Month: August 2020

Dune is one of the most-anticipated movies of 2020, assuming it comes out in 2020. As for now, director Denis Villeneuve’s follow-up to Blade Runner 2049 starring Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and high school locker dreamboat Timothée Chalamet is set to come out on December 18, which should give you enough time to finish Frank Herbert’s book. Maybe.

If you do decide to read it, be sure to picture Chalamet, not Kyle MacLachlan, as protagonist Paul Atreides. Villeneuve knew that the Little Women star was the right choice to play the character for “several reasons,” the Arrival filmmaker said during a chat for the Shanghai International Film Festival. “He is a phenomenal actor. He is someone that has a lot of depth, someone that is very mature for his age because Paul Atreides is an old soul in a young body, and Timothée has that… Also, he has features that remind me of old school Hollywood stars. He’s a real movie star. He has that insane charisma. Insane charisma. You put Timothée in front of a camera and it’s an explosion.”

In other words, Chalamet’s acting is hella tight.

Villeneuve also compared Momoa to a “ballet dancer when he fights,” complimented Ferguson for being a “great artist,” and called Isaac “very hunky.” Oh wait, that was me. Villeneuve said he’s “one of the best actors working today.” Both can be true.

(Via Collider)

The music industry is always changing, but these changes have perhaps never come so rapidly as they have in 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has shut down, or at the very least radically changed, many areas of life, and that includes how musicians do what they do. A lot of artists rely on touring for a substantial portion of their income, so closed venues present a new challenge. How much money artists make (or don’t) from streaming their music on Spotify has long been a heated conversation, and now a new wrinkle has been added.

Spotify issued a quarterly letter to shareholders last week (as is a regular occurrence), and it notes, “Growth in the number of artists making up our top tier — those accounting for the top 90% of streams — is accelerating; that cohort now stands at over 43,000 artists, up 43% from 30,000 one year ago.”

As Music Business Worldwide Tim Ingham founder notes in a new Rolling Stone column, Spotify routinely writes in its annual results that it wants “to unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art.” Based on that information, Ingham did some math, and it turns out Spotify’s goal is a lofty one. As Ingham notes, “if Spotify can sustain its current annual pace of ‘top tier’ growth (+13,000 per year) forever more, it would take the company nearly 74 years to transform the 43,000 Club into the 1,000,000 Club.”

There are some eye-opening takeaways between the thesis and conclusion as well. For example, Ingham says the data “suggests that those 2.96 million ‘bottom tier’ Spotify artists would have earned an average of approximately $47 each in Q2. Or just over $15 per month.”

Check out the full column here.

Taylor Swift didn’t give much warning before dropping her eighth studio record Folklore last week. Working with musicians like Bon Iver and The National’s Aaron Dessner, many are touting Folklore Swift’s most indie-leaning record yet and fans are clearly loving it.

Upon its release, the record was streamed so many times that it quickly soared to No. 1 on the Billboard album charts in almost no time at all. But Folklore’s impressive reception didn’t stop there. Her track “Cardigan” has also debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 charts, making Swift the first musician to ever have an album and a single debut at No. 1 concurrently.

Folklore marks Swift’s seventh consecutive No. 1 album after it garnered 846,000 equivalent album units in its first week. While “Cardigan” reached the top of the charts, it wasn’t the only Folklore song to make the Top 10. Swift’s track “The 1” came in at No. 4, and her Bon Iver collaboration “Exile” debuted at No. 6. That makes “Exile” the first top-10 song for Bon Iver.

In total, this week’s Hot 100 chart featured every single one of the 16 Folklore tracks, meaning she has now charted 113 songs on the Hot 100 in her career history. The number puts her behind Drake, who has had 224 on the Hot 100, the Glee cast, which has had 207, and Lil Wayne, who has had 169 songs on the Hot 100.

Check out this week’s Hot 100 Top 10 charting songs above.

Folklore is out now via Republic. Get it here.

Ryan Pollie isn’t afraid to shake things up. After earning acclaim performing as Los Angeles Police Department, he made a solo pivot and released an excellent self-titled album under his own name last year. Now his creative restlessness is on display again: Today, Pollie introduces his latest musical endeavor, a new project called Total Revenge.

The self-titled debut Total Revenge album is set for release on September 4, and today, Pollie has shared a video (which was filmed in an abandoned Six Flags) for “The Fair.” Press materials describe the song, “It recalls a failed summer romance, a deserted fairground where the rides are being torn down, and a giant field is littered with trash and half eaten corn dogs.”

