News – Page 13 – 7th Level Music

Cass McCombs calls for “Peace” on his new single from his new album due August 15, 2025.

Cass McCombs announces his new album, Interior Live Oak, out August 15th via Domino, and releases a new single/video, “Peace.” Interior Live Oak is Cass’s most personal album to date, and, more than any previous record, shows Cass’ vast range as a lyricist and musician. It draws from everything Cass has created over two decades of experimentation to cut through with a direct and clarifying light. Throughout, his attitude is hopeful, which may sound odd for someone who often sings about the more extreme aspects of modern life. Interior Live Oak, however, is the resolve of someone who has lived those extremes.

In creating Interior Live Oak, McCombs was inspired by the return to Domino and the revisitation of his early material in last year’s reissue campaign and the archival release, Seed Cake on Leap Year. This led him to work with some of his earliest collaborators in the Bay Area, including Jason Quever (Papercuts) and Chris Cohen, among others. Additional recording in New York City brought contributions from other perennial collaborators, including Matt Sweeney and Mike Bones, whose guitar work has always been a favorable complement to Cass’ own distinctive style. Interior Live Oak simultaneously expands upon his vision and is a return to a more economical form.

Following Interior Live Oak’s “Priestess,” released earlier this year alongside a Tiny Desk Concert, today’s single, “Peace,” is a straightforward rocker with serpentine riffs. “Peace is what we say when we say goodbye,” Cass sings, bidding a melancholy farewell.

Watch the Video for “Peace”

In a time of temporal anxieties, Cass’ music seeks an alternate route to break through the noise and discover a moment of presence— of beauty. As NPR Music puts it, his songs “are slow, languid and beautiful, which feels like the right counterbalance to our fast-paced times.”

Coinciding with the release of Interior Live Oak, Cass will tour Europe with a mix of headline, festival, and support dates with Father John Misty. He’ll then return to the US for two headline dates in California and a show with MJ Lenderman. All dates are below, and tickets for the UK and California headline shows will be available on Wednesday, June 18th here.

Pre-order Interior Live Oak

Watch the Lyrics Video for “Priestess”

Watch Cass McCombs’ Tiny Desk Concert

Cass McCombs Tour Dates
(New Dates in Bold)
Wed. Aug. 13 – Porto, PT @ Paredes de Coura ^
Sat. Aug. 17 – Crickhowell, UK @ Green Man Festival ^
Tue. Aug. 19 – Bristol, UK @Lantern Hall ^
Wed. Aug. 20 – London, UK @Bush Hall ^
Thu. Aug. 21 – Manchester, UK @ YES ^
Sat. Aug. 23 – Galway, IE @ Leisureland * %
Sun. Aug. 24 – Dublin, IE @ Wider Than Pictures Festival * %
Mon. Aug. 25 – Belfast, IE @ Ulster Hall * %
Tue. Aug. 26 – Cork, IE @ City Hall * %
Thu. Aug. 28 – Glasgow, SCT @ Barrowland * %
Fri. Aug. 29 – Glasgow, SCT @ Barrowland * %
Wed. Sept. 10 – San Diego, CA @The Casbah ^
Thu. Sept. 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall & ^
Fri. Sept. 12 – Riverside, CA @Farmhouse ^

* with Father John Misty
& with MJ Lenderman, Nap Eyes
% Solo
^ Full Band Performance

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Just Mustard release new single, “Pollyanna,” and new tour dates.

Ireland’s Just Mustard return with a new single/video, “POLLYANNA,” via Partisan, and announce an intimate New York show on Tuesday, September 9th at National Sawdust. Following the release of their “thrillingly untraditional” (NME) 2022 breakout, Heart Under, “POLLYANNA” is a luminous and lurching first tease of their highly anticipated third album due later this year. Anchored by the group’s signature sonic disorientation but newly embracing directness and melody, “POLLYANNA” sets the tone for a new era of Just Mustard, one that finds beauty in contradiction, pairing the raw power of noise-rock with a conflicted optimism that’s as disarming as it is cathartic. With warped guitars, submerged beats, and front woman Katie Ball’s dreamlike vocals pushed higher in the mix than ever before, it captures the band at a turning point: reaching for euphoria while wrestling with its emotional cost.

