediacy of a moment being captured before it disappears. It’s a reminder that A Place To Bury Strangers has always thrived in this in-between space: the tension between control and collapse, melody and noise, beauty and distortion.

Pre-order Rare And Deadly

Rare And Deadly Tracklists Per Format

A Place To Bury Strangers Tour Dates:
Tue. April 7 – Hamburg, DE @ MS Stubnitz
Wed. April 8 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
Thu. April 9 – Praha, CZ @ Futurum Music Bar
Fri. April 10 – Brno-město, CZ @ Kabinet múz
Sat. April 11 – Bratislava, SK @ PINK WHALE BAR
Sun. April 12 – Budapest, HU @ A38
Mon. April 13 – Belgrade, RS @ Karmakoma
Tue. April 14 – Sofia, BG @ Mixtape 5
Wed. April 15 – București, RO @ Control Club
Fri. April 17 – Thessaloniki, GR @ Eightball Club
Sat. April 18 – Athina, GR @ Gazarte
Mon. April 20 – Rome, IT @ Monk Club
Tue. April 21 – Florence, IT @ Ex Fila
Wed. April 22 – Bologna, IT @ Social Center TPO
Thu. April 23 – Milan, IT @ Santeria
Fri. April 24 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Sun. April 26 – Brussels, BE @ Magasin 4
Mon. April 27 – Cologne, DE @ Gebäude 9
Wed. April 29 – Utrecht, NL @ De Helling
Thu. April 30 – Deventer, NL @ Burgerweeshuis
Fri. May 1 – Eindhoven, NL @ Fuzz Club Festival 2026

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Stuck hit the gym, and your face, with “Deadlift.”

Stuck—the Chicago based trio of Greg Obis (vocals, guitar), David Algrim (bass), and Tim Green (drums)—release “Deadlift,” the second single/video from their forthcoming album, Optimizer, out March 27th via Exploding in Sound. Arriving on the heels of the “tightly-wound” (Brooklyn Vegan) lead single, “Instakill,” “Deadlift” is slower and sadder, delivering an unsparing look at the loneliness of workout culture; on the song’s chorus, Obis sings: “I know, I know, // you’ve heard it before // I never feel so alone // when the weight hits the floor.”

“I have become somewhat of a gym rat over the last several years,” Obis reflects. “Lifting weights has been indispensable for my physical and mental health. And yet, when I’m in a dark place, the gym can sometimes underscore feelings of loneliness and futility. ‘Deadlift’ uses the gym as a way to look at how atomized we have become; fixating on ourselves in public, locked into our fitness routines with our headphones, barely acknowledging the other people in the room, optimizing our wellness while racing to a red light.”

The song’s video was directed, produced, and edited by Austin Vesely and stars performer, actor and comedian Alex Grelle. “Austin Vessely’s video takes on these ideas from the opposite direction,” says Obis. “Working with him and Alex Grelle on this was a real treat. Alex is an incredible performer and improviser, and I still laugh when I watch him go all out in the video. We gave Austin very little to work with here in terms of a concept, and we’re super stoked with what he came up with.”

Watch the Video for “Deadlift”

Optimizer, the third album from Stuck reports live from the front lines of a society on the decline, where every attempt toward self-improvement only locks you into a more efficient downward spiral. The album is their most ambitious and eclectic collection of songs yet, without losing the nervy, quirked-up approach to post-punk that they’d established on their first two full-lengths.

To record Optimizer, Stuck reached out to engineer and producer Andrew Oswald (Marble Eyed, Powerplant, and Smirk). Oswald suggested that they track at Electrical Audio, the legendary Chicago recording studio once run by the late Steve Albini. With Albini’s passing still fresh, the opportunity to record at Electrical took on a personal significance for Obis; recording at Electrical would simultaneously help a local institution fill out their calendar in a moment of tragic instability and affirm Stuck’s place in a lineage of fiercely independent Chicago rock bands. Stuck are proud, in the humble way that any good Midwestern folks are proud, of embodying that archetype. Not only did Obis take over Chicago Mastering Service from Shellac’s Bob Weston when the latter decamped abroad, but Stuck’s choice of album title subconsciously mirrored Big Black’s classic Atomizer.

Optimizer continues their incorporation of synthesizers and also brings along more backing vocals, bigger choruses, and even blast beats. Oswald made his name recording extreme metal bands like Mortiferum and Caustic Wound. Though it is by no means a metal record, Oswald brought that genre’s level of tactile closed mic detail to Optimizer, resulting in the most high-definition and physically propulsive Stuck record yet. Previous Stuck albums needled you, using fast twitch guitars to keep you on edge. Optimizer goes straight for the emotional haymaker.