The single serves as a declaration that Total Revenge will be a different beast than Ryan Pollie. Press materials contrasted the two projects well: “There is nothing on the record that isn’t dirty, crunchy, or f*cked up. ​Pollie’s​ last album recalled the 70’s songwriting of Graham Nash or Jackson Browne. This is closer to MXPX or The Ataris.”

Press materials also note of Pollie’s new endeavor, “​Pollie ​recorded the album himself to a four track cassette recorder using the same Distortion Pedal on every instrument. Betwixt delicious four chord summer anthems are fuzzed out acapella arrangements sung in round. Total Revenge​ is unlike anything ​Pollie ​has done before. The production is Lo-Fi to the point of sounding like a blown out speaker.”

Pollie sat down with Uproxx for an Indie Mixtape 20 interview last year, and when asked for four words that describe his music, he said, “Very Ryan, happy sad, honest, vulnerable.” Hopefully Pollie carries that spirit on to his new Total Revenge endeavors (even if the style is radically different), because the solo work he used those words to describe was a delight.

Watch the video for “The Fair” above and check out the Total Revenge art and tracklist below.

1. “The Lawn”
2. “Surgery”
3. “Cherry Red”
4. “Smog”
5. “Chalk”
6. “Upper Saddle River”
7. “The Fair”
8. “Birthday”
9. “Willow Tree”
10. “Jeep Cherokee”

Total Revenge is out 9/4 via Forged Artifacts. Pre-order it here.

The NFL is beginning training camps around the country as it looks to start its season on time and in all 32 home markets in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to see tens of thousands of cases per day in the United States.

The league has all but admitted that they accept and understand that there will be positive tests from players, coaches, and staffers, but they seem to believe they can somehow manage to avoid the outbreaks that have already caused major disruption to the MLB season a week in. Like in all of the other major sports, players have the option to play or not, with the only penalty being losing their salary for the season, and some teams, like the Patriots, have been impacted by opt outs more than others.

Odell Beckham Jr. of the Cleveland Browns isn’t planning on opting out of the season, but he also recognizes the pitfalls of the NFL’s plan and can very much see a scenario in which the league has to shut down the season. As Beckham Jr. told Lane Florsheim of WSJ Magazine recently, it’s hard for him to understand how the league can safely pull this off and he’s prepared for it to be called off eventually.

“Obviously with everything that’s going on, it doesn’t make sense why we’re trying to do this,” Beckham said. “I can understand basketball was already in the playoffs. Five-on-five basketball in an arena is going to be more intense than regular-season games. Hooping is different than playing an eleven-on-eleven contact sport where there’s 80 people in a locker room. We’re not ready for football season. So why are we trying to push forward? It’s obviously for their money. And that bothers me because there’s always been this—and I hate saying it like that—but the owners’ [attitude is], ‘Oh we own you guys,’ and just kind of that unfairness going on that they don’t see us as human. I just feel like the season shouldn’t happen and I’m prepared for it to not happen and I wouldn’t mind not having it.”

The issue the NFL faces is that there’s not really a good way to bring football back without risking significant spread within the locker room. A bubble for 32 teams with 80-man rosters plus massive coaching and training staffs, not to mention broadcast people and other necessary staffers, would have to be able to hold and regularly test upwards of 5,000 people — which would be a logistical nightmare if not an impossibility. But as we’ve seen with baseball, attempts at a sporting season in a team sport outside of a bubble is riddled with danger of an outbreak among teams that inevitably causes delays in the schedule — which in a 16-game season and a sport where double-headers are impossible, is hard to deal with.

Still, Beckham seems ready to see through the NFL’s attempt at a restart, and according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, he’s been impressed with the Browns policies in their facility and will not be opting out, noting the interview was two weeks ago.

While teams may be doing their best in their facilities to limit the spread and keep players safe, the issue is simply that football is a sport where, if someone has it, it will easily spread given the contact people have on the field. As such, the problem arises with being able to keep players from getting it while at home, where unless they are completely limiting their movement from facility to home — and that of their families — there will be risk of exposure.

Eagles coach Doug Pederson is currently at home quarantining after testing positive for the virus over the weekend, which illustrated the precarious position the NFL season is in. They’ll try to press forward, and while Beckham may be changing his tune now from when he did this interview, his initial comments may be prescient.