Ball, who directed the video herself, comments: “We shot the video using different CCTV and VHS cameras around our hometown Dundalk trying to have as much fun as possible, the kind of fun that makes you feel sick almost instantly, which suits the themes of the song.”

Watch the Video for “POLLYANNA”

Just Mustard is Katie Ball, David Noonan, Mete Kalyon, Rob Clarke, and Shane Maguire. Heart Under earned Just Mustard widespread acclaim, with the band racking up rave reviews from NME, The Telegraph, Pitchfork, DIY, The Independent, and plenty more. Their music has been championed by BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, KEXP, as well as The Cure, Depeche Mode and Fontaines D.C., all of whom they’ve supported on tour.

Following a string of festival dates, including Seisiún Festival in Boston, the band will return to New York City and then head to the UK/EU for select underplays in London, Paris and Berlin. A full list of dates is below.

Just Mustard Tour Dates
(New Dates in Bold)
Sat. Aug. 16 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival
Sat. Aug. 30 – Stradbally, IE @ Electric Picnic
Sat. Sept. 6 – Sun. Sept. 7 – Boston, MA @ Seisiún Festival
Tue. Sept. 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ National Sawdust
Fri. Sept. 19 – Hamburg, DE @ Reeperbahn Festival
Mon. Sept. 22 – Berlin, DE @ Privatclub
Wed. Sept. 24 – Paris, FR @ Point Empemere
Thu. Sept. 25 – London, UK @ Hoxton Hall

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[Thanks to Jaycee and Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR!]

Pearly Drops release “Ratgirl” from their upcoming third album.

Pearly Drops found their footing in an eclectic corner of the Finnish underground, going on to become rising stars in the global indie-electronic circuit. The forward-thinking duo of Sandra Tervonen and Juuso Malin has worked with artists including Nourished By Time and Vitesse X, in addition to receiving a Teosto Prize. Today, Pearly Drops announce their upcoming full-length The Voices Are Coming Back, which is out August 29, 2025 on Music Website. The album was conceived in Los Angeles through 2023-2024, draws inspiration from time spent during their travels in the “land of opportunity” and serves as a work of autofiction, a surreal, emotionally charged descent through an imagined Los Angeles, filtered through dream logic and internal chaos. Pearly Drops has also shared the single “Ratgirl,” which fully conveys the album’s shape-shifting surrealism. Lyrics about crawling through the walls as a rat tap into Lynchian mysticism, while grappling with themes of the Hollywood fantasy and surreal disillusionment. Supported by a propulsive, electro clash instrumental, “Ratgirl” embodies the sun-soaked weirdness at the heard of The Voices Are Coming Back.

On the track, Pearly Drops share: “‘Ratgirl,’ like the previous single ‘Mermaid,’ drifts further down Talmadge Street, now submerged in a feverish and uncanny night. With a full-on fantasy imagery and certain abruptness — ‘Ratgirl’ is like the weirdest scene in a David Lynch movie. Within this hallucination, becoming a rat crawling through the walls of a luxury Airbnb in Silver Lake feels less like a metaphor and more like a calling.

“In the realm of the real world, ‘Ratgirl’ may be our first work that leans more towards Dance music, fragmentarily attempting to recall the New Rave and Electroclash of the early millennium. As always, Pearly Drops’ Indie Disco most likely feels more tailor-made for the record bag of an imaginary DJ. Think of a foggy, empty and dirty club with a strobe light tearing through the dark—kind of eerie, kind of intense. That’s the feeling we wanted to bring into the music video.“

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Mareux and Riki team up for a lush new single – Ébèné Fumé.”

Revered pop/darkwave musician and producer Mareux (Aryan Ashtiani) unites with multifaceted artist/singer Riki on his nostalgic new single “Ébèné Fumé” out today via Revolution/Warner Records. Riki’s charismatic, confessional vocal performance is met with Mareux’s intricately crafted electronics for a compelling dance-pop track. Riki’s standout presence and masterful ability to merge music, movement, and style is followed throughout “Ébèné Fumé” striking video which was created by Muted Widows (Michael E Linn, Nedda Afsari, and Michael R. Zumaya).