Pre-order Optimizer

Watch the Video for “Instakill”

Stuck Live
Fri. Apr. 3 – Detroit, MI @ Outer Limits
Sat. Apr. 4 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
Sun. Apr. 5 – Montreal, QC @ L’Esco
Tue. Apr. 7 – Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s
Wed. Apr. 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
Thu. Apr. 9 – Boston, MA @ Deep Cuts
Sat. Apr. 11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Warehouse on Watts – Cambridge Hall
Sun. Apr. 12 – Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong
Fri. April 24 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village [Record Release Show]

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Melodi Ghazal takes us “Higher” on her new single.

As a graduate of the esteemed Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Melodi Ghazal is intrinsic to Copenhagen’s storied indie scene. Her full-length debut, Idol Melodies, is out March 6, 2026 via Anyines, blending ’80s pop and Iranian folk traditions. Today, Ghazal shares the second single, “Higher.” Moody riffs and jagged verses culminate in a slow jam chorus. Touching on dissolution of the self, “Higher” imbues nostalgia with complexity.

On the single, Ghazal shares: “This is a song I personally needed, perhaps as a form of manifestation. I sing about the dissolution of the self. About those moments where you can suddenly shift perspective – and really feel the shift – from the shutting-down, everyday trip, to the big, opening image of love and connection. It sounds a bit New Age in such a short description, but that is nevertheless the theme of the song. I sampled my friend Peter’s guitar recording and chopped it up, perhaps with indirect inspiration from the chopped, country-sounding guitar in Madonna’s ‘Tell Me,’ which I think is a fantastic track. The form was meant to be simple and repetitive, because I wanted it to feel like the repeated caress of warm skin. And I also think that at times I noticed myself having the Spice Girls’ ‘Viva Forever’ as a reference somewhere in my head during the process. Maybe it’s because of the comforting effect of nostalgia, that I have some clear references when listening to this song and remembering how it came to life – because this song I just wanted to be comforting to me.”

Melodi Ghazal’s output is reflective. The Copenhagen native was raised by Iranian parents, and an interest in music was nurtured at cultural gatherings. As a child, she delved into pre-revolutionary Iranian hits and the Los Angeles pop that emerged in the 1980s and ‘90s. Later, she discovered hitmakers including Dido and Celine Dion on VH1 and MTV. At her mother’s encouragement, she took up piano lessons.

Ghazal fell into stasis for almost a decade. “I stopped quite abruptly with the occurrence of my self-consciousness, especially about otherness in a very white context,” she remembers. “I felt a need to be anonymous.” She enrolled in university, but grew depressed working a day job. During one down swing, she felt the desire to write songs again and started an adult education program. Two years later, she was accepted at the groundbreaking Rhythmic Music Conservatory — a school that counts ML Buch, Astrid Sonne, and Clarissa Connelly as alumni.

Ghazal’s full-length debut, Idol Melodies, is titled in reference to spiritual symbolism and a yearning to dissolve oneself. The album materialized gradually, with initial daf frame drum ideas sparking as part of her thesis at RMC. Allowing intuition to guide, tracks began with elements ranging from riffs to synthesizer presets. On a trip to London, she collaborated with Anyines label founder Villads Klint (Minais B) and NTS resident Coby Sey. Peter Bruhn Rasmussen contributed electric guitar, while Albert Hertz played acoustic. Rising Danish songwriter Fine Glindvad was a consultant in the final stages. “In the process of writing songs, I am always navigating a feeling of longing that appears when the melody is right,” she says. The end result is spry and mercurial, echoing keyboards and downtempo grooves cloaked in fuzz.

Idol Melodies is catchy and eclectic, inspired by Sufi dervishes, Madonna’s conversion to Kabbalah, and Googoosh’s displacement. “I have paraphrased Hafez in several places throughout the album and worked with circular movements in the productions,” Ghazal shares. On “Destinies and Melodies,” she sings of surrendering to inexplicable forces that yield creativity. Atop the silvery strums of “Numb,” she decompresses from a challenging period in which loved ones were hurt. “In My Room” is the tenderest moment, using adolescent introversion to probe a relationship with newly immigrated parents. The whole record is sonically direct, yet emotionally textured.

Weaving Middle Eastern percussion and English-Persian vocals, Ghazal cultivates protectivity. Associative streams impact a journey of self-dissolution and connection. “Something had been simmering in me, and it came out in the underlying melancholy and searching,” she muses. A current of change steers Idol Melodies, which ruminates on a breakup, personal crisis, and ensuing transformation. Flowering between stretches of malaise, Idol Melodies shrouds storminess in magic.

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[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

Rebelski takes you down some lovely “Roads” with his new single.

Unfolding from a place of quiet familiarity into widescreen cinematic scope, established composer and producer, Rebelski unveils his latest emotive single, “Roads.” A richly layered and immersive track that stands among the most expansive in his catalogue, the long-standing collaborator with artists including Doves, Peter Hook and The Light and Echo and The Bunnymen releases the single, rooted in cinematic, jet-age nostalgia, as he moves closer to the release of his latest album, Algorithms, on March 13, 2026.

