News – Page 25 – 7th Level Music

Sleepbomb releases “Refuge / Resist,” latest single from upcoming album “The Sleeping Dead.”

“Refuge/Resist is like the film (Night of the Living Dead) itself.” – explains Clair Hamard. ‘Alternating long, uncertain pauses with both dramatic and physical tension. Just like the scene in the movie that presents characters at complete odds with each other building up a precarious shelter threatened by the zombies amassing outside, the harmonic construction of this track is constantly challenged by an imminent dissonant attack.’

With every moment of calmness, supported by repetitive drone-sounds, Sleepbomb deliver the symbiosis of etherial vocal harmonies and agressive riffing. While the absence of any real resolution at the end of the track heralds the future failure of the plan hatched by the characters, unable to cooperate.

According to bassist, Tim Gotch, “Refuse/Resist” reflects the dichotomy of the film “as a whole.” “It begins as a refuge for Barbara, who enters the seemingly deserted house while fleeing from the zombie. She quickly discovers that the house is less of a refuge than she thought, exacerbated by the abrupt arrival of Ben. Ben quickly proves himself to not be a threat as he dispatches multiple zombies.”

Subtitled Excerpts from their score for George Romero’s 1968 ‘Night of the Living Dead‘ and based on their full length score for the film, The Sleeping Dead is an epic serving of filmic doom. Starting with the drum parts fully synchronized with the cinematic imagery, during the recording process each track was pared down to the essential character of each scene from the most influential zombie film of them all. ‘Unlike ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, we knew that the final product would not be a fully synchronized score due to rights issues and the large amount of dialogue in the film.’ states Gotch. ‘This meant that we were able to edit down some of the longer sections into a “song” format and really focus on the feel of the scenes for The Sleeping Dead record itself rather than retaining the full length of tracks just for timing requirements.’

Recorded, mixed and mastered at Earhammer Studios by Greg Wilkinson (High on Fire, Autopsy), The Sleeping Dead shows Sleepbomb in a heavy, focused mood.

Pre-order The Sleeping Dead coming out this January 24 via Koolarrow/Consouling Sounds here. Or on Bandcamp here.

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Open Head share new single, “N.Y. Frills,” ahead of upcoming new album due January 24, 2025.

The sound of What Is Success, Open Head’s second album and debut for Wharf Cat Records (out Jan 24), started with an argument in the practice space. The members of the heaviest band in Kingston, NY, and perhaps the entire world, were tired of their instruments. The post-punk they’d been playing together for the previous five years or so was beginning to feel like a sort of prison—the opposite of the freedom they initially got together to pursue.

“Nothing sounded good,” remembers Jared Ashdown, one of the band’s two guitarist-vocalists. “It was, ‘I hate my guitar,’ ‘I hate my bass,’ Alright, then let’s stop playing them.”

Something clicked. Bassist Jonathan McCarthy gravitated toward synthesizer, playing low notes like idling hovercraft. Ashdown picked up a sampler loaded with industrial field recordings made by drummer Daniel Scwhartz, running them through a bevy of effects pedals and using them as uncanny percussion instruments. Schwartz himself began incorporating rhythms drawn from Open Head’s mutual love of left-field electronic dance music. Rather than actually putting down their guitars, Brandon Minnervini and Ashdown delved further into their ongoing exploration of extended techniques, turning their instruments into celestial chimes or electric motors, sometimes vast and textural and other times pinprick-precise.

This new approach has paid dividends for Open Head, who have been attracting more and more attention of late. Recent underground favorites, who have shared stages with bands like, Geese, Dummy, Show Me The Body, Cola, and Water From Your Eyes over the past couple of years, the band’s newest material has come in for critical praise as well, with early singles “Catacomb” and “House” attracting attention from Pitchfork, Stereogum, Consequence, BrooklynVegan and Post-Trash who described “House” as “a pummeling, ruinous single that draws deep from the well of NYC avant-garde.”

Today, the band are back with a new preview of their LP, a track called “N.Y. Frills” that is premiering with FLOOD.