If it wasn’t for Nathan “Nearest” Green, what we slow sip in a dram of Tennessee whiskey would be totally different today. The “head stiller” (a title which would now be “master distiller”) perfected the Lincoln County Process, a charcoal filtration method that would come to define the output of his mentee — Jack Daniel. Nearly lost to history, Green’s legacy has been revived by Fawn Weaver, CEO and Founder of Uncle Nearest Whiskey, and head blender (and great-great-granddaughter of Green), Victoria Eady Butler.

Together, Weaver and Butler also provide space for Black voices — and black female voices — to enter the whiskey conversation. As Butler puts it, “Our mission is much greater than just people enjoying our fabulous whiskey. Our desire as a brand is not the whiskey necessarily — it’s cementing Nearest Green’s name in history so that hundreds of years from now it will never be forgotten.”

Butler’s initial appreciation for whiskey came with a bottle of Maker’s Mark 46 Bourbon. At the time, she worked as an analytical manager for the government, before briefly retiring and immediately being approached by Weaver to work at Uncle Nearest. What started as an administrative role soon transitioned into head blender after Butler successfully curated a batch of whiskey for the award-winning startup.

“Whiskey is truly in my bloodline,” she says. “It’s who I am now. It’s what I love to do. It’s my passion. So, looking back at my great-great-grandfather and what he did — I’m continuing to do much the same.”

We chatted with Butler about her journey from spirits industry outsider to head blender, her famous whiskey heritage, and why now is a better time than ever to launch the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative — focused on creating opportunities for Black people and other marginalized groups in the business.

You worked as the analytical manager at the Regional Organized Crime Info Center in Nashville for more than 20 years. At what point did you decide to take a step into the whiskey industry?

I was thinking about retiring. Fawn Weaver, our CEO and Founder of the distillery, and I talked. She knew that I was considering retirement. It just kind of unfolded. I retired from one job and started the next in days.

How challenging was that learning curve going from being this analytical manager to being head blender?

Oddly enough, it wasn’t huge. When I left the government, I left that thought process behind me. I was fortunate to have a career that I really enjoyed for all those years, but I was ready to retire. So when I came on with the distillery, I came on as the director of administration — not knowing that distilling would be down the road. I didn’t know that when I first came aboard.

Before Fawn even established the distillery, she had put in place a foundation, the Nearest Green Foundation, and that foundation affords any descendant of Nearest Green to go to college on a full-ride scholarship — tuition and books. So I knew I’d be overseeing our foundation. Then Fawn approached me to be the first descendant of Nearest Green to curate the 1884 bottle. That bottle was really to pay homage to the family in regard to having more family involvement. The thought process was to have a descendant to curate each batch of the 1884 that we put out on the market. My first bottle hit the market in July of last year. It was so well-received by the public that I curated the next batch. We won several awards and it was just elevated right up there with our ’56. People were liking it as much as our flagship 1856 that we launched the brand with.

Fawn decided that I was good at this thing and elevated me to the first female Black master blender. The learning curve wasn’t a stretch to learn and the reason why is because I had a lot of support from team members and I started researching myself, then realized after that first batch that I’m good at it. It was a natural process.

I’m always so fascinated when I hear of someone becoming a head distiller or blender coming from a completely different field. I love how humble you are about receiving advice from team members about how to blend or distill, along with research. That says a lot about your character. What have you come to appreciate even more about this unique heritage you have since operating as the head blender?

What really resonates the most is what Nearest Green did more than 160 years ago is still relevant today. Growing up and knowing what he did in regard to his contribution to Jack Daniel, you know that was just something I always knew and didn’t put a lot of emphasis on that realizing that he was once a slave man. Our people, slaves, did not get credit for anything. I accepted that. I’m realizing now as an adult female that what he gave to the spirits industry and perfected all those years ago is still relevant today. Tennessee whiskey cannot be labeled with “Tennessee whiskey” without it going through the charcoal mellowing process that my great-great-grandfather perfected.

That’s a big deal to know what he did then is still relevant in 2020. It lives on.

That’s amazing. That key feature of Tennessee whiskey coming from your great-great-grandfather speaks volumes. On a side note, I’m looking forward to the outcome of the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative.

How exciting is that!

I have an idea of the inner workings of the effort, but from your perspective, why do you think now is the right time for this initiative to be launched?

Well, given the state of our world today with so much going on in regard to Black Lives Matters – which the brand and I definitely support – seeing two companies come together, one that is led by a strong Black female and one that is still basically run by a team of white men, to see us come together to form an initiative in the honor of a once enslaved man, there is no better time to do that than now. This was the brainchild of Fawn and she’s been thinking of it for a while and had been working with the folks at Motlow State Community College to get it rolling in regard to the School of Distillation. So I think getting Jack Daniel’s involved with it is an awesome thing to happen. There’s no better time than now.