Watch / Share / Playlist “Ébèné Fumé”

Where most artists would double down on the sleek, smooth-as-onyx darkwave and goth-pop that landed them in the spotlight in the first place, Mareux’s sophomore album – Nonstop Romance – is rough and unmannered, completely drunk in love and refusing to walk it off. Like a frilly valentine scuffed on hard pavement, it’s simultaneously gushing and fractured, distorted into illegibility but transparent in its intentions.

Throughout Nonstop Romance, Mareux sets up his songs like Venus fly traps, beaming romance and thumping beats underlit in a sinister red. Maintaining that balance—between the album’s obvious pleasure and the quiet threat that accompanies it—is central to its ethos.

“I’m trying to make something that’s reflective of me getting older,” Mareux says. While that’s usually code for calmer, more intimate material, the top priority of the adult life Mareux both celebrates and questions is having fun. “Could you put it on in your house with people around and not bring the mood down?” was the question that guided him.

“I’ve noticed that as artists get better or more seasoned, they go for a more polished, studio sound and lose their grit,” Mareux says. “I like when music sounds like found footage.” While writing and recording Nonstop Romance in his bedroom in Los Angeles’ Lincoln Heights neighborhood over the span of 2024, he’d set up an old CRT TV and watched films on mute for inspiration—anything from Andrei Tarkovsky and Alejandro Jodorowsky to Hype Williams’ Nas and DMX-starring Belly. If this sounds like an unlikely combination, Mareux fits them together naturally in Nonstop Romance, blending smeared tape-residue synths into readymade club hits.

On Nonstop Romance, Mareux prioritizes feel and vibe over clarity. Still, anyone who fell in love with his music via his viral cover of The Cure’s “The Perfect Girl” (now certified platinum Stateside, and gold in France) or the heartfelt noir of 2023’s Lovers from the Past will find plenty to swoon over here. This is an album that wears its title on its sleeve; an earnest manifestation. Though he brings a meticulous ear to the across this album, it’s all in service to a greater goal. “I only care about one thing,” Mareux says, “and that’s being in love.”

Pre-Order/Save Nonstop Romance

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Dag Och Natt announce their debut album with its first single – “Iron Man.”

Today Labrador Records introduce Stockholm-based four-piece Dag och Natt,who are set to release their debut album ‘Years And Years’ on August 15th. With today’s announcement they have shared the lusciously dazed new single, “Iron Man“.

Speaking on the track, the band said “‘Iron Man’ could be about staying the course, step by step, keeping a steady pace. A quiet strength that moves you forward. Sometimes, just going with a vague purpose is enough. There is a calm power in simply carrying on.”

“Iron Man” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4mD-VAMG14

Dag och Natt is a band from Stockholm, Sweden, whose music strikes a delicate balance between dense and airy. Their melodies are intricately layered, often weaving together with a sense of fluidity, with vocals split between Elia Mårtensson Almegård, Sara Engström and Maja Zetterberg.

The name Dag och Natt, which translates to Day and Night, was chosen with intention, reflecting the band’s desire to explore both the light and dark aspects of life through their music.

Initially, the band entertained the idea of forming two separate projects – one light and one dark – with the same members. However, they soon abandoned this concept in favour of bringing everything together under the name Dag och Natt. The result is an album that embodies both joy and struggle, brightness and shadows, mirroring the interplay between day and night.

The band’s creative process is both collaborative and intuitive. Writing sessions often take place in a secluded cabin in the woods, where the focus is solely on the music. There is no predetermined structure or rhythm – instead, Sara often begins with a bassline, and Maja and Elia contribute their guitar parts, before Lars Blume Jensen adds percussion. This natural and organic approach allows the music to develop in an effortless and fluid way, rooted in trust and mutual respect among the members.

Lyrically, the band explores themes of duality – the contrasts between love and loneliness, strength and vulnerability, connection and isolation. Their debut album reflects these themes, presenting a sonic landscape where light and darkness coexist. Rather than offering answers, Dag och Natt seeks to create space for listeners to reflect on their own experiences, embracing both the challenges and the beauty of life.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity!]

Levitation Austin announces its 2025 lineup and a new location.