Open Head say of the track:

In a sort of homage to New York No-Wave, N.Y. Frills is an encounter with the monotone Goliath that is Manhattan. Our guitarist Brandon Minnervini sings the song, and together with bassist Jon McCarthy he wrote it while working for a fabrication business in Kingston, sanding designer aluminum shelving. Every so often, Brandon would be tasked with delivering the products to ultra-wealthy patrons in New York City.

A drive that started at a dusty Kingston warehouse would end in the alien opulence of a Manhattan penthouse, or a private AI sports betting clubs, or a ‘development workshop’ full of untouched fabrication machines occupying prime manhattan real-estate, and then back again. Brandon brushed up against the type of wealth most never see. The song is a meditation on contact with those who live with such extravagance, and their detachment from those who make it possible on physical and material level. From a similar perspective the song describes Open Head’s relationship with New York City in general–one of both proximity and distance, where the city is always within reach, yet the band is always a visitor, an outsider to its tempo, its density and its size.

Lyrically, the song is the return journey from a brush with the extravagant. It begins in the high-rise, amidst the luxury class, and with each verse drops “lower still,” until the narrator sinks to become the ground itself—no different than the physical earth that supports the weight of the city. “Heaven’s gate, sink and wait, object love, interest rates.”

LISTEN TO OPEN HEAD’S “N.Y. FRILLS”

PREORDER WHAT IS SUCCESS HERE

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Camp Saint Helene is featured on Angel Olsen’s upcoming “Cosmic Waves Volume 1” album with a new single – “Wonder Now.”

Last week, Angel Olsen announced Cosmic Waves Volume 1, out December 6th via somethingscosmic. Cosmic Waves Volume 1 is a compilation project consisting of both new, original songs from Camp Saint Helene, Poppy Jean Crawford, Coffin Prick, Sarah Grace White, and Maxim Ludwig on Side A, and a collection of covers from the aforementioned artists performed and recorded by Olsen on Side B. The artists on Cosmic Waves Volume I draw from a sprawling, myriad sounds, eras and inspirations, and unsurprisingly, each song illuminates a new artist Olsen finds spectacular. Hearing Olsen refract the artists’ songs back to them reveals the depth of Olsen’s imagination, while spotlighting multiple exciting artists at work.

On the heels of “Glamorous” by Poppy Jean Crawford and “The Takeover (Poppy Jean Crawford Cover)” by Angel Olsen come two new songs from the compilation: the beautiful, big sky folk-oriented “Wonder Now” by Camp Saint Helene and “Farfisa Song (Camp Saint Helene Cover)” by Angel Olsen.

Created by Elizabeth Celeste Ibarra, Dylan Nowik, Wesley Harper and Alex Wernquest, Catskills, NY-based Camp Saint Helene approach their craft akin to a ritual, leaning into the notion that art and expression are sacred experiences on an overstimulated planet. Often informed by the spirit of a defunct Christian-summer camp turned arts-colony deep within the mountains of New York, their music searches for shimmers of hope amidst hints of doom and invites listeners on a journey of self-discovery amidst shifting perspectives.

Describing her introduction to Camp Saint Helene, Angel says “We were driving to Trust, NC to shoot the cover and campaign for Big Time and Silken Weinberg and Angela Ricciardi were introducing me to some projects they were about to work on – one being for the band Camp Saint Helene, an album that was the perfect backdrop of cult folk for our adventure into the wild mountains of Buncombe county. After our shoot wrapped, I kept coming back to the record and feeling like it had encapsulated the memory of a chapter ending, and when I want to go back to the days of sunset at max patch, I put it on.”

Watch Visualizer for Camp Saint Helene’s “Wonder Now”

Stream “Farfisa Song (Camp Saint Helene Cover)” by Angel Olsen

On the concept of a compilation reimagined as a dialogue, Olsen explains “I personally always learn something new about the process when I’m engaging someone else’s words and melodies in such a close way. It’s fun to write and make my own stuff, but listening to and putting myself into various different styles of songs can lead to new ways of thinking and creating.”