To your point, race relations right now around the globe, particularly in the States, are not too good.

And here we are in Tennessee, in the South, so there’s no better time than now. It also furthers the relationship that Jack and Nearest shared. Those two men were 28 years apart in age, one was a slave when they met, but they fostered a friendship that was unheard of. Now for that too to kind of live on, I think that’s a beautiful thing.

We love Uncle Nearest Whiskey, what are some of your recommendations outside of the brand?

I still enjoy Maker’s Mark 46. I like Weller. Fawn introduced me to E.H. Taylor, so I like that. I don’t venture out a whole lot. I have tasted a whole lot of different whiskeys since I’ve been with the distillery in the last year and a half, but those are the ones I really enjoy outside of Uncle Nearest. To be honest, there’s only been a few times since I’ve been with Uncle Nearest that I’ve had a full glass of something.

Understandable, considering you’re around whiskey all the time. What advice would you give an outsider of the spirits industry that wants in?

A lot of people, especially Black women, their hesitation is not knowing enough. If that is something you really have an interest in and a passion for, I think you just have to go for it. And this is why I say just go for it: Fawn Weaver didn’t know a thing about making whiskey. She was not in the industry prior to Uncle Nearest. She enjoyed a glass of whiskey, but she didn’t know anything about distilling and look at where our brand is today. You have to be committed, dedicated, eager to learn, and put everything you hold dear into it. You’ve got to surround yourself with people who are knowledgeable, patient, and in my case, those who are very kind.

My team members embraced me knowing that I was not in the spirits industry. They’ve shown me so much grace and patience. I have learned so much from them. The biggest thing is setting aside your fear of failure and going for it.

The Beyhive is once again upset with Noname after she offered her assessment of Beyonce’s visual album Black Is King on Friday. The notoriously protective Beyonce fans flooded Twitter with derogatory comments for the Chicago rapper, who they feel was disrespectful in pointing out her opinion that the film — a visual accompaniment to Beyonce’s Lion King tie-in album The Gift, aired exclusively on Disney+ — celebrated capitalism as much as Blackness or Africa.

On Friday, after the release of Black Is King, Noname tweeted, “We love an African aesthetic draped in capitalism. Hope we remember the Black folks on the continent whose daily lives are impacted by US imperialism. If we can uplift the imagery, I hope we can uplift those who will never be able to access it. Black liberation is a global struggle.”

Some interpreted this as an attack on Beyonce and sour grapes on Noname’s part, prompting many fans to criticize the outspoken activist/rapper. For some, Noname’s comments characterized her as a “hater” who just looked for the negative in other artists’ work. A few commenters recalled the previous tiff between Noname and fans of J. Cole, noting that Noname has been attached to multiple contentious Twitter debates.

However, others came to Noname’s defense. While many did view Noname’s comments as “overstepping,” they pointed out how the anger against her seemed misdirected and misogynistic, while others admitted she might have a point about the film.

Meanwhile, Noname herself retweeted a few articles further explaining her position, choosing to stay above the fray. Beyonce has yet to respond to the controversy, once again leaving the din of social media to focus on the business that pays her.

Check out the responses to Noname’s original tweet above.

Blxst exploded on this scene with his breakout hit “Hurt” last year, which has garnered over 3 million streams, and he’s been going crazy ever since. As an artist and producer, the multi-talented West Coast troubadour is paving his own way, literally. He produces and writes for himself and loads of other music artists that appreciate his artistic prowess.

He also works heavily with Bino Rideaux and has done great work Grammy Award-winning hip-hop acts Kendrick Lamar and DJ Mustard.

Now, the burgeoning star is tapped in Red Bull Records for a sweet partnership that allows him to maintain creative control — something a lot of artists coming into the game only dream of.

Uproxx caught up with Blxst to talk about his contemporary union with Red Bull Records as well as his debut project with the label and what it’s like being one of LA’s lionized rising musicians.

Congratulations about your partnership with Red Bull. Tell me about it!

It was mainly the understanding of my creative freedom. They seen that I already had a program and I already had a sound that I wanted to take to the next level and they was willing to stand behind and push the vision.

What would you say that vision is?

Because I feel like my sound is kind of going against the grain of what’s out right now and just standing behind what’s unpopular which is speaking on love and speaking in a positive light.

