Clairo has been more open than most musicians about mental health and the toll hers sometimes takes on her. She shared more about that on Instagram last night with a new song, “Just For Today.”
Posting the lo-fi acoustic track on Instagram, Clairo wrote, “not sure about you, but my mental health has taken a major dip since quarantine started- at times I feel like i’ve never felt worse. new medication, hotlines, and one scheduled appointment with a psychiatrist later and i’m feeling more like myself again. I wrote this last night and i feel there’s no real reason I should hold onto it. Hope you enjoy the song and Joanie’s squeaks. thank you.”
Alongside the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-8255), Clairo also shared the song’s lyrics. Clairo’s words are especially personal here, with lyrics like, “I blocked out the month of February for support / At least I have this year I won’t be worrying anyone on tour / As we speak, I’m here to meet devils for tea, peering ’round the corner of my life / I throw my drink in the face of my demise.”
This week in the best new pop music saw some electric releases from stars and up-and-coming artists alike. Billie Eilish and Rosalía teamed up for a slow-burning tune, Sabrina Carpenter shirked critics in a carefree single, and Ellie Goulding hopped on a song with Mark Ronson and Diplo.
After months of teasing, Billie Eilish and Rosalía‘s “Lo Vas A Olividar” collaboration is finally here and it’s earned Uproxx’s best new pop stamp of approval. The single is relatively stripped-down compared to both of the singers’ recent offerings, featuring atmospheric synths which craft a wide-open space for their somber musings.
Sabrina Carpenter — “Skin”
A few weeks ago, Olivia Rodrigo penned her debut single “Drivers License,” which was seemingly taking a dig at her ex and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-star and his new muse Sabrina Carpenter. The song opened the flood gates for pop diss tracks, and Carpenter has finally responded with her own. It features a fluttering beat alongside lyrics about not letting others get under her skin.
Silk City — “New Love” Feat. Ellie Goulding
Silk City, the Grammy-winning duo of Diplo and Mark Ronson, returned with their first song since 2018. Tapping Ellie Goulding, the trio served up the catchy song “New Love.” “The song is about losing yourself on your own, not needing to be seen, knowing that the one that got away could be just as happy as this too,” Goulding said about the collaboration. “The main concept is dancing on your own not needing to be seen.”
Griff — “Black Hole”
Pop up-and-comer Griff penned the shuffling anthem “Black Hole” this week, underscored by moody synths and her far-reaching vocals. “I wrote this song as a bittersweet heartbreak track,” Griff said of the track. “I actually love how melodramatic it is, as there’s obviously not ‘a big black hole where my heart used to be,’ but the melodrama of the lyrics – over a really interesting beat – keeps the song fun, and not too serious.”
Elio — “Charger”
Electropop songwriter Elio released the 7-track EP Can You Feel Me Now? and on it arrived the irresistible tune “Charger.” Along with her stunning track “Charger,” the EP’s songs were penned at different stages in Elio’s life. “I feel like writing this EP has been such a journey for me,” she said of the project.
Kali — “Lucy”
At just 16-year-old, Kali already knows how to craft a bouyant earworm. “Lucy” officially announces Kali’s debut EP Circles, boasting cascading synths and Kali’s earnest-yet-upbeat delivery.
Wylde — “Castles”
LA-based singer Wylde released her debut EP Castles this week. Following the project’s release, Wylde spoke to Uproxx about her EP. “All of the songs were inspired by the realizations and discoveries that made me grow as a person,” she said. “The lyrics are very introspective and the theme behind most of these songs is self-transformation.”
Glaive — “Cloak N Dagger”
North Carolina-based artist Glaive first started making music during quarantine, expeditiously gaining a cult following with his SoundCloud uploads. After releasing the 2020 EP Cypress, Glaive shares his first new music of 2021 with the driving track “Cloak N Dagger.”
Slayyyter — “Troubled Paradise”
Slayyyter has garnered much attention with the maximalist pop tunes heard on her early aughts-inspired self titled mixtape. But now, the singer returns to tease her debut album with the saccharine title track “Troubled Paradise.” With a soaring beat, Slayyyter offers more vulnerable lyrics about losing someone close to her.
Tash Sultana — “Sweet & Dandy”
Sharing the fifth preview of her impending LP Terra Firma, Tash Sultana shared the swaying tune “Sweet & Dandy.” About the single, Sultana said: “I didn’t realize that I needed to create a space and home for myself to feel like a person again. I just went inward and found a really peaceful place and wrote an album, and I feel really happy with it.”