On December 6th, somethingscosmic will present the Cosmic Waves Volume 1 release show at In The Meantime in Los Angeles. The bill will include Camp Saint Helene, Sarah Grace White, Maxim Ludwig, Poppy Jean Crawford, Coffin Prick (DJ), and special guests.

Pre-order Cosmic Waves Volume 1

Stream “Glamorous” by Poppy Jean Crawford

Watch Visualizer for Poppy Jean Crawford’s “Glamorous”

Stream “The Takeover (Poppy Jean Crawford Cover)” by Angel Olsen

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[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

You’re going to “Love” Lambrini Girls’ new single.

Lambrini Girls (Phoebe Lunny and Lilly Macieira) today share new single ‘Love’ from their much anticipated debut album Who Let The Dogs Out released 10th January 2025 via City Slang. With their headline tour next year moving quickly, they also announce a string of intimate record in-store performance to join the records release.

Who Let The Dogs Out is a take-no-prisoners debut from one of the UK’s most fun and fearless bands, ripping through a laundry list of social ills, and is a raw distillation of Lambrini Girls’ anger, energy, and charisma. The album bottles everything wrong with the modern world and shakes it up. If peppering political songs with humour is like sticking a sparkler in some bread, then this record is like a fireworks display in the factory itself: strange, dangerous, exciting.

The band say of the single, “Love” isn’t a critique on real affection—it’s about mistaking toxicity for love. Like a moth drawn to a flame, unable to discern between warmth that soothes and a fire that burns you, and getting pissed off about it.

It’s an embrace full of sharp edges, a kiss that stings. Poison pretending to be sweet, venom dressed up as nectar. When love is learned through chaos, pain feels like connection. It’s the cycle of chasing affection through suffering and holding on because you’ve never known anything else.

It’s about the bitterness and resentment from trying to find something, only to realise it remains elusive. What this song conveys isn’t love at all; in fact, it’s very opposite.”

Watch / Listen to ‘Love’ HERE

Who Let The Dogs Out

10th January 2025 via City Slang

Pre-order HERE

Tour Dates

Thur Nov 28 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool, UK #

Fri Nov 29 – Alexandra Palace – London, UK # SOLD OUT
Sat Nov 30 – Alexandra Palace – London, UK # SOLD OUT

Tue Dec 3 – Brooklyn, NY, Union Pool – USA SOLD OUT

Wed Dec 4 – Brooklyn, NY, Babys All Right – USA LOW TICKETS

Fri Jan 10 – Rough Trade – Liverpool, UK

Sat Jan 11 – Rough Trade – Nottingham, UK

Sun Jan 12 – Rough Trade – Bristol, UK

Mon Jan 14 – Rough Trade East – London, UK

Tue Jan 15 – Resident – Brighton, UK

Thu Jan 16 – Rough Trade Berlin – Germany

Tue Feb 25 – Lille, Aeronef – France
Wed Feb 26 – Nantes, Stereolux – France
Thu Feb 27 – Paris, La Maroquinerie – France LOW TICKETS
Sat Mar 1 – Ravenna, Hana Bi – Italy
Mon Mar 3 – Prague, Bike Jesus – Czech Republic
Tue Mar 4 – Leipzig, Moritzbastei – Germany
Wed Mar 5 – Berlin, Neue Zukunft – Germany
Fri Mar 7 – Stockholm, Hus7 – Sweden
Sat Mar 8 – Oslo, John Dee – Norway
Sun Mar 9 – Goteborg, Pustervik – Sweden
Tue Mar 11 – Copenhagen, Ideal Bar – Denmark LOW TICKETS
Thu Mar 13 – Rotterdam , Rotown – Netherlands LOW TICKETS
Fri Mar 14 – Amsterdam, Melkweg – Netherlands LOW TICKETS
Sat Mar 15 – Eindhoven, Effenaar – Netherlands
Mon Mar 17 – Cologne, Bumann & Sohn – Germany

Tue Mar 18 – Amiens, La Lune Des Pirates – France
Wed Mar 19 – Luxembourg, Rotondes – Luxembourg
Thu Mar 20 – Reims, La Cartonnerie – France
Fri Mar 21 – Rouen, Le 106 – France