LEVITATION returns with another stacked four-day lineup and new festival grounds, Palmer Events Center, in addition to nightly venue programming across Austin’s Downtown Red River District. The expanded footprint brings larger acts to the weekend, and the festival’s Night Shows continue to offer intimate club experiences downtown, celebrating the independent music scene—from up-and-comers to national headliners. For over a decade, LEVITATION has delivered thoughtfully curated lineups that span psych, dream pop, punk, indie, metal, darkwave, electronic and all genres in between. Passes for LEVITATION 2025 are now on sale, and night show tickets can be purchased separately – all at the ticket link HERE.

Palmer Events Center will serve as the heart and main venue for LEVITATION 2025. Located on the shores of Town Lake overlooking the Austin skyline, the venue features an expansive 75,000 square foot environment for the indoor stage, providing a huge canvas for the artists on stage and 360 degree lighting and visuals, day or night. The indoor experience is accompanied by an outdoor stage set to a backdrop of lush trees and the Austin skyline. The new venue offers amenities like an air-conditioned, indoor experience for the main stage, ample outdoor green space, plenty of room to stretch out and hang, and an immersive setting for the music and visual experience that LEVITATION is known to offer. The new location brings abundant space for interactive art and video installations, a DJ stage, vintage clothing pop-ups, gear and record vendors, a food truck court, an expanded poster show, and much more to explore throughout the weekend.

“We’ve been searching for the right location to bring a multi-stage experience back to LEVITATION for years, and we found it right downtown. The venue offers a huge upgrade in production overall with endless possibilities for the visual experience, and great amenities – air conditioning, nice bathrooms, ample parking, a giant shaded outdoor courtyard, along with the production infrastructure needed for a world-class show. All of that in a beautiful park in the heart of the city,” explains LEVITATION co-founder and festival director Rob Fitzpatrick. “and the proximity to downtown means we’re still able to host shows in our Red River venues; these clubs are the heart and soul of our music scene in Austin and it wouldn’t be LEVITATION without them. We’re very excited to create something remarkable and built to last in this new home for the festival, and we can’t wait to experience this lineup with everyone in September.”

“LEVITATION 2025 brings back a larger multi-stage festival in the spirit of when it was held at the ranch – and just steps from where Fun Fun Fun Fest called home – but this time we’re doing it at a venue that has everything we need – and with a roof over our head,” adds Resound Presents founder Graham Williams. “We couldn’t be more excited about the new venue and the future of LEVITATION in this new space.”

The central festival hub at Palmer Events Center will host some of LEVITATION’s biggest acts with daytime and evening performances. Later each night, attendees can explore the city’s famed Red River and downtown venues with night shows running Thursday through Sunday at Stubb’s, Mohawk, Elysium, Kingdom, 29th St Ballroom, 13th Floor and more.

Friday, September 26 starts off strong and heavy at Palmer Event Center – stacking metal titans MASTODON, the only Texas show from the reunited ACID BATH, progressive death metal phenoms BLOOD INCANTATION and Austin’s own doom metal masters THE SWORD, plus more on the main festival grounds.

Saturday brings a head-spinning bill topped with NYC’s indie greats TV ON THE RADIO, the damaged grooves of UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA, infamous psych outfit THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, dream rockers BLONDE REDHEAD, along with WEDNESDAY, LA FEMME, MODEL/ACTRIZ and more.

Sunday’s lineup combines a 90s indie dream lineup with a rare performance from PAVEMENT, indie stalwarts BUILT TO SPILL and DESTROYER with heavy dose of psychedelic rock from festival founders THE BLACK ANGELS, psych punks FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS, A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS and BEING DEAD.

The festival nighttime programming kicks off as early as Wednesday, September 24 and runs through the night of Sunday, September 28, featuring acts like MDOU MOCTAR, BEACH FOSSILS, BOY HARSHER, SUDAN ARCHIVES, THE DANDY WARHOLS, NEAL FRANCIS, DRUG DEALER and many more.

The full LEVITATION 2025 lineup at Palmer Events Center, with all corresponding night show programming, is detailed below.