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Thanks to hitching to himself to Donald Trump’s plummeting star by acting as the public, oozing face of the disgraced former president’s conspiracy theories about election fraud, Rudy Giuliani is now the subject of a $1.3 billion lawsuit from Dominion Voting Machines, and Seth Meyers had a field day with the latest in a long line of blunders from Rudy. During Monday night’s A Closer Look segment, Meyers ruthlessly dunked on Giuliani over the lawsuit.
“Good thing vampires are immortal because he’ll have to work for the rest of his life to pay that off,” Meyers quipped. “I mean, this poor man doesn’t have any money. Remember how he couldn’t even afford hair dye and just rubbed a typewriter ribbon on his head? Plus, he’s probably still paying alimony to his cousin.”
Of course, no joke will ever compare to the words that fly out of Giuliani’s mouth. While responding to questions about the aggressive action from Dominion, which has already forced bigger fish like Fox News and Newsmax to retract their election fraud claims, Giuliani doubled down. Via The Daily Beast:
“Really, $1.3 billion? What do you think I am, some kind of jackass?” Giuliani responded in a radio interview earlier in the day. “That’s intended to frighten me, you want to frighten me, you want to scare me, like you have some of these companies and stations that have gone ahead and kissed your you-know-what. Because they’re afraid of you. Well I tell you I’m a crazy guy, I really am, I’m just really crazy.”
That should end well. You can watch the full segment on Giuliani above.
Last night, The Weeknd shared a new photo of himself on social media and captioned it with a football emoji, seemingly as a way to drum up anticipation for his upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance. Now, the meaning of the image has been revealed: It’s the same one that appears on the album art of The Highlights, a new compilation album that features 18 of The Weeknd’s biggest hits.
Curiously, the collection is only available on CD through The Weeknd’s web store. That said, fans aren’t really missing out on much with the collection being unavailable on streaming platforms: All the songs are already on Spotify, Apple Music, and the like, so listeners wanting to replicate the experience of The Highlights could do so by quickly throwing together a playlist of all the featured songs.
Check out the art and tracklist for The Highlights below and order it here.
The Weeknd
1. “Save Your Tears”
2. “Blinding Lights”
3. “In Your Eyes”
4. “Can’t Feel My Face”
5. “I Feel It Coming” Feat. Daft Punk
6. “Starboy” Feat. Daft Punk
7. “Pray For Me” Feat. Kendrick Lamar
8. “Heartless”
9. “Often”
10. “The Hills”
11. “Call Out My Name”
12. “Die For You”
13. “Earned It”
14. “Love Me Harder” (Ariana Grande and The Weeknd)
15. “Acquainted”
16. “Wicked Games”
17. “The Morning”
18. “After Hours”
There was a lot of talk about how 2020 was the first year without a movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2009, but 2020 also lacked a Walt Disney Animation Studios release for the first time since 2017. That’s not the most punishing of waits, but it’s still an event whenever a new Disney animated movie comes out, and it has been since the studio’s first project: 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Thankfully, Disney won’t go another year without an animated adventure: Raya and the Last Dragon features the voices of Kelly Marie Tran as warrior Raya, who’s tasked with ending an endless war, and Awkwafina as Sisu, the last dragon who can restore peace to the land.
Watch the trailer above. Here’s the official plot synopsis:
Raya and the Last Dragon takes us on an exciting, epic journey to the fantasy world of Kumandra, where humans and dragons lived together long ago in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people. However, along her journey, she’ll learn that it’ll take more than a dragon to save the world—it’s going to take trust and teamwork as well.
Directed by Don Hall (Big Hero 6) and Carlos López Estrada (Blindspotting), Raya and the Last Dragon premieres on Disney+ on March 5.
MyPillow guy Mike Lindell recently flat-out dared Dominion Voting Systems to sue him over his baseless election-fraud claims, and he’s now filed a (differing) lawsuit of his own. The CEO’s sure had an eventful month so far, given that his products have also been dropped by Bed, Bath & Beyond (and more vendors), and he’s been permanently banned from Twitter. Let’s talk about Lindell’s defamation lawsuit though, which involves his reaction to rumors that he dated a prominent TV actress.