Sat Mar 22 – Brussels, AB Club – Belgium SOLD OUT

Tue Apr 1 – The Fleece – Bristol, UK SOLD OUT
Wed Apr 2 – Papillion – Southampton, UK UPGRADED / LOW TICKETS
Thu Apr 3 – Castle & Falcon – Birmingham, UK UPGRADED
Fri Apr 4 – Future Yard – Birkenhead, UK
Sat Apr 5 – Whelans – Dublin, Ireland
Mon Apr 7 – The Crescent – York, UK
Tue Apr 8 – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK SOLD OUT
Wed Apr 9 – Saint Lukes – Glasgow, UK UPGRADED
Thu Apr 10 – Gorilla – Manchester, UK
Fri Apr 11 – Rescue Rooms – Nottingham, UK SOLD OUT
Sat Apr 12 – Chalk – Brighton, UK
Thu Apr 17 – Electric Brixton – London, UK

Sat Aug 9 – Gunnersbury Park – London, UK +

# supporting IDLES

*Festival

+The Libertines

Tickets available HERE

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[Thanks to Amy at After Hours PR.]

God’s Mom opens the dance floor and your thoughts with their new single, “Dallo A Me.”

God’s Mom is the collaboration of Canadian artist Bria Salmena with producer and filmmaker A. Matthews to reimagine her ancestral Calabrian vocal traditions into a distorted portrait of the present. Today they share their new single/video “Dallo A Me” out via LMDD/Bonsound, taken from their album of selected works As It Was Given which is now available exclusively to stream and download via Nina and Bandcamp.

“Dallo A Me” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv7waFX-EUA
“Dallo A Me” on other streaming services:https://ffm.to/godsmom-dalloame

As It Was Given stream/download: https://www.ninaprotocol.com/releases/as-it-was-given

Across the selected works on As It Was Given, recorded between 2020-2024, God’s Mom expands on the short bursts of dancefloor energy from their previous EP with a more panoramic and nuanced expression. Inspired by vocal traditions rooted in her Italian heritage, Salmena packs the album full of mantras, fiery assertions, and personal confessions, often explicitly regarding womanhood. Studying the polyphonic singing in Calabrese tarantella’s, documented in recordings from the 1930’s-60s, she found that songs sung by these women from her family’s native region were especially haunting: “in almost every track it was clear that singing was the purest form of expression, singing to release energy, pass the time, mourn the dead, and even happy songs are almost unlistenable at times. They sound far more raw than any punk singer I had ever heard”.

Salmena’s urge to draw on her ancestral connection with these traditions became God’s Mom’s foundation, “in order to understand why I need to express myself musically in certain ways”, she says. “The voices of these women in the recordings were the only things that could not be silenced by extreme religious and gendered oppression, and in some way, I felt I could give a voice to the women in my lineage whose only value was seen in childbearing and serving men. God’s Mom’s performance and styling are not hedonism for the sake of hedonism, it’s a reckoning”.

Salmena, who releases her solo music via Sub Pop/Royal Mountain started working with Matthews (Dime Lifters) on the selected works that is As It Was Given in 2020, following several years of intensive touring with her band FRIGS and as a member of Orville Peck’s band. Between 2020-2024, they created the varied pallet of God’s Mom’s sound, which is laden with hooks, blown-out bass, and reckless genre jumping. Moving from rave anthems to moments that feel like some forgotten 80s Vogue classic or even a melodramatic wedding song from the Calabrian coast, the album switches footing fearlessly. It presents very much like a club that has different styles of music for different rooms, depending on whether you want to come up or come down. The album carries a shadowy undercurrent that often rattles like an exorcism but can also appear hymnal and celebrates the power and beauty of community. The cacophonous group vocals that haunt the record are the connecting thread, with Salmena singing in chorale with these ghosts of the past in harmony and admiration. As It Was Given is new body music that channels an old-world spirit.

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[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Ela Minus soars “Upwards” on her new single.