PALMER EVENTS CENTER LINEUP

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
MASTODON • ACID BATH
THE SWORD • BLOOD INCANTATION
THE ARMED • SECRET CHIEFS 3 • CASTLE RAT

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
TV ON THE RADIO
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA
THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
BLONDE REDHEAD • WEDNESDAY • LA FEMME
THE RAVEONETTES • SWERVEDRIVER • MODEL/ACTRIZ
GOAT GIRL • YIN YIN • HOOVERiii

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
PAVEMENT
THE BLACK ANGELS • BUILT TO SPILL
DESTROYER • FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS • BEING DEAD
UPCHUCK • DILES QUE NO ME MATEN • POPULATION II

+ MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED

NIGHT SHOWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 – KICKOFF NIGHT
MDOU MOCTAR + MORE @ RADIO/EAST
BEACH FOSSILS + LAUNDER + GIRLPUPPY @ MOHAWK

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
BOY HARSHER + MARTIN REV + KUMO 99 @ STUBBS
NEAL FRANCIS + MORE @ MOHAWK
WARMSUSCHER + MORE @ 13TH Floor
TEEN SUICIDE + MORE @ BALLROOM
DESIRE + JOHNNY JEWEL @ ELYSIUM
STARJUNK 95 + DR. GABBA @ KINGDOM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
SUDAN ARCHIVES + JAMILA WOODS + SINKANE @ STUBBS
THE DANDY WARHOLS + KULA SHAKER @ MOHAWK
PIXEL GRIP + MORE @ ELYSIUM
ROSE CITY BAND + MORE @ BALLROOM

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
PUP + JEFF ROSENSTOCK @ RADIO/EAST
DRUGDEALER + SKINSHAPE + SONS OF SEVILLA @ MOHAWK
PILE + FACS @ BALLROOM
LA FEMME (DJ) + MARIE DAVIDSON (LIVE) @ KINGDOM

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
BAMBARA + OMNI @ 13TH FLOOR

For updates and additional information on this year’s festival, keep up with LEVITATION on Instagram H ERE and at levitation.fm.

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[Thanks to Bailey at Another Side!]

Durand Jones and The Indications take you on a “Lover’s Holiday” with their new single.

Durand Jones & The Indications — the trio of Durand Jones, Aaron Frazer, and Blake Rhein — release “Lovers’ Holiday,” the third single/video from their forthcoming album, Flowers out June 27th on Dead Oceans. On the heels of last month’s “Flower Moon,” hailed by Billboard as “one of their most irresistible dancefloor tracks yet,” “Lovers’ Holiday” is a fantasy getaway track fit for cruising and sees the band delighting in the softer side of soul and disco. Of the track, the band says: “We didn’t want to give ourselves any rules with ‘Lover’s Holiday.’ We wanted to make something authentic to our sound, while also giving our fans— the lovers— something to swoon about.”

Accordingly, the song’s video featuring videography by Andy Woodward and Kimo Kennedy and editing by Rena Johnson depicts The Indications performing on sea-side cliffs and by grass-covered mountains.

Watch the Video for “Lovers’ Holiday”

For as far as Durand Jones & The Indications have come, Flowers grew from the desire to return to their roots in a Bloomington basement, a space where they first found camaraderie in gritty funk and Southern soul that would inspire their self-titled debut. As on that 2016 release, The Indications prioritized collaboration while creating Flowers. Much of the self-produced album was written together at Rhein’s Chicago studio, and many tracks are based on one-take demos — proof that vibes were particularly high, each member pulling from their refined tool kits with ease.

With Flowers, a strong sense of the band’s maturation and conviction is reflected across its 11 songs. “All of these songs touch on such mature topics, things that we never got to sing about before,” says Jones. “We are all in our 30s, have all been through ups and downs in our personal lives and professional lives, and flowers are a sign of maturity, growth, spring, productivity.” Frazer adds: “We took the spirit of play that started the project, and added in the wisdom and lessons we’ve acquired through the years.”

Following their recent triumphant European headline run which included shows supporting Lenny Kravitz, the band will kick off an expansive North American tour in September with some of their largest shows yet. Today, they announce their return overseas with a run of shows in the EU and UK in February 2026, with stops in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and more. A full list of dates is available below, and tickets are available here.