Are you able tell me more about what the partnership entails?

For right now it’s just one project EP that I’m releasing and hopefully we can continue to do business after the success of this one. So far everything’s been flowing smoothly.

That’s really rare. Some colleagues and I were talking about artists getting in these deals but they don’t really read or understand their contracts. They’re signed for like these long seven-album deals and that’s basically your entire life, right? So there’s been a lot of debate and talk about artists being indie or signing to a major label. This deal sounds very pioneering to me.

My situation is slightly different from another artist because one, I produce my own sound. I write my own music. I’m hands-on with my videos, my artwork, I do all my artwork. So going into my first deal ever, I want it to be very careful and I wanted to kind of see the workflow thing before I commit long-term. So, Red Bull is the perfect fit for that because they understood my vision. They understood my values that I feel I have with myself, even though it’s early on in the game. I felt that move was the most important move that I made up until this point.

There’s talk of Usher and Chris Brown being in a Verzuz. Who would you have in a Verzuz between Chris Brown or Usher?

It’s Chris Brown everyday for me. I’m Chris Brown gang. Anybody getting a flip on stage, he got the W.

I’m Usher over here. What’s your favorite Chris Brown song?

I don’t know, I couldn’t name one honestly, but right now it’s “Go Crazy.”

Oh man, I wish the clubs was open right now.

Man, that’s a hater.

And we missed out on “No Guidance.”

Right! We couldn’t even enjoy that to the full length.

I feel like I didn’t get lit to “No Guidance” enough, and then “Go Crazy” came out and we’re stuck in the house. What’s the name of your project and when is your it coming out?

I’m not sure if I want to announce the title yet, but it’s coming in the fall.

Do you consider yourself R&B?

I wouldn’t only consider myself that, but yeah, I am heavily influenced by R&B.

I know with certain artists, depending on how they look, media and whoever else is quick to label anybody that has a certain look and delivers melodically, they’ll automatically be like “Oh, they’re a rapper” but if you listen to their music, it sounds like they’re singing so it’s kind of confusing. Then there are some “rappers” who I feel that want to be called rappers, but they are actually singing. So I always like to ask.

Nah, I feel you. I feel like I have yet to really unleash my other side of rapping. Mainly what I’ve been putting out as of recently has been melodic, but I’m also capable of getting in another bag.

I was reading a couple of things and Nate Dogg came up. People compare you to Nate Dogg a lot and he’s West Coast legend. Does that add pressure for you?

I love it, actually. I’m a big fan of Nate Dogg and I just felt melodically, we fit in that same pocket of just being smooth and easy-going, not too aggressive on the track. We just fit perfectly with any artists, but we also have our own world we can go to.

How would you describe LA’s music climate right now?

That’s a good question. I think LA is in a solid place right now and I feel like over the years we had the stigma of being boxed in with one sound. Artists like Roddy [Ricch], we broke that barrier to where we can create anything.

Definitely. Where do you feel like your sound fits? There’s a lot of that going on in the city musically so how do you plan on standing out?

I think I’m going to stand out just because of the simple fact I produce my own sound as well. Even Bino [Rideaux]‘s sound is heavily produced by me. You know what I’m saying? So just creating my own lane to make me stand alone.

I know the city f*cks with you super heavy. I’ve seen your name for a while. How does it feel to just have the city support you relentlessly at this stage in your career?

Honestly, I’m still getting used to it. It’s overwhelming, but just going to the store and seeing people notice me locally, it’s kind of awkward, but I like being embraced and I like to love it. It just fuels me to keep going, and doing what I’ve been doing.

Oh, I love it. I know you got a lot of work with Bino, so tell me what it’s like working with him.

It’s real easy. The workflow with Bino, his recording process is just like me. He don’t write anything. He just go in the booth and just whatever he feeling. We just go back and forth whenever we in the studio together. He would go in till he finished first and I go right back in. Then it’s my verse. Then it’s on to the next one.

Is that your go-to studio partner? Just looking at you guys on video, you guys seem like super comfortable around each other.

I just feel it’s a music chemistry as far as workflow. It was as if we’d been working forever, so the chemistry just naturally clicked.

You also have a really amazing song with Mozzy that I love called “I Ain’t Perfect.” What’s it like working with him?

That was crazy. It was really out of nowhere, his manager Dave-O sent him the beat with my beat versed on it. They had no hook. I hadn’t even met Mozzy. I didn’t end up meeting Mozzy until the video shoot.