Last month, Colombian artist Ela Minus announced her new album, DIA, out January 17, 2025 via Domino, and released the “swaying, cathartic dance anthem” (Brooklyn Vegan) “BROKEN.” Today, Ela unveils “UPWARDS,” presenting Ela relishing in pure pop splendor. An unabashed and addictive theme song for, as Ela says, “safeguarding yourself, your body, and your soul,” “UPWARDS” is unforgettable on first listen. It is propelled by an unrelenting pulse and sharp refrain as Ela chants over and over “I’d love to save you / but you’ve got to save yourself,” all while aggressive and busy synths bounce underneath, feeling like lasers waging a war against the song itself.

The “UPWARDS” video, which sees Ela collaborating with directors Albert Estruch & Marc Sancho (of Querida), creates a unique visual and auditory experience by featuring Ela in the center of a circle with her instruments, surrounded by cameras and screens that capture and show different angles of the action in real time.

Ela also announces several more 2025 tour dates, including headline performances throughout Australia, in London, Barcelona, Bogotá, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago (on sale this Friday, Nov. 22nd here). As Hearing Things described a recent live performance, Ela’s “hypnotic pop-techno made it feel like time had turned inside out.”

Watch the Video for Ela Minus’ “UPWARDS”

Following Ela’s charged 2020 debut, acts of rebellion, DIA is a rarified feat in electronic music, where cutting-edge production and space-shuddering sonics meet a burgeoning singer-songwriter’s real sense of self-reflection and private reckoning. Where acts of rebellion felt intentionally small, as if pounding inside the club with late-night reverie, DIA is both introspective and expansive, the wide sweep of its songs revealing more of Ela as person and producer than ever before.

Throughout the 10 songs, mixed by Marta Salogni and mastered by Heba Kadry, Ela seems to saddle a line between worlds of pop accessibility and experimental aplomb, her incandescent and catchy choruses always surrounded by meticulous and imaginative sonics. DIA is a record about becoming, from a process that entailed self-discovery at a deliberate pace to songs that seem to collectively ask where we go from here, long after we’ve been broken but long before we intend to be broken forever. “I want to be better,” Minus sings in the hook of the title track, her voice a militant chirp pulling against a plunging bassline. “I thought I was better.” Opening the mountain and exposing her deepest worries, DIA marks the next phase of Ela Minus’ career and life without declaring where any of it may or must go.

As previously announced, Synth Historyis launching an ongoing and in depth docu-series on Ela’s story and music. Preview the first episode here and second here. Ela recently launched www.forthebirds.xyz, a platform where fans can write to Ela, and she writes back, covering personal and technical topics or whatever approach grabs her interest.

Pre-order DIA

Listen to Ela Minus’ “UPWARDS”

Watchthe Video for Ela Minus’ “COMBAT”

Watch the Video for Ela Minus’ “BROKEN”

Ela Minus Live Performance Dates
(New Dates in Bold)
Sat. Dec. 14 – Berlin, DE @ Silent Green (OPIA)
Fri. Jan. 17 – Bogotá, CO @ Homecoming Release Day Show – To Be Revealed!
Sat. Feb. 1 – Manchester, UK @ Victoria Warehouse ^
Mon. Feb. 3 – Paris, FR @ Zenith *
Tue. Feb. 4 – Luxembourg, LX @ Rockhal *
Wed. Feb. 5 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli *
Thu. Feb. 6 – London, UK @ Roundhouse *
Fri. Feb. 7 – London, UK @ Roundhouse *
Sat. Feb. 8 – London, UK @ Roundhouse *
Sun. Feb. 9 – Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy *
Mon. Feb. 10 – Bristol, UK @ Bristol Beacon *
Tue. Feb. 11 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique *
Wed. Feb. 12 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique *
Fri. Feb. 14 – Berlin, DE @ Velodrom *
Sat. Feb. 15 – Barcelona, ES @ Astin (Nitsa)
Thu. Feb. 20 – London, UK @ Oslo
Fri. Mar. 7 – Moyston, AU @ Pitch Music & Arts
Sat. Mar. 8 – Meredith, AU @ Golden Plains XVII
Sun. Mar. 9 – Adelaide, AU @ WOMADelaide
Sat. Mar. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
Wed. Mar. 18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Public Records
Fri. Mar. 21 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
Thu. Mar. 27 – Mexico City, MX @ Foro Puebla
Sun. Mar. 30 – Bogotá, CO @ Estéreo Picnic

* = supporting Caribou (Live)
^ = supporting Floating Points (DJ Set)

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[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Mosswood Meltdown announces first 2025 lineup and holiday season ticket prices.