Pre-order / Pre-save Flowers

Watch the Video for “Flower Moon”

Watch the Video for “Been So Long”

Durand Jones & The Indications Tour Dates
(New Dates in Bold)
Fri. July 4 – East Sussex, UK @ Love Supreme Jazz Festival
Sun. July 6 – Ewijk, NL @ Down The Rabbit Hole
Sun. July 6 – Werchter, BE @ Werchter Festival Park
Wed. Sept. 10 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre *
Thu. Sept. 11 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren * — SOLD OUT
Fri. Sept. 12 – Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theater *
Sat. Sept. 13 – Abiquiú, NM @ Blossoms & Bones
Mon. Sept. 15 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre *
Tue. Sept. 16 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater *
Thu. Sept. 18 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
Fri. Sept. 19 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl *
Sun. Sept. 21 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
Tue. Sept. 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
Fri. Sept. 26 – Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues *
Sat. Sept. 27 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *
Tue. Sept. 30 – Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI Annex *
Wed. Oct. 1 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed *
Fri. Oct. 3 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre *
Sat. Oct 4 – Fort Collins, CO @ Washington’s *
Sun. Oct. 5 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot *
Tue. Oct. 7 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *
Fri. Oct 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre * — SOLD OUT
Sat. Oct. 11 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl *
Thu. Oct. 23 – Del Mar, CA @ The Sound *
Fri. Oct. 24 – Sacramento, CA @ Channel 24 *
Mon. Oct. 27 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
Tue. Oct. 28 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom * — SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 29 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo *
Fri. Oct. 31 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory *
Sat. Nov. 1 – Bozeman, MT @ The ELM *
Mon. Nov 3 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
Tue. Nov 4 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom *
Wed. Nov 5 – Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall *
Fri. Nov. 7 – Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall *
Sat. Nov 8 – Montreal, QC @ Beanfield Theatre *
Sun. Nov. 9 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom *
Tue. Nov 11 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
Wed. Nov. 12 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel *
Fri. Nov. 14 – New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s *
Sat. Nov. 15 – Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater *
Sun. Nov. 16 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues *
Tue. Feb. 10 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Galvanizers
Wed. Feb. 11 – Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall
Thu. Feb. 12 – London, UK @ Roundhouse
Sat. – Feb. 14, Paris FR @ Le Trianon
Sun. Feb. 15 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
Tue. Feb. 17 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Main Room

* = w/ The Psycodelics

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Gelli Haha drops a fun new electro track – “Spit.”

In Gelli Haha’s latest single “Spit” – only S-words are allowed. The track has underground-club grit, with a strong, consistent bass line and strange electronic effects. On “Spit”, participation is encouraged and surrender is required. The accompanying music video, directed by David Gutel, features Gelli strapped to a spiraling operation board as Gelli Kompany scientists conduct a surreal experiment on her.

Listen / Playlist / Share “Spit” | Official Music Video Here

A shapeshifter, a sonic acrobat, a performer with one foot in the cosmos and the other in arthouse theatrics, Gelli Haha (pronounced Jelly-Haha) is a space for pure creative chaos that exists somewhere between Studio 54 and Area 51. Gelli’s music thrives on duality: playful but profound, tongue-in-cheek but sincere. Her debut album Switcheroo, out next month via Innovative Leisure, is the soundtrack to the Gelliverse, a sensory adventure sphere created by Gelli.

With a shared taste for off-kilter pop and vintage gear, producer Sean Guerin (of De Lux) joined Gelli in turning freshly-formed demos into a high-voltage experiment, abandoning meticulous structure for something freer and more electrifying. Every song on Switcheroo makes use of a myriad of recording toys; wacky analog effects, such as the Eventide Harmonizer, MXR Pitch Transposer, and various Electrix units, fashion an intentionally flawed and strictly silly texture throughout the album. Switcheroo is an exercise in letting go, an inside joke turned theatrical spectacle.

Pre-Order / Pre-Save Switcheroo

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Slow Crush release title track from new album – “Thirst.”