To recap, the The Daily Mail published a story that alleged that Lindell had secretly romanced30 Rock and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Jane Krakowski for nine months. The story claimed that she was the one that broke things off, but that’s not what upset Lindell. Rather, he has declared to a New York federal court that his “hard-earned credibility” has been threatened by the rumors, given that The Mail alleged that he gave Jane gifts of liquor. The lawsuit language explains the situation more, via Hollywood Reporter, which posted the filing:
“Defendants’ false and defamatory statements about Mr. Lindell have caused tremendous harm to his personal and professional reputation and prospective economic opportunities, as well as causing him significant humiliation and emotional distress. In particular (and without limitation), Mr. Lindell founded the Lindell Recovery Network, a platform that helps those struggling with addiction connect with recovery organizations. Defendants’ fabricated story that he showered Ms. Krakowski with gifts of ‘champagne and bottles of different liquor’ severely undermines Mr. Lindell’s hard-earned credibility, integrity and character in the field of addiction recovery as well as in religious communities. Mr. Lindell’s ability to succeed in this important effort have been severely impacted by Defendants’ wrongful actions.”
THR notes that Lindell hired attorney Charles Harder, who’s also worked on Trump libel suits. He’s also sued a British tabloid in a New York federal court, and in order to win the lawsuit, Lindell will have “to show reckless disregard of the truth on the newspaper’s part as well as real damage.” It’s a tough standard to reach but not an impossible one, and it remains to be seen whether Lindell will also sue in the U.K., which has laws that plaintiffs generally prefer in libel suits (it’s easier to sue a tabloid on that side of the pond).
As for Krakowski, she reacted with humor to those dating rumors. However and yes, she emphatically denied the story to E! News: “Jane has never met Mr. Lindell. She is not and has never been in any relationship with him, romantic or otherwise.” Oh, but “She is, however, in full-fledged fantasy relationships with Brad Pitt, Regé-Jean Page and Kermit the Frog and welcomes any and all coverage on those.”
Is the “pee tape” real? We may never know, but count Stephen Colbert among the believers. The Late Show host has cracked countless jokes about the 2013 tape that allegedly shows Donald Trump watching two prostitutes pee in a bed that the Obamas slept in at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Moscow, Russia (it says a lot about Trump’s presidency that this story has been overshadowed by about 500 things). President Trump is now former-President Trump, but Colbert couldn’t bringing up the pee tape one more time.
The Late Show played a clip of Dr. Deborah Birx, Trump’s COVID-19 task force coordinator, revealing that Trump was getting a “parallel set of data and graphics” that she wasn’t privy to, according to CNN. When asked by CBS’ Face the Nation who was presenting him with the disinformation, she replied, “To this day, I don’t know. I know now why watching some of the tapes that certainly [advisor] Scott Atlas brought in parallel data streams.” Colbert couldn’t have asked for a better set up: “And if the rumors are true, the former-president will pay extra for streams.” Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.
Or is it? Following the parody of “The Final Countdown,” Colbert, looking both ashamed and proud of himself, teased, “We’ll see, we’ll see.” More like, “We’ll pee, we’ll pee” is what the escorts said on that fateful night. (Sorry.) Watch the entire monologue above.
At award shows, while winning artists usually hold trophies on stage, they don’t typically take home their awards that day. Instead, they arrive in the mail at some point, often months out from the ceremony. Such is the case for Lil Nas X, who scored at Nickelodeon’s virtual Kids’ Choice Awards back in May. Now that his orange blimp has arrived, though, he insists that his Grammys are being demoted in terms of display priority.
On Twitter last night, Nas shared a photo of the freshly arrived blimp, in a box with a letter and packing peanuts. He wrote, “putting my grammys in the basement to make room for the new supreme.”
At the 2020 ceremony, Nas brought home the blimp for Favorite Breakout New Artist over fellow nominees City Girls, DaBaby, Lewis Capaldi, Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion. He was also nominated for Favorite Male Artist, Favorite Song (for “Old Town Road”), and Favorite Music Collaboration (for his “Old Town Road” remix with Billy Ray Cyrus).
Our quest to find the best bourbon whiskeys at every price range is getting interesting — with a lot of great bourbon expressions for under $40 per bottle. Between $30 and $40, you start getting really solid craft bourbons alongside the first rush of single barrel bottles. Amazingly, this is still very affordable — especially when compared to imported spirits (scotch, etc.).
Speaking of price, the prices listed below are middle of the road (the median, not the mean). You’re going to be able to find some of these bottles for less. Some of you won’t be so lucky and you’ll end up paying more. It really all depends on which state you’re in and what store you’re shopping at. The price of a bottle of bourbon can literally change when you cross a street. Especially if you cross a state line.