Mosswood Meltdown, “one of the premiere underground rock festivals in the country” (CBS Bay Area), returns to Oakland’s Mosswood Park July 19th & 20th, 2025. Today, the fest announces a lineup teaser, with tickets on sale now with a special, limited holiday pricing while supplies last. The line-up thus far includes a one-of-a-kind performance by famed new wave band Devo, legendary psych-rock punks Osees, celebrated Oakland rapper Kreayshawn for her first appearance in a decade, The Exploding Hearts led fearlessly by guitarist Terry Six, and Belgian punk rock band The Kids. And as in years’ past, it wouldn’t be Mosswood Meltdown without its incomparable host, John Waters.

Stay tuned to more news from Mosswood Meltdown – many more artists will be announced in the coming months.

MOSSWOOD MELTDOWN 2025 LINEUP
Devo
Osees
Kreayshawn
The Exploding Hearts
The Kids
& more to be announced

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
(Payment Plans Also Available)

General Admission
Holiday Special Tier 1 – $119
Holiday Special Tier 2 – $139
Regular Pricing Tier 1 – $159
Regular Pricing Tier 2 – $179
Regular Pricing Tier 3 – $199

VIP Admission
(VIP comes with VIP seating, swag bag, ins & outs)
Holiday Special Tier 1 – $249
Holiday Special Tier 2 – $279
Regular pricing Tier 1 – $299
Regular pricing Tier 2 – $329
Regular pricing Tier 3 – $349

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[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Angel Olsen introduces you to some of her favorite new bands, and covers them, on the upcoming “Cosmic Waves Volume 1.”

Angel Olsen announces Cosmic Waves Volume 1, the second release on Olsen’s somethingscosmic, out December 6th. Cosmic Waves Volume 1 is a compilation project featuring new, original songs curated by Olsen from Poppy Jean Crawford, Coffin Prick, Sarah Grace White, Maxim Ludwig and Camp Saint Helene on Side A, and a collection of covers from the aforementioned artists performed and recorded by Olsen on Side B.

A few years ago, Olsen quietly formed somethingscosmic, a new imprint and a home for her to have “the flexibility to release when and how I want to with the help from my longtime partners at Jagjaguwar.” Cosmic Waves Volume 1 is a compilation reimagined as a dialogue. Each song, unsurprisingly, illuminates a new artist Olsen finds spectacular. Hearing Olsen refract these artists’ songs back to them reveals the depth of Olsen’s imagination and spotlights these new talents as well. These artists draw from a sprawling, myriad sounds, eras and inspirations. Poppy Jean Crawford’s magnetic growl and guitar-god heaviness; Coffin Prick’s reckless, psychedelic fuzz; Sarah Grace White’s hypnotic voice and melody; Maxim Ludwig’s expert minimalism; and Camp Saint Helene’s beautiful, big sky folk.

Today sees the release of Cosmic Waves Volume 1 opener “Glamorous” by Crawford, and Olsen’s cover of Crawford’s “The Takeover.” When discussing Crawford, Olsen says “I remember speaking with my good friend Angela Ricciardi about Poppy starring in the film The Giver Gives to Give, and was immediately transfixed by her overall vibe and ‘30s era beauty. But it wasn’t until later when Angela shared one of Poppy’s early demo grunge songs with me that I was blown away. Poppy gives me hope that guitar music will come back. She has such a powerful voice made for pop while also having this edge to her that, for me, communicates the kind of rage I can always relate to.”