Opening in recognizable Rebelski territory, “Roads” begins with a gently unfolding piano motif, intimate and reflective in tone before passing into territory built upon by a lineage of electronic and cinematic greats. Playing into stated late-20thCentury influences, Rebelski hints at David Axelrod’s orchestral soul, Boards of Canada’s hazy electronica and John Carpenter’s deeply affecting, narrative soundtracks in pushing forward Algorithms’ own, structured story.

Having previously light—touch released the first of the album’s singles, “Today,” in late 2025 (subsequently supported with attention from BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 3) and followed-up with the motorik “Momentum” at the turn of the year, Rebelski detailed Algorithms as the final album in a considered trilogy. Recorded in studios and outdoor spaces across Manchester, Barcelona, and Shropshire, the album follows 2023’s Simplicity and 2024’s Monochrome to form a document of artistic preoccupation, musical experimentation and human connection to vibration, tone and timing.

In releasing “Roads,” Rebelski’s music reads like the soundtrack to an unseen film, playing along to journeys spooling through memory, landscapes seen and moments remembered. Working towards a body of work that challenges the narrative of inevitable technological takeover and leaves untied edges where robotized perfection could attain ‘perfection,’ human-first recording techniques ensure organic detail sits at the heart of each composition.

Rebelski says: “The music on Algorithms tries to occupy the spaces in between motion and stillness and action and pause, taking up its own territory with quiet but definite, assertive confidence. Various influences, from film soundtracks to groundbreaking synth composition have been woven into a framework that’s relevant to the present, trying to balance out feelings of retro warmth and the need to document human presence in the music with recognition of contemporary recording practices.”

Pursuing personal solo endeavors in between meeting the uncompromising demands of international touring, Algorithms was completed in stolen periods off the road while absorbing the influence of each country Rebelski counts himself lucky to pass through.

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[Thanks to Rob at Perspective.]

Kyle Alfred Hillig faces reality on his new single – “Our Remaining Pig.”

Tacoma, Washington songwriter Kye Alfred Hillig returns with “Our Remaining Pig,” the second single from his upcoming album The All-Night Costume Company, out March 4, 2026. The track pushes deeper into Hillig’s emotional terrain, pairing alternative-country and indie rock with a writer’s instinct for metaphor, restraint, and uncomfortable honesty. Where the album’s first single reintroduced Hillig’s voice, “Our Remaining Pig” begins to reveal the stakes.

Hillig has spent more than two decades rooted in the Puget Sound music scene, balancing songwriting with the realities of work, community, and long stretches away from the spotlight. Across nine solo albums, he’s developed a reputation for sharp melodies and lyrics that refuse to look away from difficult truths. His songs often sit at the intersection of personal reckoning and shared experience, finding meaning not in resolution, but in saying the hard thing plainly. Fans of The Jayhawks, Neil Young, Uncle Tupelo, Father John Misty, Kevin Morby, MJ Lenderman, and early Wilco will recognize the lineage, even as Hillig’s voice remains distinctly his own.

“Our Remaining Pig” takes its title and emotional core from an image that surfaced during Hillig’s time in art therapy. “I drew a man on his family farm wading across a river toward the final living pig, knowing he had to slaughter it,” Hillig explains. “You can tell he doesn’t want to do this, but sometimes the hard thing is exactly what must be done.” In the song, that image becomes a parallel for a relationship at a breaking point, a moment where avoidance only deepens the damage. “Sometimes couples just need to say the honest and painful thing,” he adds. “No one benefits from avoiding the suffering that comes with growth.”

Musically, the track unfolds with patience and weight, anchored by a vocal performance that carries some of the emotional directness and upward reach associated with early The Killers, paired with a Springsteen-like earnestness in tone and delivery. Fuzzy bass lines hold down the bottom end, giving the song a low, unsettled hum, while keys rise and fall throughout the arrangement, cutting light through the darkness without resolving it. Guitars remain measured and deliberate, letting the tension build rather than explode, until the chorus opens into something big and genuinely emotive, a release that feels hard-won rather than theatrical. The result is a song that feels expansive but grounded, willing to sit with discomfort instead of rushing past it.

Recorded at Ex Ex Studios in Seattle and produced and mixed by Johnny Nails, “Our Remaining Pig” continues to reveal the shape of The All-Night Costume Company. It’s a song about choosing honesty over comfort, about crossing a river you’d rather not enter because staying put is worse. As a second glimpse into the album, it signals a record unafraid of discomfort, and a songwriter willing to sit with it long enough for something true to emerge.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Chad at No Rules PR.]

OHYUNG puts you into a dream state with “Nevada.”