Slow Crush have announced their new album, Thirst, on which the dynamic four piece further cement themselves at the forefront of rock and shoegaze. On Thirst, Slow Crush’s dynamic textures, propulsive rhythms and gauzy riffs glow bright as ever, but this time with more grit. Today they’ve shared the album’s leading single and title track which emerges as the defining anthem. The band tell, “‘Thirst’ is about an unquenchable desire for what’s next, with focus on essence and balance. Not losing yourself in the ever-growing distractions that surround us. A yearning pulse for renewal, ‘Thirst’ ripples with a craving for something pure, something vital. It churns with an unrelenting drive, building an electrifying momentum that surges forward and breaks through, offering both release and rebirth.”

Watch “Thirst” Official Music Video | Playlist / Listen Here

The past few years off the road have given Slow Crush space to breathe and create since the release of their two critically acclaimed albums, Aurora (2018) and Hush (2021), which have sold over several tens of thousands physical copies. When the time came to head into the studio, vocalist / bassist Isa Holliday, drummer Frederik Meeuwis, guitarists Jelle Ronsmans and Nic Placlé decamped to The Ranch in Southampton, U.K., to work with producer Lewis Johns with no expectations in mind, aside from a metamorphosis.

Thirst’s ten tracks are a thematic cascade of noise that echoes the end and bursts into new life. The riffs are heavier, the vocals are dreamier and more emotional than ever. Isa broke new ground in her vulnerability when while in the recording booth. There were several songs she couldn’t record without dissolving into tears – her deepest excavation of feelings yet.

Thirst’s overarching theme is what Isa describes as “the romance of being with a loved one”. Although being away from someone close for long periods might strain that bond at times, the return can feel glorious, the connection sparkling new again for a while. Slow Crush set out to capture the feeling of being tethered yet feeling weightless, absorbed in the surreal beauty of the quiet moments with someone.

Isa explains, “We want people to let themselves go and feel embraced by the music, so that they can experience it in 4D. That’s what we hear a lot from people who come to see us live, or people who’ve listened to our previous albums, is that we take them to another dimension. I think that’s something that we miss in this day and age with everything that’s going on in the world, making us very aware of everything outside, but not allowing us to just be in the moment as much as you should. We want to let people take a moment for themselves and let the music take them wherever they would like to go.”

Thirst sees its release August 29 via Pure Noise Records, their first for the label. Slow Crush are set for a headlining Fall run which kicks off on the East Coast in early September and covers both coasts, the midwest and more. Tickets are on sale now. See below for a full list of dates and artwork.

Pre-Order / Pre-Save Thirst

Slow Crush Live Dates:
May 23: Sniester Festival – Den Haag, NL
May 24: Eastfilly fest – Ostfildern, DE
May 30: Dunk fest – Gent, BE
Jun 21: Blender fest – Kortrijk, BE
Jun 27: Resurrection fest – Viveiro, ES
Jul 05: Breakout festival – Berlin, DE
Aug 07: Brutal Assault – Okruzni, CZ
Aug 08: Void fest – Waldmunchen, DE

Sep 04: Allentown, PA – Arrow
Sep 05: Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry
Sep 06: Boston, MA – The Sinclair
Sep 07: Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Sep 09: Montreal, QC – Bar Le Ritz
Sep 10: Toronto, ON – Velvet Underground
Sep 11: Detroit, MI – El Club
Sep 12: Chicago, IL – Reggie’s
Sep 13: Indianapolis, IN – HiFi
Sep 14: St. Louis, MO – Duck Room
Sep 16: Fort Worth, TX – Tulips
Sep 17: Austin, TX – Radio/East
Sep 19: Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
Sep 20: Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
Sep 21: Oakland, CA – Crybaby
Sep 23: Seattle, WA – El Corazon
Sep 24: Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
Sep 26: Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
Sep 27: Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre
Sep 29: Kansas City, MO – RecordBar
Oct 01: Nashville, TN – The ’58
Oct 02: Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
Oct 03: Durham, NC – The Fruit
Oct 04: Richmond, VA – The Broadberry
Oct 05: Washington, DC – Union Stage

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Bailey at Another Side.]

Durand Jones and The Indications announce U.S. fall tour dates and a new single – “Flower Moon.”