Stream “Glamorous” by Poppy Jean Crawford &
“The Takeover (Poppy Jean Crawford Cover)” by Angel Olsen

Watch Visualizer for Poppy Jean Crawford’s “Glamorous”

“As someone that emerged into the music scene through a small tape label, I’ve wanted to continue the spirit of discovery and of my debut release, Strange Cacti, while supporting and collaborating with artists and friends whose music I have been moved by. I feel there is something unique and special about covering another artist’s song. We all make it our own, or we try to, but I personally always learn something new about the process when I’m engaging someone else’s words and melodies in such a close way. It’s fun to write and make my own stuff, but listening to and putting myself into various different styles of songs can lead to new ways of thinking and creating.”

— Angel Olsen

On December 6th, somethingscosmic will present the Cosmic Waves Volume 1 release show at In The Meantime in Los Angeles. The bill will include Sarah Grace White, Maxim Ludwig, Camp Saint Helene, Poppy Jean Crawford, Coffin Prick (DJ), and special guests.

Pre-order Cosmic Waves Volume 1

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Jon Hopkins teams up with NASA (Yes, NASA.) to bring us an uplifting new single – “Forever Held.”

English electronic musician and producer Jon Hopkins presents a new single/video, “Forever Held,” in collaboration with NASA. A full orchestral piece with string arrangements by Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds, “Forever Held” is an emotive and deeply peaceful piece of cinematic music which touches on themes of our Earth and its context within space. “Forever Held” was created in collaboration with NASA & Erica Bernhard.

NASA JPL collaborated with Hopkins to compose “Forever Held” for Space for Earth,which isNASA’s first immersive experience open to the public, commissioned by NASA and located at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The song was inspired by letters written by NASA Creative Director and artist Erica Bernhard during the creation of the installation. These letters, love letters from Earth to Space, ended with the phrase “Forever enveloped in your gravity.” From this, “Forever Held” was born. It has continued to evolve, grow, and live outside of the installation. The song, stills from its music video, the original letters and pieces of the Space for Earth installation, have been engraved and encoded onto a NanoFiche disk which will be sent to the moon as part of the Lunar Codex via NASA CLPS.

In discussing the music, Hopkins says:“I took this opportunity to create a full orchestral piece. I wanted to make something timeless that would transmit the feeling of being ‘held’ by the Earth. I was thinking about the fragility and power of our planet, and of the human race’s role in its own destiny.”

The music video for “Forever Held”, created and directed by Erica Bernhard, displays the range of her art-science studio COVALENT Collaboratory. It is a visual evolution of the love letters between Space and Earth – humans being an inextricable part of these interconnected systems. It poetically envelops NASA imagery and data onto two motion-captured dancers: the ‘Space’ character comprised of NASA James Webb Space Telescope while the ‘Earth’ character is wrapped in NASA satellite imagery of the Earth at night, as they perform their eternal dance.

Bernhard adds: “Space is not merely the backdrop to human existence, but a living, breathing dimension. There are invisible communications happening between Earth and the NASA satellites that observe our planet. The view from space offers a profound shift in perspective – astronauts call this the overview effect. Hopkins’ compositions capture that shift – infusing sound with the expansiveness of space while grounding us in the essence and rhythms of life on Earth. His soundscapes act as a bridge between these realms, translating the awe and wonder of space and Earth into a sonic and immersive journey that asks us to consider our place in the universe and our responsibility to the planet.”

Ahead of today’s single release, Coldplay used“Forever Held” to open their new album Moon Music and their Pyramid-headlining slot at this year’s Glastonbury. Hopkins also featured on the latest iteration of Charli XCX’s Brat, contributing to “I might say something stupid” with The 1975 on Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.

Watch the Video For “Forever Held”

Jon Hopkins recently released his latest studio album RITUAL,a 41-minute ceremonial epic built from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay. Having premiered the album at collective immersive audio listening experiences around the globe ahead of its release, Hopkins is pleased to present the first large-scale event at London’s EartH Theatre next month which has already sold out. There will be a live piano performance and a Q&A with Hopkins and his collaborator 7RAYS.

Additionally, Hopkins will perform at London’s Southbank Centre with Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National on December 6thas part of the London premiere of All of This Unreal Time featuring actor Cillian Murphy. They will also perform at Manchester’s Aviva Studios on December 7th. Hopkins and The Dessners composed the soundtrack for All of This Unreal Time, which was written by Max Porter and directed by Aoife McArdle.