Whoa, so how did that happen?

Originally, because I also write, we did some writing camps at APG for Fast And Furious and the Scooby-Doo movie, which I got some placements on. But, Dave-O, which is Mozzy’s manager, he was conducting the sessions, but he would just randomly send me stuff. I tried a hook, it was supposed to be for somebody else to sing but Mozzy ended up rocking with the vocals, like, “Nah, let’s just keep Blxst on there.”

Who was on it originally?

I think they was trying to get Roddy on it to my understanding, but Roddy didn’t end up doing it because Mozzy was like, “Nah just keep Blxst vocals on there”. We shot the music video probably a week after.

What was it like finally meeting him in person at the video shoot? That’s wild.

He really embraced me. We actually ended up doing a session afterwards, knocked out like three songs. His workflow is smooth too and he’s from Cali, so I felt like we got that relatability.

On the song it goes, “I ain’t perfect, but I work on that at least,” which I love. Tell me about a time that really humbled you and made you sit down and work on yourself?

I would say just having my son. That really humbled me because when I first had my son, I was in a position of being confused. I fell out with my friends and it was just really a turning point on how hard I wanted to go with this music thing. Me having my son was a blessing in disguise because he gave me my motivation and my fuel that I felt like I didn’t have until this point.

Crazy times right now as we’re in the middle of a pandemic. It’s kind of crazy for artists right now where some people are just in the studio and a lot of people are just trying to get it how they can. What’s been the silver lining?

I think it’s just the challenge to become more creative whether it’s in money, thinking of new businesses, being more creative, doing stuff you’ve never tried before. I think that’s the beauty of it. It forces you to think outside the box. Being in the box, hypothetically speaking.

Is there something that you’ve done specifically that you can think of that the pandemic has kind of forced you to think outside the box and get creative?

One thing I’ve been working on is different marketing strategies for my up and coming project. So I kind of started learning how to make pitch decks and things of that nature.

So you’re getting really hands-on with the marketing?

In the future, I want to be able to know how I want to attack my projects from point A to Z. You know what I’m saying?

That’s a good look!

Charlize Theron might be the biggest action star in the world right now, and Netflix is claiming massive numbers (at least 72 million within weeks of its release) for The Old Guard, which seems destined to have a sequel, but it’s only a question of when that will happen. Now, director Gina Prince-Bythewood (who became the first Black woman to helm a comic-book movie for Hollywood) reveals that there was a lot more (virtual) butt-kicking going on behind the scenes to get the film ready for streaming.

As Prince-Bythewood reveals, the post-production team for The Old Guard was around 85% female. That’s incredible for any high-profile movie, let alone an adrenaline-fueled action picture, and as the director pointed out, this certainly “doesn’t happen, or very rarely happens on any movie, but on an action film, I guarantee you that’s never happened before.”

The post-production crew included frequent Prince-Bythewood collaborator Terilyn A. Shropshire, who became the first Black woman to edit a Hollywood comic-book movie, as well as Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Sara Bennett (Ex Machina), supervisor Hayley Williams (Annihilation, so there are two Alex Garland films looking even better than previously right about now), costume designer Mary Vogt (Crazy Rich Asians), and cinematographer Tami Reiker.

The news arrives after Chiwetel Ejiofor already called the movie an “important marker” for inclusive stories, and it seems that Netflix is committed to significant inclusion behind the scenes as well. Even better news: an example-setting franchise has been born.

(Via Hollywood Reporter)

Hayley Williams made a decisive pivot to a solo career this year with her debut solo effort Petals For Armor. Since Williams can’t tour behind the record, the singer has been filling her time by sharing acoustic covers of her favorite tracks, as well as stripped-down renditions of popular Petals For Armor numbers. Following her quiet cover of Björk’s song “Unison,” Williams gets some fresh air with a version of “Simmer” performed from her back porch, complete with a cameo from her scruffy dog Alfie.

Sharing the acoustic version to Instagram, Williams wrote that it feels like her record came out months ago but she’s been enjoying continuing to tweak different tracks: “this song came out 6 hundred years ago, b.c. (corona) but i still love it and it keeps evolving. ‘SIMMER’. thanks for listening to me sing to myself all these months. i have really enjoyed sharing lil glimpses into my solitude like this. hope you’re stayin safe and allowing yourself some peace in your own solitude. oh yeah, Alf says hello.”

Watch Williams sing “Simmer” from her porch above.

Petals For Armor is out now via Atlantic. Get it here.

Hayley Williams is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.