OHYUNG, the solo project of Brooklyn artist, DJ, and film composer Lia Ouyang Rusli, today shares “nevada,” the second single from her forthcoming album IOWA, arriving March 6. The track opens with a massive boom—”whether thunder or gunshots, the sound is an awakening of the spirit,” Rusli says. The field-recorded sample loops throughout the piece as a glacial melody pulses and swells beneath, intertwined with choral voices and wailing synths.

Of “nevada,” Rusli says the track evokes “open land and a holy reverence for space and openness. And in that space there may be a painful memory, but that memory is softened by time, letting beauty in.” The track is paired with a one-take visual that picks up where the video for lead single “all dolls go to heaven” left off. Among its early praise, Paste recognized that track as one of their “5 Songs You Need to Hear This Week,” describing it as music that “sweeps through the sea-level holy, uncouples from its textures, and climbs into the mouth of a liberated afterlife.” Together, these tracks signal OHYUNG’s anticipated return to ambient music—cinematic snapshots of their year in the Midwest.

WATCH: “NEVADA”

IOWA follows last year’s You Are Always On My Mind, praised by Pitchfork as “an extraordinary burst of pop,” and marks Rusli’s first ambient album since her 2022 breakout imagine naked!, which was named one of NPR Music’s Best Albums of the Year. An evocation of Rusli’s year living in Iowa City between 2023 and 2024, the album documents a time when she became embedded in the local DIY music scene and made between composing scores for the acclaimed films Happyend (dir. Neo Sora) and Sorry, Baby (dir. Eva Victor).

Rusli describes IOWA as “an ode to the vast beauty of the Midwest, fields of corn, rolling hills, harsh winters, tornado sirens, and the trans people that survive despite the threat of right-wing christofascism. IOWA is my love letter to Iowa City and the Midwest, my experimental trans Bruce Springsteen Nebraska.” The album is a stripped-down, self-produced album that foregrounds atmosphere and restraint. The record pares back earlier maximalism to reveal ghostly textures built from field recordings, manipulated devotional samples, and restrained synth pads, with moments of rupture interrupting otherwise serene compositions.

Following upcoming DJ sets in Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, South Korea, OHYUNG will celebrate the album’s release with a performance at Stone Circle Theatre in Ridgewood, New York, on March 6. Presented in partnership with Trans Music Archive, the event will feature an opening performance by YATTA, a DJ set from Bitepoint, and food by Jessie Yuchen, and will serve as a fundraiser for the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund. A physical vinyl edition of IOWA will also be released via Trans Music Archive, with all proceeds benefiting the fund.

Check out “nevada” above, and stay tuned for more music from IOWA ahead of its March 6 release.

Keep your mind open.

[Float over to the subscription box.]

[Thanks to Cody at Terrorbird Media.]

New Colossus Festival announces its massive 2026 lineup.

Returning to New York City’s vibrant Lower East Side and expanding to six days, the New Colossus Festival begins on Tuesday, March 3, and runs through Sunday, March 8, 2026. This showcase festival and industry conference offers a unique opportunity to discover the next wave of emerging artists across multiple independent NYC venues, including Arlene’s Grocery, Baker Falls, Berlin Under A, The Francis Kite Club, Niagra, Nublu, Nublu Classic, Parkside Lounge, Pianos, Silver Lining Lounge & Sour Mouse

The New Colossus and DITTO Music will also once again present a series of panels and workshops called Colossal Conversations. Discussions on artist management, touring, production, sync licensing, festivals, publishing, and other relevant topics focused on the future of the global independent music scene.

Founded in 2019 by music industry veterans Mike Bell, Lio Kanine, and Steven Matrick, The New Colossus Festival has quickly become the first stop in the US for many emerging international artists. Past festival alumni include: A Place To Bury Strangers (US), Baby Queen (ZA), CHAII (NZ), Delivery (AU), Ducks ltd. (CA), GIFT (US), Hachiku (AU), Jaywood (CA), Kiwi Jr. (CA), La Securité, (CA) NOBRO (CA), Peel Dream Magazine (US), Penelope Isles (UK), Personal Trainer (NL), Pom Poko (NO), Pom Pom Squad (US), Robber Robber (US), Sid Simons (US), Slow Fiction (US), Sobs (SG), Starcleaner Reunion (US), The Orielles (UK), Thus Love (US), Water From Your Eyes (US), Ultra Q (US), Zoon (CA)

Named after Emma Lazarus’s 1883 sonnet featured on The Statue of Liberty, The New Colossus Festival is a multi-day, multi-venue showcase and conference that brings together emerging musical talent from around the world to New York City’s Lower East Side.

Badges Available on DICE: https://www.newcolossusfestival.com/badges

For more information and updates, visit newcolossusfestival.com

Full the full line up here: https://www.newcolossusfestival.com/artists2026

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]