RITUAL is available to buy on DomMart-exclusive double clear vinyl (with artwork print and etching on one side of the vinyl), standard double vinyl, CD and digitally.

About NASA’s Space for Earth installation:
The interactive physical exhibit is located in the east lobby of NASA Headquarters in Washington DC, where visitors are invited to see Earth as NASA astronauts see it from space. Open M-F, 8:30AM – 5:30PM. https://earth.gov/

Stream/Purchase RITUAL :DomMart |Digital

Watch the Video for “RITUAL (evocation)”

Watch the Video For “RITUAL (palace)”

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Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory make you a little less afraid with their new single – “Afterlife.”

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory announce their self-titled debut album, out February 7th via Jagjaguwar, and release the lead single/video, “Afterlife.” Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory presents an exhilarating new dimension of Van Etten’s sound and songwriting. For the first time, it was written and recorded in total collaboration with her band — Jorge Balbi (drums, machines), Devra Hoff (bass, vocals), and Teeny Lieberson (synth, piano, guitar, vocals) — allowing Van Etten the freedom that comes by letting go. The themes are timeless, classic Sharon, but the sounds are new, wholly realized and sharp as glass.

This new approach began while rehearsing in the desert for an upcoming tour when Van Etten invited her band into the creative process: “For the first time in my life I asked the band if we could just jam. Words that have never come out of my mouth – ever! But I loved all the sounds we were getting. I was curious – what would happen?” Magic, apparently. “In an hour we wrote two songs that ended up becoming ‘I Can’t Imagine’ and ‘Southern Life.’”

The album was recorded at Eurythmics’ former studio, The Church, a perfect match for the band’s mystical mix of electronics and analog textures. Producer Marta Salogni (Bjork, Bon Iver, Animal Collective, Mica Levi) was vital as both a connector and a producer for “her love of synths and sense of adventure” and adeptness in “embracing the darkness and the unique sounds we had honed in the writing process,” comments Van Etten.

On “Afterlife,” the album’s sweetly cascading lead single, popcorn synths mesmerize as they dance around the words and melody: “Will you see me in the afterlife?/Will you tell me what you think it’s like/Come and tell me it’ll be alright?/Will I see you in the afterlife?” Despite the weighty subject matter, or maybe because of it, it’s lifted up by The Attachment Theory’s new, almost euphoric sound.

The song’s video, directed by Susu Laroche, collects footage of the band debuting many of the album songs in London’s intimate 100 Club in the midst of recording the album.

Watch the Video for “Afterlife”

Reflecting on this new artistic frame of mind and the art of collectively writing together, Van Etten muses, “Sometimes it’s exciting, sometimes it’s scary, sometimes you feel stuck. It’s like every day feels a little different – just being at peace with whatever you’re feeling and whoever you are and how you relate to people in that moment. If I can just keep a sense of openness while knowing that my feelings change every day, that is all I can do right now. That and try to be the best person I can be while letting other people be who they are and not taking it personally and just being. I’m not there, but I’m trying to be there every day.” With Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Van Etten deepens the discourse that animates so much of her catalog, exploring what it is to be simply human. This is her genius – oblique, but also relevant and personal.

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory will tour Europe and the UK following the album’s release. Special guest Nabihah Iqbal will be support on the tour.

Portions of the above text are pulled from the album bio by Lol Tolhurst.

Pre-order Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory Tour Dates
Fri. Feb. 28 – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller *
Sat. Mar. 1 – Stockholm, SE @ Fållan *
Sun. Mar. 2 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega *
Tue. Mar. 4 – Berlin, DE @ Astra Kulturhaus *
Thu. Mar. 6 – Paris, FR @ Le Trianon *
Fri. Mar. 7 – Antwerp, BE @ De Roma *
Sat. Mar. 8 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso *
Mon. Mar. 10 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall *
Tue. Mar. 11 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall *
Wed. Mar. 12 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom *

* with special guest Nabihah Iqbal

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]