Durand Jones & The Indications — the trio of Durand Jones, Aaron Frazer, and Blake Rhein— announce a fall North American tour and release “Flower Moon,” the second single/video from their forthcoming album, Flowers out June 27th on Dead Oceans. On the heels of a successful European headline run which included shows supporting Lenny Kravitz, the band’s expansive tour includes some of their largest shows yet, with stops in New York, Chicago, LosAngeles, Toronto, and more. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 25th at 10am local time. A full list of dates is below, with tickets and further information available here.

Following lead single “Been So Long,” praised by Rated R&B as a “petal-soft tune [that] rides with the smoothness of an early ’70s soul jam,” “Flower Moon” guides listeners to an end-of-night dancefloor with Frazer’s trademark falsetto on full display. Reflecting on the track, Jones says: “It felt right to release ‘Flower Moon’ with this record. Spring is here and the flowers are blooming everywhere. We really wanted to catch that essence of the song and bring it to life for the listener. Also the Flower Moon is happening in a few weeks, so everything just seemed aligned to bring this song to our fans. It’s a feel-good tune to enjoy with friends or a loved one.” The song’s accompanying video was directed by Alec Basse.

Watch the Video for “Flower Moon”

On Flowers, The Indications’ fourth album and first since 2021’s “disco and funk infused” (Billboard) Private Space, the group leaned into a particular desire to return to their roots in a Bloomington basement, a space where they first found camaraderie in gritty funk and Southern soul that would inspire their self-titled debut. Just as they did on that 2016 release, The Indications prioritized close-knit collaboration while creating Flowers. Much of the self-produced album was written together at Rhein’s Chicago home studio, and many tracks are based on one-take demos — proof that vibes were particularly high, each member pulling from their refined tool kits with ease.

Reflecting a strong sense of the band’s maturation and conviction, the 11 songs that make up Flowers are grown and sexy, fit for cruising, and delight in the softer side of soul and disco. “All of these songs touch on such mature topics, things that we never got to sing about before,” says Jones. “We are all in our 30s, have all been through ups and downs in our personal lives and professional lives, and flowers are a sign of maturity, growth, spring, productivity.” Frazer adds: “We took the spirit of play that started the project, and added in the wisdom and lessons we’ve acquired through the years.”

Pre-order / Pre-save Flowers

Watch the Video for “Been So Long”

Durand Jones & The Indications Tour Dates
(New Dates in Bold)
Fri. July 4 – East Sussex, UK @ Love Supreme Jazz Festival
Sun. July 6 – Ewijk, NL @ Down The Rabbit Hole
Sun. July 6 – Werchter, BE @ Werchter Festival Park
Thu. Sept. 11 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren *
Fri. Sept. 12 – Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theater *
Sat. Sept. 13 – Abiquiú, NM @ Blossoms & Bones
Mon. Sept. 15 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre *
Tue. Sept. 16 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater *
Thu. Sept. 18 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
Fri. Sept. 19 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl *
Sun. Sept. 21 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
Tue. Sept. 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
Fri. Sept. 26 – Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues *
Sat. Sept. 27 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *
Tue. Sept. 30 – Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI Annex *
Wed. Oct. 1 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed *
Fri. Oct. 3 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre *
Sat. Oct 4 – Fort Collins, CO @ Washington’s *
Sun. Oct. 5 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot *
Tue. Oct. 7 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *
Fri. Oct 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre *
Sat. Oct. 11 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl *
Thu. Oct. 23 – Del Mar, CA @ The Sound *
Fri. Oct. 24 – Sacramento, CA @ Channel 24 *
Mon. Oct. 27 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
Tue. Oct. 28 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom *
Wed. Oct. 29 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo *
Fri. Oct. 31 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory *
Sat. Nov. 1 – Bozeman, MT @ The ELM *
Mon. Nov 3 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
Tue. Nov 4 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom *
Wed. Nov 5 – Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall *
Fri. Nov. 7 – Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall *
Sat. Nov 8 – Montreal, QC @ Beanfield Theatre *
Sun. Nov. 9 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom *
Tue. Nov 11 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
Wed. Nov. 12 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel *
Fri. Nov. 14 – New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s *
Sat. Nov. 15 – Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater *
Sun. Nov. 16 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues *

* = w/ The Psycodelics

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam from Pitch Perfect PR.]