Haling from Sazerac’s iconic Barton 1792 Distillery, this expression hits a lot of high marks with drinkers and on the awards circuit. The juice is high-rye bourbon that rests in hand-selected oak barrels until it’s small-batched blended, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
This is a classic bourbon from the first whiff to the last sip. Bourbon vanilla and caramel mix with a dark spiciness up top. The spice sharpens to a pepperiness that leads towards more sweet caramel next to sweet corn and a hint of oak char. The finish is light yet longish, with a final note of citrus arriving very late.
Bottom Line:
This benefits greatly from a few rocks to let it open up. That being said, this is also a solid candidate for your next old fashioned or Manhattan.
This is a true Texas grain/corn-to-glass experience. The whiskey is made from Texas grains and corn in old-school stills and then matured under the warm Waco, Texas sun in Balcones‘ own warehouse. The results are small-batch blended, slight proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
You get a real sense of kettle corn covered in caramel next to hints of oak, sweet apples, and worn leather. The taste veers away from these notes slightly, with pecan pie topped with vanilla cream, more of that leather and oak, and a touch of honey. The end is chewy and lingers as almost-spicy tobacco arrives late to accentuate the oak.
Bottom Line:
This is a divisive whiskey in the bourbon world. We’d argue it’s a great bottle to expand your palate outside of the “classic” bourbon notes that play on repeat for a lot of bottles in this genre. Just make sure to add a little water or ice to really open it up.
Sure, it has a pretty typical medium-rye mash bill (18 percent). However, it’s triple distilled a la Irish whiskey, giving the Kentucky juice a serious edge. The bourbon is then matured for a minimum of six years before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a nice mix of dark chocolate covered raisins next to a flourish of orange zest and plenty of bourbon vanilla and spicy tobacco. That slight tobacco chew leads back towards creamy vanilla, buttery toffee, and rich chocolate with a hint of orange cutting back in. The end is just the right length, with a well-rounded creaminess that beckons you back for more.
Bottom Line:
This really is an all-around solid bottle. You can use it as a sipper easily. It also kills as a cocktail base. You really can’t go wrong with this pick.
There’s a lot of love around this single barrel expression from Heaven Hill. The craftspeople at the company search through their warehouses for the exact right single barrels that meet their high standards. Those barrels are then proofed with that soft Kentucky limestone water and bottled with the year of distillation on the bottle alongside the barrel number.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a real sense of almost bitter caramel next to salty popped corn, oak spice, and flutter of vanilla. The sip is like velvet with caramel apples next to chocolate oranges and a bit of spicy tobacco. There’s a buzz and chewiness to the end that leans very easy-drinking, while the flavors slowly roll back through the spice and wood.
Bottom Line:
This dram is a very solid sipper with water or ice. It’s also a great mixer at this price point — shining in hefty cocktails like boulevardiers or Sazeracs.
Maker’s Mark is a classic wheated bourbon. This particular expression takes cask strength Maker’s and then add in virgin French oak staves into the barrels for a final nine weeks of maturing. The result is a unique version of the iconic whisky from Kentucky.
Tasting Notes:
The soft and mildly sweet wood greets you alongside slight touches of caramel and vanilla. That caramel and vanilla take a back seat to the deeper sense of toasted oak and spicy tobacco with a hint of fruit similar to an apple dipped in caramel. The end is full of that woodiness next to a light edge of creamy vanilla as it slowly fades away.
Bottom Line:
This is an interesting sipper, especially for those looking for a bourbon that focuses on the oak at its core.
Note: It needs a little water or ice to really bloom in the glass.
Noble Oak is an Ohio bourbon sourced from MGP. The whiskey is aged in new oak for a spell. Then sherry staves are added to the barrels to create this unique dram. Moreover, for each bottle sold, Noble Oak plants a tree. So far, they’ve planted over 200,000 trees and counting.
Not bad at all.
Tasting Notes:
Cherries in cream with honey and mild spice stands out on the nose and really draws you in. The palate delivers a cherry-flavor that leans more towards dark chocolate covered cherry with a brandy surprise in the middle, thanks to dried fruit and an almost nutty edge to the sip.
There’s a bit of a worn leather aspect to the finish — with the cherry and oak lasting the longest on the fade.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice sipper for this price. On the rocks, that is. It really works best as a cocktail mixer though. Try it in your favorite cocktail if you have a chance.
Four Roses is probably best known for making ten signature bourbons that it blends or puts into single barrel expressions. This instance is drawn from four of their bourbons that highlight both low and high rye expressions with a focus on “slight spice” and “rich fruit” yeasts. Those four bourbons are small-batched, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a real softness on the nose and on the tongue that touches on cherry orchards, Christmas spices, and sweet wood. The taste really leans into the fruitiness with a mix of berries dusted in cinnamon and nutmeg. The sip becomes velvety soft with an almost blackberry jam vibe as the spices warm while it lingers.
Bottom Line:
This is a great workhorse. We like to use it for cocktails especially, b you can absolutely sip this one on the rocks.
The team at Beam hand-select these barrels from under one percent of all the barrels resting in Beam’s massive warehouses. The barrels they’re looking for are the height of what Beam does with their low-ish rye bourbon with little to no fussing.
Besides proofing with Kentucky limestone water, this is Beam straight from the barrel.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a clear matrix of caramel-soaked kettle corn next to light touches of oak and oily vanilla beans. The taste adds to that with a cherry pipe tobacco next to a honey sweetness and a dash of orange oils. The spices edge toward Christmas spice territory with a hint of caramel corn and cherry candy on the short but sweet end.
Bottom Line:
Like Evan Williams above, this is a big step up and worth the extra cash compared to the standard Beam. Also, a single barrel for around $35 is a bargain and more than exceeds expectations, especially on the rocks or in a cocktail.
This craft whiskey is a grain/corn-to-glass Washington experience. The grains are all grown near the distillery. The oak is toasted and aged outside of the distillery’s warehouses for 18 months before the hot juice goes in for maturation. After around five years, the whiskey is blended, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Tropical fruits meld with Christmas spices and plenty of brown sugar, vanilla, and nuts leading towards an almost dark rum nose. The palate delivers but dials into butter-fried bananas, creamy vanilla pudding, rich toffee, and a hint of toasted wood. The end doesn’t overstay its welcome and brings about a mild spicy chewiness and more of that toasty oak with a nice return of the toffee.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best all-around whiskeys on this list (we’d argue that it’s one of the best, period). However, you chose to drink it make sure to take your time and let it bloom, change, and draw you back for more.
This whiskey from Wild Turkey creative director, Matthew McConaughey, is a marrying of Texas Hill Country and Kentucky’s rolling hills. The juice is a standard eight-year-old Turkey that’s treated to a bit of Texas via filtering through Texas Mesquite and American Oak charcoals.
This process adds a whole new dimension to an already classic bourbon. It’s much debated, but we think it’s worth your time.
Tasting Notes:
Christmas spices and creamy vanilla greet you. The sip starts off very Kentucky bourbon with more of that vanilla, spice, and notes of caramel dominating with hints of orange zest kicking in. Then the sip takes a turn towards buttery toffee counterpointed by bitter charcoal and a wisp of BBQ smoke. The smoke isn’t the centerpiece by any stretch but adds a nice dimension to the whiskey as it slowly fades through those more classic notes.
Bottom Line:
This is built as a workhorse whiskey. That means you can mix with it as easily as you can sip it with a little water.
One thing that has been almost universally agreed upon by NBA players this season is that the energy level in the empty arenas has been a difficult adjustment. Whether it’s the adoration of the home crowd or the jeers of an opposing one, players feed off of the atmosphere in a packed arena and are finding it a bit more difficult to get into the same headspace in empty or sparsely populated buildings.
A few teams are allowing small numbers of fans in the arena, while others allow team staff and family members in to provide something other than the music and piped in noises. On Monday night in Cleveland, LeBron James seemed to relish the opportunity to be back home playing the Cavs in front of the smattering of fans allowed in the building, as he went off for 46 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, outscoring Cleveland by himself in the final period to lift the Lakers to a comeback win.
LeBron pours in 21 of his season-high 46 PTS in the 4th to power the @Lakers in Cleveland! #LakeShow
At the end of the third quarter, James missed a buzzer-beater and turned to the sideline where some Cavs staff were seated and, as he said, found that added motivation he needed in the form of a Cavs front office member — who he refused to expose as the culprit by name — who was “too excited” about his miss.
LeBron says that this was a member of the Cavs front office
It is a very Jordan-esque move from LeBron, who took personally the joy someone from the Cavs front office found in his end of quarter failure, and proceeded to rip the hearts out of the Cavs team in the fourth quarter. While he won’t name the person, it’s very funny to imagine this being GM Koby Altman — one would assume it’s someone LeBron remembers from his time in Cleveland — who now must explain to his team why he became Spike Lee to LeBron’s Reggie Miller in this game.
This can also be a lesson for other team staffers who are near the court for these games in otherwise quiet arenas, that your commentary can and will make its way to the court, and be careful who you let hear that.
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